Insta-Friday

July 27, 2012

I’m way behind in everything right now. I think I have a bazillion photos to edit that were taken on my Nikon. I rely on my iPhone as a point-and-shoot camera. Luckily, I have that awesome app Instagram to share all of my photos online with everyone. I swear that I’ve left Instagram over my blog most days. I can tell a little story, post a picture, and bam, it’s done!

But since everyone doesn’t use Instagram, I thought I would share some of my photos here:

Running Hair: I do this double ponytail look with a bic band to keep the tiny hairs out of my face. I am a few days away from the one year mark of growing my hair out from a pixie cut. Update coming next week, and oh my gosh, the roots are getting colored also.

Camouflage cupcakes: I made these for my friend’s son. He was turning six. I made 6 dozen after working all day, crazy!

A new Red Robin in two. Yum, Petite Cheeseburger with Bacon. Totally not on the menu. But I order it anyway.

Playing goalie at Discovery Science Center.

A long day at soccer camp. Totally worth the money! I’m already saving up for next year, seriously.

The kid has a MineCraft obsession. He will sit in the hot steamy garage and play it during the middle of the day. He comes in the house all sweaty like no big deal.

Filed Under: Just Julie, Parenting, Photography 8 Comments

Half Marathon Training

July 26, 2012

Half Marathon Training is underway! I’m running the Half Marathon Race at the 2012 Long Beach ICB Marathon. The race is on Sunday, October 7, 2012, which is only 72 (seventy-two) days from today.

I am doing the Hal Higdon Novice 2 Half Marathon Training Plan which is 12 weeks long. I’m in week 2 of 12. My friend, Casey, suggested this training plan.

I’ve been running between 10-15 prior to starting the plan. But knowing that I have to run a certain distance and certain days is stressing me out. I will be in New York next week to speak at the BlogHer conference. I have to run 13 miles in the 4 days that I will be there.

I’m glad that I researched everything and planned it out in advance. I used my favorite printable calendars from Kim at TomKat Studio. I use these calendars for everything.

If you are wondering what I am doing this summer besides working, and picking up my kid from various camps….I am running….and washing my running clothes, and running some more…

Wish me luck in October! Hopefully I will survive training!

Filed Under: Just Julie 5 Comments

Wordless Wednesday: Hello Mr. Penguin

July 25, 2012

Angry Kid and I attended an event at Discovery Science Center last Saturday morning. We were invited to preview a part of The Discovery Science Center’s next exhibit as part of their Wild Summer feature, Sea Life. We got to see a bird and they also had a touch tank from Aquarium of the Pacific. My favorite part was the penguin. He made me giggle.

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.

And, I can’t forget Krystina from Lollipops whom does “What I Love Wednesday” every week with a great big link-up.

Disclosure: I was give free admission to Discovery Science Center along with Angry Kid. All photographs and opinions are mine.

Filed Under: Orange County, Photography, Wordless Wednesday 10 Comments

Planning a Camping Trip via The Internet: DailyBuzz Moms 9×9

July 24, 2012

Approximately one year ago, my husband announced that we were going camping during the summer. We talk about future trips and places we want to go, all the time. I wasn’t quite sure that we were going to actually go camping, for real. As it got closer to June, I realized that we were going to Yosemite, and it was time to start planning. I had never really “camped” before, so I started doing some research, online of course!

Five Steps On How I Planned Our Yosemite Camping Trip Using The Internet

1. Visit Your Destination’s Official Website

I had never been to Yosemite before, so I started at the beginning, Yosemite’s Official Website, via The National Park Service. I wanted to know what there was to do while we were on this vacation. And also, what kinds of activities would be suitable for a 7-year boy who was the only kid in a group of fourteen people. I planned their page on Plan Your Visit, which featured directions, fees, hours, reservations, things to do, and also videos for planning.

Yosemite has thirteen campgrounds and reservations have to be made a year in advance for many of them. Luckily, we were traveling with some expert Yosemite travelers whom had already made reservations a year prior. My husband advised me that we were staying at Housekeeping Camp. My husband already advised me that we were not tent camping, but he also gave me a vague description of our actual lodging. I was able to research Housekeeping Camps lodging and amenities. I learned about the sizes of our bear boxes, where we would take showers, and also what types of items were found in the camp store.

