My friends and family have all heard me say it time and time again: In another lifetime, I am meant to be a flight attendant. Second to reading/writing, traveling is one passion that I seemingly cannot get enough of. Although I am not as well-traveled as I would like, destinations are slowly being ticked off one by one—on the flip side, with the help of social media, my list is becoming longer each day. Thankfully, I have the ability to travel quite a bit this year. At the end of this month, I’ll visit Wisconsin’s Door County for the first time, and, at the end of June, my husband and I head ..read more

Meadow blazing star. Photos: Chris Emeott Hennepin County Master Gardeners showcase their earthly endeavors. Like many things in life, experiencing them firsthand often provides an elevated experience. Take, for example, when visiting a garden, one can view how colors, shapes and textures are married with nature’s tender hand to reveal natural art in its purest form. Bees, butterflies, songbirds and tiny woodland animals all come to visit, and, for the most part, positively add to the natural vistas as they go about their inherent business. When the Hennepin County Learning Garden Tour, laun ..read more

Pexels/Sarah O Shea Reservations are made, and it’s time to start packing your bags—but aside from the sunscreen, have you thought about how to pack when it comes to your nutrition? Let’s set you up for nutritional success for your next adventure. Pack a reusable water bottle. Whether you are driving or flying, having a reusable water bottle on hand is an excellent way to save money and help you stay hydrated. Dehydration is common while traveling, leading to irritability, a lack of the ability to concentrate, fatigue, muscle cramps, digestive distress and more. Consider packing electrolytes ..read more

Behind the lens of the popular @indy_puppy Instagram account is Nyla, the Bernards’ 3-year-old vizsla. Photos: Debra Bernard Professional Maple Grove photographer catches cute quirks and expressions. With a sleek, tawny coat and innocent olive-green eyes, 3-year-old Nyla is hardly camera shy. Whether she’s showing off a trendy floral scarf or staying cozy in a pretty-patterned crochet sweater, owner and professional photographer Debra Bernard keeps this vizsla pup in tip-top shape. Nyla’s fan base is ever-growing, too, with nearly 14,000 followers on her Instagram page @indy_puppy. Bernard ..read more

Josie, the Seyfert’s Hungarian viszla. Photo: Debra Bernard Photography A high school project pivots into a successful outdoor dog gear company. Entrepreneurship, a course offered at Plymouth’s Wayzata High School, focuses on teaching students the necessary steps to launch a business and operate it successfully. Students are encouraged to approach the project through the lens of solving a current problem in the market. Cole Seyfert, a senior at the time, stepped into the class in 2019 with an idea that soon became a family endeavor. Coming from a family of avid campers and hunters, Cole want ..read more

Kendra Barber at a cenote pool on her honeymoon in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Photo: Roundtrips and Romances Travel planner uses vast experience to help couples plan the perfect getaway. What’s better than honeymooning on a sandy beach surrounded by clear blue water with the hot sun beating down? Not much—except if someone plans the trip for you and all you need to do is show up. That’s where Kendra Barber comes in. The wedding planner—turned travel coordinator—knows the ins and outs of planning the perfect getaway. And after all the stress that goes hand-in-hand with planning a wedding, the last ..read more

Photo: Debra Bernard “When I see all the beautiful flowers blooming on trees, I know spring has finally arrived,” says Debra Bernard, lifestyle and portrait photographer. (Read more about Bernard on page 22.) “It’s actually hard for me to put my camera down every time I see a new bloom in our neighborhood!” Photographer: Debra Bernard Title: Petals Equipment: Canon EOS R6 with a 50 mm lens at f/1.8 Location: Maple Grove neighborhood Category: Seasons Award: First Place The post Spring Blooms appeared first on Maple Grove Magazine ..read more

Alabama. 1985. Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with multiple murders. He had an alibi, but it didn’t matter—he was tried and found guilty. Hinton’s book tells his story of an innocent man serving time on death row until his eventual exoneration and release in 2015. He recounts his courtroom experience and how he faced rampant racism from the judge, prosecution and his defense attorney. The reality that many facts were never brought to light during his initial trial because he simply could not afford to pay for the tests that were required. The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and ..read more

Pexels/Karolina Grabowska Our furry friends bring us joy, comfort and companionship. Whether we are going on walks or cuddling on the couch, pets participate in our daily lives just like members of our family. Unlike other members of our family, we cannot rely on them to clean up after themselves, so keeping pet supplies in order and our homes clean is important. Grooming is a necessary part of pet ownership. My general rule of thumb when organizing is to keep like with like. Keeping all pet grooming supplies in the same location is ideal. I suggest a container that can be easily cleaned and ..read more

Derek Lynde. Photos: Chris Emeott Local nursery and greenhouse enters a new chapter. It is difficult to start and build a business. It is even harder to rebuild it more than 100 years later. But that’s what the owner of Lynde Greenhouse & Nursery had to do. A fire, confirmed to be ignited by arson, claimed the beloved Maple Grove greenhouse in the early morning hours in October 2022. While the blaze destroyed a space containing five generations of memories, it didn’t burn the support behind it. Owner Derek Lynde says greenhouse employees and the Maple Grove community were by his side ins ..read more