Blog Posts

Valentines Day, Part I

Craft a few fun gifts for your friends and decorations for your apartment on Valentine’s day. The Liv Northgate Blog has several Valentine’s day DIYs for you to craft this Valentine’s day. Deck out your Gilbert, AZ with seasonally appropriate DIY decorations on February 14th. XOXO Rice Krispie Treats from Two Sisters Crafting This sweet treat is a Valentine that we think anyone would be happy to receive. All you need to make this treat is Kellog’s rice krispie cereal, mini marshmallows, butter, red food coloring, and X & O cookie cutters. Click the link for the recipe. Strawberry & Chocolate Fudge Solid Scrub Bars Recipe from Soap Deli News Gift your friends strawberry & chocolate fudge solid scrub bars for Valentine’s day. Include a Valentine’s day card and message with your gift. Head to your local craft store for gift boxes and tags for your gifts. DIY Home Decoration Ideas for Valentine’s Day from Living Locurto We especially love the doily mason jar decorations, cards fireplace garland, Valentine tree, and the paper heart chain. Deck out your apartment with Valentine’s day decorations to celebrate your February 14th. DIY Valentine’s Day Wreath from Frugal Musings Make a Valentine’s day wreath for your Gilbert, AZ apartment home. This heart-shaped pinecone wreath is easy to make, beautiful, and will look great decorating your Liv Northgate home. We think a heart-shaped wreath is a great way to greet guests to your home. Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Cards from DIY Network Make Valentine’s day cards for the people you care about this February 14th. Personalize your cards with images, sayings, and quotes that remind you of the person you are making the card for. Write a small poem or message to let the person know how much you care. The DIY Network’s guide to Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Cards is a great resource for anyone who wants to make their own cards this year. What are your favorite Valentine’s day DIYs? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading our post!

Get a Good Nights Sleep

The Liv Northgate Blog has a few sleep tips and tricks for a better night’s sleep in this post. These tips will help you get to sleep and just as importantly, stay asleep this month. We hope that these tips help you fall asleep and stay asleep all year long! Sleep Apps Sleep apps are an easy way to improve your sleep and find out more about how you sleep and how much you should sleep. There are several popular sleep tracking apps, and you can find a list of the most popular apps here . Two of our favorite apps are Sleep Cycle and Sleep Genius . Sleep Cycle measures the quality of your sleep and wakes you up at the optimal time for your body and your personal habits. This is the perfect app for anyone who wants to get better at waking up in the morning. Sleep Genius helps you figure out the best time to go to bed, facilitates relaxation, times your naps, and gathers data on your sleep habits. Either of these apps would be great aides for anyone who wants to improve their sleep. Turn Off Your Electronics The Huffington Post recommends turning everything off an hour before you go to bed. Resist the temptation to turn on the TV, check your Facebook, or open any of the apps on your phone. Set your alarm and read until you have to go to bed. Light can make it difficult to go to bed on time. Optimize Comfort The National Sleep Foundation says that the right mattress and pillows can make going to sleep and staying asleep much easier. Find the right fabric, firmness, softness, and material for you. Some people enjoy using down pillows; other’s prefer memory foam. Make sure that you are using the right pillows, mattress, and sheets for your body. Be consistent The Mayo Clinic advocates for a nightly routine and for going to bed at the same time each night. This will help your body get ready to sleep and know what to expect each night. Falling asleep at the same time each night will become an easy ritual once you’ve gotten used to it. Let us know about the best mattress and pillow stores in Gilbert, AZ in the comments. Thanks for reading our post!

Soups and Stews

In this post, the Liv Northgate Blog is featuring a few soup and stew recipes for you to try out this month. We hope that these recipes help you have a month full of delicious dinners and plenty of good company. Taco Stew from Oh, Sweet Basil Switch up taco night with this taco stew! Taco stew uses a diverse set of ingredients to make a dish that will make your mouth water. The texture of this soup (plus the awesome blend of spices) is really what makes this dish unique. Creamy Red Potato Soup from The Recipe Critic For something hearty, try this creamy red potato soup. This soup is one of the more complicated recipes on our list, but we think that you’ll love having it for a night in with friends. This recipe is plenty warming. Even though it doesn’t get that cold in Gilbert, AZ, that doesn’t mean that we can’t cozy up with a delicious cup of soup on a January night, right? This is sure to become one of your favorite recipes. Roasted Red Pepper Chicken Chili Recipe from A Spicy Perspective Roasted red pepper chicken chili is fresh, hearty, and bursting with flavor. The chopped celery, red bell pepper, onion, red peppers, and kidney beans give this chili a very unique texture. We recommend topping this soup with tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheese. Creamy Mushroom Soup from Chef in Training This creamy mushroom soup lives up to its name. You’ll love how the butter, heavy cream, flour, and half and half mix for a decadent soup base. Add your favorite mushrooms, salt, garlic powder, pepper, and dry minced onions to complete this easy meal. Top with cheese or croutons for added flavor and texture. Spanish Chickpea and Spinach Stew from Lazy Cat Kitchen This spanish chickpea and spinach stew uses spices like cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, and salt to make one of the best stews we’ve ever tried. For a healthy dinner in, try this tasty stew. It takes a little while to make, but you’ll love the mix of salty, spicy, and sweet in this unique (and delicious) flavored soup. What are your favorite soup recipes? Leave us your best recipes in the comments. Thanks for reading our post!

