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Hosting Overnight Guests for the Holidays

Holidays are all about celebrating, decorating, and sometimes hosting! From turkey dinners to New Year’s Eve there are plenty of opportunities to host guests. When you’ve got loved ones traveling from near or far, offering your couch or guest room to them is a really kind gesture. Don’t feel like you have to bend over backwards for your guests—if you do, you’re hosting the wrong guests! However a little bit of extra effort and preparation can be one of the sweetest gifts your loved ones receive this season. Here at Willow Hill, we are all about preparation and keeping others in mind while doing so! Think about pleasant experiences you’ve had while visiting someone, and do what you can to recreate that time. Don’t feel like you’re running the Ritz-Carlton, but just going out of your way to make your friends feel at home. Take into account your guests preferences as well as dislikes when preparing bedrooms and bathrooms. It might be helpful to reach out to them beforehand to get a feel for what they might be expecting. There are tactful ways to check if they are expecting dinner (“Will you be around that night for dinner?” vs “Do I need to make dinner for you?”) Let them know you don’t want to hinder their tourist experience, but that you are available for help and entertainment if they prefer! Communicate openly so everyone knows what to expect and feelings won’t end up being hurt. One thing we like to prepare for guests is a snack basket. Some guests feel uncomfortable helping themselves in the kitchen, so this is a great opportunity to provide some treats and snacks for them when they get hungry between meals. Here are some ideas for a treat/snack basket: -Granola bars/protein bars -Beef Jerky -Dried fruit -Pretzels -Special foods unique to your state or area -Bottled water -Small candies or chocolate bars Don’t forget to be careful of allergies while packing a snack basket. Happy hosting during the upcoming holidays!

Life at Willow Hill

Life at Willow Hill Apartments is both convenient and comfortable. Choose from one, two, or three bedroom apartment homes to suit your lifestyle. We are pet friendly here at Willow Hill accepting cats, caged small pets, and dogs up to twenty pounds full grown weight. Take your pet for the best veterinary care to East Main Veterinary Hospital /Sunny Sky Animal Rescue or Value Pet Clinic. For all the best shopping and dining experiences, the South Hill Mall is just a short drive away. Willow Hill also offers a 3% monthly discount for all South Hill Mall employees. Willow Hill offers a complimentary tennis court, swimming pool and fitness center, and for residents wanting more for a very active lifestyle, Willow Hill is close to Puyallup Krav Maga , The Little Gym-Puyallup , trails for walking/jogging and rollerskating . Willow Hill has a walk score of 80 and offers complimentary coffee to our residents and prospective residents. You will also find a plethora of coffee shops, cafes, fast food, sport's bars and fine dining all just minutes away . Need a haircut or other salon service? No problem, because salons abound in the area. Willow Hill offers a seasonal swimming pool, cozy cabana and complimentary tanning salon for your best relaxation, and Puyallup offers several spas in the area as well. If schools are important to you and your family, Willow Hill is close to: Kalles Jr High, Meeker or Stewart Elementary, Cascade Christian and Puyallup High School. Pierce College Puyallup is just minutes away. For more information, photos and video of Willow Hill Apartments, visit our site or our Facebook page.

Scary Reads to Give You Chills This Halloween, Part II

No matter the time of year, it can be thrilling to read a scary book while sitting at your Willow Hill apartment in the dark alone. We’ve gathered some of our favorite horror stories for you to enjoy being scared by! In our last post, we discussed I Am Not a Serial Killer and Space Eldritch ; now here are the rest: Maplecroft by Cherie Priest From Amazon: “ Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks; and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one... “The people of Fall River, Massachusetts, fear me. Perhaps rightfully so. I remain a suspect in the brutal deaths of my father and his second wife despite the verdict of innocence at my trial. With our inheritance, my sister, Emma, and I have taken up residence in Maplecroft, a mansion near the sea and far from gossip and scrutiny. “But it is not far enough from the affliction that possessed my parents. Their characters, their very souls , were consumed from within by something that left malevolent entities in their place. It originates from the ocean’s depths, plaguing the populace with tides of nightmares and madness. “This evil cannot hide from me. No matter what guise it assumes, I will be waiting for it. With an axe.” And if you enjoy Maplecroft, don’t forget to pick up the sequel, Chapelwood ! I Am Legend by Richard Matheson You may have seen the movie, but the novel is an entirely different — and far more chilling — story. From Amazon: “Robert Neville may well be the last living man on Earth . . . but he is not alone. “An incurable plague has mutated every other man, woman, and child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who are determined to destroy him. “By day, he is a hunter, stalking the infected monstrosities through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn…” What are your favorite scary stories? Let all of us at Willow Hill apartments in Puyallup know down in the comments!

