December 2009 - Page 4 of 6 - Angry Julie Monday

Ohh Mickey, You’re So Fine

December 17, 2009

It started over a week ago…

I was sitting at the computer table at our dining room table. I have this fabulous office, yet I sit here at the dining room table to blog. Why? Because I can see the TV from here, duh.. Ohh shiny things, there goes my ADD again. Anyway, I heard this weird noise coming from the kitchen. It was a tiny noise, almost a scratching really. I got a little paranoid as we had a severe rat problem a few years ago. Apparently, the jerks behind us have palm trees that they do not maintain, so rats climb them, and end up on our roof. Yes, over $500 and several traps later, the rats were gone. So you know what I was thinking…

I told Angry Husband about the noises. He gave me that look.

Then, a few days later, he was home alone. He was also working the dining room table as a home office action. He actually saw, Mr. Mouse. He said that the mouse ran across the family room when the cleaning lady was here. I guess they scared Mr. Mouse, and he ran behind the couch. Angry Husband called me on my cellphone. I did the eye roll, because he didn’t believe me before.

Well the past few days, I’ve heard the scratching noise..

This was today’s text message to husband (I censored it, a little) ” F-ing mouse iz going ape shit. I have stove on”…

He called me right away, and told me that he was bringing traps home. He brought the traps home, and placed them accordingly. Once again, I sat here and listened…scratch, noise, scratch. They were all coming from the stove area. I told Angry Husband earlier that I think the mouse is in the drawer under the stove.

I finally got him up from the couch, and said “listen very carefully”. Well Mr. I’ve-Gone-Deaf-After-Four-Years-in-the-Marine-Corps finally heard the noise. He tip-toed through the kitchen and pulled out the drawer from the stove. He then started screaming at me, “open the sliding glass door, quick”. He yanked the drawer out onto the patio, and Mr. Mouse was in there. Or, I would like to say, Mini Mouse. He was sooo tiny…a baby…

We gave him freedom. Soo humane of us.

Then husband tells me, “Umm, that’s not the mouse I saw the other day. That one was much bigger.”

Great…

Filed Under: In The Home 12 Comments

All Decked Out

December 16, 2009

It’s been a process for almost a week in our house. I had to harass Angry Husband about our ornaments and decorations. They were all up in the rafters of our garage. Angry Husband went out of town for work, the week after Thanksgiving. Angry Husband just got a promotion and he works in retail. The Holiday Season is busy for us.

Angry Toddler was very excited about finding all the decorations. Of course, we have no real organization. The lights are mixed up with the ornaments. There’s wrapping paper in between everything. I try and label everything. Then, December 26th comes along, Angry Husband drags out the totes, and starts tossing things in. I have no clue on what we have. We decided to not put outside decorations up this year. When we started decorating, it was pouring rain.

Angry Toddler received this bed for Christmas two years ago. My mom also purchased the Holiday bedding from Pottery Barn Kids to go along with it. They come out with a new Holiday bedding design every year. I laughed when my bloggy friend, Sasha, did this post. I had to comment that, we were one of those dumb families with Holiday bedding. Hey, I didn’t buy it!

We got our “faux tree” up and decorated. We have to have a fake tree because I’m asthmatic and would be a complete snot mess. The ornaments are pretty random. I did manipulate my mom into giving me some of my grandma’s ornaments this year. She passed away five years ago, and my mom forgot that the boxes of ornaments were in the garage. I collect ornaments also. And some have been given to me by my grandmother, and friends.

Aren’t these ornaments cute? I think so!

Last but not least, here’s a picture of our festive dining room. The table runner is awesome-ly random. It’s quilted, and a horrible Santa print. It was probably a gift. I’m on the hunt for a new one. The ornament decorations are from Target, their after Christmas, 50% off sale. Notice something shiny and pretty under the quilted table runner? Oh, yea, that’s my awesome new dining room table. It even had a leaf underneath to expand it out bigger. How cool is that! Oh, I will probably get a zillion questions about where I got it? It’s the Verona set from World Market. It sells out a lot, but I got a rain check for it and waited. I hunted for the perfect table for over a year.

And if you want to see the entire story about our decorating adventure? Check out the story on whrrl.

Filed Under: Holidays, In The Home 6 Comments

The Official Christmas Card

December 16, 2009

Well all 75 cards are finally out in the mail. It took me a week to address and stamp them all. I had some issues because when AT&T sync’ed my Blackberry to my new iPhone, my addresses did not get put in. That was a real issue when I was trying to address Christmas cards. I had to do some research.

The photo was taken by Jen Johnson, and the awesome card is from Tiny Prints. Jen was awesome, of course. Tiny Prints was seriously fantastic. I got my cards in less than a week. This was the earliest that I have ever ordered cards. I’m quite proud of myself.

I knew several local people received their cards yesterday. My mom should have received hers. So we are talking on the phone tonight. I ask, “ummm did you get the card?” She replies, “ohh yea today, I just checked the mail. It looks nice. Angry Husband even smiled.”

Please check out Faith’s Blog for The Christmas Card Carousel!

Filed Under: Holidays, Photography 11 Comments

Wordless Wednesday: Sleeping Beauty’s Castle @ Disneyland

December 16, 2009

Filed Under: Holidays, Orange County, Photography, Wordless Wednesday 9 Comments

A Little Progress

December 15, 2009

My awesome designer got my blog up and working. You will notice my changes slightly right now. Be patient with me. I’ve got a lot of my background stuff done. I need to work on my sidebars tomorrow. Seriously, there are only so many hours in the day right now. Plus, having a husband who works in the retail world doesn’t make things easier.

