Feng Shui Your Patio

Lake Oswego Apartment As the weather warms up, you might be thinking of ways to improve your Lake Oswego apartmet’s patio. Why not start with using the principles of Feng Shui to add peace and harmony.

To better understand what Feng Shui is and how to apply its principles to design a peaceful patio area, read on!

What is Feng Shui?

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese practice to promote harmony. It emphasizes the free flow of energy by eliminating clutter and incorporates wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. All these add good energy and prosperity to your patio.

Eliminate Clutter

Just like the inside of your home should remain decluttered, so should your patio. Clean your patio, patio doors and put away any unneeded items. Make certain that you can move freely around the patio.

Get Rid of Dying Plants

All the plants on your patio should be alive and healthy. Remove any dead or dying plants, branches, or leaves. Lucky bamboo and peace lilies are easy to maintain and add harmony to your patio.

Wind Chimes

In Feng Shui, wind chimes produce healing energy. Especially when placed in an “energy zone” that matches their material. Metal chimes should be placed in the west, northwest, and north!

Bamboo chimes reduce stress. And a chime with five tubes neutralizes negativity, while eight chimes symbolize prosperity.

Avoid Oversized, Mismatched Patio Furniture

Your patio furniture should not be overwhelming or in your way. Avoid using clunky or mismatched furniture that is too large for your patio and does not match the energy or décor.

Add a Water Feature

In Feng Shui, water is a symbol of wealth. A waterfall signifies the continual replenishment of wealth, and a pond in the front yard invites wealth into your Lake Oswego apartment. We love this water fountain available from Wayfair.

By applying these feng shui principles, you can enjoy harmony and peace while enjoying the beautiful warm weather on your patio at your Westlake Meadows apartment.

Tips to Spring Clean Your Lake Oswego Apartment

Lake Oswego Apartment Spring is right around the corner and the snowy and icy landscape will soon be replaced with wildflowers, budding trees and green lawns. Before you venture out to explore the area near your apartment in Lake Oswego, turn your attention inside with these green spring-cleaning tips.

Shower Cleaner

Cleaning your shower can be difficult and many shower cleaners contain toxic chemicals. This DIY and eco-friendly solution makes cleaning your Lake Oswego apartment a breeze.

Mix equal parts white vinegar and Dawn in a spray bottle.
Spray all over the shower and let it sit for 2 hours.
Wipe it clean with a damp cloth.
Run the shower and say goodbye to dirt and grime.

Glass Shower Doors

Water stains and soap scum build up over time. Add cleaning it to your spring-cleaning checklist with this DIY eco-friendly solution.

Slice a lemon half and dip it into a bowl of kosher salt.
Gently scrub the doors in a circular motion.
Rinse and watch scum and grime disappear.

Scented All-Purpose Cleaner

Clean many of the surfaces in your Westlake Meadows apartment with this environmentally friendly cleaning solution.

Use one-part white vinegar, water, a lemon rind, and rosemary sprigs.
Combine the ingredients together, pour into a spray bottle, shake, and let infuse for a week.
Use to remove hard water stains, to clean trash cans, and wall smudges.

Do not use on granite surfaces.

Kitchen Cleaner and Deodorizer

Clean and add a wonderful fragrance to your kitchen with this easy to make cleaner.

Combine 4 tablespoons of baking soda with 1-quart of warm water.
Use this paste to shine spots from stainless steel appliances, one-part white vinegar, water, a lemon rind, and rosemary sprigs.
Combine the ingredients together, pour into a spray bottle, shake, and let it infuse for a week.
Use this to shine stainless steel appliances, clean sinks, and more.

Glass and Mirror Cleaner

With the warmer weather arriving soon, you won’t want to miss a minute of sunshine in your apartment. Clean your apartment’s windows, glass, and mirrors with this easy cleaning solvent.

