May 2009 - Page 2 of 3 - Angry Julie Monday

BlogCrush: OC Blogger and Twitter Meet-Up

May 19, 2009

Almost two weeks ago, we had an Orange County Blogger and Twitter meet-up at the Veggie Grill at the Irvine Spectrum. Suzanne Broughton from Alive in Wonderland and MomCrush organized this fabulous event for everyone.

I’ve been a total slacker, ok I admit I forgot to post about the meet-up. I have way too much going on in my life right now and I tend to get a little forgetful sometimes. I arrived at the Veggie Grill with my BFF, Stacey. I’m not a big fan of vegetarian food so I chose to abstain from the eats at The Veggie Grill. Everyone said that the food was delicious. I still refrained. I did get an ice tea. I had to go and borrow, ok perhaps I took several packets of Sweet’N Low from the neighboring Chipotle.

I was able to talk to several people whom I’ve been commenting with, tweeting with, etc. It was really great to meet everyone. Unfortunately I did not get to spend some one on one time with everyone there. We needed to arrange it speed dating like or something, with a time frame. I feel that if I made maybe 5 great new connections with the people there, I was successful. There are going to be more events in the future, so I can catch up with everyone there.

Kristin from Meringue Bake Shop also provided some fabulous margarita cupcakes. Perhaps, I had two of them that night. I loved her decorations on them.

Here’s a list of everyone that attended (in no particular order):

Suzanne: www.suzannebroughton.com

Marcy of The Glamorous Life: http://marcywrites.com/

Dana and Jeff Sipper: http://sipperphotography.com/blog/

Elaina of Restore: http://elainaavalos.blogspot.com/

Kristin from Meringue Bake Shop: http://meringuebakeshop.blogspot.com/

Stacey of OC Food Mommy: http://ocfoodiemommy.blogspot.com/

Roxanne of Me and My Monster: http://themomblog.freedomblogging.com/author/rhack/

Aracely of Day Tripping Mom: http://daytrippingmom.blogspot.com/

Jeff from OC Metroblogging: http://oc.metblogs.com/

Kara of Eli’s Lids: http://elislids.blogspot.com/

Sara of Ducks and Pucks: http://www.ducksandpucks.com/DUCKSandPUCKS/SKS_BLOG.html

Jen from Tiny Oranges: http://www.tinyoranges.com/

Kirsten of Wright Creativity: http://wrightcreativity.com/

Debbie from Peace Love and Momminess: http://peaceloveandmomminess.com/

Martha from Melody Gibbons: http://melodygibbons.com/

Sandra of TolduOC: http://tolduso.wordpress.com/

Suzanne of Twenty Four at Heart: http://www.TwentyFourAtHeart.com/twenty_four_at_heart/

Becky from Happy Hour Mom: http://happyhourmom.blogspot.com/

Tracy from Tracy Clark: http://www.traceyclark.com/blog

Lorna of Calif Lorna: http://califlorna.com/mission-accomplished-202

I can’t wait to see everyone at our next meet-up!!!

Filed Under: Blogging, Orange County 7 Comments

Blogger Award

May 18, 2009

I was so excited to hear that I got an award. One Fabulous Mom crowned me with this fabulous-ness. I’m supposed to name three things that make me awesome!

1. I’m totally Type-A. When I commit to something, I tend to totally over-do it. If I have a theme, I go out of control with it.

2. I pass my addictions onto others. I’ve probably gotten at least 3 people addicted to drinking Monster Energy Drinks in the past month.

3. I’m a role model and inspire people. I’ve had several people whom have told me that all of my talk about running has made them want to start running. I would not say that I was an experienced runner. It’s easy to run, it’s free, and why not. I’m trying to do a little more running lately. I’m attempting to lower my 5K time, plus trying to decide on whether or not to train for a half marathon.

I’m going to now pass the crown over to three other bloggers that I love. I read their blogs daily!

Danica from Chic Runner. She’s a runner too. She inspires me to start training for the half marathon that I’ve been debating on!

Jen from the BLAH BLAH BLAHger. We’ve really connected the past few months. We live within miles of each other. We have a common friend who lives in a completely different state. Jen inspired me to complete all of those un-finished projects in our house. Plus, she recently took some awesome photos of Angry Toddler and little ole’ me.

Kristin from Meringue Bake Shop. Meringue Bake Shop is a business and a blog. Kristin is a fabulous cupcake baker. I’ve used her baking services 3 times already since I’ve met her. She works a regular 9-5 job full-time and then spends her nights making fabulous works of art. She’s broadening her business and recently starting selling her cakes in a local yogurt shop.

