Blog Posts

Treat Yourself to a Bubble Bath this Month

Welcome back to the Edlandria Blog! In today’s post, we’re excited to focus on a relaxing topic: bubble baths! Today we’ll be sharing two of our favorite bubble bath recipes for you to enjoy in your Alexandria, VA apartment. Lavender Bubble Bath In order to make this recipe, you’ll need one cup of castile soap, one-quarter cup of vegetable glycerin, and 20 to 30 drops of the essential oil of your choice (the recipe uses lavender as an example). Simply combine all ingredients and mix. Then carefully pour the bubble bath mixture into a glass bottle for storage. Use about one-quarter cup for each bath. Honey & Vanilla Bubble Bath The key to getting this bubble bath just right is the egg white. We know what you must be thinking: honey, eggs, vanilla — who’s cooking what? This recipe smells great, is simple to make, and is a great place to begin if it’s your first time making a bubble bath. Hello Glow shared a great recipe with these ingredients. All you’ll need is half a cup of light almond oil, a quarter cup of honey, half a cup of mild liquid or body soap, one egg white, and one tablespoon of vanilla extract. Combine the ingredients together and then pour a quarter to half of a cup under running water. Keep the rest in the refrigerator for your next soaking. Here’s what Stephanie Gerber at Hello Glow had to say about this recipe: “My first attempt at making bubble bath a couple of years ago was a total bomb. The secret is the egg white! It helps create bigger bubbles that last longer. But you still won’t get huge bubbles. Agitate the water to activate the soap and enjoy.” Thanks for reading! Share your own recipes for bubble bath by leaving a comment below. Have any other ideas for relaxation? We’d love to hear about them.

Four Board Games for Your Next Game Night

Today we’re excited to share a few exciting board games that will change things up for your next game night. Invite your friends over for an evening of fun in your Alexandria, VA apartment with games about trains, birds, a hungry dragon, and a woodland alliance. Thank you for visiting the Edlandria Blog! The following titles and descriptions can be found by visiting BoardGameGeek.com : Railroad Ink “In the multiplayer puzzle game Railroad Ink, your goal is to connect as many exits on your board as possible. Each round, a set of dice are rolled in the middle of the table, determining which kind of road and railway routes are available to all players. You have to draw these routes on your erasable boards to create transport lines and connect your exits, trying to optimize the available symbols better than your opponents...” Wingspan “ Wingspan is a competitive, medium-weight, card-driven, engine-building board game from Stonemaier Games. You are bird enthusiasts—researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors—seeking to discover and attract the best birds to your network of wildlife preserves. Each bird extends a chain of powerful combinations in one of your habitats (actions). These habitats focus on several key aspects of growth…” Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure “Sneak into an angry dragon's mountain lair to steal precious artifacts. Delve deeper to find more valuable loot. Acquire cards for your deck and watch your thievish abilities grow. Be quick and be quiet. One false step and CLANK! Each careless sound draws the attention of the dragon, and each artifact stolen increases its rage. You can enjoy your plunder only if you make it out of the depths alive!” Root “ Root is a game of adventure and war in which 2 to 4 (1 to 6 with the 'Riverfolk' expansion) players battle for control of a vast wilderness. The nefarious Marquise de Cat has seized the great woodland, intent on harvesting its riches. Under her rule, the many creatures of the forest have banded together. This Alliance will seek to strengthen its resources and subvert the rule of Cats. In this effort, the Alliance may enlist the help of the wandering Vagabonds who are able to move through the more dangerous woodland paths. Though some may sympathize with the Alliance’s hopes and dreams, these wanderers are old enough to remember the great birds of prey who once controlled the woods…”

Catch Up with March Movies

Welcome back to the Edlandria Blog! To finish off the month, we’re excited to encourage our residents to head out of our Alexandria, VA apartment community and go watch a movie. Quite a few exciting titles came out over the past month or two. Here’s what we recommend watching. The following titles and descriptions can be found at IMDB.com : The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part “It's been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: LEGO DUPLO® invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.” How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World “As Hiccup fulfills his dream of creating a peaceful dragon utopia, Toothless' discovery of an untamed, elusive mate draws the Night Fury away. When danger mounts at home and Hiccup's reign as village chief is tested, both dragon and rider must make impossible decisions to save their kind.” Alita: Battle Angel “Alita is a creation from an age of despair. Found by the mysterious Dr. Ido while trolling for cyborg parts, Alita becomes a lethal, dangerous being. She cannot remember who she is, or where she came from. But to Dr. Ido, the truth is all too clear. She is the one being who can break the cycle of death and destruction left behind from Tiphares. But to accomplish her true purpose, she must fight and kill. And that is where Alita's true significance comes to bear. She is an angel from heaven. She is an angel of death.” Fighting with my Family “A former wrestler and his family make a living performing at small venues around the country while his kids dream of joining World Wrestling Entertainment.” Isn’t It Romantic “A young woman disenchanted with love mysteriously finds herself trapped inside a romantic comedy.” Thanks for visiting our blog! Happy movie watching this month.

