Blog Posts

Warm up with Some Soup!

Soup is the perfect meal for winter time. January also happens to be National Soup Month so we thought it would be perfect to share a few of our favorite soup recipes with members of our apartment community here in Arlington, VA. Read on for a few suggestions from the Courtland Towers Blog. Delicious Soup Recipes from Your Arlington Apartment Community Egg Drop Noodle Soup This flavorful rendition of the classic Chinese egg-drop soup adds in a few extra ingredients for a little more umpf. The recipe comes from Country Living and includes the following ingredients: chicken broth, salt, ramen noodles, ginger, garlic cloves, soy sauce, carrots, sesame oil, eggs, and scallions. Chicken Zoodle Soup This veggie-rich version of chicken noodle soup has noodles made from zucchini! You might even end up liking it more than the traditional chicken noodle soup. The recipe comes from Damn Delicious and includes the following ingredients: olive oil, chicken breast, salt, black pepper, minced garlic, an onion, carrots, celery, dried thyme, dried rosemary, chicken stock, a bay leaf, zucchini, lemon juice, a sprig of rosemary, and fresh parsley. Chicken Avocado Lime Soup Similar to tortilla soup, this recipe from Cooking Classy has plenty of flavor but is enhanced by the addition of chunks of fresh avocado. To make it, you will need chicken breast, olive oil, green onions, jalapenos, garlic cloves, low-sodium chicken broth, roma tomatoes, ground cumin, black pepper, fresh cilantro, lime juice, and avocados. Serve with tortilla chips, monterey jack cheese, and sour cream. Beefy Tomato Soup This hearty soup recipe from Mantitlement is a seriously filling meal. Here is everything you will need to make it: ground beef, olive oil, onion, garlic cloves, salt, ground black pepper, oregano, tomato pasta sauce, chicken stock, cream cheese, elbow macaroni or short-tubed pasta, and fresh chopped basil. Do you have a favorite soup recipe? Share it with us in the comments. Thanks for reading our post. We hope you have a fantastic National Soup Month!

How to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

Welcome to 2019! We hope your time at Courtland Towers has already been fulfilling and just what you want it to be in an apartment home here in Arlington, VA Today the blog is all about resolutions. Whether you’ve already made some or not, try these tips for keeping them today, this month, and all year long! Be realistic. When setting your goals and making plans for attaining them, think about how you’ll actually feel about these plans when the time comes to work at them. What will get you to do it? Make the goal itself something you have a passion for working toward, something that’s manageable enough that the thought of working toward it doesn’t intimidate you out of going for it. Make it part of your routine. As you’re planning out how you hope to accomplish your goal, remember that practice and consistency are key! An action isn’t really a habit or a real life change if you only do it once every so often. So make it a more natural part of your life by making small adjustments to your schedule to accommodate for working toward your goal. Reward yourself. Working on a new habit or a life change is difficult business! Give yourself something to look forward to by treating yourself to something healthy, related to your goal, and a little bit out of your normal purchases every few milestones or so. This makes achieving different parts of your goal more exciting. In fact, it gives you permission to hype yourself up, which is important to do when it’s so easy to focus on how much you want to be better. Look ahead. Sometimes once you achieve a goal it’s natural and appropriate for you to forget about that one and to move on. However, you want to keep the progress you’ve made on each goal, so make them part of your lifestyle, or find ways to build upon each goal so you’re constantly improving. This not only maintains and strengthens healthy habits, but it also can give you something to look forward to once you start nearing your goal, which can help you see the goal as the milestone it is. What habits, practices, mindsets, and other things have helped you keep and be successful in accomplishing your new year’s resolutions? Share your success stories with the rest of us by leaving a comment! Good luck!

