What a whirlwind of an episode! Carly and Lauren dove headfirst into the fascinating world of play, proving once again that being an adult doesn’t mean leaving fun behind.
From New Year’s nostalgia (yes, we’re all still recovering from realizing Y2K was 25 years ago) to picking playful activities in the Springs, this episode served up a delightful buffet of inspiration.
Special guest Acey Holmes, founder of BoredLess and the queen of adult play, schooled us on how play isn’t just fun—it’s a full-on brain workout, complete with dopamine, serotonin, and even a sprinkle of neuroplasticity magic.
This episode is your ultimate guide to turning 2025 into the year of play in Colorado Springs. So channel your inner kid, and get ready to embrace all the fun your city has to offer. Cheers to a playful new year!
Drowning is a leading cause of death for children—but it’s preventable. Little Fins Swim School teaches life-saving water safety through personalized, one-on-one lessons, starting as young as 6 months. From Infant Survival Swimming to fun programs like Aqua Babies and Mermaid Training, they help kids become confident, water-safe swimmers. Woman-owned and family-operated, they’re dedicated to making Colorado kids safer around water.
Visit littlefinsswimschool.com and type in SPRINGSANDTHINGS for 10% off 1st month of any recurring plan or any 10-pack!
AWESOME SPONSOR ALERT: CORE COLLECTIVE
We are thrilled to continue to have Core Collective as a sponsor in the new year!! Pilates is a great way to improve your physical and mental health. Their classes are designed to help you build strength and flexibility, improve your posture and mental health, and reduce stress. On top of that, they're offering one heck of a deal!
If you use the code SPRINGSANDTHINGS, you can get 3 classes for $30. Head to corecollectiveCOS.com to get this offer!
Share the Love: If you enjoyed the episode, leave us a five-star review and share it with a friend!
Chapters
What a whirlwind of an episode! Carly and Lauren dove headfirst into the fascinating world of play, proving once again that being an adult doesn’t mean leaving fun behind.
From New Year’s nostalgia (yes, we’re all still recovering from realizing Y2K was 25 years ago) to picking playful activities in the Springs, this episode served up a delightful buffet of inspiration.
Special guest Acey Holmes, founder of BoredLess and the queen of adult play, schooled us on how play isn’t just fun—it’s a full-on brain workout, complete with dopamine, serotonin, and even a sprinkle of neuroplasticity magic.
This episode is your ultimate guide to turning 2025 into the year of play in Colorado Springs. So channel your inner kid, and get ready to embrace all the fun your city has to offer. Cheers to a playful new year!
Drowning is a leading cause of death for children—but it’s preventable. Little Fins Swim School teaches life-saving water safety through personalized, one-on-one lessons, starting as young as 6 months. From Infant Survival Swimming to fun programs like Aqua Babies and Mermaid Training, they help kids become confident, water-safe swimmers. Woman-owned and family-operated, they’re dedicated to making Colorado kids safer around water.
Visit littlefinsswimschool.com and type in SPRINGSANDTHINGS for 10% off 1st month of any recurring plan or any 10-pack!
AWESOME SPONSOR ALERT: CORE COLLECTIVE
We are thrilled to continue to have Core Collective as a sponsor in the new year!! Pilates is a great way to improve your physical and mental health. Their classes are designed to help you build strength and flexibility, improve your posture and mental health, and reduce stress. On top of that, they're offering one heck of a deal!
If you use the code SPRINGSANDTHINGS, you can get 3 classes for $30. Head to corecollectiveCOS.com to get this offer!
Share the Love: If you enjoyed the episode, leave us a five-star review and share it with a friend!
What is Springs and Things?
Welcome to Springs and Things, the podcast where two close friends spill the tea on all things Colorado Springs! From culture and community to hidden gems and neighborhood lore, we’ve got it covered. Join us as we sip our coffee (or maybe something stronger) and dive into the stories and secrets that make this city so unique. Whether you're a local or just passing through, our fun, light-hearted, and always entertaining take on the quirks, hot topics, and insider tips will keep you coming back for more. Discover what’s really happening in the Springs—beyond the mountains and parks!
Lauren Ferrara:
Carly, the millennium was 25 years ago. Do you remember making your New Year's plans, like, in March?
Carly Ries:
Yes. And I was still we were still kids then, and it was kinda, like, decided by our parents what we were doing. But I remember being excited, but also catching glimpses of the news and, like, the world's gonna end.