2. Find Out More Information About Preparation/Lodging/Suggestions For Your Campsite via Message Boards, Websites, Reviews, and Blogs

Squirrels were a popular topic on any article that I found about Yosemite. Squirrels are everywhere in Yosemite. And after spending almost a week camping in Yosemite, I have learned that these are a special type of squirrel. These squirrels are evil geniuses. They are super smart. Their main objective is food. They will do anything to get to your food. Yes, you have to worry about the famous black bears at Yosemite. But, there are thousands of little squirrels running around the campsites. It is almost like there are platoons of squirrels in the squirrel army. They meet all day and conspire on how to steal food. My husband caught two of them running around where are beds were. He finally noticed that they were sneaking out beef jerky, piece by piece.

We were traveling with some very experience Yosemite campers. Our friend, Laurra sent us a list via email of things to bring/pack/have. I trolled all kinds of forums and websites for additional items and suggestions. I kept adding to Laurra’s original list. Bringing a set of Christmas Lights to mark your camping area is GENIUS. It gets very dark at night, and trying to find your campsite after going to the bathroom can be difficult. I never got lost because I always looked for our red/white/blue Christmas lights. I am lucky that our family hoards lights.

3. Do Research On Camping Equipment For Reviews and Best Prices

Using lists that we found online and via friends, we were able to check some things off that we already had. As first time campers, we had to buy quite a few things though. We went to several sporting goods store locally and stalked things we wanted in advance. As our trip got closer, we really researched the items that we wanted.

One of the most important things that we needed for the trip was a large cooler. We were going to be camping for six days, and that meant five breakfasts, lunches, and dinners to make. We had to make sure that all of our perishable items were going to stay cold while we were camping. There is nothing worse than having your food go bad. I started looking for 5 or 6-day coolers online. I found several that I liked, and then went a step further. I would do searches on the specific model that I was looking at and looked at reviews/complaints. We settled on a Coleman 100-quart Xtreme 5-day Cooler. After reading reviews, I knew how to properly stack the dry ice around our food to keep it frozen, and when to start adding bags of ice to the cooler to keep everything fresh. By the way, the dry ice stayed intact from Saturday night at 5pm till about Wednesday afternoon-ish. After that we added a 10-lb bag of ice each day. We actually took food home and it went straight back into our refrigerator.

My husband received a Weber Q gas grill as a service award through his company right before we left on our trip. I searched online and found accessories to go with the gas grill. One thing in particular that caught my eye was a griddle to put on top of the grill for cooking. He used that griddle every day while camping for making eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I wouldn’t have bought the griddle without finding reviews that others had left.

4. Keep A Spreadsheet and/or Pinterest Board To Organize Lists

As I said prior, our friend, Laurra, emailed us a list of things to bring and pack for our camping trip. Her family has gone every year for the past thirty years. My husband and I added things to the list as time went on. We kept it as a Google doc so that we could access it when we needed it. After going on the trip, we added more things to the list. We plan to re-organize the list and add check boxes for next year’s trip. We can then send the list to everyone in the group. We also made a menu plan with items listed for each meal. Every family was in charge of one dinner for the week. We input what everyone was bringing and making so that there would not be an overlap and more variety.

Pinterest was awesome for planning this trip. I went online and found recipes, games, crafts, and ideas for camping trips. I used Pinterest and created a “Summer Camping Trip” board to organize it all. When it got closer to our trip, I reviewed all of my “pins” and ideas with my husband. We used several recipes that I had “pinned” and everyone in our group was impressed. They kept asking where I got my recipes. I replied, “The Internet and Pinterest are My BFF”.

5. Screenshots

I knew that I was bringing a few recipes with me on our camping trip. A few of these were first time attempts and I couldn’t remember all of the steps. Rather than printing out the recipes, I screenshot the recipes from the websites that I found them on. I knew that there would be little to no Internet while we were actually in Yosemite, so I made sure to do all of these screenshots ahead of time. My camera roll on my iPhone was like a little mini cookbook.

