Apartment Blog

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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!

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!

If you are a husband or wife trying to convince your spouse to move hundreds of miles from either coast so that you can work at one of 12 Fortune 500 companies in Dallas, or you are living the single life and want a city where you can “Live Large (and) Think Big”, maybe a little preview of the city will help.

According to Yahoo Travel, Dallas has more “shopping centers per capita than any other major city nationwide and four times more restaurants per person than New York City”. Home to the flagship Neiman Marcus store and 15 Macy’s locations, Dallas should keep the wife/girlfriend happy while the husband/boyfriend enjoys the aura of the Dallas Cowboys.

Galleria Dallas shopping center has been recognized by USA Today as “One of the top 10 places to spend it all”.  According to Visit Dallas “Galleria Dallas is the only North Texas home of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Thomas Pink, Baccarat, Versace, Tourneau, Sony Style, Zara, Karen Millen and the all-new American Girl Boutique and Bistro.”

Shopping and eating until you drop will complement your work in or alongside the Fortune 500 companies in this business Mecca, and the local pristine apartment accommodations add to the experience.

We recommend you start your apartment search here:

Dallas Apartments

The Verandahs Apartments in Dallas, TX

The Elan at BluffView Apartments in Dallas, TX

City Scape Apartments in Dallas, TX

Fox Hills Apartments in Dallas, TX

The Woods Apartments in Dallas, TX

Get more information and search tips on Dallas Apartments, or view all Apartments for Rent in Dallas, TX.

Memorial Day weekend is the official kick-off weekend for the summer!  It’s definitely the traveling weekend for the beach and any other hot vacation spots. 

I’m not actually going to the beach, but the country.  I LOVE the country.  My cousin and her husband recently relocated to Greensboro, NC.  It’s interesting because although they live in the country, they’re still close to civilization, the city I mean.

Let me start with the drive.  A lot of people get head starts on their travel because EVERYONE is on the road.  BUT, the drive from Portsmouth, VA to Greensboro, NC is a calm, peaceful one.  For one, the only interstate, if that’s what you want to call it, to take in VA is 58 and there’s never any traffic.  It’s just a nice drive through the countryside.  Of course once you get into Carolina you’re on actual highway, but it’s still not congested.

There’s plenty to do in the TRIAD area.  During the day I’ll probably catch a minor league baseball game. Since the Greensboro Grasshoppers have away games the entire weekend we’ll roll down the way to a Winston-Salem Dash game.  And I can’t go on vacation without shopping.  The actual city part has plenty of shopping, outlets and indoor malls alike.

And there’s some good sight seeing.  Greensboro holds a lot of history.  It’s nice to just be able to drive around and take all of the scenery in.  It’s so pretty, fields of green, houses separated by almost a mile, farms, cows, horses, I could go on…

Of course we can’t forget the nightlife.  The general consensus is that Greensboro doesn’t have much nightlife.  Now if you’re in to going to upscale clubs, then no, Greensboro is NOT for you.  But I like the fact that EVERYONE is so down to earth and so friendly.  We just hit up the nearby bars and chat it up with the locals.  People treat you like family and you can’t get that up north.

Well, I hope everyone has as good a Memorial Day weekend as I’m going to have.