Herbs and Houseplants

In this post, the Liv Northgate Blog is featuring a few houseplant care tips and tricks. Living in Gilbert, AZ means that we get year round sun. Take advantage of that sun by placing a few beautiful houseplants by the windows in your Liv Northgate apartment. We hope that you have the chance to add a few houseplants to your apartment this month. Add a splash of color to your apartment space Houseplants are a great way to decorate your apartment. They add a breath of life to your apartment space, and the greenery makes any room in your apartment pop. You will love how peaceful a room with a couple of houseplants in it can feel. Place some English Ivy on your bookshelf or a Snake Plant on your bedroom floor. There are plenty of ways to decorate with a few well-placed houseplants. Pick a plant you know you’ll be able to take care of Once you’ve decided to bring a couple of plants into your Liv Northgate apartment, it’s important to remember to choose plants that you will be able to take care of. If you have a green thumb, feel free to pick a plant like the Hibiscus or the African Violet. If you are less confident in your planting abilities, plant Jade or a Peace Lily. Just make sure that you will be able to give your plant the love and care it needs to thrive! Double Check Growing Conditions Make sure that your plant is getting proper care. You don’t want to overwater a plant that thrives in dry soil, and you don’t want to place a plant that thrives in low light in the brightest room in your apartment. Use The National Gardening Association’s Plant Care Guides to find out what is best for your houseplants. Have your plants do double duty An herb garden is a great way to decorate your apartment, celebrate your space, and make your dinners even more delicious. Plant an herb garden in your kitchen; season and spice your food with the plants sitting in your own apartment. Houseplants can also improve your apartment’s air quality . The gerbera daisy and the red-edged dracaena are two plants that can make your apartment feel fresher and help you breathe easier. Do you have any houseplants? Do you have any tips for us? Let us know in the comments. Thank for reading our post!

Keep Your Resolutions

It’s the season for New Year’s resolutions. Setting and reaching goals is always an admirable endeavor, and most people set goals during the first part of the year. The Liv Northgate Blog has a couple of tips that will help you achieve and keep all of your resolutions this year. We hope that you have a great year filled with achievement and success. Get inspired Before you start working on your New Year’s resolutions, take a few minutes to get inspired. Create a “mood board” or a Pinterest board with pictures and articles that you think will help you stay motivated. Read books related to your goal, make a list of people whose careers you want to emulate, and surround yourself with inspirational quotes. One of our favorite inspirational quotes is from Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover.” You can find a list of inspirational quotes here . Come up with a game plan A game plan can help you map out just what you want to achieve, track your progress, and set deadlines for your goal. Make sure that your goal is concise — know what you want to achieve, how you want to achieve it, and how quickly (or slowly) you want to make progress. The SMART method of writing goals is particularly popular. Find out more about writing SMART goals here . Work You can’t achieve a goal unless you’re willing to work for it. Make sure that you are intrinsically motivated to achieve your goal. Motivation comes when your goal is something you really want to achieve. Don’t set goals for other people or because you think that you should. Set goals because you are passionate about seeing results and then work like mad to achieve them. Don’t sweat about slipping up once in awhile — just rest, recover, and start again. Persistence is what separates those who don’t achieve their goals and those that do. Need some inspiration to keep going? Angela Lee Duckworth has a great TED talk on sticking with your goals. Do you have any New Year’s resolutions for us? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading!

New Years Eve

New Year’s is coming up, and this month we have some advice to help you celebrate. We hope that our tips help you have a very happy New Year’s! We have everything from New Year’s dishes, appetizers, desserts to help with writing your New Year’s resolutions. Appetizers We love these Baked Garlic Parmesan Potato Wedges from Creme de la Crumb . These wedges are perfectly seasoned and they go great with ranch or blue cheese dressing dipping sauce. Another great New Year’s appetizer is Taco French Bread . Life in the Lofthouse makes this appetizer with ground beef, taco seasoning, refried beans, cheddar, french bread, tomato, olives, and green onions. This is an easy-to-make recipe that you can throw together easily before your party. This is the perfect appetizer for a casual New Year’s Eve in with friends. Main Dishes We don’t know about you, but we’re looking forward to a low-key New Year’s Eve. If your New Year’s Eve is a more casual affair, make Slow Cooker Roast Beef French Dip Sandwiches . This recipe comes from Closet Cooking. This recipe uses balsamic vinegar for a unique and delicious taste. It takes a while for the roast to cook, but once it’s done, this recipe is a great and easy dish to throw together. For a more formal affair, try making this Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken from The Recipe Critic . You’ll love having this dish with pasta, quinoa, or rice. Desserts If you’re going to keep your energy going through midnight, it’s important to have something to look forward to. Hot Fudge Pudding Cake is an easy dessert to make for a group of people, and it tastes great with a side of vanilla (or mint!) ice cream. It doesn’t take very long to make, either, which can be a benefit when you’re trying to throw together dinner for a large group of people. Caramel Apple Donuts are a great snack to eat right after you ring in the New Year. After midnight, it’s technically the first morning of 2017. Greet the morning with these donuts and a cup of hot chocolate . Resolutions Many people choose to make New Year’s resolutions. We think that you should write one this year. Make sure that you have a specific plan to achieve your goal, with smaller goals in between you and your final goal. Focus on one goal at a time and report your progress to a friend with a similar goal for motivation and encouragement. What are your New Year’s resolutions? Are there any New Year’s celebrations coming to Gilbert, AZ that we should know about? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading!