Apartment Blog

You have enough on your plate this month with Easter rolling around, pictures needing to be taken and baskets to be assembled. Why not have your little ones help you out this Easter dinner? Below are really easy and simple recipes for you and your little helpers!

Edible Easter Bunny Salad



Ingredients:
Pear halves
Raisins
Miniature marshmallows or cottage cheese
Lettuce
Apple slices or Almonds

Directions:
Place a lettuce leaf on a plate. Add the pear half on lettuce, for body. Insert raisins for the eyes and nose. The ears are made from apple slices or almonds and a miniature marshmallow or cottage cheese become the bushy tail.

Banana Pops

Ingredients:
• 2 Bananas
• Honey (or melted chocolate)
• Dessicated Coconut (or rice krispies)
• Popsicle sticks
• Plates
• A baking dish lined with baking paper
Directions:
1. Peel the bananas, then cut them in half and push Popsicle sticks into the bottom of both pieces of banana.
2. First, Roll the bananas in some honey, and then in the coconut.
3. Place the banana pops on a baking tray lined with a sheet of baking paper and then freeze.
4. Your banana pops will be ready to eat the next day

Source: dltk-kids.com & amazingmoms.com

Do you and your sweetie want to go away somewhere for Valentine’s Day but can’t because of money? Then why not go to destination YOUR HOME!! If you can’t go somewhere for a romantic weekend, why not create one in your apartment? Here are some ideas to help you decide how you want to decorate your ‘paradise’ this year!

Pick an Idea or Theme! If you and your honey are beach bunnies and would love to go somewhere warm and exotic, why not decorate your place for the tropics? Or if you would prefer a smokey mountain retreat, decorate like a log cabin. There may not even have to be a specific theme besides Valentine’s Day. The decorations could simply be the atmosphere of love. The possibilities are endless!

Prepare Your Apartment! So you’ve come up with an idea of how to decorate, so make sure you prepare your setting. Valentine’s Day is one day when it’s okay to go ALL out!! Because all the special touches let your ‘special someone’ know how much they mean to you. So if you’re planning a tropical get-a-way have some flowers, island themed decorations, bikini, etc. If you’re planning on doing Valentine’s as the theme be sure and use lots of flowers (even a bouquet in the bathroom for a surprising touch) and balloons!

Set The Mood. So you’re preparing your apartment with all the appropriate décor, be sure to set the mood using candles and/or music. It can play with your theme too, beach music for beach theme. Or love songs for Valentine’s theme. (Of course love songs will work regardless of the theme given it’s for Valentine’s Day!) Another idea is to strategically place a setting in front of the fireplace of your apartment. Whatever you choose keep in mind you want to try and create some intimacy and magic!

Food/Beverages. You can really use this topic to your advantage, make it whatever you want! If you both have a specific cuisine you like, prepare it (or order it in…). J Or go with the theme that was picked (i.e. island food for beach theme, or heartier meals for a mountain/camping theme). It’ll be an extra something special and an expression of your love!

Have some Pre-Planned Entertainment. This is where your island retreat can really take off! Plan to do a Hawaiian dance for your sweetheart! Or should you be celebrating Valentine’s Day, watch his/her favorite movie (mushy or otherwise)! Have some portion of the evening dedicated to whatever your sweetheart would like to do! This is the ultimate gift you could give your ‘special someone’.

One year I decorated my boyfriend’s room with posters, streamers, balloons, a teddy bear and a giant card. You would have thought I gave him a new entertainment system by the way he reacted. He was so surprised and appreciative that I would think to do something like that! So trust me, your sweetie will enjoy the surprise and it’ll be a fun memory for you as well! J Happy Valentine’s Day!

Okay, so I was searching on the web and I found this cool article on MSN.com. (I copy and pasted the text for you below.) As you all know, my boyfriend and mine’s favorite Christmas movie is the Grinch. Read what the article says about Grinch lovers like us and figure out what your favorite Christmas movie says about you!!

Article:

By Margot Carmichael Lester

Your new guy says he can’t get through the holidays without watching A Christmas Story at least three times (he even has the leg lamp). Or it’s your new lady friend who sings all the tunes from Santa Claus Is Coming to Town in the shower. We asked pop culture mavens Alexis Bondoc, columnist for IntrepidMedia.com, and Ian Williams, an author/director/filmmaker, how a person’s all-time fave Christmas show reveals his or her dating M.O. Read on for some intriguing insights!

