This time of year, it’s easy for things to start to feel a little same-y. It’s been a while since spring cleaning and reorganization, and we might start seeing even more of the insides of our homes if the weather starts to cool down. We came up with a short list of simple decoration tips to refresh your apartment and help to shake things up.
Consider Your Wall Art
There’s so much that can be done with your walls. Putting up a new piece of art, rearranging your art, or just changing the picture frames can all seriously affect the look of the room as a whole. Changing things up even slightly can make a huge difference, because you probably don’t always notice things that have been the same for a long time!
Throw Pillows
Throw pillows are an easy way to change the feel of a room without a ton of work. You can swap them out depending on how you feel, and transform the whole space! Some brightly colored throw pillows on your couch can lift up the mood of the entire room, and even rearranging the same ones can mix up the visuals in an interesting way. It’s even possible to use the same pillows and use different exchangeable covers.
Plants and Other Free-Standing Decorations
Adjust decoration without taking up extra space by going vertical! You don’t need a ton of room for something like a potted plant, a standing lamp that will brighten up the room, or a candle for the coffee table. Little things can entirely refresh your apartment, and change how you feel about your place as well.
Halloween is coming up, and we think such a fun, spooky holiday should come with fun, spooky snacks. To help spread this motto, we have some easy Halloween snack ideas for you to make at home!
They Did the Monster… Marshmallow…
A little chocolate, caramel, or jam makes for an array of marshmallow treats anywhere from bright and festive to downright creepy. The only limit is your imagination, but here are a couple ideas!
Each version begins with a marshmallow and a reusable or paper straw.
Ingredients:
Marshmallows
Melted caramels
Halloween-themed sprinkles
Optional: Sweetened condensed milk
Directions:
Skewer each marshmallow on a straw, and use the straw to dip the marshmallows in caramel. Next to your stove, prepare your stations: One plate full of skewered marshmallows, one with a layer of sprinkles for dipping, and one on which to place the finished product.
To melt down your caramels, place the candies in a heat-proof bowl and select a pot the bowl can sit comfortable on top of, without falling in. Optionally, add 1 tbsp sweetened condensed milk per cup of caramels. Hold the bowl carefully with a potholder, and with your other hand, stir constantly.
Once your caramels are melted, hold marshmallows by the straw and dip the bottom and sides of each marshmallow in caramel. Allow excess to drip back into the bowl, then move right away to dip the bottom in your festive sprinkles. Move your finished marshmallow pop to the serving plate, and repeat!
Ingredients:
Marshmallows
Strawberry or raspberry jam
Melted white chocolate
Multicolor M&Ms
Directions:
Use your reusable straw to create a hollow in your marshmallow: Push it into one side until you’ve nearly reached the other end, and then turn and press your straw to the side to cut a piece of marshmallow out of the center. Remove the straw, and discard this extra piece.
With a spoon or a piping bag, load a small amount of red jam into the center of your marshmallow.
To melt white chocolate, either place the pieces in a heatproof bowl on top of a pot of boiling water, or in the microwave. For the microwave: Heat white chocolate chips for 20 second increments, pausing to stir and scrape bottom. For the stovetop method: Choose a pot just the right size for your bowl to nestle on top of, without falling in. Boil a pot of water, then sit your heatproof bowl on top of your pot. With a rubber spatula, stir chocolate constantly until melted.
Use a spoon to lift melted white chocolate and coat the tops and sides of each marshmallow. Before the chocolate can set, press an M&M “iris” into each eye.
Have napkins at the ready before taking a bite!
Mozzarella Bone Bites
“Real” food goes out the window on Halloween—and what else is the holiday for? But few people of any age appreciate the sugar crash an hour before bed, after sustaining themself through the night on candy alone.
To keep in theme with the Halloween spirit, but also keep textures familiar and friendly for a choosy palate, try your hand at these saucy skeletons:
Ingredients:
Mozarella cheese
Pizza sauce
Prepared pizza dough
1 egg yolk
Optional: fillings of your choice
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, or according to your dough’s package instructions.
Roll your pizza dough out to 1/4” to 1/2” thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut 4” by 7” pieces of dough.
Spread a little sauce over each rectangle, but be conservative! Leakage will keep the bone bites from sealing. Leave at least half an inch of bare dough at every edge, for later.
Sprinkle mozzarella cheese in a line along the center of each rectangle. If you have any additional toppings, add them now, but chop them up tiny! Our secret ingredients are a sprinkle of parmesan and a pinch of Italian seasoning—or red pepper flakes, if spicy’s your style.
