Community Blog

Things have changed! Clean quickly and easy.

Take note, these cleaning tips are for the times you’d rather burn or throw everything out than pick up, wash, fold, and put back the mess.

We all live busy lives and have to divide our attention a million ways everyday just to maintain.  The last thing we want to do when we come home is clean.  The catch 22 is, the longer we put off this dreadful chore the harder and more time consuming it is when it comes time to actually do it.  You’re not alone, I hate it too!  But luckily I found some tips that should help make cleaning a bit easier and not so “chore-like.”

Start organized. When you get up in the morning, make your bed immediately.   You’ll get a feeling of accomplished and organized as soon as you step out of the shower and into your bedroom.  Pick up after yourself in the bathroom and in the kitchen after breakfast.  Put the items back in the exact spot they belong.  This is the perfect jumpstart you need to tidying up your place later in the day.

Multi-task. The next time you’re stuck on a long phone call with your in-laws, grab a duster or rag and start cleaning your apartment shelves, entertainment center, counter tops and window sills.  You’ll be pre-occupied with the first task that you’ll barely notice that you’re cleaning!

Divide it up. Tackling the entire home at once will do nothing but deter you from even starting it.  Schedule out your cleaning duties and clean in bits and pieces. When you have a short amount of time, set your kitchen timer and take to it.  Once it goes off, you’re done.

If you are having difficulty imagining your home as a clean and clutter-free oasis of peace, just give the above tips a try and quickly achieve this desired state of serenity.

(image via Flickr user MildlyDiverting)

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According to Biclycling.com, Minneapolis was named the number one Bike city in the United States.  With Brooklyn Park right down the road from Greens at Edinburgh, get out and ride this week!

In a time of green-friendly, anti-gas pump, 50 mpg cars, riding your bike around town is in style!  Not only is it great for the environment, bike riding allows you to burn calories and get a great workout.  The residents of Minneapolis have sure taken advantage of this, driving the city to the top of the best bike cities list.

This is all possible due to the city itself listening to the demands of the bike riders in developing segregated bike lanes, municipal bike racks, and even bike boulevards.  Minneapolis has 43 miles of streets with dedicated bicycle lanes and 84 miles of off-street bicycle paths. The city has also been awarded with the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly Community Award. Minneapolis is home to Nice Ride Minnesota, the Bike Walk Ambassadors, and the Midtown Bike Center.

For a list of bicycle parks near the Greens at Edinburgh complex, visit Goby.com or the official Minneapolis website and start riding!

(Image via Flickr user dimoska)

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One music’s most creative and intelligent lyricists, Mos Def performs tonight the Guthrie Theater in what is guaranteed to be an entertaining show.

Dante Terrell Smith, or more popularly known as Mos Def, is well known for his insightful and intelligent lyrics in a hip-hop world that is often focused on material things.  Mos Def grabbed critics attention back in 1996 as a standout in the underground music scene.  Since then, Mos Def has released four full-length solo albums. His latest album, The Ecstatic, was mentioned in the top albums of 2009 and earned Mos Def two Grammy Award nominations in the Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance categories for the single Casa Bey.

For those of you not familiar with his music, you may recognize Mos Def from his acting career.  He is one of the few musicians that have made an acceptable transition into action, starring in films such as The Italian Job, Brown Sugar, The Woodsmen, 16 Blocks, and Be  Kind Rewind.  He’s received multiple award nominations for his acting and currently holds recurring roles on several television sitcomes.

You can catch Mos Def tonight at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis starting at 7:30pm.  Tickets are still available through the theater’s box office.

Millions are saving daily on goods and services through social savings sites like Groupon, Living Social, and Scoutmob.

One of the advantages of living near a major metropolis is the selections and variety of stores and things to do.  But as we all know, going out on the town can get expensive!  If you’re looking for a way to continue to see the sites, yet save some money…then this article is for you!

Have you heard of Groupon, Livingsocial, or Scoutmob?  These three websites are examples of a rising trend in the online coupon world.  Each website allows visitors a chance to take advantage of very limited offers that they’ve worked out with different businesses in your local area.  Each, however, are a bit different in their own way.

Groupon: Each day Groupon features “something cool to do” at a crazy, unbelievable discounted price.  The catch is, the deal only happens if enough people purchase it within the allotted time.  This encourages people to spread word quickly around to their friends about Groupon and that specific deal.  It’s genius!  Groupon has the most major markets currently, allowing them to reach the most people daily.

LivingSocial: This website has a much simpler approach.  They basically feature one fantastic deal each day with savings up to 90%.  If you’re interested in taking advantage, you simply purchase directly from the website on that day.  Like Groupon, the deals are limited to usually one day only.  A great feature LivingSocial: if you get three of your friends to purchase after you buy then you get yours for free.  What a deal!

ScoutMob: This website is my favorite!  Why?  Because it’s free!  That’s right, for FREE you get a 50% off code for local establishments text messaged directly to your phone.  All you have to do is enter your phone number (or email) and ScoutMob will send you the daily deal.  Crazy, but true.

Luckily for us, most of these social coupon sites offer amazing deals in the Twin Cities.  Click the links above and join their email list to get the savings sent directly to you daily!

(Image via Wikipedia)

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Come Show Your Support

Come out and enjoy some sweet musical tunes while you help raise money to help a young man in trouble.

Kyle Sturges, a young Minneapolis resident, is currently in a coma after sustaining major injuries in a dirt bike accident two weeks ago.  The local music community is rallying together to throw Kyle a benefit concert at Nick & Eddie’s in Minneapolis.  The benefit concert will include performances from Speeds the Name, The Desert Vest, Lookbook and Solid Gold.  The purpose of the concert is to raise money to help Sturges’ family with the medical bills from Kyle’s injury.  There will also be a silent auction that will include local artists’ work, a private chef dinner, rock memorabilia and gift cards.