Lauren Ferrara:
Okay. This is when I realized I'm a little bit older than you because my parents were not making my New Year's plans at this this juncture in my life.
Carly Ries:
That's fair. Yes. I was still I am a little bit younger, but I was old enough to kinda understand what was going on. But I saw this meme the other day, and I was like, we're closer to we're as close to 22 or 2000 as we are to 2 to 2050 now. Well Oh, well, that's neat.
Carly Ries:
That's wild. So with that, welcome to 2025, and welcome to Springs and Things, the podcast where 2 close friends spill the tea on all things Colorado Springs From culture and community to hidden gems and neighborhood lore, we've got it covered. I am Carly Reiss.
Lauren Ferrara:
And I'm Lauren Ferrara. We'll sip our coffee and dive into the stories and secrets that make this city so unique. So whether you're a local or you're just passing through, we hope our fun, lighthearted, and entertaining take keeps you coming back for more. So, Lauren, last week, you said your word of the year is play. Yes.
Lauren Ferrara:
And I've got all kinds of things scheduled in my calendar because play is supposed to be scheduled.
Carly Ries:
That is my love language, putting things in calendars. So you
Speaker 3:
just said the
Carly Ries:
right thing.
Lauren Ferrara:
Thank you.
Carly Ries:
I really wanna talk about thing ways that we find play in Colorado Springs. But before we get into our kind of analysis of the springs in place as adults, we had a guest on named AC Holmes. She is the founder of Boardless, and, literally, her profession is to help adults play. She mainly focuses on workforce. But, man, she just I mean, what a cool job to remind people that how to remind people how important play is, not just as a kid and just great for your well-being.
Carly Ries:
So without further ado, let's hear hear from AC Holmes. Oh my gosh. AC, I saw you present at mindful mornings, gosh, over a month ago now, and I was like, done. I need to get her on this this call. You are the coolest and what you do is cool, and we are just so happy to have you on the show.
Carly Ries:
Ah, thank you
Speaker 3:
for having me. I'm excited.
Carly Ries:
Yes. Okay. Well, so here's the thing. Not that we would typically be like, oh, so let's ask traditional icebreaker questions. If you were an animal that started with your first name, like, first letter of your name, what would you be?
Carly Ries:
We're not doing that. You are kind of the anti icebreaker gal. Like, why go with the regular fluff? You have such interesting questions on your website. So I say, let's start with 2 of those.
Carly Ries:
Lauren, we may even share some of ours on this. So I hope so. Here's the ice break the first ice icebreaker. If you could swap lives with anyone for a day, who would it be?
Speaker 3:
This is I wouldn't.
Carly Ries:
What? Really? I wouldn't
Speaker 3:
no. I don't know. Oh, you know what? Okay. Yeah.
Speaker 3:
You're right. Just for a day, an NFL player. I love I love football, and I am I'm fascinated by it. But, I mean, we'll talk about this in a little bit, but I'm fascinated by team culture in general. And I actually think a lot of that professionally stemmed from my fascination with we're going real deep.
Speaker 3:
Sorry. I I have ADHD, and I'm a little bit, so whimsically I have a whimsical play identity, and that means we go deep into things. So here we go. Are you ready? In the early 2000, I was obsessed with the Carolina Panthers locker room.
Speaker 3:
Like, I was a fan of the team, but the way they interacted off the field with each other, I lived in Charlotte at the time, It absolutely fascinated me, and I have no insight other than what media shares. So I would love to actually be inside and see what it's really, really like to be. I mean, that's a huge team. 52 players. How do they really know each other?
Speaker 3:
Like, who's friends with who and why? And have they interact with the coaches? Yeah. That would be that's what
Carly Ries:
I would do. Well, Lauren, that's a a tough act to follow. That's a pretty unique person you'd wanna be. So, Lauren, who would you switch places with?
Lauren Ferrara:
Sara Blakely. The founder of Spanx? Oh. I just think she's badass, and she's, yeah, she's awesome. She's awesome to her staff and to her people and to her friends.
Lauren Ferrara:
She's had the same a lot of the same friends since she was really young, and I'm just very inspired by who she is. It'd be Sarah.
Speaker 3:
That's cool. That would be cool to see a day in her life.
Carly Ries:
Yeah. Yeah. Well played. I feel like I have a superficial one and then a deep one. And so I feel like I need to share both since you just went pre you guys both went pretty deep.
Carly Ries:
Superficial, Kelly Ripa. I want my own talk show. I wanna interview people. I just think she that'd be there. I don't wanna wanna live in New York, but if I could do it here, putting it out there, everybody.
