Apartment Blog

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!

                                  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!

For some people Halloween means as much to them as Christmas would to another person. As such, this occasion would be deemed gift giving. I have actually received a card and flowers from a friend on Halloween because it is her favorite holiday. Regardless if you are the gift giver or receiver, here are some great Halloween gift ideas.

Get Creative! Potion labels are a cool way to personalize a bottle of your friend’s favorite drink or bottle of wine. Just add a themed label appropriate for Halloween and you’re set!  Or creating a collage scrapbook already decorated, just waiting for the photos of this year’s party to frame or bind.

Homemade goods are a unique way to show your friends, or guests at a party, that you appreciate them. Everyone loves a good homemade treat. For this holiday, why not do a candied apple or pumpkin spice bread or ghost shaped cookies. 

Tickets to a fun Halloween themed event. There are bound to be places in your city that will celebrate this spooky holiday. Why not help the Halloween enthusiast in your life celebrate by buying them a ticket. It could be a hayride, haunted house, roller coaster theme park or maybe even a special movie premier.

Provide some type of entertainment by purchasing a Halloween book or movie. If your friend is into the whole scary experience, there are plenty of Halloween movies guaranteed to spoke him or her. Check out our list of 10 Awesome Halloween Movies.

If there are other Halloween gifts you have given or received, let us know! It would be nice to see all the imaginative ideas for this holiday.

Halloween is just around the corner, and if you’re planning on wowing your friends with your costume ideas you’re going to need to start planning ahead. To take care of the hardest part, thinking of the ideas, we’ve taken the liberty of researching awesome couple costumes.

Take a look:

• Jim and Pam-famous couple from the series ‘The Office’ are getting ready to get married.
• Peter and Lois or Stewie and Brian from the series ‘Family Guy’ are guaranteed to be a hit at any party!
• Danny and Sandy from the infamous movie ‘Grease.’
• Edward Cullen and Bella Swam from the hit ‘Twilight’
• Johnny Cash & June Carter
• Shrek and Fiona from the ‘Shrek’ movies

Whatever costume idea you choose, have fun with it. Halloween costume parties are always so much fun. Happy Halloween!

I, myself, am not a scary movie fan; however, I know many people who LOVE the thrill of a good horror movie. Taking into account some of their favorites as well as nationally recognized favorites, here is a list to help prepare you for the creepy holiday on October 31^st.

1. Halloween (all of them)

2. Nightmare on Elm Street (all the sequels)

3. The Silence of the Lambs

4. The Exorcist

5. Psycho

6. Pet Sematary

7. Saw

8. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

9. The Shining

10. Jaws

What are some of your favorite scary movies?

Do you know what you’re doing this Memorial day? Usually my memorial days consist of swimming at the oceanfront in Virginia Beach, barbeques where I eat too much and hanging out with friends. However, this year, I will be traveling. With the great deals on airline flights, one benefit from the downturn in the economy, my family and I are heading to Key West, Florida. Our three day weekend will feature parasailing, Duvall Street, visiting the Southernmost point of the US and the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum.  It’s going to be fantastic exploring the area and seeing how the locals celebrate. By the way, this would be the same locals that commemorate their large population of chickens by having a Key West Annual Chicken Festival (yea, I couldn’t make that up)!

But enough about my fun filled weekend (jealous much)! What about our readers? How do you plan on celebrating this honored holiday for those who have died while protecting our country? Friends of mine in Chicago, IL are going to attend the Memorial Day Parade in Daley Plaza. And we all know Boston is the city for runners, so other friends from Boston will be running in the Boston’s Run to Remember charity race (good luck to all the participants)!

So let us know! I’m curious to know what others around the United States are doing!