A Charlie Brown Christmas
Alexis: The fella who never misses this show is probably a classic guy who already knows how to dress and laugh. Slip him a CD by Vince Guaraldi (who did the jazzy numbers on the show) as a gift.
Ian: If your girl loves this show, deep down, she may want to don a black turtleneck and get existential—this show has a message. But she always has time to dance (who can resist that music!) and maybe she can make clouds of dirt like Pigpen.

A Christmas Story
Alexis: Aww… He’s got a wistful, nostalgic sense of humor and can probably remember every Christmas morning growing up. But, more importantly, there’s more than a slight chance that he didn’t get that one certain gift that every other kid on his block got — the Radio Flyer wagon or the super-cool robot set — and can still remember that deprivation NOW. Will you be the one to indulge him now?
Ian: Your romantic partner is something of a happy medium: corny, yet cool. Not cool in a desperately hip way, but subversive enough to keep things interesting. She hasn’t forgotten what the wonders of childhood were like—and doesn’t want to.

Bad Santa
Alexis: If this is your guy’s favorite seasonal show, then hold your horses. This guy is the Anti-Santa who would probably be happy to make a bunch of gift deliveries with a bottle of Jack Daniels. His ideal vision of Christmas probably involves telling little kids they don’t need Barbies or that Mickey isn’t a real Mouse and that he lives next to a 7-Eleven instead of the North Pole. Run, run, run. Unless you’re happy spending your time with the embodiment of Life’s Little Destruction Book…
Ian: Most likely, your lady was waiting for a movie like this long before it came out. Finally, someone told a Christmas story without much of a moral… and with lots of cringing along the way. Not one for nostalgia, your girl probably wants to order Chinese food rather than prepare a feast. If you are equally dark in your outlook, well, merry, merry!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Alexis: You don’t have to worry about this guy at all. He’s offbeat, sure, but he’s got a good heart. He probably loves celebrating Christmas with a delightfully creative and witty sense of humor instead of tradition. He’ll probably surprise you with completely novel ways of marking the holiday season.
Ian: The girl who loves this one is a sucker for ritual, and why not? We all know what happens to the Grinch, but the magic is in the retelling. The Whoville song is treacly and boring, but the Grinch’s theme, with jazz glissandos and rich baritone, make it a yearly must-see. But you must ask this woman: Does she identify with the Grinch… or the Grinch’s poor dog? That will give you some important clues!

It’s A Wonderful Life
Alexis: If your guy likes Frank Capra’s all-time classic, you can put good money on the fact that he’s as classically appealing as Jimmy Stewart—and probably as thoughtful, too. Thoughts count a lot with this kind of guy; make sure yours are up to snuff.
Ian: Like Crowded House sang, “Wherever there is comfort, there is pain,” and don’t your baby know it! She gets It’s a Wonderful Life as it was meant to be: not a sing-songy holiday card, but a deeply sad reflection on dreams deferred. She’s a deep-thinker… and probably a keeper.

Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Alexis: Any guy who picks this stop-animation classic is probably as unique as little Rudolph is. He probably celebrates Christmas — and lives his life — with a playful and creative streak. I mean, this is a guy who lives for the island of misfit toys and the Bumble! He’s probably quite a character.
Ian: Yikes. Easily the most anesthetized and goofy of the Xmas specials, Rudolph has the subtlety of a “Hang in There!” cat poster. Repetitious and cloying, it goes down like a bowl of red frosting. Your girl might be cute, but she’ll put antlers on your dog and giggle like she was the first to think of it. Consider yourself warned!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Alexis: The guy who loves this one is manly enough to really get down with Christmas and the classics, especially if he’s a Fred Astaire fan. This guy truly loves the holiday. You will celebrate every possible tree-lighting, sidewalk chorus group, eggnog-pouring moment, and you will do it with a smile on your face.
Ian: If your baby’s favorite is this one, she’s probably a Goth chick. No other Santa origin myth is quite so dark. Sure, Fred Astaire narrates, but St. Nick as an unwanted orphan? Hunted like a criminal? We knew Santa’s psyche was complicated, but we didn’t know he needed therapy.

Now, we’re not saying you should take any of these interpretations as the gospel truth. There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. But you should learn a little about yourself. What’s more, adding these insights to other information could help you figure out if you and your sweetie have a future full of holly-jolly Christmases together—or if your holiday honey will leave you feeling like your heart got run over by a reindeer. Ho ho ho!

Margot Carmichael Lester’s work also appears in Go magazine.