These ladies are all AWESOME and I was happy to give them this award!

Filed Under: Blogging 2 Comments

Birthday Busy-Ness

May 14, 2009

Angry Toddler is turning 4 next week. We are having his birthday party on Saturday. We are then having a BBQ after the birthday party. So it’s like 2 parties. We are having the BBQ for the baseball crowd. People who have kids in sports (baseball, etc.).

Then Monday, I’m going to bring treats and gift bags to Angry Toddler’s school for his birthday. Yes, I’m that mom..

Tuesday, Angry Husband and I are taking Angry Toddler to Disneyland for his birthday. He gets in free, but we have Season Passes. So he will get a gift certificate to spend there on really expensive things that we don’t want to spend our money on.

I have so much to do. Angry Husband keeps asking if I’ve made lists, ordered food, etc. I’m getting there, slowly.

First thing I had to do today was wrap the presents. I know that Angry Toddler will be around me most of the time until his party on Saturday. This was my only chance to get things wrapped.

Looking at his gifts, you would think he was turning 14 and not 4. Angry Toddler is turning into quite the gamer lately. It’s Angry Husband rubbing off on him. Really, he didn’t have a choice, it’s genetic.

I captured this on video a few weeks ago. He was quite annoyed that I was interrupting to him. Notice the eye rubbing, he was soo tired. Yet, he kept on playing. Quite the gamer in training.

And the skateboard stuff..well he’s been begging for a skateboard, ever since we attended this event. I’m going to dedicate Angry Toddler’s skateboard obsession to Ed aka RockDaMullet. He truly inspired it!

Filed Under: Parenting 5 Comments

San Clemente Beach Trail, A Breezy Run

May 13, 2009

This is the second time that I’ve ran the San Clemente Beach Trail. It’s a little over 5 miles if you run/walk/jog it both ways. I ran it with my friend, Pesha, and her adorable daughter, Charlie. We loaded Charlie up in my Bob Revolution Stroller, and went our way. Note to self, must add air to tires in stroller. It works much better with pumped up tired.

The beginning of the trail was a bit crowded. There are some boot camps that utilize the trail for their programs, and the women were stretching or finishing their cool downs. There were all kinds of strollers parked around the area. It was a bit congested, almost like the 91 Freeway during traffic time. I did roll my eyes a little. Pesha and my BFF, Stacey, know about my little contention with San Clemente and the “mommy crowd”. I like to call it a little cult that they have on their “Island of SC”. Ironically, I was wearing a USC Football hat to run in, totally not planned, yet a very bad hair day.

We started trotting on the trail. Every few minutes, Pesha would be waving to someone or another. Why, because she knows everyone. Just like, Stacey, they know everyone. I had to giggle about this, just a little. We passed all kinds of people, and I had to comment, as usual. I like to provide my commentary to Pesha while running. It keeps us entertained, and perhaps a little distracted from what we were actually doing, running. I laughed at the mommies with normal strollers trying to run. I don’t get it…”I want to say hon, I know you have a brand new baby and you are trying to get fit..but really the $700 stroller was meant for the mall, not off-roading.” Then there were the guys running with their shirts off. A bit bold, I may say. Some men just need to keep their shirts on. I understand that you may have the abs to take the shirt off, but sometimes along with the abs comes a little, um manscaping. I’m sorry but I get really creeped out by the over-abundance of chest hair on men, and/or even worse, weird chest hair patterns. Like when the chest hair starts creeping over to the shoulder area. Not so appealing.

While we were running we were provided with a gorgeous view. It makes things a lot easier. We discussed children, husbands, married, fitness, you name it. That’s why I like to run with friends. It makes everything easier. Plus you get can some free therapy.

We finished the trail and a very nice breeze came along. Perfect for wicking off that sweat. Yes, people, Angry Julie sweats. I can’t always be perfect. Charlie was begging to go on the swings. We obliged. The poor girl was trapped in a stroller for 5 miles, and had to hear all of our ranting.

I asked one of the many “mommies” near by to take our picture. Mostly to show my husband some proof, that yes, I actually went for a trail run today. Plus, why not. The day was beautiful. The “mommy” asked if something about Charlie being in the swing, and if she was ok. Pesha and I both did some type of shrug with our shoulders, and said she will be fine. Seasoned parents we are. The kid will be fine. Just take our picture. Why? Because the parents are never in the pictures, always the kids. The parents are too busy taking the pictures.

