Apartment Blog

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Potlucks have been around forever, but they are still an effective way to feed a large number of people on a budget.  You can be the host and offer your house as the gathering place, but ultimately you want to delegate responsibilities to the attendees.  The potluck theme can extend beyond food, if you plan on entertaining people in different ways.  You can have each guest bring their favorite CD or movie along with an assigned dish.  The CD or movie can pertain to a broader theme for the party.  You can make the gathering fun by creating an entertainment theme around the most relevant time period to the prospective guests. For example:  ”Thankful for the 80’s”  can be a theme that allows guest to reminisce on those times and think about how they got from that time period to today.

The idea behind the potluck is to allow all attendees to participate in making the event a success.  If everyone contributes, they will feel like it is their party and won’t feel guilty for not helping in some way, shape, or form.  This is an ideal situation, especially during a holiday where the focus is being thankful for what you have and not focusing on what you don’t have. The potluck puts everyone on the same level for that evening, even if some guests are otherwise struggling financially.  It is important, especially with the recession still in place, to work together and build each other up.  Who knows, your gathering could be just what someone needs and propel them into 2010 with a new attitude about life!

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!

Football is fast becoming the most popular sport in America.  Some people are purely Pro-Football fans and others purely College Football junkies.  However, one tradition that transcends both levels is tailgating. Because Football Saturday is one of the main attractions of a football city/town, people from all over come for tailgating and watching games. It doesn’t matter if you even like football or understand the rules. Tailgating is a wholesome and fun event that the whole family can get involved in. It is also a source of pride and bragging rights for a community to have a competitive football team. 

For those that aren’t familiar with tailgating in the football world, it’s not “driving dangerously close to behind another vehicle.”  It is a social event that is held around the tailgate of a vehicle that usually involves beverages and grilling.  Fans dress in their team jerseys and talk about the upcoming game and get excited for the festivities.  It used to be an “underground” activity but has gained mainstream popularity with ESPN’s College game day reporting from the tailgating scene of the most exciting games of the day.

South Bend is one of those cities where tailgating is commonplace.  It is is also the current home to the College Football Hall of Fame. In a sense, every college football players dream is to make it to South Bend.  Although the Hall of Fame is scheduled to move to Atlanta soon, the pride of housing the Hall of Fame will never leave.  South Bend is a small city with a very dedicated and hardworking people.  Their allegiance is to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.  Notre Dame has one of the most storied football teams in history; some of that history even being documented in the popular movie Rudy. Notre Dame is at the center of this tradition and it is something you will enjoy during the fall months in South Bend.  Who knows, maybe you can make connections that will last through all the seasons!

Get more information and search tips on South Bend Apartments, or view all Apartments for Rent in South Bend, IN.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Bend,_Indiana

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailgate_party

How often do you have the opportunity to #SaveonRENT, especially RENT: The Broadway Tour? Now you do, thanks to a special partnership between RENT and ForRent.com®.  This exclusive discount allows you to see Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, in the roles they made famous, for $10 less than everyone else! Share with your friends (Retweet) and be a part of the group that gets “A Tweet Deal.”

Attention: RENT Enthusiasts
Tweet for a chance to win RENT: The Broadway Tour memorabilia and remember you get $10 off on tickets when you enter the code ANGEL.

Step 1:
Follow us on Twitter @AptsForRent and @rentthebwaytour

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Copy and paste the entire text below into one of your tweets:

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View the tour schdeule here: http://siteforrent.com/tourschedule 

Rules to play:
What?  A Tweet-to-Win sweepstakes.
Who?  You can enter if you are a consumer. Please no multi-family housing industry professionals or employees of For Rent Media Solutions, Dominion Enterprises and/or RENT: The Broadway Tour.
Why?  To win RENT: The Broadway Tour memorabilia & ForRent.com schwag and get $10 off ticket prices.
Where? Go to Twitter @AptsForRent and @rentthebwaytour to begin following.
How? Copy and paste the entire text below into one of your tweets:

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When? A randomly selected winner will be chosen from all tweeted entries on October 30^th, 2009; November 30^th, 2009; December 30^th, 2009 and January 13^th, 2010. 

I remember as a child when I asked my mother for my friend to come over, she would always state “Sure, as long as the house is cleaned up.” That exact moment would produce a frenzy of activity around the house, me racing against time to pick up everything so my mother would say yes. Ahhhh…. Those were the days. Now that I’m an adult, I don’t to have to deal with that when my friends come over. I want my apartment to already be kept up, so when a friend calls and says he/she is coming by I don’t have to worry.

Here are five foolproof ways I make sure this is accomplished for my apartment:

1. Make your bed as soon as you get up. As soon as I get out of bed, I make the bed. I feel like my room is extremely messy if the bed is. After all, the bed is usually the focal point of the bedroom; people tend to notice if that’s neat versus your vanity being kept up.

2. Unload your clean dishes from the dishwasher in the morning and make it a rule that if somebody uses a dish they are to load it into the dishwasher. If you don’t let dishes pile up, you won’t have a mess after dinner. And when the dishwasher is full, you can run it.

3. Clean up all spills immediately. That means on counter tops, on the stove, and on the floor when you are cooking. This will eliminate the hard scrubbing from food deposits sticking to the surfaces.

4. Make it a habit to take your shoes off at the front door when you come home. I have a shoe rack by the door for myself and guests to put their shoes. Doing this will keep dirt from being tracked in onto your floors or carpet, which will help them look beautiful longer! Remember, you want that security deposit back! J

5. Another thing people will notice when they come to your house is clutter. Make sure you have a spot for everything. When mail comes into the apartment, go through it immediately and throw away unnecessary items. Then, place your bills or other ‘keep’ items in their spot to go through when needed.

While I miss the good ole’ days from my youth, I certainly do not miss the frenzy of activity before a friend comes over. After all, it looks kinda bad when he/she shows up and I’m all sweaty & out of breath! J Hopefully these tips will help you whenever you are in the situation of needing a clean house on the fly.

Rules to play:

What?  A Tweet-to-Win sweepstakes.

Who?  You can enter if you are a multi-family housing industry professional!  Please no consumers, competitors, or other vendors.

Why?  To win an IPOD Touch!

Where? Go to Twitter@AptsForRent.

How? Copy and paste the entire text below into one of your tweets:

Multifamily Peeps Enter 4 chance 2 win iPod touch frm @AptsForRent & tweet this msg #YeahWe’veGotThat Rules: http://tinyurl.com/lk4syp

When? A randomly selected winner will be chosen on 8.21.2009