Carly Ries:
Interesting. And then and then one of my kids. Like, wouldn't it be interesting to, like, see do, like, do a freaky Friday situation?
Speaker 3:
Yeah. That would be yeah.
Carly Ries:
And just be like that. Am I doing okay? Do they think I'm doing like, what? Yeah. Like, let's see it from their eyes.
Carly Ries:
Do I like that one? Hey. Thanks. Yeah. I thought about that literally 20 minutes ago when I was driving over here.
Carly Ries:
I love it. This is super playful. I feel like I can actually go down a whole list of questions, and that could be an entire episode of these non icebreaker icebreaker classes. You're right. But, Acy, you are all about play, but can you define play in your term?
Speaker 3:
Play is, first of all, personal. It is very different for everyone. Play is beneficial just at its core the way it works in our body and our brain. We get benefit from it. Play brings us joy.
Speaker 3:
That's because of the neurochemicals that happen when we play. Play is, well, it needs to be whatever the play is needs to be optional for you. So forced fun is never fun, and you have to be like, okay, with participating in whatever the play is. So optional is there. Play needs to be iterative, so you have to be able to change it up at least
Carly Ries:
a little
Speaker 3:
bit each time. Play needs to be actively engaging, and that can be physically active but cognitively or mentally is also appropriate. Play needs to be seemingly purposeless. There's a lot of really cool outcomes that we can get from all sorts of play. I mean, if you think about we were just talking about football, you can win actual awards and make actual money playing.
Speaker 3:
But for it to be play for the sake of the benefits that we're gonna get from it, we have to be playing for the sake of the play itself. It can't be for the outcomes, which is closely linked to play needs to be intrinsically motivating. So not only do we have to want to do it and opt in and doing it for the sake of itself, it has to actually mean something to us at, like, because of who we are. And sometimes that's really obvious. It might be like a family tradition or something play that we used to do.
Speaker 3:
Skiing is actually kinda special to me in that way. And a lot of times, we don't really know, because I mean, well, a whole another conversation, but, like, how well do you really know yourself? But intrinsically motivating, like, connected to kind of, like, your your core, who you are at your at your being. And, actually, I think I got 8. I always stopped counting, and that's
Carly Ries:
why I don't count. You did. I also stopped counting, but that seemed like a really good list.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. Yeah. So that's a really long definition of play.
Lauren Ferrara:
So I'm I'm thinking about, like, just, I'm not I feel like I'm not good at playing even with my kids. Like, I can set up all the materials, and then I'm not a on the floor playing with trains kinda gal. So Yeah. For, like, an adult who goes, you know, drive to their job, they come back and make dinner and maybe get a, you know, a workout class in, like, what is a way to infuse a little play? Something easy to start with to kinda dip your toe in this this play play water.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. So first, I wanna acknowledge that that statement is is way more common, especially from working moms, but all moms, all caregivers, than we than we think because it's social mom's social media, mom talk, whatever you wanna call it these days is full of, like, here's ideas to play with your kids. There's some really fascinating research about the percentage of time the modern caregiver, female usually, spends with their child is just, like, exponentially higher than it was in the seventies eighties. And why is that? There's a lot of who many, many reasons.
Speaker 3:
But what it comes down to is that, first of all, play for adults will generally not be the same as playing with your children. Glennon Doyle, if you Glennon and Abby Wambach, one of their podcasts, she they were talking about play, and Glennon interrupted someone to say, playing with your children is not play. It is work. And it is. It's an act of caregiving.
Speaker 3:
It's wonderful. For them, it has all the benefits. Absolutely. But for us, no. So first of all, I encourage moms not to only lean into playing with their children is what play can be and also not be hard on yourself because there are 4 personal play identities.
Speaker 3:
So I mentioned mine is, whimsical. I also identify as intellectual. So there's 4, whimsical, intellectual, relational, and, lighthearted. And lighthearted is what people usually think of when they hear the word playful. Like, oh, you're playful?
Speaker 3:
Oh, well, you're not worried about consequence and you're good at jokes and and you're maybe we'll just go bounce in the soft grass and frolicking. And we're very silly and we might wear a clown nose while we do it. And then we all go to improv at the end of the day together. And that's what people think. That's play.
Speaker 3:
Okay. Let's go play. That's only 1. One of 4 types of ways to play. And so when we think of, I don't wanna be on the floor pretending to be a princess with my kids.