Pesha is on some of tennis addiction right now. But she has agreed that it’s kinda good to do this Beach Trail Run. I think we are going to try and do it more frequently if children, sickness, maids, bank deposits, surgeries, car accidents, or anything else doesn’t get in the way.

Filed Under: Just Julie, Orange County 6 Comments

Nail Salon

May 12, 2009

I’ve had acrylic nails off and on for the past few years. I love having them, but hate sitting there to have them done. A co-worker asked me last night, “where my nails where”. I haven’t had them for over a year. I currently need a pedicure…but yet I don’t want to sit there for it.

My co-workers were watching this video last night in the office..at the mall…We were all BUSTING up. My guy co-worker, perhaps his name is Andy..did not understand why we were laughing so hard. He just doesn’t get it.

Filed Under: Just Julie 9 Comments

The Tarantula Cake

May 9, 2009

Last Saturday, Angry Toddler and I went to a birthday party for my friend’s son. He was turning 5. He’s really into spiders all the rest of those yucky things that boys like. She asked my advice on where to have her son’s birthday. I suggested Prehistoric Pets in Fountain Valley.

We arrived at the party and Angry Toddler went crazy. He’s been there before, but I guess it’s been awhile. He was looking at everything and also touching everything. Thankfully they had lots of hand sanitizer all around the store. After being at the store a few minutes, I realized that there was a lovely smell in the air there. Ruth’s friend categorized it as “lizard pee”.

Well Ruth did not disappoint as usual for the cake. She usually goes all out and the theme of the party and the cake. This time she had a cake made showing a tarantula in an aquarium. It looked so real. I even took a picture of the cake with my Blackberry and sent it to Angry Husband. Angry Husband responded with something like, “cool”. I texted again, “Umm that is the CAKE”. He was completely shocked. He thought it was a real tarantula.

We had a great show from one of the employees at Prehistoric Pets. She brought out all kinds of creatures and let the kids touch them. Angry Toddler loved it all. He was not scared at anything.

But really, let’s get back to the cake. It was a cake surrounded by Plexiglas. The sides of the “aquarium” were held together with fondant. The cake was white cake with fresh strawberries inside. The tarantula on top was made out of cake and fondant. There were also little bugs on top of the cake made with fondant.

Another photo of the cake before it was taken apart.

Removing the Plexiglas surround from the cake.

After removing the Plexiglas.

The tarantula. Yes, it’s actually cake. And yes, it’s creepy.

Angry Toddler munching on some fondant leaves.

And as you know, this is Southern California. How much did this cake cost? I know I was going to have that question asked in my comments…$300. I had to ask my friend. My husband asked if the cake came with a blow-job. My friend replied, “No”, but her husband did bargain the price down from $400.

Filed Under: Parenting 16 Comments

Show Us Where You Live Friday: Living Rooms

May 8, 2009

Kelly from Kelly’s Korner has started a new series every Friday. It’s called “Show Us Where You Live Friday”. I forgot to participate last week. But I thought I would join in on the fun this week! I love getting a little peak inside everyone’s homes.

I would call this my living room/family room. We live in California in an 1100 sq. foot house. We have to really utilize all our space here. This photo was taken over a year ago. It’s looks almost the same with a few changes.

Our couches were custom made for our previous house. We had a huge great room. We had to get an enormous couch to fill the space. Unfortunately the couch was way too big when we moved here, so we had a portion of the couch cut down. You can do that when your couch is custom made. The chair was made to match the couch.

The rug is a sisal rug from Pottery Barn. My husband hated this rug. He did not like the way it felt on his bare feet. WE have since replaced it with a plain cream shag rug from Lowe’s. The cream shag run is also damaged, and needs to be replaced. We still haven’t found the perfect rug.

The large picture above the couch is from the Orange County Marketplace. It’s a pair. I think we got both pictures for under $200. The cabinets on the side of the fireplace were custom made and were also from the Orange County Marketplace. The cabinet maker is no longer at the Marketplace. I’ve been looking all over for them because I need a new coffee table to match the cabinets.

The television is a Fujitsu Plasma 42″. It was hung by Angry Hsuband. That’s Angry Husband’s job, custom home theaters. It was actually a floor model. I love the silver trim around it. You can’t find tv’s with silver trim anymore.

