Month: April 2014

Get Ready – Denver’s City Park Jazz is BACK in June 2014

/ DenverSpeax

One of the coolest, FREE events in town, City Park Jazz in Denver’s City Park offers Denverites of all ages a great time outside.

Pack a picnic, ride your bike, and find a spot in the Park on June 1st, 2014 to kick off another season of FREE Jazz concerts.

Pavillion within City Park Credit: Kirsten Ebey May 2013

Pavillion within City Park Credit: Kirsten Ebey May 2013

 

A Few Easy Reminders: 

  • Yes, you can totally bring your furry friend! Make sure they’re on a leash.
  • Please, please, please don’t forget an extra trash bag to keep your trash concealed before throwing it away when leaving. Keep this beautiful place clean.
  • No, you don’t have to pay – it’s FREE! You can, however, always donate while at the concert (they have volunteers that collect) or on the website.
  • The show starts at 6:00 pm MST, but if you’re looking for a parking spot on a nearby street, you’ll need to head over a few hours earlier. We totally suggest riding your bike if at all possible!
  • No glass in the park, but canned beer is allowed.
  • Food trucks will be at the park so if you don’t pack you’re on food, you will not starve.
  • There are portopotties, and they’re usually pretty clean.

Click here for the 2014 season schedule. Get ready to have an amazing time! We hope to see you there.

DenverSpeax – A Reminder

/ DenverSpeax

 

 

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The power of reminder can be very interesting and thought-provoking, to the point of near meditation:

A song comes on the radio, and you’re instantly placed into a time previous of extreme joy, or maybe content, or possibly sadness.

You head west out of Denver to visit the Rockies, and you’re reminded of your first trip to Loveland Pass, or your first drive through the Eisenhower Tunnel.

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View from Arapahoe Basin – Click on the photo to see more beautiful pictures in this area.

These places serve as reminder for us as to why we moved here, and why we started DenverSpeax. It’s important to reflect, and have our reflection over the past (almost) year rejuvenate our spirits and provoke motivation. I thought it would be good to pass this along to you all who have supported us.
The Story:
When we moved here, we had a few friends from back home, but they were fairly new as well. It was difficult to find places to go or see because we didn’t know what we were looking for, per se – try using Yelp to find a restaurant when you’re in the mood for a certain atmosphere, or when you’re trying to make friends – is there a filter for those? Although we believe Yelp is a great application and very helpful, sometimes a star-rating just doesn’t cut it. Sure, there’s another great site called TripAdvisor – we use it when we are traveling…but we weren’t traveling any longer. We weren’t looking for advertised Bed & Breakfasts and their ratings – we were looking to call a place home.

 

The best way to learn and begin to understand a community is by fully emerging yourself. This is what we’ve learned in our various travels domestically and internationally, as well as with this move to Denver. Out of boredom, and lack of known resources within the Denver community & beyond, DenverSpeax was born.

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City Park hosts City Park Jazz for many Sundays each summer. Click on the picture to read more!

We roam around Denver and the surrounding areas looking for what’s good in the community. The good comes in all shapes, sizes, and experiences. We support small, local businesses when we eat out, and prefer to stay local with our purchases as well. Luckily, there are so many festivals, parks, food and beverage, volunteering, and natural beauty here that we’ll never run out of things to write about.

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Walking around on the 16th Street mall can be a ton of fun. Click on the picture to check out more!

DenverSpeax exists to promote positivity within the community, helping out natives and transplants alike with what to do, where to go, and how to experience all of the good that’s so aplenty here. Know someone who’s moving to Denver? Show ’em our website. Ran out of things to do and experience? Look through the site! Planning a trip to Denver and want the real feel of our diverse community? Well, we have a website for that!

Thank you for your endless support. We are devoted to continue to bring you the low down on what’s good in Denver. A few things we’re looking at tackling next:

  • Volunteering – how can we give back to the community we love so much? There are so many ways – we just need to DO IT.
  • Collaboration with other Colorado start-ups that need support with getting noticed in the community.
  • Visiting Bed & Breakfasts local to Denver so that we can provide our visitors with features on great places to stay.

How you can help: Come with us! Or, let us know…

What other features would you like to see on the website?

What is local and positive that you just can’t live without?

For more on what’s good in Denver, follow us in real-time on Facebook, Instagram (@denverspeax), or Twitter (@denverspeax).

 

 

 

 

The Denver Flea 2014 – Our Kind of Festival

/ DenverSpeax / 1 Comment

Want to attend one of the most-anticipated, coolest Spring festivals happening RIGHT HERE in Denver, Colorado?

 

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Picture courtesy of The Denver Flea’s Facebook page – check ’em out and LIKE ‘EM!

 

Check out The Denver Flea 2014 on May 24th, and experience Colorado’s own home-made crafts, food, and craft beer – all brought to you in one beautiful setting: Denver City Park.

