Blog Posts

5 Tips to Host a Super Bowl Party On a Budget-image

Super Bowl LIV is the perfect excuse to host a party and get together with family, friends and neighbors. Last year, 111.9 million people  tuned into the big game, so we can only assume that this year will be just as big! Whether you’re a football fanatic, or just looking forward to funny commercials and delicious food (who’s with me?), these tips will help you host a budget-friendly Super Bowl party sure to leave your guests impressed.   Here are 5 tips on hosting an awesome Super Bowl party on a budget! Tip #1: Recruit a Super Bowl Party Co-Host Party planning should be fun, but it can become stressful and expensive if you take it all on yourself. Instead, try recruiting a friend to be your Super Bowl 51 co-host. Not only will this split some of the costs associated with the party, but it will also lighten the workload. You don’t want to be the only one stuck cleaning up after your guests leave! Not to mention, friends make the party planning process much more enjoyable. Tip #2: Make Party Snacks from Scratch Can we all agree that a Super Bowl party wouldn’t be complete without something to snack on? Yeah, I thought so! While it may be tempting to order in pizza and call it a day, it won’t be so easy on your wallet. Instead, quickly whip up your own Super Bowl snacks, appetizers, and dips to save a bit of dough.  You can easily find simple recipes on the web that won’t take a lot of prep time if you plan ahead. If you’re hosting a kid-friendly Super Bowl party, get them involved in a fun baking activity! The kids will love showing off their team spirit with fun sprinkles and decorations, and everyone else will enjoy the end result! Tip #3: Buy in Bulk Save money on your Super Bowl party and head to your local wholesaler to buy party essentials in bulk. Think: plates, napkins, flatware, paper towels and the like. While you may not need 24 rolls of paper towels for just one party, these types of things are great to have on hand for everyday use, and of course for future parties! If you’re looking for Super Bowl-themed place settings and plates, skip the gimmicky (and super marked up) team-specific options and head to your local dollar store to find solid colored plates and flatware in your team’s colors.  When you’re stocking up on the essentials, don’t forget to pick up Super Bowl-friendly snacks, appetizers, and mixers. Big bags of popcorn and potato chips are always popular, and tortilla chips are paired well with salsa and guacamole. By taking advantage of the deals found at your local wholesaler, you won’t have to worry about running low on snacks or supplies, and you’ll be able to get the bulk of your shopping done in one place — a win-win! Tip #4: Bring Your Own Beverage is Best Now that the food is covered, your guests are going to need something cold to wash it all down. Unfortunately, buying soda, water and other drinks for a crowd can add up and cost a pretty penny. Ease the cost burden by asking your guests to bring their favorite beverage, and offer them cups and ice. This way, you’ll know that everyone has something to drink, and you’ll save on one of the costliest aspects of hosting a party. After all, you’re guests will probably be relieved that they can pick up something quick on the way, and don’t have to worry about preparing a dish! Tip #5: Save Big on a Big Screen Let’s not forget about one of the most important elements of a good Super Bowl party: the TV.  If you’ve been thinking about buying a new TV for the game, but don’t want to spend the big bucks, fear not! You can buy open box and refurbished big screens at a fraction of retail prices, so you can save cash without sacrificing inches (or 4K). The best part? You’ll be able to enjoy your purchase long after Super Bowl 51 is over. So get your fan gear ready and channel your inner-team spirit because with these tips, planning a budget-friendly Super Bowl party will be a breeze! Emily, www. blog.blinq.com  5 Tips to Host a Super Bowl Party On a Budget  

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Prioritizing Wants and Needs for Better Balance-image