Shed a Little Light with Mister Rogers

With all the hardships we’re always hearing about on the news or on social media, the world can seem like a dark and depressing place. At Edlandria, our beautiful apartments in Alexandria, VA, we think it’s time to shed a little light and lift a few smiles. What better way to do this than by quoting Mister Rogers? Fred Rogers, a musician, puppeteer, writer, and minister touched the lives of countless individuals all over the world. His life truly left a positive impression on many people. Last year marked the release of the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor, an exploration of Fred Rogers’ life and legacy. To celebrate this movie and his life, we’re sharing some of our favorite Fred Rogers quotes. Wherever you are, these quotes are sure to inspire! Favorite Quotes from Fred Rogers: “If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.” “In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.” “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” “Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.” “When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.” “Mutual caring relationships require kindness and patience, tolerance, optimism, joy in the other's achievements, confidence in oneself, and the ability to give without undue thought of gain.” “The thing I remember best about successful people I've met all through the years is their obvious delight in what they're doing and it seems to have very little to do with worldly success. They just love what they're doing, and they love it in front of others.”

Tips for Using Our Fitness Center

If you haven’t yet established a consistent fitness routine, we suspect that you occasionally think about how to save some room for one in your hectic schedule. Lucky for you, living in our Alexandria apartment community means that you have full access to a fitness center, all included in your rent! We think the the most effective way to start exercising more regularly is to start with the resources in front of you. Today, our blog has a few simple tips to using the fitness center. Bring a Friend The convenient placement and the scaled-down size of our fitness center will likely make your first experiences exercising there a little less intimidating, but it’s never a bad idea to bring a friend along with you to the fitness center to keep you company and to help you out. Having a designated person to interact with eases the tension and pressure of doing things the “right way” at the gym. Chances are, there are plenty of people right here within our community who are looking for a fitness buddy, as well! Don’t Skip the Weights For someone new to the fitness center, it might be appealing to stick with the familiar and intuitive stuff like the treadmill, the elliptical, and the stationary bike. Cardio is certainly an important component of fitness, but it isn’t a replacement for strength training. You may not intend to get “ripped” or to gain a significant amount of muscle, but a moderate amount of weight training using both free weights and weight machines will help keep your body fit and in working order. When combined with cardio, it’s also the optimal way to burn calories! Silence Your Phone While phones can be a helpful tool at the fitness center, they can also get in the way of you having a successful workout. Apps like timers and music might enhance your workout, while messages and social media will slow it down. We recommend putting your phone on airplane mode while at the fitness center! Include Something Fun Last but not least, we think that in order to sustain a lifestyle of fitness and exercise, it’s crucial to include something you love doing in your mix. For those who enjoy basketball, we’re lucky enough to have a full-sized indoor court, right here in our community! If shooting hoops isn’t your style, find a way to make your time in the fitness center more fun. You could watch a movie while you run, lay down a mat and follow an upbeat workout routine, or create an energetic playlist. Even more, you could incorporate another sport or physical activity you love to do somewhere in Alexandria, VA outside of the fitness center into your weekly schedule! We hope these simple suggestions will help you know how to take better advantage of our fitness center. Thanks for reading!

Enjoying National Grapefruit Month

February is National Grapefruit Month, and Edlandria Blog is back this week to help you celebrate it with delicious grapefruit-inspired recipes! Whether you test them out in your Alexandria, VA apartment sometime this month or you make them somewhere else, make sure to try a few of these recipes: Grapefruit Bars For a nice twist on your classic lemon bars, try out this grapefruit bar recipe! You can use the same bowl to make the buttery crust and the tangy filling, so you won’t have to worry about making a mess. You’ll need whole wheat flour, brown sugar, butter, eggs, grapefruit juice and zest, lemon juice, sugar, baking powder, and cornstarch to make these. Enjoy this tangy new twist on a classic treat! Pink Detox Salad Are you looking for a healthy salad that you’ll actually love eating? This one will surely do the trick. Using baby kale or spinach as the base (or a mix of both!), add a plethora of pink and red fruits that are in season! Grapefruit is a perfect one to add this time of year, of course, but you can also add pomegranate, strawberries, watermelon, or whatever else you find at your local grocery store! Coconut Ginger Broiled Grapefruit If you haven’t yet experienced the delicacy that is broiled grapefruit, then you absolutely have to try out this recipe. The idea of warm grapefruit may sound weird, but we promise, it’s far better than you could imagine! This recipe spices it up a little bit by adding dried coconut, grated ginger, and coconut sugar to give your broiled grapefruit a crunch. Grapefruit Sorbet It may not be particularly warm outside yet, but we still think it’s a great time to make a batch of this smooth grapefruit sorbet. One of our favorite things about this recipe is that it calls for only two ingredients: freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and sugar! This sorbet’s soft pink color is stunning, and in our opinion, it enhances the whole eating experience. Make sure to treat yourself to something grapefruity this month, whether it’s one of these recipes or another favorite way of yours to eat grapefruit. Thanks for reading!