When it was our turn for our family to make dinner while camping, we made Crockpot BBQ Chicken and Campfire Orange Cakes. Yes, we had access to electricity to use our crock pots. We had three crockpots going that night, two for chicken and one for the beans. The Campfire Orange Cakes shocked everyone. They were delicious, and very orange-y.

********************

Not all of our camping trip was OCD planned, I promise. I just wanted to make sure that we had all of the gear and food organized. We were far from a large sporting goods store and groceries can get expensive in Yosemite Valley. We had plenty of food for our trip, and we were prepared for anything with all of our supplies. It is probably a good thing that we have a large truck.

Yosemite was beautiful and we had a great time. I survived my first big camping trip. I was definitely be going again next year!

Filed Under: Blogging, In The Home, Just Julie, Photography 3 Comments

Billabong “Design For Humanity” Launch

July 23, 2012

Last month, I attended an event at The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano. The event was the kick off for Billabong’s 6th Annual “Design For Humanity” event, which takes place on July 25, 2012. This year Billabong has partnered with The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, which is an organization committed to creating a more sustainable and healthful food supply and for raising awareness concerning food issues.

We were treated to a pre-dinner and reception and live performance from Donavan Frankenreiter, followed by a sit down dinner prepared by Chef Paul Buchanan from Primal Alchemy catering.

After an amazing performance from Donavan Frankenreiter, appetizers, and drinks, we heard speakers talk about the upcoming event, Design For Humanity. We were seated at a very long table that fit all sixty-plus guests invited. It was the perfect setting as the sun was just beginning to set on a warm evening at the beginning of summer.

Evan Marks, The Ecology Center founder talked about attending UC Santa Cruz and learning about sustainable agriculture. While traveling through several counties, Marks acquired hands-on experience in the field of ecological design and sustainable agriculture. Marks is working along with volunteers to transform The Ecology Center as a regional hub for sustainability and green living.

Candy Harris, Billabong’s Brand Director spoke about Design For Humanity, and the history of the event. Harris spoke about how Billabong’s marketing, art, and design teams to came together to give back to a non-profit close to the heart of their industry. She also spoke about this being the 6th year of the event and how they chose The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation as their non-profit to support.

Chris Arnold, director of communication at Chipotle Mexican Grill and Secretary of the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation spoke about the Foundation. Arnold said that The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation is committed to creating a more sustainable and healthful food supply and to raising awareness concerning food issues.

After the speakers, we were served our delicious Farm-To-Fork (Table) dinner family style. Each dish highlighted local bounties; avocado from musician Jason Mraz’s farm, eureka lemons and herbs from pro-skateboarder Bob Burnquist’s farm, tangelos and navel oranges from Murray Farms, Weiser Family Farms heirloom potatoes; mussels from Carlsbad Aquarium, Tamai Farms roasted chilies, and greens from Kenter Canyon Farms.

After hearing about all of the food involved in the dinner, and where it came from, I was starving. We were all excited to try all of the food that awaited us. While listening to the speakers, I was able to acquaint myself with everyone seated around me. I met several Billabong employees, and other people affiliated with Billabong. We all felt like a family after and passed around the family-style plates that were put in front of us. It was a great way to start conversation. Plus, you could pick and choose which food you wanted.

Aren’t you hungry now?

Billabong’s 2012 “Design For Humanity” Event

will take place on

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 7:00pm at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California.

As of right now, tickets are SOLD OUT. More tickets will go on sale Tuesday, July 24th at 10am.

For more information about tickets, please click here to go to the Design For Humanity Ticket Information.

The event, which takes place at the legendary “NY Street” back lot of Paramount Studios in Hollywood, is a mix of fashion, music and art. This massive fashion-music-art block party will offer three concert stages, DJ dance parties, and runway fashion show featuring items from Billabong’s new collection. Billabong collaborated with painter Hayuk on the line’s swimwear. Some of the looks from the Billabong spring collection will be available for purchase at the event and Hayuk’s pieces will be available for pre-sale starting that day.

100% of this year’s ticket sales and a portion of the proceeds from art auction and product collaboration sales are being donated to the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, a new foundation aimed at supporting people, organizations and institutions that are committed to a better, more sustainable future through their work to improve individual family farms, the environment, as well as youth and education programs.

