parenting – Julie Wrote a Book

Harry Potter Days

Welcome to the scariest fall in the history of forever. And by scariest I mean I barely got used to summer and now school started and I need a nap. I don’t have too much to show for summer, except my kids are alive and happy and I grew a lot of tomatoes. We had a big Summer Bucket List (Beach bonfire! Make a pie!) and almost none of it happened, yet we were busy every single minute of the summer. Sometimes the bucket list is just a way to get to other ideas. We do like to have a Harry Potter…

Sweet and Spicy

Hooray and Hallelujah! It sure took you long enough, weekend. We are... Celebrating: Back in the day, Mother's Day was a Capital-E Event with brunches, nice dresses, and presents. But now I'm tired of those shenanigans. I work so much and my kids are running around all the time, so on Sunday I don't want to go anywhere or do anything or wear nice clothes. I'm going to sleep in late, and then stay in my pajamas and read all day. My kids and husband can visit me bring me hot coffee and we can talk about happy things tell stupid…

Pray the Vegan Away

First Born Son likes to hang out with his gang of rebels and go rock climbing, body building, and go to vegan restaurants. They are living the thug life. And yes, it makes me laugh that the way he rebels against me is to be an athlete and eat vegetables. He went completely vegan for the month of April. My main goal was not to eat any of that fake meat garbage that is sold as health food, so I agreed to cook for him. It really was not all that hard. I had to plan ahead a little more than…

Pick Three

Work. Sleep. Family. Friends. Fitness. Pick three. -Randi Zuckerberg Not gonna lie – I absolutely HATED this advice when it started bouncing around the interwebs a couple of years ago. Three? That's it? If I'm a good mom, friend, and wife I have to give up on work, sleep and fitness? Obviously it pissed me off so much because deep down I knew her advice was true. On my Super Mom days, I do NOT get the words on the page. If I force myself to get a good night's sleep, I'm not going to the gym in the morning.…

Waffles. Books. Matcha. PEEPS.

Happy Easter weekend, to those of you who celebrate. We have dear friends staying with us, which will shake up our Easter traditions in the best possible way. I'm trying to come up with a good hashtag term for it. I see your Friendsgiving and raise you a Friendeaster! Friendster? Freaster? Please stop me. What are we doing on this Weekend? I'm so glad you asked. Serving: a Waffle Bar. You heard me. I'm doing it. Not even ashamed. Reading: Last week I took my kids on a field trip to Los Angeles. We capped off the day with a…

Adjectives, Trader Joe’s, and Succulent Jellyfish.

Julie Strauss
September 10, 2016
Romance Writers in the Wild / Saturday Thoughts
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Before I forget: if you are going to be in Southern California this Sunday afternoon, I will be at the Ripped Bodice reading and signing Moonstone Heart. Also reading this Sunday: Ann Royal Nicholas, Sarah Vance Tompkins, and Christine Ashworth. Y'all, this event is FUN. This is an ALL ROMANCE bookstore and there are SNACKS. It's practically heaven. Come join the fun! Now, on to the roundup: Last weekend at the beach my daughter was stung by a stingray. I suppose the name should have given it away. They are hateful animals. Big, flat, brown, squishy, mean fish. Did…

Olympics. Harry Potter. Spaghetti.

Hi Interwebs Friends! Are you watching the Olympics? Tell me what you like. I’m a swimmer, so I love to watch those amazing athletes fly across the pool. And I love it when you come across an Olympic sport and think, ‘Why the hell is this even a sport?’ and then an hour later you’re sobbing because you NEED China to win women’s archery. We are the world, people. Last Saturday night I took my kids to our favorite children’s bookstore for the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. We drank Pumpkin juice, played trivia (I won…

Millennials Are the Coolest

And that is saying something, because I happen to love my neon legwarmer wearing 80's generation. But my oldest son graduated from high school and it was amazing to watch. They have perfected the graduation ceremony - no more sweating in the sun listening to long, boring slogs masquerading as inspirational speeches. No, these kids did it inside a stadium, the speeches were short, funny, and fierce, and every single one of them looked ready to take on the world. The parents mostly just sat back and said, Whoa, dude. How did the Millennials get like this? Wish I could take credit…