 

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Look at this gem, courtesy of the DenverSpeax archive!

 

Pavillion within City Park Credit: Kirsten Ebey May 2013

Pavillion within City Park Credit: Kirsten Ebey May 2013

Kick off Spring (almost Summer) by enjoying Colorado’s finest; feel great about supporting your community. Also, spend some cash and feel good about it because:

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Picture courtesy of The Denver Flea site – click on the pic to check it out!

All of the fun kicks off at 2 pm; make sure you view The Denver Flea website for additional information, including a full list of vendors, food trucks, and craft brews available MAY 1st, 2014.

Can’t wait to see you there!

Morning photo: Sunday set

/ DenverSpeax

Check out these beautiful photos from Summit County. It’s easy to draw motivation and power from such incredible photographs. Sometimes, we forget how fortunate we are to be able to see these things in person with great ease. Get outside and enjoy the beautiful day.

Please visit Summit County Citizens Voice where I reflagged these great images from.

Summit County Citizens Voice

Got color?

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FRISCO — After a snowy start to April, winter finally relaxed its grip late in the month, with warmer days and at least a handful of clear mornings and evenings. Nothing against plentiful snow — I love it — but after months of shooting gleaming white snowscapes, it’s nice to get some color back in the scene, and it feels good to hike around on bare ground. Plus, the first wildflowers are starting to show (pasque flowers along the Ptarmigan Trail), and even though the early displays are modest, all the winter moisture should translate into a brilliant display of blooms the next few months. Click on the photos to see them full size, and check our online gallery at Fine Art America for more Summit County nature and landscape photos.

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Dishcrawl Denver: Cap Hill Edition

/ DenverSpeax
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Visiting Central Bistro in LoHi on our last Denver Dishcrawl. Photo Credit: Kirsten Ebey, Mar 2014

It’s time for another Dishcrawl, Denver style. This time around, we’ll be exploring  good eats in the Capital Hill area, starting off with City O’ City, a great eatery we’ve heard a TON of great things about, but haven’t been to yet. Starting at 7 pm, we’ll stroll around Cap Hill, lead by our fearless leader, Maggie, and hit a bunch of restaurants that are a MYSTERY until arriving at the meet up place.

Check out Dishcrawl Denver to sign up for the 30th event and others coming up. If you’re vegetarian, just make sure you let them know when you sign up! Spread the word – this is a great way to get to know different communities, small businesses, and new people around Denver.

Check out our other features on the last Dishcrawl and a taste of what it’s all about: Stop 1: LoHi Tavern and Stop 2:BambuCycles.

Hope to see you there, friends!

Kombucha, Bamboo Bicycles, Juicing, oh my! – BambuCycles

/ DenverSpeax / 4 Comments

 

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Check out BambuCycles in the Highlands – stop in and slam a green one for us, Credit: Kirsten Ebey, Mar 2014

Healthy, scrumptious things to consume and cool bicycles are two things that Denverites go bananas over; it’s not hard to see why Denver, Boulder, and the Loveland areas made top 10 on a recent study’s slimmest cities! Check out this local business that’s helping us reach such lofty fitness goals – Stop #2 on the March 2014 Denver Dishcrawl, BambuCycles.

 

Using a masticating juicer (that means no blades, my friends) the fruits and veggies juiced by the guys at BambuCycles leave nearly all of the vitamins and nutrients in tact, extracting all of the pulp and fiber; the process uses a slower, crushing and squeezing method than other commonplace juicers. Another cool fact: BambuCycles in LoHi succeeds at extracting about 90% juice instead of the typical juicer’s 60% return. They make our Jack LaLanne juicer look like a joke! Check out the differences between masticating (more expensive) and centrifugal (more common, less expensive) juicers here for an easy run-down on the two.

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BambuCycles doing what they do best! Credit: Kirsten Ebey, Mar 2014

The guys at BambuCycles juiced two, glorious samples for us- one green, and one made of fruits including pineapple, cantaloupe, and watermelon. Ever wondered about how juicing works, or wanted to take advantage of the many health benefits juicing provides? Stop in and chat with Angel and the guys; not only a wealth of knowledge, the staff are happy to assist you with customized juice orders, detoxes, and cleanses.

 

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Bright and full of flavor – The Mexican Salad at BambuCycles. Credit: Kirsten Ebey, Mar 2014

Some of the fruit was saved from juicing and chopped into small salads with a spicy twist (pictured above).

Try a rendition of this vibrant, flavorful melon salad:

  • Take your favorite melons (cantaloupe, watermelon, etc), and chop into 1” chunks – we like to fill a standard dinner-bowl full of the fruit to split between two people.
  • Drizzle lemon juice (to taste). We prefer a TON of lemon juice simply because the tangy and sweet combination of the lemon juice and the fruit is incredible.
  • Dust some cayenne (we prefer) or chili pepper throughout the salad – be careful! (also, to taste)
  • Sea Salt (to taste).
  • Mix the fruit, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne / chili pepper together, making sure each piece of fruit gets this crazy combination of ingredients for the best variety of flavors in every bite. Seriously, it’s like a party in your mouth.