Speaker 3:
Right? Like that, I have stuff to do. And that's so common, and it is okay. And anyone who's hearing yourself in that, like, give yourself grace right now. Now ideas for what to do instead, is mostly trying to detach from the word play as we know it.
Speaker 3:
If they play okay. Go have fun. Alright. What's fun? I don't know.
Speaker 3:
I have things to do. Why am I worried about what's fun? Okay. Play a game. Well, I do not have time to join a pickleball league or buy a guitar and start taking lessons.
Speaker 3:
Like, what is it? So my favorite definition that does exist scientifically and I will quote is the definition of playfulness. That is the ability to reframe a situation to be interesting, entertaining, or stimulating, period. The word fun is not in the definition of playfulness. The word silly is not in the definition of playfulness.
Speaker 3:
Interesting, entertaining, or stimulating. And so thinking about what's interesting to you, then it's easy to see that things are really personal. Right? Like, just comes down to what shows do we watch. That show is interesting to me.
Speaker 3:
It's not interesting to you, and that's fine. Entertaining, same thing. And then stimulating, just making something stimulating doesn't necessarily have to be like boisterous laughter joyful. Right? But we're engaged because we want to be and we are getting fulfillment from it.
Speaker 3:
So thinking about that we can make any situation that way and then that's how we incorporate play into all the little pieces of life.
Lauren Ferrara:
So can you add a couple of ideas of, like, specifics? Like, something you can do in the next 10 minutes that is playful. And it in any of those categories of types of play.
Speaker 3:
So one of my favorite ones is to change words to songs for whatever reason. One time I was doing I've completely ruined a couple of my son's favorite songs because I put math formulas to them to make studying for math more entertaining for me. It was not more entertaining for him. He kind of hated it, but it was entertaining for me. So that was a way I made it playful.
Speaker 3:
I was talking to someone yesterday who said that they make up songs for their dog when they take them on a walk. Like, they're just telling their dog about the life around them, and they're doing it in a song way.
Lauren Ferrara:
Carly Simon's, You're So Vain. I was at an ice cream store yesterday, and You're So Vain. Nobody was there except me and my kids, and You're So Vain came on the radio. And I was like, oh, and so we're just like dancing, spinning, singing. My kids are mortified, but I'm like,
Carly Ries:
of course. Yep. No. It's funny because putting a putting a spin on it with, like, song and everything, I was watching this segment a 1000000 years ago. I forgot who it was with.
Carly Ries:
But they were saying that there was someone trying to study US history. Reading the textbook wasn't resonating. Yeah. He went to Hamilton Oh, yeah. And just got so many questions right because he could remember the lyrics, and it just kind of put some, pizzazz to that education.
Carly Ries:
Absolutely. Yeah. Well, so any others it was funny because my curveball question was gonna be so you're stuck in traffic in I 25. What do you do? But you just said it.
Speaker 3:
You can make yeah. Make up words to songs, thing like waiting in a doctor's office or something. One that I know is fairly common that maybe people don't like to talk out loud, but as long as you're not doing it judgmentally or cruelly, you can make up stories about people. So that let's say we're at the vet, not the doctor's side. That could get morbid.
Speaker 3:
We're at the vet and this person, they have 3 ferrets and just I don't know. What what's this how did they first get the ferret? How did they decide ferrets are gonna be my pet? And you can make up that story in your head. So you might be that that kind of person who might enjoy that might be like a writer sort of traditionally.
Speaker 3:
So that's what you could do for, like, waiting in the office. Or if you're learning a new language, pick up the magazine and just randomly see how many words you could translate.
Lauren Ferrara:
I like the making up stories about people. I feel like I kinda do that anyway in my head. Yeah.
Carly Ries:
Yeah. Well, and you know what I like about these recommendations? You're waiting in the doctor's office. You're or the vet's office. Not once did you say you whip out your phone.
Carly Ries:
You whip out your iPad. Yep. These are things we used to do back in the day when we were just we would let ourselves be bored. Yep. Exactly.
Carly Ries:
And let our wings wander. And we just and I guarantee the vast majority of the people listening to this episode, they look at their phones while they're waiting in the doctor. Absolutely.
Speaker 3:
So when I started doing some of this work, one of the services that I provide is conference play breaks for, like, a summit. So if people are having a day long event, especially if it's all in the same room, I did some market research and asked attendees of all different types of conferences and everything. I said, what do you do during the scheduled breaks? And had all kinds of answers. It was go to the bathroom, get something to eat, check my email, stretch, find someone to talk to.