When I used to hear the statement "Work-Fun-Life- Balance " I would immediately conceptualize this picture of a person who has it all together. They would dress in neutral colors with a Zen-like appearance and everything about their life would be so simple, neat and organized. They had all the answers. Then I realized, there is absolutely no one that I know that has this aura about themselves. “Work-Fun-Life- Balance ” can be perceived differently by each person and can therefore be approached differently too.   Though I do have challenges at times with prioritizing certain tasks, I do not have any trouble with prioritizing golf and running. I make it a priority to spend time on the things that I like and need to do. My job and career have become the transporter to my destination…which is my ‘me time’!  I work hard so that I can have fun and relax later.  My objective in life is to do what I need to do, so that I can do what I want to do. I believe having a  balance d life requires you to identify the things that we WANT and NEED.  Take the following examples:             I want to be a great Leader, therefore I Need to read, identify my strengths and weaknesses and continue to gain knowledge and put that knowledge to use with my staff, as well as being present and offering valuable feedback in Leadership Team Meetings.           I WANT to play good golf and score in the low 80's or lower, therefore I will Need to practice at the range, take lessons, invest in a good set of clubs, accessories and golf gear.           I want to be a great Husband and Father, therefore I will need to be attentive to my family and spend quality time with my wife and kids.           I WANT to finish the New York Marathon in less than 5 1/2 hours, therefore I will NEED to train, eat properly, make the majority of scheduled practice runs, get enough sleep, and recover well.    Keep in mind, there are weekly tasks that we need to complete that we do not like, but we have to do those tasks in order to fulfill the WANTS we desire.  I do not like participating in runs over 6 miles, but I know I have to get those in for practice in order to achieve that time in a Marathon. I do not like reading boring books on theories or concepts, but I know they have information in them that can be vital to my development and growth. Therefore, I try to make the acts I need to do more pleasurable for me. For example, I might go out on the balcony and smoke a cigar with a cocktail while I read or listen to the book. I try whatever will help me to look forward to doing the necessary tasks of life.   In terms of the tasks that I WANT to do, I love practicing and playing golf. I find it so relaxing hitting balls on the range at night, so I make this a major priority because I know I will not be happy doing anything else unless I get my golf time in. It is imperative. My wife and I also enjoy doing Thursday night wings and beer for our date-night, along with Saturday night dinners, movies, parties with friends, etc.  We make sure that we have time to discuss the kids, finances and other family items. Every now and then she also will come out to the range and hit balls with me in addition to participating in weekend runs with my running group!   Personally, I feel that having a “Work-Fun-Life- Balance d” life simply comes down to identifying the WANTS in your personal and professional life, and applying the time it takes to do the things you NEED to do.  If there are tasks you do not like doing, you will have to create an environment that would make that task fun and relaxing.  Why not get the most out of life? You are only blessed with one.

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How to Work Smarter-image

When it comes to  working smarter and not harder , everyone knows the usual tricks: Manage your time, take strategic breaks, get enough sleep. And that’s all good advice, but you’ve probably asked yourself if there’s more you can be doing. After all, you’re  already  using those strategies, and you still find yourself with more work than you can possibly do in one day. Luckily, a user on Quora  had the same question , and the community came together to discuss more uncommon ways to working smarter and not harder every single day. You’re definitely going to want to try all of these.   1. Weigh Your Options Hard workers want all the possible work to be done, while smart workers don’t bother with most of the work they should do. Instead, they brutally focus themselves only on the tasks that bring the biggest long-term impact, and those are all the tasks connected with creating, delivering and capturing as much value as possible. Blaz Kos Have a million items on  your to-do list ? Stop thinking you need to finish all of them—instead focus on the things that are crucial to your job performance and your company’s success. Sure, it would be nice to get to  Inbox Zero , but is that really more important than finishing up that critical investor report right now?   2. Write a Bad First Draft I aim to do something/anything poorly and then edit and iterate those that need it. By aiming for a poor start, you get it out on the screen as a brain dump and are then far less likely to put it off, and also the subsequent edits are really simple. Jay Best Half of the battle is getting started. So, instead of  striving for perfection  the first time around, aim to get  something  on paper, even if it’s not your best work. Whether it’s a presentation or an email, you’ll be surprised at how much easier the editing process is when you return to it later.   3. Go Home When You’re Behind In the past when I was feeling behind, I’d stay up late trying to catch up. This works if you do it very occasionally, but I did it all the time. That made me tired, meaning more mistakes, less foresight, and less energy focused on the work. Now when I’m feeling behind and tired I go home early and come in the next day raring to go. William Pietri As tempting as it is to buckle down and grind out all of that work, it’s really setting you up for burnout in the long run. Take a break, get  adequate sleep , and figure out a plan for how you’re going to tackle things more effectively tomorrow.   4. Use Parkinson’s Law to Your Advantage Remember Parkinson’s Law: Tasks expand to the time allotted. If you have all day to write a blog post, it will take you all day. If you have all day to make sales calls, they will take all day...you get the idea! Mary Kathryn Johnson By giving everything in your schedule—no matter how small—a deadline, you’re instantly freeing up time for other things. Not only is there beauty in compartmentalizing everything, but there’s something to be said for taking away  your ability to procrastinate .   5. Get Writing Use a white board. Draw a Venn diagram describing your problem. Find intersections, and work on those first. You’ll have bits and pieces of everything, then it’s just a matter of time to put it together. Jaydeep Deshpande It’s surprising how quickly you’re able to solve problems when you can visualize them. Step away from your computer screen and start drawing.   6. Talk, Don’t Email Communicate more by talking rather than over emails with clients, consultants, vendors. Make quick phone calls [and] conference calls. Host virtual meetings, sharescreens, and get issues resolved quickly. A 30-minute meeting session will save at least three to four days of delay communicating over emails. Arif Nezami Give your co-workers, clients, bosses, and, yes, yourself a break from  the dreaded inbox  by finding a way to talk instead of email. Whether that’s hopping on a quick Google Hangout or (gasp!) picking up the phone, your colleagues and fingers will thank you.   7. Prepare the Night Before To make the most of my morning, I make sure to prep myself the night before. As soon as I wake up, I know where I’m going to start, I know what project I’m diving into, I know which problem I’m going to be tackling first. If you can set these firmly in your mind before you go to bed, you’ll wake up with far more energy and drive to tackle them—because they’ve been marinating in your subconscious. Nicolas Cole This goes out to all the people who wouldn’t describe themselves  as “a morning person.”  When you wake up, the last thing you want to do is make big decisions about your workload and your schedule before your first cup of coffee has kicked in. Taking even 10 or 15 minutes to decide what you’ll be doing the following day can make a huge difference in your workflow.