Disclosure: I was honored to be invited to this event. I love that as a blogger, I am able to find out more information and support new and upcoming charities and events. I was not paid to attend. All of the photos and opinions are mine. All of the food did go into my stomach, and I didn’t share.

Filed Under: Just Julie, Orange County 1 Comment

Gardening at Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop

July 20, 2012

At the end of the school year, Angry Kid had a unit on gardening. He learned all about plants, how they grow, and they even grew some little plants of their own. He was very excited to start a garden at home. Fast forward to the summer, with a week-long trip to Yosemite, soccer camp, and everything else going on. Let’s just say, that we haven’t had the time to work on the “vegetable garden project”.

We were invited to a Children’s Gardening Class at Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop in Costa Mesa over the weekend. Greenleaf’s Costa Mesa location is a marketplace, wine bar, indoor and outdoor dining, and an on-site chef’s vegetable garden. Mike Saraylian, owner of Newport Beach’s Harvest To Home taught the kids in our group about the benefits of growing and eating organic foods, hot to pot plants and grow your own vegetable garden at home.

The kids were learning about the vegetable garden and how to take care of one. Mike from Harvest to Home was telling them how the flowers turn into vegetables.

A tiny green caterpillar was found in the garden, which is not a good thing for gardens. But it was tiny and somewhat cute.

Angry Kid was picking some vegetables from the garden. He later learned that he did not like cucumbers. At least he finished eating it, but I almost thought he was going to spit it up on the table.

Angry Kid planting his vegetable. He did a great job!

The decor on the interior of Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop is gorgeous. I wanted to borrow those barstools and light fixtures in there. We stayed after the gardening class and ate some lunch. Angry Kid and I both had eggs and bacon, which was more of a brunch meal. It was delicious!!! I cannot wait to try some of their delicious salads also!

Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop in Costa Mesa will be hosting one hour Children’s Gardening Classes in conjunction with Harvest To Home on Saturdays throughout the summer at 10:00am. Participants aged 7-13 may pay their fee of $20 in cash or check at the time of the class, or they (a parent) can call ahead at (949) 873-5400 to pay with their credit card. Parents are welcome to join in on the tour for free. If they (parents) wish to take home a plant, there will be an additional charge.

The classes are suitable for Girl Scout and Cub Scout Badge work as well as for families who wish to learn together. If you have a larger group, please contact Harvest to Home at (949) 873-5400, so that they can make accomodations.

Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop is located at 234 E. 17th St. in Costa Mesa, CA. Harvest to Home Garden Delivery Service is a Newport-Beach based business that installs custom organic garden boxes and raised bed gardens.

Disclosure: Angry Kid and I were invited to a Children’s Gardening Class at Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop put on by Harvest to Home. Angry Kid got a tour of Greenleaf’s own chefs garden. He was also educated about organic raised bed gardening. He potted his own plant while we were there. All opinions and photographs are mine.

Filed Under: Orange County, Parenting, Photography 2 Comments

Wordless Wednesday: Planting Vegetable Gardens

July 18, 2012

We attended an event on Saturday at Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop in Costa Mesa. I will have a more detailed post about it later this week. Angry Kid got to learn more about vegetable gardens. He already thinks that he knows everything. While I was editing my photos from the event, I saw this photo. It totally cracked me up. He makes the strangest faces at me.

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.

And, I can’t forget Krystina from Lollipops whom does “What I Love Wednesday” every week with a great big link-up.

Disclosure: We were invited to a Children's Gardening Class at Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop. My son came home with a plant. All photographs and opinions are mine.

Filed Under: Orange County, Photography, Wordless Wednesday 11 Comments

Tie-Dye Pillowcase Tutorial

July 16, 2012

It has been quite awhile since I’ve had the chance to be crafty. I have several unfinished projects lying around my house, but I was ready something new and fun. I think that tie-dye is the perfect thing for a summer project. I haven’t done anything with tie-dye since high school. My son kept giving me crazy looks when I set out all of the supplies for this project. He was a bit skeptical. I was super excited to try out Tulip’s Rainbow Tie-Dye Kit that I received.

