Sensi Colorado December 2021

CANNABUTTER DO IT? Elevate your dessert game

C O LO R A D O DECEMBER 2021

GARDEN OF WEEDEN Area growers use back-to-nature regenerative practices

WOKE, NOT WASTED All about the buzz-free buzz

HO HO…OH NO!

Last-minute gift guide

Thank You! TO OUR INCREDIBLE FAMILY & COMMUNITY

FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO! TO OUR CUSTOMERS

I want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU. I appreciate your support during these uncertain times while we work to keep our stores safe, clean, shelves stocked, and open. The Maggie’s Family has been humbled by the kindness you continue to show us, and more importantly, to each other.

TO OUR ASSOCIATES

I am astonished with your operational excellence and grateful for you, you are the real heroes in this story! Your commitment to Maggie’s Farm and our communities is absolutely inspiring. From our Support Staff to our Farmers and all of our Retail Associates working on the front lines, we couldn’t do what we do without you, THANK YOU. After 10 great years in business, we know we can get through any challenge together.

Bill Conkling & Your Maggie’s Farm Family

MANITOU & PUEBLO EAST

ARE NOW SERVING

MEDICAL PATIENTS

North Colorado Springs (Med.) | Manitou Springs (Rec. & Med.) | S. Colorado Springs (Med.) Cañon City (Med.) | Pueblo East (Rec. & Med.) | Pueblo North (Rec.) | Pueblo West (Rec. & Med.)

CLEAN GREEN | 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 COLORADO’S ORIGINAL SUN-GROWN CANNABIS | MOST AWARDED DISPENSARY IN SOUTHERN COLORADO ONLINE ORDERING AVAILABLE!

www.maggiesfarmmarijuana.com |

@maggiesfarmmjcolorado |

@MaggiesFarmMJ

COLORADO SENSI MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2021

sensimediagroup @sensimagazine @sensimag

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FEATURES

36

48

The Old-school Future Hava Gardens is taking soil science back to nature and planting the seeds of a sustainable future with high-quality cannabis.

Woke Not Wasted

They say they’re not alcoholics, and they’re certainly not anonymous.

What is sober curious—and can sobriety really be fluid?

DEPARTMENTS

17 EDITOR’S NOTE 28 THE LIFE Contributing to your health and happiness 18 THE BUZZ PIE IN THE SKY This News, tips, and tidbits

infused pie crust to keep you in the loop recipe will elevate your BEYOND ORGANIC Andre dessert game.

Houssney builds a total CONTAINING THE TROPICS lifestyle on his back-toEasy-breezy housethe-roots farm. plants add an instant PEAK EDIBLES 14er island vibe.

Gummies elevates the Colorado scene.

THE SCENE ÄKATA This Carbondale company uses ice water Hot happenings and hip hangouts around town for its extracts.

SENSI’S LAST-MINUTE GIFT DEEP SLEEP Wana’s GUIDE Gifts so good new gummy formula they’ll think you spent will send you off to a year planning them. dreamland.

YOGA BUZZ Twisted Sister combines cannabis THE END and asana practice.

SheFly is making pants PERFECT PIZZA Crested that make it easy for Butte’s Secret Stash women to pee on the go. serves the ultimate pie.

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ON THE COVER

Hava Gardens regenerative agriculture practices produce better buds.

See page 36.

PHOTO BY ALENARBUZ VIA ADOBE STOCK

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ADVISORY BOARD

NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD NCRMA Risk Management COLORADO Agricor Laboratories Testing Lab Aspen Cannabis Insurance Insurance Services Canyon Cultivation Microdosing Cartology Corporation Cartridge Filling Equipment + Hardware Colorado Cannabis Company THC Coffee Concentrate Supply Co. Recreational Concentrates Emerald Construction Construction Green Edge Trimmers Trimmers Higher Grade Boutique Cannabis Hybrid Payroll Staffing & HR Benefits Jupiter Research Inhalation Hardware Lab Society Extraction Expert + Lab Supplies marQaha Sublinguals + Beverages Monte Fiore Farms Recreational Cultivation Northern Standard History of Cannabis PotGuide Cannabis Culture Source CO Wholesale Consulting Terrapin Care Station Recreational Dispensary Toast Mindful Consumption Uleva Hemp Products Wana Brands Edibles Witlon Inc. Payroll Processing

MICHIGAN Aronoff Law (Craig Aronoff) Licensing Law Firm Cannabis Counsel Cannabis Law Firm Etz Chaim Attestations Grapp Lerash Accounting/CPA Services Great Lakes Natural Remedies Lakeshore: Provisioning Center Kush Design Studio Cannabis Facility Design & Build MRB Solutions Human Resources Northern Specialty Health Upper Peninsula: Provisioning Center Oh, Hello Branding Promotional Marketing Perry & Drummy Inc. Commercial Insurance Pure West Compassion Club Caregiver Connection & Network Rair Medical Flower Solutions by Dr. Dave West Michigan: Hemp CBD Helping Friendly Hemp Company Hemp Topicals NEVADA Eden Water Technologies Water System Technologies Green Leaf Money Canna Business Finanacing GreenHouse Payment Solutions Payment Processing Ideal Business Partners Corporate Law & Finance Jupiter Research Inhalatation Hardware Matrix NV Premium Live Resin Red Rock Fertility Fertility Doctor Rokin Vapes Vape Technology This Stuff Is Good For You CBD Bath and Body

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 365 Recreational Cannabis Dispensary: Recreational, Santa Rosa Green Unicorn Farms CBD Hemp Flower Humboldt Grow Tech Smart Ag Tech Red Door Remedies Dispensary: Cloverdale Southern Humboldt Royal Cannabis Company Mixed Light Farming Sonoma Patient Group Dispensary: Santa Rosa Strictly Topical Inc./Sweet ReLeaf Pain Relief Topicals Uleva Hemp Products Vaper Tip Vape Supply & Consulting Wana Brands Edible Gummies SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Accucanna LLC Desert Hot Springs: Dispensary EventHI Events Flourish Software Distribution Management Helmand Valley Growers Company Medical Infrastructure Specialist HUB International Insurance Hybrid Payroll / Ms. Mary Staffing Staffing & HR Benefits Ikänik Farms Cannabis Distribution Red Rock Fertility Fertility Doctor Wana Brands Edible Gummies Witlon Payroll

