With Forbes Magazine recently naming Des Moines as the Best City in America for Young Professionals, we thought we’d take the time to highlight some of the YP groups in our great city and give you information on how you can get involved.

Young Professionals Connection- With a mission to:  “promote an environment that attracts and retains young professionals in Greater Des Moines. Our efforts focus on connecting young professionals to each other and to the community through social, civic, charitable, and professional development endeavors,” YPC certainly does a good job.

YPC offers its members and non-members all sorts of opportunities to connect and get involved. Whether it’s their monthly happy hours, opportunities to serve on a variety of committees, athletic leagues, educational events and more. There’s definitely something for everyone for join in on.

For information on how you can get involved and to see when the next meeting is, check out the above hyperlink.

Art Noir- is a member affiliate group of the Des Moines Art Center dedicated to engaging adults in their 20s and 30s in Art Center programming.

Art Noir regularly offers “Meet the Artist” receptions for its members. These events give members the opportunity to meet with and learn more about visiting artists who are featuring their work at the Des Moines Art Center.

The BIG event Art Noir is known for however is the biannual Big Hair Ball. An event that features creative costumes,people and a fantastic runway show of crazy hair designs. For more info on how you can join these creative YP’s check out the Art Noir Facebook page.

Des Moines Music Coalition- If you’ve been to 80/35 at all, you have these people to thank. DMMC’s mission is to “aggressively advocate, sponsor, and develop an independent, progressive live music economy in greater Des Moines for the purpose of urban revitalization, regional economic development, and the retention of our region’s youth and future.”

DMMC offers all sorts of music related events to the city. One event is Music University, this program gives attendees the opportunity to learn more about what it takes to make a living in the music industry. Whether it’s as a musician or someone who works behind the scenes.

DMMC also provides Des Moines with some great music events besides 80/35,  Gross Domestic Product is an annual music festival that showcases the talent of local musicians and bands from across our great state.

DMMC offers plenty more ways for members to get involved with a variety of committees as well.

For more information on the committees you can join, or for more information about DMMC check out the above hyperlink.

So, whether you like music, the arts, athletics, community service or something else. Des Moines young professional scene will definitely have something for you.

And for a bigger list of groups you can join, check out the Juice website.

It’s January. The winter doldrums are beginning to set in. We had our white Christmas and now most of us are ready for Spring and sun and t-shirts and shorts.

But since that’s still not going to happen for another couple months we’d thought we’d offer some suggestions to help you beat the winter blues.

See Des Moines came out with another top 100 list and we paroused it for our top 5 favorites and here they are:

Brenton Skating Plaza Most of us that live in Des Moines don’t have easy access to a pond to enjoy ice skating. But with Brenton Skating Plaza you can skate without even leaving downtown. Open 7 days a week and just $5 for adults and $4 for kids, this is a great way to spend time with the family. Brenton also offers skating lessons, as well as broomball and curling groups.

Sledding Who doesn’t remember the days of flying down snow covered hills in an old car hood or saucer? Des Moines has plenty of great sledding hills. The hills at Waveland Golf Course or the hill by the state capital are great sledding locations that can offer hours of fun. And the best part? They’re FREE!

Botanical Blues Want to escape the cold,dry,colorless winter of Iowa; but can’t really jump on  plane to get away? Well, going on through February, the Des Moines Botanical Center has the answer! Happening from 1-3pm every Sunday, you can enjoy local musicians,food and fun in the warm tropical climate of the Botanical Center and take a break from the weather outside.

Des Moines Art Center The Des Moines Art Center has been called a world class art museum set in the heart of the midwest. Featuring works from artists from the 19th, 20th and 21st century there’s much to explore here. Whether its the works of Matisse,Warhol or Georgia O’Keeffe, or the outside architecture; the art center has plenty of things for your eyes to enjoy.

Bowling at Bass Pro Shops Go under the sea at this restaurant and bowling ally. Uncle Buck’s Fish Bowl and Grill defintely offers its visitors a unique experience. With 12 lanes, bowlers can literally bowl under the sea and catch glimpses of turtles, sting rays and other sea creatures. When you get hungry you can head over the the restaurant and grab a bite to eat in the sunken ship themed dining area.

While you still may want Spring to be here and Winter to be gone, we both know it’s still going to be awhile. So, make the best of it, try one of our suggestions or one of the other 97 that are on the list and make the most of it. Because, we both know that when July comes and it’s 110 with humidty, we’re going to be wondering where Winter is.