Greens at Edinburgh residents, if you can make it tonight, please come out and enjoy the events all while helping a local family in need.

Details:

Today, August 16 2010

6:30pm  $25

Nick & Eddie

1612 Harmon Pl.

Minneapolis 55403

(Directions)

This may be a once in a lifetime opportunity…a pet fair AND an Elvis tribute concert.  I know that I’ve personally never heard of the combination, but August 16^th you have an opportunity to enjoy both events in one lovely night in Brooklyn Park.  Come on down to Brooklyn Park and let your puppy mix-and-mingle with the other canines while you peruse the pet fair while listening to the sweet tunes of Elvis revisited.  The Dog Park Open House is from 5pm-8pm, with the Tribute to Elvis concert starting at 7pm.

Mark your calendars, groom Fido to the 9’s and mark down these directions from Greens at Edinburgh apartments to the event.

(Image by colorblindPICASO via Flickr)

It’s not everyday that you have a chance to view two-thousand-year-old fragments from one of the world’s oldest documents.  I know, it’s hard to fathom 2,000 years ago.  Don’t put your brain through that kind of intense workout, just come on down to the Science Museum of Minnesota to view the ancient scrolls that were discovered in a cave on the shores of the Dead Sea in 1947.  With only a few museums in the world being privileged to exhibit the Dead Sea Scrolls, this is a once in a lifetime experience that is guaranteed to be one you’ll never soon forget.

Along with admission to the Dead Sea exhibit, you’ll receive access to the rest of the 8.5 acres that make up the Science Museum of Minnesota.

The exhibit is open every day from 9:30am – 9:30 pm, with that last show starting at 8pm.  To skip the lines, call ahead or purchase tickets online!

(Image via Wikipedia)

The Monster Ball continues with Lady Gaga playing Xcel Monday and Tuesday, August 30 and 31.

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, aka: Lady Gaga was given the name by friends after a song by QUEEN called Radio Gaga.

Having begun her career in ‘03 in New York’s lower east side, Lady Gaga quickly released her debut album, The Fame in ‘08.  It rose to the number 1 spot in the UK, Canada, Austria, Germany and Ireland before finding its way into the top 10 in the United States.  Her  hit singles Just Dance and Poker Face have earned Gaga a solid position as a top notch performer in pop culture.

Gaga makes her mark through crazy fashion in much the same way as Madonna in the ’80’s.  Strange, funky and sometimes even CREEPY, Lady Gaga is anything but ordinary in the performing arts world.

Mark your calendar for August 30th and 31st and get TICKETS today for the Monster Ball Tour!

Photo courtesy Wikipedia.

They show up out of nowhere.  One second you have a happy little bowl of fruit on your kitchen counter and the next …  YIKES! The bowl AND your apartment starts buzzing with pesky little fruit flies who can’t even steer clear of a simple nostril! The gall!

I, for one, am utterly unwilling to cease and desist with having fresh fruit in a lovely bowl on my counter.  I pay the rent.  I like fruit …  so therefore, I get to WIN! But I cannot win unless I wage WAR.

Of course, I’ve tried the hand-clap method. You wait for it … wait for it … and then CLAP! If you’re ‘lucky’ you end up with bug guts on your palms.  Clearly the word LUCKY is a bit of a misnomer.  Bug guts are not lucky for the bug or for the clapper … but you know what I mean. Occasionally, you reach desired result: death.  Unfortunately, most of the time the air pressure between the palms as we clap forces the disgusting little winged creature right out from between,  leaving us more aggravated as it heads straight for the eyeball.  Hand-Clapping is an antiquated method that’s outdated for a reason. It doesn’t work.

If you want to rid your apartment of fruit flies, you have to be a bit more tricky.  Not MUCH more … after all, the brain of a fruit fly can’t be much bigger than the head of a pin, but still, STEALTH is the name of the game here.  You must TRICK the little stinkers into investigating your arsenal of weaponry and when you do, voila! They’re dead and gone to the little fruit fly heaven in the sky.  Add this recipe to your arsenal to create a fabulous fruit fly disaster:

1 cup water
1 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp dish washing liquid – something that smells of citrus is best

Mix the above ingredients together. Pour it into a bowl or jar and then place it near your happy fruit bowl.  Then go hide behind the sofa  and wait.  Nasty little Mr. Fruit Fly will come along and be struck by the amazing aroma. He’ll then follow the smell to his drowning death along with a dozen of his buddies. It’s a win worth celebrating!

This is just one of several Homemade Fruit Fly Traps worth trying in the war against the fruit fly. How about YOU? Do you have a solution? Comment by using the comment button above!

We have become a culture that shares the most intimate of secrets and details with loved ones electronically rather than personally - a society constantly connected yet rarely CONNECTED.

Ringtone is a Comedy/Drama performance created by local artist Alan Berks and company that explores the reality of living in today’s electronic society.  How can we avoid isolation in a world that’s gaining more distance with the launch of every new, electronic communication device?  With all the texting, emailing and cell phone calling we do, how is it that we’re actually LOSING touch rather than gaining it?

Ringtone is among several venue located events hosted by Minnesota Fringe.  Performances are played out in an actual art gallery, Fallout Arts Initiative located on Stevens Avenue and has limited seating.

Catch one of the many performances of Ringtone during Minnesota Fringe!
Friday 8/6    7:00
Saturday 8/7    7:00
Sunday 8/8    7:00
Monday 8/9    7:00
Tuesday 8/10    7:00
Thursday 8/12    7:00
Friday 8/13    7:00

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