Filed Under: Blogging 1 Comment

Some Sweet Holiday Goodness

December 12, 2009

I have been super busy the past few weeks, but I do want to start some Holiday baking. I pulled out the family recipe book, and flipped through it. My aunt has the best frosted sugar cookie recipe, but there are a ton of steps. I really don’t have the prep time to make those. They are soo good that my mom usually gives my aunt some money and asks her to make us a few dozen.

I do want to try some different recipes this year. I’ve been searching all over the interwebz for some great ideas. I wanted to share what I’ve found.

Fun with Santa Cookies

These are from the Pillsbury website. You just you refrigerated sugar cookies, and some other small ingredients. Very cute! I’m sure you could make all kinds of designs with the right colored frosting.

Festive Candy Cane Kiss Centered Brownie Bites

I saw these on Picky Palate the other day. They immediately made my mouth water. You can’t tell from this picture, but there are Candy Cane Hershey’s Kisses in the middle of these brownies. I picked up two bags of the Hershey’s Kisses last night in preparation for these delightful treats. I love everything on Picky Palate’s blog. Now only if I had the time to bake/cook more.

Christmas Candy Cane Cookies

I found this recipe on the Betty Crocker website. The ingredients are quite simple also: sugar cookie mix, butter, an egg, and food coloring.

Oreo Cookie Snowmen

My friend, Kelly, made these. They are soo simple and there’s NO BAKING involved. How cool is that? All you need is White Fudge Covered Oreos, M&M’s, and some gel frosting.

Filed Under: Holidays, In The Home 6 Comments

Our “Real Simple” Closet Makeover

December 9, 2009

I was reading my latest issue of Real Simple Magazine, about two months ago. I saw an article about re-organizing a front closet. It had before and after pictures from the makeover. I’ve been telling Angry Husband for awhile now, that I want to re-do our hallway coat closet. I knew that the space could be re-done and made more useful. At this point, it was a gathering place for wrapping paper, coats, our vacuum, and random junk. Isn’t everyone’s closet like this?

I knew that WE (Angry Husband, BFF Stacey, and me) could accomplish this project. I knew that it would not be very costly. It really wasn’t complicated, but add in very busy schedules, and that’s why, I’m posting the final results over a month later.

At the beginning of November, I posted my “before” photograph. This is when the project began. I started by cleaning out the closet. I took several items to the Goodwill and Salvation Army.

Before Picture of Closet

In mid-November, I posted some sneak previews of the paint in the closet. Stacey came over for the day and painted the closet. I’m totally allergic to paint, and doing anything creative like painting. The paint color is Valspar Jalapeño Jelly 6005-6A in semi-gloss, which is found at Lowes. We went through a gallon of paint, because the closet probably had never been painted since house was built, seriously. We took out the shelf and the bar in the closet before it was painted. We also took off the door to the closet to make it a little easier to paint.

Closet After Shelf and Bar Were Removed, Plus Paint Added

I got an idea in my head, as usual. I decided that the closet needed some lighting. Do I know anything about electrical work? Umm, no..that’s what Angry Husband is for. We went back and forth with all these complex ideas for electrical work in the closet. We ended up going with the simple route. He installed a recessed light in the closet ($15), and he tied (wired) it into the recessed lights in our hallway. You have to turn the hallway lighting on, to get the closet light to work. By doing this, we did not have to install light switches, etc…You like how I say, “We”!

Recessed Light in Ceiling of Closet

I then made a few trips to Ikea, Home Depot, and Lowes for supplies for this project. I added my own touches to the original project from the magazine. I did use the Expedit shelf from Ikea. I looked around for other “similar” shelves, but this shelf was perfect for our closet size. Angry Husband cut out some of the molding in the closet to place the shelf unit firmly against the wall. He also secured it to the wall with mounting brackets provided with the unit when purchased.

The Closet with Expedit Shelf in Place

I found a piece of melamine at Home Depot to use for the shelf. The shelf was held up and supported by pre-primed molding also found at Home Depot. The white metal clothing rod was purchased at Lowes. It was very long and Angry Husband had to cut it to size. The clothing rod was held into place with a flange setfound at Lowes. After everything was in place, Angry Husband painted the molding used to hold up the melamine shelf white (not pictured).

Closet After Melamine Shelf and Closet Rod Were Installed (Various Views)

Closet Showing the Expedit Shelf, The Melamine Shelf, and The Clothing Rod

I wanted to place baskets on the Expedit shelves like in the original picture. I did not like the baskets that they used. I improvised and took (3) baskets from Angry Toddler’s bedroom. We are in the process of re-organizing his room and toys. He had (3) perfect wicker Medium Sabrina Baskets from Pottery Barn Kids. I will do a post later showing what I placed in the baskets. I placed our coats back in the closet. I also placed my gym bag, Angry Toddler’s backpack, my camera bag, and various other items on the shelves. I still haven’t decided what to put on the top shelf. I think the vacuum needs to be accessible, so it also went back into the closet.

Finished Closet with All Our Stuff (Door Removed)

After the closet was pretty much finished, I had another idea…must modify, right? I wanted to add some hooks to the inside of the closet door. I’m always looking for my purse. I don’t know why I’m always looking for it. I now put my purse inside the closet, when I get home. Therefore, it also prevents Angry Toddler from digging into my purse. I got the rack (hooks) from Target.

Closet with Door Back On, and Coat Rack on Interior of Door

I hope this step-by-step process of our closet makeover helps or inspires someone. It took awhile to get it completed. I think I made a pretty good Project Manager. I’m not very handy, but I always have great ideas. Or maybe it’s just the Project ADD….

Filed Under: In The Home 81 Comments