Angry Julie Monday

Wordless Wednesday: Soccer Season

September 19, 2012

You are probably wondering what keeps me so busy? Besides working, parenting, and running…three days a week, my life is dedicated to soccer. This is my son’s second year of playing soccer. On Saturday we had team photos and a game. Our soccer game was at noon on Saturday, and it was umm at least 100 degrees. KILL ME NOW! It was hot, but the kids survived.

My kid is such a spaz!

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.

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

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

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

Filed Under: Parenting, Photography, Wordless Wednesday 7 Comments

The Book Vs. The Movie Version

September 18, 2012

My son is in second grade now and he’s well on his way to reading chapter books. We had a bit of a freak out in August about school starting, and I bought my son a book to read. Because it was summer still, and I know that he is sometimes a bit random, I bought him a fun book “Diary of a Whimpy Kid”. He was hesitant to read the book at first, but once he got into it, I knew that it would be a hit.

Last night, while my husband was flipping through channels on the TV, he noticed that the movie, “Diary of a Whimpy Kid” was on. It had just started. My son sat and watched the movie mesmerized for two hours straight. It was on regular TV with tons of commercials, like um, a million commercials.

I can’t remember when, but sometime while watching the movie, Angry Kid exclaimed, “I totally remember that part from the book!” It was like fireworks were going off in my heart! Seriously he finally got it. I’ve tried explaining the whole “not every book has pictures theory”, and he didn’t quite get it. I said that while reading the book, you have to visualize the people and characters in your head. The author of the book describes them, and then it is like a “little movie in your brain”. Be thankful that I’m not a teacher. I educate in a random way, but somehow “the king of being distracted by shiny things” aka my son, understood what I meant. By seeing the actual movie, he was able to remember and visualize the different parts of the book. I didn’t even go into the “sometimes the movie version of the book totally sucks theory” though.

Of course, my son has watched the movie twice today already. He even made my mom watch the movie this afternoon. She thought that it was hilarious.

And my son, started reading another one of the “Diary of a Whimpy Kid” books at school today.

Which means I’m totally winning….for today!

Filed Under: Parenting 6 Comments

A Southwestern Table Setting With World Market

September 17, 2012

I am an avid shopper at World Market. I practically go there at least once a week. I realized recently that several of the employees recognize me and know me by name. It is getting pretty embarrassing. But the worst part, I ran into my mom in the parking lot at our local store last week. She was going to World Market to buy lamps. With my impeccable (totally joking) taste, we were able to find the perfect set of lamps for her vacation home.

I obviously had a purpose for my trip to World Market last week, but my mom completely distracted me, as usual. I was there to shop for items to decorate a “Santa Fe Inspired Evening”. World Market is actually hosting a Gourmet Getaway Sweepstakes with a Grand Prize Package of a 5-day Culinary Trip for 2, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. What a great way to celebrate Santa Fe “style” with a little dinner party decor!

Obviously, you couldn’t have a dinner party without a dinner table. I received this Verona Dining Table set for my birthday a few years ago. I wanted it after I saw my cousin-in-law’s set in pictures. And of course, it is from World Market. I told you that I shop there a lot.

And some great finds from World Market. I purchased a set of recycled glass pillar candle holders, a Venetian sateen paisley table runner, ocean buffet napkins, jewel-colored tea light candle holders, tealights, and Mexican Pumpkin candles (which smell delicious, by the way).

Obviously if you are hosting an impromptu dinner party at your home, you don’t want to go out and buy all new stuff. You want to add to the accessories and decor that you already have. I selected this dining room table and color a few years ago because I felt that it was practical. Although some people might think that it is a little dark, it meshes with our dark rustic floor perfectly.

And this “rustic” feel is great for a Santa Fe themed dinner party. With the festive table runner in lieu of a table cloth, the grooves and texture of the table are shown off, highlighting the different shades of mahogany also. The bright colors in the table runner also provide a Mexican-Southwestern touch.

I selected the recycled glass candle holders because they were made of a thick glass. They are a perfect neutral candle holder than can be used for several types of occasions. I also placed brightly colored tea light holders on the table to bring out the bright colors in the table runner. The candles in the glass pillars are Mexican Pumpkin which is perfect for the Fall, and they smell delicious too! I went with simple white tea light candles for the tea light holders.

I already owned the dishes and silverware, which are from another store. Luckily I have several different colors of dishes which help celebrate the Mexican-style Santa Fe theme for the setting. I wrapped the silverware in ocean blue buffet napkins to add some more color to the festivities.

And of course, I had to set the mood a little by turning off the lights. The table looks beautiful even with the lights off too!

New Mexico and “Santa Fe” Southwestern style cuisine is known for their use of the chile. You even have a choice of chile, red or green! In Santa Fe traditional Mexican food like enchiladas, chile rellenos, and burritos are their staples, but with a little bit or a lot of chile on top! Seeing as we eat Mexican food all the time at our house, I can see carne asada being served at this dinner table that I have prepared. Now all we need is some nice slushy blended margaritas to go with it!

