One of our favorite amenities here at Liv Avenida is our community garden. If youve never planted before, thats okay. Developing a green thumb can be a bit tricky, but after a while youll get the hang of it. To start you off, heres a list of a few crops that are generally easy to grow in the Chandler climate.
Broccoli and cauliflower easy to plant and take care of, and does well in the sun.
Chilis and Peppers a great fall-to-spring crop, though it has a little more trouble in the full heat of summer. Keep it well-watered and fertilized, and it will do well.
Eggplants These do surprisingly well in the desert, even through the summer.
Spinach Does well in the sun with only moderate amounts of water.
Dill easy to grow! With a few months care, youll have a giant plant for all your seasoning needs.
Rosemary if anything, even easier than dill. Might just show up in your garden whether you like it or not!
Oregano likes a bit of shade, but does welljust water it like you would the lawn.
Once youve got the hang of these, you can try some trickier crops, like tomatoes, snap peas, or even artichokes. Before you plant, though, dont forget to consult this vegetable planting calendar for Maricopa Countyit lists the best recommended times for planting any plants you might want here in the Chandler area.
Thinking about decorating or redecorating your apartment here at Liv Avenida? Maybe you need a change of pace, or you just found a great idea on Pinterest that you want to try. Here are some great smartphone and tablet apps out there to help you add some extra flare to your space.
Palettes : This is a great free app for creating color schemes. Maybe you were inspired by a lovely bouquet of flowers or by a friends adorable outfitjust snap a picture, and the app will create an instant collection of color swatches based on your photo.
Photo Measures : Dont get to the store and then realize that you left your list of measurements at home! Just snap a picture of the room with Photo Measures and then jot down all the measurements right on the photo. Finding what you need is even easier when you can refer back to the real site.
Home 3D for iPad , Home Design 3D , and BuildApp for Android : These three apps are all great variations of the same idea. Build a three-dimensional model of your home, fill it with furniture, and then start moving the furniture around to see where it will fit, where it wont, and what configurations look best. Save yourself a lot of guesswork and back painget your furniture right the first time.
Have any other great apps for moving or decorating? Let us know in the comments, and well share them here.
Here at Liv Avenida, were very proud of our four legged residents. We know how much you love your pets and we love them too!
One of the trickiest parts of owning a dog while living in an apartment (or anywhere, really), is housetraining. Keeping your dog from doing their business in your apartment can be high-stress and we dont want that! So we turned to the Humane Society for some great instructions on housetraining a dog or puppy.
The key is to establish a consistent routine. Like babies, puppies do best on a regular schedule. The schedule teaches him that there are times to eat, times to play and times to potty.
Generally speaking, a puppy can control his bladder one hour for every month of age. So if your puppy is two months old, he can hold it for about two hours. Don't go longer than this between bathroom breaks, or he's guaranteed to have an accident. If you work outside the home, this means you'll have to hire a dog walker to give your puppy his bathroom breaks.
Take your puppy outside frequentlyat least every two hoursand immediately after he wakes up, during and after playing, and after eating or drinking.
Pick a bathroom spot outside, and always take your puppy (on a leash) to that spot. Use a word or phrase, like "go potty," that you can eventually use before he goes outside to remind him what to do.
Reward your puppy when she gets it right. Praise her or give her a treatbut remember to do so immediately after she's finished, not after she comes back inside the house. This step is vital, because rewarding your dog for going potty outdoors is the only way to teach her what's expected of her. Before rewarding her, be sure she's finished. Puppies are easily distracted: If you praise her too soon, she may forget to finish until she's back in the house.
Put your puppy on a regular feeding schedule. What goes into a puppy on a schedule comes out of a puppy on a schedule. Depending on their age, puppies usually need to be fed three or four times a day. Feeding your puppy at the same times each day will make it more likely that he'll need to go outside at consistent times as well, and that makes housetraining easier for both of you.
Pick up your puppy's water dish about two and a half hours before bedtime to reduce the likelihood that she'll need to potty during the night. Most puppies can sleep for approximately seven hours without needing to go outside.
If your puppy does wake you up in the night, don't make a big deal of it. Otherwise, he will think it is time to play and won't want to go back to sleep. Turn on as few lights as possible, don't talk to or play with your puppy, take him out to do his business and return him to his bed.
For more tips on supervising your puppy, dealing with accidents, paper-training, and going on trips, check out the Humane Societys full article here . If youve got any useful tips of your own, please post them in the comments!
Did you just move to Liv Avenida? Or have you been a resident here in Chandler for a while? We hope you are enjoying the luxury and conveniences that Liv has to offer! One of the many perks of living in an apartment community is the opportunity to interact with the people around you. At Liv Avenida, we encourage you to engage with your neighbors, meet some new friends and have some fun! Here are some great tips to help you to Liv interactively.
Visit the Fitness Center
Open 24/7, Liv Fit hosts a variety of instructor led group fitness classes. Whether you want to break a sweat or stretch and relax, Liv Fit has a class for you. From group fitness to yoga, Pilates, and Zumba, Liv classes are known for being as much fun as they are challenging. Attending classes you like is a great way to meet new friends!