NEW ENGLAND Corners Packaging Packaging Green Goddess Supply Personal Homegrown Biochamber The Holistic Center Medical Marijuana Evaluations Revolutionary Clinics Medical Dispensary Royal Gold Soil Tess Woods Public Relations Public Relations Vantage Builders Construction

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AN ALL-IN-ONE FOR THOSE ON THE GO

A Division of T I L T H O L D I N G S

J U PI T E RR E S E A R C H . C O M

EDITORIAL

Stephanie Wilson Co-Founder + Editor in Chief stephanie.wilson@sensimag.com Doug Schnitzspahn Executive Editor Tracy Ross Managing Editor, Michigan Emilie-Noelle Provost Managing Editor, New England Debbie Hall Managing Editor, Spark Jenny Willden Managing Editor, California Will Brendza Managing Editor, Colorado Robyn Griggs Lawrence Editor at Large Radha Marcum Copy Editor Bevin Wallace Copy Editor

EXECUTIVE

Ron Kolb Founder ron@sensimag.com Stephanie Graziano CEO stephanie.graziano@sensimag.com ADVERTISING

Toni Tardif National Sales Director Jade Kolb Director Sales Operations and Global Recruiting PUBLISHING

Jamie Cooper Market Director, Michigan Richard Guerra Market Director, New England

DESIGN

Nancy Birnbaum Market Director, NorCal

Jamie Ezra Mark Creative Director jamie@emagency.com Rheya Tanner Art Director Wendy Mak Designer Josh Clark Designer

Diana Ramos Market Director, Oklahoma

BRAND DEVELOPMENT

Richard Guerra Director of Global Reach Amanda Patrizi Director of Marketing Neil Willis Production Director MEDIA PARTNERS

Marijuana Business Daily Minority Cannabis Business Association National Cannabis Industry Association Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Nancy Reid Market Director, Florida MEDIA SALES

COLORADO Liana Cameris Media Sales Executive Amanda Patrizi Media Sales Executive Tyler Tarr Media Sales Executive FLORIDA Anthony Mckenzie Media Sales Executive NEVADA Pam Hewitt Media Sales Executive NEW ENGLAND Jake Boynton Media Sales Executive MICHIGAN Eric Lutey Media Sales Executive Kyle Miller Media Sales Executive Leah Stephens Media Sales Executive

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I

EDITOR’S NOTE

Magazine published monthly

by Sensi Media Group LLC.

© 2021 Sensi Media Group. All rights reserved.

It hurts to lose places

that mean something to you.

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

FAC E B O O K Like Sensi Media Group to infuse your newsfeed with more of our great cannabis lifestyle content.

TWITTER Follow @sensimag for need-to-know news and views from Sensi headquarters.

I N S TAG R A M Pretty things, pretty places, pretty awesome people: find it all on @sensimagazine

That’s a sad fact we’re all becoming all too well acquainted with these days, and one that I felt the sting of recently. There’s a brewery up in the mountains—or there used to be—near the town where I grew up that was a community staple. It was a place to gather, where locals stopped after a long day on the slopes, after riding the nearby singletrack, or just because they knew they’d find or meet friends there. Hawaiian shirt fridays. Live music. Dogs. I can’t count how many nights I spent playing darts in the back of that special place with my girlfriend and my best friends, drinking beer, acting silly, being merry. I can’t count how many ski days, bike rides, hikes, and work weeks ended there, let alone how many warm memories for which that place was ground zero.

I don’t know exactly what happened to force the business past the point of no return.

Suffice it to say: it did—and very unexpectedly—as have so many businesses over the last 21 months. I was confronted with emotions I did not expect to feel when I walked up to that door and saw the printed note taped inside the dark window that included the words “we’re sorry,” “indefinitely,” and “closed.” I was struck by a sense of loss that surprised me.

For a moment, I felt superficial, shallow for lamenting the loss of some bar. But only momentarily. Because the truth of the matter is places can be as charismatic and lovable as people. These businesses that provide something greater to their communities than the commodity they sell. Restaurants, bars, and breweries can be as comfortable as a family living room. (And, of course, magazines can be as familiar as old friends.)

We have lost a lot of them over the last two years in Colorado, and across the U.S.— businesses of all shapes, sizes, colors, and types. Those losses have left gaping holes in a lot of communities.

Many cherished places have survived the turmoil, though. And, optimistically, many more will likely grow in the wake of these strange times to fill the holes. Things will get better, and there will be new spaces, places, and establishments with which to fall in love. People, ultimately, give places meaning.

But dammit! It still hurts to lose places that feel like old friends. So here’s to the ones we’ve lost, and here’s to the ones that survived, and here’s to the ones that are still to come.

The same should be said for all our fellow humans . . .

Anyway, happy holidays—support your local establishments, and show the ones you love that you love them. Because we’re all in this together.

Cheers.

I can’t count how many ski days, bike rides, hikes, and work weeks ended there, let alone how many warm memories for which that place was ground zero.

Will Brendza @juanwilder

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Andre Houssney’s family moved around a lot during his childhood—from their home in Lebanon, throughout the Middle East, and across Europe, escaping war and instability, before they finally settled in Boulder. Houssney started working on a local farm at a very young age and found a deep passion for the lifestyle, the animals, and the fruits of his hard labor. Today, Houssney is still farming. In fact, he has helped establish a co-op of farmers in Zambia that produces honey and beeswax, and he founded his own farm in Boulder County in 2010: 18

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Jacob Springs. There, on the corner of Arapahoe and 75th Streets, Houssney has created a farm that embodies next-level regenerative farming. It’s a “beyond organic” operation, focusing on soil fertility and plant and animal health.

The farm utilizes techniques like regenerative grazing, and produces grass-fed proteins like eggs, chicken, pork, beef, and lamb. But it also sells grass-based milk as well as farm-fresh apples, beets, garlic, leeks, greens, gourmet mushrooms, comb honey, and more. Like a true Steinbeck-era agriculturalist, Houssney lives on

his farm with his wife and three sons, and they run it as a family.

