Some cool stuff coming up, peeps. Get out your dayplanner…

The Latino Heritage Festival is Sept. 4-5 at Southridge Mall. Admission is $5 and the event includes music, entertainment, food & more!

A benefit for African predators at the Blank Park Zoo on Sept 11. (You’ll even get a discounted ticket with student ID!) Register by Sept 7.

There’s a dog walk at 10 on Sept. 11 to raise money for AHeinz57 pet rescue group.

Rock&Toss is Sept. 11 and sounds totally fun! It’s a bean bag tourney with live music to raise money for Central Iowa Shelter & Services. How cool!  Concerts are free, tourney is $25.

Dog-Eat-Dog Trivia night is Sept. 16. $25 for tickets which includes your dinner. Lots of fun!

There’s an Antique Jamboree in Valley Junction Sept. 19, 8-4. It’s free to attend and always fun to browse!

Oktoberfest in Des Moines is Sept. 24-25. Who doesn’t like a good German beer & dinner??

There’s a walk to raise money/awareness of Lupus on Sept. 25 at Merle Hay Mall. It’s free to walk but they hope you raise money or tell people about it!

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Des Moines is making headlines again, this time with the launch of Bcycle. Right now the only other two cities with this are Denver and Chicago. Way to go Des Moines for embracing bike culture early on!

The business model is based on the idea of  bike sharing. You can rent a bike from convenient bike stations around the city, encouraging people to ride instead of drive to locations that may be too far to walk to. There are currently 4 bike stations in downtown Des Moines. All bikes include a basket too!

There are two membership levels, 30 day or annual or you can pay for a 24-hour rental ($5) at a B-station. This qualifies you for 24-hour bike passes for the set amount of time. Bikes can be returned to any B-station, kind of like Redbox movies.

Check out the website for more details and a map with pick-up and drop-off locations. They are offering free 24-hour passes through Sept 7.

Who already rides their bike to school and around town?

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I love to get good deals & be as thrifty as possible and I’m sure you do too so I had to share some new finds….

Restaurant.com – here’s a site I am GLAD finally has some Des Moines participants! I always heard of folks using it but there weren’t enough good local places participating last I checked. Now there are GREAT places listed & who wouldn’t want dinner for half-price or less? Check it out.

One Des Moines-area blog about deals that I check regularly is frugalplayground.com. And here’s 2 sites I recently learned about: hip2save.com & www.totallytarget.com.

What are your go-to savings sites?

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Tomorrow (Saturday) is Ingersoll Live! A FREE annual event just a few blocks away from DMU, this block party runs 2-11 on Saturday and includes all kinds of family activities.

Food, artists with goods for sale, inflatables and games for the kids, bands and even a performance by the Isiserettes drill & drump corp!

So check out the 2800 block of Ingersoll tomorrow for a study break or a chance to stretch your legs!

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One of my healthy-eating goals is to experiment with whole grains. I’ve started using brown rice instead of white and have made quinoa (which is supposed to be the most complete protein). This wheat berry salad is next on my list. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen wheat berries at Gateway Market or Campbell’s Nutrition and you might be able to find them in the health market section of Hy-Vee.

What is your favorite healthy grain? Check out 9 more grain recipes from Better Homes & Gardens.

Sesame-ginger wheat berry salad

1-1/4 cups water
1/2 cup wheat berries
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 of a medium mango, seeded, peeled, and chopped
3/4  cup thin bite-size strips carrots
1/4  cup purchased mango chutney
2  Tbsp. rice vinegar
2  tsp. toasted sesame oil
1/4  tsp. ground ginger
Salt (optional)
1 small head napa cabbage, coarsely shredded

Directions

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Walk/run the 5k or 10k for Shoes That Fit on Aug. 28.

On Sept. 12 you can Step Out to Fight Diabetes at Gray’s Lake Park. (There’s even a DMU Podiatry team already!) Look for the DMU team providing first aid!

American Lung Association’s Lung Walk 5k on Sept. 18 at the Blank Park Zoo.

Or on Sept. 19, walk in Ankeny to raise awareness of suicide.

On Sept. 25 you can join the Memory Walk for the Alzheimer’s Association.

Reggie’s Sleepout is Oct. 16-17. (This isn’t technically a run but it’s still an outdoor event for a great cause so I included it.) You can volunteer or participate to help raise money for and awareness of homeless youth!

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