June 2011 - Page 2 of 3 - Angry Julie Monday

Friday Favorites #9: Kitchens

June 17, 2011

Last week our refrigerator died….it was not a slow and paintful death. It was very fast. It started making a VERY loud noise on Thursday night, and by Friday morning, it was starting to warm up. Angry Husband called a repair company and they could not come out until Monday to look at it.

On Monday, an awesome repair guy came to check out the refrigerator. He let me know that the compressor was bad, and that it would cost several hundred dollars to fix it, close to the thousand dollar mark. I had a very bad feeling that this was going to happen over the weekend. We were already on Day 4 without a refrigerator. Can you imagine going that long? Well, we did.

I alerted Angry Husband via text message about our situation, and he told me that we would go looking for refrigerators that evening. Of course, I already had my mind made up on the refrigerator that I wanted. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I recently wrote an entire blog post about Bosch’s French Door Refrigerator. Honestly, I’ve turned into a Bosch snob and I’m ok with that. In the past year, I’ve taken two trips to their showroom. I am an extremely educated consumer now, and know all about their products.

Of course, all of our appliances in our kitchen are old, and they make me angry. Don’t even get me started on our stove. It is electric, and it is original to our house, circa 1984. I knew that the refrigerator purchase would be the start of replacing the rest of our appliances, plus some inspiration to start some kind of kitchen remodel.

Of course, I won the war with my husband, and we got the Bosch refrigerator. It was delivered last night while I was at work, but my husband sent me a picture. It is soo pretty. Don’t you think?

This just starts a whole new track of thought for me now. My new refrigerator is shiny and pretty. The rest of my kitchen is dull, broken, and boring. I need some inspiration for my kitchen. Of course, I have an entire board on Pinterest for kitchens. I thought I would post a few of my favorites things for kitchens.

Source: me oh my

I love the white cabinets and the white subway tile backplash. And the granite, of course, it is pretty similar to our cabinet/granite color scheme now. Only this kitchen is 100% more awesome. I think we need to stick with white cabinets, because of the color scheme in our house, and the size of the kitchen.

Source: Pacific Northwest Cabinetry

Because we have a smaller kitchen space, we need tons of storage. I love the way that these cabinets are set up. The drawers are deep, and also built to hold lots of stuff. I like how they have the dishes in an under the counter drawer also, easier for kids to reach.

Source: House of Turquoise

I love farm sinks. I mean really, it is a total pain to wash dishes in those side by side sinks. The plates and cooking utensils never really fit right. You have to prop them up on the sides of the sink. With a farm sink, you just pile it up.

Have you recently redone your kitchen? Do you have any awesome ideas for kitchen? Do you know someone whom would want to finance my kitchen remodel (totally kidding, maybe)? Seriously, I need to start saving some money, because we need a new kitchen in a bad way.

Disclosure: I went on a trip via Bosch Appliances last month. They paid for it. They taunted me with their wonderful appliances. My refridgerator really really did die. I swear. No lie. We lived with a mini fridge for a week. Bosch Appliances assisted me with a discount in purchasing my new refrigerator. I might have begged a little. But then again, Bosch Appliances in an enabler, and have made me a Bosch snob.

Filed Under: In The Home, Just Julie 3 Comments

School’s Out For Summer

June 16, 2011

Today was Angry Kid’s last day of school. He is no longer a kindergartener. He has grown up too much. Last night he read Green Eggs and Ham all by himself. I took a picture of the Angry Kid on the first day of school, and I had Angry Husband take another picture of him today too. You can tell in the pictures how much he’s grown. Now, it is time to keep this kid entertained. I need to make one of those summer to-do lists or something?

Filed Under: Parenting 7 Comments

Wordless Wednesday: Bridesmaid and Ring Bearer

June 15, 2011

On March, Angry Kid and I were in my lifelong friend Kelly’s wedding. Angry Kid was the ring bearer, and I was a bridesmaid. I had the photographer, Lydia Messenger take some additional photos of our family while we were. She recently emailed me some of the photos. Angry Husband didn’t know, but I already knew I was going to have some kind of family picture taken that day. I purposely matched his shirt to our outfits. I’m sneaky like that.

