Apartment Blog

I found this article online and it has changed the way I drink water. Bottles, Bottles, Everywhere by Ramon Cruz has opened my eyes to what damage can be done by simply drinking from the plastic water bottle on my desk. Like every health conscientious American, I make a effort to consume eight glasses of water a day. In doing this, I tend to drink a lot out of water bottles. But the harm that I’m doing to the environment could be comparable to the harm I would be doing to my own body if I didn’t consume that water. A person needs to drink water throughout the day in order for their body to work properly; your blood has to carry oxygen to your cells and needs water to do this. Water also helps you digest food and get ride of waste in your body. But by drinking water out of plastic bottles, I am overflowing our landfills and contributing to global warming. Sure recycling would help, but “less than 20 percent of the 28 billion single-serving water bottles that Americans buy each year are recycled.”[1] Therefore, most of those water bottles are resting in landfills where it takes thousands of years for the plastic to decompose.

And what for? “More than a quarter of all bottled water is just processed tap water, including Pepsi’s Aquafina and Coca-Cola’s Dasani.1” Yet bottled water consumption is continually growing each year. So there needs to be a better plan of action to tackle this wide-spread damage! The article suggests several options. One being if you purchase bottled water make sure you recycle the container. I know this option isn’t the easiest for me because the community I live in does not collect recycling (which I plan on discussing with them in the near future). So the second suggestion is what I’m doing now. I drink tap water. I have a water filter at my home and at the office where I consume my water daily. And since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for tap water are more stringent than the Food & Drug Administration’s standards for bottled water, I’m drinking water that is just as safe as, if not safer than, bottled. I also drink out of a reusable container so I won’t be throwing away numerous plastic or Styrofoam cups a week–which also harms the environment. Be sure you don’t reuse single-use water bottles; doing so can expose you to bacterial build-up and carcinogens leached from the plastic.

The ‘Green Living’ bandwagon is continually getting new members and I encourage all of you to hop aboard and do your part in helping our environment!

[1] http://green.yahoo.com/blog/climate411/91/bottles-bottles-everywhere.html

So this year you want to host a fun green filled St. Patrick’s Day party, huh? Well, follow these tips and you’re sure to not disappoint!

Tip 1: Invitations
As always, we start our hosting parties with letting the guest list know who, what, where, when, etc. These invitations can be hand crafted, store bought or emailed! Chose whichever suits the party you’re throwing or guests attending. Regardless of the medium chosen, have the St. Patrick’s Day theme clear with lots of green, shamrocks, leprechauns, etc. Think of clever phrases or jokes to get a rise out of the receiver, such as: ‘Knock Knock, who’s there, Irish, Irish who?, Irish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!’ Ha ha ha!!

Tip 2: Decorations
Think green and silly when it comes to decorations for your party! Shamrocks and leprechauns are a must on the walls and windows. Take a look at our St. Patrick’s Day Crafts blog for ideas on how to create some of your decorations or go with store bought ones. I always advise using balloons as I think they scream party! But additional decorations would be needed on the buffet table such as green table cloth, napkins, cups, confetti, centerpieces, etc. Also make attire a decorative element by having everyone wear green and leprechaun hats!

Tip 3: Food & Drinks
Keep the green theme going with your food too! You can have green cookies, green M&M’s, chips with guacamole, fruit that’s green, green beverages, etc. Let your imagination run wild! And if you can’t think of enough foods that are green, you can always use food coloring! The obvious drink choice for a St. Patrick’s Day party is beer. Traditional Irish beers, such as Guinness or Murphy’s Irish Red Ale, would be served. If your party does have alcohol please be responsible for all your guests. Have someone as the designated driver for those that drink or offer guests to stay the night.

Tip 4: Entertainment
A must in every party is to have entertainment for your guests. You can have contests such as a limerick contest, St. Patrick’s Day games or just music or videos playing in background for noise. A suggestion would be having the music/movie coordinate with the theme, i.e. St. Patrick’s Day party having Irish music or one of the Top 10 St. Patrick’s Day Movies playing on your T.V. Either way, you’ve got to have something fun and interactive so your guests won’t be bored!

With these four tips your St. Patrick’s Day party should be a blast! Your guests will have a smashing time and you’ll be regarded as the best host! Enjoy!

Source: ehow.com

Are you throwing a Valentine’s theme party this year? Do you need some ideas? Check out our five tips for throwing an awesome bash this year!

Tip 1: Invitations

Depending on the formality of your party, you can choose official invitations, emailed invitations or just verbally announce. Either way you choose, make sure it’s using the holiday colors and verbiage (lots of LOVE) while also setting the tone for the party.

Tip 2: Décor

Obviously you’ll want to stick somewhat to the color scheme of Valentines, like red, white and pink. Incorporate these colors in many of the decorations to give your party a truly lovely look. You might want to think about streamers, plates, napkins, cups, table cloth and of course the party staple balloons! And as I mentioned in our ‘cheap decorations’ blog, you can always make a lot of your decorations by using construction paper, colored plates cut out in the shape of hearts, or print out images on your computer. It’ll add just a bit more flair while not depleting your funds!

Tips 3: Food/Beverages

This is where a lot of your budget is going to be spent. You could do the usual finger foods for the party, i.e. chips, dips, wings, etc. Or you could do a dessert buffet! Give your guests all the treats they can take! J For beverages you can have the normal soda, water, etc. Or you can have a theme drink like ‘lovers punch’ or something of that nature.

