Angry Julie Monday

Wordless Wednesday: Delicious Frosty

Angry Julie — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:01:57 +0000

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

I’m using a new thumbnail version of linky. By using this version, you are able to see a thumbnail of all of the pictures. Please use a thumbnail of the photo for your Wordless Wednesday Post.

I hate big purchases

Angry Julie — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:19:45 +0000

We are getting to the point in our marriage and family that we have to start replacing things. We’ve had about five couches since we’ve been together. Our current couch needs to be replaced. We bought it for our old house, which had a much bigger family room. I don’t know what we were thinking when we bought a down-stuffed chenille couch? You can only imagine how it looks after five years with a kid who had reflux as an infant, two dogs, and a husband with male friends who come over often. We need a new couch, but I just haven’t found “the one”. I’m not settling with our next couch.

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with our washer and dryer set since it was about two months old. Well, mostly, I love to hate it. I think we’ve had both of them serviced about two to three times each. When our warranty finally expired last year, we decided to not renew it. We were done and said that when they broke again, we would buy new ones.

I think that it was a foreshadowing in April, when I posted about “Airing my Dirty Laundry” and going to Arizona. I attended a Blogger Retreat hosted by Bosch Appliances. They provided us with “laundry training” and also educated us about their products. Before attending this event, we started having major problems with our current LG washer and dryer. Angry Husband and I had been discussing buying a conventional top loading washing machine instead of a front loader. I was intrigued to see what Bosch had to say.

You would think that a family of three would not have a ton of laundry, right? This is what our laundry area looked like before I went on that trip to Arizona. Angry Husband and I both wear uniforms for work. Angry Kid has a habit of changing his clothes at least 2-3 times a day. This makes for a very large laundry pile. We also have an issue of our towels having a mold smell. No matter how few towels, or how fast I put them into the dryer, they smell.

For about two weeks now, our washing machine has been making these crazy noise. It sounds like it is ready to take off and fly away. Angry Husband gave me “that look” about a week ago. He said, “we probably need to look into buying a new washer and dryer soon”. I was in total denial. Even though I hated our current washer and dryer, I didn’t want to justify spending that much money. Have you looked at appliances recently? They are not cheap, plus you always need some kind of accessory/cord/etc. to go with it.

Angry Husband and I were both off today. We were organizing the house and cleaning the garage. This is what people do when their son is at camp for the day. I was doing laundry and the washing machine was even more obnoxious. Angry Husband stated again, “We need to go look at washers and dryers. One day, you are going to NEED to do laundry and it isn’t going to work.” I think he made his point. After we picked up Angry Kid from camp, we headed towards Best Buy.

Really, it was an easy decision for me. I glanced at all of the other brands, but my heart led me to Bosch. I’m a researcher and I felt that I HAD DONE the research. We went with the Bosch Vision Washer and Dryer, 500-Series. We did not get the stands. We have stands with our current washer and dryer. We have NEVER used them. I think we are going to get some type of countertop to put across the top of the washer and dryer for storing the laundry products, etc.

My hand shook a little when sliding that credit card for payment. But then we came home and saw green goo dripping from the soap dispenser on our washing machine. We just sighed with relief.

The new Bosch Babies are coming home on Wednesday. Angry Husband is going to prep for their arrival tomorrow.

Disclosure: I didn’t receive anything from Bosch to post this. They sent me to a Blogger Retreat in April, where I became obsessed with their products. Knowledge is power! Plus, there are ton of rebates for Bosch products. My new washer and dryer is sponsored by my new diet of eating Ramen and having really clean clothes. Ramen = poor, but happy Julie.

Twitter Name Badges

Angry Julie — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:07:28 +0000

In February at Blissdom, I wore my Twitter name badge every day. It love it, because it is easy to read and has a magnetic back. I feel that sometimes Conference Name Badges are hard to read.

When I was cleaning out my purse, I re-discovered my Twitter Name Badge. I was thinking that it would be great to wear at BlogHer too. I contacted Ric, the awesome guy who gave me my badge in the first place.

