Wordless Wednesday: Holiday Decor Prep

November 23, 2011

Thanksgiving is on Thursday. How did it get here so fast? Of course, we are running around doing last minute things like we always do. We are extreme procrastinators in the Angry House.

My husband works in retail so he gets quite busy during the Holiday Season. I get tired of begging him to get the Christmas stuff situated every year, so I begged/annoyed him to get everything organized early this year. He pulled all of our totes and boxes down from the rafters of our garage Monday night. He then proceeded to organize all the boxes into categories: outdoor lighting and decorations, indoor decor, and Christmas tree lighting/decorations. We have a faux tree which is still in the rafters, and won’t be pulled down until Sunday or so.

After we organized everything, Angry Husband walked around the house with a measuring tape. He was doing measurements for our lights. We also discussed extension cords, and adding additional outlets to the exterior of our house. Angry Husband is on a mission. For the past two years or so, we’ve thrown up decorations last minute and we put no thought to it. Hopefully, everything will turn out right this year. We can’t officially decorate the exterior of our house until Thanksgiving day I believe, because of our lovely HOA aka Home Owner’s Association.

Oh, all of those totes featured….that is not all of our Holiday Decor. We have more up in the rafters that we are not using…

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I am doing a GIVEAWAY for a Teleflora Flowers Family Gathering Centerpiece this week. It ends on 11.26.11 at 12:01am EST.

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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, By Word of Mouth Musings, Dear Crissy, Five Minutes For Mom, Live and Love…Out Loud, Parenting By Dummies, Seven Clown Circus, Supermom, 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.

Filed Under: Holidays, In The Home, Photography, Wordless Wednesday 16 Comments

Family Gathering Centerpiece with Giveaway

November 22, 2011

The Holidays are coming fast, and Thanksgiving is just in a few days. Although I’m working during the day on Thanksgiving, we are having people over for dinner that night. I’m making lists of things to have ready and prepped for our dinner party. Tomorrow will be our last chance to get all of those last minute items that we need for our meal. But I think having a little festive decor will make it even more festive.

I’m always big on decorating for the Holidays, but Thanksgiving seems to get lost in the middle. We go all out for Halloween and Christmas. Luckily, I saved some of our Halloween-Harvest decorations with pumpkins, and kept them out for a few more weeks. Having a meal prepped and just thrown on the table is just boring. You want to make it special. I love finding the right centerpiece for my table.

Teleflora Flowers just happens to have some fabulous floral centerpieces for your table. Wouldn’t that be a great gift to send ahead to the host/hostess of your Holiday meal?

WIN A FAMILY GATHERING CENTERPIECE FROM TELEFLORA

Graciously gather your family around the warm glow and classic autumn colors of this stunning Thanksgiving centerpiece. A lush variety of burnt orange blooms are gathered under a pair of tall, graceful candles perfect for decorating your Thanksgiving dinner table, entryway or hearth.

Fall flowers include orange roses, orange asiatic lilies, dark orange alstroemeria, bronze button mums, yellow cushion mums, rust cushion mums, green oregonia and green huckleberry.
Accented with oak leaves and two orange taper candles.
Approximately 22″ W x 16″ H

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Note: Blog comments are closed on this post due to usage of Rafflecopter.

Disclosure: This promotional sponsored post was made possible by Mom Spark Media. I was compensated for my time investment and work on this campaign.

Filed Under: Reviews

Obstructed Views

November 21, 2011

I was invited to Disneyland on Saturday for event celebrating the Holidays at the Disneyland Parks. I big puffy heart everything about Disneyland. It is truly magical. But things like parades and fireworks at the parks, give me a little road rage. That is the only way that I can describe it. I am not a tall person by any means, 5’4″. So it can become difficult when I’m attempting to take photographs.

