Friendsgiving: Celebrate Stress-Free With Your Pals

Thanksgiving was originally celebrated in 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Native Americans as they came together to celebrate the harvest. Today we use it as an excuse to gather with family and remember what we’re thankful for that year. You probably spend it with your family. This year, consider spending it with friends. Sure, spending it with your family is great but you never have more fun than when you’re amongst friends.

To throw the perfect Friendsgiving celebration, you’ll need some preparation:

1. Gather the Squad
You can’t have a Friendsgiving without friends, obviously. Make sure you send out the request to friends early so they can accommodate. Since a lot of people go home early for Thanksgiving, you want to catch them extra early.

2. Divvy Out Responsibilities
Food might be even more important than friends for Friendsgiving. You have to decide who’s going to bring what for dinner because otherwise you have to do all the cooking by yourself. Determine who is the most responsible of your friends to cook the turkey. You don’t want to give the job to your flaky friend and spend Thanksgiving without any turkey.

3. Keep It Interesting
Turkey is a Thanksgiving staple but if you’re all planning on going home for Thanksgiving anyway, why not have an early Friendsgiving with a fun menu. Instead of the traditional dishes, craft a menu of all of your friends favorite foods. They’ll be thrilled to share it with the rest of the group and you’ll learn a little more about your pals over dinner.

4. Play Some Games
After dinner, make sure you have some fun activities to do with your pals. Apples to Apples is fun but Cards Against Humanity is for those with a more unique sense of humor. If you’d rather not drop any cash on games, write the names of celebrities on slips of paper and take turns trying to get your team to guess the celeb. If that’s too much work, head to Clairmont’s game room to watch TV on the plasma.

5. Make It A No Tech Dinner
Sure, it’s fun to document your time at dinner with your pals. But what are you going to do when everyone is gathered together around the dinner table with their faces buried in their phones. If your friends are reluctant, you can buy this phone jail cell to prevent them from diving into a Twitter hole. Instead of sharing the dinner with people who aren’t there, why not share it with the people who are actually there. Appreciate it while you can!

6. Don’t Stress
This isn’t some high class affair. If someone can’t make it, the turkey burns, or you drop cranberry sauce all over the carpet, it’s not a big deal. Just laugh it off and get that spot cleaner. You’ll look back on the memories with much more fondness than you will anger at the mistakes.

How do you do Friendsgiving? Share your traditions with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Georgia Haunts: Haunted Houses in the Area

Image courtesy of Georgie Pauwels via Flckr

October is in full swing and that means it’s the time to do all of those fall activities we’ve been waiting so patiently for. It’s finally time for apple picking, pumpkin patches, hayrides, and haunted houses. We’re so excited to get into the autumn mood with all kinds of fun events. We’ve rounded up the best fall events in our area leading up to Halloween. Check it out!

Netherworld, 20 minutes from Clairmont Reserve
Netherworld is a walk-through dark attraction that is definitely not for the faint of heart. With numerous awards including Travel Channel’s Travel’s Best award, you know you’re in for a real scare at Netherworld. Can you escape a nuclear meltdown? Evade machine gun zombies and crazed automatons as you make your way through this disaster zone. Experience these frights and many more all October at Netherworld.

13 Stories, 1 Hour from Clairmont Reserve
If you’ve ever wanted to experience every one of your biggest fears in one place, 13 Stories is it. Crafted around the most common human phobias, you’re sure to encounter snakes, spiders, confined quarters and more. Back this year is the Zombie Kill Experience. Using advanced laser technology, you and your friends are charged with fighting off zombie hordes. Wander freely through the environment and see how well you would fare in an authentic apocalypse scenario. This and more attractions await you at 13 Stories Haunted House.

Fear the Woods, 35 minutes from Clairmont Reserve
The Georgia woods come alive all of October at Fear the Woods Haunted House. Take a stroll down the Haunted Trail and make sure to stay in the light as you never know what could be lurking in the shadows. New this year is Pandemic, Frontline Haunted Combat. Are you skilled enough to keep you and your partner alive? You’ll never look at the woods again after experiencing this frightful attraction!

Haunted houses are the best part of the Halloween season and we’re so thrilled to finally get to experience them this year.

What’s your favorite part of the Halloween season? Do you enjoy haunted houses or are you a bit of a scaredy cat?

Mastering the Art of the 8 AM Class

You might have thought that coming to college, you’d be able to schedule all of your classes for after noon and just sleep in all morning. Unfortunately, some students don’t get that lucky. Sometimes you get stuck with an 8 AM course that has a strict attendance policy. We know that feeling. Becoming a morning person doesn’t just happen overnight. You have to prepare yourself and adjust your habits to suit the new, early hour. We’ve got some tips to help you adjust.

Image courtesy of Pixabay

Becoming a morning person doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes a little shift in your schedule. Start moving your bedtime back just 15 minutes at a time and setting your alarm in the morning 15 minutes earlier. The slow move backwards is less of a shock to your system than suddenly waking up an hour earlier than usual.