Speaker 3:
I mean, it was I I think I had 20 options. One of the options was stand up and look around. That was the most chosen thing. You're at an all day conference. You have 15 minutes and most people just stand up and look around.
Speaker 3:
What? I was like, that's not I use no. We gotta fix that. The second one was, of course, scroll on my phone.
Carly Ries:
Of course.
Speaker 3:
But yeah.
Carly Ries:
Easy. Do you why is all of this important? You said something smart earlier. Neuro to joy. I was like, what?
Carly Ries:
Words. What, why why is this important? Why is what you do so beneficial for people?
Speaker 3:
Yeah. So I started doing it because I realized there was this huge disconnect in the conversations that people would have. Like, play is important for learning. Yes. For kids.
Speaker 3:
No. Play is important for learning. Okay. Play is important for development. Yes.
Speaker 3:
For kids. No. It's a period. Play is important for development. And for a long time so my, again, my background is clinical educational.
Speaker 3:
We were taught that when studying brain development, that our brains, you know, obviously mature. Right? It's physically getting bigger in our heads as we're growing, and it's changing, and it's making new neurons and pathways and synapses and all this kind of stuff. And that this kind of like peaked in our mid twenties. Like that's when we became an adult and that's what triggered it was like the finished development of our prefrontal cortex.
Speaker 3:
That's like the last part of our brain that matures. And we were taught for a long time, scientists, clinical providers, practitioners believed that it was like kinda downhill from there. Like, you just that your brain had done what it can do and now you are the person you are and then you just get older and things deteriorate as we age. Turns out I was very wrong, and our brains have the capacity to continue to learn and grow and develop and change across our entire lifespan aside from disease and disorder. Excuse me.
Speaker 3:
But a typically developing brain can change up until our absolute elder days. And the way that is done is through neurochemicals like dopamine and serotonin and endorphins. They all play a role in brain development. And then there's also a neurochemical called brain derived neurotrophic factors, which is the main chemical that's responsible for neuroplasticity, which is that ability of our brain to change and learn and grow neuroplasticity. And turns out we get, dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and the end of mind, and these brain derived neurotrophic factors sort of, most easily and, in the very right amounts when we play even as adults.
Speaker 3:
So when adults are playing, they're triggering the release of those neurochemicals. So not so at at its core, play helps our brain develop and stay healthy across our lifespan.
Lauren Ferrara:
There's this cute little lady. Did you see the viral video of this little old lady at a 5 k or a 10 k or something holding a sign that says, run if you think I'm sexy? Yeah. As she was I was like, oh, she's playing. Oh, yeah.
Lauren Ferrara:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, that makes sense.
Speaker 3:
So, so what's your what's your favorite playful activity in Colorado Springs that most locals might not know about? Most museums, and there's some really cool ones in Colorado Springs, the pioneer museum and the Paralympic museums, all those. But they'll have maybe not so obvious, but, like, if you go ask a a staff member or a docent or something, like, some of them will have scavenger hunts. Some of them will have sort of not like a secret menu, but they'll have these, like, sort of interactive, what's the word I want? Or the the not a gallery.
Speaker 3:
What are the things called at museums? Exhibits? Exhibits. Thank you.
Carly Ries:
Thank you.
Speaker 3:
Like, interactive exhibition, like, throughout the whole thing. So instead of just going and wandering around sort of aimlessly, there's usually something in place where you can, like, follow along and it it'll have trivia or a scavenger hunt kind of aspect, that kind of thing. So I always recommend asking at museums.
Lauren Ferrara:
Hey, AC, tell us about board list and where companies and individuals can learn more.
Speaker 3:
So I am my own show. It's just me. I'm I'm one woman, female solopreneur, but you can find kind of everywhere, quite active on LinkedIn. I'm the only AC Homes, I think, there. Boardless is the company name.
Speaker 3:
My website is www.playfulworkdesign dotcom. That's my attempt at SEO. Nobody's really looking my stuff up yet, but we're gonna get there. We're gonna change the world. We're gonna get people playing at work.
Speaker 3:
You already are
Lauren Ferrara:
changing the world. I'm making a play because of this conversation. This is my, where I always do a word for the year, and play is gonna be my my word for 2025. And I already have some ideas on how I'm going to implement play. Thanks to you.
Lauren Ferrara:
That's amazing.
Speaker 3:
I love it. That is very cool.
