Apartment Blog

ForRent.com “If Only Your Apartment Furniture Could Talk” Video Contest has now entered into its second phase-VOTING!! You can visit the site www.WinApartmentFurniture.com to vote on your favorite videos. Comment and vote for your top choices to help them be selected for the Ten Finalists and/or Grand Prize Winner. Trust me when I say, you won’t be disappointed when you view the funny videos that have been submitted! Our bellies were really aching when we watched ‘True Lease‘, Help Me Out Bro and of course Jake’s Rap. So check them out! We’d love to hear what you think!!

If you feel like having a traditional Irish meal this St. Patrick’s day, what better way than having Steak & Guinness Pie? Exported from MasterCook, check out the below recipe to make your own…

Steak & Guinness Pie

Ingredients:
2 1/4 pounds of Round Steak
1 tablespoon of Flour
1 teaspoon of Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon of Raisins (optional)
5 Onions
10 fluid ounces of Guinness
8 slices of Bacon
Parsley Chopped
1 Recipe of short Pastry*

*For double-crust pie in deep pie dish, Cut the steak into bite sized cubes, roll in seasoned flour and brown in the lard with the bacon-chopped small.

Directions:
Place the meat in a casserole dish. Peel and chop the onions and fry until golden before adding them to the meat.  Add the raisins (if wanted) and brown sugar.  Pour in the Guinness. Cover tightly and simmer over a low heat or in a very moderate oven (325-350F) for 2½ hours.

Stir occasionally and add a little more Guinness or water if the rich brown gravy get too thick.  Meanwhile, line a deep pie dish with half the pie crust and bake it blind.  Then add the Guinness/beef mixture from the casserole dish, cover with the top layer of pie crust and bake until finished.  Probably about 10 more minutes.  Serves 4

Source: http://fp.enter.net; Exported from MasterCook

On Sunday we posted Single this Valentine’s Day? Here’s how to find a date, a blog about online dating and how to put your profile out on one of the sites. It seems that not only are generations x and y looking into online dating to find their special someone, but seniors are as well! In fact, seniors are the fastest growing segment of Internet users, and more and more of them are using the Internet to look for love. In fact, according to cbsnews.com, 16 percent of all those active on the top five Internet dating sites are 55 or older. A majority of the dating sites like eHarmony, Match.com and Date.com may cater to a slightly younger crowd, so there are senior specific dating sites popping up like SilverSingles.com and SeniorsCircle.com.

Whether you’re 28 or 57, everyone needs love in their life and online dating seems to be fulfilling a need for many. So why not try your hand at online dating? You never know who you may find!

Visit Find a Date on ForRent.com’s website and set up your profile today! You may even set upa date before this Valentine’s Day!

Source: cbsnews.com

When you’ve lived in various apartment communities, you’ll learn to appreciate different amenities. Here’s a list of apartment & community amenities that I truly LOVE!!

Apartment Amenities:

1. Vaulted Ceilings
2. Fire Places
3. Bay Windows
4. HUGE Walk-in Closets
5. Washer/Dryer INCLUDED in the rent
6. Garden Tubs
7. Microwave & Garbage Disposal
8. Large Pantry
9. Hardwood Floors/Tile
10. Automatic Outside Lighting

Apartment Community Amenities:

1. A REAL State-Of-The-Art Fitness Center
2. Pool/Sauna/Jacuzzi
3. Dog Park
4. Putting Green
5. Car Washing Stations (w/vacuums)
6. Jogging/Walking Trails
7. Tennis/Volleyball Courts
8. Playgrounds
9. Grilling Picnic Areas
10. Gated Entrance

What about you? Did I leave any off that you absolutely love about your apartment and/or community?

