Louise Julig

Cupcake Love Family Dining Review in San Diego Family

   Just in time for Valentine's Day, this month's San Diego Family Magazine features a Family Dining review of the Solana Beach cupcake shop Cupcake Love that features a dozen different flavors of gourmet cupcakes every week. This piece is extra special to me because I co-wrote it with my daughter, who is in sixth grade now and turning into quite a writer herself. (She also helped me pick out the cupcakes - and eat them!) So if you're looking for something to get for your sweetie, maybe a Love Bite from Cupcake Love will be just the thing. 

 Click here for the review in the online version of the February San Diego Family Magazine.

San Diego Family Out & About Guide: San Diego Coastal section

Every year San Diego Family Magazine publishes Out & About, a free "family adventure guide to San Diego County" and this year I contributed the San Diego Coastal entries, covering the coastal communities of La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach and Point Loma. My family and I spent many fun summer weekends on "staycation" scouting out the best family-friendly opportunities right here in our back yard. Find out how to book a kayak tour of La Jolla, where to find a mini regatta at Mission Bay, and the site of the biggest "teddy bear" you've ever seen (180 tons), on the UCSD campus, not to mention a selection of unique, kid-friendly eateries in each community. The guide is available at select locations around San Diego County or online. 

Click here for the San Diego Coastal entries, Page 30-38, online.

"Turning Play into Professions" —Lego Model Builders

I had a blast interviewing two of the newest Model Builders at Legoland California, Brian Heins and Mandy Jouan, for San Diego Family Magazine. Heins and Jouan were among five finalists who secured a coveted Model Builder job out of a field of 18 who competed for a position with the park this past June. Find out how these two San Diegans turned play into their profession. 

Click here to view "Turning Play Into Professions" in the online version of the November 2009 San Diego Family Magazine

Correction: I learned after this piece was published that the correct way to refer to these toys is "LEGO toys" or "LEGO bricks," and not "Legos," as LEGO is the company brand name, similar to the way one should not say "Kleenex" for "tissues." I apologize for the error.

"Social Netiquette" in San Diego Family Magazine

I'll admit it, I am a social networking convert, and have embraced Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn wholeheartedly. Not everyone is comfortable in this new online networking environment, however, so I proposed this short piece on the basics of social networking etiquette which was published as an online exclusive in San Diego Family Magazine. I list a few questions new social networking site users should ask themselves before diving in, answer a nagging question about accepting new invites, and give some practical advice about approaching these new online networking opportunities. 

Click here for Social Netiquette in San Diego Family Magazine's online exclusives. 

Pizzicato Family Dining Review in San Diego Family

 

This month I had the opportunity to review Pizzicato in Encinitas for the Family Dining column of San Diego Family Magazine. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it ;-)

Click here for the Pizzicato Family Dining Review in the September issue of San Diego Family. 

To Tweet or Not to Tweet (Twitter Basics) in San Diego Family Magazine

I’ve become a full-scale Twitter convert, so it was fun for me to write this Twitter Basics article for San Diego Family Magazine’s June issue. San Diego Family has recently started putting their entire issue online in flip-the-page format, so you can see the full article in the June online issue. 

Click on the cover headline “Clueless about Tweets & Pokes?” or click here to go right to “To Tweet or Not to Tweet”

 You’ll find steps to get you started with Twitter—then connect with me on twitter at http://twitter.com/ThoughtsHappen!

As a funny coincidence if you look at the screen shot of the San Diego Family Facebook page on the Facebook Basics article on page 74 you'll see my teeny tiny picture in two posts I made to the SDFM wall, including a post announcing the Twitter Basics article. 

I am planning on writing more social media how-to articles for San Diego Family in the future and will post clips here on the site. 

Note: There is an error in the Twitter resources sidebar. The correct name for Pat and Oscar's on Twitter is @PatandOscars, found at http://twitter.com/PatandOscars. 

Click here to find "To Tweet or Not to Tweet" in the June '09 online issue.

"Sway, Shimmy and Stamp to the Beat" in San Diego Family

An article I wrote on cultural dance classes for all ages is featured in this month's San Diego Family Magazine. "Sway, Shimmy, and Stamp to the Beat" is even featured on the cover headlines. This article was really enjoyable for me to research and write. I got to interview teachers from many different cultural dance traditions, including Juanita Franco of the Academia de Baile Espanola, Kathy Gore Stanley of Healii's Polynesian Revue, and Teri Arenz of MeYoMa and Shimmy Dance Studio who discussed flamenco, hula and and belly dancing, respectively, as great ways for different generations to get together and enjoy the cultural and physical benefits of dance.

Note: The AOL Homepage web site for the Flamenco Dance Classes has been discontinued, so the web address listed in the printed article is no longer valid. Here is information on the Academia de Baile Espanola.

Download Sway, Shimmy and Stamp (PDF, 1.4M)

Boudin SF Restaurant Review

Pick up a copy of the October San Diego Family Magazine to see my review of the new Boudin SF restaurant in San Marcos near the Edwards San Marcos Theaters. Memories of San Francisco sourdough from our trip to the Bay area in May were still fresh in my mind when I jumped at the chance to write this review this summer. If you go to Boudin SF, leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Update 11/1/08 now Download BoudinSF (PDF,224K)

Cultural Connections: Hawaii and the Pacific Islands

I really enjoyed researching the Hawaii and the Pacific Islands piece I did for the Cultural Connections column that appears in the September issue of San Diego Family Magazine. I learned about the origins of the Pacific Islander Festival (coming up soon!) and the Hui o Hawaii, which will be hosting their 39th Annual Luau next month. The generosity of the Pacific Islander culture is the real deal, as I experienced while interviewing for this piece. Check the SDFM web site for distribution sites where you can pick up a copy of the magazine, including Henry's, Borders and many other San Diego locations, and find out where to get the most authentic Hawaiian and Pacific Islander food in San Diego county, fresh flowers leis, lau hala purses and kukui nut handicrafts. UPDATE: 9/28/08 Read today's post about our day at the Pacific Islander Festival 2008.

Download CulturalConnectionsSm.pdf (496K) 

Exploring California Missions

In California, fourth grade means missions. Last July, with a daughter entering fourth grade in the fall, my family embarked on its own mission to see all 21 of them in a twelve-month period. If your family isn’t as ambitious (insane?) as that, you can still visit three missions that are easily accessible as day trips from San Diego. Each is unique in flavor, and fills in a different piece of the picture of our state’s past. Here’s my impression of these first three missions on our journey.

This piece was published in San Diego Family in June of 2008.

Download SDFMMissionsSm2.pdf(500K) to view the entire article.