Carly Ries:
I might copy me.
Lauren Ferrara:
Copy me.
Speaker 3:
We'll go together. It'll be so fun. I know a couple companies who have actually changed some not because of me, just in general, but I just think it's cool. Like, company values are starting to show up as playful and and fun and and that sort of thing. And so but, I mean, part of my hope with my goal is that I'm helping them understand why they're choosing that and why people are, like, sort of turning the page and being like, yes.
Speaker 3:
Maybe we should be playing the work to help them understand the neuroscience and the true deep benefit of it all. But, yeah, I'm on Instagram. Are you know, there and LinkedIn and the basic stuff and and my email. If you wanna share that, I'm happy to, you know, slap it on that.
Carly Ries:
We can put it in the show notes. Easy, thank you so so much for coming out today. This has been a blast, and don't be a stranger.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. Thank you for having me.
Carly Ries:
Can't wait to dive into our stuff. But before we do, Lauren, I have an announcement.
Lauren Ferrara:
Tell us.
Carly Ries:
We have a new sponsor.
Lauren Ferrara:
We still
Carly Ries:
have our collective crew, which we're gonna talk about in a second, but Little Fins swim school is now partnering with us. I just adore them. For people that don't know, Little Fins is, like I just said, a swim school. And we wanted to partner with them because not Colorado kids do not grow up around water. They don't have backyard pools.
Carly Ries:
I mean, of course, some people do, but it's just not as common as in warmer weather places. And little fins, they have so many offers. They have infant survival. They have just so many things. We have done infant survival.
Carly Ries:
And Lauren, it it's one of those things they actually throw your baby into the pool.
Lauren Ferrara:
I know. I've heard all about it. I like but stops a little bit when I hear that part. But but for good reason, though. Right?
Carly Ries:
For good reason. Basically, if your kid can crawl, if your baby can crawl, they are ready for infant survival. Wow. Yeah. And they do it in such a warm and caring way.
Carly Ries:
I am so close to my kids' swim teacher. In fact, the first few few minutes of our lessons, it's usually us just catching up and then we get into the swim stuff because they just they kinda become an extension of your family and they have a way of making you feel so comfortable with them considering they're flowing throwing your baby's nose. No. It's amazing. And they're all about swim safety, getting those kiddos ready.
Carly Ries:
Drowning is the number two cause of death for kids. And they're just like, it doesn't need to be that way. And we want to make sure we're give doing our part in preventing that from happening. So they're, they have provided a code for us, springs and things, all caps, no spaces, and are offering 10% off the 1st month of any recurring plan or any 10 pack. So just go to littlefins swim school dot com and type in the promo code, and, they are waiting for you with open arms.
Carly Ries:
They're they're just such a great great swim school. They have 2 locations, one off of Garden of the Gods, one off of Union. Please check it out. It is one of the best decisions we have made as a family.
Lauren Ferrara:
Well, I love what you said about kids in Colorado not growing up around water because I think of my childhood in Texas, everybody had a pool. So everybody learned how to swim very, very young. I have no memory of learning how to swim. But in Colorado, you can almost trick yourself into thinking it's not super necessary when your kids are young because, like, oh, we're not near a pool, but you're you're near water all the time. You're near rivers and lakes and bathtubs, and it it is so important to do this when they're young.
Carly Ries:
And now is the perfect time. Make sure they can swim by the summer. So get some swim lessons right now so you can have a fun little family day at the pool. Come Memorial Day. Anyway, that's for June.
Lauren Ferrara:
We also have a little, shout out for Core Collective, the reformer Pilates studio. They have a ton of classes each day in downtown Colorado Springs, and it's all designed to help you build strength and flexibility, improve your posture, your mental health, and, of course, reduce stress, which everybody needs. And it's just this welcoming, supportive group of people where you feel comfortable challenging yourself and trying new things, and you can check them out at corecollectivecos.com.
Carly Ries:
Love it. Love love love. Well, both of those, swimming could be playing and, Pilates can absolutely play.
Lauren Ferrara:
I I told you not. It is play for me. I know that sounds cheesy because it's a workout, but I do. Like, it's it's fun.
Carly Ries:
It's so fun. Well, Lauren, what are some other places in town that you go to play? How do you get that Am I gonna play in 2025?
Lauren Ferrara:
How is that gonna be my word of the year? So I just signed up for tango classes. I used to tango years ago, like, a long time ago, circa the millennium. No. A little little after that, but I just think it is such a fun, sexy dance and I haven't done it in forever.