Spicy Seven Layer Dip

Items you’ll need:

1-2 cans Refried beans

Container of Avocado Dip

1-2 tubs of Sour Cream

1 lb of ground beef/turkey/chicken

1 Green Pepper (diced)

Sliced Jalapeno Peppers

1 bag of Shredded Cheddar or Taco/Mexican Cheese

1-2 bags of Tortilla chips (recommended Tostitos Gold Tortilla Chips as they are thicker & will hold the dip better)

Process:

1. First Layer: Heat up the refried beans in the microwave until it becomes smooth (a few minutes), you’ll need to spread a flat layer on your pan. Then let it cool.
2. Second Layer: smooth over the avocado dip onto of refried beans layer leaving a ¼ to 1/8^th of an inch on the side.
3. Third Layer: smooth sour cream over the avocado dip, also leaving ¼ to 1/8^th of an inch on the side (so you can start to see the layers on the side of the pan).
4. Fourth Layer: sprinkle the ground beef onto of the sour cream layer. For a healthier alternative you can use ground turkey or chicken. Depending on your taste you can lightly sprinkle or pile on the meat. (or none for vegetarian dip)
5. Fifth Layer: add the diced green pepper on the ground meat
6. Sixth Layer: add Jalapeno peppers onto of the green peppers (more if you like extra spice, less if not too spicy)
7. Seventh layer: depending on your preference for cheese, you can sprinkle or just dumb the whole bag (evenly distributed) on top of the entire dip!

This dip can be refrigerated until needed, so you can do this in the morning, make all your preparations for the party and bring it out as guests start to arrive.

Friday night I watched “Polar Express,” a movie I heard a great deal about last Christmas but never got around to watching. Here’s a brief synopsis of the story and then, of course, my opinions.

The movie starts out with a young boy lying in his bed, and he seems to be skeptical about his belief in Santa. Suddenly, the walls of his room begin to shake and a huge train has just pulled up to the front of his house. The conductor, voice of Tom Hanks, asks the little boy if he would like to come aboard the Polar Express to go to the North Pole, where seeing is believing. Along the boy’s journey he meets many friends, including a hobo who rides on top of the train.

Several events occur throughout the movie, including tracking down a little girl’s lost ticket and the train spinning out-of-control on a frozen lake. These incidents are so numerous that they actually become tiresome. Their journey is concluded when they finally arrive to see Santa and the magic of the movie is recaptured.

Despite the tedious, never-ending events on the train ride to see Santa, I would recommend watching this movie. The special effect animation is truly amazing and the overwhelming holiday spirit is what kept me engaged. It was truly a captivating holiday movie.

Here’s another HolidayRecipe provided by your friends at ForRent.com

Pumpkin Fluff (a dessert/dip)

Ingredients

1 (15 ounces) can solid pack pumpkin

1 (5 ounces) package vanilla instant pudding mix

1 (16 ounces) container whipped topping (thawed)

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Instructions
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, instant vanilla pudding mix, and pumpkin pie spice. Fold in the thawed frozen whipped topping. Taste. Add more spice if needed. Chill in the refrigerator until serving. Serve with ginger snaps.

Enjoy!

Forbes has complied a list of cities that have the most expensive commutes in the nation; some siphon 20% of income!!

Transit costs such as gas, tolls and public transit fare, as well as money spent on car payments and maintenance make commutes expensive. Topping the list is Houston, Texas with 20.9 percent of expenses that are spent on transportation!!  Cities that follow are Cleveland, Detroit, Tampa and Kansas City with 20.2 % - 20.5 % of income dedicated to transportation.

According to the study conducted, there are several factors that attribute to these large transportation costs in these cities. One is the fact that they do not have a train system. The study found that there is a very high correlation between cities that had extensive train systems and those in which households spent the least on transportation costs. It also appears that the cities with the higher commutes tend to have lower housing costs. So on the reverse side, it is understood that the least costly commutes tend to be accompanied by high housing costs.

Here are the stats:

Souce: Forbes.com

Are you still Single???

Forbes.com has compiled a list of top ten cities in the U.S. for singles. Taken into account is the census of people for the populated area as well as the number of ‘hang out’ spots for young adults to meet and greet. In addition to bars and restaurants, the cities’ cultural offerings are an important component in the calculation.

Topping off the list is Boston. With their Fine Arts museums and live theater on top of being one of the biggest sports towns in the country, it offers a wide array of opportunity to meet new people.

How does your city compare? Is it on the list?

Source: Forbes.com