From now until September 21, 2012, World Market is having a Gourmet Getaway Sweepstakes on their Facebook Page!

The Grand Prize is a 5-day culinary trip for 2 to Santa Fe, New Mexico!

Grand Prize package includes:

A trip for two to to Santa Fe, New Mexico (this is a 5 day Trip for 2 to Santa Fe which includes airfare and hotel)
Hands on Southwestern Cooking class with Master Chef
Personally signed glossy cookbook
Multi-course dinner at the acclaimed Geronimo
Southwestern Foodie Tour with a cultural kick
A $1,000 World Market gift card

** There will also be 3 runner up prize winners that will each receive a $500 World Market gift card!

**The Gourmet Getaway Sweepstakes runs from August 18, 2012 until September 21, 2012.

**If you share the sweepstakes with 5 of your friends (via FB share or email) you can receive 5 additional bonus entries. This is part of the registration process when entering. Users can also enter daily for more chances to win.

You can also find World Market at:

Disclosure: This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™, but all the photographs, and my opinions are my own.

Filed Under: In The Home 3 Comments

Unapologetically Strong

September 12, 2012

As a working mom, it is hard to find the time to fit everything in. I am completely Type-A and a complete control freak. But a few months ago, I realized that I was lacking something. I was focusing on everything else in my life, but myself.

After running a 5K race in March, I realized that I could not run as fast as I used to. I was totally upset with myself, because only a few years ago I was doing some kind of race or running event at least once a month.

In May, I decided to sign-up for a Half Marathon Race occurring in October. I’ve signed up for a half marathon before, but totally wimped out because I had not trained for the event. I was not going to look like a fool this time, and started following a training plan. If I was going to commit to running 13.1 miles, I was going to train and do it right this time.

By committing to myself and all of this training, I have had to delegate some of the things going on in my life, but I’m ok with that. My house is not as clean as I want it to be. I’ve slowed down on my blogging. And my DVR is almost completely full of TV shows that I need to watch. I have made this commitment and I intend to follow through with it. So far, I have not missed any of my training runs. I have made the time even if it means that I’m running at 10pm because I worked all day and attended a function for my son’s soccer league. Some people think that I’m a bit crazy for doing all of this, but seriously if you put your mind to it, you can do it too! You just need to find the time in the day for you, and dedicate it for yourself! And as the title of this post says, “Unapologetically Strong”, I am getting stronger and not apologizing to anyone about taking the time away to run. Honestly, I think my family is happier that I run now, because I tend to scream a little less. Running is a great way to “think it out!”

Celebrating Unapologetically Strong Women:

Whether it’s beating your own personal record, striving to run faster, workout longer, or go above and beyond your regular routine, Degree Women^® will be there to provide inspiration along the way.

The campaign kicks off today, Wednesday, September 12^th with a contest hosted on the Degree Women^® Facebook page, inviting women to share their own unique and inspiring Unapologetically Strong stories and goals.

By sharing their own stories of their own personal challenges, fans will be entered for a chance to win giveaways from Degree Women^® to help on their Unapologetically Strong journey. One winner will also have the opportunity to win the grand prize of $5,000 to spend on achieving their goal.

Erin Andrews tells her own story and how she is “Unapologetically Strong” in this video below. Erin Andrews is a renowned sports broadcaster who tests limits and boundaries every day to defy stereotypes and succeed as a woman in sports broadcasting. Erin has partnered with Degree Women to encourage others to accomplish their own personal triumphs (like me and all of this running nonsense).

And speaking of running…I never realized how much I sweat. I can get pretty funky, especially after running 9-10 miles. I was given a sample of Degree Women’s Clinical Protection with motionSENSE to try out as part of this campaign. It worked so well. And apparently because it is made to work, when you move. Who knew? Seriously, I tried this out, no lie, it works well, and I don’t smell like a men’s locker room.

You can find Degree Women on Twitter as @DegreeWomen and you can also “like” their Facebook Page at Degree Women.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post from One2One Network and Degree Women^®. I received product and incentives. All opinions stated are my own.

Filed Under: Blogging, Just Julie, Running 6 Comments

Wordless Wednesday: Minecrack or also known as Minecraft

September 12, 2012

My husband and son are a bit obsessed lately with a certain computer game, Minecraft. My son was really into it a few months ago, and then he got bored with it. But the past few weeks, it is all he talks about. My husband is a total enabler, because he plays it too. I mean really, two computers at one desk, playing side by side?

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

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

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

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

Filed Under: Parenting 10 Comments

CuppaKim’s Annual Mug Swap

September 10, 2012

Two year’s ago, Kim started her blog, “A Cuppa Kim”. For her annual blog anniversary, she hosts a “Mug Swap” which is quite rad for Kim to do on her blog anniversary.

Kim was great about pairing everyone up and sending out the information with the person’s name, address, blog etc. for the mug swap. Kim said that there were over 225 people signed up. I can imagine that it took a ton of time to organize, yay Kim!

