Welcome to “Angry Julie Monday’s Wordless Wednesday MckLinky”! If this your first time here, HELLO! I am doing a link-up every Wednesday! Post a picture(s) that you took in the past week and link back to it here.
Decorating with Vinyl
April 6, 2010
I have always been a fan of intricate designs and stenciling in home decorating. But I have neither the talent, the time, or the money to hire someone to do a mural on my walls. My friend, Ruth, had an awesome mural done on her son’s room before he was born. It is now her daughter’s room. She went with a “Winnie the Pooh” theme which is great for a little boy or girl. Can you believe that it is all paint on those walls. It’s amazing, and I’m sure it took a ton of time to create.
I’m one of those people who is constantly changing my mind about the decor in my home. Angry Husband always knows when I’m “up to something”. I get that look when I’m walking around the house. I stop and focus on something, then I head to my computer. I usually end up looking for a certain piece of furniture, artwork, or paint.
I have recently discovered decorating with vinyl, and I’m in love. I can put up a design made with vinyl on my walls, and I know that it is not permanent. They are also relatively inexpensive. There are now companies that sell these vinyl designs, along with small independent shops like the ones on Etsy. I’ve bought all of my vinyl on Etsy which is a fabulous place and it’s supporting small businesses.
“Welcome” on our front door from Decal Monograms
You can barely see it, but there is a Etched Glass Vinyl Monogram from Decal Monograms on this towel holder.
With a big circle of light from my flash, here is my Macbook. The “Julie” is from Decal Monograms and the birdie is from Urban Expressions. The birdie is actually a test vinyl decal sent from the seller when I purchased the design below.
This is another preview of Angry Kid’s bedroom. Yep, we used the word “kill” on an almost five year old’s room. The decal is from Urban Expressions.
Have you used vinyl in decorating your home? How have you used it? Do you like using vinyl? Do you have any tips or great ideas? Please share with us!
Jelly Bean Fever
April 5, 2010
So the Easter bunny got off work at 2am, the morning before Easter. Said bunny, came home and removed the carrots from the front yard. Angry Kid had left them out the night prior. Ironically, we have wild bunnies in the neighborhood so the bunnies had actually chomped on some of the carrots. It was a win-win.
The plastic eggs were stuffed with jelly beans and random change. I completely forgot about the Easter Egg “hunt” in the morning and did not have time {I forgot} to get cash. I hid the eggs throughout our front yard and hopped into bed like a good bunny.
I heard Angry Husband giving Angry Kid a bath the next morning. I did not get the usual Holiday shrieking. YAY! While Angry Kid was taking a bath, I was able to stumble out of bed and make it to the front room. Angry Kid ran when he saw that the Easter bunny had come and left him a basket. He also peeked out the front window and saw plastic eggs throughout the front yard.
I finished the cupcakes that I had made with their final icing and placed them in the refrigerator a little bit so that the icing could harden up. I then got dressed to follow Angry Kid out on his front yard egg hunt. We used the plastic eggs. We didn’t dye any eggs this year. Really, none of us like hard-boiled eggs, and Angry Kid already decorated some at school.
My parents eventually made their way to my house, and we were on our way to a family friend’s house for the day. We all packed into my car. My parents made lovely comments about my car being dirty, I ignored them. A typical day with the Angry Family.
When we arrived, my friend’s Lisa and Pete headed over to the park to set up the Easter Egg Hunt for the kiddos. We had four genius kids who were ready to hunt. Of course, my mom and Lisa shoved cash into the eggs. Because jelly beans were not enough for these kids, apparently. The kids were given paper bags and set off on the hunt. You should have seen them racing around like crazies.
The egg hunt was a success! Angry Kid was very excited that he found nine eggs. He did pretty good with three older kids hunting with them. He had a great time and we laughed at all of them running around crazy. Madison was checking out her eggs when we got back. Did you notice the cash?
While prepping for dinner and setting up, we had another Easter to remember. You can’t forget that we live in California. Because we had a huge rolling earthquake. I barely felt the earthquake, but Angry Husband did. I immediately jumped on Twitter to find out more. Everyone that I follow from California was starting to comment about the earthquake. We found out that the earthquake centered in Mexico and was a 7.2, 19 miles southeast of Mexicali. Everyone started telling their earthquake stories after that.