Look on the Brightside Day

December 21st is Look on the Brightside Day. In this post, the Courtland Towers Blog is helping you celebrate right here in Arlington, VA while at your apartment or while all around town. Look on the Brightside Day is all about seeing the sunny side of life. These tips are meant to help you look at life with a “half-glass-full” perspective. We hope that you’ll be able to see the good in every situation this month. Get Some Sun The short winter days make “looking on the bright side” a little bit more difficult. Consider buying a UV light or take advantage of the sun by spending a few minutes on your lunch break sitting outside. When you’re at home, open your windows more often or take a walk to get some sun and boost your mood as a consequence. Have a Good Conversation One of the easiest ways to observe Look on the Brightside Day is to have a good conversation with a friend, roommate, or someone else you care about. Having a meaningful conversation with someone you haven’t caught up with in a while will surely fill you with good vibes. Relax It can be easy to let your responsibilities overwhelm you, especially around the holidays. On Look on the Brightside Day, take a few hours for a well-deserved break from all your responsibilities. Take a day for yourself. Watch your favorite movies, go to your favorite cafe, order in from your favorite restaurant, or treat yourself on a shopping trip. Take some time to relax; it’s sure to make you feel much happier. Laugh More Go out to a comedy night here in Arlington, VA. Get together with friends for the night to swap stories and tell jokes. Watch an online version of one of your favorite comedian’s funniest routines. Watch a movie that really gets you rip-roaring. There are plenty of ways to get a few more laughs in and brighten your mood. How will you celebrate Look on the Brightside day? Let our apartment community know in the comments below! Thanks for reading!

How to Give Thoughtful Gifts this Holiday Season

Welcome to the Courtland Tower Blog! Since the holidays are finally here, we’re guessing that you’re now in full gift-buying mode. It’s relatively simple to buy gifts for acquaintances, as you can get them any old box of chocolates or generic gift basket without thinking twice — it’s much harder to find the perfect present for someone you’re really close to. This holiday season, we’re bringing you a few simple suggestions to help you become a more thoughtful gift giver. Try some of these ideas out this month! Plan Ahead of Time You can’t always expect to take just one trip to the store and have the perfect gift fall right into your lap. Start setting aside some time right now for simply brainstorming and thinking about the right gift for everyone on your list. Chances are, the gift you end up choosing won’t come to your mind right away, but the sooner you start the more personal and thought out your gift will be. Personalize It Putting in the effort so that a gift is personalized to its recipient is a sure way to make it feel more meaningful. If you like, you can get them a gift that is literally personalized, like this personal embosser for the book lover or chef who likes to label their own things. Or, you can craft something by hand that is made with them in mind from the very start. Think of an article of clothing that may come in handy for the winter and crochet or knit it for them; use your artistic ability to create a piece of art inspired by your relationship to them; make them a home decor item you know will go perfectly in a specific spot in their house. Or, if you have heard them mention something they have wanted for a long time, get it for them and add a personalized holiday card to go with it. Know that Cost Isn’t Everything All too often, we get this idea that when the gift we give costs more, it will prove to our loved ones that we care about them more. However, cost isn’t usually indicative of the time we spend preparing a gift for someone. If anything, buying expensive gifts places the attention back on ourselves as it just highlights our ability to afford something pricey or flashy. Instead of spending more money, spend some extra time preparing or choosing a gift. What are your suggestions for gift giving? Share your ideas with the rest of our Arlington, VA apartment community here by leaving a comment below. Good luck, have fun, and most importantly, Happy Holidays!

