BAR: SECOND HOME
Second Home is the hotel bar at JW Marriott, 150 Clayton Lane. But it’s more than a stiff hotel lobby bar. It’s a scene, man. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner — but we’re just interested in the evening hours, when Second Home gets jammed with couples jostling for spots at the 16-stool bar or kicking back around the dramatic 15-foot-long fire pit in the outside courtyard. JW Marriott is also a wedding hotel, so the bar is often filled with bridal parties, making you feel like a genuine wedding crasher. The martinis are big, the food OK and the atmosphere smokin’, which you can do around a corner outside. Don’t forget: It always offers free valet parking. No wonder Second Home is just that for so many regulars.
GRILLED: KIM and KERI CHRISTIANSEN
They are grown sisters, Kim, above left, and Keri Christiansen, just 18 months apart. They grew up in Arvada, and it seems as if they grew up with us. They are Denver’s kid sisters. Kim and Keri went to the same schools — Vanderhoof Elementary, Drake Junior High, Arvada West High and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Kim has been with 9News her entire professional life, starting as an intern and now anchoring the 4 p.m. news. She was Miss Colorado but did not make it to be crowned Miss America, even though her talent was twirling. Keri has worked in local talent agencies until recently, when she switched to working at Denver Hospice after her bout with breast cancer. Kim is involved in the breast cancer fight through Buddy Check 9’s awareness program. On Sundays, you’ll find all the Christiansens at church. Kim is married and has a 10-year-old son. Keri is single. Kim orders a chardonnay, Keri a Grey Goose, up, with a twist.
BH: Isn’t working for a hospice kind of gloomy?
Keri: No, not at all. After I had my diagnosis, I wanted to do something different. I am in development at Denver Hospice, but it’s not really fundraising.
Kim: We couldn’t even sell band candy. We made our dad buy it all.
Keri: Everybody knows what to do when someone is born or graduates or gets married. But no one is really prepared for death. Hospice finds ways for people to say goodbye.
BH: What’s TV like for you, Kim? You’ve been at 9 for 25 years.
Kim: It’s changed so much, especially in the last 10 years. You feel like you’re in a race car going 180 mph. There are days when you say, “Stop, I want to get out.” And then there are days that are so exciting. Every day is different. There are so many great people to meet, so many great stories to tell. And I work at a really good station surrounded by really talented people. And I work with Mark Koebrich. He’s so kind and generous and funny. He’s the big brother I never had.
BH: Do you cry on TV?
Kim: I cried yesterday.
BH: What did you two do at Race for the Cure?
Keri: I strolled it.
Kim: I covered it for Channel 9 from a cherry picker.
BH: How did you find out you had breast cancer, Keri?
Keri: My gynecologist found it at a regular visit. It was kind of a whirlwind after that. None of us thought I would be positive because there was no family history, I didn’t have any risk factors. But when my doctor told me, I literally fell to the ground. But then in a minute or two, it was OK. I have breast cancer. People get it. The worst thing by far was telling my parents and Kim. I will never forget calling them.
BH: Kim, I have heard that you know the name and story behind every person on death row in Colorado.
Kim: Well, I used to, when I was covering a lot of murder trials. But not anymore. But I do watch “Dateline” at midnight and then wonder why I can’t sleep. I am always interested in a criminal trial, in a murder case.
BH: What were you like as kids?
Kim: I was the one who worried about everything. Keri was a lot more spontaneous and carefree.
Keri: She was the typical older sister. Even though we were so close in age, I was the total younger sister. I never worried about anything.
BH: What’s your idea of happiness?
Kim: To raise a happy, healthy, compassionate young man. That would make this mom happy.
BH: What’s your greatest fear?
Keri: Spiders.
BH: What about a room filled with spiders?
Keri: Oh, God. I’ll have nightmares. Thanks a lot.
BH: What don’t you like about yourself?
Kim: I am a worrywart.
BH: What don’t you like in other people?
Keri: Arrogance.
Kim: Phoniness.
BH: What’s your biggest extravagance?
Kim: Broncos tickets for my son.
Keri: Shoes.
BH: What’s your current state of mind?
Kim: Scattered.
Keri: Optimistic.
BH: What do you consider an overrated virtue?
Keri: Cooking.
Kim: Organization. And I am proud to say I have never cooked a turkey.
Keri: I have sweaters in my oven and toiletries in my kitchen cabinets.
BH: What do you dislike about your appearance?
Kim: I have a laundry list. My wrinkled knees, the bags under my eyes, the stomach I can’t get rid of.
BH: What quality do you like in your friends?
Kim and Keri: Humor.
Keri: I won “Best Laugh” in eighth grade.
BH: Who or what are the great loves of your life.
Kim: My son, my family, salsa. Salsa on everything.
BH: What talent would you like to have?
Keri: I would be a lounge lizard singer.
Kim: I want to dance because then you get a rock star body.
BH: If you could change one thing in your life what would it be?
Kim: I wish I could just sit down and check out. And sleep. I don’t sleep.
BH: Where would you most like to live?
Keri: I want to live in Boulder, Santa Barbara, Calif., New York and London. In hotels.
Kim: I cannot imagine not living in Colorado.
BH: What do you consider the lowest depths of misery?
Keri: Camping.
BH: What’s your favorite thing to do?
Kim: Dinner with a bunch of friends.
Keri: Dancing with Dad.
BH: Books?
Kim: The last book I read was Tim Tebow’s with my son. And I loved “The Tender Bar.”
BH: What’s your most marked characteristic?
Kim: Talking with my hands.
BH: What’s your greatest regret?
Kim: Where do I start?
Keri: Not going to law school.
BH: How would you like to die?
Keri: In hospice.
Kim: With clean hair, good hair.
Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Bill Husted: 303-954-1486 or bhusted@denverpost.com.
Tie on a pink tie
Kim Christiansen and Mark Koebrich will emcee “A Pink Tie Affair” to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure at the Sheraton Hotel Denver on Nov. 12. For information go to .