 

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Another great experience provided on this Dishcrawl stop? Kombucha on tap! If you’re not familiar with Kombucha Tea, let us explain: Happy Leaf is a well known Kombucha producer, pulling from multiple types of tea in their brewing: green, white, and black. Benefits of Kombucha per The Food Renegade:

#1. DETOX!

 

#2. Helps with those pesky joints

 

#3. Digestion & Gut Health

 

#4. Boosts the Immune System

 

Check out The Food Renegade for more great info on Kombucha.

 

 

BambuCycles offer a stylish ride that stands out in a crowd. Not only are they cool looking, but they also provide natural shock absorption that simply can’t be replicated by other machined bikes. Stop in and check out these sweet rides!

 

Alright, alright… juicing, healthy & delicious snacks, Kombucha, AND bamboo bikes? Does BambuCycles NOT do anything awesome?

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Annelise, enjoying some juice and Bamboo Bikes. Photo Credit: Kirsten Ebey, Mar 2014

The answer is obviously no. They offer some serious benefits to the LoHi community, and definitely have a blast doing it. We look forward to stopping in again soon and learning more about their interesting business.

 

 

 

Gociety – Get Outside with Awesome People

/ DenverSpeax

 

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Gociety hooks you up with people of same outdoor interests – what a great platform to motivate more Coloradans to get outside and mingle with like-minded, awesome people! Check out Gociety on Facebook by clicking on their logo above – Photo Credit: Gociety Facebook Page, April 2014

Gociety is a site we’ve been watching for a while, and for good reason; their concept is fresh and new, and provides a GREAT service to the Colorado community. With Gociety, you can meet people from all over Colorado getting outside and doing what they love!

For example, we are avid bikers and appreciate meeting new people to bike all over Denver with – Gociety is a platform that will help us out with this.

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Road biking lets us exercise and see new parts of town; on Gociety, I can meet new people that love to do the same. Click on the picture above to check out the Gociety Facebook Page. Photo Credit: DenverSpeax Archive, 2013

Creating a Gociety profile is super easy – we just made one! By visiting Gociety, you can join via Facebook profile, OR email. Fill out  info about how you get down in the great outdoors of Colorado, and BOOM! – you have a Discovery Feed outlining multiple outdoor activities in areas all over Colorado. From Cat Skiing to to Fly Fishing to multiple runs and triathlons, there is a TON to do – and what better way to find it than one, organized Discovery Feed via your personal Gociety profile. Search options on the right-hand side make it easy to limit the feed to your interests only.

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Get outside and hike Mount Evans! Photo Credit: DenverSpeax Archive, 2013

 

With an easy-to-use platform, it’s no wonder more and more Coloradans are catching on to Gociety‘s awesome idea. We can’t wait to sign up for a few events (aka, Gocieties) and meet new, awesome people that love getting outside. We’ll be sure to give you an update as well as an inside look of our experience. Stay tuned!

For the meantime, go check Gociety out on the web or on Facebook and see what they’re all about for yourself.

OneSpark – Day 1 & 2

/ DenverSpeax

We’re having a blast here in Jacksonville, Florida, promoting our CitySpeax expansion project. If you haven’t visited our project on OneSpark and registered to vote for #20643, please do! Your vote helps us get NOTICED and, hopefully, funded. 

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Steve manning the booth at OneSpark! This was before our banner was created / hung as well as our signs created. Watch out our booth evolves over the next few days – we’re learning new things each day!

 

At OneSpark, we hope to expand the “speax” branded websites to CitySpeax, one brand that supports all of the “speak” city websites promoting small business through features, recognition, offering of small business solutions including advertising, social media, and consultation.

With the CitySpeax brand, we  can support small businesses and strengthen communities as we have through our separate websites for Jacksonville, New Orleans, and Denver. 

Check out our project, Creator #20643, here, and vote for us!

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Hemming Plaza in Jacksonville, FL – check out the traffic around all of the cool Creators. You can see all of the projects by clicking on tho photo and visiting OneSpark.com. Credit: Kirsten Ebey, Apr 2014

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Beautiful Sunset at the end of Day 1 at OneSpark. Click on the photo to check out project and vote for us! Credit: Kirsten Ebey, April 2014.

 

OneSpark 2014 – CitySpeax Project Promo Video

/ DenverSpeax

Thanks to all of our friends and family that have made this trip to OneSpark in Jacksonville tomorrow possible. Watch our brand expansion project’s video – CitySpeax – your city, your love.

Also, please please PLEASE vote for our project to get NOTICED and FUNDED here. “Bookmark” it, and help us rise through the ranks of popularity. Thanks again for your support!