He told me that the badges sell for $12. I was thinking that we could gather orders and I could bring them to BlogHer with me.

He also has two new styles. He has a video showing the new styles.

Would anyone be interested in getting a Twitter Badge for BlogHer? I am just thinking outloud now, but I would need to organize this soon, like very soon.

***UPDATE***

If you want a Twitter Name Badge in time for BlogHer, Ric has created a site where you can purchase the badges. In the memo spot on Paypal, list your Twitter Name, and also put BlogHer. He will then know to give me the BlogHer ones personally so I can get them to you. I’m closing BlogHer Badge orders today, Thursday, July 29th, at 5PM P.S.T.

Twitter Nametag Store

If you are NOT going to BlogHer, please go to that site and place your order for your very own Twitter Badge/Nametag. They will ship within 8 days.

Too much caffeine, makes Julie crazy

Angry Julie — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:58:14 +0000

I was in utter panic last week. I had to leave for work and could not locate my keys. I was yelling at Angry Husband for like an hour. I ran an errand real quick, and took his truck. I came back and tossed the house again, looking for my keys. Gee, guess where they were? I never use my keys for the front door, so it was not the logical place for them to be.

I would like to thank the 32 oz. fountain Dr. Pepper for that flip out.

I’m participating in this RAD Pro Blogger Challenge with the SITS peeps and The BlogFrog. You may have seen the hashtag on Twitter #31DBB. If you are not on Twitter, just ignore my rambling, because none of this will make sense to you at all.

I just followed a ton of new people on Twitter, because of this. I usually follow people with caution, check out their stream, and see who else they are following. I really don’t want to see randomness all day long. I’m a Twitter addict. I like my Twitter with my breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even late night snack. Twitter is like a comfort food to me.

But ack, seriously….I’ve gotten at least fifteen to twenty Auto DM’s today. What are DM’s? They are direct messages on Twitter. I get it, you are thankful I’m following you and stuffs, but your pre-programmed messages, well they suck. I’m tired of getting the “Thank you for following me, I appreciate it, please check out my website at iliketoautodmyoutodeath.com for more info”.

So I got a little stabby finally, and tweeted out that message above. I may have been drinking an awesome 32 oz. Dr. Pepper from Del Taco. But then again, too much caffeine makes Julie a little stabby and a little crazy, all at the same time.

The moral of this story is, “Help Julie find her keys, cause she loses them a lot, don’t Auto DM because it’s annoying, and keep the Dr. Pepper flowing if you want entertainment late at night.”

P.S. I just saw that I totally wrote a post in 2008 about losing my keys. I think I have a problem.

Wordless Wednesday: July Sky

Angry Julie — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 07:01:54 +0000

I’m using a new thumbnail version of linky. By using this version, you are able to see a thumbnail of all of the pictures. Please use a thumbnail of the photo for your Wordless Wednesday Post.

Awestruck by the iPad

Angry Julie — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:58:00 +0000

Angry Kid is an Apple Kid. Without a doubt, he can work an iPhone better than I can. I will probably ask for his assistance in the future. When I was his age, I begged to go to the toy store. My kid, he begs to go to the Apple Store. It almost looks like he is praying to the Apple gods…

He spent over thirty minutes playing with the iPad last night at the Apple Store. What was he doing? He was playing Plants vs. Zombies. He was quite impressed with the size of the iPad and how nicely it fit in his tiny little hands, with his dirt caked fingernails. I feel bad for the Apple Store employees, and all of the nastiness that paws over their products.

Angry Kid saw this display outside the store and asked Daddy for an iPad like this. Angry Husband responded, they don’t make iPads that big, that is basically a TV. Angry Kid just turned around and gave us both the Angry Face.

I was telling my mom about the iPad experience last night. I told her that Angry Kid was obsessed with an iPad. She inquired about the cost, Internet service, etc. I swear that she might actually buy one. I told her that you can watch movies on it.

