Blog Posts

Baltimore is a Foodie City

Baltimore is a food mecca! Our city boasts an abundance of foods and drinks that can’t be found anywhere else - made up of both old school establishments and some of the most new and noteworthy names in the culinary world. The sheer quantity of good eats in Baltimore is seemingly never-ending. Here are just a few of our favorites! LP Steamers Photo Credit: @charmcitycook on Instagram What would this list be without featuring our state crustacean – the Maryland blue crab!? For the best crabs in Baltimore year round, head over to L.P. Steamers in Baltimore’s Locus Point. With other items like oysters, scallops and clams on the menu, it’s a seafood lover’s dream come true. Mount Vernon Marketplace Photo Credit: @mountvernonmarketplace on Instagram Mount Vernon Marketplace offers the finest, freshly prepared artisanal foods. With 16 vendors serving up items like artisan sandwiches & charcuterie, fresh local oysters & seafood , noodles & dumplings, Mexican inspired dishes, Korean style bibimbap, New York deli-style sandwiches and artisanal burgers, there is something here to satisfy every palate.   Lexington Market Photo Credit: @baltohoff on Instagram Founded in 1782, Baltimore’s Lexington Market is the oldest market in America. There is perhaps no better spot in Baltimore for a unique combination of history, atmosphere, and flavor. Its 67 vendors like Connie’s Chicken and Waffles, Angie’s Barbeque and Blue Island Malaysian have something for everyone. Jimmy’s Famous Seafood Photo Credit: @jimmysseafood on Instagram Serving the community since 1974, Jimmy’s Famous Seafood has become a national destination for those seeking a true taste of Charm City. Jimmy’s has been featured on the Food Network and Travel channel for its impressive menu, which includes the 7-pound Seafood UFO . Served on homemade Greek bread, this sandwich is made up of crab cake, fried shrimp, fried oysters and shrimp salad and Chesapeake mustard. Chaps Pit Beef Photo Credit: @charmcityfoodadventures on Instagram For the best sandwich in Maryland , visit Chaps Pit Beef. It’s “Meat paired with meat with a side of meat” at this no-frills pit beef stand. Papermoon Diner Photo Credit: @bmorecraves on Instagram The Papermoon Diner offers an eccentric, eclectic, technicolor dining experience. This quirky Baltimore staple boasts being vegetarian and raging-carnivore friendly, with a jam-packed menu featuring everything from vegan nachos to shrimp and grits. Paper Moon is also the place to go if you ever wanted to try a bacon milkshake!      Gertrude’s Phoo Credit: @andrew_cosentino on Instagram Located in the Baltimore Museum of Art, Gertrude's has been a neighborhood staple for 20 years. Gertrude’s serves locally sourced farm-fresh food that preserves Chesapeake culinary traditions. Gertrude’s is the place to go for a sophisticated menu with a view! The main dining room overlooks a sculpture garden featuring works by Alexander Calder, Isamu Noguchi, and Auguste Rodin. One of your favorites not featured on our list!? Let us know in the comments!

Tips for Decluttering in 2020!

With the new year (and the new decade) here, it’s the perfect time to take stock of your personal possessions and give your home the fresh start it deserves! Here are some tips for freeing your home of clutter and keeping it that way! Visualize how you want your home to look . If you don’t know what you’re working towards, how will you know when you’ve accomplished it? Look at a room and think about how you want it to look. What pieces of furniture do you actually need ? What doesn’t belong in the room but has just gravitated there? Are there items on the floor or other flat spaces that don’t need to be? Which nooks and crannies give you the most anxiety? Create a decluttering checklist .  Now that you know how you want your space to look, grab a pad of paper and a pen and go room to room until you’ve covered every inch of your home . What projects do you need to tackle? What clutter do you need to clear? Write everything down as you go. You won’t believe how much weight will be lifted just by getting these things out of your head and onto paper! Set up an outbox . Your outbox can be an actual box, an unused room, or any other designated out-of-the-way space. This is where you will put items that you are considering donating, recycling or throwing away. An outbox can be especially helpful for those items you need help loosening your attachment to. Once something has been in your outbox for a while, you’ll see it for what it truly is and determine whether or not it stays (and that’s ok) or goes. Give yourself a quick win. Look over your checklist and find one or two items that would be easy to accomplish (in 15 minutes or less). Look for items you can throw away right now (does anyone actually sill have wire hangers?), or tackle a small area that you should be able to knock out in just a few minutes – like your silverware drawer. Create a 30-day list . Once you’ve gotten your space in order, how are you going to keep it that way? You can declutter all you want, but it will just come back as you buy more stuff! The solution? Don’t buy the stuff in the first place! Set yourself up with a 30-day list. Every time you want to buy something that’s not absolutely necessary, put it on the list with the date it was added. Make a rule never to buy anything (except necessities) unless they’ve been on the list for 30 days. You’d be surprised how often you lose the urge to buy the items on your list!   Create a one-in, one-out rule. Another way to keep that clutter from coming back is to make a rule that whenever you bring a new item into your home, something else must leave! Finally picked up a copy of that book all your friends have been talking about? Pick a book from your shelf that you can donate. Implement this rule for everything in your life – coffee mugs, sweaters, candles etc.!     Do you have any tips for decluttering your home? Let us know if the comments!

