Our Favorite Fall '21 Trends

We can't all be Martha Stuart and create DIY works of art, wreaths, and garlands with leaves we pick up at the park. Reviving your interior décor for a particular season may be a lot of work, but it is worth the feeling of home that is brought on by a bright wreath by the door, the comfort of throw, and the scent of candles — all trending decor for this fall.

How To Adapt These Trends for Your Apartment

First things first: Remove all the clutter of the past seasons and get your apartment clean. Change your curtains, pillows, and linens into the lively happy colors of fall — orange burgundy, and brown florals are the classic shades of autumn.

A welcoming wreath hanging on your door ushers in the warm sentiments of the season and is the signature detail of class. Not too far from your apartment, you will find Estrella's Flower Shop. They specialize in unique flowers and arrangements and will custom-make a unique wreath to place on your entrance.

A throw elegantly placed on the edge of a couch creates an aesthetic of trend without trying too hard, and that is the look we should thrive for. If you need a new throw, see Zara Home for a wide selection.

Final Touches To Prep for Fall 2021

The nose sees before the eyes do, so scent is a vital final touch to your fall décor. Place pumpkin scented candles around your apartment and inhale the promise the new season brings. Apartment living does not mean you can't have a little fun creating your ideal home in your Churchill on the Park apartment.

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We know Thanksgiving in Dallas will be a little different this year, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t make it great. Sure it's 2020, so we must social distance to stay safe, but we can still celebrate. Check out these can’t miss ideas to make Thanksgiving 2020 better than ever at Churchill in the Park.  

Cooking Tips and Recipes

This year make sure your Thanksgiving feast gives your family and close friends something to be thankful for with these tips and recipes. Let’s face it. Thanksgiving is about the turkey, so make sure yours is moist and delicious.

Start by brining the bird. Combine 1 ½ gallons and 2 ½ cups of salt in a large container. Place the fresh or thawed Turkey (to thaw in the fridge – allow 24 hours per 4 pounds of the bird) inside and brine overnight (up to 24 hours). 

Rinse the Turkey off and pat dry before roasting. Season with pepper, salt, garlic, and a little citrus (place cut lemons inside the cavity). If you want that golden color, then baste with a light layer of butter (this can be repeated every couple of hours). Roast for roughly 15 minutes per pound and use an instant read thermometer to pull it out of the oven at 165 degrees. Cover the bird with aluminum foil and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Arts and Crafts

While the turkey is being prepped, it’s time for some fun. We all know it’s going to be hard to get out and spend time with friends and family this Thanksgiving. It’s up to you to make sure that your arts and crafts help your guests celebrate the holiday. 

Start with a gratitude wreath for your door. Grab some colored construction paper and shape them into flat cones (we recommend gold and brown), glue on wheat stalks, attach the cones to a metal wreath base and paint with gold spray paint. 

This is the season to be thankful, so why not help the family with a gratitude calendar? Start with an empty picture frame and run 5 lines of twine vertically inside the frame (gluing them in place). Then, use construction paper (we cut ours into leaf shapes). Write a note every day of November about what you are thankful for. Pin the notes to the twine with clothespins, and you will have a great DIY piece that communicates the Thanksgiving spirit!

Online Black Friday Shopping in Dallas

This will be a Black Friday unlike any other. No more crazy lines or packed checkout stands. Instead, many local retailers are taking Black Friday online!  Luckily, many stores are open in Dallas and will deliver as well as provide curbside pickup. Check out the NorthPark Center and The Shops at Park Lane. They are sure to have some great deals!

The local grocery stores are also open for your Thanksgiving needs. Deliveries are available from restaurants and markets. This is a great time to get your supplies online and orders delivered. 

Social distancing will definitely make Thanksgiving different this year, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a fun and safe holiday for everyone. Curbside and at-home delivery make it easier than ever to get the decorations, supplies, and food you will need to make Thanksgiving a hit and to make your Black Friday Shopping better than ever. Don’t be afraid to get creative with some inspiring at home crafting ideas.

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Halloween is going to be fantastic in 2020, if a little different. Halloween is on a Saturday, there will be a full moon, and people want to celebrate. Sure it’s 2020, so we need to social distance, wear masks of a different sort to help us stay safe, but we can still have a spooky great time. Check out these can’t miss ideas to make Halloween 2020 a hit. Churchill at the Park is the right place to celebrate. 

