Posts about Apartment Life

How to Clean Your DVDs

If you own DVDs, then you’re probably familiar with the annoying times that they won’t play. Sometimes the discs become so dirty or scratched up that the DVD player is unable to play it, and this can be downright frustrating. Arrive Eden Prairie Blog has a few suggestions for cleaning your DVDs, CDs, and other discs. You won’t have to drive around Eden Prairie, MN looking for someone who can clean or remove the scratches from your discs. Instead, stay put in your apartment and follow these suggestions. When Cleaning Your DVDs and Other Discs Hold your disc in place by inserting your thumb through the center of the disc and pressing your fingers along the outside edge. Simply mix baby shampoo, dish soap, or isopropyl alcohol with clean water — sticky and greasy spots can be cleaned using baby shampoo or dish soap, while fingerprints can be easily removed with isopropyl alcohol. Take a soft cloth, dip it in the solution, and then gently wipe the disc in straight lines, moving from the center hole of the disc to the outer edge. Avoid wiping in a circular motion to prevent further damage to the disc. When Fixing Scratches Instead of buying a scratch-filler from the store, see if you have any of these items lying around your apartment: Banana Peanut Butter Furniture Polish Window Cleaner Baking Soda Toothpaste Vaseline Smear one of the items on the disc and then wipe it clean. It’s quite surprising how well these work. Of course, some scratches aren’t fixable and some smudges won’t come off. If this happens to you, why not recycle your damaged DVDs, CDs, and other discs. Check out 21+ Brilliant DIY Ideas How To Recycle Your Old CDs for some neat ideas. While a scratched or dirty DVD is annoying, we hope that one of these solutions help. Let us know in the comments if you have any of your own cleaning solutions for DVDs, CDs, and other discs. Thanks for reading today’s post!

Public Swimming Pool Safety Tips

Welcome back to the Arrive Eden Prairie Blog! Take time this month to cool down in our swimming pool . Before you do, keep in mind the following tips: Be Prepared: Before you head out the pool, make a checklist of the things you’re going to need for a day at the swimming pool. This way, you can check off the crucial items and pack them in advance. Don’t forget to place sunscreen, a towel, and a first aid kit on that list. Being prepared allows you to be able to respond to emergency situations with a clear mind. Shower Before Swimming: This tip comes from ACTIVEkids in their article titled, 7 Hygiene and Safety Tips for Public Pools . “The CDC recommends this practice, and with good reason. If everyone showered thoroughly before jumping in a public pool, the chances of bringing in unwanted dirt of other undesirables would significantly lessen. Plus, a 2010 University of Illinois study found that combining materials on human skin (such as cosmetics or traces of urine) with pool chemicals led to a more toxic chemical mix.” Stay Alert: If you’re heading to our community pool with young kids, never leave them unattended. Drowning can happen in the blink of an eye. While kids are swimming, pay attention to what they’re doing. If you’re the only adult watching the kids, avoid distractions like reading a book or checking your Facebook account on your mobile device. Grab a Buddy: Accidents happen. Even if you’re an experienced swimmer, they can happen to you. Taking a friend reduces the risk of injury or drowning. Not only can they help you in case of an emergency, they’re also around for you to have fun with. If you’re at the pool with children, you should also always be present and stay aware of where they are at all times, encouraging them to follow swimming safety rules. We hope you have a safe and fun month swimming in our Eden Prairie, MN apartment community. Thanks for reading!

Houseplants for your Apartment

It’s a great time to bring some greenery in your apartment. Check out today’s Arrive Eden Prairie Blog post for suggested houseplants that will look great in your space. Have a great month here in Eden Prairie, MN! Snake Plant Able to withstand weeks of neglect, snake plants are one of the most tolerant plants you will find. Even under conditions of neglect, they won’t lose their shape or color. They thrive in environments with very little light and water. If you are new to having plants or worried about forgetting to care for your plants, give one of these a try first. Snake plants also naturally remove toxins from the air. Flowering Maple The beautiful flowering maple blooms in salmon, red, white, or yellow. Keep these plants where they’ll get lots of sunlight. Let them stay outside when it’s warm and indoors as the temperatures drop. Enjoy these pretty blooms in your space! Spider Plant “These tough plants tolerate lots of abuse, making them excellent candidates for newbie gardeners or those without a green thumb. Provide them with well-drained soil and bright, indirect light and they will flourish. Water them well but do not allow the plants to become too soggy, which can lead to root rot.” Learn more at the link above. Peace Lilies A classic houseplant, the Peace Lily is known to be great for living and thriving indoor. Learn to watch for the signs of being thirsty and the signs of overwatering in order to keep it happy. Fertilize the Peace Lily during summer to help it bloom. Chenille Plant We can’t get over how pretty and unique the Chenille plant is. Here’s some information about it: “The foliage of the chenille plant is unremarkable, but whoa, those fuzzy red flowers! The anatomy of the flower itself is just a row of pistils, but the fuzzy catkins provide tactile enjoyment for all ages. Flowers can look like plump fuzz balls, eventually turning downright pendulous, with lengths of 18 inches not unheard of.”