It’s a lifestyle that brings him great pride and joy, not just because it’s wholesome and fruitful, but because it affords him time to contemplate the deeper things in life and keeps him close to the Earth and his human roots.

He loves his farm, he loves what he does, and he’s become something of an expert on it. During the off season, you can find him lecturing or consulting on topics of regenerative agriculture, the environment, and social development.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JACOB SPRINGS FARM

A Farm That Is Beyond Organic

CONTRIBUTOR

Will Brendza

BY THE NUMBERS

6.2 PERCENT

Äkta’s Authentic Extracts

Percentage of travelers who said that cannabis was one of the reasons they visited Colorado

141.

1 MILLION Number of American adults who believe they can actually follow through on their New Year’s resolution this year

PHOTOS (FROM LEFT): COURTESY OF 14ER; ÄKTA

14ER GUMMIES Not only does 14er grow its own artisanal cannabis, but the company then uses that high-quality bud in its strain-specific THC gummies. The brand partnered with the local CBD company KJL, who already had the art of chewy candy infusion down to a science, and came up with a strategic gummy plan. The result? A strain-specific gummy that is absolutely flat-out delicious. Offerings include a relaxing blackberry-pomegranate gummy (infused with 14er’s banana kush oil) and an uplifting blood orange mango (paired with the oil of 14er’s Tropicana strain). But consider yourself warned: it’s a challenge not to munch the entire box in one sitting because they taste so damn good—which would make for a wild afternoon.

63 PERCENT Percentage of Americans who actually want cannabis legalized at the federal level ASAP

1,800 MG

The amount of THC in a single LOL Edibles XL Rice Crispy Treat

A lot of cannabis concentrates are extracted with hydrocarbon solvents, like butane, methane, or propane. Any extract made without using one of those is considered a solvent-free extract. However, Äkta, out of Carbondale, Colorado, uses straight ice-water baths to separate the cannabinoids and terpenes from its high-quality flower, producing what’s known as a solventless extract. The company is after transparency, quality, and authenticity—something you’ll taste and feel in every one of Äkta’s products.

Plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries blossom.”

—Ken Kesey

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THE BUZZ

VOX POPULI

Question: What’s your favorite way to enjoy winter?

TOM MURRAY

SHAWN MIKS

MEG GEYER

MEGAN RYAN

GILBERT CARINO

Cannabis Connoisseur and Hot Tub Enthusiast, Boulder

Chief Engineer at Lightsaber & Co., Denver

Engineering Student and Wilderness Explorer, Boulder

Revenue Operations Analyst Who’s Faster Than You, Colorado Springs

Full-Stack Developer and Dog Whisperer, Boulder

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

For me, winter is a cold PBR in a hot tub. There’s nothing better than defrosting with friends after a full day of skiing.

The cold dark days of winter are the perfect excuse to stay huddled inside with my fiancé pretending the outside world doesn’t exist.

I spend my winters outside, embracing the snow and the cold. I love to ski and wear wool socks, so it’s a perfect season for me.

My favorite way to spend winter is heading to the trails I love most across the state, slapping on spikes, and enjoying a snowy run!

Nothing beats watching Keilani, my four-legged companion, run through snow and listening to friends tell stories while we meander up a mountainside.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WANA

Wana Fast Asleep “ALWAYS DO Gummies SOBER WHAT The magic of Wana’s THC gummies is no secret in Colorado.

Wana is one of this state’s most popular and well-known cannabis gummy brands. But its new Fast Asleep gummies are different from the company’s other products. They don’t just deliver a slap-you-in-the-face edible high—in fact, they don’t deliver a noticeable high at all, really. They’ve been specifically crafted like a natural cocktail sleep aid: with 10mg CBD (to calm and relax), 2mg CBN (to lower stress and relieve tension), 2mg CBG (to relax and reduce inflammation), 2mg THC (to regulate the body’s circadian rhythm), and 1mg of melatonin to top it all off. It is an equation scientifically designed to deliver maximum sleepiness with negligible grogginess the next morning.

YOU SAID YOU’D DO DRUNK. THAT WILL TEACH YOU TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.”

—Ernest Hemingway

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THE BUZZ

Twisted Sisters

The practice of yoga and the use of cannabis go hand-in-hand back to the Vedic texts of ancient India. And truly, doing yoga high (whether you’re just lightly toasted, or roasted like a bun) is an enhanced experience. Which is exactly why Twisted Sister Yoga in Denver is worth trying out. Every Friday, the class meets up to chief up, stretch out, and sink deeply into a moving meditation.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SECRET STASH; TWISTED SISTER YOGA

twistedsister.yoga

THE NOT-SO SECRET STASH Look, if you’re in Crested Butte, there’s only one place to get pizza, and that’s at the Secret Stash. In fact, if you’re anywhere near Crested Butte it might be worth the extra drive time to pick up one of these masterful high country pies. That quality is both a blessing and curse, though—there can sometimes be very long waits to be seated in the Main Street establishment.

But it’s always worth the effort, and you can hold us to that.

The Hamptons pizza, Spicy Wais, and Notorious F.I.G. pizzas are legendary. There’s no better way to end a day on the slopes, than with a face full of Secret Stash slices.

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THE BUZZ

BILITIES

BY STEPHANIE WILSON, EDITOR IN CHIEF

1 CANNABIS is America’s fifth most valuable crop, earning more for farmers than cotton or rice, according to a new report from Leafly Holdings, Inc.

2 A NEW STUDY FROM HEADSET, a Seattle-based cannabis research firm, found that Gen Z is the fastest-growing segment of the cannabis-buying public, with a sales surge of 127 percent in 2020.

3 MASSACHUSETTS RECREATIONAL SALES have surpassed $2 billion in less than three years since the first legal sale there.

4 ONE IN FOUR ADULTS in the US. currently smokes cannabis— or at least has tried it in the last 12 months, according to a study by yougov.org.

5 SIXTY-FOUR PERCENT OF CANNABIS CONSUMERS believe that if more people embraced the herb, the world would be “a better place.” So says that same yougov.org study.

Find Sanctuary at Shoshoni

Just south of Nederland, in the hills above Boulder, is an ashram called Shoshoni Yoga Retreat, and it is an escape into a different world. The property is isolated, and it contains a lake, a mountain peak offering incredible views of Rocky Mountain National Park and several huge, shimmering temples.

