Blog Posts

Attend a Concert at the Arizona State Fair

Coming to Phoenix October 4 — October 27, 2019, the Arizona State Fair has something for everyone. Whether you come for the contests, livestock shows, virtual gaming, food, or carnival, there is definitely plenty to do. One of the biggest draws at the fair is, of course, the concerts held at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and today the Liv Northgate Blog is highlighting some of the talent that will be appearing. According to the website , “The annual Coliseum Concert Series brings world-famous performers inside Veterans Memorial Coliseum to take the stage, welcoming their fans to a venue unlike any other in the state.” Arizona State Fair Concert Series Highlights (with Descriptions from the Concert Page from the Link Above) Lee Brice — Saturday, Oct. 12th “Arizona Lottery Concert Series presents two-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, Lee Brice. Brice is known for his top hits, “I Drive Your Truck” and “Love Like Crazy”, and was inducted into Pandora’s Billionaire Club after reaching more than 2 billion streams!” Trace Adkins — Thursday, Oct 17th “Part of the Arizona Lottery Concert Series, we welcome Grammy-nominated country singer Trace Adkins. Trace continues to entice fans all over the globe and has produced many top hits including ‘Honky Tonk Badonkadonk’, ‘Arlington’, and ‘Ladies Love Country Boys’.” Awolnation —Wednesday, Oct 23rd “American Rock band Awolnation was formed in 2010, and crafted one of the most influential songs in years with the chart-topping, record-breaking track “Sail.” It sold over 6 million copies in the US, was certified 6x platinum in the US and holds the record for the most weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by an independent artist, the second longest for any artist. Awolnation continues to bring together Electronic Rock and Alternative Rock genres for fans all over the world.” Is your favorite entertainer/band going to be at the state fair? We hope many members of our apartment community have the opportunity to head over from Gilbert to enjoy the fair!

Things to Take on Every Hike

The weather is finally cooling off here in Arizona and it’s the perfect time to get out of your apartment and enjoy nature by taking a hike here in the Gilbert area. Today the Liv Northgate Blog has some suggestions for essentials you should take on every hike (inspired by the American Hiking Society) so you can have a safe, efficient trip! 1. Proper clothing and footwear. What you wear can have a huge effect on how much you enjoy your hike, so invest in high-quality items. The American Hiking Society suggests trail shoes for short, simpler day hikes and hiking boots for rougher terrain and heavier loads. They also suggest wearing light layers of clothing so you can adjust what you wear, especially if the weather turns bad. 2. A map and compass. However much you research a trail beforehand, things can look different in person. These items will help you orient yourself throughout the hike and give you an idea for how much longer you need to go to reach your destination. They are especially important in case any emergencies come up! 3. Water and snacks. Even if you think you’re hydrated and satisfied with a meal you’ve eaten before a hike, you need to fuel yourself while you’re on the hike! Bring a few water bottles in your backpack and some of these 27 healthy, portable hiking snacks so you can have the energy you need to finish your hike. 4. Protection from the sun. Even if you don’t burn easily, or if you want a bit of a tan, you should still protect your skin and your eyes from the sun. Apply a good coat of sunscreen on exposed skin before you leave, and bring it with you so you can re-apply, especially if you’re going to be hiking for a long time. Don’t forget to get your ears, neck, and hairlines! Extra protection with sunglasses and a hat is important, too. 5. Safety items. A first-aid kit, a flashlight or headlamp, matches and kindling for an emergency need to start a fire to stay warm, Mylar blankets, and a knife or multi-purpose tool are all important to keep with you on a hike, especially a long one. Having these items in your pack will help you feel confident and capable, so bring them along, even if you may not use them. Bring a friend along for company and extra help, and always let someone know where you will be hiking and when you expect to be back.. If you’re looking for a great place to hike near you, check out Google Review’s suggestions for hiking trails near Gilbert, AZ to get some ideas. What are your favorite hiking trails in Gilbert? Let us know by leaving a comment! Thanks for reading!

Mini Dessert Recipes to Try this Month

Anytime is a good time to treat yourself, so this month we wanted to give you the opportunity to try out some great desserts right here in your Liv Northgate apartment in Gilbert, AZ. Today on the blog we’re featuring mini dessert recipes so you can even try a few of them and not feel too guilty about it! Mini Dessert Recipes Apple pie bites All you need for this sweet treat is some brown sugar and apple spice, chopped pecans, apples, and crescent rolls. Once you’ve sprinkled the brown sugar mixture and pecans on the crescent roll, just place an apple slice on the wide end of the crescent roll, then roll it all up and bake! Mini peanut butter cheesecakes Peanut butter and chocolate is one of the food world’s best combinations, and this recipe is sure not to disappoint. Crush some Oreos in a food processor to make the mini crusts, then whip together the ingredients for the filling. Then you just have to bake, let chill, and decorate with your favorite melted chocolate and quartered Reeses for a beautiful and decadent dessert. S’mores cookie cups S’mores are always a fun dessert to make and eat with friends, but if you don’t have the time or resources to make a campfire, try this recipe! It uses a unique chocolate chip cookie recipe with graham cracker crumbs in place of some flour, a thick chocolate ganache for the filling, and a marshmallow fluff topping. Any extra effort you put into making these cups is sure to pay off with the gooey, chocolatey heaven! Chocolate covered frozen banana and peanut butter bites For a more healthy mini treat, make use of the versatility of chocolate and peanut butter and get your fill of potassium with these treats. They’re simple enough to assemble: just cut up some bananas, top half of them with peanut butter, cover with the other bananas slices, and cover them with melted chocolate. Freeze for a few hours or overnight for a fun and delicious on-the-go snack. What are your favorite desserts to make? Let us know by leaving a comment! Thanks for reading. Enjoy!