Lauren Ferrara:
I haven't done it since I've been married. So my husband doesn't know this yet, but I signed us up for tango gato classes. We're doing a little 4 week beginner series, and then we can move on to the intermediate series. Lauren, speaking of your
Carly Ries:
husband, can I just tell you that thanks to our episode last week, my husband wants to cancel Amazon Prime?
Lauren Ferrara:
You should. Oh my gosh. It has been okay. I have a lot of thoughts on that. That could be a whole episode.
Lauren Ferrara:
But I it's taught me patience in a cool way that I'm like, oh, I don't actually need, you know, that face device in 2 days. I can wait a week. Like or just and, like, things that you still get free shipping if you hit up $35. So things just sit on my cart until I have $35 worth of things, and then they ship for free. And though they don't come in 2 days, there's nothing I really need in 2 days, I've realized.
Carly Ries:
And you can go to a local store if you
Lauren Ferrara:
need it. Yes. So I I told you this, or I think I told our viewers this too. But I know somebody who their their resolution was only to buy things in person.
Carly Ries:
So no grocery
Lauren Ferrara:
delivery. No Amazon. And they actually went into stores and bought things from real people. Great.
Carly Ries:
And that could be a full play. Go exploring. It's like an adventure. Yes. So what other what else are you doing besides the
Lauren Ferrara:
So I also signed up for a class at the Beam School of Art, called whimsical clay boxes. But it's just the name sounds fun to me. And I've never taken a I've done a lot of art classes there, but never a clay class. So pretty psyched about that. And I just booked a girl ski trip and put that on the calendar.
Lauren Ferrara:
Just just girlfriends, no kids, just the 3 of us, midweek for, like, just 2 days.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. That sounds
Carly Ries:
great. In Colorado?
Lauren Ferrara:
What what? In Colorado? Yes. Just here in, up in, Frisco.
Carly Ries:
Oh, speaking of Frisco, we are actually recording this from Frisco because both families are here right now. But we went tubing yesterday, and talk about a rush. You guys, if you've never been tubing, you don't need to go up to the mountains. Just find a cool hill near your house.
Lauren Ferrara:
Yeah. Bear with me.
Carly Ries:
I haven't laughed that hard. The the verdict is still out on if I had more fun or if my kid had more fun.
Lauren Ferrara:
Are you a little last time I went soup tubing, and it's been a while, I was embarrassingly sore. Well, I Are you sore?
Carly Ries:
Well, I'm moving now that you're saying that, I'm moving my arms and I didn't know why I was sore. I thought it was because of, like, carrying a bunch of stuff, but you're probably right. I didn't carry a bunch of stuff. Oh, yeah. Well, those sound like such good ways to play.
Carly Ries:
I I also, I keep saying I I talked to a few episodes a few episodes ago about the Ute, that restaurant on city at City Rock.
Speaker 3:
Mhmm.
Carly Ries:
City Rock itself, I was so intimidated at first when I went in there because you think you're gonna see all these really crazy rock climbing people, which you do. Mhmm. You also see newbies and beginners, and they have a really cool play area for kids. Oh my gosh. The ARRI, if you haven't checked it out, go to City Rock's website and they they have place that the kids could play and they have lessons for the kids.
Carly Ries:
You could even go do your own thing, but I want to get more into rock climbing this year. But I also have you done escape rooms?
Lauren Ferrara:
I did Monopoly Lifesize at the Denver Center For Performing Arts, and it was kind of like an escape room. So every block you went on, you'd have to go and figure out this puzzle or something before you came back out. But that's the closest thing to an escape room I've done. I get very frustrated very easily.
Carly Ries:
Well, so here's what's funny. I'm the kind I have found this out about myself. It's a huge character flaw. But, like, I won't train for something, and I'll get frustrated because I didn't do well in the race. Or, like, I'm a non if I'm not in good shape and I'm last on a hike, I'm like, I I did the color run over a decade ago with with my husband and some friends.
Carly Ries:
And I was crying during the run even though I didn't train at all for this run. So it's the most ridiculous thing because I I feel like I should be good at something even though I don't prep for it. And I'm kinda like that with not that you can prepare for escape rooms, but I always get so flustered. And it's like, you didn't there's no way to prepare for this. Why are you getting so into this right now?
Carly Ries:
So I want to do more escape rooms but keep the fun. I actually got a a something for my husband and I to do at home. He loves escape rooms. He loves scavenger hunts. If he won the lottery tomorrow, he'd be a treasure hunter.