We then sat down to a delicious ham dinner. Except Angry Kid exclaimed, “Ham, I don’t like ham. I want bread and mashed potatoes.” Well the other kids were able to coax him over to the table. He then exclaimed, “mmm, Auntie Karen, I like ham, it’s good.” Who is this kid?
We finished off dinner with some great desserts. Angry Kid was quite fond of the lemon squares. He choose them over my delicious cupcakes. I had to take more pictures of the cupcakes, because they were quite delightful.
We survived another Holiday with the family. Angry Kid passed out in the car on the way home. He slept till this morning. Angry Husband went out for coffee with his friends, and I got to sleep early. Miracles do happen!
Spotlight Saturday 03.28 to 04.03.10
April 3, 2010
Here are FIVE of my favorite posts from the past week. Each week I will be highlighting some of my favorites. I have many blogs in my reader, as I have many friends with all different types of “niches” or “non-niches”. I will post serious stories, fun stories, pictures, recipes, etc. They will most likely be in a random order.
1. The Blah Blah Blahger-Secrets of Perfect White Balance
JJ must have seen some of the photos that I took inside my house recently. This post was written for people like me.
2. Chic Runner-Why I Was Adopted
Danica has a great blog about running. I’ve been a follower for quite some time. She is very open about being adopted. She actually wrote a whole series last year. In this post, she wrote about why she was adopted.
3. Centsational Girl-Blues and Branches-A Spring Tablescape
Kate talks about how she is decorating her table for Easter and what elements she is using.
Julie shares an iPad case she found. Seriously, the picture is worth a thousand words.
5. Technology for Mommies-You NEED A Domain
Even if you are on blogger, you should get your own domain. I was on Blogger for almost 3 years. I’ve been using AngryJulieMonday.com for about 2.5 years. You forward your blog to this domain. It is cheap and very easy to do. Sarah explains how to do this.
Saving Money with Light Bulbs
April 2, 2010
With the economy, pay cuts, and expensive utilities, we are trying to find ways to be more frugal and also conserve our resources. We are also trying to be more green and eco-friendly. One of our biggest issues in our home, is the amount of light bulbs that we go through.
I was recently sent a sample of Sylvania’s Halogen SuperSaver bulbs. I immediately put them in the lamps that are on our bedroom nightstands. I noticed that they were brighter than the light bulbs that were previously in the lamps. Also knowing that they were energy efficient and eco-friendly made me feel better about these bulbs too.
From Sylvania:
The SYLVANIA halogen SUPERSAVER light bulb emits the same bright white light as regular incandescent bulbs, but uses up to 33% less energy (and no mercury). With a familiar shape and dimmable features, these bulbs can also fit easily into pre-existing accent lights, track lights, or other fixtures, making them a great transition lightbulb for busy Moms. Of note, traditional incandescents are being phased out under the Federal Government’s Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
Without a doubt, I will purchase these light bulbs again. I love the brightness that they put out and the fact that they use less energy and they are very eco-friendly.
My favorite part about this company is the fact that they are the Official Sponsor of “It’s a Small World” at Disneyland. We go to Disneyland a ton, and I always smile when I see that Sylvania sign now. What’s not to love about this?
Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of SYLVANIA and received products necessary to facilitate my candid review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.
A First Fridays Harveys Giveaway
April 2, 2010
Every First Friday of the month, Harveys Seatbeltbags releases a new bag. How awesome is that? What a great thing to look forward to. Everyone knows that I’m a huge fan of Harveys, as I stood in line with only a few hours of sleep in anticipation of their Limited Edition Bags. While there, I was able to meet the owner of Harveys, Dana. He was awesome to meet in person. We got talking about blogging, Facebook, etc.
Well guess what, a few days after blogging about my adventure at Harveys, Dana contacted me. He said that he wanted to do a giveaway on my blog! Yes, a giveaway for my readers and of course, the many Harveys’ fans out there. So what am I giving away?
I’m giving away the newest Harveys Seatbeltbag. The newest bag collection is a patchwork print with the wonderful name of “Pocketbook Full of Posie”. What a perfect bag for spring! It is a patchwork design with butterflies and flowers. What a bright and cheerful name. It gets me excited for sunshine, shorts, and fresh spring flowers.
I am giving away one Pocketbook Full of Posie Convertible Tote” which measures overall bag size 13″ (L) x 9.5″ (H) x 4″ (W), with an adjustable strap – goes from 28″ with 12″ drop up to 51″ with 25″ drop. It has a retail value of $138.00.
So now you are thinking, how do I win this fabulous messenger bag? Well you enter by commenting on this post.