We were dead center on Main St. USA at Disneyland for the “Believe… in Holiday Magic” Fireworks Show, which should have been perfect viewing, except for the fact that a man standing about six feet in front of me, was like seven foot tall, I am not exaggerating ok maybe a little. I pushed my way up to the front of our area, but I have a lot of internal cursing (ok so I might have said a few obscene words outloud) going on during the show. I love viewing the fireworks, and photographing them is a HUGE bonus. I was completely spoiled during HalloweenTime at Disneyland. We had the perfect view of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle for the Fireworks show. I took some AMAZING photographs.

I had to edit a few photographs, to show the head, I mean obstruction.

Although, I had SEVERAL, ok hundreds of photographs with obstructed views, or mainly, a LARGE HEAD in my photographs, I think this photograph really captured the moment. Everyone looking towards the castle, as the fireworks are ending, and “snow” is slowly starting to fall. Because really, Disneyland is MAGICAL.

Disclosure: I was provided tickets and a fancy dinner via Disneyland for my family. I will have a much more detailed and awesome post about their Holiday Events later this week. I promise. All opinions are mine.

Filed Under: Blogging, Holidays, Photography 15 Comments

Million Moms Challenge Community Leader

November 21, 2011

For the past two months, I’ve participated in the Million Moms Challenge by contributing stories about my pregnancy and seeing my son for the first time. I really made a connection with all of the moms and family members of people who experienced hyperemesis. I also told the story of seeing my son for the first time in the NICU, and what a process it was to see him. Because of my participation and great reception, I was asked to be a Community Leader for the Million Moms Challenge for the next month.

Please join me in their Community for conversation and what not….

We, well me and the rest of the contributors for the Million Moms Community, would really love you to join in the Million Moms Challenge by signing up for free here. If 100,000 mothers join, then Johnson & Johnson will donate $100,000 to charities that help mothers and babies around the world. We haven’t made that goal yet and time is running out. Please join us, and in the meantime let me know what you do to raise emotionally healthy children!

And don’t forget to stop by our community!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation/campaign via The Blog Frog and the Million Moms Challenge. I was compensated for this. Obviously, I am a woman and a mother. I care about these issues.

Filed Under: Blogging, Parenting Leave a Comment

Project 365: Week 46

November 19, 2011

It has been CRAZY BUSY this week, or at least I have been busy. I think this is the calm before the storm, aka The Holidays. Monday, I celebrated my birthday with my family. I bonded with Angry Kid last weekend. I cleaned out the garage, and I even worked on some craft projects.

And of course, I was a crazy person and went to the movies Thursday night to see Breaking Dawn. Totally worth it!

Day 316: A stormy day in Orange County. The clouds were dark and scary. Day 317: Angry Kid sporting a new hat. I blame his soccer friend for this hat purchase. Day 318: Angry Kid ordered me flowers for my birthday, on the Internet, of course.

Day 319: Cleaning out my garage. Yes, I have multiple boxes of unused Fiestaware. Long story. Day 320: Got my supplies ready for a simple craft project. Day 321: Angry Husband bought me a Jawbone Up for my birthday. Still trying to figure it out. All I know is that it tells me that I haven’t slept enough.

Day 321: Yum Chipotle for lunch. I have a slight addiction to their tortilla chips.

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What did you do this week? Anything new or exciting? Are you ready for Thanksgiving? I’m not! Although, I work on Thanksgiving so I will be arriving home, just as dinner is being served.

Filed Under: Photography, Project 365 2 Comments

Givit.com, For Private Video Sharing

November 17, 2011

Have you ever shot a video with your phone or portable video camera, and wanted to send it to someone privately? I know that if I take any video footage on my iPhone over a certain amount, I can’t text or email it out. I usually end uploading to a public video site, and marking it private.

Angry Husband’s family does not live locally, and then mostly check my blog for updates and information on my son, and our family. Obviously, I don’t post everything that is going on in our life, here. It would be nice to just email friends and family our silly and/or funny videos without having the world to see.

I recently heard about Givit.com. Ironically, I saw a link to the site on a Facebook Friend’s wall. She isn’t even a blogger, shocking!