Carly Ries:
I got I got a home delivery escape room set for the next 6 months where you can do escape from the home. So we'll see how that goes. But that just sounds like fun play.
Lauren Ferrara:
That is super cool. So if you get, like, truly, truly stuck where you can't figure it out, do you are you just stuck? In the home in
Carly Ries:
the home one, I'd assume you can walk out of your house.
Lauren Ferrara:
Oh, no. No. But, like, in the real ones or not the real ones.
Carly Ries:
No. No. No. I mean, they just have a timer if you don't beat it by the time. It's like, what happens if you
Lauren Ferrara:
don't figure it out?
Carly Ries:
Well, how You're going against the clock. So you're like, come on. Because then you when you get into that headspace where if you don't escape on time, it really is like you'll get stuck in there even though you can walk out of the room. The other thing, Lauren, have you tried Whirlyball?
Lauren Ferrara:
Nope. Once again, you are much more good at you are more fun than me. You are better at playing than I am.
Carly Ries:
So I haven't been to Whirlyball, but it is it's been on my list for so long. It's a game that combines basketball, lacrosse, and hockey, and you're on a bumper car the whole time.
Lauren Ferrara:
Oh my gosh. That sounds amazing.
Carly Ries:
Sounds so fun. And Whirlyball, there is a facility here in Colorado Springs, And so I really wanna try that and get back to my I I love sports. I love playing sports and I I think that'd be really fun way to connect with the inner child. And then the last one is just ziplining. There are a lot of places in the springs Oh.
Carly Ries:
You can go. I mean, you've we've talked about Cave of the Winds and that's on your list. Mhmm. They have ziplining. There's just if you wanna go down to Royal Gorge, there's just it it's accessible and it's close.
Carly Ries:
So, I want that little rush of ziplining. But those
Lauren Ferrara:
are done that in a long time. I did it in Las Vegas when I lived there years ago, and that was my like, when I moved out of Las Vegas, it was my last hurrah. Like, the last fun things I did, I went to my favorite restaurants, went to do my favorite things, and I went ziplining.
Carly Ries:
So great. I just there's there's just so many things we can be doing. You just have to think outside the box. And I wanna go back to what you said last week where if you have time, you fill it usually with to do list or work or chores or whatever. And it's like you just have to remind yourself it's okay to to take an afternoon to play.
Carly Ries:
And like Casey said, there are so many benefits. But what's funny is our picks of the week kind of revolve around this as well. Can I kick it off? Kick it off. Okay.
Carly Ries:
So my pick of the week, have you been to the 50 niner?
Lauren Ferrara:
I have. It was so fun. It's been a while. That's over on Colorado Avenue. Right?
Carly Ries:
Yes. So for people that don't know, the 50 niner is a hidden Speakeasy in the back of the Dice Guys game store. And to carry on the whole game store theme, they have 100 they have over they have 100 of games in their library that you can choose from. And so you can sit, sip, they say you can sip sip, munch, the old fashioned way and play those board games, but but they also have events. So on Saturday, January 11th, they are hosting Colorado Springs' 1st late night talk show to a live studio audience.
Carly Ries:
You'll go join them for a live studio recording of a one of a kind multimedia comedy, music, and art show, and basically explore the local comedy and music scene like you never had before. So it's a live recording of a late night talk show in Colorado Springs and they are hosting it, which is so cool. I would recommend I'd recommend going to the 50 niners Facebook page. It's their top post, and you can find an Eventbrite link to get tickets there.
Lauren Ferrara:
So my pick of the week is kind of kind of play, kind of work. It's a vision board workshop over at 3 Cubed Coworking on East Pikes Peak Avenue. Carly, are you ready for my news voice? Always. Your news voice.
Lauren Ferrara:
We're gonna create vision boards using magazines, art supplies, and your imagination. Please bring a board and any special items or photos you'd like to include on that board. Light refreshments will be served, and you can start the new year by setting intentions in a creative and supportive environment. You need to RSVP to this one to Alzaira, and we'll put that number in the show notes.
Carly Ries:
And, Lauren, that's when you're supposed to say, and back to you in the studio, Carly.
Lauren Ferrara:
You're right. It's been a while, Carly. But if you like this episode, if you know somebody who needs to play a little more in their life, we hope you share it with your friends, and we hope you write us a review.
Carly Ries:
We'd so appreciate it. See you next time on Springs and Things. Happy 2025.