Auston Grove Apartment Homes Blog

Auston Grove is excited to host the first ever Community Garage Sale! This is a great opportunity for you to make some money on those items you no longer need!

Your trash is someone else’s treasure!

Please set up your station around the outside of the community, ensuring you are not blocking any of the breezeways for your neighbors. We do ask that you clean your station in its entirety. Please do not leave unsold items at the trash compactor, but you can rather donate them to the GFC Donation Center.

The address to the Knightdale Center is: 7025 Knightdale Blvd.

For home pick-up, please call them at: (919) 878-3933.

Girl Scout cookies are coming! Saturday, February 11th from 1-5PM
at the Auston Grove Clubhouse. $3.50 per Box.

Troop 1220 will have a booth set up with cookie boxes ready to go!
Can also support military cookie drop.

(Click to view and print flyer)

Three of the state’s most happening cities: Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, make up the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. Research Triangle Park is a collection of international companies and private and public research facilities. Living in an apartment in Raleigh, NC means great job opportunities in many fields, and also first-rate cultural events as well. Here are some of the best things to do in the Research Triangle Area.

Raleigh
There are dozens of museums in Raleigh, including the North Carolina Museum of Art, the African American Cultural Complex, and the Gregg Museum of Art and Design.

Great shopping and restaurants can be found throughout the city, including the Glenwood South, Fayetteville Street and Warehouse districts.

Located just a short drive from Raleigh, the Falls Lake Recreation Area offers hiking trails, swimming, fishing, boating, picnicking and camping.

Durham
Home of Duke University and its own hive of activities, Durham hosts lots of cultural and entertainment options. The North Carolina Museum of Life and Science offers amazing interactive exhibits and a wildlife sanctuary.

In the heart of downtown Durham, adjoining the Durham Athletic Park and home of the Durham Bulls, the American Tobacco Complex houses the Durham Performing Arts Center, as well as restaurants, shops and events held throughout the year.

Chapel Hill
For the smallest city in the Triangle, Chapel Hill has the biggest rep as a center of learning. Birthplace of the country’s first state university — the University of North Carolina in 1795 — the town is alive with all kinds of culture, music and fun things to do.

The Morehead Planetarium and Science Center is a great place to both take in the stars and watch live science demonstrations appropriate for children and adults. Take in more of nature’s wonders at the North Carolina Botanical Garden, just a short trip from downtown. It houses the largest collection of native plants in the Southeast, in addition to a carnivorous plant section.

UNC’s Dean Smith Center hosts basketball games, live concerts and many other events. For a more intimate experience, check out the many smaller venues and bars for good music, such as the Cat’s Cradle, the Cave, the Art Center and Mansion 462.

If you are thinking of relocating to the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, contact Auston Grove Apartments.

Original article- Moving Today

These are Triangle events for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

Friday

• Wake Tech Community College Stop Hunger Now Challenge, 9 a.m., followed by MLK Celebration Program, noon at the Student Services Building, 9101 Fayetteville Road, Raleigh. Students, faculty and staff will pack 10,000 meals to be distributed to schools and orphanages around the world.
• Durham Technical Community College's 27th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration and Luncheon, 11 a.m. in the Phail Wynn Jr. Student Services Center multipurpose room at Durham Tech.
• Bell-Ringing and State Employees' Martin Luther King Observance Program. 11:55 a.m. on the Bicentennial Plaza near the N.C. Museum of History in downtown Raleigh. Members of the N.C. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission will initiate the bell-ringing tribute before the State Employees' Observance Program, which will get under way at noon at First Baptist Church, 99 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh.
• Wreath-Laying, 6 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Memorial Gardens, 1300 Martin Luther King Blvd., Raleigh. Keynote speaker will be Norman Camp, chairman of the Southeast Raleigh Parks Advocacy Council and the South Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council.

Saturday

• Durham Parks and Recreation program, 2 p.m. at W.D. Hill Recreation Center, 1308 Fayetteville St., Durham. The theme is "MLK Day: Remembering the Legacy Through Art."
• MLK Concert Celebration, 7 p.m. at the Durham Armory, 220 Foster St., Durham. The University Choir of N.C. Central University will perform with the Durham Symphony.

Sunday

• Duke University's Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration, 3 p.m. in Duke Chapel, 401 Chapel Drive, Durham. Veteran political strategist and commentator Donna Brazile will give the keynote address.
• Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., 4 p.m. at the Garner Performing Arts Center, 742 W. Garner Road, Garner. Keynote speaker will be Reuben Young, secretary of the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

Monday

• 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Triangle Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, 7 a.m. at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Research Triangle Park. Keynote speaker will be Cynthia Marshall, president of AT&T of North Carolina. For the first time, the breakfast will be televised live on WRAL-TV. Doors will open at 6 a.m.
• Triangle Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties will host nearly 30 community service projects to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King. Durham's Signature Project is 9 a.m. to noon at American Tobacco Campus, Bay 7, where volunteers will help with a variety of projects, including assembly of homeless hygiene kits, computer drop-off and cleaning, and writing letters and creating valentines for veterans and active military. Johnston's Signature Project is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Pizazz Thrift Store, where volunteers will collect diapers, new underwear, clothing and nonperishable food. Orange's Signature Project is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Christ United Methodist Church, where volunteers will work on projects such as assembly of health kits. Wake's Signature Project is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at White Plains Children's Center, where volunteers will assemble hygiene kits, sort books, and write letters for veterans and active military. See www. unitedwaytriangle .org /mlk/ .
• Stop Hunger Now project. 9:30 a.m. at Duke University's Freeman Center, 1415 Faber St., Durham. Members from Duke, N.C. Central University and the Durham Rotary Club are coordinating the Million Meals Project, which is expected to package 80,000 meals.
• 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Memorial March. Assemble at 10 a.m. on the grounds of the State Capitol, and depart at 11 a.m. The theme for this year's celebration is "From The Dream to Reality ... Economic & Social Equality ... More Work to Be Done."
• Birthday party held in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. for area children at Northgate Mall, 1058 West Club Blvd., Durham. A reading at 10 a.m. of "Child of the Civil Rights Movement" by Paula Young Shelton, daughter of civil rights activist Andrew Young, will be held for preschool children. A reading at noon will be held for school-age children. Between the readings, Young Shelton will sign the book.
• 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Ecumenical Observance, noon at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh. The Rev. Nelson Johnson, executive director of The Beloved Community Development Center in Greensboro, will be the keynote speaker.
• 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Evening Musical Celebration, 5:30 p.m. at the Progress Energy Center in downtown Raleigh. Headlining will be national recording artist Ernest Pugh from Maryland.

