Blog Posts

Choosing to Live Smoke Free at Renaissance Place Apartments

Welcome back to the Renaissance Place Apartments Blog! March is here and that means spring is just around the corner, heralding new life all around that we can see in the trees, flowers, and other plants. Members of our apartment community in Williamsville, NY also have the opportunity to take a new lease on life by choosing to live in one of our smoke-free buildings, just one of the amenities we offer to our residents. Today in our post, we are taking a look at the benefits of smoke-free living. Benefits of Smoke-Free Living Decreasing the odds for at-risk people, including children, of developing asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, and ear infections. Promoting healthier lungs and hearts. Ensuring that family, guests, pets, and apartment staff will all find the air more pleasant to breathe. Reducing the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Contributing to creating a greener community, city, and country. Some long-term benefits garnered from quitting smoking are a reduced risk of cancer, lung disease, and heart disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, “people who quit smoking before the age of 40 reduce their chance of dying prematurely from smoking-related diseases by about 90%, and those who quit by age 45-54 reduce their chance of dying prematurely by about two-thirds.” That’s definitely something worth thinking about and perhaps acting on. Smoke Cessation Programs While some of our residents enjoy smoking (and there is nothing wrong with that), we understand there are some who are trying to quit, so we’ve rounded up some resources that may help. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention This is basically an index of resources from a variety of avenues, including help from former smokers to sites who focus on women, military personnel, and materials in Spanish, just to name a few. Additional helpful sites: The American Cancer Society — Guide to quitting smoking . The American Heart Association — Information and support to help you quit smoking . The American Lung Association — Resources to help smokers figure out their reasons for quitting . We appreciate all of the members of our apartment community! We hope this information is helpful to our residents. Thanks for taking time to read today. Stay tuned for our posts next month when we bring you more about Renaissance Place Apartment living.

Enter Our Love My Apartment Contest

March is here and that means spring is coming to Williamsville, NY, and we couldn’t be happier about that. In the spirit of the new season, we are pleased to announce that we are hosting a contest for members of our apartment community. The theme of the contest is “Love My Apartment” and it’s easy to participate — simply send a photo of your favorite space in your home to us and we will upload the photos to our Facebook page where everyone can then vote on the submissions. There will be a $50 gift card as the prize for the contest winner. We’re excited to see all the creative spaces here at Renaissance Place Apartments! How to Enter Take a photo of your favorite space in your home & send it to [email protected] . Include a note about why you love it. To vote, head to our Facebook page , click on the photos tab, open our Contest Photo Album, and comment “love” on your (one) favorite picture. Spread the word! Anyone who has liked our Facebook page can vote. Invite your friends, family, and coworkers to vote for your photo. It’s as simple as that! The contest runs from March 1st - March 29th. The winner will be announced on March 30th. If you’re not sure if you even have a favorite space in your apartment, we’ve got some ideas for apartment decorating to spark your imagination. Open Storage Open storage is a great way to add some interest to your apartment home. Display your favorite drinks, plates, and snacks for easy access and a colorful, lived-in look for your apartment home. Better Homes & Gardens writes , “ Employ an industrial metal shelving unit as extra kitchen storage if your apartment's kitchen storage options are less than generous. The cool finish of this unit recalls metal touches that are standard in pro kitchens. Use baskets to corral kitchen staples, and incorporate a few decorative touches to keep it fun.” Change Out Your Linens A fun and easy way to spruce up your living space is to change out your bed linens. Getting a new bedspread and pillows provides an almost automatic boost to your spirits. Deciding what to update with can be challenging as there certainly are a lot of options. In fact, choosing can be a dilemma. Something you may realize when you are standing in the aisle looking at a multitude of options for mattress pads, sheets, comforters, quilts, gussets, ticking, and duvets! A glossary of lines may come in handy in that situation. Take a look at these ideas for adding color to your apartment without painting from a post in the WNY Luxury Apts Blog. We know our residents have done some amazing things in their apartments. We’re excited to see your favorite space, too, so send in those pictures!

