New Bridge Cafe

I just found a new place for inexpensive dining minutes down the street from Parkside Commons at 650 Washington Street. New Bridge Café is well known for its steak tips. I got mine with salad and my girlfriend got hers with steak fries. There are other options on the menu but everyone seemed to be ordering the tips. I had heard that you shouldn’t even bother with the menu – just order the tips. Everyone is right! You have to show up with cash because New Bridge Café doesn’t take credit cards. But if you forgot to stop at an ATM, there’s a cash machine right at the door when you enter. It’s a no frills place but the servers are really friendly and the steak tips are delicious.

Margaritas and Nachos on Corcoran

The fire alarm in our building has been a bit of a pain. The alarm has gone off at inconvenient times like at 4:00 in the morning. I was so bummed out when I had to go outside the building in the middle of the night until the fire department let us return to our apartments. But I have to say that the management company felt awful about the situation. Josie, the manager, told me that the sensors on the fire detection equipment were a bit too sensitive and had to be adjusted so that they detect true fires and not just someone overcooking bacon or something. About a week after the fire alarm wake up call, I received a $50 gift certificate to Chili’s and a letter of apology from Josie. I couldn’t believe that they would send out a gift card to every person in the building but they did. I decided that a margarita at Chili’s would make me totally forget about the fire alarm. My girlfriends will get margaritas too thanks to Corcoran.

Location! Location! Location!

Now that I have my new furniture from IKEA in my apartment, I can have my friends over here to enjoy my new place with me! They will be so excited that I have my apartment up and ready for them. First we will need to grab a bite to eat for dinner. With Chili’s Grill & Bar right around the corner, I can catch up with my friends and head back to the apartment to hang out. I heard the Baby Back Ribs are the thing to get at Chili’s. Smoked over with practically any sort of sauce you can imagine sounds like a perfect choice for me, but don’t forget the choice of two sides too! You could even try their numerous versions of their Big Mouth Burgers! I cannot wait for this night to come when we can walk to Chili’s in less than five minutes and end my night relaxed and carefree with friends in my first place.

IKEA

I’m in my new apartment and I can’t stop smiling! It’s gorgeous. The good news is the move wasn’t bad at all (in total I had eight boxes, three suitcases and six pieces of furniture; the bad news is I’m sitting in an apartment that’s pretty much completely empty. After feeling overwhelmed for about five minutes I started to get excited about decorating and walked down to the model apartment to get some ideas about furniture and layout. The model at Parkside is completely furnished with pieces from Ikea, a store that’s about 30 minutes away and known for inexpensive but quality furniture. I’ve decided to borrow the Ikea idea and I’m off to the store tomorrow to purchase a dining table, chairs and a couch, and possibly some accessories if I get inspired. And the great thing about Ikea is that the company makes an effort to be environmentally friendly. I’m on the store’s website now (www.ikea-usa.com)– I’m thinking about the Karlstad sofa, it will work nicely with the furniture that I do have.

Parkside's New Wheels

I was driving through Boston the other day when all of a sudden I see this funky, cool, lime green car with flowers all over it and as it passed me I was able to read what was written on it: Parkside Commons! I thought, “Hey, that’s where I’m going to be living!”
So the next day I stopped over at Parkside Commons to find out the scoop with the car.
Lisa in the office explained to me that they chose the Toyota Prius because it was a hybrid car which is very eco-friendly. And they decided to use it as a moving billboard and so they “skinned” the car using the Parkside Commons logo and design. I told Lisa that it definitely caught my eye on the road! I asked if I could get a closer look at the car and she brought me outside and she even showed me how it worked. It was pretty cool; it has a “power” on/off button to start it and a “P” button to push when you Park the car!
Lisa also explained to me that the car has “coupons” in it so when the staff is driving around they can pass out these coupons to people looking for a new apartment and they can save money when they rent! “What a great idea I thought!”

My Hard Hat Tour

I just visited Parkside Commons to see how things are coming along and Frank took me on a “hard hat” tour. He showed me where the leasing office will be. It is beautiful. And you can’t smell anything when you walk around. Frank explained how the carpets and paints are low VOC. What on earth is low VOC?? Well, it’s a “green” and healthy thing where their carpets and paints don’t give off smelly vapors and gases. You know when you walk into a new house or a new apartment and you smell that construction smell? Well, that smell is pollutants that come from the building materials. Since Parkside is a green building, you don’t get that construction smell. We will have the same materials in our apartments. By the way, when they open the office, they will have a computer available to show people how much electricity they are generating from the solar panels on the roof! So here comes another interesting part of the tour. One of the walls in the main lobby is being made into a “sustainable” mural. Parkside hired an artist to create a wall full of green materials - not green the color, but environmentally-friendly green. The wall is covered with pieces of cork, bamboo and recycled glass in interesting patterns. A walk by the wall is a visual reminder that I have chosen to live in a green building.

