Blog Posts

Wrapping It Up

If you’re like most of us, you’ve shopped online or you’re scouring South Arlington, VA for the best deals, and your holiday gifts are squirreled away all over your Penrose Square apartment — or perhaps they are stacked neatly in a closet, if you are the organized type. Either way, now is a great time to start wrapping or preparing to wrap, if you haven’t already. Today we’ve got tips for getting everything all wrapped up in time for the gift giving to begin. Set Up a Wrapping Station This is especially useful if you need to wrap all your gifts over the course of a couple of evenings. Choose a place that has a flat surface to wrap on, such as a table, counter, or even the floor. It is much easier to measure and cut paper on a flat surface. Gather all of the things you will need for wrapping and put them together in a container such as a large clear tote. Some things you may want to put in it include scissors, tape, bows, curling ribbon, raffia, gift tags, sharpies, pens, gift bags, tissue paper, and a variety of wrapping paper. Package Smart Use boxes for your gifts. It’s more efficient and easy to wrap uniformly sized boxes, especially so random sized bits and pieces of a gift don’t poke through. Cut the paper to fit the box; extra paper just gets in the way and looks clunky. Consider alternatives to paper for wrapping, too. A pretty pillowcase makes a good gift wrap for larger, odd-shaped gifts, and it won’t rip open. Be creative! It can be fun to add your own unique touch to wrapping supplies. Use newsprint or a roll of brown paper, for instance, decorated with stencils, artwork, or messages to your intended recipient. Make it a Party Wrapping presents can become a tedious exercise. Invite a couple of friends to come over and wrap their gifts with you, or just help you with yours. The ensuing conversation will make the time fly by. If you find yourself wrapping gifts solo, pop in your favorite movie or music playlist to help you stay in a holiday mood. Even though wrapping takes planning, time, and effort, it will be worth it when you see your carefully chosen gifts being opened and enjoyed. What tips do you have for wrapping efficiently? Share your ideas with the rest of the apartment community in the comments. Happy wrapping, and happy holidays! Thanks for reading today’s blog post.

Fun Thanksgiving Activities and Games

Thanksgiving is all about bringing people together to celebrate the holidays, being together, and appreciating our abundance. To ensure the time you have with your family and friends on Thanksgiving day is quality time, the Penrose Apartments Blog is sharing some fun themed games and activities for those lulls in between feasting. Turkey Waddle Relay Participants in this race must hold an inflated balloon between their legs as they race from one point to another without popping or dropping the balloon. They can only hold the balloon with their legs, no hands allowed. Everyone will have some great laughs from this game, whether they are playing or watching. You might want someone to video the race so everyone can watch it later and laugh. Gratitude Photo Scavenger Hunt Inspire gratitude by playing this game where players in teams race to find and take pictures with different things they are grateful for in a range of different categories. At the end, have everyone come together and share their photos with the different things they are grateful for. Twenty Questions Thanksgiving Style One player chooses someone or something related to Thanksgiving and the other players have to try to figure out what it is by asking only twenty yes or no questions. It’s a fun puzzle-solving game to stretch your mind. Where is Mr. Turkey? Players take turns hiding a cutout turkey around the apartment for other players to try to find. The player who hides the turkey can only say “warmer” or “colder” depending on if the person is getting closer or farther away from Mr. Turkey. Once a player finds Mr. Turkey, it becomes their turn to hide him. What other fun Thanksgiving games and activities do you enjoy playing with family and friends during the holiday? Share them with us by leaving a comment on this post. We love to hear all your ideas! Thanks for reading our post. Have a fun and safe Thanksgiving in South Arlington, VA, or wherever you might be.

Easy Halloween Costumes that Will Be a Hit

The month’s spookiest and frightfully delightful holiday is coming up! Spend the rest of the month preparing for your festivities in or out of your apartment at Penrose Square in South Arlington, VA — but don’t forget your costume! Try or get inspired by these ideas. Black Panther After the overwhelming popularity of Marvel’s Black Panther, it should come as no surprise that this costume will be one of the top picks this year. Be sure to order yours before they sell out or get creative and make your own version of this stealthy and sleek superhero costume. Bread Winner This is a great last-minute costume idea you can pull together with items you already have in your apartment. All you need for this simple yet totally clever costume is a medal, T-shirt, and loaf of bread. You might not win best costume, but at least you will have one! Plus, it’s sure to make people with a love for puns laugh. Costumes with Makeup If you’re handy with a makeup brush, you can make a truly outstanding costume without too much fuss. Check out how this person channeled Scar , try this pop art makeup tutorial , follow the directions for this mermaid makeup tutorial , or get inspired by this pixelated image art for a look everyone will be fawning over. Raincloud This costume is a show-stopper! It looks eerily real and complicated, but if you break it down into steps, you can pull this off in no time. The person posting this idea said in the comments that she used a translucent umbrella, pillow stuffing, and a battery pack to create the look of a portable thunderstorm. Sew beads on fishing wire to the umbrella to make the raining effect. Wear dark clothing to help the rain show up easier! What are your best ideas for coming up with the perfect Halloween costume? What are your favorite costume or craft shops to find what you need to pull it off? Let us know in the comments! We hope you have a fun and safe Halloween and the rest of the month.

