Blog Posts

Cornucopias: Not Just for Decoration

One of the most common images associated with Thanksgiving is the cornucopia. According to Wonderopolis , “the cornucopia serves as a symbol of abundance. In the United States, it most commonly appears as a centerpiece at Thanksgiving. Some historians suspect the cornucopia's place at the Thanksgiving table was borrowed from the European harvest festivals, where farmers celebrated by filling a goat's horn with grain and fruit.” We thought it would be fun to invite residents of our Liv Ahwatukee Apartments community in Phoenix, AZ to make their own cornucopias. Today, we’re sharing two different ways to make a cornucopia: non-edible and edible. Non-Edible (from Thanksgiving.com ) “Start with a simple wicker cornucopia basket, available at your local craft supply store. Aim to find one that is at least five inches tall at the mouth, so that you’ll have plenty of room to fill it with a variety of festive goodies.” For this project, you’ll need the following items: — A large serving tray — Colorful fall leaves (fake or real) — Raffia or straw — Burlap fabric — Assorted fruits and vegetables. Because these can spoil, you can always use fake fruits and vegetables. Instructions: — Line your serving tray with burlap and create small folds or bundles so that the surface remains flat, but slightly uneven. Tuck corners under the tray, and allow loose edges to fall naturally. Sprinkle a layer of fall leaves on top of the burlap to complete your base. — Place your wicker basket flat side down on top of the burlap and leaves. — Use a handful of straw or raffia to stuff the wicker basket no more than an inch high, creating a soft bed for your fruits and vegetables. — Start to place the largest items into the basket first. Add smaller fruits and vegetables to the outer rim, allowing looser items like grapes and nuts to overflow out of the mouth. — Continue to tuck in fruits and vegetables until the cornucopia is full, and use any remaining nuts or leaves to fill empty spaces or holes between the produce. — As a last finishing touch, tie a bow around the pointed end of the cornucopia to add a splash of color. Edible (from Allrecipes ) This cornucopia is made completely out of bread. If you’re looking for the perfect centerpiece for your Thanksgiving dinner table, then this is it! When finished, you can fill the cornucopia with fruits and vegetables or freshly baked rolls. Have you ever made a cornucopia? Share your ideas, tips, and tricks in a comment below. Thanks for reading. Happy Thanksgiving!

5 Perfect Halloween Movies

Do you enjoy scary or Halloween-themed movies? Here on the Liv Ahwatukee Blog, we’re bringing you some movies that are perfect to watch this month here in Phoenix, Arizona. Make some popcorn, sit down with friends and family, and enjoy a movie night celebrating the season of Halloween. The following titles and descriptions can be found at IMDB.com : Psycho (1960) “Phoenix office worker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. One Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam's (her lover) California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother.” Young Frankenstein (1974) “An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that he is not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.” The Birds (1963) “Melanie Daniels always gets what she wants. When lawyer Mitch Brenner sees her in a pet shop, he plays something of a practical joke on her, and she decides to return the favor. She drives about an hour north of San Francisco to Bodega Bay, where Mitch spends the weekends. Soon after her arrival, however, the birds in the area begin to act strangely. Soon, birds in the hundreds and thousands are attacking anyone they find out of doors. Survival soon becomes the priority.” It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) “The Peanuts gang celebrates Halloween, with Linus hoping that, finally, he will be visited by The Great Pumpkin; while Charlie Brown is invited to a Halloween party.” The Sixth Sense (1999) “Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis)is a child psychologist who receives an award on the same night that he is visited by a very unhappy ex-patient. After this encounter, Crowe takes on the task of curing a young boy with the same ills as the ex-patient (Donnie Wahlberg). This boy "sees dead people". Crowe spends a lot of time with the boy much to the dismay of his wife (Olivia Williams). Cole's mom (Toni Collette) is at her wit's end with what to do about her son's increasing problems. Crowe is the boy's only hope.” What will you be watching in your apartment? Share in the comments below!

Quotes to Get You in the Mood for Halloween

If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you’ve probably recognized that we’re super excited for Halloween. For posts during other months, we’ve shared tips for cleaning your apartment, board game recommendations, and even delicious recipes. In today’s post, we’re sharing a few quotes for the season. Get ready for one of the scariest days of the year with these memorable lines . “Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story.” — Mason Cooley “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” — William Shakespeare “When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers ‘tis near Halloween.” — Unknown “Where there is no imagination there is no horror.” — Arthur Conan Doyle “She used to tell me that a full moon was when mysterious things happen and wishes come true.” — Shannon A. Thompson “There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.” — George Carlin “It’s all just a bunch of hocus pocus!” — Max, “Hocus Pocus” “I love Halloween, and I love that feeling: the cold air, the spooky dangers lurking around the corner.” — Evan Peters “There is magic in the night when pumpkins glow by moonlight.” — Unknown “'Tis the night — the night of the grave's delight, and the warlocks are at their play; Ye think that without the wild winds shout, but no, it is they — it is they.” — Cleveland Coxe “Every day is Halloween, isn't it? For some of us.” — Tim Burton “Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen. Voices whisper in the trees, ‘Tonight is Halloween!’” — Dexter Kozen “During the day, I don't believe in ghosts. At night, I'm a little more open-minded.” — Unknown “Listen to them — the children of the night. What music they make!” — Bram Stoker “Men say that in this midnight hour, the disembodied have power.” — William Motherwell We hope that your Halloween is extra spooky as you celebrate in and around your Liv Ahwatukee apartment in Phoenix, Arizona. Thanks for reading today’s blog post!

