Ultimate Mom's Top Ten Reasons

Accessorize

Before I get into the reasons why, here's a little blurb about my latest line of promo items.

I recently designed a few icons for my store on zazzle.com. Some of them featured below. I just noticed how there are plenty of Soccer Mom accessories out there and if I did find Ultimate Mom promotional items...sorry to say I didn't like 'em. I went ahead and quickly put a few together.

No, I have not sold any yet. Zazzle gets a huge cut, so in order to gain a little profit I'd have to charge a reasonable percentage. It could be the price that's holding people back. Hope there are some out there who can support this cause.

I created this line to encourage moms out there to promote Ultimate, who either play or have a son and/or daughter who play this awesome sport. They can either stick a magnet on the fridge or a bumper sticker somewhere on their car. Have a conversation w/ other moms in your neighborhood about why it's a beneficial sport for children. My top ten reasons below:

Top Ten Reasons Ultimate is the best sport for kids

1. Involves the highest standard of sportsmanship (Spirit of the Game here)
2. Non-contact sport (minimal injuries)
3. Covers principles from several sport (football, soccer, basketball)
4. Speed & Agility (similar maneuvers around the field)
5. Builds endurance (a lot of running & cutting)
6. Technical skills with throwing the disc (deep throws, flicks, hammers, scoobers)
7. Everyone can learn and get better
8. Fastest growing modern-day sport in the world (there are talks about it becoming an official Olympic Sport in 2016)
9. The most affordable sport (only need a disc, a pair of cleats, and cones)
10. It's fun for all ages to play together

Ultimate Mom's Doodles

Well, as I endeavor to promote this sport locally I'll doodle a few strips. Currently, my daughter is in kindergarten and two boys are in daycare. While I have downtime, I do the house work, think of meals, go shopping, and yet still need to find time to look for a job, work out at the gym, practice throwing, and play a few games once or twice aside from league games. Not to mention the other social & spiritual gatherings we have.

Honestly, my job search has been inundated by my unending ideas to promote Ultimate. What to do? I guess that can be another comic strip to laugh about.

Poor hubs is not finding this passion fortunate, although it does keep me temporarily happy. I am doing my best to look for a decent job to take care of the family and catch up on some debt.

It's been a nice break having the kids in school, since I was practically either pregnant, packing up for a move, adjusting to motherhood on speed for 5 years.

I am wishful that something will work out, whether part-time or full-time. Lots of friends are praying for us. Hopefully, I don't lose too much time for the family and Ultimate of course. In the meantime, as I tell my hubs, I will combine my 2 passions, design & Ultimate, to add to my ongoing production of an ever-evolving portfolio.

Fall League

This season in my 2nd season of league, it has been an eye-opener for me. I know, I know, I'm quite behind on my posts. Ahhhh for several categories. Ugggh. Just a snippet, it's been 3 games and my team lost them all. There are several factors. For me, I'm required to do more than last season. If I make mistakes, which I have, then it majorly affects the game. Unfortunately, I'm not the only one making errors.

Last season, I barely did anything. Another comic strip. Granted I knew how to catch and run to open areas, but didn't know terms well and was confused half the time. "Huh? Cut where? Oh, it's my turn to cut?" and "What the heck does cut under mean?" By the end of that season, I think I started to pick up on everything. But, my star teammates did a lot of the work. So, I got away with not doing much, nor learning much.

This season, I'm trying to do more, cutting in the right spot and completing passes 98% of the time. However, I've been sheepish on my throws. If pick-up has taught me anything, it has trained my arm to throw deep. I guess it's not a common thing for a girl to do it?

When I hucked it deep during a club's open practice, they were surprised. I would throw hard enough for the receiver to catch in the red zone, a few yards shy of the end zone. Anyway, the downside is I lack control and technique. I try to throw a dump (back to the handler like a point guard) and then it floats pass the dude.

Or, I try to lightly pass it for fear of throwing it too hard and it goes AWOL. Then, my flicks/forehand throws. Oh no. I can easily throw solid ones during practice and then during the game I don't know what happens. Hopefully, our 4th game's a charm with Zone plays allowed. Wish us luck.

Not a Soccer Mom - I'm an Ultimate Mom

This Fall, my second season in league, will be quite interesting w/ the weather changes possibly interfering. Looking forward to it though. I have my new set of Ulti-cards to use and awesome teammates to learn from. I've been constantly thinking about how to promote this brilliant sport, I drew/traced this photo (from Everything Ultimate). Graphic below. Brodie, if you want one for yourself, send me an awesome pic via e-mail (julia.holly@gmail.com). For anyone else interested, I'm not doing it for free ;)

Photo taken by Unknown. Will someone tell me who this player is?

Yes, I'm an Ultimate fan. I recently started to play real Ultimate this year. I say real Ultimate because the rules (USAU standards) apply in Tallahassee Ultimate League. I frequently played pick-up during and post college years in Cali.

Eight years passed, one hubby and 3 kids later I'm thinking, why didn't I get into it more when I was younger? Why didn't I hear or learn anything about this sport during high school or junior high? My mother did what she knew to do, put me into softball little leagues...gymnastics. My father taught me golf. And P.E. had intramural basketball, volleyball, track & field, baseball. But my favorite sport? Ultimate.

This past summer, I joined league for the first time and I learned so much. There are great people in this community, willing to teach and practice with anyone remotely interested. Random pick-up games throughout the city practically every single night. You're going to need that base since there are so many confusing terminologies to process.