Pick up one of the shorter ends of your rectangle, and begin to roll it toward the other end. Roll your dough the same way you would roll a jelly roll or a yoga mat: There should a spiral in the middle.
Press the end of the dough into the spiral to seal it shut. (If need be, use a fork to press this loose end into the rest of the bone, and then use your fingers to smooth out the indentations.) Now, pinch the ends of each spiral shut.
Lightly roll your dough spirals, keeping your fingers about an inch away from each end. Continue until the inside is still sturdy, but narrower than the ends.
Using clean kitchen scissors, make a 1/2” cut in the middle of each short end. This creates the heart-shaped end of each bone! And finally, Brush the top of each bone with an egg yolk wash, and bake for 20 minutes.
Serve with warm marinara dip for extra blood!
Cookie Dough Black Widows
They did it. They made cookie dough that we can eat by the spoonful, no salmonella included.
Ingredients:
3/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp milk
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup regular (semisweet) chocolate chips
Pretzel sticks
Directions:
Salmonella isn’t the only risk with uncooked cookie dough—raw flour carries risks as well. To make a truly safe raw cookie dough, measure your flour onto a baking sheet and, carefully, bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes, and allow to cool as you prepare the rest of your recipe.
On medium speed, beat together softened butter and brown sugar until the mixture turns creamy. Once combined, add the vanilla extract and salt, and beat for an additional minute.
Now add your baked flour, and beat until your mixture starts to look like a proper cookie dough. Add your milk, add only the mini chocolate chips (leave the larger ones aside), and mix until blended.
Using a spoon, scoop out small balls of dough and roll in the palm of your hand until round. Place balls of dough on a wax paper-lined plate or serving dish. Press four pretzel sticks into each side for legs, and finally, press two chocolate chips into the top—with their points kissing. This is your spider’s hourglass.
We’re wishing you a safe and fun Halloween this year. Lay out your coffee-table spread, curl up to a creepy movie (or a comforting classic), and treat yourself! Are there any recipes you can’t do Halloween without? Let us know in the comments!
Halloween is coming up fast, but for many of us, it’s going to be a little bit different this year. In case you’re still pondering potential Halloween plans, we have a list of some ways to celebrate Halloween from home to help inspire your festivities.
Decorate
Appropriately spooky decor can go a long way in creating the right holiday atmosphere and getting you in the Halloween spirit. Whether you want to craft your own decorations with traditionally carved Jack-o’-lanterns and cut-out paper spiders, or go with store-bought spider webs and skeletons. We’d suggest decking out not just your doorstep, but the inside of your apartment! Bring the Halloween energy inside for the year.
Spooky or Halloween-themed movies
This one is all about personal preference. If you’re a horror fan, you can probably handle a little bit of spooking, but there’s all types of classic Halloween films that are fun for all ages, like Hocus Pocus or It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown . Get your favorite Halloween candy and pop some popcorn, and spend the evening (or even the whole weekend!) with a marathon of fun, thematically appropriate films.
Candy hunt in the apartment instead of trick or treating
Not everyone is comfortable with doing trick or treating this year, and we absolutely understand. However, just buying candy and eating it like you can on any other day may feel sort of anti-climactic for the holiday. That’s why our suggestion is a fun scavenger hunt with candy as the prize! Dress up, hide candy in different places throughout the apartment (or have someone else do it, if you want to participate!) and then do a search for the treats. If you want to get a little more elaborate, you can make it a true scavenger hunt with clues leading you from one location to the next!
Happy Halloween residents! We hope you have fun this year, whatever you end up doing, and we wish you an enjoyable night!
October 28th is National Chocolate Day, and we’re looking forward to it. Chocolate is delicious, and it’s also always nice to have the opportunity to highlight some of the incredible places near our community! In this case, it’s chocolate and candy stores only a short trip from our location in Gilbert, in case any of our residents are interested in celebrating National Chocolate Day with something special.
Winstead Candy Co - Mesa
Winstead Candy Co is Arizona-local, and family owned and operated, which just makes their sweet treats even sweeter! They sell all types of quality candy, so even if a member of the family isn’t in the mood for chocolate, they can chow down on some gummy sharks or butterscotch hard candies. However, their chocolate selection is as wide as it is delicious, with chocolate mint meltaways, chocolate covered English toffee, giant layered peanut butter cups, and much more. They’ve got two locations, one in Mesa and one in Chandler, and are currently allowing people to shop in person or order online from their store and get the candy shipped directly to them.