A Different Perspective

This past summer I did something that I have always dreamed of...I traveled to Europe with a friend, and I swear that I am forever changed. The way of life over there is so different from life in the states in so many ways. My favorite country that I visited was Sweeden. Not only is it very modern and clean, but it is extremely environmentally conscious. They have recycling programs that put ours to shame. There is no smog, no pollution in the air, and very little trash on the side of the road.
Sweeden is known to many as being advanced in their effort to "go green" and also their great social programs. Rumor has it, that when a family has a new baby, the woman is supposed to take at least 6 months off from her job to relax and settle into motherhood. It is also encouraged for one parent to stay home with the baby, with the financial support of the government! This got me thinking (and I may be being way to analytical here) but, when people are more relaxed in life, offered more support, won't they be more inclined to live healthier lives? Think about it. There are probably two factors in life that I would safely say are universal to human happiness; health and family. If you are content with your family and your home-life, you are more apt to be happy. If you are happy, you are (arguably) healthier. If you are happy and healthy and feeling at ease with the world, then maybe you will treat the world good. So that is my theory. Sometimes a different perspective is all that you need to make a big change, and I believe that my new "green" apartment will be a small step in the direction I want to take toward living a healthier more relaxed life.

A Walk in the Park...

Do you ever feel like you are always indoors? I sure do! I spend all day in my office, and don't get me wrong, I love my job, but I am always inside. Sometimes I forget what season it is because it is always a comfortable 70 degrees inside at all times. I remember as a kid, walking through the park with my parents and having a picnic. I used to roll around on the grass without a care in my mind. Did I ever think of what was on that very grass that I was sprawled out on? No! What freaks me out nowadays, is that pesticides and fertilizers are all over most public places on the lawns. People can have their opinions on these chemicals, and I am sure that most will call me a worry-wort, but I would definitely think twice about being so carefree as I was as a child. I recently learned that once construction is completed at Parkside Commons, there is a plan to build a park next to it. This park is just what the neighborhood needs, in fact, what neighborhood would not want a park? The coolest thing about this park though, is that it will adhere to the pledge to stay "green" and the grass will be some of the cleanest grass around. I absolutely cannot wait until I can come home and head outside my apartment to relax and be a kid again and roll around in the grass. My neighbors may think I am a little bit weird, but at least I am worry free, and isn't that what makes life more of a "walk in the park?"

This town is a hidden gem...

Chelsea is so underrated! I never realized how close Chelsea is to Boston. I mean, I can literally be on the Tobin bridge within minutes of pulling away from Parkside Commons. This is going to be awesome when my friends come from out of town to visit me, especially with having the city so close by. I wandered down Stockton St. and found quite a few options to eat, and shop. There is a Home Depot right next door, which I am sure will be very helpful once I am ready to move in. Also, a Tedeschi convenience store , Papa Gino's, and I hear that they are building a Chili's too. Another cool thing about this town, is that it is SO close to the water! I had this misconception that to live near water, you need to live in Boston's North End or Back Bay, but Chelsea is actually a waterfront city. I just need the weather to get a little warmer before I explore the waterfront in depth!

Construction the Green Way?

So, I am happy to say that my apartment is being constructed as we speak, and I am so excited! As you all know, I am what you would call a "green" individual, and since I am moving into a "green" building I was curious to find out what it really means. Here are some things I found out about Parkside Commons that I thought was interesting (and easy to understand!)

• The carpets and paint being used in the construction are low "VOC"...which means "volatile organic compounds." The fact that they are low in these is a good thing because it means less toxins in the air.



• The toilets are dual flush toilets. Okay, don't laugh! What this means is that when you use the toilet you can flush it with less water, when you don't need as much water...okay, you get it. But think about it, it really makes a lot of sense!



• There will be no smoking allowed in the building! I can't tell you how happy this makes me, because I have lived in some places and my neighbor smoked inside the apartment and it ALWAYS smelled like smoke in the hallways and would occasionally make its stinky way under my door. This building being smoke free with literally be a breath of fresh air.