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Teamwork saves 4th of July!-image

The letter below was submitted by Steven Bloomfield, CM at Advenir At Walden Lake.   I wanted to share with you a situation that happened here at the property on July 3rd, that in my opinion ultimately embodies our first core value, “Together We Make It Possible”.   At about 10:00 am on July 3rd, Miami Dade Health Department showed up at the property for an unscheduled pool inspection. To my surprise, the inspector told me that we had failed the inspection. This was a result of some miscommunications between our technicians and our vendors. It seems the fuel pump was not working at the required capacity. In addition, as per the Miami Dade Health Department, due to the size of our pool we are required to have two safety rings and two life hooks with poles. We had one of each. As a result of these failures the inspector said she would be shutting down the pool. Mind you, this was the day before July 4th!   Sue Acuna happened to be at Walden that morning helping with another task, and immediately turned to me after seeing the angst on my face, telling me, “We’ll figure this out together and get it resolved”. I immediately also called Jack to alert him of the situation. As always, Jack was cool and collected and advised how to proceed. While on the phone with Jack, Sue had already jumped into “solution mode” and began making phone calls to the Miami Dade Health Department. Sue was able to determine that MDHD did not inspect the pool in 2018, thus leaving us uninformed of any violations that were standing. As a result of this discovery, MDHD agreed -after Sue’s persistence- to come back later that day to re-inspect so we would be able to open for the July 4th holiday.   I called our pool vendor to find out what was going on with the pump, although my main focus was getting them back out to immediately to fix the issue. The pool vendor agreed to come out, but not before 3:30 pm. That wouldn’t work because the re-inspection was at 3:30 pm. I called Jack to give him an update. Jack then immediately jumped into “solution mode” as well and called the pool vendor. As a result of his call they miraculously showed up at 1pm and were able to get the pump up and running.   In the interim, Sue and I went to Leslie’s Pool Supply to purchase the needed safety equipment. As Murphy’s Law would have it, they didn’t have everything we needed. Fortunately, Sue had spares of the additional equipment we needed at San Tropez and was able to loan it to Walden while we waited for ours to be delivered.   Suffice to say, the MDHC Inspector came back for a re-inspection and passed us allowing us to have the pool remain open for the July 4th holiday! That would not have been the case if it wasn’t for Sue and Jack, who in my opinion saved the day. They truly personified “Together We Make It Possible”!   So, I’m happy to say this story had a happy ending, again as a result of the teamwork of Sue and Jack!   Steven Bloomfield Advenir At Walden Lake Community Manager   THAT'S how you get things done! Great job Sue, Jack, and Steven!! No doubt our residents enjoyed their pool on the holiday thanks to your can-do attitude and refusal to give up. We are so proud of you!

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