How to Decorate Your Apartment

There are so many ways to get your apartment ready for Halloween. We all know it’s important to make a good first impression and this year that’s even truer as most of us will keep trick-or-treaters at a safe distance. Set the stage. Carve creepy pumpkins with stencils and easily available templates. Decorate doors with cut-outs of ghosts, goblins, witches, and more.  Make sure the neighbors can see some colorful creatures by combining monster cut-outs and contact paper on the windows. For the inside, fairy lights, felt spiders, and glow in the dark skeletons are always hit. It’s the little things that really set the mood. Try the mirror hidden message trick, get some scotch tape and spell out a scary message on your mirror, allow the tape to set and remove. Then run some hot water to reveal hidden messages to your guests.

How to Celebrate at Home

For many of us, celebrating Halloween this year will probably have to be done at home. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to raise goosebumps at home. Start by setting the mood with Halloween baking and some apple cider. Carving pumpkins is always a hit, so each person can get involved in making their ideas come to life. What’s Halloween without costumes? Make sure to get everyone dressed up and set up a video conferencing call with friends and family so everyone can share the scares. Set up a baby monitor on the porch, so you can have fun interacting with trick-or-treaters. Treats can be in the form of an outdoor haunted house or a video performance through your windows instead of the typical eatable delights. Movie marathons are great since you can choose movies appropriate to any age group or audience (from Goonies to Friday the 13th, there is something for everyone) and those can be shared from the comfort of your own apartment through a number of popular streaming services (Netflix Party, KAST, YouTube, Discord, Facebook, and more). 

Halloween Hotspots in Dallas

Luckily, stores are open in Dallas, so you can get what you need for Halloween. If you need costume, makeup, and decorations, there is a Spirit Halloween store open this year in Dallas. Looking for a little adventure? Frisco is sponsoring a Zombie Survival Hike for free on October 17. Learn what you need to survive a zombie apocalypse. Get your tickets through EventBrite. Do you prefer to shoot Zombies on a Hayride? Then try the Zombie Safari with shooter tickets beginning at $24.95 and rider tickets at $9.95. 

Social distancing will definitely make Halloween different this year, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a fun and safe holiday for everyone. Curbside and at-home delivery make it easier than ever to get the decorations, supplies, and costumes you need to make Halloween a hit. Don’t be afraid to get creative with some seasonal inspiring at-home celebration ideas.

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Fitness is vital to good health. But you may wonder how you can do this at home at the Churchill on the Park Apartments. Help is on the way. You can build a solid at-home exercise and healthy eating plan. Working out and eating right helps more than your body. Fitness and healthy eating helps improve your mental health. Here are some great tips that are sure to keep boost your health and fitness this summer. 

How to Eat Healthy At-Home

Preparation is key to eating healthy at-home. Nothing will hurt your nutrition more than trying to decide what to eat when you are hungry. The good news is that it’s simple and easy to cook healthy meals right in your apartment.

First, decide on your nutritional plan. Many experts recommend a 40 protein/40 carbohydrate/20 fats macro-nutrient approach. Next, plan your meals. An easy tip is to use the size of your closed fist as a guide to the 40% portions. Each meal should have a protein (like chicken, fish, lean beef, or tofu), a carbohydrate, and a serving of healthy fats. Prepare three meals a day and a few healthy snacks, like yogurt or bananas, and you are all set.

Make sure you eat healthy snacks throughout the day because people tend to overeat when they get hungry.

Home Workouts 

The current health crisis has made working out a real challenge. Gyms are closed and most in-person classes are cancelled. The good news is that it’s easy to give yourself a challenging workout in your apartment using just your body weight and minimal equipment. Health and Fitness can be successful at home. 

Cardio and Strength-Based Workouts

Complete fitness takes both cardio and strength-based workouts, and both can easily be done at home without a gym. Walking is one of the most efficient cardio workouts around. Just pick a field, a park, or even the streets in your neighborhood and get ready for some interval walking. A good interval plan is three to one, so walk quickly for three minutes (you should be breathing hard) and then recover with a slower walk. Try to shoot for 10 intervals or a 40 minute walk. You should be burning about 10 calories per minute. You can burn 400 calories in that workout. If you do interval training, then you will also increase your resting heart rate for hours after the workout, giving you an even longer burn.

Strength-Training at Home

All you need for strength training at-home is your body weight. Start with an 8-minute warm up of calisthenics. Your warmup should be 8, one-minute long sets, of body weight exercises. During each set, work as fast as you can for 45 seconds, and rest for 15 seconds. Try this mix for a full-body workout: high knees, jumping jacks, front or rear lunges, push-ups, sit-ups, mountain climbers, up-downs, and jump squats. Once you have mastered that, then grow your strength by adding to the routine. You can do that by extending the time for each set (first to a minute and a quarter, then to a minute and a half, etc.) or adding in sets. Do a little each week, and you should see the difference.