Here are the “official rules for this giveaway”:
1. This contest will run from Friday, April 2nd, 2010 to Friday, April 9th, 2010 at 1pm PST.
2. There is only one entry per person allowed. You do not need to have a blog to enter.
3. All you need to do is fill in your name and e-mail address in the comments section.
4. Go and checkout Harveys website. Tell me about any other bags that you love from them.
5. If you are already have a Harveys’ bag, tell me about it, or your favorite bag.
6. Once again, only one comment per person. I’m trying to make this simple for everyone.
7. I will only accept entries from the US (United States, y’all). Please do not enter if you are from another country.
8. Harveys will be shipping the convertible tote bag directly.
9. Winner will be drawn randomly.
10. I will announce the winner via my blog by Saturday, April 10th, 2010.
Please check out Harveys’ Facebook Page, Blog, and Twitter also for more information about Harveys Seatbeltbags.
*Giveaway has ended and comments are now closed! Stay tuned for the winner!
I just want to thank everyone for participating in my giveaway this past week! The comments were amazing. Everyone had so many wonderful things to say about Harveys and their bags. Every time I received a comment in my inbox, I smiled.
I picked the winner randomly from all of the entries, using Random.org.
Congratulations Mandy!
You are the winner of the Harveys Pocketbook Full of Posie Convertible Tote! I will be contacting you via e-mail for your information so that Harveys can get your new convertible tote to you, just in time to enjoy it this Spring!
Tales from Chicago Part 2
April 1, 2010
Last week I talked about my arrival in Chicago, eating “real Chicago” pizza, and having a fabulous dinner at Hub51. Today I will talk about Day 2 and the real reason that I was in Chicago. I was invited by Hoover to attend the International Home + Housewares Show. Hoover wanted to tell us all about their new products, and also educate us.
Of course, my body was still on California time and I barely slept, but I headed out to breakfast with the gals (Mishi, Mel, Lee, and Holly). We all wanted to start our day with a great meal. We ended up at West Egg Cafe and I got a delicious waffle. Mishi was mad that I forgot to share my leftover fruit with her. Next time, I will remember to share my fruit.
After spending an enjoyable breakfast together, we went and looked for the shuttle that would take us to the International Housewares Show. Of course, we got to chatting, so we were running a little late. We packed ourselves into the shuttle with about a hundred people and went on our way.
We immediately dropped off our things and got our badges to enter the show. The security was very tight at The International Housewares Show. Each time that you entered a different area of the show, there was a security guard whom would scan the bar code on your name badge.
Can you tell I was a bit overwhelmed? Because I was. After running around, we were able to find Hoover’s and Dirt Devil’s booth at the show. They had a ton of products that I never even knew about.
The Hoover Floormate was the product that I was most excited about. I have around 800 sq foot of tile and wood floors in my house. We are constantly mopping and sweeping the floors. We have too small dogs and a messy child, we need something more. We watched out this machine cleaned up a liquid spill, cleaned the floor, and then dried the floor. There was no residue or stickiness. This was the first thing that I told my mom about when I got home. She also has a ton of tile in her house, and has two cats. She mops daily to keep up with it all.
Did you know that Hoover and Dirt Devil have this many products? I did not. We got to see the features on all of them. I learned what the best tools are for small spaces, for pet hair, on tile/wood/carpeting. I loved all the compact hand vacuums too. I’m glad I have the knowledge now. Our hand vacuum broke this week. We use it so much that we killed it. Now that I have the knowledge, I can research my purchase a lot easier.
We also found out the Hoover recently teamed up with Cleaning for a Reason. Cleaning for a Reason is a non-profit organization that offers free professional housecleaning, and maid services to improve the lives of women undergoing treatment for cancer, any type of cancer. This is a great organization. They are looking for local cleaning and maid companies to donate their services. They currently have over 600 companies donating their time.
Here are some other great posts about the event that we attended:
The Mom Reviews: Hoover FloorMate Hard Floor Cleaner
Unplgged: 2010 Hoover Vacuum Line
Rave & Review: Hoover at the Home & Housewares Show
Trendsetting Wedding: International Home + Housewares Show
June Cleaver Nirvana: Back to Reality
Secret Agent Mama-Not Loss of Suction. Literally.
Disclosure: My trip to Chicago was sponsored and paid for by Hoover. I did not have to post about it, they did not influence me to post about it, but heck I had a great time, so why not!