Horror Writing 101

Halloween is nearly here! We’re sharing some great horror writing tips, a few of which are from one of the industry’s most notable authors: Stephen King. Enjoy making October a scary one with writing the start of your next horror novel or short story in your Phoenix, AZ apartment. Use a strong, pervasive tone. “How you describe settings, character movement and actions creates an overarching tone. In horror writing, a dark or frightening tone is often pronounced. Take this example from Clive Barker’s The Thief of Always: Half closing his eyes, he crossed to the window and fumbled to slam it, making sure that the latch was in place this time. The wind had started his lamp moving, and when he turned back the whole room seemed to be swinging around. One moment the fight was blazing in his eyes, the next it was flooding the opposite wall. But in between the blaze and the flood it lit the middle of his room, and standing there – shaking the rain off his hat – was a stranger. He looked harmless enough. He was no more than six inches taller than Harvey, his frame scrawny, his skin distinctly yellowish in colour. He was wearing a fancy suit, a pair of spectacles and a lavish smile. “The scene is suffused with a sense of the unsettling. Objects that should be stationary move. The room itself seems to move. The viewpoint character is disoriented. A peculiar character seems to materialize out of nowhere.” Read a lot. “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut...we read to experience the mediocre and the outright rotten; such experience helps us to recognize those things when they begin to creep into our own work, and to steer clear of them. We also read in order to measure ourselves against the good and the great, to get a sense of all that can be done. And we read in order to experience different styles.” “...Reading is the creative center of a writer's life. I take a book with me everywhere I go, and find there are all sorts of opportunities to dip in. The trick is to teach yourself to read in small sips as well as in long swallows. Waiting rooms were made for books — of course! But so are theater lobbies before the show, long and boring checkout lines, and everyone's favorite, the john. You can even read while you're driving, thanks to the audiobook revolution.” Don’t worry about making other people happy. “If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered, anyway." Thanks for checking out the Liv Ahwatukee Blog. For more information about writing or horror writing specifically, check out Writer’s Digest . Thanks for reading!

Scary Reads to Give You Chills This Halloween

Welcome back to the Liv Ahwatukee Blog! Today, we’re sharing a few frightening book recommendations for you to read in October. Head over to our local library or your favorite bookstore and see if you can find these two books before the month is over. What will you be reading inside of your Phoenix, AZ apartment? 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.” 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…”

Priceless Budget Tips from Liv Ahwatukee

In today’s post, the Liv Ahwatukee Blog is sharing a few budgeting tips. Maintaining a steady budget can be a difficult thing to accomplish, and many people don’t know where to start. This SNL skit , while hilarious, is pretty spot on when it comes to the basics of budgeting. Not buying something when you can’t afford it (or buying less than you make) is a priceless tip that’s not always easy to follow. If you’re spending too much or struggling to keep a budget, then keep reading to learn how you can start right now in your Phoenix, AZ apartment. If a budget is working for you, see if there are any tips that you can add to our list by commenting below. Save before you spend The goal of budgeting is not to keep track of every single dollar that leaves your bank account. Rather, its purpose is to help you control how much you spend so that you can spend less. One of the best ways to spend less money is to save before spending. While many people will spend first during the month and then save whatever is leftover at the end, they are actually more likely to save less than they might plan. Track your spending Record how much you spend and what you spend it on for a month. This will give you an understanding of your spending patterns and how even small purchases add up over time. Even doing this for a week will open your eyes to your spending habits that you can start to change. Make a Plan Many people who approach budgeting for the first time will choose to start with what’s known as the 50/20/30 Plan. Basically, 50% of your income should go toward necessities, 20% toward long-term saving, and 30% towards lifestyle choices. As you begin to budget, see if this plan works for you. Then, make the necessary adjustments to meet your needs. For more information about keeping a budget, check out 7 Tips for Effective and Stress-Free Budgeting , which inspired these points in our post today. Maintaining a budget is not easy, but when done right the result is priceless. Take time today to take charge of your finances and start budgeting! Thanks for reading.