Source: Newsobserver.com

Apartments in Raleigh, NC

Grab your mittens and scarves from your apartment in Raleigh and make your way to the center city for Raleigh's favorite holiday event, the Raleigh Winterfest. Winterfest is an outdoor extravaganza featuring an outdoor skating rink with natural ice. If you haven’t been there yet, head over to this  family-friendly celebration of fun-filled activities.

What will you find there? An outdoor ice rink, Choirs, bands, local entertainers, Santa Claus, sledding ramps, ice carving demonstrations, carriage and carousel rides and more!

Here is the weekly schedule:
Sledding Sundays: SnowMyYard.com will create a winter wonderland on December 18, January 8 and January 15.

Two for Tuesdays: Skaters will receive one free admission to the rink with the purchase of one paid admission (includes skate rental).

Stroller Skate Thursday Mornings: Parents and babies share outdoor fun! Skate and push a strollers on the ice from 10 am-11 am. Click here to read an article and watch a video about stroller skating!

Date & Skate Thursdays: Free carriage rides with skating wristband from 6 pm-9 pm.

Rock Around the Rink Fridays (select dates TBA): DJ Paradime from Pulse 102 will rock the rink from 6 pm-10 pm.

Raleigh's landmark Pullen Park, the fifth-oldest operating amusement park in the nation, has been closed to visitors for almost two years. But on Nov. 19, the sounds of concrete trucks will be replaced by carousel music once again.

The $6.3 million project included updates to old attractions and modern additions.

There are new boats on the lake, the updated version of a childhood memory special to Raleigh City Councilman Russ Stephenson.

"The boats would just go round and round and round," he said. "You got to steer, and there was a string to a big bell on the front of the boat, so you got to make a big racket," he remembered.

The horses that ring the 100-year-old antique carousel were each sent away for a new paint job and new tails. Next week, they will be installed in a new, climate-controlled carousel house.

"if a grandparent brings their grandchild out to Pullen Park to say, 'This is my favorite animal. This is what I rode and it looks just like it did when I was a kid,' that's important," said Richard Costello, amusements director at the park.

"I think we all had those great memories, and we wanted to make sure those memories were preserved," Stephenson said.

The children's train will get new cars, and they will run on a new track. It will travel through a new tunnel and pull in to a revamped station.

At the playground, a climbing wall, spider webs and water and sand areas are new, as are misters to keep children cool on hot days.

Sarig Agasi, owner and chef at Raleigh restaurant Zely & Ritz, will run concessions in a new cafe featuring local, organic fare.

The project was funded by a bond approved by voters in 2003. On the day of the grand reopening, amusements will open at 10 a.m., the park will be dedicated at 2 p.m. and entertainment will follow at 3 p.m.

Apartments in Raleigh, NC

How do you control your spending in a marketplace you can access nearly all the time? Online buying is so easy and gratifying that it can be all too easy to overdo it. Your friends at Auston Grove, apartments in Raleigh, NC, would like to share with you some of our budgeting secrets.

Here are some examples of how to manage your online spending and regulate your buying habits on the Internet during the holidays and everyday.

Track your spending

It’s easy to overspend on your favorite shopping site, even if (especially if) it offers bargains. Seemingly small purchases add up over time, especially if they’re frequent, and can land you in debt before you know it.

Find out where your biggest money drain is with a site like Mint.com. An easy and free online budgeting and money management tool, Mint lets you sync all your accounts so you can see how much you’re spending with credit and debit cards. You can even set up alerts to notify you if you spend more than you’ve budgeted for.

BudgetTracker is another free expense tracking tool that lets you sync and follow your accounts per transaction. You can even use it to track your small business expenses.

Know yourself

As counterintuitive as it might sound, avoid subscribing to daily deal sites. There’s something about seeing all those great bargains come into your inbox everyday that can inspire the purchase of stuff that you don’t really need. Fifty-percent off of a restaurant tab is great, but you still have to spend money to save money.

Limit your access

You can prohibit your own access to your online buying weaknesses using Leechblock, a Firefox add-on that blocks specified sites. If your have too much surfing time at specific times you can choose sites to block during those times. You can even block all sites during certain hours to get your work done.

Pay as little as possible

Constant exposure to bargains can be tempting, targeting discounted ways to buy essentials is a must. Search for SPECIFIC deals on bargain sites, focusing on coupon codes for things like free shipping. RetailMeNot is a great site for finding available discounts with most major retailers; FreeShipping.org is another good one to try. To look for the lowest prices on what you want, PriceGrabber.com and Google Product Search will show you the best deals both online and in stores around Raleigh.
 
It’s not hard to learn how to manage your online buying habits, but to do it, you have to want to control your spending. Start by limiting your access to shopping sites, tracking your buying habits, and getting the best prices you can find for things you must purchase. Happy saving!

Original article – Moving Today