Pajama-clad ice skaters will take over the Southwest Rink at Skyline Park today as Southwest Airlines and the Downtown Denver Partnership join forces with Denver’s Road Home to kick off the 10th Annual PJ Day.

PJ Day is Denver’s annual fundraising event to support Denver’s Road Home and draws attention to the fact that not everyone has a place to put on pajamas and sleep each night. This year’s PJ Day kick-off event at the Southwest Rink at Skyline Park will feature open skating and a most creative PJ’s contest. The ice skater with the most creative PJs will win a pair of round-trip tickets on Southwest Airlines.

“PJ Day is a phenomenal event drawing attention to the serious issue of homelessness in our community, and we are pleased to join the Downtown Denver Partnership and Southwest Airlines to kick off the 10th Annual PJ Day here at the Southwest Rink at Skyline Park in downtown Denver,” said Mayor Michael B. Hancock. “Events like PJ Day help fund the work of Denver’s Road Home and its partners to provide job training, treatment, sheltering and other services to help the homeless in our community move from a life on the streets to self-sufficiency.”

The PJ Day kick-off event will be held from 3:30 until 5 p.m. today at the Southwest Rink at Skyline Park.

“We are pleased to support Denver’s Road Home with this special event for their annual PJ Day fundraiser,” said Jane McAtee, Southwest Airlines Regional Leader of Community Affairs and Grassroots. “People visiting the Southwest Rink during this special event will have the opportunity to enjoy ice skating in their PJs, all while supporting a great cause.”

“For nearly a decade, thousands of people have transitioned from being homeless into homes thanks in large part to the work of Denver’s Road Home and its community partners,” said Tami Door, Downtown Denver Partnership President & CEO and co-chair of Denver’s Commission to End Homelessness. “The Downtown Denver Partnership played a key role in the development of Denver’s Road Home and has remained committed to advocacy, fundraising and education related to homeless initiatives in Denver. This year, all proceeds from PJ Day at the Southwest Rink will be donated to the PJ Day Fundraising event to continue to support Denver’s Road Home.”

The Southwest Rink is located in Skyline Park next to the historic Daniels and Fisher Tower, near the intersection of 16th and Arapahoe Streets. Skating is free, with the option to bring skates or rent a pair for $2 or in exchange for a donation to Denver’s Road Home. Donations are normally dedicated to Volunteers of America who generously agreed to donate this time to support Denver’s Road Home.

For more on how to get involved in PJ Day, visit www.PJDAY.org.

Photos from the 2013 PJ Day.

The Colorado Tourism Office was recently named the “Best US State Tourism Bureau” at the annual Travvy Awards, presented by travAlliancemedia. The Travvy Awards recognizes the highest standards of excellence in the travel industry and honors travel companies, travel products, travel agencies and destinations for their outstanding achievement.

“We are very excited to be recognized by the travel agent community as the top state tourism office in the nation,” said Al White, director of the Colorado Tourism Office. “This award says a lot about the effectiveness of our marketing, the friendliness of our tourism industry in welcoming travelers and working with travel agents as well as Colorado as an extremely desirable destination for visitors.”

The ballot of award nominees was sent to the travel agent readers of TravelPulse.com, Agent@Home magazine and Vacation Agent magazine, representing a combined readership of close to 100,000. Thirty thousand travel agents voted on the winners.

“Our travel agent readers recognized Colorado as the best state tourism bureau,” said James Shillinglaw, editor in chief of travAlliancemedia, publishers of TravelPulse.com, Agent@Home magazine and Vacation.com. “This means travel agents value the information, support and marketing efforts of Colorado so they can better sell the state’s many attractions to their customers.”

For more information or a copy of the 2015 Colorado Official State Vacation Guide, visit www.COLORADO.com or call 1-800-COLORADO.

Friends and community partners of The Rocky Mountain Children’s Health Foundation is holding the third annual Kaleidoscope gala to celebrate the grand opening of Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and brunch on Sunday at The Ritz-Carlton Denver, 1881 Curtis St.

All proceeds from Kaleidoscope 2015 will benefit the Patient and Family Assistance Fund, which provides direct support to pediatric patients and their families throughout the Rocky Mountain region.

Guests that join this weekend event will enjoy an afternoon of pampering at The Ritz-Carlton, Denver; a formal five-course wine paired dinner followed by dancing and a live auction and a champagne brunch the following morning.

For more information, contact Camille Ridley, special events manager at RMCHF, at 303-839-7425 or e-mail Camille.ridley@rmchildren.org; or visit www.rmchildren.org/special-events/kaleidoscope.

Cheryl Preheim, weekday morning anchor at 9News, will emcee the event.

To learn more about RMCHF, visit www.rmchildren.org.

Terminal Bar, located in Denver’s Union Station at 1701 Wynkoop, is offering S’mores to celebrate the beer garden’s new outdoor fire pits. S’mores are available from 2 to 7 p.m. every Saturday for $5 each.

The fire pits will allow guest to enjoy a beverage on the beer garden, while staying warm during the cold winter months. Each S’more will consist of a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers.

Eavesdropping on Facebook: “Slim pickings at Costco today. They were handing out samples of gluten-free Special K (no milk) and canned beets. How am I supposed to make a meal out of that?”