But mostly, this post is brought to you by Angry Husband’s iPhone4. This photo was taken with his phone and barely edited. He got a new phone and I got a dress. His phone was all messed up and mine is still fine. I’m not paying a bazillion dollars for a new one, especially since mine is fine and I’m not due for an upgrade.

I think this photo is quite perfect for Sweet Shot Tuesday. I need to participate more frequently. I have been a photo slacker lately.

An Elevator Pitch

Angry Julie — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:15:36 +0000

Today is Day 1 for me of Pro Blogger’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge. I’m participating in this along with members of the SITS community, and The BlogFrog Community, as well.

The topic for today is to “Write an elevator pitch for your blog”.

According to Wikipedia, “An elevator pitch is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds or 100-150 words) seconds or 100–150 words).”

I think that this is a good start for the challenge. It helps define your blog. I can’t tell you how many times that someone has asked me, “What is your blog about?” Mostly of the time, I ramble something like, “I work full-time, married, one kid, and live in Orange County.” But then I shake my head and think, Julie, you sound like an idiot. You are letting these few things define you. I am more than a full-time working mom who lives in Orange County.

But alas, it is ok to have two types of elevator pitches, and each type can be used for different situations.

The Short Version:

“Angry Julie Monday is about the life of a working mom in Orange County, Ca.”

This short version covers a few key points about me, who I am, and where I live. I’m Julie, I work full-time, I am a mom, and I live in Orange County, Ca. But as I pointed out above, this short little phrase does not define me, but really helps to summarize what this site is all about.

Did you see that I used the word “site”? I don’t always use the word “blog” when talking to people about what I do here. I often refer to Angry Julie Monday as my personal website. I think it is important to know your audience when talking about your blog. If someone knows the terms of social media, they will understand terminology such as blog or weblog. For much of mainstream society, “website” is sometimes a better fit.

The Long Version:

“Angry Julie Monday is an online diary consisting of stories involving my family, friends, fashion and photography. I illustrate the tales of my daily life with my Macbook and my Nikon camera. Whether it be my latest dress, reality television, tales of childhood, or trips to Disneyland, I document it. I try and portray what daily life is like being a wife, mother, full-time employee, in Orange County, and attempting to not lose my mind.”

Gee, I actually wrote a paragraph without talking about caffeine, ADD, or Twitter. Seriously, that is quite an accomplishment. I did get a tad wordy, and there were lots of commas in there. I need to work on that, way too many commas in my posts.

Did completing this task change your blog, or change the way you think about your blog?

I think my short version was conceived from my tagline mostly. I’ve had this tagline for three years, and it is a good fit. My long version is more or less many of the roles than I maintain in my life. In between all of these basic roles, I try to fill my life with personality, whether it be my passions (or obsessions), photography, and my randomess.

I think this task helped me realize that my blog is what I want it to be. My blog has had peaks and valleys in the past few years. It all depends on what is going on in my life at that time. At the end of the day, I am a hobbyist, and this blog is my hobby.

Upcoming Events

Angry Julie — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:57:52 +0000

I am completely swamped with stuff in the next month or so. I should probably write everything down on a calendar, or something. Oh wait, I have that fabulous Erin Condren Life Planner in my laptop bag. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for the 2010-11 version.

So anyway, starting next week, July 19th to be exact, I am going to be participating in the Pro Blogger Challenge with The SITS Girls on Blog Frog. It is a plan to which gives you “31 Days to Build a Better Blog”. I am completely stumped with my blog writing lately, and I need some new ideas. This was the perfect challenge for me. I hope to learn more about myself, my blogging, and be able to change some of the things that I do with my blog.

During the first week of August, I will be attending the BlogHer Conference in New York City. This is my second BlogHer, as I attended last year in Chicago. I had a great time. I will be attending some parties, but I am not going to overwhelm myself this time. Seriously, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off last year trying to get to all the events. I can’t wait to see all of my bloggy friends there too. If you are going to BlogHer, be sure and come say “HI” to me.