Combine 2 cups of water, with ½ cup white or cider vinegar.
Add ¼ cup of rubbing alcohol (70%) concentration and 1 to 2 drops of orange essential.
Add it to a spray bottle and use a paper towel or microfiber cloth to add a shine to all your windows and mirrors.

These green cleaning solutions will make spring-cleaning your Lake Oswego apartment quick and easy. Leaving you more time to get out and enjoy the warmth and sunshine.

Make Your Lake Oswego Apartment Cozy

Turn your Lake Oswego apartment into a warm and cozy sanctuary with these easy and affordable ways to make your Lake Oswego apartment extra comfortable.

Baked Goods

Bake some cookies or a pie and display them on a cake display or a decorative plate. It will look special and make your apartment smell great! If you aren’t a baker you can check out these candles with scents like chocolate chip cookie, blueberry muffin, and banana bread. They will make your Lake Oswego apartment smell as if you have been baking all day!

Thick Shag Rug

A thick pile or shag rug is the perfect antidote to a cold winter day. Lay area rugs in front of the couch, in your bedroom or even your kitchen or bathroom. You can find some affordable options at LivingSpaces.com.

Lighting

Instead of turning on overhead lights, why not turn on lamps in any room. Adding lamps to your apartment will give it a warm intimate and cozy feeling.

Bring the Outdoors In

Give your Lake Oswego apartment a rustic feel with accessories or furniture made from wood or rich colored leather. You can also add pinecones to a bowl and display it on your fireplace mantle. Dress up and head to the nearby trails to pick some sticks to arrange in a vase to instantly add a warm and cozy feel.

Add Layered Pillows and Throw Blankets

Pillows and throw blankets are an ideal way to stay warm in your apartment. Layered pillows of different shapes and textures on beds, sofas and armchairs. Display blankets on a blanket rack ladder like these ones at Wayfair for a stylish and comfortable addition to your living room.

Start a Fire

The best way to feel cozy and warm is to light a fire and enjoy the flicker and glow of the flames in your apartment on a cold winter day.

These tips will make your Westlake Meadows Apartments so warm and cozy, you may never want to venture outside.

5 Easy New Year’s Resolutions for Your Apartment

Each year we make a list of resolutions, planning a fresh start to the new year. And chances are, by the time February comes, we have broken these resolutions. Do not despair, these five resolutions for your Lake Oswego apartment are easy to keep!

Deep Clean Your Lake Oswego Apartment

A new year is a perfect time to do a deep clean of your Lake Oswego apartment. Take it room by room and focus on those areas that you skip during your regular cleaning routine.

In the kitchen, clean out the refrigerator and pantry, carefully removing shelves and drawers. In your bathroom wipe down all faucets and doorknobs, clean out your medicine cabinet and if possible, remove the showerhead and place it in a bowl or bag filled with a water, vinegar mixture.

Do not forget your bedroom! Clean all your bed linens and dust under your bed to get rid of dust bunnies.

Declutter Your Lake Oswego Apartment

Set a schedule to declutter your apartment in Lake Oswego, room by room!

Kitchen Decluttering

Go through the pantry and toss out expired items, donate items that are still good, but you are unlikely to use.

Bedroom Decluttering

Your closet is a good place to start when decluttering your apartment’s bedroom. Throw out or donate items that you do not use and place all hangers in the same direction.

Bathroom Decluttering

Look under your vanity or in your medicine cabinets to remove expired medicine safely. Toss out makeup and other items that you no longer use and reorganize the space.

Add a New Color to Your Apartment

Adding a new color to your apartment is an inexpensive way to change the look and feel of your apartment at Westlake Meadows. Teal is predicted to be one of the hot colors for 2021. Teal creates a sense of well-being and harmony. Two things we could use these days!

With more of us spending time in our apartment, these new year’s apartment resolutions will help kick start the new year.

Celebrating the Holidays in Lake Oswego

celebrate the holidays in lake oswego It is the holiday season; twinkling lights, peppermint candy canes, trees all aglow, and holiday shopping! These are the things that make celebrating the holidays in Lake Oswego merry and bright.

