Here Are Some Great Moving Tips

Are you moving into Club Pacifica Apartments soon?  Check out these great resources for relocating to a new city. You can learn about the area, research public transportation, and find items on Craigslist.  Keep reading to learn more, and you can check out apartment therapy for more moving tips.

During my recent move across the country from one city to a new one, I can't count how many times a website or app totally saved my life...or at least made it significantly easier. I thought I'd share some of the tools that helped me get to my new home and get settled in, and exactly how I used them during my cross country trek...

• Google Maps: I have put every single feature of Google Maps to the test in my new city. The ability to switch between public transit, biking, and walking directions is a godsend. Google's biking and walking recommendations are smart enough to take into consideration bike paths, trails, busy streets, etc. — all the things you don't know about when you move to a new place. The public transit directions are also amazingly accurate, which can be hard to come by when you're dealing with unpredictable buses and trains.
  
  
• Getaround: I am car-less in my new city, but there are a few occasions that I've needed to move some suitcases or a piece of furniture I bought. Getaround allows car owners to make their cars available to rent by folks like me at whatever rate they choose. Getaround also handles insurance and all that stuff, and it's free to get started.
• Craigslist: Of course, Craigslist is a good old standby, but its value can't be oversold. I've used Craigslist to facilitate every part of my move, from selling furniture to finding a place to live to re-buying new furniture for my new home. Craigslist easily wins the "most essential" title.
• Forecast.io: As fall is starting to settle in, so has my anxiety over what the weather is going to be like and whether or not I'm prepared for it, since my new adopted city's weather is much different seasonally than where I used to live. Forecast.io looks great on my computer or phone, and helps me quickly figure out what's the current weather, what to expect in the coming hours/days, and if I should really be so worried about the clouds I'm staring at here in Portland.
• Local websites and apps. I find it's important to find some time getting familiar with a new city's culture and events. In my move to Portland, PDX Pipeline has been a must for finding out about events and concerts in the city. The PDX Bus has been a great app to help with transit planning, and Cart Compass has helped me find the best gourmet food out of a truck in the city. I found most of my Portland-specific websites and apps from googling or talking to locals, and I'd highly recommend anyone moving to a new place do the same (Jason's ongoing series of roundups of specific destination travel guide apps is a good place to start).

What are some of the first techie things you look for or set up in a new city?

Clean Your Apartment in Five Minutes

Do you ever get the text or phone call that says you will have unexpected company in five minutes?  Check out these great tips on how to make your house appear clean even when you do not have time.  You can learn more great apartment tips at apartment therapy.

So you get a text message that tells you company is dropping by and they're only 10 blocks away. Don't panic. Take a deep breath, now panic and check out these 5 tips for making your house appear clean in a flash. That's right, I said appear. Who has time to really clean in 10 blocks?

1. Clean the Three T's: Toilets, Tabletops, the Television. What? The television? Yup! Most living rooms are centered around your tv and the amount of dust that hangs on it, your netflix stack and dvd box set pile that's off to one side could be tell tale signs of why the rest of your house isn't exactly spotless. Plus if you sit chatting in the living room, you'll be staring at it wishing you would have moved it. Toilets and tabletops are a bit more self explanatory, but important none the less.
 
2. Stash with Efficiency: When company drops in we've all been in a situation once or twice where things get tossed in a basket and shoved in the spare bedroom or closet. It's a quick solution, but it can be done with more efficiency so you can find your stuff later on. Add things to your basket according to the room they go in. That way when company leaves, you can remove the items easily without making 100 trips across your house or apartment to put things where they belong.
 
3. Pet Hair: Even if you have a sparkling clean house, if your sofa is covered with a layer of dog or cat fur, it suddenly looks less tidy. Keep a rubber glove or your favorite pet hair busting product on hand to knock it all down in a few sweeps.
 
4. Dishes Be Gone in Seconds Flat: Please don't judge me for this tip. Admitting that I've done it more than once is punishment enough alright? So here goes. Put your dishes in your oven. Wait, what? If you pile your dishes in the sink then it looks like you threw them all in there at the last minute as everyone knows you can't really wash dishes in that manner and you'll still look like a slight slob, even though you have clean counters. Instead, grab a baking sheet and stack like items together and slide them in the oven. They'll slide right back out, be prestacked and ready to be washed so you can recover from the guilt you just gave yourself for following through with this tip. Side note: don't preheat your oven... even by accident... until they're removed.

5. Spend 5 Furious Minutes on Your House Everyday: Isn't that cheating? We're talking about last minute company here, not preparing all week long for them to come! True, but think about how much you can clean in those few minutes before they arrive. 10 blocks isn't much. With traffic and parking and walking up your stairs, 5 minutes is a safe estimate. Bring that panic to your life every day and clean with the same intensity for just 5 minutes and your house will always look better for it. Plus, you still have time to watch Raising Hope without telling yourself you'll pick up on commercials.

Packing Over Buying

 Everyone wants to buy lunch everyday at school.  There is always a variety to choose from, and it tastes delicious.  However, packing your lunch everyday can save you money and it can be healthy.  Check out The Kitchn and keep reading for more lunch packing tips.

The act of bringing my lunch to the office ebbs and flows to some unidentified beat: sometimes I'm great at packing my containers and bringing snacks and other times I catch myself buying everything from coffee to salads and soups. The first obstacle is that I work within walking distance of many pretty good take-out restaurants. But the real barrier to transforming into a brown bag expert? Planning ahead.

Yes, I'll admit, I'm not much of a master meal planner. And I'm less than realistic about what I'll actually eat. Should I pack lentil soup four days in a row? Sure, I'll eat it! I think, until I decide to just save the soup in the back of the office mini fridge, day after day, while running out to buy lunch, until the soup meets its eventual trash can demise.

So, from me to you (and with a little help from Mark Bittman), here are a few tips and recipes for starting up a brown bag habit:
 
1. Be Realistic - You know what you like, so why trick yourself into thinking you'll be fine with a few carrot sticks and hummus and no mid-afternoon snack (a must in my workday)? Think of packing for your inner kid: lunches you can look forward to with even better snacks.
 
2. Plan and Plan Again - Browse the grocery aisles with lunch targets in mind: a variety of sandwich or salad toppings, for example, and some so-called emergency granola bars or fruit that can be there when the planning fails (or hangry time kicks in). Set aside a Sunday and cook food to freeze for lunches (and dinners, too) later on.
 
3. Always Think Leftovers - My all time favorite packed lunch in school was a slice of cold Domino's pizza. Seriously. Cold noodle salads are ideal for bringing for lunch as well, and even if you plan on warming last night's dinner up in the microwave, think ahead to make it into a meal. Order an extra portion to take home, or, cook a few extra servings.

Make Sure You Are Getting Enough Sleep

We’ve all had a day where we haven’t gotten enough sleep and as a result ended up tired and groggy. Hopefully that doesn’t happen to you a lot, but if it does, there are some serious negative effects that you may want to know about. Check out this infographic for all the info.

 

Original Article here: http://bit.ly/10PxuQy