What is Givit.com?

Givit is a friendly service that lets you share videos privately with only those you choose. Share videos easily with friends and family members at www.givit.com, their desktop application, and—coming soon!—mobile apps.

How does video sharing work with Givit?

Givit makes it super easy to share your videos privately. To share a video at www.givit.com, upload a new video or drag and drop one already in your account onto the Add a Video panel. Add your recipients, a quick message, and decide whether you recipients to be able to re-share your video or not. Then hit Send! Once the share is complete, you can add or remove recipients.

Why do the people I share with have to sign up on Givit.com to see my videos?

Givit’s focus is making video sharing as easy as possible — but they also need to protect your privacy and keep your content secure. For this reason, they require viewers to register before they can view a video. They want to make sure the person viewing your video is really the intended recipient.

Is there a mobile or iPhone App for Givit.com?

They are working on super-smooth apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. They’re looking great but are not quite done yet — they’ll let you know as soon as they are!

The best part of Givit.com…is it is FREE!!!

I tested out Givit by sending my husband a test video. He received the video and signed up for an account to view it. He was impressed. He usually rolls his eyes at some of the things that I send him.

We both agree that being able to use Givit with an app will be a great addition for video sharing when it is available. I’m going to keep checking until I see the Givit App in the Apple Store.

Plus, Angry Kid is getting into video also. So this will be a fun way to share all of his video footage with everyone.

Disclosure: I was compensated for this post as part of a campaign with 5 Minutes For Mom. My opinions in this post are all mine. The photos are courtesy of Givit.com.

Filed Under: Reviews Leave a Comment

Wordless Wednesday: iPad Gaming

November 16, 2011

My son received an iPad for Christmas last year from my parents. Seriously, this purchase was well worth it. He plays with it constantly. My son is definately a tech kid. Of course my husband joins in on the fun too. And Angry Kid was quite excited a few mornings ago…because my husband left this note for him.

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, By Word of Mouth Musings, Dear Crissy, Five Minutes For Mom, Live and Love…Out Loud, Parenting By Dummies, Seven Clown Circus, Supermom, 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.

Filed Under: Blogging, Parenting, Photography, Wordless Wednesday 25 Comments

The Hunger Games Movie

November 15, 2011

This week, I will be attending a Breaking Dawn Premiere Party Extravaganza put on my the lovely Erin. We will be attending the 12am showing of the movie after. It is going to be a late night. I finally finished reading The Twilight Saga, all four books on Sunday night.

But, my true love The Hunger Games trilogy has their first movie premiering next year, March 23, 2012. I first heard about The Hunger Games from Tiffany Romero in 2010. We were at lunch at The Blissdom Conference and we were discussing books. I remember Tiffany telling me that I HAVE TO READ The Hunger Games. So as soon as I got home from Tennessee, I bought the first book. It was love at first chapter….

If you haven’t read The Hunger Games yet, here is a little brief synopsis:

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

I love these individual posters of the characters. I hope they live up to everyone’s expectations. I always worry about the actor casting when books turn into movies. I’m sure everyone can’t wait to see “Katniss, Peeta, and Gale”. I am pretty excited for this movie.

Erin is already thinking about a Hunger Games Premiere Party. And honestly, I am too. I already created a board on Pinterest, titled “Hunger Games”. I’m going to put all of my inspiration and ideas on there.

1. 74th Annual Hunger Games Hoodie. 2. Vinyl Mockingjay Decal. 3. Mockingjay Pencil Set. 4. Hunger Games Mockingjay Confetti.

And of course, the awesome trailer for the movie!!!

Don’t forget to register at www.thecapitol.pn to be assigned a district and receive the latest announcements from The Capitol in anticipation of the 74th Hunger Games.

Disclosure: Thanks to Lionsgate for the photos of the cast and the link to the trailer.

Filed Under: Just Julie 14 Comments