Twinkling Lights

It is just not the holidays without twinkling lights! Brighten your holidays by visiting these spectacular light displays near your Oswego apartment.

Lake Oswego Neighborhood Displays

Are you looking for a way to brighten your holidays this year? Why not explore the festive displays at these Lake Oswego neighborhoods. Village Drive, Westlake Drive and Cardinal Drive are some of the most popular neighborhoods to see holiday light displays.

Oregon Zoolights

The Oregon Zoo, located just 20 minutes from your Lake Oswego apartment, will be celebrating the holiday with a bigger and brighter light display. You will find over 1.5 million lights, moving displays and your favorite animals. The Oregon Zoo is offering both a drive through and a walk-through experience.

Get more information and purchase tickets on their website.

White Stag Red Nose Display

Be sure to check out the holiday lights in downtown Portland the famous Red Nose on the White Stag Building, a holiday tradition since 1959, while you are visiting.

Millennium Park

While the annual Festival of Lights was moved to a virtual experience, there are still plenty of lights and holiday displays to enjoy. So, bundle and mask up, then head to the park to take in the glory of holiday lights.

Shop Safe and Local

Shopping locally for the holidays is a great way to support local businesses and find some unique holiday gifts. Here are just a few ideas for holiday shopping in Lake Oswego.

The Arts Council of Lake Oswego Marketplace is open for in-person, online, and curbside pickup shopping through December 30th.

More than 30 local artists including fine art, wood, ceramics, jewelry, handmade gifts, ornaments, textiles, candy, accessories, and more will be selling unique holiday gifts. Support local artists and purchase the best holiday gifts! A win/win and the perfect way to celebrate the holidays in Lake Oswego.

Lake View Village is an open mall located in the heart of downtown Lake Oswego. Shop and dine this holiday season at Lake View Village, located just minutes from your Westlake Meadows apartment.

With so much uncertainty these days, we hope that these ideas for celebrating the holidays in Lake Oswego get you in the holiday spirit.

Celebrating Thanksgiving in Lake Oswego

Thanksgiving is only weeks away and you may find yourself spending Thanksgiving in Lake Oswego instead of traveling to family and friends. If you are looking for a nutritious and delicious side dish for your Thanksgiving dinner at your Westlake Meadows apartment, why not consider winter squash.

Here is a guide to everything you need to know about winter squash.

Butternut Squash

Butternut Squash is probably the most common winter squash, it is great roasted, pureed, or in a soup. The most common variety is bell-shaped with a light butterscotch colored skin, bright orange flesh that is sweet and nutty. It is a good choice for butternut ravioli because of the firmness of the flesh.

Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and either roast the halves in the oven (with a bit of brown sugar and butter) or cut it into even-sized shapes and steam. It is a good-for-you vegetable that is high in Vitamins A and C.

Delicata

This sweet potato squash is loved for its creamy flavor and texture. Delicata squash typically weighs from 1 to 2 pounds and has pale yellow skin with dark green pinstripes. It is delicious light orange flesh is creamy and is a combination of butternut and sweet potatoes. It is perfect for roasting and the skin is edible, so no peeling is needed.

Acorn Squash

Named for its shape, this small dark green and orange skin has a ribbed rind and a yellow/orange flesh. It is perfect for roasting and/or stuffing with apples, figs, currants, and chestnuts. It is tough to peel so it is the best cut in half and roasted. It is a great source of fiber, vitamins A, and C.

Kabocha Squash

Kabocha squash is a squat little round squash is nutty and flavorful. It looks a bit like a short green pumpkin and sometimes has bumps, but don’t let its exterior sway you from trying it. The yellow-orange flesh is mild and nutty. It is rich in beta carotene, vitamin C, and potassium.

It can be roasted, steamed, or used in a pie!

Turban Squash or Turk’s Turban

Turban squash is a colorful squash with a nutty, deep flavor. It derives its name from its bright color and fat base with a thinner top half that looks like a head turban. It is good for roasting, mashing, and boiling, but be careful the flesh turns soft when overcooked and goes mushy and wet.

