Blog Posts

Spring Cleaning

Spring is here, which ushers in the perfect time to clean your apartment and get rid of the excess. Take some time to do some spring cleaning this April. In this week’s Wildwood Park Apartments Blog, we’ve got a few spring cleaning tips to aid you in your endeavors of tidying your home. By utilizing these tips we have for you, you’ll be able to give your home a fresh look. Declutter One of the easiest ways to make your home a little tidier is by decluttering. Clutter can be defined as a collection of things strewn about in an untidy manner. Clutter can also come in many forms like loose leaf papers, clothes that aren’t worn regularly, and appliances that have fallen into disrepair. The best way to approach removing clutter is by combing through your home and finding items that have not experienced use in the past year and setting them aside. Once you’ve been through your entire home and set aside items you’ve set aside, you can then decide at that moment whether you wish to throw them away or donate them to a local charity or thrift store. Move the Furniture When cleaning your home, it’s important to ensure that the entirety of your home is clean. It’s very common to clean the spots in your home that you can see, but it’s even more important to clean under the furniture. Lots of dust and clutter gather in the spots we can’t see, so do yourself a favor and move the furniture to see what’s underneath! You may even find items you’ve lost over the years. Moving your furniture also provides you with the unique experience of rearranging how your home looks, which would give your apartment a new feel. Organization System Once you’ve decluttered and cleaned under the furniture, you’ll have a cleaner home than you started out with. Maintaining a clean home is a difficult task, which is why we suggest finding an organization system that you can rely on. Whether it's washing your dishes right away, or investing in boxes where you can store loose items. If you have some spring cleaning tips, share them with our Arlington, VA apartment community in the comments below.

Food YouTube Channels

Spending a sizeable amount of time on YouTube gets a little easier when you’re watching video from channels you like. Since YouTube is full of content creators and storytellers, there are plenty of channels to follow. To cut through all the clutter of the video hosting site, in this week’s Wildwood Park Apartments Blog, we’ll share with you some channels we think you should follow if you enjoy watching food-themed videos. Mark Wiens Not many people from the United States have the opportunity to live in Thailand and make a living making food videos on YouTube, but Mark Wiens is one of them. Based out of Thailand, Mark travels around the world featuring foods from different cultures, focusing heavily on Southeast Asia. Explore the streetfood side of the cultures of the world by subscribing to Mark’s channel! Binging with Babish If you’ve watched a show that features some food, you’ve probably wondered what those food items looked like in real life or how they taste. Binging with Babish is a cooking show dedicated to recreating the food items found in fictional shows, whether they be delectable or horrible. Check out this channel and maybe you can even recognize some of the food he makes! Yuka Kinoshita When you think of competitive eaters or people who eat a large amount of food, the last person you may think of is Yuka Kinoshita. Yuka is a petite Japanese woman who has the uncanny ability to consume a large amount of food! One of the most amazing things about Yuka is the fact that she appears to enjoy all the food she consumes, unlike other competitive eaters. We hope you enjoy these channel suggestions. Do you have any food YouTube Channels you follow? Let our Arlington, VA apartment community know of them by leaving a comment!

Get Nerdy with Dungeons & Dragons

Have you heard of Dungeons & Dragons? You may have heard it in passing from friends or media such as Stranger Things. Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop roleplaying game that has recently seen a resurgence since it’s initial popularity in the early ‘70s. In this week’s Wildwood Park Apartments Blog, we’ve got a few ways and reasons you should try this tabletop roleplaying game! Celebrity Endorsements Though you shouldn’t do anything solely on the recommendation of celebrities, it’s fun to realize that some of your favorite celebrities may enjoy Dungeons & Dragons. There are plenty of celebrities who have vocalized their love for the roleplaying game, so here are some of those names: Joe Manganiello (True Blood) Stephen Colbert (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs) Anderson Cooper (CNN) Vin Diesel (The Fast and the Furious) Podcasts/Live-Plays If you are looking to get started in the hobby, there are plenty of ways you can get some exposure into the game itself. One big way is by looking up some podcasts or live-plays to see how the game is played. Some notable examples can include shows like Critical Role, Harmonquest, Acquisitions Incorporated, and Force Grey. These shows give you a look into how people play the game, all while featuring some notable faces in the acting community and Wizards of the Coast (D&D’s parent company). Expands Your Creativity Aside from celebrities endorsing the game, why else should you play Dungeons & Dragons? The answer is fairly simple. It expands your creativity. In and of itself, the game involves storytelling elements from both the player and the dungeons master in a ‘theatre of the mind’ style gameplay. Sure, there are miniatures and terrain you could use to aid you visualizing the game, but the game is still easily played without those. There are various ways to express your creativity and it’s even encouraged! If you can find an ingenious way to get out of battle, then try it! Dungeons & Dragons is a great game to play on a night in your Arlington, VA apartment or on weekend with your friends. Approach it with an open mind and you may even end up enjoying it!