The week after Blogher, I will be hosting a Back-To-School Giveaway Bonanza with 11 other awesome bloggers. We have some great sponsors lined up for this event. We will be announcing all the sponsors and specifics soon on our Facebook page. Please “LIKE” our Facebook page to get the latest information and a list of all of the Bloggers participating.

And last but not least, I will be finishing my summer with Bloggy Boot Camp in San Francisco. This is my second Bloggy Boot Camp as I attend Bloggy Boot Camp Phoenix. I will be speaking at this particular BBC. I will also be doing a little road trip up to San Francisco with my Bloggy Pals. They also recently added a Bloggy Boot Camp in St. George, Utah on November 13, 2010. I will most likely be attending that one too, as it is the day before my 35th Birthday. I think that is the perfect way to celebrate turning 35!

Wow, looking at all of this freaks me out. But it’s a good freak out, right? Plus the Angry Kid starts Kindergarten the first week of September. I can survive all of this…I can…I hope. Wish me luck!

What is it about Facebook?

Angry Julie — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 02:10:41 +0000

(Photo from sickfacebook.com)

What is it about Facebook that brings out the passive/aggressive side of people? I do not understand why people think that they can post something on their wall, and not expect drama. I don’t think that someon of these people would ever say these things to someone in person.

I was recently watching one of my favorite shows this summer, The Real Housewives of New Jersey. I’ve posted about my strange fascination for “New Jersey” shows before. In the latest episode, I think that they mentioned “Facebook” at least five times. Danielle (the resident lunatic) who is 47 years old, kept going on and on about things that 18 year old, Ashley posted on her Facebook wall. Really, you are 47 years old, why do you care what an 18 yr old is posting? I think it is hilarious that there was so much drama, just because of Facebook.

I’ve been deleting or un-friending people in the past few months because of drama. I have also deleted most of my co-workers. I have nothing against my co-workers, but it seems that Facebook brings drama in the workplace. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “Did you see so-and-so’s pictures on Facebook?” Now I just say, nope.

One of my favorite Facebook stories was during the election last year. I think that politics brings out the worst in people. It is amazing how opinionated that people get, and what things that they type on their “friends” Facebook walls. I was working nights at work, which is pretty much swing shift. I typed something on my wall similar to this, “I can’t wait for this election to be over, I’m so sick of it already.”

I woke up the next morning and checked my iPhone, like I usually do. Admit it people, we all do the same thing. I saw that I had over 35 Facebook messages. I immediately pulled up my Facebook app to see what the heck all these messages were about. The messages were comments on my original status. I was not trying to be passive/aggressive at all. I was just making a generalized statement. Well, one of my friends remarked something like, “me too.” Then one of my co-workers responded with something like, “do you how hard we fought for the right to vote, etc…” And of course the rest of the Facebook comments were those two people going back and forth at each other. It was ridiculous. At the very end, they ended up calling each other names and threatening each other. These were two people who did not know each other at all, they were just mutual “Facebook” friends with me. After everything, the co-worker un-friended me, and the friend told me about all the drama. I guess that I missed out, because I was SLEEPING.

Some people have asked me, “if you don’t like all of this drama, why are you even on Facebook?” I have to admit, that I do like a little drama. It is entertaining. Besides the fact, you gotta love when people post those “fresh” baby pictures, or school graduations.

Have you ever had Facebook drama, seen something really funny, or awkward? What is your favorite Facebook story?

I am thankful for Mama Kat and her Writer’s Workshop, cause my mind is like Jello right now. Mama Kat sponsors a Writer’s Workshop every week.

Oh, and speaking of FACEBOOK, come “LIKE” my page. All of the cool people are there.

Wordless Wednesday: Building Marble Mazes

Angry Julie — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 07:01:12 +0000

(Building mazes rather than sleeping…)

I’m using a new thumbnail version of linky. By using this version, you are able to see a thumbnail of all of the pictures. Please use a thumbnail of the photo for your Wordless Wednesday Post.