Enjoy celebrating Thanksgiving in your Lake Oswego apartment this year.

Celebrating Halloween in Lake Oswego with Pumpkins

Halloween is one of America’s most popular holidays with typical spending for costumes, candy, and decorations exceeding 9 billion dollars! While this is not a typical year, that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate Halloween in Lake Oswego.

Halloween and pumpkins just go together. From pumpkin spice everything, to pumpkin patches, mellowcreme pumpkin candy, and carved Jack-o-Lanterns, you can’t have Halloween without pumpkins.

Pumpkin Patches

Petting zoos, pumpkin carving, corn mazes, costume contests, hayrides, and corn mazes are the perfect way to celebrate Halloween in Lake Oswego! These pumpkin patches near your Westlake Meadows apartment have a number of family-friendly activities.

Fiala Farms

21231 Johnson Rd, West Linn, OR 97068
Website

Located 20 minutes from your Broadstone at Bay apartment you will find the Rancho Bernardo Pumpkin

Ryser’s Farm

22560 SW Stafford Rd, Tualatin, OR 97062
Facebook

The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island

16511 NW Gillihan Rd, Portland, OR 97231
Website

Pumpkin Decorating

Decorating with pumpkins is a great way to celebrate Halloween in Lake Oswego, but pumpkins and gourds can extend all the way to Thanksgiving. Here are some fun (non-carving) decorating ideas!

Instead of cutting your pumpkin, why not paint it! Clean and dry your pumpkins, spray them with a clear sealer and then paint it with an acrylic paint. Once dry, spray with the sealer once again! Now how easy is that?

Bedazzle your pumpkin! Your local arts and crafts store will have a variety of stick-on or glue-on jewels to decorate a pumpkin!

Place pumpkins on candle stick holders! Look around your Lake Oswego apartment and replace candles with small pumpkins for an easy and decorative touch.

Watch a Halloween Movie

One of the best ways to celebrate Halloween is to watch a Movie, here is a list of ten Halloween classics:

Beetlejuice (1988)
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
Halloween (1978)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Hocus Pocus (1993)
Child’s Play (1988)
Casper (1995)
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993)
Halloweentown (1998)

No matter how you choose to spend Halloween in Lake Oswego this year, we wish you a Spooktacular time!

Tips for Staying Healthy in Lake Oswego

It is more important than ever to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. Eating well, exercising, getting plenty of sleep, and maintaining good mental health is essential during these trying times.

Here are some tips on how you can create a healthy routine without venturing far from your Westlake Meadow apartment.

Stay Active

Physical activity does not require a gym, instead you can practice a safe exercise regime in and around your apartment. Aerobics can be done successfully in your own apartment. Participate in the many online exercise and training apps or set aside some time to create a routine of your own. Pushups, sit ups, jumping jacks, and even dancing are some great ways to stay fit without leaving your home.

Getting out for a brisk walk, bike ride, jog or roller skating is the perfect way to get exercise and fresh air. Check out these paths and trails near your Lake Oswego apartment.

Get Adequate Sleep

Good sleep is essential to your overall health. According to experts, sleep can boost your immune system and helps with good mental health. The CDC recommends that adults get seven or more hours of sleep per night! To promote good sleep habits, it is important to turn off all electronics, close the shades and blinds, play soft music (or other soothing sounds), and add a soothing scent such as lavender to your bedroom.

Diet and Nutrition

Eating well can be a challenge, but it is an important element to your overall well-being. Try to add dark, leafy greens and other vegetables to your diet. Tomatoes, squash, and beans are plentiful during the summer months and these local farm stands near your Lake Oswego apartment offers an abundance of healthy produce.

Practice Self-Care

Take time to take care of yourself. Meditation, relaxation, and soothing candles can easily be achieved in your apartment and are essential to your overall well-being!

These tips will help you stay healthy in your Lake Oswego apartment.