How is it that my hometown, S.F. Bay Area has some of the best club teams (Revolver & Fury)  in the nation and I didn't know this game existed until I moved to SoCal. What's up with that P.E. teachers? I guess the game has gained popularity in recent years, now that it has a professional league (AUDL).

However, to my surprise it is yet to be a household sport here in Tallahassee. My plan along w/ Tallahassee Ultimate League's board (TUL) is to promote this game until everyone knows what you're talking about when you say, "Ultimate." Okay, that's a little ambitious, maybe not everyone but at least in this Athletic community or sports enthusiasts alike, who are traditionally supportive of football, baseball, soccer, and some others like kickball(?), disc golf(?), and other things I wonder why.

Why, as an Athletic community, wouldn't you participate in the fastest growing modern-day sport in the world? The rest of the country, Northwest, Midwest, and Northeast, have a reputation of strong junior leagues. There are talks about making this sport, a real team sport, an official Olympic game in 2016.

I have high hopes that my children will grow up playing this. I am not going to be just a soccer mom. I'm going to be an Ultimate Mom. But, will there be a jr. league ready for my kids' generation? While I wait for my little ones to get old enough to start running around, I will promote the sport. My daughter, at 5, can already throw. Watch out folks.

If you'd like to help me and TUL develop a youth league or to support us, email me. As for the ultimate players checking this out, if you'd like, I can draw your photo similar to the image above and donate a percentage of the proceeds to TUL.

Best Boba in Tally

My favorite & usual litmus test: Almond Milk Tea

Okay everyone. I just couldn't believe that here in Tallahassee, exists a decent Asian restaurant that serves really good Boba.

What is Boba Milk Tea?
Tapioca pearls served in any preferred milk tea you'd like. Go back to California, particularly Asian populated towns like Cerritos, Irvine, S.F. Bay Area, and you will find some sort of Boba tea shop or restaurants that will serve it.

Where in Tally?
I've been here a year, and disappointment after disappointment, I finally gave in and bought packages at Tally's token Asian store, Lynn's Seafood. Ranch 99 & H-Mart, holla!! Come to this town. TJ's is coming in a year, might as well jump on the bandwagon. Anyway, so yeah, I tried to cook them. Hit or miss, I got my Boba cravings fulfilled.

But one day, a dear friend invited me to join some new students from China to have lunch at China Delight located on Tennessee. I hear the snickers now. Yes, I know. I passed it several times and assumed there goes one of those Americanized Chinese Restaurants. Yet, to my sincere delight, it was truly a glorious day. Not only did I love their Beef Noodle Soup [Fresh. Beefy. Broth was delish. Noodles just the right amount. Huge bowl.] but I also deeply enjoyed drinking every drop of Almond Milk Tea. The Boba had perfect chewy texture. I found my Boba place.

So, after my second trip there, but this time w/ the hubs I got to speak w/ the owner's daughter. They moved in from New York City couple years back. Go figure. No wonder the quick service and yummy food. Other than the rice being a little dry, the food was fresh and didn't have a MSG headache afterwards. Here are some other delicious picks.

The other Boba place: Rainbow Frozen Yogurt

My hubs told me about how this place recently started serving boba. I said, "What?!" So since I happened to be running an errand nearby, I checked out the joint. It is definitely owned by Asians. With all the Chinese characters on the menu, there was no doubt. Granted the menu doesn't have 30 options of Boba like Tapioica Express, it still is commendable that they're trying out this market.

Cute and colorful inside, w/ a yogurt bar similar to Yogurt Land. There are enough tables to go around w/ flat screens on the walls, which makes it a fun lounge to hangout. Tried the Boba. It wasn't tough but still stuck together a few times. Milk Tea wasn't too sweet, which was good. China Delight will be my go-to Boba place. Rainbow's will be secondary, which still beats the rest of the places out there.

JH Creative: Business Cards

I finally can network w/ confidence because I at least have a business card. I also finished my portfolio, which always needs updating. When is a portfolio ever final?

I placed my logo on a 2.5 x 3 standard size vertical setup. Kept my life simple and chose fonts I already had. I have yet the money nor the disk space to collect the beautiful fonts out there. For the meantime, I'll just collect pretty images of fonts on my Pinterest board, Ty·pog·ra·phy. 

Contrast & minimalistic styles are one of my favorite things to do, which explains the design in part. I considered several adjectives while developing my logo and genre of my overall brand. Simple. Modern. Brief. Practical. "Less is More" philosophy. The black and white theme is consistent with my portfolio, which I recently updated. 

 My next project is to finally put everything online. Many artists alike find it difficult to keep an online portfolio fresh, new, and up-to-date. Probably because they're either busy working on clients' projects or in my case managing the house, children, grocery shopping, and cooking. Hence, blogging about their work (photography, paintings, designs) is the easiest and quickest way to do it. If you are interested in seeing my resume and portfolio. Please contact me at julia.holly@gmail.com.

Tally's Print Shop

After shopping online and driving around town, I found a trustworthy print shop. They're supposedly the best for quality results with quick turnaround. Someone recommended them. I wouldn't say the best quality, but for turnaround time they haven't disappointed me yet. I sent Durra Quick Print (DQP) a file that morning and they got 100 cards ready for pick-up that afternoon. All for $20. 

For all those w/ small businesses, do not go to FedEx Kinko's. Not only will it take all day to get something simple done but it will cost you an arm and a leg. I'd recommend Minute Man Press over them, but even Tally's local shop DQP beats MMP. So, I've got my go-to shop for small print jobs. I'm still looking around for the larger jobs I might stumble upon.