Yoga or Pilates

If you prefer a more relaxing workout, then you can do yoga or Pilates inside or outside your apartment. All you need is a towel or a yoga mat. There are many exercises you can do including planks to build your core, down dogs to strengthen your arms and legs, and sun salutations to improve your breathing and strengthen your body. Yoga workouts can burn 160-460 calories in an hour depending upon your weight and the level of activity you are doing.

Whatever form of exercise you choose, make sure you have a bottle of water and a towel to keep you hydrated and to wipe sweat.

Improve Your Mental Health

The current state of our nation’s health crisis has increased stress, isolation, and loneliness for just about everyone. Rest assured, there are things you can do at-home to improve your mental health. Consider taking a break from the news. Try setting some limits on the news, like a certain time of day or specific days of the week, and step away from all the negativity.

Schedules Help Keep You on Track

Set and follow a schedule. Schedules help establish some certainty. Although being stuck at home or working from home can make you lose track of time, a schedule will help you remember what you need to do and when to do it. Be sure to move every day and spend at least twenty minutes in the sun. Soaking in the sun and increasing your oxygen levels through exercise have proven mental health benefits.

Stay in Touch with Family and Friends

Make a point of keeping in touch with your friends and family. Social media is fine, but nothing beats a call or a video chat to catch up and stay connected. If you can see your friends and extended family with proper social distancing, then that can lift your mood and keep you all safe. Follow these tips and you are sure to flex your mental health muscles.

Gym closures, eating-in, and social distancing are serious challenges to physical and mental health. Luckily, you can stay fit with at-home exercise and healthy eating. With a little work you can be the best version of yourself this summer.

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Check out some of these facts about ice cream that are relevant for this month:

1.       Since we are innately creative, we have found a way to come up with different kinds of ice creams. Sure, you may think of the traditional scoop on a cone, but there are more kinds of ice cream than that. There is frozen yogurt, sorbets, sherberts, and more. Use this month as an opportunity to explore what is out there. Fun fact:  Did you know that the most popular flavor is vanilla, then chocolate? Interesting, right?

2.       If you’re still practicing caution, you can just make ice cream inside the comforts of your Dallas apartments. You can either get the ingredients from a local market, or you can get them delivered to you using an app or shopping online. This may be a fun project to do, especially if you have roommates or little kids that you’re trying to entertain. Here’s a great website that will give you instructions.  

3.       Fortunately, Dallas has some places open that have ice cream. We recommend checking out Cauldron Ice Cream because it has good reviews and we know it’s ice cream is refreshing. It’s a good excuse to get out of the house and stretch your legs, too!

So how will you make the most out of National Ice Cream Month? There are many ways you can have fun with it, aside from the tips recommended above. Just google National Ice Cream Month and see what kinds of things you can do to make the most out of this occasion. We hope this brings you much-needed refreshment after all the seriousness that has been going on this year!

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Here are some tips on how you can make use of new décor for your apartment:

1.            Change the Vibe- It’s important to come up with a theme, or at least the ESSENCE of what you’d like your apartment to have. When you’re home, is your goal to feel relaxed, energized, or both? If you want to feel relaxed, use more earth tones, and get things like succulents and incense (if your building allows this) to feel as though you’re more grounded. If you want to feel more energized, bring in some color and use either a citrus-type or spicy kind of air diffuser so that your senses are awakened.

2.            Add Little Accents- People underestimate the power of little accessories in your home that can truly give it some character. If you’re drawing a blank on this one, think about getting the following things: a wall clock, a movie poster, a record player, a decorative candle, pillows for your couch, and more if you go to the home section of Amazon.com. It’s very important that you do all your shopping online!

3.            Consider New Furniture- Right now is a great time to shop for new furniture online or on different apps, like OfferUp, where people are trying to get rid of quality things in order to get more money. Add a new chair or desk to your apartment in order to accentuate the new vibe you’re going for.

This concludes how to redo your Dallas apartments. If you have additional tips, please share in the comments below.