Consider setting yourself a nighttime alarm as well, about half an hour before you plan on going to sleep. This is a little reminder that it’s time to start your nighttime routine, whatever that may be. Without the reminder you might just watch Netflix until 2 AM and forget to sleep!

Start your morning routine early, before you go to bed. Get your outfit ready and pack your bag before you fall asleep and you’ll avoid the morning scramble to find something clean to wear. Come up with some quick breakfasts that you know you can make quickly or have ready for you in advance so you’re not running out the door with a Pop-Tart in hand. These recipes from Real Simple are quick and delicious.

Since we’re all so attached to our phones, maybe an app or two will do the trick. Apps like SleepCycle measure how deep of a sleep you’re in and wake you up when you’re in your lighter stages of sleep. You just pick a 30 minute window around when you need to be up and the alarm goes off at the right time for you. These other apps for becoming a morning person could be of use to you as well.

If you’re feeling extra ambitious, consider waking up really early and getting in your gym time for the day. Luckily for you, Clairmont Reserve has a fitness center located right in the complex so you don’t have to travel far. These tips from Buzzfeed will help you become a morning exerciser too.

Becoming a morning person doesn’t just happen. It takes preparation and planning and a little bit of adjustment. Do you have any tips for becoming a better morning person? Share them with us on Facebook!

School Supplies: The Extras

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Emory University’s first day of classes (August 24th) are almost upon us and soon you’ll be moving into your Clairmont Reserve Apartment. Everyone will be back in their classrooms before long and your brains will be filling up with the knowledge and skills to carry you into your professional lives. You need to be equipped to handle it. You know you’ll need the basics: notebooks, pencils, laptops, etc. But what else? We’ve put together a list of some cool supplies that you might not have thought of. You might not need all of these things in order to get an education but they will help make the process more enjoyable!

Audiobooks

You’re going to have a lot of reading to do once school starts back up. Not fun reading either because your professor probably won’t be assigning Harry Potter for your weekly reading. And reading takes time. That’s time you could be doing other things. Instead of setting aside tons of time to commit all of this information to memory, multitask. Head to the gym and listen to an audiobook of your recommended reading while you pump iron. Not only will it keep your mind occupied while you’re on the treadmill or lifting but it might help you commit the info to memory a little easier. There is research suggesting that listening comprehension correlates strongly with reading comprehension. Try Audible for buying or borrowing your audiobooks.

Distraction-Free Writing

It’s really easy to sit down to write a paper or complete a homework assignment and get distracted by the internet. It’s an endless pit of memes and cute animal videos that once you’re in is very difficult to extract yourself from. You need a distraction free workspace. Website blockers keep you from bouncing around the internet to Facebook, Twitter, or Reddit. Try StayFocusd, Self Control, or Cold Turkey to keep yourself on track.

A minimalist writing application might be the other tool you need to keep yourself focused. Writer and Write! are great options that leave you with just the bare bones of what you’ll need to get your writing done.

Planners

You’re going to be taking multiple courses throughout the semester and each class will have its own workload. It can be hard to keep it all straight. You might have carried around a school planner when you were in elementary school or high school but those can still be helpful in your college life. Grab yourself a paper planner as simple or as fancy as you like and start writing down those assignments. If a physical planner isn’t your style, try an app! We all have phones and they’re attached to our hips at all times, so you’ll never have an excuse to not put your assignments and projects into your calendar app.

Going back to school might not be the most fun experience but it doesn’t have to be difficult. These simple tools will give you an extra boost to being the best student you can be.

What school supplies do you utilize that other people might not have thought of?

Soft Skills That Will Help You Succeed

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As a college student, you’re probably here with the goal of learning a thing or two. Taking hours of classes every day of the week isn’t just for show! Hopefully, you’ll leave college having learned a couple of valuable skills that you’ll carry with you into the ‘real world’ and onto your career. However, there are some skills that you don’t necessarily learn from any particular class or out of a textbook.

A ‘soft skill’ isn’t something tangible like knowing how to navigate an Excel spreadsheet full of figures or how to mix chemical solutions together. They’re interpersonal skills that help you interact harmoniously with the people around you. You’ll pick up a few of them along the way but these are just a couple of the soft skills that employees look for in candidates:

Time Management
One of the most important skills you’ll learn as a college student is how to manage your time efficiently. You might spend less time in class every day than you did in high school but you’ll spend a lot more time completing the coursework for those classes. Even though your classes might end early in the day and you have extra free time, you have to learn how to spend that time in a productive way. Sure, you could take a nap and walk around looking for more Pokemon in PokemonGO, but should you? Probably not. Instead, you could spend it doing homework, studying up for that big test, and getting a start on that paper that’s due in a month.

If you need a little help keeping yourself on track, you can try using an app to keep your schedule in line. Evernote is like a portable notebook on your phone that syncs between all of your devices so you’re never without your updated list. If you prefer to go analog, the Bullet Journal is a great physical way to keep all of your to-do lists in one place.