Plan Activities in the Hub
The Hub really is the center of the Liv Avenida community! Open 24/7, The Hub has large screen TVs, a pool table, a state-of-the-art community kitchen and coffee bar and a fire place perfect for cool fall nights. Instead of watching the game in your apartment, come out to our weekly Monday Night Football gathering to cheer on your team with your neighbors. We also host regular happy hours, movie nights, billiards tournaments and other fun community events in The Hub that you dont want to miss. Next time you come home from work and dont have plans, come down to The Hub to play a video game or a game of pool and have some fun!
Join a Community Club
Liv Avenida hosts a variety of community clubs. You can join your neighbors for a pot luck and a good read at the Liv Book Club, get together for Monday morning Family Time, or learn about gardening at the Community Garden club. Joining a club is a great way to meet people with like-minded interests and gives you the chance to do something you love. If we dont have a club that suits your interests, let us know! We are always looking for new, fun ideas.
Check Out the Community Calendar
Located on our website here , the community calendar is the place to go to find out about classes, events, and get-togethers. In addition to all of the events weve already mentioned, youll find a variety of upcoming activities: our monthly pancake breakfast, preferred employer happy hour, game night, our billiards tournament, and more!
Have any ideas for other great events we could add? Let us know in the comments!
With kids out of school for the summer, it can be a challenge to find family-friendly things to do when the temperatures in Chandler reach 110+ degrees. Here are a few ways you can keep your family busy, happy and having fun during the hottest months of the year.
Hang out at the pool No summer is complete without some pool time! Liv Avenida has two saltwater swimming pools and a splash pad for kids to splash and play during hot summer days. Lounge on your favorite raft while your kids enjoy the cool waters of the pool for some family fun. Please remember that we have no lifeguard on duty so all children must be accompanied and supervised by an adult at all times when at the swimming pool. The City of Chandler also offers several public swimming pools with water slides, community events and swim lessons for kids all summer long. Admission for kids at the Chandler public pools is only $1 so kids at Liv Avenida have plenty of free and affordable options to swim and have fun in the sun.
Catch a movie or play a game in The Hub We created The Hub to be a community gathering space for kids and adults to meet and enjoy time together. With a theatre room with large TVs to watch movies or play video games, a billiards table, a community kitchen with a coffee bar, a community computer and more, the cool air-conditioned Hub will provide you and your family a worthy alternative to the hot summer sun.
Do a fun craft - Crafts can provide a fun and educational way for kids to keep occupied and have lots of fun indoors during the summer months. They can also offer many benefits for kids such as helping to develop critical thinking skills, build self-esteem, and engage in a wider variety of learning styles. As a parent, you dont need a PhD in art to facilitate a fun and educational craft with kids. Many times, you can use items you already have around your apartment and have just as much fun as they do. Check out the Liv Avenida Liv Creatively Pinterest board for some fun and unique crafts for kids!
Attend an event at Liv Avenida At Liv Avenida, we are all about living interactively within our community. We offer a regular calendar of events for our residents to give you the opportunity to meet and interact with your friends and neighbors at Liv. Events such as our monthly pancake breakfasts, craft making events, family movie nights, family gathering events and more, provide kids and adults with fun and exciting opportunities to stay connected with the Liv community. Be sure to follow Liv Avenida on Facebook for daily updates on community events!
Go to the playground While summer days can be very hot, the lower temperatures in the mornings provide a prime-time for kids to get some exercise outside. At Liv Avenida, we have a playground on our property so your kids can play right outside your front door! From slides and ladders to a giant Tic-Tac-Toe, the Liv Avenida playground is the place for kids to hang out. The City of Chandler offers several fun (and free!) parks for kids to run and play. For instance, you can visit Playtopia , an enormous play area in the center of Chandlers Tumbleweed Park with a wide variety of play equipment and outdoor picnic areas.
Visit the Library The Chandler Public Library, Hamilton branch is located less than 1 mile south of Liv Avenida and offers free programs for kids of all ages. From a free Summer Reading Program that encourages and rewards kids for reading books during the summer, to regularly scheduled story times for kids of all ages, the library is a safe and fun environment for kids to go when it is too hot to play outside. Parents can also check out a Culture Pass for free with their library card that provides free admission to museums and family attractions around the Chandler area.
Visit a museum - The Chandler area offers a wide variety of museums and cultural attractions that can result in a whole day of educational, family fun. If you are not able to obtain a free ticket with your Chandler Public Library Culture Pass, children and students will often receive a deep discount for admission at these local attractions. Many museums, such as the Phoenix Art Museum , offer free admission one day per week for everyone to come and enjoy. Here are just a few of the most popular museums for kids around Chandler:
Childrens Museum of Phoenix - Free admission every First Friday from 5pm 9pm
Arizona Science Center Admission is $11.95 for kids ages 3-17
Heard Museum admission $5 for kids ages 1 5 and $12.50 for older kids and students
Phoenix Art Museum - Free admission every Wednesday from 3pm 9pm and every First Friday from 6pm to 9pm