Scary Reads to Give You Chills This Halloween, Part I

Adventure, action, and romance all make for a great story, but sometimes that’s not what people are in the mood for. Sometimes, we just want to be scared silly. And there are a lot of ways to accomplish that — scary movies, haunted houses, or sitting around a campfire telling spooky stories. But when you’re home alone at your Puyallup, WA Willow Hill apartment at night, one of the best ways to creep yourself out is a horror novel. Now, when people think about horror, they often think about slasher films or Steven King. While those are great, there is a whole host of other options out there. In two posts, we’ve gathered together a few excellent horror novels for you to try. I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells From Amazon: “John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous, and he knows it. He's spent his life doing his best not to live up to his potential. He's obsessed with serial killers, but really doesn't want to become one. So for his own sake, and the safety of those around him, he lives by rigid rules he's written for himself, practicing normal life as if it were a private religion that could save him from damnation. “Dead bodies are normal to John. He likes them, actually. They don't demand or expect the empathy he's unable to offer. Perhaps that's what gives him the objectivity to recognize that there's something different about the body the police have just found behind the Wash-n-Dry Laundromat — and to appreciate what that difference means. Now, for the first time, John has to confront a danger outside himself, a threat he can't control, a menace to everything and everyone he would love, if only he could.” I Am Not a Serial Killer is the first book in a series — so if you’re looking for a whole run of books to try out, this is a great place to start. Space Eldritch Short Story Collection From Amazon: “Science fiction goes occult in SPACE ELDRITCH, a volume of seven original novelettes and novellas of Lovecraftian pulp space opera. Featuring work by Brad R. Torgersen (Hugo/ Nebula/Campbell nominee), Howard Tayler (multiple Hugo nominee), and Michael R. Collings (author of over 100 books), plus a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Larry Correia, SPACE ELDRITCH inhabits the intersection between the eternal adventure of the final frontier and the inhuman darkness between the stars.” Come back next time to pick up a few more scary reads! And if you have any favorite scary reads of your own, let all of us at Willow Hill apartments in Puyallup know down in the comments!

Fall Foliage Around Puyallup

Pacific Northwest residents know that this is one of the best areas around to catch the colorful autumn change in our local foliage. If you’re looking for the best places to watch the leaves work their magic near Willow Hill apartments in Puyallup, WA, we’ve compiled a list of our nearby favorites below. Swan Creek With plenty of alder, cedar, and maples trees on display, this two-mile trailhead is perfect for catching the changing leaves. The picnic areas, community garden, and wooden bridge that runs over the creek make this area as accessible as it is serene. It goes without saying that the creek and surrounding areas are muddy in the fall — even when it’s gone a few days without a good downpour. Be sure to wear boots or good hiking shoes. It’s also a great place to mountain bike in the fall. You can get directions here . Wright Park Twenty-seven acres with characteristic and diverse trees — some of which are one-hundred years old or more. With a paved loop that’s just a mile long, you’ll be able to take the six-hundred-plus state champion trees that call the park home. They also feature a historical on-site arboretum. Before you visit, we’d recommend downloading and printing the park’s tree map . And if you’re up for it, playing a game of lawn bowling or bocce ball is a must in this downtown park. You can get directions here . Naches Peak Loop This is one of the more popular kid-friendly hikes in the Mount Rainier National Park. What gives this area so much of its unique and memorable color is the local huckleberry bushes. The more leafy bushes on the ground bring the color change to a meadow perspective. Park just west of the Chinook Pass and follow the trail from the designated picnic areas. Locals like hiking the trail clockwise to get the best views. If you plan on hiking the full three mile — and change — loop, plan on about two hours. Other Suggestions For those that don’t mind the drive, Tumwater Falls Park in Olympia and the Mount Baker Scenic Byway are also known for their brilliant autumnal leaves. Do you have some of your own favorite places to catch the fall foliage? Do you plan on visiting any of the above destinations? Either way, we’d love to hear about it all in the comments below!

Oktoberfest Recipes

Last month, we talked about Oktoberfest Northwest, which is coming up this weekend. But if you’re not going to be able to attend, we didn’t want you to miss out on the best part: the food. (And thankfully, you can enjoy it in your own Puyallup apartment!) Oktoberfest-themed meals are known for robust traditional flavors. Whether it’s the hand-crafted beer, homemade pretzels, or a juice grilled brat, you’re bound to find something that provides the needed relief from pumpkin-itis in this week’s Willow Hill blog post’s list of ideas below. Beer Braised Cabbage Pairing perfectly with other standard recipes like spaetzle, this tangy and smoky dish finds its character in the added apple slices and thick-cut bacon. With just a bit of brown or amber ale, fresh green cabbage, grilled onions, and apple cider vinegar, this is an easy dish. And it’ll take you just forty-five minutes in total to make. You can find the recipe and short list of ingredients in full over here . Bavarian Pretzels There’s not much that goes better with your favorite fall ale or lager than a traditional soft pretzel. And because they only take about thirty-five minutes to make, there’s not that much holding you back from making that a reality. With the right amounts of flour, baking soda, active yeast, and coarse sea salt, you’ll have enough for six servings. The recipe and step-by-step can be found here . Bavarian Lentil Soup Onions, sweet leeks, lentils, carrots, yellow potatoes, and bacon all work together to bring this chilly weather cure-all together in a memorable way. Though this dish will take about an hour to make, it’s a cheap dish that’s worth the patience as it simmers away. With a little sauté skills, you can easily get this dish started and have enough time to finish the cabbage and pretzels by dinner time. You’ll find the recipe to this one over here .