Blog Posts

Decorating Resources

Living in an apartment, even one as great as 520 Park , can make decorating a challenge. Small spaces don't offer a lot of room to spread out with design, and renting means that you are often limited in the changes you can make to your living area. However, that doesn't mean apartment decor has to be boring, so this post will offer some great apartment decorating blogs to prove it. These apartment decorating blogs often have great photos, design inspiration, and DIY craft ideas for making any space feel like home. My Little Apartment shares the best of design blogs for small spaces. You can follow the My Little Apartment blog to discover apartment decorating ideas, interesting pieces, and great ideas for design when you're short on space. Intentionally Small explores small spaces and simple living. The blogger lives in a 306 square foot studio apartment and offers tours of inspirational small spaces, ideas for simple living, and other great resources for apartment decorating and design. The Borrowed Abode is written for renters of all types, with tips for renter-friendly decorating projects, as well as thrifty organizing solutions. Offbeat Home & Life offers out-of-the-box thinking in home decor, with great ideas for storage and fun designs that you might not see anywhere else. Our Little Apartment gives posts on decorating small spaces, decluttering and minimalism, and tips for frugal and green apartment living. Apartment Diet takes an educational approach to apartment design, offering eCourses and coaching to blog readers to declutter and adopt a healthy living plan for your apartment. Living in a Nutshell teaches about decorating small spaces with cheap and chic DIY projects. It regularly features interesting crafts and ideas that are perfect for small space living. The Darling Apartment offers suggestions as the blogger upcycles, decorates, and bakes a whole lot of pies in her third floor apartment. My First Apartment is a resource blog with decorating ideas and tips for apartment living. Find out how to use with tips on double duty furnishing, brightening up your apartment, and colors choices that will breathe life into any living area. Have any others you can suggest to your neighbors? Let us know in a comment!

Take Center Stage

If you're a fan of the theater, it's hard to imagine a better place to live in Baltimore than 520 Park . We're surrounded by so many great venues but, for the sake of this post, let's focus on Center Stage's latest offerings - The Herzog Festival: After the Revolution and 4000 Miles. This festival introduces Baltimore to playwright Amy Herzog, one of the most exciting voices in contemporary American theater, through two of her hit plays staged in repertory for the first time ever. The two tales span three generations of one family. In After the Revolution, it is 1999, and Emma has learned a shocking revelation about her grandfather. Struggling with shaken moral and political views, she confronts her grandmother Vera for the truth. A decade later, Vera becomes a central character in 4000 Miles, winner of 2012 Obie Award Best New American Play and a Pulitzer Prize nominee. In this play, Vera's 21 year-old grandson Leo, coping with a shocking loss, stumbles through the door of her West Village apartment. Over the course of a single month, these unlikely roommates frustrate, bewilder, and-eventually-connect, as they search for common understanding. This will be the first time these plays have been produced together, and the festival runs from March 18th to May 24th, with the plays alternating every two weeks. While the plays can be enjoyed independently of one another, this gives a unique opportunity to see both and gain an even greater appreciation for the author's perspective. Be sure to come back and let us know what you think of one or both of these productions! Center Stage 700 N Calvert St Baltimore, MD 21202 (410) 332-0033 centerstage.org

Absolutely Febulous

Want an excuse to go back to a favorite restaurant? Or, maybe there's another restaurant you've been wanting to try out? With the latest Baltimore Restaurant Week upon us, you'll have your chance with tons of locations near 520 Park and all around the city! As you may recall from last summer, the idea for Baltimore's twice-annual Restaurant Week started back in 1992 in New York City, thought up by successful restauranteur Joe Baum and Tim Zagat of Zagat Survey/Ratings fame. Since that time, however, the concept of Restaurant Week has spread across the country, to cities and states which participate in their own versions, much like Baltimore City and its surrounding counties. While the events vary from place to place, the general concept is that local restaurants partner with local business organizations or chambers of commerce to promote a week of lunch and dinner specials. Restaurants offer reduced prices for a prix fixe menu, the idea being that what they lose in check averages they gain in sales volume and exposure to new customers. Baltimore's latest Restaurant Week is part of a larger campaign called "A bsolutely Febulous ," (a play on February, not a typo) which goes beyond dining to include special deals on attractions, museums, and hotels. It will run until February 28th, featuring prix-fixe, 3-course dinners for $20 or $30 (per person, not including drinks, tax, and tip) and 2-course lunches for $15. And, there are 79 restaurants to choose from! Just a few tips, make reservations to secure your preferred date and time and be aware that promotions and menus vary. When calling for a reservation, confirm the Restaurant Week promotion pricing and details. Click here for a list of participating locations, plus links for menus, reservations, ratings, maps and phone numbers. Now, get out and enjoy a meal at your favorite restaurant or explore some new ones. Bon appetit!