Make Sure You Clean These 10 Things

If you think you're doing a bang-up job cleaning your apartment, well, think again. What about the outside of the toilet bowl? When was the last time you gave that a good chlorine wipe down? Have you wondered if the pile of dirty dishes is a haven for bacteria? Let’s get cracking to clean  where you haven’t given it much thought  until now. Here are 10 ideas to start. It’s spic and span time, people. 1. Bathroom sink Guys, this one’s for you. If your girlfriend or other visitors are coming over, you want to make a good impression. Be sure to get rid of shaving debris in the bathroom sink and dried toothpaste streaks. What’s handy for a  quick clean up ? Disposable wipes will do the trick, and don’t forget to do a once over on the countertop and faucets. 2. Appliances How often do you think to clean around or under appliances? Think spilled coffee by the coffee maker, or the trail of crumbs under your toaster. The big appliances are dirt traps, too, like under the refrigerator and stove. Set up a reminder that dings once every couple of months to wipe, sweep or mop. You’ll be glad you did. 3. Doorknobs How many times have you touched a doorknob with sticky fingers? Or discovered a layer of dust on the hardware surrounding the knob? There could also be lint way on top of a doorway, where you need a retractable dust-grabber to reach it. Doors that are used a lot, like the pantry, laundry room and bathroom doors, get grimier than you realize. Try your best to clean right away  so you don’t forget . 4. Shower curtain Have an icky shower curtain? Throw it in the wash with musty towels. A good wash will get rid of moldy black streaks that have accumulated over time at the base of the shower curtain. Be sure to use a cup of detergent with white vinegar, or add half a cup of baking soda to equal parts of laundry detergent. 5. The rest of the toilet There’s a ring inside the toilet bowl that can be pretty impossible to get rid of. But with a heavy-duty toilet bowl cleaner or one of the pods you leave in the tank — you can reduce the impact of the stain. But the area at the base of the toilet bowl and the floor surrounding it is another story. It can get nasty down there, so be sure to wipe it off on a regular basis. Keep disposable wipes handy or a cleaning spray nearby as an inspiring reminder of the task at hand. 6. Backsplash Cook much? The backsplash is a magnet for gunk. Check for layers of dust and grease build-up that you might not notice. If you’re  already wiping down the countertop , then you should add the backsplash to your must-clean list. Be sure to use a disinfectant that is non-toxic and safe around food prep areas. 7. Bedroom Look, a smelly bedroom is unpleasant for everyone. But you might not even notice the odor because you’ve gotten so used to it. If the funk is from dirty sheets, wash them. Or clean up that pile of laundry that’s been sitting on the floor for way too long. Reclaim your personal space by making everything smell nice again. Step one to recovery: Air everything out! Open the windows! Step two: Wash bed linens, that dirty laundry pile, your grungy gym clothes, plus the T-shirt you sleep in. 8. Windowsills Next time you open or close your window blinds, give the windowsills and window tracks a hard look. You’ll be surprised with what you find there: Pet dander, dust, dead bugs and more grossness. This is a quick fix and there’s no excuse to ignore something right before your eyes. Use a damp cloth or microfiber cloth and a cleaning solution and you’re done. To clean the cracks in the window tracks, use a putty knife wrapped in a cloth. 9. Under the couch It’s hard to know what’s lurking under the couch until you take a look and realize you have a city of dust bunnies! You know, those small clumps of dust that are a tangle of pet dander, your hair and lint, among other icky things. Be sure to clean under furniture and in the corners. If you’ve got carpet, then vacuum it all away, or use a sweeper-style duster or broom on laminate floors. 10. Garbage cans What’s up with not lining a garbage bin with a bag? Loose trash is a big no-no, so don’t keep all the soiled remnants of your life out in the open. Instead, stay private and clean by using a liner for the bin in the bathroom or elsewhere. You can even shop for bags infused with a scent to ease any chance of funk. A little at a time goes a long way Proud of yourself for  cleaning those ignored places ? Now just think of everything else that deserves a good refresh in your apartment. Start making a list and take it one step at a time. You don’t have to deep clean every day. Make a habit to take a look around every so often and clean things as needed.