Welcome to “Angry Julie Monday’s Wordless Wednesday Linky”!

If this your first time here, HELLO! I do a link-up every Wednesday! Post a picture(s) and link back to it here. Wordless Wednesday is a great day to post an awesome picture that “speaks” for itself, no words needed. I may be a little wordy today….

Be sure to check out Wordless Wednesday Link-Ups at these other sites also:

Project Alicia, Better in Bulk, Dear Crissy, Five Minutes For Mom, Live and Love…Out Loud,Parenting By Dummies, Seven Clown Circus, Supermom, The Divine Miss Mommy

(P.S. if you do a Wordless Wednesday or similar link-up, let me know. I will add you to my list above.)

Also, Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy does “What I Wore Wednesday” every week with a great big link-up

and

Krystina from Lollipops does “What I Love Wednesday” every week with a great big link-up.

Be sure to check out their posts too. I wish I had the extra time to do all of these fabulous link-ups.

Filed Under: Just Julie, Photography, Wordless Wednesday 26 Comments

Adding touches of spray paint to my bedroom accessories

June 13, 2011

So I have all of these creative crafty friends. They are like masters of the spray paint can. My husband is always spray painting random stuff in the garage. I figure that I should join in on this trend, right? I’m still trying to finish our master bedroom makeover. It has taken me a few months. I’m not made of money, and I’m pretty indecisive about decorating. But seriously, I’m almost done. I’m just working on a few things to hang on the wall. And I’m throwing down some accessories on the dresser and nightstands.

I’ve done two spray paint projects so far. My first project was a pair of birdcage candle holders that I purchased from Michael’s. They were a dark brown rustic metal when I purchased them. I thought that they would look a little snazzier with a few coats of gloss black spray paint. Angry Husband already had black gloss spray paint (unknown random brand). Before I (yea right, you know my husband painted these) painted the candle holders, I cleaned and scrubbed them really well with soap and water, and a scrubbing sponge thing (whatever I found under our kitchen sink). I think gave the candle holders are a little sanding down with some light grit sand paper to make the paint stick. The candle holders were then spray painted with two coats of black gloss spray paint. I rarely light candles but I think they look pretty so I’ve found an alternative to candles. I buy Enjoy Lighting’s flameless candles. They are battery-operated LED lights. I usually buy them at Michael’s when there is a good coupon.

My second project was a birdcage jewelry holder that I found at Homegoods. I love all the cool stuff that I find at Homegoods. And the jewelry holder goes great with my awesome birdcage candle holders. When I purchased the jewelry holder, it was a pretty light blue. Unfortunately, this particular blue color clashes with the bright turquoise walls in the master bedroom and bathroom.

I cleaned and scrubbed the birdcage jewelry holder once again. I think took some sand paper and lightly sanded the holder, making sure I hit all of the grooves and curves. Angry Husband then hung it from a coat hanger in the garage. He advised me that we needed to spray paint it with a WHITE coat of PRIMER first. I wanted a bright glossy red. He said that if we did not use a primer first, then the birdcage would be a much darker red. With all of the edges and interior portions of the birdcage jewelry holder, he (yes, Angry Husband) had to spray 2 coats of white primer. We waited for a day for the paint to dry, then the red gloss coat was ready to be applied. I bought a can of RustOleum Gloss Apple Red spray paint. It was the perfect red.

I couldn’t wait for the jewelry holder to dry. I waited about three days because it was a little sticky. I then promptly hung all of my necklaces on it.

Filed Under: In The Home 21 Comments

Project 365: Week 23

June 12, 2011

We are not even half way through the year yet. I’m still taking pictures with my iPhone every day though. Sometimes, I do get busy though, so I make sure to take a photo or two before bedtime. We are getting all geared up for summertime. We hope to take some roadtrips and get some projects finished.

Project 365 155/365: I’m acting as a general contractor again. Having husband do project in kid’s room.