Side Dishes for Your Thanksgiving Feast

Happy Thanksgiving week! With your big holiday meal coming up in a few days, chances are you are into the heart of meal planning and grocery shopping. In case you are looking for another side or two, we at Courtland Towers Blog are serving you some of our favorite recipes for Thanksgiving dinner side dishes. Try one of these recipes this year in your Arlington, VA apartment! We know they will go perfectly will the rest of your holiday feast. Loaded Slow-Cooker Potatoes by Delish Are you looking for something a little more interesting this year than the traditional mashed potatoes you typically have at your Thanksgiving table? These slow-cooked potatoes, with their crunchy bacon bits and their comforting cheesy taste, are definitely worth a try. To make them, you will need baby potatoes, shredded cheddar, garlic, bacon, green onions, paprika, salt, ground pepper, and sour cream. Best Ever Green Bean Casserole by Food Network Green Bean Casseroles tend to be a staple on the Thanksgiving table, but it has probably been a while since you’ve had one that tastes this good. Topped with baked breaded onions, this casserole is bound to be finished off by your holiday guests. Make sure to have onions, flour, bread crumbs, salt, green beans, butter, mushrooms, black pepper, garlic, nutmeg, chicken broth, and half-and-half. Baked Goat Cheese with Spring Lettuce Salad by The Kitchn With all of the rich and heavy Thanksgiving delicacies, you may consider adding a salad to your mix of side dishes. Alice Waters from The Kitchn brings you a delicious salad topped with baked goat cheese and a sherry vinegar dressing. Ingredients include mild goat cheese, thyme, rosemary, extra-virgin olive oil, panko, a baguette, vinegar, toasted walnuts, and baby lettuces. Cornmeal Angel Biscuits by Southern Living Try something new this year by adding heavenly cornbread biscuits to your Thanksgiving table! With a classic touch of Southern flavor, these buttery biscuits may just save you time on the day of the big feast! The dough can be prepared up to a week ahead of time. You’ll need sugar, yeast, flour, yellow cornmeal, baking powder, salt, baking soda, butter, vegetable shortening, and buttermilk. Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Pecan and Marshmallow Streusel by Food Network Rather than a typical sweet potato casserole, serve these stuffed sweet potatoes instead! Topped with a sugary, cinnamony streusel, these may be one of the best-looking dishes on your Thanksgiving table this year. You’ll need sweet potatoes, unsalted butter, light brown sugar, all-purpose flour, ground cinnamon, salt, toasted pecan pieces, and miniature marshmallows. We hope these recipes help make this year’s Thanksgiving dinner your best one yet!

Five Unexpected Uses For Peanut Butter

Some people outgrow PB&Js after their elementary school days, and others continue to eat them for the rest of their lives. Whether you fall into the former, or the latter, or somewhere in between, we’re convinced you should keep a jar on hand for non-sandwich purposes, and we’re here to tell you why. Since it’s National Peanut Butter Month, Courtland Towers Blog has five surprising uses of peanut butter for you to try out in your Arlington, VA apartment! We’re sure that even if you don’t love to eat it, these uses will remind you why this stuff can have a place in everyone’s heart. Remove Chewed Gum It seems like there comes a time in everyone’s childhood where they either get gum stuck in their own hair or they witness it first hand in someone else’s. Does anyone else still remember the horrible sound of the scissors snipping the gum out after your mom tried and tried but couldn’t seem to tug it out? Luckily, this traumatic scene can be a thing of the past. Watch this funny video from Rhett & Link’s Good Mythical Morning to see for yourself that with a little peanut butter on your fingers and a little head massaging, you’ll have gum out of hair in no time! Fight Kitchen Odors We assume you’re not in the habit of frying up a dollop of peanut butter after your evening meal, but apparently, it’s an excellent way to fight off any strong odors! Westchester Magazine says, “frying fish or onions can leave your house with a stale and potent smell, but of course peanut butter can change that. After cooking, put a tablespoon of peanut butter in a hot frying pan, and let it fry for a few minutes.” Try this out next time you cook a delicious dinner that leaves behind a strange after stench. Clean Leather Your leather sofa. Shoes. Jacket. Purse. Over time, they will all get dry and fade. You might be able to save money on an expensive leather cleaner, though, by using peanut butter instead! Lifehack suggests to “put a small amount on a soft cloth and rub it over the leather surface in a circular motion. The natural oils in the peanut butter will clean and shine your leather.” Trust us on this one, it really works, and it works really well! Remove Stuck Labels Listverse describes our sentiments about sticky price tags perfectly: “despite the major advances in science in recent years, no one seems to have managed to invent a label that can be removed easily without leaving any glue behind. Fortunately, we have peanut butter. Rub some of the tasty spread on the label glue and rub with a cloth – it works brilliantly.” Thanks to peanut butter, you can say goodbye to the familiar discomfort of that sticky dirty label residue on so many of your household items! Seal Your Ice Cream Cone It’s a sad day when your favorite ice cream starts to slowly drip out of the bottom of your homemade waffle cone. Next time, Wise Bread suggests you “put a big blob of peanut butter… into the bottom of the cone... Now, the melting ice-cream won't make the cone soggy or leaky, and you'll have a delicious extra treat when you reach the bottom.” With this tip, you can seal in all your precious ice cream and add a bit of peanut buttery goodness to the last bit of your treat! Thanks for reading our post today. We hope your National Peanut Butter Lovers month starts of nicely with these fun suggestions!