An exciting new boutique is opening in downtown Aspen this week. On Wednesday, June 15^th, the designer Nina McLemore is launching a pop-up store at 611 Cooper Avenue.  The company is already receiving tons of positive response before the doors have even opened.  This is her 7^th store – and joins New York, San Francisco, Nantucket, and others.   The company also works with clients in private trunk shows and sells to some better specialty stores. 

The constant festivals and cultural events make Aspen the place to be during summer months, and Fourth of July is no different. The holiday weekend is packed with parties, picnics, fairs, and performances!

These posts about Aspen will help you find the best Aspen restaurants, fun things to do, where to shop in Aspen, where the best Aspen apres ski is, and where you can find the best Aspen skiing, while staying at the Ritz Carlton Club Aspen.

The twin peaks of the Maroon Bells are claimed to be the most photographed mountains in Colorado. The South Maroon Peak and the North Maroon Peak are separated by a third of a mile and are located in the Elk Mountains. The Maroon Bells are about 12 miles southwest of Aspen, bordering Pitkin County and Gunnison County.

  

The Ritz Carlton Aspen Highlands is a Ritz Carlton Residence Club at the most popular ski destination in North America. This exclusive Club is conveniently located at the base of Aspen Highlands Mountain, providing the most seamless ski-in/ski-out experience possible.

It's only proper to pamper yourself when you're luxuriously vacationing in a place like Aspen. Here's some information about the local spas. You can go with your girlfriends, mother, daughter, significant other, or by yourself for a truly relaxing experience....

If you're staying at the Ritz Carlton Residence Club Aspen Highlands, then you already know about the amazing ski-in/ski-out fun to be had at Aspen Highlands Mountain, or the trendy apres ski scene at the Ritz's Willow Creek Bistro.

 Aspen has a variety of Italian restaurants to choose from, from fine dining to pizzerias.

Photo Credit: Mezzaluna Aspen

 Can Aspen have good Mexican food? Aspen locals and tourists have agreed that these Mexican restaurants are pretty delicious.

Sometimes you just want a big, hearty meal right off the slopes. These Aspen restaurants will satiate your appetite and replenish your energy so you can make the most out of your ski vacation!

Aspen is full of places to go grab some food and cocktails after skiing! Here are some of most popular Aspen bars and restaurants with the best apres ski.

If you don't feel like cooking a huge Thanksgiving dinner this year, don't worry - there are  plenty of restaurants in Aspen that serve traditional Thankgsiving meals.

Aspen brewery Company is expanding its Aspen Brewery Tap Room. The new Tap Room will be moving into the space formerly occupied by Social Restaurant on Hopkins Ave. Since there is no kitchen in the new place, it will be a Bring Your Own Lunch situation. Opens by Thanksgiving 2010.

The Red Onion is Aspen's oldest watering hole. During the silver boom of the late 1800s, the Red Onion was a casino and saloon and known as "New Brick." It was remodeled in 1947 and given the name the Red Onion. This famous landmark became one of Aspen's first apres ski and late night entertainment venues - Billie Holiday even performed there once.

Brexie Brasserie is a traditional French Brasserie that serves simple, hearty French food. Brexi is owned and operated by Craig and Samantha Cordts-Pearch, the owners of LuLu Wilson and The Wild Fig. Brexi has a great selection of rare beers, a lively atmosphere with an active bar scene, and a great view. Recommended dishes are the steak au poivre and boeuf bourgignon.

This year's Snowmass Balloon Festival takes place the third weekend of September, from the 17th to the 19th, inSnowmass Village Town Park. This tradition begain in 1975, and is a famous fall event, known for how beautiful the colorful hot air balloons look against the changing fall foliage.

 
Photo by Thiago Tavares

This year marks the 61st season of the Aspen Music Festival and School. Each year, 600 students and 200 artist-faculty come from around the world to play together with Director David Zinman. The Aspen Music Festival consists of 8 weeks, from July 1st to August 22nd, and over 300 performances/events. There will be orchestral concerts, chamber music, opera, contemporary music, master classes, lectures, and kids' programs.