There is a large group-yoga room, private yoga cottages, a fire temple for early-morning vedic ceremonies, a hydroponic greenhouse, and a dining room, where fantastic vegetarian food, cooked with vegetables and ingredients from Shoshoni’s garden, is served three times a day. Shoshoni also offers hot stone massages and singing bowl therapy. If you’re looking for a retreat where you can go deep into your yoga practice for a week or weekend or even just a day, there is no more authentic place to do it in all of Colorado.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHOSHONI YOGA RETREAT

6 POINT IS, people like pot. And I like alliterations. That’s all.

“Being a wiseass in a group think environment is like throwing an egg at a bulldozer.”

—Matt Taibbi

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P R O M OT I O N A L F E AT U R E CO2LORS

Taste the Difference Co2lors will make you ask, “Do your lips dream in color?”

A

Colorado favorite, Co2lors is an all-natural, high-potency, fruitflavored cannabis oil with 80%-plus THC. Co2lors offers pure cannabis and all-natural fruit terpenes for a potent experience that’s big on flavor. With little to no cannabis taste or smell, Co2lors oils are delicious and discreet. They’re available in a wide range of sizes and formats, including 500mg refillable cartridges, 300mg and 1,000mg refillable all-in-one vape pens, and 1,000mg refill syringes.

Co2lors created the world’s first suite of cannabis-specific pharmaceutical-grade extraction technologies.

of flavors. For those looking to escape the daily doldrums, the Grape Dreams float you into a world of sensations and smiles. Strawberry Lemonade wraps you in a strawberry cloud with lemonade raindrops that evaporate into a tangy-sweet mist when it hits your tongue. Last but not least, Sweet Melon lets you tap into a fog that hangs low and stays sweet.

It produces exceptionally pure oils without the use of any cutting agents.

The brand’s proprietary technology is designed to preserve the compounds of the whole plant because Co2lors knows it takes all the elements in cannabis to make THC great.

Co2lors’ broad line of flavors offers something for everyone. Strawnana is a blend of strawberry and banana that melds two of the most popular fruits to create a flavor explosion. The juicy Apricot instantly transports you to the beach, enveloping your senses Co2lors in the flavors of summer. Blueberry is a All-natural, 80%-plus THC, berry-filled splash of delight that flows fruit-flavored cannabis smooth and immerses you in waves co2lors.com D EC E M B E R 2021

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This infused pie crust recipe will elevate your dessert game.

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PHOTO BY BRENT HOFACKER VIA ADOBE STOCK

Pie in the Sky

According to the experts at San Diego’s March and Ash cannabis dispensary, cannabis is an extremely versatile plant, and one easy way to unlock its powerful effects is baking with cannabutter. Butter that has been infused with cannabis flower, also called “cannabutter,” is a simple do-it-yourself way to prepare edibles at home. Cannabutter has many uses in cooking, including cookies, sandwiches, desserts, and pasta.

Read on for a recipe to make your own cannabutter, which can then be incorporated into a pie crust recipe for the holidays … or really any time that’s appropriate for pie, which is the same as saying any time at all.

Cannabutter

Makes about 16 servings / Recipe from March and Ash / marchandash.com

INGREDIENTS

10 grams flower

1 cup unsalted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 245°F. Place 10 grams of flower on a parchment-lined oven tray. Bake for 40 minutes. Rake the flower after 15 minutes to ensure even heating.

Coarsely grind baked bud into a slow cooker set to low (under 200°F). Add the unsalted butter, stirring the mixture every 15 minutes. Cook for 3 hours on low.

Allow to cool for a few minutes, and strain into jar or container using cheesecloth and a funnel. Refrigerate until ready to use in recipe.

Potency The exact potency of made-at-home cannabutter will depend on many factors. No two batches will be exactly the same. You may want to test your final product by spreading ¼ teaspoon on some toast and wait two to three hours to see how that batch affects you. Use that as a dosage barometer and increase or decrease the amount used in each recipe as desired.

Cannabutter Pie Crust Makes 1 pie crust

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 2⁄3 cup cannabutter (see

recipe above) 5–7 tablespoons cold water 1 egg white

PHOTOS (FROM TOP) BY ALONA, 2GREENEYES VIA ADOBE STOCK

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine flour and cannabutter into a mixing bowl. Use a knife to cut the cannabutter into the flour.

Add salt and water, mixing until a dough forms. If not using immediately, wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

If ready to make your pie, roll out dough on a flat surface, between two pieces of lightly floured parchment paper.

Shape into a 9-inch pie pan, leaving a half inch of dough overhanging. Pinch overhang around edge of the pan and brush the dough with the egg white. Let chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Fill your pie with your favorite filling: pumpkin, apple, pecan, or even a refreshing fruit blend—baker’s choice.

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THE LIFE GARDEN

Containing the Tropics PHOTO BY NEW AFRICA, ADOBE STOCK

Baby it’s cold outside, but these easy-breezy houseplants can add an instant island vibe to your home no matter what’s happening out there. TEXT DIANE BLACKFORD

Your dreams for a Caribbean getaway this year get dashed by a pandemic that closed the country’s borders, too?

While it’s not quite the same as frolicking on sugary soft beaches flanked by palm trees and lapped by shimmering turquoise waters, I’ve done my best to turn my apartment into a tropical oasis with

palm trees and verdant foliage growing out of every available space. You can do the same, and I highly encourage it. Plants provide oxygen, clean the air, and are shown to elevate levels of happiness. Not to mention if you get enough of them growing, you’ll raise the humidity in your place—something everyone needs. Trust me,

your hair, skin, sinuses, too can grow some palm and more will thank you trees a mile high. for adding more moisture Everyone can be a to the air. tropical gardener, and My apartment’s large thanks to the housesouthern-facing windows plant-crazed millennials deserve a lot of credit for demanding more—and helping to transform an more exotic—greenery empty apartment into to grow in their homes, a lush landscape, no it’s easier than ever to doubt. But even if your cultivate a true island place rarely sees any divibe indoors—even in rect sunlight at all, you the coldest of climates.