Take a Picture

Snap a photo or two this month using some of our tips. The Penrose Apartments Blog is featuring several tips to help you purchase your next camera and take some beautiful pictures before the month is through. We hope that you have a great month here in South Arlington, VA. Photo Tips National Geographic has a great resource for anyone who wants to take up photography. If you would like to start taking quality photos but you don’t want to splurge on a new camera, try snapping photos with your phone camera. One tip that photographer Cotton Coulson shares is to “ Look for New and Exciting Angles .” Coulson writes, “When I teach photo workshops, I always stress the importance of shooting from unique angles and perspectives. This is no less important when you’re shooting with an iPhone. Get high, get low, and always try to find a fresh angle. While visiting the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, I saw a very dynamic motif created by shoppers going up and down the store’s translucent staircase. “When you see a situation like this, try also shooting a short film with your iPhone and editing it with iMovie.” Find more photography advice from National Geographic to up your photography game, push your skills, and expand your vision. Buying a New Camera Of course, sometimes a camera is an investment you decide is worth it! When you’re buying a new camera, there are several things to decide. The first is what kind of camera you are looking for. Polaroid? Film? Digital? How do you want your pictures to look? Will you be buying different lenses for your camera? What exactly are you looking for? Lucky for you, Photography Concentrate has The Ultimate Guide to Buying a New Camera . One of their favorite retailers for new camera equipment is B&H . B&H offers cameras, photo accessories, professional video equipment, and more. Explore to get a feel for what you might want to buy. Do you have any photography tips for us? Leave your best advice in the comments. Thanks for reading our post!

Slow Down in August

Welcome back to the Penrose Apartments Blog! The past few months our posts have been focusing on having fun and enjoying summer here in South Arlington, VA, in or out of your apartment. Today we’re focusing on calming down and slowing down this month and any other time you need it. Learn ideas for relaxing so you can have a fantastic month whenever you need it. Make your apartment home feel like a spa. Basin is our go-to place for facials, bath bombs, and milk baths. We love their calm waters bath bomb , their dreams bath bomb , and their evening woods bath bomb . Their oatmeal honey milk bath is “[the] premium bubble bath experience. Made with milk emolliency to keep skin soft and fresh while treating your overworked body to a relaxing bath.” Try a facial from Basin this month or try to make your own at-home facial. Real Simple has a great slideshow featuring 6 Easy Homemade Facial Masks . Click the link to learn more about their unique and effective recipes. Chocolate isn’t always the answer, but it sure helps after a long, stressful day. There are plenty of great chocolate shops in the area including Godiva Chocolatier, Schakolad Chocolate Factory, and Artisan Confections. Google Reviewer Commiem Martinez gave this raving review of Schakolad Chocolate Factory that has us planning our next trip: “I have had chocolate from all over the world and this is by far THE BEST I have ever had. Extremely rich, smooth, and pure tasting. No preservatives and made on site. The service was absolutely outstanding. I will NEVER buy chocolate from anyplace else. I am a customer for life!!!” Read a book or two this month. Reading a book is an easy, quick way to relax and chill out in your apartment after a long day of work. There are plenty of great books coming out each week. Need something good to read? Business Insider has an excellent article on The 10 best books of 2017 so far, according to Amazon , if you want to be sure you haven’t missed anything from last year. Do you have any tips for the rest of us for relaxing and (healthily) treating yourself? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading our post!

Host a Summer Movie Night

Host a movie night in your Penrose apartment this month! Stay out of the humidity and heat by inviting a few friends over and holding a movie marathon. Make these snacks and watch these movies if you need ideas. We hope that you have a wonderful month here in South Arlington, VA! Movie Snacks Fudgy Marshmallow Popcorn from Cookies and Cups We know you’ll love the sweet, chocolatey taste of this fudgy marshmallow popcorn. Top this popcorn with evaporated milk, butter, granulated sugar, semi-sweet chocolate chips, Marshmallow Creme, vanilla, and mini marshmallows. Caramel Apple Nachos from Mandy’s Recipe Box Whip up a batch of these caramel apple nachos for your movie night. We recommend topping this dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, and a dash of cinnamon. We also recommend you heat up these nachos before you eat them. Movie Recommendations The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) From Rogerebert.com : “Deneuve plays a young woman named Genevieve, who is head over heels in love with a local garage mechanic named Guy (Nino Castelnuovo). Her mother (Anne Vernon) runs a little local shop and is desperately in need of money to save her business. A rich man (Marc Michel) walks into the shop, falls in love with the daughter and begins a slow, indirect process that might lead to a proposal of marriage. Genevieve has eyes only for Guy, but he is drafted for two years by the army. And although they pledge to love each other forever, she receives only one letter from him in two months.” Ironman (2008) Go back to one of the first Avengers movies this summer. From Rogerebert.com : “‘Iron Man’ doesn't seem to know how seriously most superhero movies take themselves. If there is wit in the dialog, the superhero is often supposed to be unaware of it. If there is broad humor, it usually belongs to the villain. What happens in ‘Iron Man,’ however, is that sometimes we wonder how seriously even Stark takes it. He’s flippant in the face of disaster, casual on the brink of ruin.” What’s your favorite movie? What’s your favorite movie snack? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading our post!