Blog Posts

Summer Movies

Whether you’re adventurous or are looking for something to do during a night in, we know that watching a movie is a perfect activity. There are plenty of fun summer movies to watch, which makes it difficult to pick one! In this week’s Richmond Square Blog, we’ve got a few movie suggestions for you to watch the next time you’re hanging out in your Arlington, VA apartment. Wet Hot American Summer “Set on the last day of camp, in the hot summer of 1981, "Wet Hot American Summer" follows a group of counselors who are each trying to complete their unfinished business before the day ends. The entire summer of pent-up sexual frustrations, unresolved post-traumatic stress, pending separations and of course, the talent show, all weigh heavily on the minds and groins of counselors and campers alike.” Dirty Dancing “Baby (Jennifer Grey) is one listless summer away from the Peace Corps. Hoping to enjoy her youth while it lasts, she's disappointed when her summer plans deposit her at a sleepy resort in the Catskills with her parents. Her luck turns around, however, when the resort's dance instructor, Johnny (Patrick Swayze), enlists Baby as his new partner, and the two fall in love. Baby's father forbids her from seeing Johnny, but she's determined to help him perform the last big dance of the summer.” Weekend at Bernie’s “Fun-loving salesmen Richard (Jonathan Silverman) and Larry (Andrew McCarthy) are invited by their boss, Bernie (Terry Kiser), to stay the weekend at his posh beach house. Little do they know that Bernie is the perpetrator of a fraud they've uncovered and is arranging to have them killed. When the plan backfires and Bernie is killed instead, the buddies decide not to let a little death spoil their vacation. They pretend Bernie is still alive, leading to hijinks and corpse desecration galore.”

Wash Your Car

The summer is here! The weather is turning warmer and the days are getting longer, making it a perfect time to get out and take advantage of the weather to wash your car. Through the dark and colder weather in the winter, your car may have gotten to a point of needing a good scrub down. In this week’s Richmond Square Blog, we’ve got a few tips for you on how you can make the most of cleaning your car, bringing it back to a point where you can be proud of it. Clean Out the Garbage Is your car’s interior as clean as you want it to be? Before you even wash the exterior of your car, take care of the interior. Through the winter months you may have accumulated some garbage and other loose items in the passenger spaces of your vehicle, so take the time to go through those items and garbage and toss what you don’t deem necessary. Clean out any fast food wrappers, empty water bottles, and used tissues then try not to let them accumulate in your car again. Organize Keep your car organized by putting in a garbage bin and ensuring you’re strict maintaining a clean, well-kept vehicle. Get into the habit of removing everything you take into your car at the end of the day, taking out the garbage when it gets full, and dusting out your floor mats each week. Invest in a trunk organizer so you can store your car essentials and keep them from lying loose around your car. Wash the Exterior Once the interior of your vehicle is taken care of, wash the exterior! Even though it may seem tempting, avoid using dish soap as a substitute for car soap as it will strip the polish and do damage to your vehicle over time and it will no longer have protection against the elements. Use some car soap, and wash from the top down. If you’re using a rag instead of a power washer to start, remember to rinse out your rag so the dirt and debris it picks up will be shaken off, saving your paint job and avoiding scratches. Once you’ve finished washing it, rinse it from the top down as well. Doing so will let gravity aid you in pulling the dirt and grime down to the floor. It’s time to get out of your Arlington, VA apartment and wash your car! If you’ve got some tips for us, leave a comment! Thanks for reading.

Enjoy a Game Night

If you’re looking for something to do on a night in, we highly recommend having a game night. Game nights are a casual way of inviting your friends over and having fun! Since there are plenty of board games to choose from, you could effectively play a different game each game night and still have plenty of board games to go through. In this week’s Richmond Square Blog, we’ve decided to share with you some of our board game suggestions to get you started with a game night. Cranium Compete against your friends in a board game that exercises your whole brain! As you play, you will encounter challenges or tasks grouped into categories: Creative Cat, Word Worm, Data Head, and Star Performer. These tasks are meant to test your capabilities in their respective categories. Do well and you’ll be able to proceed forward. Lose and your opponents get to move! If you fancy yourself more capable than your friends, challenge them in Cranium! Mysterium Solve the crime that’s been committed on the grounds of Warwick Manor with up to six other players within 45 minutes. One player takes on the role of “ghost”, leading investigators to the culprit through visions. All the tokens, character psychic cards, ghost cards, and vision cards sound like fun tools for solving a mystery. Mysterium is has a spooky theme, but it’s fun for everyone! Scattergories A classic word game, Scattergories is a great game to play with your friends. To play this game, you’ll need a list of categories as well as a notepad. Someone will roll the lettered dice, then start the timer. Each person then has to write down a word starting with the letter on the dice that corresponds to the categories on the list. This game is a fun look into one’s capabilities in recalling familiar and obscure words! Do you love board games? Share your favorites with our Arlington, VA apartment community by leaving a comment!