I have to admit that I was quite unsure of myself while going through the process of tie-dying the pillowcase. I went online and looked at several different tie-dye projects for ideas. There are a ton of different patterns and techniques that you can use when tie-dying. I chose to use the Bullseye Technique for tie-dying.

I got my supplies all organized, and used the following:

Tulip Rainbow Tie-Dye Kit
Tulip Surface Cover
Plain white pillowcase
Paper towels
Plastic wrap

Step 1: Set Out The Supplies

I opened the packaging for the Tulip Rainbow Tie-Dye Kit and took out the contents which included: plastic bottles with powdered dye inside, extra dye in plastic baggies, rubber bands, clear plastic gloves, and instructions. I have a box of gloves in my garage so I brought those out for extra protection. I tend to get a little messy.
I decided to use colors that match my son’s room for my tie-dyed pillowcase project. The colors in his room are blue, gray, and orange. I had container with blue dye, but no orange or gray. I had red and yellow, so I decided to mix them together to make orange. Before I mixed the colors together, I asked my son, “What colors mixed together make the color orange?” He answered, “Red and Yellow”. At least I know that he is paying attention in school.
I then laid out the Tulip Surface Cover on my kitchen counter. Because this was a small project, I used my kitchen counters. If it was a larger project, I would have set everything out on my kitchen table.
Do a search online for all of the super cool tie-dye techniques that are out there.
Get overwhelmed.
Realize that the pillowcase that you are using is brand new. Throw it in the quick cycle in your washing machine (no fabric softener, and then dry it without a dryer sheet).
Waste 30-40 minutes waiting.

Step 2: Prepare Your Pillowcase for the Tie-Dye

Find the center of the pillowcase, pinch it slight, and wrap a rubber band around it. There should be about an inch of fabric sticking out at the top.
Lift up the pillowcase by the tiny piece that was made by the rubber band in the beginning.
Continue wrapping rubber bands around the pillowcase with a two-inch space in between them.
You will get to a point where the ends of the pillowcase split like rabbit ears, continue to wrap the rubber bands with two-inch spaces on the sections that split.

Soak or dip the fabric into water (optional but the dye soaked up better being wet).
Squeeze out excess water.

Step 3: Dye The Fabric

Put on gloves. This is DYE, it gets everywhere.
Mix the dye in the plastic bottles by adding water to the powdered dye inside.
Shake up the dye really well.
Apply the dye to one section at a time.
I did one color at a time, alternating.
Make sure to flip the fabric around so that each section is fully soaked in with dye.

Add second/third/forth colors.
The color will bleed a little. Some of the color will get into the other sections.
Pat drips of color on your surface cover with a paper towel. It helps from keeping the dye from getting everywhere and making a mess.

Step 4: The Waiting Process

Wrap tie-dyed fabric in plastic wrap to keep it damp.
Wait 6-8 hours. I waited about 12 hours, because it sat overnight.
Realize that you have random t-shirts around your house, and use the excess dye to make a tie-dyed t-shirt.

Step 5: Post Tie-Dye Process

Lay out the surface cover again.
Place the plastic wrapped fabric on top of the surface cover.
Put on gloves.
Cut rubber bands off of wrapped fabric. Do it gently, you do not want to cut the fabric. NOTE: You can also leave on the rubber bands during the washing process, and cut them off when you go to dry the fabric.
Shake out the pillowcase/fabric.
Place the pillowcase into your washing machine, wash it on HOT with a small amount of detergent.
Dry the pillowcase.

Step 6: Enjoy The Finished Project

Ideas for Tie-Dye Pillowcases:

Make one to take to sleep-away summer camp, Craft Project at Camp, Sleepover Activities, Birthday Presents

Tulip Tie Dye Kits are available at Walmart, Walmart Canada, Michaels, JoAnn, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby, Hancock Fabrics, and Meijer. Tulip Tie Dye Kit contents and colors may vary by store.

Find more ideas from Tulip Tie Dye:

@ilovetocreate on Twitter

iLoveToCreate and iLoveTulipFashionArt on Facebook

Disclosure: I was provided with the Tulip Tie Dye Kit and Surface Cover for this project. I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with iLoveToCreate.com and Blueprint Social. All opinions and photographs are mine.

Filed Under: In The Home, Just Julie 16 Comments