Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Got someone on your list who is hard to shop for? We've got Twin Cities style consultants on deck to help you find the perfect gift.
We all have at least one person in our lives that presents a perennial problem during the holidays: They're impossible to shop for. Maybe they're a vegan who can't countenance any animal products whatsoever, or a friend who is allergic to everything from angora to silk, or worse, the one who never wants anything. Enter Melissa Hardin, creator of Flaunt, a mobile boutique run by a group of fashion artists and style consultants out of a studio in Fridley. Also on deck are Jennifer Zafft, Marketing Director for The Shoppes at Arbor Lakes in Maple Grove, and Lisa Buck, a resident of the Lake Minnetonka area and veteran holiday shopper, and Kelly Bray of Zida Boutique in Burnsville. Stymied? Whipshawed by confusion? These ladies will help you …
Friday, November 30, 2012
Share your recommendations on which homes to check out, and upload photos of the best displays.
Touring local streets for brightly lit homes is a holiday tradition, and the west metro has no shortage of festive houses. Patch would like your help sharing the best displays with the community. To tell your neighbors where these are, please add a marker to the map above. Simply click the "Add" button, enter an address and share a little about what makes that display special. If you don't have an exact address, an intersection will do. Are you proud of your own display? After sharing its location on the map, enter Patch’s Deck the House Contest for a chance to win $100,000 for your local school district and and/or $500 to pay your electric bills. To enter, just visit the appropriate Patch contest site:
Monday, November 26, 2012
We will continue to update the guide through the end of the year.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Patch finds the best of the west metro.
It’s the day after Thanksgiving, and your house is bursting at the seams with visiting relatives. You’ve got to get them out and get some fresh air, but where would you go? Good thing the Twin Cities have a ton of great places to enjoy with your family. The Bakken Museum For the kid who loves to touch everything, there’s Minneapolis’ Bakken Museum. Tucked away in a mansion on Lake Calhoun, the Bakken offers fascinating, hands-on exhibits about electricity and how it impacts our daily lives. Afterwards, you can take a short walk or drive south to Lake Harriet and the Como-Harriet Streetcar line for the last jaunt of the year on authentic,100-year old streetcars. On Friday Nov. 23 through Friday Nov. 25, you can also catch Santa on the Holly…
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Let our Patch Pro answer your cooking questions.
The holidays are almost upon us! With Thanksgiving next week and then a month of parties and celebrations to follow, many of us are about to spend some serious time in the kitchen. Whether you've made a turkey for the past 50 years or it's your first attempt at stuffing, there's always something that can turn a normal dish into an award-wining crowd pleaser. So, go ahead and ask away. What would make your cooking better? Here to help with our Thanksgiving preparations is a "Patch Pro"— a local chef who has agreed to answer your questions about cooking in the comments section below. Meet our expert: • Executive Chef Kevin Petroske has been with Redstone American Grill for eight years, specializing in upscale American fare. He takes …
Monday, November 12, 2012
Sears and Walmart plan to open at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, while Target plans a 9 p.m. opening.
Retail workers and shoppers are once again pushing stores to stay closed on Thanksgiving Day instead of starting Black Friday on Thursday, as many plan to do. This year, Target will launch its Black Friday sale at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, while Sears and Walmart have announced plans to open at 8 p.m. Meanwhile, Best Buy is continuing the midnight openings it started last year. Critics say Thanksgiving Day openings prevent employees from spending the holiday with their families. Opposition is growing on online petition website Change.org. “C Renee,” a woman who says she’s been a Target employee for six years, started a petition asking the retailer to “give Thanksgiving back to families and not open on Thanksgiving evening.” “I have …
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
If you don't have a lot of money, you still can give gifts from the heart.
As you look over the list of gifts you need this holiday season, an unsettling feeling starts. How will I pay for all these gifts? Gift-giving is meant to be a time for sharing how much you appreciate others, but rising prices and tight budgets take the feel-good vibes right out of gift-giving traditions. This year, take the money stress out of the holidays by turning to homemade gifts. Homemade gifts are a great way to show you appreciate someone while also adding a personal touch. Gifts don’t need to be expensive to be special. Get the family involved in the fun and you will be creating memories while making unique gifts for those who mean the most in your life. Let’s explore the homemade holidays in hopes that you will find something to…
The daily grind can be overwhelming, so here are some antidotes to all that stress.
In this increasingly digitalized world, we can’t go anywhere without packing the chargers, the battery packs, the DVDs and the game systems. But what happens when the power goes out? How do we escape from it all? Yes, there truly is life and entertainment outside of the electrically-charged world. Here are a few gift ideas to help friends and family unplug and recharge. Books Check out Half Price Books or Sam's Club for the newest bestsellers or tried-and-true classics. Bookstores’ shelves are stocked with adventures waiting beyond the front cover. Have a traveler in your posse? Check out the travelogues. So your mother-in-law is hooked on reality TV shows? You’ll find plenty of drama in the fiction section. Nothing beats cozying up in …
Here's where you can buy eReaders and gaming systems in St. Louis Park.
Techies will love the almost unlimited options available this holiday season. From affordable tablets to the newest cell phones, there is sure to be winner on this year’s list of the hottest in all things techie. Small tablets are becoming a major selling point as consumers look for options packed in smaller packages. Apple has dominated the larger tablet industry with its iPad, and the iPad 4 will be released Nov. 2 with a starting price of $499. But competition is heating up in the smaller tablet market, with four worthy competitors vying for market share. You can find tablets at Target, Micro Center and Sam's Club. Gaming systems are continually being updated and reconfigured. If there’s a gamer on your list, maybe a new system is high …
From the return of Furbies to Skylanders: Here are some of the hottest toys this holiday season—and where you might be able to find them.
Every holiday season, the mailbox fills with the latest toy catalogs. Children peruse the pages as they scribble their lists, daydreaming about what they will find under the tree come Christmas morning. Parents pull out their pocketbooks, spending hard-earned cash as they anticipate the joy on those little faces. What will be the runaway favorites this year is always a guess, but here are some of the latest trends, mixed with tried-and-true perennial favorites. Most of these toys can be found at Creative Kidstuff, Kiddywampus and Target. jChews Smartphone teether by Jellystone No tears for parents or babies. Babies love nothing more than to gum Mom and Dad’s cell phone, but now they’ll be too intrigued with their own smartphone to chew on…
Martina Tresenriter
3:32 pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Our family was adopted by a large company through our childrens school, they gave us a $100 gift card to Wal-Mart... so I have to buy them something from there. I figured we would buy them a gift from "Santa" there and then plan an individual date night with mom and dad from us. I really like that idea :) more ›