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THE LIFE GARDEN

PHOTOS VIA ADOBE STOCK

(Fun fact: the fifth-coldest temp this country has ever recorded was in Maybell, Colorado, when it dipped to -61°F on February 1, 1985. As I write this, it’s 14 degrees outside and the temps are falling into the single digits tomorrow, making Denver one of the coldest places in the country right now.)

“It may be a little tricky at times, but adding that special warmth and color to your home definitely can be done,” confirms Andrea Haywood, a certified master gardener from South Florida.

While Jack Frost is not a friend to most greenery native to climates where temperatures hover above 75°F, we’ve rounded up some of the easiest tropical plants that you can

grow indoors all year long. You can find these varieties and others like them at your local garden center, where the staff can

help you pick out the right its uncanny resemblance type for your home’s light to the feathered creature and offer tips to help you with the same name. care for the tropical trans- The unusual shape of its plant. So take your green flowers makes the plant thumbs out of your gloves a superb conversation and get growing on your starter that adds a welown tropical paradise. come burst of color to any household where it Bird of Paradise (above) blooms, which doesn’t happen without a TON This colorful plant species got its moniker from of natural sunlight. But even without the namesake flower, the large plant adds a ton of tropical flair to any room, thanks to its glossy leaves fanning out.

Bromeliad (left) There are over 3,000 species within this standout family of tropical plants. Most have bold leaves that are often colorful, but many bromeliads’ most distinguishing characteristic is an exotic flower spike. Given the long-lasting blooms D EC E M B E R 2021

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ANNUAL COAT DRIVE BEGINS DEC. 1st SCAN FOR MORE DETAILS ORDER ONLINE DAILY DE ALS WEEKLY COUPONS ...AND ..

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THE LIFE GARDEN

Dracaena Marginata (below) Often called the dragon tree, the spiky houseplant is native to Africa.

The tricolor cultivar, also known as the rainbow plant, adds an instant island vibe to any household with its pink, cream, and yellow stripes on narrow, green leaves.

Hibiscus (left) Huge, dramatic blooms up to eight inches in and ornamental foliage, among the easiest to grow, diameter add terrific you may assume these and you can find varietsplashes of color (albeare high-maintenance ies in all shapes and sizes it short-lived) to this houseplants, but you’d be with different preferences shrub. It needs plenty of mistaken. They tend to be for light and heat. water and well-drained

soil to survive, and it needs lots of sunlight to bloom, which it can do from late spring through fall in the right conditions. You can find versions with flowers in a dizzying array of colors, making it easy to match your home’s color palette. If you don’t have bright, direct sunlight, don’t let that stop you from adding this stunner to your collection. Keep it indoors during the winter then move it to the balcony or porch when it warms up outside to enjoy its seasonal blooms.

PHOTOS VIA ADOBE STOCK

EDITOR’S CHOICE: PONYTAIL PALM The cascading curls flowing from the top of this plant just make it seem like all sorts of bubbly fun. It’s technically a succulent, not a palm tree, but we won’t tell if you don’t. A native of the dry desert states of eastern Mexico, it does well in low humidity, and its bulbous base stores water like a camel’s hump, making it a good choice for people who tend to neglect their plants.

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The

of

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Hava Gardens is taking soil science back to nature and planting the seeds of a sustainable future with high-quality cannabis.

TEXT WILL BRENDZA

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PHOTO COURTESY OF HAVA GARDENS

T

here are many cannabis cultivators in Colorado who grow their plants on the cutting edge of techno-agricultural efficiency. They use aeroponic systems that can grow plants 40 percent faster without soil or pots, and that can be automated to deliver exactly the right amount of water at precisely scheduled times. Or, when they do use soil, they pump it full of high-powered, salt-based fertilizers packed with calcium and potassium nitrates, ammonium, potassium and magnesium sulfates, and mono potassium phosphate to deliver powerful nutrient yields that beef the plants up like corn-fed cattle.

For all intents and purposes, they are agricultural mad scientists. Many of them are running labs—or, rather, grow operations—that can efficiently turn out hundreds, sometimes thousands of pounds of marijuana per harvest. They are the quantity cultivators, obsessed with production and technology.

Then there are cannabis cultivators like Cassandra Maffey and Brie Kralick—cultivators who take the science of their grow operations in the completely opposite direction: backward in tech-time, toward nature and the plants’ organically evolved roots.

Together, Maffey and Kralick are creating a Garden of Eden for cannabis plants at Hava Gardens’

40,000-square-foot grow in De Beque, Colorado. They’re using sustainable and regenerative farming practices and Maffey’s scalable living-soil cultivation technique to feed their plants an all-natural, all-organic whole foods diet. And by next year, they plan on taking it even further, creating a closed-loop-system model that grows its own soil additives, composts its own waste, produces its own organic fertilizer, and even sustains its own riparian habitat for animals, birds, bees, and butterflies. “We’re es-

sentially mimicking the best of what nature has to offer for our plants,” Maffey says.

They’re growing on the cutting edge of a different kind of agricultural efficiency—fine tuning nature’s own method, to grow cannabis that is more potent with more terpenes and higher levels of cannabinoids. And they are doing so with systems that evolution has already designed for them. “We’re using biomimicry to create an optimized soil ecosystem for our plants,” Maffey says. “We’re harnessing what the plants already do

Cassandra Maffey (left) and Brie Kralick are growing better cannabis with regenerative methods.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF HAVA GARDENS

“Plants can actually ask for nutrients.

They have their own innate intelligence, and they’re able to identify what they need and when they need it.”

naturally, and we’re optimizing it at an indoor facility.”

The foundation of their cannabis is in the soil, Maffey explains.

Plants absorb nutrients—produced by microorganisms living in the soil-like microbacteria, fungi, and nematodes—through their roots. It’s an exchange within an ecosystem, and the healthier that microbiological ecosystem is, the healthier the plants. “Plants can actually ask for nutrients,” Maffey says. “They have their own innate intelligence, and they’re able to identify what they need and when they need it.”

When a plant needs a specific nutrient, it secretes specific carbohydrate sugars attracting specif—Cassandra Maffey, cofounder ic microorganisms. They in turn of Hava Garden break the soil nutrients down into a form that the plants can absorb.