Forget the Cold...Ice Skate

With the temperatures dropping and snow in and out of the forecast, it's time to embrace the season by enjoying a classic activity just down the road from 520 Park . Right across from Harborplace at the corner of Light and Pratt Street, you can once again enjoy ice skating at the Inner Harbor. The ice rink, part of a larger campaign by the Waterfront Partnership, is not new to the Inner Harbor though this location may seem new. A rink used to be in place at Rash Field from 1988-1991 and from 1993-2002. Originally, the rink was to remain open only until mid-January, however the date has now been extended until Sunday, February 15th. Public skating hours for the remainder of the season are Thursdays from 12 p.m. - 8 p.m., Fridays from 12 p.m. - 10 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m., and Sundays from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Admission to the ice rink is $9 for adults and $7 for children, seniors, and military, and skate rentals are $3. We can all hope this begins a new annual tradition at the Inner Harbor, given that this the first of a 5-year grant secured by the Waterfront Partnership for the space. So, instead of dreading the winter, let's skate right through it! McKeldin Plaza 101 Pratt Street, Baltimore MD Baltimore, MD 21202 443-890-6158 [email protected]

Khan Academy

Since you live at 520 Park , you must be incredibly smart, right? Yet, even with all of your obvious intelligence, have you ever wished you had learned more in your school days or perhaps, just retained more of those lessons you did learn? While we may yearn for a greater understanding of the world around us or even just what we've forgotten from our youth, the notion of going back to school can be far too daunting to consider. However, what if you could take your pick of academic topics and have access to award-winning tutorials that move only at your own pace? And, what if these vast resources were free? That is where the Khan Academy comes in. This non-profit educational organization was created in 2006 by educator Salman Khan to provide "a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere." Khan's own academic credentials include three degrees from MIT followed by an MBA from Harvard Business School. The Khan Academy's website features thousands of educational resources, including a personalized learning dashboard, over 100,000 practice problems, and over 6,000 micro lectures via video tutorials stored on YouTube. The subjects (so far) include mathematics, history, healthcare, medicine, finance, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, cosmology, American civics, art history, economics, music, and computer science. All resources are available for free to anyone around the world and by 2013, were used by about 10 million students per month and its micro lectures have been watched over 468 million times! The educational approach differs greatly from the typical classroom environment. Broadly termed "flipping the classroom," the idea is that students will watch lectures and work through problem sets on their own time, at their own pace. Once mastery of a concept is demonstrated, adaptive software can suggest new ones, much like Amazon recommends new books. This enables you, as the prospective student, to choose what you'd like to learn about and to absorb the material based on your schedule and ability, completely unencumbered by grades, availability, or cost - just a pure learning experience providing its own rewards. So now that you know it's out there, what will you learn about first? Khan Academy Website

It s a Wonderful Life Takes Center Stage...via Radio

If you're looking for some great entertainment wrapped up in a holiday classic, there is a great option for you just down the street from 520 Park at Center Stage. In It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, you can revisit Bedford Falls, fall in love again with George and Mary, and discover the magic of an angel named Clarence. Imagine it's Christmas Eve in 1947, and inside a radio studio a live broadcast brings to life Frank Capra's timeless film in all of its feel-good glory. You'll be a part of the live studio audience, and join the cast and crew as they take you on a journey through the most important evening in one man's life in this perfect holiday outing for the entire family. All the characters are portrayed by five actors in this special adaptation, which is presented as the kind of dramatization once routinely aired on radio before television. The original radio play that aired in 1947 featured the movie's stars - James Stewart as George and Donna Reed as Mary. Aside from regular show times, there are also new family matinees (12/13 and 12/20), which include free, pre-show activities including holiday family photos, tasty treats and cocoa, backstage tours, crafts, and an interactive lobby display. The show's running time is approximately 2 hours, including a 15-minute intermission and runs through December 21. For tickets, call 410-332-0033, or go to the website for all the details. Center Stage 700 N Calvert St Baltimore, MD 21202