National Nutrition Month

Do you have a New Year’s resolution to get healthy? If you do, you’ve probably decided to go to to the gym to work on your fitness. Unfortunately, heading to the gym isn’t the only thing you need to do, lasting results come by going to the gym and eating right. Since March is National Nutrition Month, this week’s blog revolves around eating healthier and making that lifestyle change sustainable. Fruits and Vegetables When you’re looking to make a nutritional lifestyle change, the first thing you have to consider is the type of food you’re taking into your body. Instead of eating a ton of meat, we suggest you opt for a diet with more fruits and vegetables. Many people worry that they’re not going to be able to get enough food if they were to switch to a diet of more fruits and vegetables, but the reality is that you’ll probably eat more food after the switch. Treat Yourself Let’s face it, going cold turkey sucks. Going from eating whatever you want to cutting out all the “good” food can be a difficult thing for your body to process, so we recommend having a cheat meal. Treat yourself to some food that you really enjoy on occasion. As you give your body a taste of what you used to love eating, you’ll be able to not feel so bad about making healthier food choices during the week. In fact, as you continue eating healthy during the week, you may find that the food you wish to treat yourself with ends up not being as appealing the more you choose healthier options. Watch the Quantity Many people think that results come when you change what you eat, but often times, what you eat has a smaller impact on your body than how much you eat. When treating yourself, instead of giving into temptation and ordering five different meals, settle for 1 meal and substitute your soda for water. The idea behind this tip is that you want to strive for a caloric deficit. Be careful of how much you put into your body, and you’ll be able to see results in no time! Do you have any tips for National Nutrition Month? Share them with our Arlington, VA apartment community!

Disconnect More this Year

How much screen time did you have last year? If we took the time to evaluate how much we look at our screens, we’ll be able to see how much time we waste. Instead of spending more time with our technology, we suggest disconnecting for a more fulfilling life. In this week’s Wildwood Park Apartments Blog, we’ve got a few ways you can more successfully disconnect from your devices! No Phones in Bed Getting quality sleep is crucial to enjoying your life. One way to get more sleep is by removing the phones from the bedroom. The allure of the bright screen of your device is snuffed if it’s not present. No more checking your phone at 11 at night only to find yourself still awake at 3 in the morning after having spent the hours on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media sites. If you use your phone as an alarm, we suggest charging your phone out of reach at a spot away from the side of your bed. Making it a chore to check your phone will help you reduce your screen time at night. Leave It at Home This is one of the hardest tips on disconnecting. We’ve become so accustomed to having our phones with us insomuch that the thought of being without is scary. We justify having our phones with us constantly by saying we need it in case of emergencies or if someone wants to find us. Though there is truth in those justifications, it would do us good to leave our devices at home when we’re doing small chores like checking the mail. As a workaround for having a means of contacting others, if you head out with a friend, let the people you would contact normally know that you can be reached via your friend’s number. This way, you can enjoy time with your friend without constantly checking your phone. Make a Game out of It When out at a restaurant with your friends, you can make a game out of disconnecting from your devices. When you enter the restaurant, make sure everyone takes out their device and places it in the center of the table. The stack of phones should not be touched until the meal is over. To make it more interesting, you instate a consequence for the people who grab their phones! A popular choice of consequence is making the losers pay for the meal! Do you have any tips on disconnecting? Share them with our Arlington, VA apartment community! Thanks for reading!

Valentine's Day Movies

During Valentine’s Day, dinner and a movie is the go-to activity for couples. It’s a relatively cheap and simple activity that allows you to spend time with the person you love. The hardest part about watching a movie is picking the right one to watch, so in this week’s Wildwood Park Apartments Blog, we’ve got a short list of movies we think you should watch this Valentine’s Day with your significant other! Crazy Rich Asians “Rachel Chu is happy to accompany her longtime boyfriend, Nick, to his best friend's wedding in Singapore. She's also surprised to learn that Nick's family is extremely wealthy and he's considered one of the country's most eligible bachelors. Thrust into the spotlight, Rachel must now contend with jealous socialites, quirky relatives and something far, far worse -- Nick's disapproving mother.” About Time “When Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) is 21, his father (Bill Nighy) tells him a secret: The men in their family can travel through time. Although he can't change history, Tim resolves to improve his life by getting a girlfriend. He meets Mary (Rachel McAdams), falls in love and finally wins her heart via time-travel and a little cunning. However, as his unusual life progresses, Tim finds that his special ability can't shield him and those he loves from the problems of ordinary life.” A Walk to Remember “Set in North Carolina, "A Walk To Remember" follows the rite of passage of a jaded, aimless high school senior (Shane West) who falls in love with a guileless young woman (Mandy Moore) he and his friends once scorned. The two develop a powerful and inspirational relationship in which they discover truths that take most people a lifetime to learn.” We hope you enjoy this list of romantic movies that are perfect for Valentine’s Day. Share some of your favorite romantic movies with our Arlington, VA apartment community by leaving a comment!