Back To School Tips

It is almost time to return back to school! This means less time at the pool and sundeck at your Lake Oswego apartment and more time studying inside.

To make the transition easier, we have put together a checklist that will help get you and your apartment ready for the new school year!

Dedicated Space. One of the most important things to get ready for the school year is to make certain that you have created a separate and dedicated workspace for studying or schooling from home!

Get Your Technology Ready. Make certain that your electronic devices are working properly and that your internet connection is strong enough for everyone who needs to use it. Be certain that the printer is properly connected and that you have an ample supply of ink and paper!

Purchase School Supplies. Keeping school supplies stocked can help ease stress and help with productivity.

Back to School Supplies List

Pencils, Pens, and Erasers
Glue Sticks and Tape
Ruler and a Calculator
Spiral Notebook
Scissors (age-appropriate)
Colored Markers and/or Colored Pencils
Folders and 3-Ring Binders
Construction Paper
Personal Calendar
Face Mask
Hand Sanitizer
Wet Wipes
Trash Bins
Water Bottle
Storage Containers
- Pen/Pencil Container
- Plastic Bins for School Supplies
- Done/To Do Folders
- Container for Mask

Safely Install a Chalkboard or Whiteboard. It is important to keep a schedule, not only for yourself but for all the members of your apartment. A whiteboard or chalkboard can make it easy to keep track of school times, Zoom meetings, deadlines, and goals.

Get Physical. Going back to school means that you might be missing your fitness classes, sports activities, and general exercise. There are some great walking trails near your Westlake Meadows apartment for you to enjoy. Here is a list of some of the most popular trails.

Following these tips and stocking up on school supplies for your Westlake Meadows apartment in Lake Oswego can make learning and studying easier.

Enjoy Ice Cream in Lake Oswego

The weather is warming up and we are heading outdoors and building up a sweat and an appetite for ice cream! This American favorite is cold, sweet, and creamy! That first burst of fruit-filled, nutty, or chocolate-chunky flavor screams “summer is here”.

If you are dreaming of a delicious summer treat, here are a few of the most popular spots near your Lake Oswego apartment to get ice cream, and a link to a highly rated ice cream maker in case you want to make your own.

Salt & Straw

100 A Ave, Lake Oswego, OR 97034

Website

This quirky little ice cream shop focuses on doing good and creating good, hand-made ice cream using high quality, local ingredients!

The minute you walk in you are welcomed both by the friendly staff and the smell of homemade waffle cones! Choose between classic ice cream flavors or vegan options and some totally unique flavors like Pots of Gold and Rainbows, Honey Lavender, Salted, Malted, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

Check their local website for hours and times, or order online for pickup and delivery!

Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt

4811 Meadows Rd Ste 139, Lake Oswego, OR 97035

Website

This cheerful frozen yogurt chain has a location only minutes from your Westlake Meadows Apartment and it is worth a visit! They feature some unique flavors that conjure up childhood memories! Try flavors like Banana Pudding made with Vanilla Wafers, Chips Ahoy, Caramel Frappe, Hazelnut made with Nutella, I Dream of Cookies and Cream, and so many others!

Check out their website for more flavors and delivery options!

Zupan’s Markets – Lake Oswego

16380 Boones Ferry Rd, Lake Oswego, OR 97035

Website

This family-owned specialty market is known for its high-quality produce, fresh seafood, meats, deli, a floral department, and a great wine selection! But did you know that they also have a huge selection of ice cream, including some great vegan options.

Check it out!

DIY Ice Cream

If you want to try your hand at making ice cream at your apartment in Lake Oswego, you can purchase an ice cream maker. It is easy, delicious, and you can use local fruits and berries to make frozen yogurt, sorbet, sherbet, or homemade ice cream. This one from Cuisinart is less than $100, is compact and easy to use!

In celebration of National Ice Cream Month, why not pick up your favorite flavor at these local ice shops in Lake Oswego or make your own ice cream at home!

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