Disconnect from Technology

Technology is everywhere, especially in our pockets. Since technology makes our lives so convenient, it can be easy to ignore how much time we spend on our devices. Instead of making excuses about why we need our devices, we recommend taking some time to disconnect. In this week’s Richmond Square Blog, we’ve got a few small ways to disconnect during your everyday life. Scheduled Time Often times we find it difficult to disconnect because we use it during our spare time. To combat the allure of using your devices during your downtime, we suggest scheduling time in your day where you put your phone down and do something else. If you have a pastime that you enjoy doing, you can set aside time in your schedule to do that instead of surfing the web or browsing social media. No Phones by the Bedside Do you ever get in bed to sleep but end up spending hours on your phone? Many people charge their phones by their bedside and end up getting distracted, reducing the amount of sleep that they get. To combat this, we suggest finding a different place to charge your phone, away from your bed. If at all possible, put it in a separate room, but if you use it for your alarm, put it far enough away from your bed that you have to get up to access it. No Phones at Meal Time Meals were once a time where the family or friends could gather together and share how their day went, and catch up. Since the advent of the smartphone, interactions during meals has reduced, and being on your phones too often can have an adverse effect on your relationships. Put your phones away during your meals so you can interact with your friends and family. To aid you in this, we suggest making a game out of it. Invite everyone you’re dining with to put their phones in the center of the table in a stack. The first person who grabs their phone pays the bill or suffers a consequence. It’s time to get out of your Arlington, VA apartment and enjoy life disconnected from your devices! Thanks for reading!

Movies on International Women's Day

International Women’s Day is March 8th, so use it as an opportunity to celebrate the women in your life and the strong women who’ve made an impact on the world. There are many ways to celebrate women, but one of our favorite ways is by watching movies with strong female leads! In this week’s Richmond Square Blog, we’ve got a short list of great female-led movies! 10 Things I Hate About You “Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) is beautiful, smart and quite abrasive to most of her fellow teens, meaning that she doesn't attract many boys. Unfortunately for her younger sister, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), house rules say that she can't date until Kat has a boyfriend, so strings are pulled to set the dour damsel up for a romance. Soon Kat crosses paths with handsome new arrival Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger). Will Kat let her guard down enough to fall for the effortlessly charming Patrick?” Mulan “Fearful that her ailing father will be drafted into the Chinese military, Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) takes his spot -- though, as a girl living under a patriarchal regime, she is technically unqualified to serve. She cleverly impersonates a man and goes off to train with fellow recruits. Accompanied by her dragon, Mushu (Eddie Murphy), she uses her smarts to help ward off a Hun invasion, falling in love with a dashing captain along the way.” Hidden Figures “HIDDEN FIGURES is the incredible untold story of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae)-brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation's confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanized the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.” Do you have a favorite movie featuring strong women? Share them with our Arlington, VA apartment community! Thanks for reading!

Valentines Day for Singles

Who says Valentine’s Day is exclusively for couples? As wonderful of a day as it as when you’re in a couple, it can be a sad day for those without a significant other. In order to take back the day and empower single people, we’ve decided to dedicate this week’s Richmond Square Blog to single people and how they can better enjoy a Valentine’s Day. Movie Night Spend a night in with other single friends on Valentine’s Day! Whether you want to wallow in your singleness or if you’re celebrating your independence, there are plenty of movies to choose from! Some of our favorites are 500 Days of Summer, Begin Again, and Crazy, Stupid, Love. Invite your other single friends over to your Arlington, VA apartment and have a great time! Spa Day Valentine’s Day usually involves treating someone else really well, but if you don’t have someone to do that to, why not treat yourself? There’s nothing wrong with a little solo rest and relaxation at the spa! Get a massage, facial, manicure, and/or pedicure and treat your body the way it should be treated! Friend Dates If you’re single with nothing to do on Valentine’s Day, there’s a chance that you’ll know a friend who is going through the same experience. Instead of participating in a romantic date, you have the option of going on a platonic date with a friend in the same boat as you. Use this as an opportunity to catch up with them or get to know them better. It really doesn’t even matter if the person is of the sex that you’re attracted to! The goal of a friend date is to have fun and build a stronger relationship! Share with our Arlington, VA apartment community ways you enjoy your Valentine’s Day if you’re a single person! Thanks for reading!