Project 365 156/365: Enjoying my drink at Slyder’s Pool @ The Hyatt Regency in HB. #hyatthbpoolday

Project 365 157/365: I’m so excited about the gift that I ordered for my son’s teacher from @lisaleonard. It is perfect! She is going to be so surprised!

Project 365 158/365: Angry Kid, the iPad, and dinner at Outback Steakhouse tonight.

Project 365 159/365: Awesome parent let her son eat a chocolate donut for after school snack.

Project 365 160/365: I wrapped up a baby gift for a sorority sister today. I love this wrapping paper.

Project 365 161/365: Proof that my husband is more crafty than me. He is making auction paddles for an event tomorrow.

Filed Under: Photography, Project 365 2 Comments

Friday Favorites #8: Summer

June 10, 2011

My son’s last day of school is next Wednesday. How did summer come so fast? Have you made plans for summer? We are going a little on the fly this summer. We are planning some short trips and trying to make the most of the sunshine. I’m sure that we will have spent many hours at our neighborhood pools and local beaches. Of course, I have to share some lovely pictures and/or ideas that remind me of a sunny summertime.

An awesome FREE printable.

Source: Laura Winslow Photography

Kid wash.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

A S’Mores gift.

Source: The Rachel Berry Blog

Popsicle Recipes.

Source: Tipnut 50+ Homemade Popsicle Recipes

A backyard party set-up.

Source: Beach Vintage

A yummy drink display.

Source: imgfave

Filed Under: In The Home, Just Julie 1 Comment

Good Clean Fun with Dinosaur Themed Bath Products

June 9, 2011

Angry Kid mostly takes showers now. But there are times that he loves to take a bath. He usually stays in the bath water playing until the water is freezing cold. My son used to love bubble baths, but as he grew older, his splashes grew larger, which equals a BIG mess. Angry Kid also started having problems as the bubble bath products that we previously used, would get into his eyes and he complained. We had to stop using bath products because of this.

I recently received some bath products from Smith & Vandiver a company whom promotes healthy clean living with natural products. When Angry Kid was a baby, it was easy to find natural and healthy bath products. As he has gotten older, we have less options, and have been using adult products. I love that Smith & Vandiver have their own kid-friendly bath line catering to the 2-10 year old crowd.

My son loved their irritation-free fruity grape bubble bath. The bubble bath smelled so good that I wanted to take a bubble bath. The Dino-Bubbles have a skin healthy 5.5 pH. The packaging for the product actually uses 82% less plastic than other products with the same size bottle.

Of course, my son’s favorite product from Smith & Vandiver were the Dino-Fizz eggs. He is REALLY into science right now, and watching the eggs fizz was like his own science experiment in the bathtub. As each egg dissolves, a baby dinosaur “hatches” and floats to the surface. They are available in Apatosaurus, Tyrannosaurus or Stegosaurus. My son wanted to try all of the eggs that first night. He loved watching the eggs “dissolve” and waiting for the little dinosaur to float up.

You can buy these products from Smith & Vandiver’s Website. They range in price from $1.59 to $14.99.

Disclaimer: I was provided samples of Smith & Vandiver’s Good Clean Fun line of bath products to review. My kid actually took a bath and used these products. I didn’t include “real life” photos of my son using the products because really, that is just creepy at six years old. I don’t want to attract the wrong type of readers to my site. You know whom I’m talking about.

Filed Under: Reviews Leave a Comment

Wordless Wednesday: Japanese Erasers

June 8, 2011

Last Wednesday, I picked my son up from his after-school program at school. It was just us for the night, as my husband was out of town for work. I told him to pick where our dinner destination would be at. He couldn’t focus on food. He kept ranting about getting Japanese erasers from our local donut store. I told him that we were not going to the donut store. I knew a shop where they sold Japanese erasers. Sometimes I actually pay attention. I told him that if he was a good boy, I would buy him some Japanese erasers. Really, sometimes, you’ve got to bribe kids. I survived dinner and he got five new erasers, his first Japanese erasers. I don’t get the hype. Apparently, everyone else I know has gone through this phase, like over a year ago. Whatever, they are cute, right?