Pet Hacks for Your Apartment

Pets are the joys of their owners’ lives … you know, when they’re sleeping all curled up and adorable on the chair. But when those little guys are awake, they can be serious mischief makers. Renting with pets  brings their owners a lot of day-to-day nuisances, including litter all over the floor, scratches up and down the hardwood and all over the furniture, and general disarray that comes from sheer boredom after being home alone all day. But some of these small issues have pretty simple solutions. Take a look at these easy pet hacks that will keep both you and your pet happy in your pet-friendly apartment: Pet Deterrent Hacks Ever lost a phone charger or piece of jewelry because your pet used it as a chew toy or absolutely had to bat it down the sink? Frustrating, yes — but there are ways to deter your dogs and cats from messing with things that don’t belong to them. Dogs will avoid anything rubbed with Bitter Apple Spray, which you can buy at the pet store. As for cats, they instinctively avoid citrus, so if you use a citrus-scented cleaner they’ll likely stay off that surface. If you’re hoping to keep your kitty off counters and other surfaces, try laying down tin foil or lining the counter or table with double-sided tape. Both methods are safe, and you can use them to teach cats to stay off. Pet Hair Removal Hacks Although your furball is adorable, they’re exactly that: covered in fur. Chances are your apartment is too, and sometimes vacuums and lint rollers just don’t cut it. A couple of common life hacks for  pet hair removal  involve stuff you may already have laying around your apartment. If you’re struggling to get hair off the furniture, for instance, put on your rubber gloves, get them slightly damp and run your hands along the hairy furniture. The damp rubber picks up hair like a charm. If you’re renting with pets in a carpeted apartment, use a squeegee, like the kind you use to clean your shower, to pick up fur from the carpet. Hardwood floors and tile can easily be cleaned with either a good old-fashioned weekly sweep or one of newer wet/dry mops on the market. Scratching Post Hacks One of the most common complaints that pet owners have is that their  apartment and possessions suffer from scratches  when they’re renting with pets. Both dogs and cats like to scratch to mark territory and because it feels good to them, so give them something they’re allowed to scratch up. If you don’t have room for a scratching post, make your own using coarse sandpaper glued onto a wide piece of wood. If your cat or dog likes to stand up and scratch, try hanging it on a wall close to the ground. Pet Food Storage Hacks When it comes to pet food, the sooner you can get rid of the bulky and annoying large paper bags of dry kibbles and bits, the better. Many people use sealed plastic trash cans kept in a kitchen cabinet or closet to store pet food because they keep dry food fresh, and they’re easy to scoop food from. Plastic cereal containers are much smaller, but they also work great to easily store dry food and pour it into your pet’s food bowl at mealtimes. Litter Box Hacks When usually perfect feline has questionable litter box etiquette, it can leave an unsightly mess that you definitely don’t want guests to see. There are some awesome furniture options out there for  hiding litter boxes , but there are also ways you can spend a little less money to hide the mess. Some pet owners put the cat’s box under a side table, then attach curtains around the edges of the table to hide it. It’s a pretty touch that can easily complement your decor and hide the messy box, but can also give your pet some privacy. If your cat kicks litter around like they’re going for the world kickboxing championships, you may want to try a covered litter box that’s facing a wall. The cover will keep most of the litter from flying everywhere, and the wall will keep the little bit that gets out of the door in an isolated area instead of all over your floor. Doggie Boredom Hacks If you want to cure your dog’s daytime boredom, leave Fido with  an activity that will keep him occupied  for hours. One of the more brilliant DIY life hacks is to cut about a 2-inch slice into a tennis ball, then fill it with small treats and short strips of fabric. Your pup will spend hours trying to get to the treats inside the ball, and he’ll likely leave your plants, trash and/or other exciting apartment features alone. A similar idea for the warmer months is to fill up a dog Kong toy with a little bit of peanut butter, then put it in the freezer for a few hours. Your dog will love trying to get all of the frozen peanut butter out of the toy.

Find A Couch That Matches Your Personality

5 Ways to Lower Your Electric Bill

Noticing your electric bill creeping up in recent months? There are easy (and even free!) ways to help keep you cool in your apartment without donating arms and legs to the electric company. Take a look at these 5 tips we came up with to help you save on your electric bill this month: Close the blinds or curtains, or both. Natural light is important to people, especially when their living quarters sway on the small side, but shutting out the sun can help reduce the heat in your apartment by 35%. Take it a step further and purchase , they’re not too expensive and have decent styles. Program your thermostat at a higher temperature while you’re away. If no one’s in the apartment from 8:00am-5:00pm, why bother cooling the space? Have it programmed to drop again about half an hour before you typically arrive home and you’ll be chilling again before dinner. Leave the temp a little higher, and buy a couple of fans. But they don’t have to be those obnoxious, ugly box fans. Dyson makes that blow a good breeze, but if you’re not willing to shell out the dough, make products that are just a sleek and still cool you off. Leave the temp a little higher, and wear less or lighter clothing It’s a no-brainer to simply wear less and shorter layers in the summer months, but also consider the fabric of choice. Cotton is more breathable than polyester or nylon, so ditch the yoga pants while binging Netflix on the couch. Or go naked. We won’t judge. Take advantage of cool nights Keep an eye on the weather and if you see it’s supposed to drop under 70 at night, open up the windows and turn off the A/C. The fresh air will do you some good, too.