Stop, Collaborate, and Listen
You’ve been primed for it since elementary school: working in groups. Everyone has a different method of getting things done (some don’t get things done at all) but the trick is learning how to combine all of those methods to complete your project before the deadline strikes. When you need somewhere quiet and out of the way to work on your group projects, head to Clairmont Reserve’s WiFi equipped clubhouse. It’s better than waiting for a table in the library and it’s comfortably in your own apartment complex.

Leadership Skills
While it’s really important to be able to function as a part of a group, it’s also really important that you have the ability to step forward and lead. Even though it can be daunting to have to separate yourself from your classmates and lay down the law, it’s something that employers look for in a potential candidate. Opportunities will present themselves, you just have to step up and take them. Go out for student leadership positions, join a student group, and take charge during group projects in class. Your chance to prove your leadership abilities will present itself, you just have to be ready to seize it! Check out Emory University’s list of campus organizations to find one that fits your interests.

You’ll learn a lot in college from your professors but there are a lot of things that you’ll have to pick up on your own. What soft skills have you picked up in college so far?

Celebrating Dads

Image courtesy of Wikimedia

Thank goodness for Dads! What would we do without them? They’re the ones to say, “Yeah, sure” when Mom says, “NO.” Dads were the ones to teach us how to ride our bikes, pick us up when we came crashing down off of them, and gave us the courage to get back on again.

Father’s Day is this weekend and if there’s one thing you can do for Dad to show him your appreciation, you should do it! We’ve got some ideas for you:

Dads usually aren’t very fussy about gifts. They don’t like to make a big deal out of holidays and they certainly don’t like a big deal being made of themselves. So keep your gifts lowkey. Dad loves to eat so buy him a tasty Edible Arrangement. There’s no better gift than the gift you can eat. Edible Arrangements even has special Father’s Day themed baskets for the most important guy in your life. Order yours now so that it gets delivered by Sunday.

If Dad fancies himself to be an outdoorsman then the perfect way to spend your Father’s Day weekend is outdoors with him! Camping is a great bonding activity and we’re certain you’ll both enjoy it. Bring everyone to make it a family affair, just make sure you bring enough sleeping bags. Panola Mountain State Park (A 30 minute drive away from Clairmont Reserve) is the perfect place to get away.

A picnic is the perfect way to kick off a weekend with dad, just make sure to pack his favorite snacks. With 25 miles of trails throughout the park, you’re definitely going to need fuel for all that hiking you’re bound to do. Does Dad have aim to be envious of? Try out archery together and have yourself a little wager on who can get the most bullseyes. (You should probably let him win.)

With 2 beautiful lakes within the park you can either spend your time on the shore, soaking up the sun or you can get out and go fishing. With fishing permitted on both lakes, you’re bound to end up with something to bring back to camp for dinner that night. No matter what you and dad get up to in the forest, we know you’ll have a great time.

Dad will appreciate the time you took to show him how much you care and how much he means to you. It doesn’t hurt that you’ll most definitely be the favorite child after all the fun he had.

Do you have any funny, embarrassing, or just plain ridiculous dad stories? Share them with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Memorial Day In Atlanta

Image: Pixabay

Memorial Day is a special holiday where we remember and celebrate the brave people who dedicated their lives to serving our country. Remembering their lives and honoring their memory is an yearly event for the United States. Usually day is marked with parades, barbecues, and other celebrations. This year is most certainly no exception.

Atlanta is home to one of the country’s largest free jazz festivals and it all takes place this weekend! The annual fest takes place in Piedmont Park and showcases both local and national greats. The Jazz Festival plays host to over 100 of the best jazz performers so you know you’re bound to see some real talent. From the 27th through the 29th, you can experience some of the best jazz artists live and in person. Learn more about the acts and what else you’ll be able to see at the Atlanta Jazz Festival here. Don’t forget, the festival is free so don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity!

This Saturday you can have a beer and see a bear at the Brew at the Zoo. The popular annual event takes place on Memorial Day weekend this year and we know you’ll love this event. Sample beer and wine as you explore the zoo and see the exhibits. In addition to the animals, there will also be entertainment available to play you through the zoo like the Regulars, DJ Deliver, and Jacks River Band. With over 70 beers and wine available for sampling we know you’ll be able to find something that suits your tastes. No guests under the age of 21 will be admitted so make sure you have your ID with you and leave your under 21 friends at home for this event.

If you’d rather kick it at home, invite some pals over to your Clairmont Reserve apartment for a Memorial Day gathering. Cook up some tasty food and step out onto your patio to enjoy the weather. These dipped Rice Crispy treats are perfect for the Memorial Day weekend.

Don't forget to take a moment out of your celebrations to remember the men and women who gave their lives serving our country and keeping us safe. That's what the holiday is all about after all!


What are your plans for the weekend? Share them with us on Facebook and Twitter.