Category Archive

Life

We launched as Offbeat Home in 2011, but it has become clear that the site is about much more. In 2013, we relaunched as Offbeat Home & Life, with an expanded focus on Relationships, Budget & Career, Travel, and Style. This is the category for the non-home/rest of life stuff!

How to get rid of cable and watch TV online

Every once in a while on Facebook or Twitter, I see a plea for help to get rid of cable and start watching TV shows and movies online. I have been doing this for about three years and wouldn’t go back. Here’s how I make it work with a laptop and a little organization.

This “No Media Mondays” idea sounds tempting to me

Puddle jumping, painting, reading, fairy hunting in the woods… what are you missing out on by being glued to a screen (tv and computer) most days? One Offbeat Mama decided to find out what life has in store BEYOND Facebook, email, Pinterest, and television by implementing “No Media Mondays.”

Time lapse video of a Halifax neighborhood painting an intersection/block partying it up

Recently, a neighborhood in Halifax, Nova Scotia got together to paint an intersection/have a block party. One of the people involved put together this time lapse video, and another neighborhood Homie let us in on the details, including an unexpected outcome from this community street art…

Make water balloon piñatas for a warm weather party

When hot weather strikes, water balloons are awesome, especially when you’re having a drought (like a lot of us in the U.S.) and don’t have the water to fill up a pool or turn on the sprinklers. But even more fun: hanging them up like piñatas!

Throw this party: LumberJack and Jill anniversary party!

We decided there was no better way to honor our parents’ 30th anniversary than to surprise them with their own theme party tying together everything they loved. I’d seen the Lumberjack idea used for a wedding shower and immediately knew it was perfect for them, including buffalo plaid bunting, make your own facial hair station, and a tree cake being cut with an ax!

How to split costs with roommates

We’re buying our first home and have offered to let a friend and her son move in with us and “pay rent” (part of the mortage + utilities). He thinks our friend should be paying more than half because she’s taking more space, my suggestion was that all of the adults pay an equal amount. So, homies, how have you worked out splitting the costs between roommates in such a situation before?

What would YOUR neighborhood sound like?

This design concept from UK designer Nicola Hume is called “Listen Here,” and would make it so that locals could share the sounds of their hometown. The idea is that you could put wireless microphones around your favorite neighborhood locations, and visitors could listen to them via a public kiosk. The sounds would be mapped — so visitors could listen in, and then head off to go experience the sounds first-hand.

Keep a party-in-a-box ready to go

I keep all the stuff we need for a bbq in an old wine crate (plastic plates, forks, napkins, grill tongs, party cups and of course balls for beer pong!) It makes hosting BBQs of any size so much simpler, because I don’t need to run around gathering stuff I just pull out this box and we’re ready to go!