“Plants rely on those microorganisms to break down material for them—to do that ‘chewing’ for them—and then they’re able to access [the nutrients] from there,” Maffey says.

Maffey’s living-soil blend starts with a base of Oregon’s Only Nectar for the gods #4 because, as she explains, it’s got the perfect “chocolate cake” texture to allow for maximum root growth and water retention. They then mix in a long list of different organic granular nutrients: alfalfa meal, high nitrogen bat guano, insect frass, dolomite, limestone, gypsum, humic acids, azomite, linguine, kelp, and other materials. “We have a formula for how much we’re going to put per square foot for each nuHava Gardens puts care trient when we’re amending these into every plant at its into the soil,” Maffey says. Then, De Beque operation.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF HAVA GARDENS

they plant the seeds, sit back, and allow their cannabis plants to feed naturally at their own rate, and slowly uptake nutrients produced by the living soil.

Because it’s raised on a more natural diet than salt-based fertilizer, the actual flower from Hava Gardens’ plants is healthier and more potent, too. Maffey likens salt-based fertilizers to energy drinks or protein bars. Sure, you can survive on of them, she says, but you won’t be as healthy and vigorous as you could otherwise.

“Just as in humans, it’s really helpful to have a well-rounded, whole foods diet instead of just eating energy bars and sports drinks,” she says. “We’re creating superhealthy plants and feeding them in the way that they evolved to [consume] nutrients, instead of force feeding them exactly what we think they’ll need. When you allow the plant to really drive that process and trust the natural intelligence of the plant, you tend to get a much higher quality of cannabis.”

Hava Gardens also maintains a strict policy of hand-watering every single one of its plants, throughout their “veg cycles.”

It’s labor intensive, according to Brie Kralick, the director of cultivation operations at Hava, but it’s well worth the extra effort.

“We get more human-plant energy exchange, we’re able to see what’s going on with each plant and getting to know the genetics a little bit more thoroughly with one-on-one interaction,” Kralick says. “It’s the same in our harvest process, as well. We do all the trimming by hand.”

Every 21 days, they harvest about 450 pounds of high-quality

The secret to Hava's potent flower is in the soil, starting with a high-quality loam from Oregon.

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Hava bud. Kralick says, it’s allhands-on-deck for her and her 60 employees at the grow right now. “And we could still use a few more,” she says with a chuckle.

These enterprising agricultural alchemists aren’t just turning out fine cannabis grown nature’s way. They’re also in the process of turning their cultivation property in De Beque into a closed-loop canna-paradise.

“It starts with recycling the wastewater from our cultivation facility,” Maffey explains. From there, they’ll process that “grey water” and create a retention pond with it, where they’ll grow aquatic plants to oxygenate and further purify the water, which they’ll then use to grow their own soil additives around the edge of the pond—things like willow bark, shave grass, burdock root, and other ingredients that enhance their living soil. “That will also create a great habitat for birds, animals, migrating butterflies,” Maffey says. “We’re essentially creating an optimized riparian habitat right next to the grow.”

That’s coming next summer, both Kralick and Maffey anticipate, as well as an on-site vermicomposting operation. Currently, they compost all their plant waste (unused trim, stems, leaves, damaged flowers, and roots) through an industrial third-party composter. But by using worms to vermicompost it all, they’ll be able to produce their own “worm castings”—aka worm poop—aka high-quality plant fertilizer—to enhance their grow’s sustainabili—Cassandra Maffey, cofounder ty and productivity even more. of Hava Garden “It will be a completely closedloop system,” Maffey says. This

“We get more human-plant energy exchange, we’re able to see what’s going on with each plant and getting to know the genetics a little bit more thoroughly with one-on-one interaction.”

Hava Gardens recycles the wastewater from its cultivation facility and uses it to grow aquatic plants that add to the regenerative process.

system will be composting its own waste, creating its own fertilizer, recycling its own water to produce its own soil additives, which will supercharge the weed coming out of Hava Gardens’ cultivation operation. They then deliver the weed to consumers through select dispensaries across Colorado, and they provide it to their ancillary extract business, Äkta, to turn it into artisanal ice-water-extracted concentrate hash.

It’s a step in a new-but-oldschool direction for cannabis science. And it’s a step for cannabis businesses, too. Hava Gardens’ vertical integration from seed to sale is making it possible for this company to strive for greater sustainability, higher-quality cannabis, more natural grow operations, and a near-perfectly harmonized system. It’s a better way to grow. “And it’s really exciting to be able to be involved with this,” Maffeys says.

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P R O M OT I O N A L F E AT U R E OH HI BEVERAGES

Oh Hi There New cannabis-infused beverages offer smooth taste and quick absorption.

A

s the cannabis industry continues to grow and legalization spreads across the United States, one thing is sure: consumers are looking for better and more enjoyable ways to enjoy it. There might be no better way to partake these days than reaching for one of the many new cannabis beverages hitting the market.

For years, one of the biggest knocks on the canna-drink market was that products were inconsistent and struggled to deliver a smooth taste. That was due to the natural separation that would occur between cannabis oils and water.

Recent technological advances have eliminated that problem and consumers can now enjoy full-flavored products.

All of this information is backed up by sales. Canna-drink sales soared in the first quarter of this year, up 64 percent over the same period last year, according to Marijuana Business Daily.

Oh Hi Beverages, based in Colorado, offers premium cannabis-infused beverages in a wide variety of flavors and styles. The company’s THC-infused sparkling seltzers are poised to ride the coattails of the hard seltzer explosion happening across the country right now. For something a bit more flavorable, the Budtenders Reserve Tropical Thunder is an energy drink loaded with electrolytes and 100mg of THC. Oh Hi also has a full lineup of CBD seltzers, which deliver 20mg of pure CBD quickly to the body.

Whether you are a consumer or a business owner, you should take a long, hard look at these new cannabis beverage offerings. They are cutting edge and deliver the goods.

By delivering CBD and THC to the body in a water-soluble solution, an almost-instant onset of effects occurs—quicker than with edibles or smoking. Users can quickly and efficiently introduce exact amounts of product into their bodies and custom design their experience. Plus, during the pandemic, drinking your own beverage is a way to enjoy a high in a social setting without any fears of cross-contamination.