An Alternative to Cleaning Products

Welcome back to our Arrive Eden Prairie blog! We recently read over an interesting study about cleaning products. Released by the Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the study revealed some staggering results about the relationship between cleaning and lung function decline. Following over 6,000 individuals over 20 years, the study revealed that people suffered significant health problems after extended or long-term use of cleaning sprays. These health problems deal with lung function decline and the damage could be compared to smoking 20 cigarettes a day for a period of 10 to 20 years. Now, we’re not trying to scare our residents out of cleaning their apartments in Eden Prairie, MN. Quite frankly, we hear about things like this all the time. This study did, however, open our thinking about alternative cleaning products that are healthier than what we might usually use on a daily or weekly basis. We found a great article from Greatist that offers some cleaning alternative solutions. Check them out and let us know what you think in the comments below! Baking Soda “Baking soda is a pantry staple with proven virus-killing abilities that also effectively cleans, deodorizes, brightens, and cuts through grease and grime.” Lemon Juice “Natural lemon juice annihilates mildew and mold, cuts through grease, and shines hard surfaces (It also smells awesome.).” Essential Oils “Essential oils have gained popularity thanks to aromatherapy, but these naturally occurring plant compounds also make great scent additions to homemade cleaning products (particularly if you’re not into the smell of vinegar). Essential oils are generally considered safe, but these extracts can trigger allergies—so keep this in mind when choosing scents.” Disinfectant “Skip the bleach and make a homemade germ-killer instead. Just mix 2 cups of water, 3 tablespoons of liquid soap, and 20-30 drops of tea tree oil.” Thanks for reading. We hope you have a great month in your Arrive Eden Prairie apartment.

Delicious Recipes. Take Your Pick

This month, get reacquainted with your apartment kitchen in Arrive Eden Prairie. We’ve got a selection of delicious recipes, like watermelon soup, a peach omelet, and something filled with a healthy serving of chocolate and raspberry. Don’t miss out on making April a month to remember in Eden Prairie, MN. Your apartment just got a little better and more flavorful. Enjoy! These recipes and their descriptions come from Allrecipes.com. Peach Omelet "This omelet smells and tastes great. My friends beg me to fix it after I've bought a basket of peaches at the farmer's market." Watermelon Soup "What could be better on a hot summer day than a cool soup made with fresh watermelon and mint?" Okay, it’s not quite summer yet… but who cares? This looks incredible! Catfish Cakes "If you like Maryland Crab Cakes you'll love these. Plus, catfish is cheaper than crabmeat." Mustard Chicken "Chicken breasts coated with mustard and French fried onions, then baked. So simple, so 'magnifique'! You can vary the type of mustard to get different flavors. This goes great with rice or potatoes." Chocolate Raspberry Cloud "This pie won First Place in the Pie for the New Millennium Category at the American Pie Council's 2000 National Pie Championship. Emily chose this recipe because it is quick, easy, and impressive for special occasions, just right for the busy lifestyles of the new millennium. To make this recipe even quicker, use a store bought chocolate cookie crust. When ready to serve, drizzle raspberry syrup on each plate." Spumoni Chocolate Chip Cookies "This is an Italian-inspired twist on an American tradition. My family loves spumoni ice cream, so I decided I'd try to alter my chocolate chip recipe to fancy them. In this creation, cherries and pistachios liven up already delicious chocolate chip cookies." Have any of your own favorite recipes? Let us know your favorites in the comments below!

Read a Book

It’s easy to get bogged down by all of life’s stresses and drama. That’s why we’re inviting residents of our Arrive Eden Prairie apartment community to sit back and pick up a book this month. Head to your local library here in Eden Prairie, MN for a good read this month. You can check out one of our recommendations in today’s post or ask your local librarian for a recommendation. Goodreads is also a great resource for reviews and book recommendations. Light in August by William Faulkner “Light in August, a novel about hopeful perseverance in the face of mortality, features some of Faulkner’s most memorable characters: guileless, dauntless Lena Grove, in search of the father of her unborn child; Reverend Gail Hightower, who is plagued by visions of Confederate horsemen; and Joe Christmas, a desperate, enigmatic drifter consumed by his mixed ancestry.” A Farewell to Arms: The Hemingway Library Edition by Ernest Hemingway “Written when Ernest Hemingway was thirty years old and lauded as the best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield—weary, demoralized men marching in the rain during the German attack on Caporetto; the profound struggle between loyalty and desertion—this gripping, [semi-autobiographical] work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep.” The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas “Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration.” What’s your favorite book? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading our post!