Apartment Blog

During the holiday season it is always great to find family fun activities. The celebrated city of Los Angeles has many holiday events for you and your family to enjoy. Just take a look at these five attractions….Grinchmas is sure to be a treat for your family! It begins in December at Universal Studios Hollywood and visitors will enjoy wintertime family activities in real snow, meet the Grinch and see Whoville come to life on the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood during “Grinchmas.” Areas of the Theme Park and the Studio Tour are transformed to bring to life the settings, the music and, most importantly, many of the wonderful characters created by the beloved Dr. Seuss! This would surely be a must see for my family.

Who wants to join in reindeer games?? From Thanksgiving weekend through the New Year, live reindeer will be paying a visit to the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens at the Reindeer Romp. A flurry of festivities and holiday entertainment will accompany this popular annual event where children can make their own reindeer antlers and join the herd. On weekends, Santa and friends will be available for a photo opportunity!

Los Angeles has a NEW ice skating rink in town! From December 3-31^st  grab your skates and head down to Nokia Plaza at L.A. LIVE for the grand opening of “LA Kings Holiday Ice at L.A. LIVE.” Catch the annual holiday tree lighting celebration the same night. The new skating rink is the first of its kind at L.A. LIVE and will be open for winter fun! For more information on hours, visit Holiday Ice.

Play in the SNOW! Big Bear Mountain Resorts have unmatched snowmaking systems providing quality snow for thousands of skiers and snowboarders in Southern California each season. Big Bear already started snowmaking at Snow Summit with Bear Mountain, Chair 5 and Central Park Run already accessible for downhill fun!

And finally, what good are all of these activities if you don’t have a fabulous apartment to go home to afterwards? ForRent.com has many Los Angeles apartments for you to search based on your selection criteria. They can be close to Universal Studios Hollywood for your family to enjoy Grinchmas each holiday season or next to the Nokia Plaza for amazing ice skating each winter. Whatever your criteria may be, we have apartments to meet your needs! Just check out the newest apartments on ForRent.com with Community Theater, an online video that highlights all the features and benefits of the community.

Renaissance Apartments, Sunset Barrington Gardens, Rancho Los Feliz, Villa Vicente, Broadcast Center-AIMCO and Villas at Park La Brea Apartments.

During this holiday season it is important to factor in the safety of all of your family members; even the little furry ones! You’d be surprised what dangers are lurking for your family pet during this festive season. So to help out all of our pet-friendly readers, we have compiled a list of items to watch out for this year. A trip to the veterinarian hospital would not be a pleasant thing!

Ingesting items:
Everyone knows chocolate is bad for dogs. But did you know that onion, grapes and raisins are horrible for them too? Fatty foods like turkey skin or gravy is not good for their stomach and alcohol is toxic! And be aware of things they can get into and eat such as plastic wrap, toothpicks, napkins, disposable plates or flatware. Items likes these can definitely do some damage to their internal organs.  If you are traveling with your animal or having friends staying at your home, make sure all medications are put in a place where curious animals cannot find them.

Safety for your pet:
This is not only about the safety of your animal, but also safety for humans around your animal. A pet that lies down in the middle of the kitchen is an accident waiting to happen. Make sure all of the left-overs are properly sealed and stored away where counter surfers cannot reach.  If serving turkey, make sure the carcass is in a plastic bag and taken out of the apartment. You don’t want to leave it around where any animal can take interest. And be sure to tell your family/friends visiting that feeding your pet is not good for him/her.

And finally, make sure you keep your animals’ routine as normal as possible. If your cats are terrified of people, let them have one room (perhaps a bedroom) to themselves. Or if your dog doesn’t like to be pent up in the house for too long, take him/her out for long brisk walks (for small dogs make sure they are dressed accordingly). Since there will be people coming in and out of your apartment, make sure that your animal wears proper ID tags should they escape in the confusion.

Wishing you and your family, all of them, a very happy and safe Thanksgiving!

 Dear Mom,

Through our many years together I have come to the understanding that Halloween is a holiday that humans like to celebrate. However, I have a few bones to pick with you regarding my treatment during your festive celebrations.

First off, you enjoying baking fabulous treats for you and your guests and yet you are all selfish enough not to share with me. Why? Does my overly practiced cute face no longer have an effect on you?

Second, you begin dressing up and behaving in crazy ways that makes it hard for me to recognize you. And yet I get yelled at for barking. Am I not taught to bark at strangers or weird looking people to keep you safe?

Thirdly, while I understand your guests for these events need to have proper seating, I do not feel that ‘my chair’ is an acceptable place for their behinds. I have sniffed many of butts and can tell you there are very few I want in my space. Please direct them elsewhere for seating options.