Stanley Marketplace, which will open its doors within the former Stanley Aviation headquarters at 2501 Dallas St. in Aurora later this year, announces the addition of new retailers Tootsies the Nail Shoppe, Kismet and wax. These businesses join the already announced Stanley Beer Hall by Kevin Taylor Restaurant Group, Endorphin and Kindness Yoga.

Comprised of more than 100,000 square feet on 22 acres, the reuse urban marketplace will be home to a spacious community park, indoor/outdoor event venue, office space and a wide array of dining, shopping and recreational options. Joining the ranks of well-known urban marketplaces across the U.S., including San Francisco’s Ferry Building, Seattle’s Melrose Market and New York’s Chelsea Market, Stanley will be home to both well-known and smaller, independent Colorado retailers.

With two locations in Denver’s Berkley and Washington Park neighborhoods, Tootsies the Nail Shoppe offers pedicures and manicures. Kismet, with three other Denver area locations, sells women’s clothing and accessories, as well as home decor. wax., which will open its second Front Range location within Stanley, offers comprehensive waxing services, brow and lash tinting and skincare for men and women. All businesses are independently owned.

Flightline Ventures, a Stapleton-based firm comprised of longtime neighborhood residents who saw a need for a community-based marketplace and sought to fulfill it, is behind the development of Stanley. Partners Mark Shaker, Lorin Ting and Megan Von Wald teamed with the City of Aurora to make the vision a reality. Aurora also recognized the need for a gathering place in the neighborhood, and made the group aware of the building, which had previously been vacant for several years. The marketplace will represent the first stage of redevelopment activity along Westerly Creek, part of Aurora’s long-term plan for urban revitalization.

“It’s just thrilling to watch the pieces of this project fall into place,” said Aurora City Manager Skip Noe. “The anticipation for the Stanley Marketplace continues to build in the community, and we are counting down to opening day.”

Information about additional tenants and programming will continue to be released in the coming months.

“We’re incredibly excited to announce these businesses as the most recent additions to the Stanley family,” Shaker said. “Based on our research, the community definitely sees a need for their services, and we’re happy to welcome them to Stanley.”

Thrilllist.com, that lover of lists, has named “the coolest guy from every state,” and the Colorado honors go to “South Park” co-creator Trey Parker.

“… we thought it’d be fun to figure out who the coolest dude from (defined as born OR raised in) every state actually is. Not the richest or most popular, not the most successful, athletic, or best looking (although, admittedly, all of those qualities come into play), we’re talking about the coolest cat. Period.”

About the Conifer-born Parker (no relation), Thrillist said, “Since Matt Stone is technically from Texas, half the offensive genius behind ‘South Park’ doesn’t even have to share the honor. The voice of Eric Cartman has also given the world classic cinema like “Team America: World Police” and the runaway Broadway hit ‘Book of Mormon’.”

Check out the other cool kids at www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/the-coolest-guy-from-every-state-frank-sinatra-elvis-miles-davis-and-more.

The tireless trivia gatherers at Thrillist.com have released its scientific conclusions to compile “Every state in the USA, ranked by its fast food”.

Colorado ranked No. 8, which depending on your fast food frame of mind, could be good or bad. Here’s how the rankings worked:

“…we ranked every state by the fast-food options available there, concentrating on a variety of factors, including:

1) the big chains (Burger King, KFC, etc.) that began there
2) the regional ones (Whataburger, Culver’s) that also originated there
3) the cool, little chains just in that state
4) the variety of choices and presence of enviable franchises
5) the deliciousness and uniqueness of their options in general

We also created a set of criteria to determine which places were fair game: there had to be counter service, food had to generally take between 1-8 minutes to prepare, and there had to be at least three locations for a place to be considered a chain. Also, no pizza. Stop calling pizza fast food, even if it’s hot and/or ready. Clearly this ranking is based on science, math, technology, and hard facts (and maybe our extremely correct opinions)…”

About Colorado, Thrillist said, “The billion-dollar burrito makers at Chipotle started with one restaurant that caught on and became a phenomenon. But CO also can claim Quiznos, Qdoba, Noodles & Company, and Smashburger as homegrown success stories – as well as local up-and-comer Good Times, known for tasty custard, but sadly not based on a TV show from the ’70s.

Notable fact: Chipotle started a block away from the campus of the (University of Denver).”

For the rest of the rankings, go to www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/united-states-fast-food-rankings-best-fast-food-in-america.

Boulder-based food and travel writer Claire Walter first reported that ChoLon, the upscale Asian-influenced eatery on 16th and Blake streets, was included in the Food Network’s  “Where to Eat Great Dumplings” on her Culinary Colorado blog.

Here’s what Food Network said: “Denver may be better known for snow bunnies than snow peas, but Chef Lon Symensma (who cut his teeth at Buddakan, Spice Market and Jean Georges Shanghai) is making a name for himself at his modern upscale bistro in the lively LoDo district, where he presents wildly creative Southeast Asian-inspired dishes such as bacon ‘thrice fried rice’ carbonara. He’s also managed to turn the traditional Asian soup dumpling on its head. Inspired by the classic French onion soup, Symensma fills his dumplings with sweet caramelized onions, melted Gruyère cheese and a sherry-infused broth that bursts when you bite into them.”

Not to take anything away from ChoLon’s delightful dumplings, but also try Tag restaurant’s take on the French onion soup dumpling and let me know which dumpling does it for you.