The ceiling fan is a palm frond pattern from Lowe’s. We had the same fan in our old house too. Plus we have this same fan in our bedroom. I love it.

And the black shelves are from Target. They were cheap.

The fireplace is covered with toys now. Toys that Angry Toddler doesn’t even play with. There is also a train table in the front room. Angry Toddler is bored with that too. He’s finally getting to the age where he doesn’t mess with everything. I think it’s time to do some minor redecorating.

Filed Under: In The Home 9 Comments

Race Report: PCRF: Reaching for the Cure

May 7, 2009

On Sunday, I participated in the Pediatric Cancer Foundation’s “Reaching for the Cure” run. I did the 5K with a friend, Ris, whom I met through my run club. Everyone in the run club did various distances, some did the 5K, 10K, and even a 1/2 Marathon. We had been training for this race for 10 weeks.

I got to the parking structure of the Irvine Spectrum around 6:45am. I got there just in time, because there was a huge line of cars behind me. I was able to collect myself. I put the timing chip on my shoe, my race bib on my run club tank top, and tightened my shoe laces. I then drank my breakfast, yep liquid for me. It’s always best to follow your normal breakfast routine for race days. My breakfast usually consists of one of these items: Muscle Milk, Kirkland Weight Loss Shakes (generic Slimfast from Costco), Yogurt with Flax Seed, and Oatmeal. I try to avoid dairy on race days, so I consumed a Muscle Milk Light. And I wanted some caffeine, so I did something I usually don’t do before a race…I drank a Monster..

I met up with my girls at 7am, and we walked to the starting line. We took some cute pictures and got ourselves prepped for the race with some stretching, etc. Everyone went to the bathroom in those lovely porta-potties, except Angry Julie. This was a total epic fail that would haunt me later…

The half marathon started at 7am, so we weren’t able to witness their start. But the 10K was starting at 7:45am, and my 5K was starting at 7:50am. Ris and I started off the race with a good start. We were pacing at mid 8’s, which was perfect for us. I knew that we were at around the 1 mile mark so I looked down at my Garmin. Apparently, my Garmin had a mind of it’s own and somehow changed modes. It was now on some kind of training mode, and I did not know how to get it to it’s original mode. Ack! I had to pay attention to running so I stop focusing on the Garmin. At least I could look at my splits. We hit mile 2 and did a little loop around. Ris and I were pacing with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department recruits. They were singing a cadence and running at a perfect pace. The weather was perfect and everything was right on track for us to finish under 30 minutes. Then all of the sudden, I freaked. I had to go to the bathroom. I had to pee. And I had to pee bad. I’ve never had this issue during a race ever. I didn’t even think about going to the bathroom before the race. I should have known after drinking all of that fluid. I tried to hold it in and keep up with my pace. I couldn’t do it and slowed down. I had to walk for a tiny bit otherwise I was going to burst. I would do this in patterns, walk a little, run a little.

I could see the finish line ahead of me. I still had that incredible urge to pee. I put on the speed and proceeded to the finish. I kept going after going through the finish line. They were asking me for my timing chip, but I ignored them and kept running. I ran all the way to the porta-potties. I barely made it there. What a relief!

After going to the bathroom, I went back to the finish line and gave them my timing chip. After dropping off my chip, I realized that there was no water and the finish line. Seriously, I’m really getting tired of these races where you have to hunt down the water at the end. Don’t these people realize that runners are expecting water at the end? After meeting up with the everyone from our group at the finish, we went and hunted down the water. We had to stand in a huge line to get water and fruit. Everyone kept cutting into the line, and it was really annoying. This was like 30 minutes after we had finished the race. Yes, that is how long it took for us to get water.

After getting our water and walking around, we headed to the Beer Garden. For $10 we received two Tecates and a burrito from Wahoo’s. I’m not one for beer after running, so I had a few sips. I did stay for a bit and enjoyed the company. Everyone was able to relax and enjoy each other’s company.

Here’s a photo I took of Doris and Tammy, enjoying the Beer Garden.

I learn something new every time I run a race. It may be something big, or something small. These are the things that I learned from this race.

1. Go to the bathroom before the race. Even if you feel like you don’t need to go, go anyway.
2. Not wearing my moisturizer with sunscreen made my run much better. I usually get burning around my eyes from the sunscreen in my moisturizer. I did not have any problems with it.
3. Learn how to properly work my Garmin. Know all the functions and how to change them.

It was a great end to my running club. I can’t wait for the next event.

Filed Under: Just Julie 2 Comments