Let's Go Walkabout

Going Walkabout typically brings up images of native Australians randomly disappearing into the outback to seek spiritual enlightenment for an undetermined amount of time. Another interpretation is “a person's desire to travel without a planned itinerary or set destination.” We think that definition lends itself well to exploring the area within walking distance (within 2 miles) of Renaissance Place Apartments here in New York, and today, our blog will focus on some places in Williamsville that you may find interesting should you go walkabout in our neighborhood. Local Restaurants Tavern at Windsor Park Stop by for some traditional English fare or opt to go all American at this local eatery. The Tavern at Windsor Park is open daily at 11:00 for lunch and dinner. They offer online ordering and host live events, including Wine Down Wednesdays — every week at 6:00 p.m. From a Yelp review: “I loved the traditional pub feel of this place. We went on a Friday evening and they had a small band there. The service was good. The food was good. The menu looked great so I do plan to come back to try a few things. Mainly the Mac n cheese I wish I got the first time. ” — Yelp Reviews Pizza Plant Italian Pub Home of the famous Pod! It’s just 1.2 miles away and offers gluten-free and vegan options among its food items . Just reading the menu will make you hungry! Check out the Events & Music tab to see who will be performing at the pub. In the mood for a Philly cheese steak hoagie? Jim’s SteakOut (with a 4-Star Google rating) is just a hop, skip, and jump away at less than half-a-mile! A locally-owned Buffalo tradition, Jim’s uses only the highest quality brand name products to prepare great tasting, hot, fresh food. Stop in soon for one of their amazing sandwiches . Local Shopping Pier 1 Imports Just a stone’s throw away, Pier 1 Imports is the perfect place to find classic, elegant pieces to complete your apartment decor. This is their philosophy: “Inspiring, fun, colorful, creative and definitely out of the ordinary, you have a knack for finding just the right furniture, lighting, tableware and decor for your home. And that’s just what you find at Pier 1 Imports. Because we search out the world’s most gifted artisans, find and develop fashion-forward trends, and handcraft exclusive products with you specifically in mind. “We’re all about presenting new ways of seeing and experiencing your home. Our furnishings, rugs, art, and scented candles are created to spark your imagination, present inventive solutions and reveal more possibilities than you ever thought possible.” — From the Corporate Website Eastern Hills Mall just 1.7 miles from Renaissance Place Apartments has about 80 retailers to meet your shopping needs. Not only that, the mall offers these services too: — Mall Gift Cards — Stamps — Newspaper — Simply Certificates — NightOut Books — Photocopying and Faxing Services — Mall Event Information — Wheelchairs — Notary — Mall Walker Club Registration If you aren’t up for walking quite that far, Eastview Plaza is only half-a-mile away with retailers like Wegmans, Target, Lowes, HomeGoods Panera Bread, Starbucks, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, AT&T, as well as Orange Theory Fitness; plus there are other fast-food options nearby too. So whether you need things for your apartment, a DIY project, or something to eat, you can find it at Eastview Plaza! Where are your favorite places to walk to? What do you consider walking distance to be? One mile, two? Share your feedback in the comments so we may all become enlightened.

DIY Valentine's Day Cards

Part of the fun of Valentine’s Day is letting yourself be fun, romantic, and expressive about your love for someone special. Ideally, we can be all these things at all times of the year, but take the excitement of the holiday and let it motivate you to express your love in a special way this month. As you’re figuring out how to do so, consider making a card! Today, the Renaissance Place Apartments Blog has a few suggestions for fun, adorable cards you’ll be proud to give. Puzzle Piece Valentine’s Day Card from Real Simple For the minimalist in you or the person you’re giving to, try this idea. All you need is some cardstock, glue, and spare puzzle pieces. Take from a puzzle you don’t mind stealing from. It’s a great way to make use of a puzzle you no longer use or a puzzle with pieces already lost from it! Write in your best penmanship the words, “We just fit” under the pieces, and be sure to write a more personal note on the inside to make it extra meaningful. “Cute As a Button” and “You Are My Sparkle” Printable Cards from Kittenhood You can get two free printables from this link. Both are sweet, clever, and minimalistic, requiring little effort from you to put together a card that leaves an impact. Just download the printables, print them out on some nice paper, and glue a button and some sprinkles on their respective cards. Be sure to write a personal message on the inside to spice it up! A Big Hug Card from Munofore Sometimes a big hug is all someone needs for their day to be brightened. Give one in the form of a card to someone by tracing your hand on a piece of paper, cutting it out, and pasting it into a card that opens up. We also think this idea is a good one for anyone who lives out of town. Send it in the mail for a neat surprise to any recipient. If you’re looking for something out of the ordinary, perhaps one of these 40 Unconventional DIY Valentine’s Day Cards from BuzzFeed will fit best what you have in mind! Head to your favorite Williamsville, NY craft store for any needed supplies and then have a ball creating expressive DIY valentines! What is your favorite thing about this holiday? Share with us in the comments.