I was given Kate of Upsidedown Kate as my Mug Swapee! I sent Kate a white ceramic mug that said, “Good Morning” on it, cute ceramic measuring spoons, and a dish towel. Everything was from World Market. I’m kinda obsessed with World Market right now.

And I received the cutest care package “Mug Swap” box from Jessica of Keeping Up With The Johnson’s. An adorable polka-dot mug (which I almost bought myself prior to the swamp, total coincidence), measuring cups, delicious tea, and awesome stationary. I mean really, who couldn’t love note cards that say, “Freakin’ Thanks” on them. They are so me!

This was so much fun and I had a blast, “Mug Swappin'”. I can’t wait to see everyone else’s swaps!

Filed Under: Blogging, Just Julie 5 Comments

Awesome 80’s Run Recap

September 7, 2012

Last Saturday, I did a 5K Run/Race in Pasadena called the “Awesome 80’s Run”. I did the race with my friend, Monique, whom I’ve done a ton of races with. I got up bright and early and carpooled with Mo to Pasadena. We live about an hour away.

Because I love a good theme, I had to get myself a little costume for the Awesome 80’s Run. The first rule of costumes for races is that you have to be able to actually run in them. I’ve seen some great costumes, but about a half mile down the road, you start to notice discarded items like hats and butterfly wings that were not worn properly.

I wore my slime green Saucony Kinvara 3’s, knee highs with neon stripes, black Lululemon shorts, a pink Team Sparkle skirt, a tank top with an 80’s theme from Target, and a pink sparkle Bic Band in my hair.

I had Monique take a picture of me with this 80’s sign before the race. After the race, there was a huge line to pose in front of it.

After taking pictures with the sign, Monique find this umm guy in an interesting costume. He was so big, and goofy that we had to take a picture of him. He kept saying that there were going to be 100’s of Facebook photos with him in them. Well dude, if you are going to dress like that, you better expect to be in pictures.

While having a pre-race dance party and waiting to start, I ran into Jen. I knew Jen would love this theme. She had an 80’s themed Christmas card a few years back. It was awesome. Jen was totally rockin’ it! We waited for what seemed like, FOREVER for the race to start. It was past 9am and getting warm, at almost 100 degrees outside. Not fun at all.

The race course was not closed down and it went around The Rose Bowl. Obviously, on a Saturday morning in Southern California on a Holiday Weekend, everyone is out and about enjoying the last rays of summer sunshine. This was not good for the race course. I had to dodge walkers, joggers, people with dogs, and everything else that you could think of while running. Plus, just add in the heat and lack of water, which was a total fail. They had water cups at mile 1.5 but it was like a tiny shot glass of water, not enough for someone whom was running in this type of heat.

Because I was extremely thirsty and just wanted to be done, I started running faster at the last mile. I finished at 33:05 which was decent, but I knew that I could do better. After I hit the finish line, I headed straight for the water table, where there was NO WATER. Apparantly they had run out of water and more was coming. Once again, to run out of water at a race where it was sold out with FOUR THOUSAND (4,000) runners was not a good idea, just saying.

For once, I was smart and stashed some cash in the pocket of my shorts. I spotted a food truck nearby and bought myself a water. It was like the best water that I’ve ever had. It was really sad because it looked like everyone was dying of thirst after the race, and there was no water. Serious FAIL!

I was able to find my friends via text message after they had finished running. They were totally pissed off about the water situation also. Monique and I took some more photos, and then we left. Luckily, we left in time because I heard that the traffic exiting the race was horrible and it took some people over an hour to get out. We headed for a fancy Denny’s breakfast, and some Dr. Pepper for me.

I would not recommend this race, just because of the company that organized it, Superhero Events. They were totally disorganized. I wish that they were more organized because it was a great theme. But seriously, no bananas, oranges or fruit at the end of the race plus no water, was a huge disappointment. There were some pretty nasty comments on the race Facebook page after the event, but of course, they were deleted.

The medal was a super cool one though shaped like a cassette tape with a pretty ribbon. I took a picture of the medal on top of my Totally Awesome Team Sparkle skirt that I wore for the race.

Filed Under: Just Julie, Running 6 Comments

Second Grade

September 6, 2012

Today was the first day of school for Angry Kid. I was anxious about whom his teacher would be this year, and what kids would be in his class. At the beginning of last year, he was bummed that some of his best friends weren’t in his class. But he got over it real fast and did well. He was super excited to see that one of his best friends was in his class this year and he got the teacher that he wanted. That is all that really matters.

He was nice enough to pose with the usual and obligatory signage that I make him hold every year. He even gave me a cheesy smile. But then, after I took my cute and “cheesy” photographs, he broke into his real personality. You see, I caught him “shuffling”….This kid is OBSESSED with LMFAO and “shuffling”!

Ahhhh…..isn’t he just precious…mind you the shirt he’s wearing says, “I’m kind of a big deal”! He should be a blogger or something. This kid has quite the ego. He picked the shirt out last week and my mom bought it for him. Oh, and those feet, size 3.5, YIKES!

Second grade went well today. He is happy!

And if you want to see how The Angry Kid has evolved…pics from Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade…all together..