If you're staying at the Ritz Carlton Aspen Highlands and love to play golf, don't forget to buy yourAspen Golf Club passes before April 1st to receive your discount!

Last week, ski fashion designers showed off their new collections at Aspen Fashion Week 2010 and demonstrated how function can meet fashion. Designers were all about high tech, waterproof fabrics that are chic, breathable and don't wrinkle in your suitcase.The week included apres ski fashion shows, screenings at Wheeler Opera House, and fabulous parties. The fashion shows were open to the public, and VIP seating was available for $100. Congrats to all the lucky fashion mavens who got the best seats in the house for this amazing event!

The Elected Officials Transportation Committee (EOTC), comprised of Pitkin County Commissioners and the Aspen City Council, is in charge of the free Aspen bus that runs from Aspen to Snowmass Village and Brush Creek to Woody Creek. They meet on a rotating basis at one of the jurisdictions over which they preside. The free bus costs $600,000 a year to run, funded by a 5% sales tax. This year, the fund was $30,000 short. The bus was declared no fare in 2008, and the EOTC has been funding it every season since. It was supposed to stop running April 11th, until they decided to vote about it.

Thanks to Eat Magazine for doing a piece on the best desserts in Aspen - and to the Aspen Times for bringing it to my attention! Here's the inside scoop on the yummiest treats in town...

Aspen is known around the world for its amazing terrain and luxurious resorts. Once an abandoned mining town, it was resusitated in 1937 when the first small ski area and winter sports center opened in Aspen Mountain, the flagship mountain of Aspen/Snowmass. Now there are deluxe ski areas throughout the four moutains of Aspen Snowmass, which are Aspen Moutain, the Aspen Highlands (home to the Ritz Carlton Aspen), Buttermilk Mountain, andSnowmass.

The Aspen Highlands, the locals' favorite ski spot, is 1,028 acres, has a 3,635 foot drop,119 trails and the longest run is 3.5 miles. Aspen Highlands (home of the Ritz Carlton Aspen) are most famous for the Highland Bowl, a favorite of the expert skier. Most of this terrain is only accessible by foot or snowcat. The best snow is usually found in the G-Zones and B-Zones are the steepest.

  Buttermilk Mountain, home to the ESPN Winter X Games, is actually one of the best learning mountains in the country. It's perfectly groomed, gentle slopes and excellent ski and snowboard school make it perfect for families and beginners. However, Buttermilk Mountain does have something for the experts. The legendary Crazy Train Terrain Park, tellingly named after an Ozzy Osbourne song, boasts a 22-foot superpipe. If you're not at that level quite yet, head over to the Panda Pipe, or the ski/snowboard school's park, S3 Park.

It's almost time for the 28th annual FOOD & WINE Classic event in Aspen! This world premier culinary event boasts some of the most world renowned chefs' cooking demonstrations and tastings. If you're staying at the Ritz Carlton Aspen this June, you could see celebrity chefs, wine experts, and the Grand Tasting Pavilion (pictured below, right), as well as experience seminars about the latest gastronomy trends.

 "Aspen, home to winter luxury, announces that the 2nd Annual Aspen Fashion Week will take place from March 14th to March 19th, after a teaser in 2009.

Aspen Fashion Week is a destination fashion event designed to showcase and market winter resort, ski and technical outerwear in the home and playground of the most stylish (mountain) winter town. With high-energy slopeside runway events, daily après ski fashion shows, in-store presentations, on-mountain events and late night fashionable soirées, 2010 will continue to be the hottest fashion, lifestyle and consumer event to hit the Rockies.

Here’s a list of fabulous shopping locales to frequent while you’re staying at the Ritz-Carlton in Aspen, organized by category:    

"Aspen, CO (January 14, 2010) – Aspen, home to winter luxury, announces that the 2nd Annual Aspen Fashion Week will take place from March 14th to March 19th, after a teaser in 2009.

One of the great things about Aspen is that there are a million things to do. Aspen is most famous for skiing, but there are tons of other outdoorsy things to do as well.