Tips for Planning a Super Bowl Party

The Super Bowl is coming up. Celebrate by planning a party with family and friends. In today’s Renaissance Place Apartments Blog, we have party ideas to help you throw a spectacular celebration. We hope you enjoy the game and some time with loved ones here in Williamsville, NY! Decide on the type of party. The first step to throwing a successful party is having an idea of the sort of experience you want your guests to have. That way you can plan for how to provide it for them. This includes considering what sorts of foods you want to have (potluck-style, sit-down dinner, snacking while you watch, or no food options), how you’ll invite people (through a Facebook event, text, call, or physical invitations ), how you’ll decorate for it, and any other entertainment (games like Super Bowl Bingo or photo booth fun) you’ll include. Keep in mind how many people you want to invite so you can feed everyone and provide the space for them to be comfortable in. Crafting a menu Gameday is a day when you don’t have to feel too guilty about stuffing your face with delicious, meaty, cheesy foods, right? Check out this blog post for fifty appetizer recipes . You definitely don’t have to make them all. Pick out your favorites and combine them for a fantastic mini meal you and your guests can snack on throughout the night. Other promising-looking recipes include this chicken fajita dip , these classic deviled eggs , and these pigskins in a blanket . Encouraging a spirit of sportsmanship Watching a TV for hours on end can be tiring and straining on your guests’ morale, so encourage the liveliness and good sportsmanship by helping people feel welcome, whether they’re football fanatics or not. Play football bingo to help people feel more involved in the party, or make a photo booth with some props to encourage your guests to interact with each other and to document the night in a fun way. Whoever wins, your efforts will help your guests feel at home and welcome at the social event. We hope these tips will help you celebrate gameday in style. What’s your favorite Super Bowl Sunday party tradition? Share your ideas with us in the comments below.

Resolutions for the New Year

To begin the new year, the Renaissance Place Apartments Blog is bringing our residents tips for setting, and succeeding in completing, some New Year’s Resolutions this year. Whether your goal impacts just yourself or the whole city of Williamsville, NY, we know you can do it! Be realistic. When setting your goals and making plans for attaining them, think about how you’ll actually feel about these plans when the time comes to do them. What will get you to do it? Make the goal itself something you have a passion for working toward, something that the thought of working toward it doesn’t intimidate you out of going for it. Find a way to measure your progress. Measuring your progress is helpful because it can give you a guide for how you should change your efforts to accomplish what you want to accomplish. It can also give you encouragement when you feel like you’re not making much of a difference in your goals. But of course, don’t stress too much about your progress during the process; sometimes “progress” doesn’t look exactly how you envision it, and most often change happens gradually — so gradually you may even miss it completely in the moment. So practice positive self-talk. It’s never too late to try to improve yourself, so if you don’t start making visible progress until late into November, that’s perfectly legitimate and great! Make it part of your routine. As you’re planning out how to accomplish your goal, remember that practice and consistency are key! An action isn’t really a habit or a real life change if you only do it once every so often. So make it a more natural part of your life by making small adjustments to your schedule to accommodate for working toward your goal. Reward yourself. Working on a new habit or a life change is difficult! Give yourself something to look forward to by treating yourself to something healthy, related to your goal, and a little bit out of your normal purchases or treats every few milestones or so. This makes achieving different parts of your goal more exciting. In fact, it gives you permission to hype yourself up, which is important to do when it’s so easy to focus on how much you want to be better. What are your best tips for making and keeping new year’s resolutions? Share your wisdom with the rest of us by leaving a comment so we can all benefit. Good luck, and happy new year!