And finally, these celebrations are about you and your friends having a good time with one another. I see no point in bringing me into the equation. That means that unnecessary outfits or costumes for me only serve to humiliate me and assist in making me the laughing stock of the entire neighborhood. Would you please cease this useless exercise?

In conclusion, I would like to be righted for all the wrong doings. I will accept five of your home baked treats, unlimited barking rights to those who look funny to me, my chair to be left for ME and of course no costumes/outfits of any kind (unless of course it’s very cold outside and I require a jacket to prevent shaking). Your cooperation on this matter is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Your son aka Bailey Bear

p.s. Happy Halloween everybody!

                                  Pic by opiummuseum

Do you ever wonder why we celebrate the holidays we celebrate? Do you ever look beyond the festivities, gifts, and laughter to understand the roots of the occasion.  Maybe you have and maybe you haven’t, but Halloween has a unique history.  History.com says that when Europeans came to America they brought their varied Halloween traditions with them.  It wasn’t as prevalent in the rigid protestant north as it was in southern colonies like Maryland.  Different European ethnic groups and American Indian traditions meshed to form the American version of Halloween.

The first festivities included “Play Parties” that celebrated harvest and people came together to dance, sing, tell stories about the dead, and tell each other’s fortunes.  Telling Ghost stories was common as well. History.com also notes that in the second half of the 19^th century America was flood with immigrants especially from Ireland, whom helped popularize Halloween nationally.

The Trick or Treat Tradition came from English and Irish Traditions, and Americans began to go from house to house asking for money or food. In the late 1800s though, there was a movement to take the witchcraft out of Halloween and make the holiday more about community get-togethers and games.  Halloween eventually lost its religious and superstitious overtones. Trick or Treating evolved over time to be an inexpensive way for the community to share the celebration. Also, in theory giving kids treats prevented them from being the victim of tricks.

Halloween is now the second biggest commercial Holiday, where Americans an estimated spend 6.9 billion dollars.  Knowing the history may just be of trivial consequence, but it will help you understand the dynamics behind such a popular holiday!

If you’re looking to experience a little spook this Halloween, why not try a local festival or haunted house? In Virginia Beach, Virginia we are lucky enough to have the Hunt Club which has plenty of Halloween spookiness for all.

First up is the haunted hayride.  You and your closest friends can load up on a huge trailer full of hay stacks being pulled by a tractor. Without giving too much away, you are pulled through many stations that have bloodied up characters just waiting to pounce on you.

Next up is the village of the dead.  You are lead by a guide to walk through an entire village of ghosts and goblins. The reenactment scenes are goose bump worthy and will surely have you looking over your shoulder.

Finally there’s my personal favorite, the field of screams.  You and your group are lead through an entire field of tall grass and nothing by complete darkness. In every corner is someone lurking to scare you. They are trained well to pick out those that will shrill the most. Whatever you do, don’t look frightened (easy to say, right?). And if you have awesome friends that like to scream your name, the gory staff won’t let you forget it. They’ll taunt you over and over again. It was enough for me that I ran up to a group in front of us and grabbed someone (who I thought was my b/f). Scared and embarrassed what a wonderful combo!

If you’re looking for some great Halloween experiences, check out your local listings.  Its bound to be a great time. Happy Halloween!

The count down is on! Super Bowl XLIII is five days away and the game is shaping up to be a good one. Everyone is looking forward to the traditional festivities for their Super Bowl party, such as the manly (or womanly) bonding, yummy food, friends, etc. However, according to Extra, the average person eats about 1,200 calories in snacks alone on Super Bowl Sunday?! That’s insane! Participating in this time honored tradition can be detrimental to your diet!

Well, take a breath….we’re providing you with two recipes that are for the healthy conscientious. Feel free to snack on these bad boys, in moderation of course, guilt-free!

Fresh Tomato Salsa

From Eatingwell.com Ingredients

• 4 cup(s) diced tomatoes (5-6 medium)
• 3/4 cup(s) finely diced red onion ( about 1 small)
• 1/4 cup(s) red-wine vinegar
• 1 1/2  jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
• 1/2 cup(s) chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• cayenne pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Combine tomatoes, onion, vinegar, jalapeno, cilantro, salt and cayenne in a medium bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

With only 21 calories per serving and 0 grams of fat, you can snack happy with this recipe! J Be sure to serve with reduced fat or multi-grain chips for an added health bonus!

Spicy Blue Cheese Dip

From Eatingwell.com 

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup(s) reduced-fat sour cream
• 2/3 cup(s) crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tablespoon(s) distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Whisk sour cream, blue cheese, vinegar and cayenne in a small bowl.

This blue cheese dip is perfect compliment for buffalo wings (again, moderation is key) or with a tray of veggies!