Sweeties Candy of Arizona
Sweeties Candy is a whimsical wonderland with a huge variety of candy of all types. It’s housed in Chandler, and holds the distinction of being the largest candy store in Arizona! Their candy is sorted by color, and they sell both common candy and more exotic kinds that you usually can’t find outside of specialty stores. They’re open for both careful in-store shopping and curbside pickup right now, so there’s options! They stock such a wide selection of candy brands that their website can’t even fit them all on one page, so their “Our Candy” section is only a sample of some of what’s in store.
d’Vine Gourmet
Another store that originated right here in Arizona, d’Vine Gourmet sources all their ingredients and materials as locally as they possibly can. They sell other things --including snacks and jam-- but their selection of sweets includes a lot of fun locally-created goodness, including various types of chocolate. They provide online shopping, so you could get their treats shipped to you directly!
Happy National Chocolate Day! We hope you enjoy, whether you do it at home or with the help of some of our nearby chocolatiers.
Yoga is relaxing, fun, and can be genuinely great exercise. The problem is that many of us don’t really know how to start with it, especially without the help of an in-person class to get things going. Here’s some things that may help you get started with the best mindset and expectations.
It’s all about the breath.
Yoga is about creating a deeper level of harmony between your body and your mind, and deep, attentive breathing can be incredibly helpful for this. You’re meant to breathe into your whole body during yoga poses, particularly into any spaces that may feel tense in the position, and allow it to help you relax. Your breathing can impact how your muscles relax into each stretch or pose. If something is particularly difficult for you or requires a lot of concentration, take a moment to ensure you’re still breathing, and try to relax; it can be easy to get caught up in trying to do the pose and forget how important it is.
Listen to your body.
There can be temptation, when following a yoga video or guide, to push yourself to do exactly what the teacher is doing -- we should avoid that impulse. Follow along to the best of your ability, of course, but you shouldn’t push yourself into doing any pose that feels deeply uncomfortable, painful, or dangerous. Everyone’s bodies are different, and different levels of practice and experience can factor in as well. The poses we see in a guide or on a teacher may not be what our bodies can currently do, and that’s totally fine. Just try to ease yourself towards the stretch, back off if you feel like something is wrong, and keep practicing.
Frequent practice.
One of the best ways to productively practice yoga is just that: to practice. Frequent sessions will help you to manage more difficult poses, stretch and strengthen your muscles, and relax tension in your body.
We hope you enjoy your experience if you end up giving yoga a try! Remember to breathe into the poses, and drink water after a session.
The change from classroom study to studying at home can feel like a blessing in many ways, but it’s okay if it feels like a curse. Suddenly, a piece of your external structure has been ripped away. Your environment, and the physical shift between home and school, has been going a long way to build your sense of daily routine!.
To keep schooldays manageable, it can help to replace that sense of routine. Some ways to do so are to remember to get dressed every morning, to start the day with a walk around the block instead of a walk to school, and to create a visually distinct “home classroom.”
Whether your “home classroom” is a room or a corner, here are some tips to make sure it’s working for you!
Don’t Work Where You Sleep...
…even if your only option is the bedroom.
As you study at home, your brain will rely on a visual transition between parts of your day: Here is for sleep, here is for study, here is for work, here is for play. Setting up your desk in a different room from your bed is the optimal solution, but even if that's not an option, you can create a visually separate "space."
Establish a corner of your room as your office, and keep laundry and other bedroom clutter away from that space. Consider rearranging what you have hanging on the wall, and hanging some decor you don’t associate with your bedroom. A small area rug under your desk and chair can further create a visually distinct zone.
Organization is Functional, Not Complicated
Some people thrive on color-coded journals and polished, Instagram-worthy notes. Others find that unsustainable. And that’s okay! Much like we all have different learning styles, so, too, do we all have different optimal organization patterns.
Keep any materials you’re liable to lose track of in an organized but visible space, like a desktop organizer rather than a drawer. If you struggle to pull out your textbooks and do the readings, remove the steps between you and studying. Ask yourself: Do I work better if I pack all my things up every day, or if my textbook is already open on the desk?
Create a Space That Makes You Feel Good
This is different for everyone. Do you breathe easiest around a lot of plants? Would you prefer to study somewhere with clean crisp lines, or somewhere homey and warm? Give yourself a little time to experiment with your aesthetic, and take note of what keeps your brain awake and heart happy. You’re supporting yourself in learning, not creating a prison cell.
Studying from home remains a challenge no matter what tools you have. But we believe it is one you can challenge. And we wish you the best of luck!
