How do you lose money from a CD? I never heard of losing money from investing in a CD.
According to bankrate.com, the best interest rate for a CD of 3 years is 1.340% compounded daily. At the end of 3 years that $2,500 will turn into a whopping... $2,603. CD's are pretty junky. You could make that if every day you asked a random person for $0.10. Of course it's completely safe.
A high risk investment is probably your best bet, but high risk is high risk, not high gain. If you just want to invest to see how the stock market works, I'm sure there are programs out there to simulate what the investment would do. Granted you'll kick yourself if you make it big virtually but conversely you'll be quite happy if you only lose virtual currency too!
You could consider investing it into your house. Some insurance companies offer reduced rates for making upgrades to your home. Or even upgrades that will reduce your heating/cooling bill could potentially pay off for you long term. It could even increase your resale value should you decide to move at some point.
Find a new hobby or take a vacation you've always wanted. $2,500 will get you pretty much anywhere in the world I think. Pull some stuff off your bucket list!
Or make 100 MacRumors members contributors to the site for a year! I'm sure arn won't mind.