A recently released landmark study from Colorado State University measured the absorption rate of CBD delivered through food and supplement products. It found that ingesting CBD through liquid Oh Hi Beverages form was significantly faster (almost 218 Cannabis Beverage Company times faster) than all other forms. ohhibev.com

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WOKE, NOT WASTED They say they’re not alcoholics, and they’re certainly not anonymous. What is sober curious—and can sobriety really be fluid?

I

drink badly, and I have a lot of fun doing it (when I remember). That’s a lethal combination, and when you throw in my unfortunate discovery of White Claw—I can drink as many as I want and never feel full!—I flamed out with alcohol last winter.

On February 1, just as everyone else was celebrating the end of Dry January and just ahead of the Summer of the Claw, I swore off the seltzer. I figured I’d give myself one month (note: the year’s shortest) to reset. It wasn’t an easy 28 days, but when March 1 rolled around, I felt better than I’d felt in years. The chronic inflammation I had attributed to everything from gluten sensitivity to genetics was

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clearing. I saw the light, and there was no going back.

I thought sobriety would be lonely, that every Saturday night would be Netflix. I forgot the Brett Kavanaugh generation isn’t in charge of culture anymore (thank God).

Millennials and Gen Xers aren’t interested in swilling beer until they black out like we did in the ’80s. Sober is sexy—or, as hipsobriety.com says, “sobriety is the new black.”

On Instagram, there are influencers such as @stylishlysober, @thesoberglow, and the darker @fucking_sober and hashtags like #soberliving, #soberAF, and #sobercurious. Millie Gooch, who posts as @sobergirlsociety,

encourages her nearly 60,000 followers with inspirational messages like “Mocks not cocks” and “Sobriety: a surefire way to improve your wellbeing and your Uber rating.”

Just like that, I’m a cool kid— with a huge range of new options on Saturday night (and beyond).

I’m exploring elixirs made with raw cacao, maca, and horny goat weed at Tonic Herban Lounge just a few blocks from my home in downtown Boulder (I can walk home after imbibing, and it amuses me that I don’t need to). I can do yoga and shake it before dawn at a Daybreaker dance party (daybreaker.com) in Denver, one of 27 cities where the alcohol-free early-morning rave pops up and invites people

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to “sweat, dance, and connect with ourselves in community.”

I’m surely not alone in this realization that life is better without booze. Worldwide, alcohol consumption fell by 1.6 percent last year. Led by young people, heavy-hitting countries like Russia, Canada, Japan, and the UK are seeing drinking rates as well as tolerance toward intoxication decline. An international survey found that about a third of people wanted to reduce their alcohol intake because of everything from sexual regret and embarrassment to physical health. A 2018 survey found that nearly 40 percent of global consumers want to drink less for health reasons.

In the U.S., CNBC reports, 52 percent of adults are trying to lower their alcohol intake, and

APPS FOR THAT Loosid: Digital platform for sober dating, destinations, and meetups Sober Grid: “The world’s most popular mobile sober community” Twenty-Four Hours a Day: Inspiration through daily meditations

underage drinking has steadily declined in the last 10 years. But only 21 percent of U.S. adults in a CivicScience poll said they had any interest in drinking less or not at all, and most of those were 21- to 34-year-old, vegan-leaning flexitarians who practice yoga and consume cannabis daily.

Women, especially those in their 30s and 40s, are drinking more than ever.

Booze still rules for most Americans, and “increased stress and demoralization” is actually pushing more women, minorities, and poor people to the bot-

tle, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry. The national Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that 17 million adults in the U.S. are alcohol dependent, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says one in six binge drink—defined as drinking four or more drinks over two hours or until blood alcohol reaches 0.08—nearly once a week. For this White Claw guzzler, that definition is, well, sobering. I called that happy hour.

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SPIRITS FOR NEXT-GEN PARTIERS The joke goes that nonalcoholic drinks are like listening to porn on the radio, but times have changed. They’re the CBD of the alcohol world. Nonalcohol (NA) beverages are a bright spot in a declining alcohol market, and their sales are expected to grow 32 percent in 2022, according to a Bon Appetit report. Today’s creative, health-inducing craft beverages are a lot more than just alcohol-free.

BEER Athletic IPA: Robust alcohol-free craft brew Heineken OO: The OG’s first NA brew O’Doul’s: Anheuser-Busch’s classic has new limited-edition meantfor-Instagram cans by local artists in New York, Chicago, and LA.

WINE Napa Hills: Blend of fruit-flavored water and VitaRes (antioxidant blend with resveratrol, red grape skin, and red wine extract) with as many antioxidants as red wine O.Vine: Grape-infused wine water with “the health benefits of the real thing”

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SPIRITS Curious Elixirs: Individually bottled alcohol-free craft cocktails High Rhode by Kin: “Euphorics” made from nootropics and adaptogens, including 5-HTP, rhodiola, and caffeine Ritual Whiskey: “As a veggie burger is to beef, or almond milk is to dairy, Ritual is an alternative to traditional whiskey.”

Seedlip Spice 94: Gin-like blend of Jamaican allspice berry, cardamom, and citrus peel Stryyk: “Zero-proof spirits,” including Not Vodka, Not Rum, and Not Gin Three Spirit: “Social elixir” made from yerba mate, lion’s mane, damiana, and cacao

even a choice. As Sean Paul Mahoney writes on The Fix, a website about addiction and recovery, “I didn’t get sober to be cool. I just got sober to stop dying.”

A LITTLE BIT ADDICTED? “Sober curious” became a thing after HarperCollins released Ruby Warrington’s Sober Curious: The Blissful Sleep, Greater Focus, Limitless Presence, and Deep Connection Awaiting Us All on the Other Side of Alcohol in 2018.

Warrington also has a podcast, runs Club Söda NYC (featuring sober events like Kundalini Disco), and stages events. Her take is that a lot of Americans might not have a “problem” with alcohol but see it as getting in the way of their healthy lifestyles.

“We eat well. We exercise. We meditate,” the press release for Sober Curious states. “So, why do we…still drink?”

Warrington wants to know why the only people who don’t drink are the ones who can’t and asks, “What if I am just…a little bit addicted?”