Throw an Autumn Get-Together to Celebrate Fall Equinox

September 23rd is the Autumn Equinox : when “the Sun crosses the celestial equator – the imaginary line in the sky above Earth’s Equator – from north to south,” as TimeAndDate describes. It also explains why we call this time of year an equinox: “On the equinox, night and day are nearly exactly the same length – 12 hours – all over the world. This is the reason it’s called an ‘equinox,’ derived from Latin, meaning ‘equal night.’” The Liv Northgate Blog is here to help you celebrate this change in the seasons right in your apartment. Throw a party with friends to celebrate autumn. Make food, play games, and enjoy each other’s company. Read on for some suggestions to help you celebrate here in Gilbert, AZ! Fall Cheese Board Put out the perfect fall cheese board as a delicious snack for your guests to enjoy. Put out your choice of aged cheese — soft cheeses such as goat cheese and blue cheese work great for this. Along with these and your other favorite cheeses, add crackers, nuts, olives, grapes, figs, and whatever else you’d like to add. Arrange all the food on a platter and put it out for your guests to enjoy. Caramel Apple Bar A caramel apple bar is the perfect autumn dessert to enjoy after snacking on cheese, crackers, and fruit. Put out a variety of toppings by chopping up some chocolate chips or melting chocolate, caramel, and marshmallows for your guests to dip their apple slices in. Then they can mix and match these base flavors with extra toppings according to their preferences. We think s’mores apples, toffee caramel peanut apples, coconut chocolate apples, and apple pie are all delicious ideas. Doughnut on a String Contest This is a classic fall game that is great for anyone, even kids, to play. Put out your choice of store-bought or homemade doughnuts on a string. Tie a base string between two trees or poles and tie each strung doughnut at various spots on the base string. It can be a tasty activity or a contest of who can eat the most doughnuts in a set period of time without using their hands. Apple Bobbing This is another classic game that is fun for everyone to play. Put out a large barrel or bowl full of water. Put in a set amount of apples and see who can get the most apples out of the water using their mouth in one minute. Give out a prize for the winner such as a box of homemade doughnuts or a gift card. Put forth a little bit of extra effort to switch out the water with clean water after each use to be a little more considerate of germs! What are your favorite autumn activities and snacks? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading!

Celebrate National Read a Book Day

Welcome back to the Liv Northgate Blog and hello September. September 6th is National Read a Book Day and we have some suggestions from Goodreads, that feature books can be read in a single day (but feel free to take longer if you’d like!). Head to your favorite bookstore or the Gilbert, Arizona library to pick up a book, then find a cozy place in your apartment and enjoy a book. Holes by Louis Sachar Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes. Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson, Kenneth H. Blanchard This enlightening and amusing story illustrates the vital importance of being able to deal with unexpected change. Who Moved My Cheese? is often distributed by managers to employees as a motivational tool, but the lessons it teaches can benefit anyone, young or old, rich or poor, looking for less stress and more success in every aspect of work and life. Call of the Wild by Jack London Buck, a sturdy crossbreed canine (half St. Bernard, half Shepard), is a dog born to luxury and raised in a sheltered Californian home. But then he is kidnapped and sold to be a sled dog in the harsh and frozen Yukon Territory. Passed from master to master, Buck embarks on an extraordinary journey, proving his unbreakable spirit. Here are twelve more suggestions to help you get started. Not sure you can do it? Lifehacker has the answer in their How to Read an Entire Book in a Single Day . Check it out and happy reading!

How to Organize Your Documents

We live in a paperless world, but there are still plenty of stacks of papers that can easily crowd our desktops, drawers, filing cabinets, and our peace of mind. Organize all your documents so you can better prepare yourself for a successful, well-rounded life by trying out some of these tips in today’s Liv Northgate Blog. First, reduce and simplify. If you’re like many of us, odds are you probably have folders and stacks of mail full of documents that you probably don’t need to keep. Some of them may even still be around after years! Tackle these papers first by checking out your most recent papers and going through them with the mindset of organizing by need. Documents related to taxes, insurance, and other important things should be kept, but some you don’t even need. Keep a shredder and recycling bin handy so it’s easy to immediately get rid of the old and unimportant papers. Depending on your habits and the number of papers you need to go through, getting rid of everything that it is unnecessary to keep may take a while. Focus on one small step at a time and give yourself a timeline so you have something to work toward. Organize by category. Once you’ve purged all the unnecessary papers, sort according to a system that works for you. One idea, used by many people, is to organize by category: financial documents can be filed together and organized by year, while documents pertaining to your identity (including your birth certificate, social security card, and passport) can stay together. If there are multiple people in your household, keep this organization method consistent for everyone by designating a folder for each person within the categories. Take photos. Of course, sometimes there are documents you want or know you should keep but that you don’t necessarily need to have a physical copy of — for example, crafts, hand-drawn photos, letters, or certificates. If you have a smartphone, camera, or even access to a scanner, take a photo so you can have an electronic backup. Then connect your photos to an online storage space like Google Drive so they can stay safe even if your phone breaks. Whatever your specific organization method, the key is to give each paper a home. If you need to make yourself a guide for finding these documents later, create one on your phone or in a trusted notebook. All of these efforts will definitely help you feel more on top of your life. Here’s to being more organized and less overwhelmed with paperwork right here in Gilbert, AZ! Good luck!