Twin Cities Real Estate Blog

Picturesque Ice Skating -- Centennial Lakes Park

Centennial Lakes Park - Ice Skating - Minnesota - Winter

One of winter’s most delightful activities is ice skating. It can turn a cold winter day into a blast of fun and excitement, especially in the Twin Cities, where there are numerous indoor and outdoor rinks. However, one stands out among the rest. In Edina lies a beautiful area known as Centennial Lakes Park. During the summer, the park consists of a long pond, beautiful trees and gardens, and gazebos. Placed in a business district, this park is a refreshing breath of nature in the midst of a city. During the winter,...

Movie Review -- 'The Hunt'

The Hunt - Jagten - Mads Mikkelsen

Our world would be great if we, as members of a “free and developed” society, could boast that the days of witch hunts were in our distant and primitive past, never to be seen again. Sadly, that’s just not true. They happen now just as they did in 17th century Salem -- perhaps with different accusations and more “humane” punishments -- but the same human weakness remains regrettably intact. Danish director and screenwriter Thomas Vinterberg shows us this sad reality in his remarkable and excruciatingly tense film, Jagten (...

The Famous Blue Metrodome Seats Go on Sale

Metrodome Seats for Sale - 2013 - Blue Seats - $60 At long last, Minnesota Vikings, Twins, and Gophers Football fans can get their hands on some of those stark blue, plastic, Metrodome seats. The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority has put the Albrecht Sign Company in Fridley in charge of the sale of the seats, and getting your hands on one of these treasures might be easier than you think. Most seats cost $60 a piece (plus tax), with special request seats running at $80 a pop. Non-profit organizations...

'The Football Jones' Week 17 NFL Picks

Freezing to Death - New Year's Eve - Minnesota - The Shining

First of all, seeing a projected HIGH of NEGATIVE four degrees on New Year's Eve... kind of makes me want to quit the band. I am hell bent on celebrating the coming of the calendar year 2014 and I want to do so without freezing to death in a snow bank somewhere, damnit!

Actually, I guess there could be worse ways to go if you're drunk enough. But that's neither here nor there! More to the matter: After spending the bulk of this season in the top three payout slots in my picks pool standings, this...

K.I.S.S. -- Keep It Simple Stupid! A Guide to Nailing Your New Year's Resolution

New Year's Resolutions - How to Achieve Them Halloween candies, Thanksgiving feasts, and Christmas sweets have given us plenty to eat for the past couple months and have, unfortunately, been wreaking havoc on our bodies. Now with New Year's Eve and Day quickly approaching, it's time for one last hurrah before the proclamation of change,  as old as the turning of the years itself, hits center stage: the New Year's resolution. A quick google search gave me a Forbes...

A List of My Top Five Christmas Movies

Elf - Best Christmas Movies - 2013 - Minnesota Connected

Around the holiday season all the movies with any sort of Christmas theme hit the air waves. Every year on Christmas Day, A Christmas Story plays on repeat the entire day which provides many family get-togethers with something to have on the television in the background of all the festivities. I'm not the type of person who is sold on a Christmas movie simply because it is Christmas themed, but I do have a handful of favorites. I've seen almost all the front-runners, like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...

Snow is a Beautiful Thing

Single Snowflakes - Macro Photography - Minnesota It was difficult for me to type the title for this article, because I don't really like snow and most definitely hate the cold -- but the images in this article put on full display just how beautiful snowflakes are and how one artist uses the snowy landscape to create gorgeous works of art. Using a very powerful macro lens, photographer Alexey Kljatov took photos up close of single snowflakes in his backyard in Moscow. The results are breathtaking -- snowflakes to the human eye are just white specks falling from the sky -- but to the potent camera lens, you can see the...

Extra Security Set For Final Metrodome Football Game

Metrodome - Minneapolis - Last Game - 2013 When the Vikings played their final game at Metropolitan Stadium on December 20, 1981, the stadium personnel faced a riot crowd ready to steal whatever they could to get their hands on so they could cherish the Met after it was gone. Nine people were arrested as a horde stormed the field, tore down the goal posts, ripped out end zone speakers, and even broke off pieces of the scoreboard. Metrodome authorities are determined to prevent that from happening again, so for this Sunday's final Vikings game under the dome ever, extra security will be on hand to keep looters at bay. UPDATE: ...

My Top Five Concerts of 2013

Pretty Lights @ Myth Live

2013 was a fantastic year for live music in Minnesota with an endless number of options. I wished I could have attended more shows, but in the end, I value my marriage, day job, and sleep. Though, in 2013 I did attend more shows in a single year that I ever had before, 38 concerts to be exact. That's a concert every 9.5 days. I definitely couldn't have done that without the support of my wife. Thanks Carrie! Just a heads up though, I already have tickets to ten shows in 2014, but I promise I'll be quiet when I get home. Here are my top 5 most enjoyable shows of 2013:
5. ...

'The Football Jones' Week 16 NFL Picks

Car Burglar - Football Picks (An open letter to the person who broke into my car this past weekend and made off with my tire air gauge and my pair of sunglasses, both of which were gifts from friends) Dear Burglar, Congratulations on your big score! Now, don't go spending all of that drug money you get for those two items in one place, okay? Think fiscally responsible now. You were literally in the driver's seat there and now you've got to grab the bull by the horns and go out there and get one step ahead of the rest of the pack! Remember, a penny saved is worth two in the bush. With that type of roll-up-your-sleeves attitude and reckless...