Tip 4: Entertainment

You’ll want your guests to be entertained during your party. So make sure there are plenty of fun games for everyone to be involved in, music for the background and/or dancing as well as crafts for any children involved or adults that particularly enjoy it! But if you’re having an informal gathering where everyone knows everyone, then it may not be necessary to do all this. Just let everyone mingle!

Tip 5: Gifts

If you are going to be doing games, make sure there is a prize for each of the winners. You could also do door prizes or a gift exchange. And don’t forget little party favors as a thank you for the guests attending.

Did these ideas help? Will you incorporate them in your Valentine’s Party? I sure hope so!

You want to host a Super Bowl party with all your friends and/or family, but have to watch what you spend? Food/drinks is obviously going to be a larger expensive, rightfully so, but how can you have a bit of décor to your themed party when you’re on a budget? Well, here’s a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Make Your Own Football! This is a really cute and neat idea. Just take some paper plates, cut them into shapes of footballs and decorate them (i.e. color them brown w/white threads or in the colors of the football teams playing that day). You could even hole punch them and string them up around the room like a banner!?!

2. Bake A Football Cake! Since you’re already going to be providing food (or maybe have a pot luck) make sure there is a football decorated cake. You can use food coloring for the icing and little sticks (or going really economical-matches) for the goal posts. It’s sure to be a crowd pleaser, decoration centerpiece and a yummy surprise!

3. Styrofoam Bricks! These are really cute ideas for people to throw on the ground when the referee makes a bad call or their team gets scored on. Guaranteed to get some use!! Just go to your local arts and craft store and pick up a bunch of blocks. Get some spray paint (preferably the reddish/brown color of bricks) and paint away! Stack them up in the middle of your room, they’re bound to be discovered!

4. Balloons Galore! Balloons are a cheap and easy way to decorate your house for this party. Get a few bunches (probably not more than a dozen, which can cost you about $6 dollars) and strategically place them where the majority of your guests will be. They will make a big impact for not a lot of $$!

5. Paper Chains! Going back to your childhood days when you use to make decoration out of paper strips, staple them together in circles and build from there. It made a cute little chain that you could decorate the classroom with. Why not mimic that for your party? Sounds goofy, but for two packages of different colored paper (very inexpensive), you can cut them into five strips each and get a pretty decent size streamer around your room! Be creative and do one of the teams colors around the food and the other team’s colors around the T.V.

6. Use Your Computer! Have you found all sorts of neat graphics online that you’d like to use? If you have a color printer, why not use it! Print out some of these images and cut them out. Tape them on various surfaces around your apartment. It actually turns out quite nice (and really good for your budget)! Place them on the bathroom mirrors, the kitchen cabinets or on the fridge. It’s just a little bit of decorations everywhere without a lot of extra money coming out of your wallet!

7. Use The Dollar Store! I swear by this place to everyone! Seriously it’s amazing. Go here for your other items that you have to buy (i.e. paper plates, napkins, cups, utensils, table cloth, etc.). It’ll really save you money in the end and still be sufficient enough for your party! Other stores that are economical that might be in your area are: Dollar Tree, 39 cent store, Party City, etc.

Do you have anymore cheap ideas for decorations? Let us know! The more ideas you share, the more money in everyone’s pockets this Super Bowl Sunday (especially for any of you who have wagered on the game and might loose!!)

So you want to throw a little party this Sunday, huh? Celebrating the Patriots and Giants going to the Super Bowl? Well, here are a few tips for the host of this year’s Super Bowl party:

Tip 1: Prepare

You’re going to have rowdy activity take place in your home. So make sure you remove any fragile or breakable items out of the rooms where guests will be. Also start assembling a list of whom all you would like to invite and verbally invite them. A Super Bowl party isn’t something that’s formal so written invitations or RSVP’s wouldn’t be necessary.

Tip 2: Decorations

If you’re cheering for a specific team, make sure you incorporate their colors into the decorations for the party. You might also want to bring out all your memorabilia of that specific team. If you’re hosting the party and not for any specific team, then just incorporate football themed decorations like napkins, plates, banners, balloons, etc. I wouldn’t go too overboard with the decorations as the main purpose for this event is to watch the T.V. and not the area surrounding it! (p.s. make sure none of your decoration hinders the ability to watch the game for anyone!)

Tip 3: Entertainment

Yes, your guests are there to watch the football game! The T.V. is the most important piece of entertainment, but be sure to have activities for those not interested in watching the game. Have a separate room for those who would rather chat and make sure that room won’t interfere with those watching the game & vice versa. Also try and have fun activities for half time, like maybe a football shaped piñata!

Tip 4: Food/Drinks

This is a BIG tip, as most of your guests will be snacking on quite a bit of food. So buffet style is really your only option. You can have finger foods such as chips & dip, pizza rolls, veggies & dip, wings-‘easy food’. And make sure you have plenty of napkins in the areas where the food is and where the guests will be seated!! Usually the drink of choice for this manly custom is beer, but you don’t have to serve it if you would rather not. Just be sure whatever type of drink you are serving is enough for your guests to have more than a few glasses of since they will be there for several hours.

Tip 5: Clean Up

You’ve just had a successful party! YAY!! Hopefully your team won! But regardless, you’ve just hosted a party that you have to now clean up after! Don’t worry! If you bought plastic/paper plates, going through should be easy! Just take your trash can and dump everything! You need to vacuum up the little crumbs that are everywhere and wipe down any surfaces that are messy. If you have a few friends that’ll stay a little while after the game, enlist their help too!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Super Bowl Sunday!!