Apartment Blog

Pic by PSD                

The key to organization for a great holiday is planning ahead.  Whether you plan on inviting people over for an event or traveling to see others, getting a head start is the key. Holidays are usually filled with chaos and disarray on the highway and in the airports, but yours doesn’t have to be. Following these 3 simple steps will help you organize your holiday:

1. Plan months ahead-Somehow the holidays seem to creep up on us, even though they are the same time every year. Funny, isn’t it? However, if you plan months ahead of a holiday you can account for most of the things that may come up to thwart your efforts. One rule of thumb is to start planning for the next holiday the day after the most recent holiday. Most likely you will be looking forward to the next holiday, so it will be easier to plan during that excitement.

2. Designate - Everyone has a person in their family who is good at organizing things and/or a friend that is a super organizer or designer. Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance with the party. If they love organizing and designing they will be more than happy to help you and excited that you noticed their skills.

3. Think outside of the box- It may be visiting a place you have never heard of or eating a non-traditional meal, but doing something most people are not doing can help with organization. It may be more difficult initially to visualize what you want to do, but doing something non-traditional will excite invitees and cause the organizers to focus more on the details.

Organization is a process. Don’t get frustrated if you don’t get everything right the first time.  Keep working at it until you get into a groove!

There are many reasons to love Halloween.  Here are 5:

• 1. It means that Fall is really here. You get to enjoy the beautiful colors of fall and even enjoy the cool weather before the fresh winds of November roll through.
• 2. Candy is in abundance and you don’t have to feel guilty about purchasing lots and lots of it. People will automatically assume that you are buying candy for the neighborhood kids, but you may just be buying it for yourself! Enjoy it, it will be your last candy binge before Christmas!
• 3. Potential to meet new neighbors. Halloween gives you a reason to interact with neighbors that you may have been shy to meet in the past. It may also help your kids meet good friends in the neighborhood
• 4. Kids! Well, you may not be a fan of kids but you won’t be able to turn them down in their cute costumes. Even if you don’t have your own, you can spoil other people’s kids, see their smiles, and then see them leave. This might be the ideal interaction with kids.
• 5. Another excuse to have a party. The last quarter of the year can be extremely stressful and any occasion to have a party is a good occasion. Don’t miss out this year.

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

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!

There are several people I know that have recently moved into a new apartment. Just about every day they are asked, ‘How are you enjoying your new place?’ as well as other types of questions like ‘what’s the floor plan?’ or ‘how do you have it decorated?’, etc.  Most of the initial questions you get asked when you’ve recently moved can be answered by a simple event, a housewarming party!

Inviting your friends, family and co-workers to a housewarming party where they can see your lovely abode will ensure you the opportunity to show off your style.  And what better way to gloat about your new space with all the cool swag on display?!

We’ve taken the liberty of highlighting a few basics to guarantee you a rockin’ housewarming party!

• Invites are a must. I would really recommend using websites such as Evite.com to send out virtual invitations. Saves on cost and they’re eco-friendly! If there are people who you do not know their email address (i.e. your new neighbors), small notes are totally acceptable.
• What should you serve? That’s easy…whatever you want! Most housewarming parties are basic drinks and hors d’oeuvres, but there’s nothing saying you can’t stray. If your apartment has a great deck or patio, a barbeque might be nice (provided that it’s okay with your apartment association first)!
• Do I need to provide entertainment? Absolutely! The point of your housewarming party is to show off your new home, so be sure to include tours of your new apartment for all those coming. That will answer all those pesky questions they ask. But in addition to the tours, you should provide music and other entertainment. At a housewarming party I attended, they had group video games for everyone to interact and meet one another. Music is also a popular form of entertainment.
• And finally, always show your appreciation. All of your guests have taken time out of their schedule to spend a few hours with you and share the joy of your new apartment. Thank them for stopping by and especially thank them should they have brought a gift; especially, since housewarming gifts are optional!

To everyone who has just recently moved into their new, or first, apartment-CONGRATS! Here’s hoping you have a terrific housewarming party!

What could be a better way for a community to build a relationship with its residents than by providing some sort of fun activity? Many apartment communities do this with parties, game nights, movie nights, etc. It’s a great way for residents to get together, find out who their neighbors are and really feel at home in the community. Here’s a suggestion for August, in keeping with the month’s theme, American Artist Appreciation Month, why not do a craft fair instead?

Just this past weekend I went to the Artisans in the Park off of Great Neck Road in Virginia Beach. It had over 110 artists showcasing their work whether it is photography, painting, wood carving, metal work, etc. There were hundreds of people that attended this show and it was a terrific event. It gave me an opportunity to see what creative talent we have here at ‘the beach.’ But it got me thinking too. Oftentimes there will be a get together for yard sales and things of that sort in my apartment community. Why not a joint craft fair in August?

Since August is artist appreciation month, I think it would be a great time to allow all your crafty residents an opportunity to showcase their work, perhaps make a little money, and get to know their fellow ‘crafty’ neighbors. When a prospective resident walks in through the door during this month, the advertisements on your property for this craft show will illustrate the type of unique and exciting activities your community offers its residents, reinforcing their desire to want to live there. I know I’d want to live somewhere that had one!