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There are quite a bit of different flowers that you could go with, but the most easily attainable and sought-after ones are listed below. Perhaps you can find them at a nearby farmer’s market in Dallas. Here they are:

1.        Gardenia

2.        Lavender

3.        Scented Geraniums

4.        Indoor Citrus

5.        Orchids

Depending on what effect you’re trying to provoke is what should ultimately make you choose the flower/fragrance. If you want a more calming environment because you’re prone to anxiety, get some lavender. If you want something more stimulating, then go with a more citrus plant/flower. You’ll be amazed at the effects the smell of these flowers will have on you as they waft through the air.

Also, it’s kind of nice to indulge yourself to a pretty sight like flowers- I mean, when was the last time you bought flowers from yourself? Every time you walk past them you’re going to remember that purchasing them was an act of self-love and an attempt to make your life in your Dallas apartments better. What’s better than that?

So do your research as the seasons transition and hit up your local farmer’s market to stock up on some flowers. Who knows, maybe this mini-investment will be the start of a whole new lifestyle attracting love and positivity for you. Make the most out of what Dallas has to offer!

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Summer Movie Series

Is there anything better than gathering with friends and family for a great movie? What if this movie was outdoors and you could bring your own food and drinks? What if we told you admission is free? Sounds like heaven, right? It’s actually here in Dallas! The next screening is July 20 at Klyde Warren Park! To learn more, visit this link.

Riverfront Jazz Festival

The third annual riverfront jazz festival is coming to the Dallas Convention Center! Join the festivities for three days at the end of August. This event features music, vendors, panels, and so much more. Admission is not free, but it’s well worth the ticket. To learn more and purchase tickets, click here.

Candytopia

We all know you’ve seen the pictures from the Museum of Ice Cream; a similar immersive art experience is coming to Dallas! If you haven’t heard, Canytopia is now in Dallas! Candytopia is what happens when Candyland comes to life! Spend a few hours wandering through 14 beautifully curated rooms. All you need is to get your Instagram face ready. Click here for more information.

Now you have no excuse not to take advantage of summer! Are you planning on attending any fun summer events in Dallas? Let us know in the comments!

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Seasonal Vegetables and Fruits in Texas As you begin looking for summer recipes and ideas to cook on your next barbecue, keep in mind the best thing to do is buying according to season. Seasonal vegetables and fruits are healthier since they haven’t been frozen and they have just been harvested by farmers, making them also fresher and tastier of course! Also, they haven’t traveled too far to get to your shopping cart and thus, you are helping the environment by reducing transportation pollution.

And now, a tiny list of seasonal foods in Texas:
Figs. Fig trees are plentiful with this sweet and fleshy fruit, ideal for pies or to bite into directly as a whole!
Brambles. Also known as blackberries, blueberries, marionberries… All the berries! Charged with antioxidants, they’re the perfect sweet and healthy snack for all ages!
Carrots. Whether cooked or cold and raw, they’re the perfect filler for any dish and contain a lot of essential vitamins, particularly for our vision health.
Sweet potatoes. They’re as versatile as their other potato cousins! Their main perk: you can turn sweet potatoes into dessert!
Sunchokes. They look like ginger roots but they’re not! They’re actually related to sunflowers and they taste like a mix of artichoke and potato!
Chickpeas. Once boiled, you can salt them, roast them, or make them into a hearty soup. See the recipe we’re including below!

Let’s support our local farmers' markets and independent grocers!
Richardson Farmers Market is open on Wednesdays only, but they have a great selection of organic fruits, vegetables, and arts and crafts.
Georgia’s Farmers Market is an independently-owned store in Plano open daily, and it is less than fifteen minutes away. They have the best jellies, nuts, and they also sell houseplants!

Texan Seasonal Veggies Soup.
And now… A Chickpea Soup recipe inspired by allrecipes.com*:

Ingredients:
15 oz of boiled garbanzo beans
5 oz of red and/or yellow bell peppers
5 oz of green beans
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons oil 1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tomato, chopped
3 cups of vegetable (or chicken) broth
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon of paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a saucepan, warm oil over moderate heat. Add onion, garlic, and sweet potatoes; saute 5 minutes.

Stir in broth, bay leaf, basil, thyme, and paprika. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover. Simmer until vegetables are tender but not mushy, about 15 minutes.

Stir in tomato, green beans, and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered until tender, about 10 minutes more. Serve hot.

Prep time 25 mins. Cook 35 mins. Ready in 1hr.

*We switched the package of frozen vegetables for green beans and corn.

For more ideas for Texas summer recipes, visit EdibleAustin.com

Ready for some summer cooking?
So which summer fruit is your favorite? If you would like to share any seasonal cooking ideas, post them in the comments!

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