Call me old school, but a little bit addicted sounds a lot like a little bit pregnant. I worry that people who shouldn’t will take the advice of John Costa, who writes on twentytwowords.com that being sober curious is like being bi-curious—you don’t always hook up with people of the same sex, and you don’t have to cut out drinking forever. “Be sober half the time,” he writes, “and sauced the other half.” He’s joking, but those are dangerous words for me. That’s the life I was living: sober by day + tanked by night = balance.

SOBERING STUDIES

ALCOHOL ACCOUNTS FOR NEARLY 1 IN 10 DEATHS OF PEOPLE AGED 15 TO 49 AND IS THE LEADING RISK FACTOR FOR DISEASE AND PREMATURE DEATH. Source: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

BINGE DRINKING RATES IN STATES WHERE CANNABIS IS LEGAL FELL TO 9 PERCENT BELOW THE NATIONAL AVERAGE AND 11 PERCENT BELOW NONLEGAL STATES IN 2016.

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Like all disorders (and pretty much everything in our culture), alcohol use runs on a spectrum.

I was at the end that spent hours upon hours researching whether drinking while on this antibiotic would really make me projectile vomit and scoffed at friends as they struggled through Dry January, Dry July, Sober September, and Sober October. I wasn’t interested in giving up drinking for any reason or any amount of time— until I had to give it up for life.

Warrington, who sees reducing alcohol intake as another step in the wellness revolution, is at the other end of the spectrum—and she is aware of the difference between recovering from alcohol addiction and feeling better during yoga. I hope all of her followers are, too, because the last thing most drinkers need is a loophole.

I want to believe the trend Warrington is leading toward spirits-free activities and thoughtfulness about alcohol’s

role in our culture—where every ritual, celebration, loss, entertainment, and even sporting event is cause for a drink—is not a trend but a movement. That we’ll look back at “mommyjuice” like we shake our heads at “mother’s little helper” pills from the ’60s and ’70s. The infrastructure to support sobriety is being built, and public opinion is turning. After centuries of going hard, America is getting woke, not wasted.

Cheers to that.

A B O U T T H E AU T H O R

Robyn Griggs Lawrence is the author of the bestselling Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook and Pot in Pans: A History of Eating Cannabis.

SOBERING STUDIES

A BRITISH STUDY OF DRY JANUARY ABSTAINERS FOUND THAT 82 PERCENT FELT A SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT, 62 PERCENT SLEPT BETTER, AND 49 PERCENT LOST SOME WEIGHT.

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The Last-Minute Gift Guide Gifts so good they’ll think you spent a year planning them.

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Bearbrick Aroma Ornament, $110 2. Hannah Candle in His and Hannah, $85 each 3. Wary Meyers Hippie Hollow Candle, $36

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF NORDSTROM

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Is the thought of holiday panic shopping for the people in your life who deserve a lil token (tokin’) of appreciation from you this year getting you down? Don’t fret my pet. A recent study found that a moderate amount of procrastination can actually enhance creativity, providing the procrastinator extra time to generate novel ideas. So you weren’t waiting until the last minute—you’ve been waiting for inspiration to strike. And here it is.

If you missed Sensi’s 2021 Holiday Gift Guide last month (or if you missed the window to order the items on it for arrival before, like, Martin Luther King Jr. Day), you’re still golden in our book. If it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would ever get done. Or so we’ve heard. So we’ve packed our Last-Minute Gift Guide with all the thoughtful goodies you can give (or hope to receive).

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PHOTOS: 4 BY EMMA ANZELONE; 7 COURTESY OF JACOB MAY

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4. Kanha Nano Sugar Plum gummies, $18 5. Pet Releaf Edibites CBD Soft Chews, $28 Use the code PAWLIDAYSPR30 for 30% off site-wide and free shipping.

6. Koan Cannabis Cordials, $30/3 7. Sanctuary Dab Tabs, $40 8. Glass Distractions Cobalt Cup Set, $340 9. Unity Hemp Beverage Six Pack, $42

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THE SCENE

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10. Simon Miller Scrambler Chelsea Boot, $540 11. Higher Standards x Revelry Companion bag, $55 12. The Skateroom x Andy Warhol Campbell’s Soup Colored Skateboard Deck, $220

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13. Ashish Sequin Flared Drawstring Trouser, $2,059 14. RopaNa Wellness Beanie, $24 15. Nike Blazer Mid ’77, $100

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PHOTOS 10, 12, 13, 15 COURTESY OF NORDSTROM

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THE SCENE

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16. LuxeRolls Luxe Rose Heart Cannon, $25 17. Invincibowl + Invincipole, $30, $45 18. Suprette Missing Clipper Lighter, $10 19. Purejuana Cannabis-Infused Soluble Powder, 10-shot box starting at $19

20. GanjaGold Blue Pocket Tarantula, $42 21. F. Miller x JAM Earth Burners, $98 22. LuxePak StashPak, $20 23. Stone Road Roll-Your-Own Pouch, $50

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18 PHOTOS: 17 BY JEFF HOUKA; 20 BY KEVIN ENGBERG; 21 COURTESY OF NORDSTROM

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THE END

SheFly Equalizing Pants with Patented Zippers

Pants were not designed with the female figure in mind.

That unfortunate fact became painfully obvious to Georgia Grace Evans when she was guiding glacial expeditions in Alaska.

She’d watch her male counterparts casually, easily stepping off trail and relieving themselves without shedding a single layer of clothing. Meanwhile, she would dread the act. Stripping down to squat in negative temperatures and blis60

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tering winds is a painfully uncomfortable experience. It got to the point, she says, where she’d consciously dehydrate herself in order to pee less frequently. It was both risky and foolhardy. She knew there had to be a better way, and she became determined to find it.

Evans teamed up with two other professional female adventurers, Bianca Gonzalez and Charlotte Massey, and hit the drawing board—brainstorming, discussing,

designing, testing, and coming up with a style of female hiking pants that might just forever change the way women answer nature’s call outside: SheFly pants specifically for women who spend time outside, pants that could solve an age-old problem with new patented zipper technology. SheFly pants unzip all the way—front to back—allowing women to find relief in the wild without exposing so much skin.

And without sacrificing style.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SHEFLY

TEXT WILL BRENDZA