Simply Suzanna

It's time!

2012-01-24T09:52:00.000-06:00

from microsoft clip art

Every so often I get the itch to move around my furniture at home, rearrange my desk at work, clean out the pantry... and re-design my blog!

The last couple of weeks have been busy with lots of fun things:
-getting ready to move into a new apartment
-starting wedding plans
-traveling
-eating healthy and exersizing again

So posting here has been put on the back burner. I don't get too worried when that happens. I'm more of an ebb and flow type of blogger. I hope you all will forgive that about me!

I'm feeling the need for change, and you may see some weird stuff on the blog in the next day or so... Just a heads up in case you wonder what's going on...

Cozy Spots for just me

2012-01-23T11:19:00.000-06:00

When life gets complicated I almost always want to retreat somewhere cozy and quiet. I'm not completely an introvert- but it just feels safe and good to get away and think sometimes.

Today I'm dreaming of sweet spots like these:

bhg.com

houseandhome.com

someone's tumbler, no source, via pinterest

pottery barn

someone's tumbler, with no source, via Pinterest

Wedding Blogs

2012-01-10T11:59:00.000-06:00

realsimple.com

Wedding Blogs are everywhere! there are good ones, great ones, and strange ones... of course you always have websites like theknot.com, real simple weddings and marthastewartweddings.com , but here's a list of my favorites that have something different to offer.

100 Layer Cake
Ruffled
OnceWed
Simply Perfect Weddings
Southern Weddings Magazine
Snippet and Ink
Style me Pretty
The Wedding Chicks
Green Wedding Shoes
Emmaline Bride
Love and Lavender
Lovely Bride

Wedding Music Ideas

2012-01-09T15:18:00.000-06:00

Martha Stewart Weddings has some great wedding music playlists on their website.
Classic and Surprising Wedding Music Playlists

from Marthastewartweddings.com

Click through the slideshow to find the links to the different playlists. BLand I haven't talked too much about music yet, but we'll probably have to include a little country because that's his favorite. I'm a fan of piano and cello music for the processional, and during the reception I hope to mix in some vintage Ella Fitzgerald, along with some upbeat love songs too.

It's so nice to be able to play the music right from the web page you're on and not have to go searching for it. There are a lot of music suggestions out there, but most of the time they just list the song and artist. Have fun!

Shoe Dilemma

2012-01-06T10:01:00.000-06:00

I've been dreaming about blue wedding shoes almost since BL and I started dating. for some reason, I just love the idea of some bright blue peeking out from under my wedding gown. Here are some pictures to show you what I mean (all pictures found on Pinterest):

source not known

style me pretty

When I saw these shoes on BHLDN.com I thought I had found "the ones"

Why?

They are the "right" blue
They are low heeled
I love peep toe sling-backs

But.... they were $280!!! there was no way I was going to spend that much money on a pair of shoes. Not a problem, I'll just search out another pair for a more affordable price:

These are from 6pm.com

But I wasn't having much luck finding wedding worthy shoes. There are lots of flats in teal and turquoise, but nothing in the electric blue shade I'm searching for. And nothing that seemed dressy enough. Here are some perfectly wedding worthy shoes, but the heels on these babies are waaaay too high.

So when my dream shoes went on sale for $160 I was caught off guard. Am I willing to pay $160 for shoes for my once in a lifetime wedding day? Are they really what I want? What would you do?
buy the expensive ones? or wait and hope to find something just as good for half the price?

Proposal Story!!!!!

2012-01-05T12:29:00.000-06:00

Ok, here it is, finally! The story of the night BL asked me to marry him, and I said YES!

The weekend of our one year anniversary was the first weekend we had to spend together, with no plans, and BL wasn't scheduled to work in a long time. So I packed Brody in the car and headed north. We talked about just enjoying the time, not making any big plans or anything (!).

We both love Pei Wei, so I thought we should try PF Changs on Saturday night since BL had never had it before. We had a great dinner. We talked about life and our relationship over lettuce wraps and shrimp and chicken. I admitted to him that it's been hard not having the future all planned out in front of us, and that it can be a struggle for me at times. I said that I was working on trusting God and trusting him. He said, "I hate to see you worry, what can I do to help you trust me more?" I said, just to pray and keep me updated if things change for him. I didn't feel a ton better after that, but it was a relief to be even more open about my feelings than I had been before. I was trying to protect him from increased pressure if he knew that I was struggling. He's already stressed enough... but he was glad that I talked about it. He kept asking if I felt better, and if I was ok. I was ok, just thoughtful and a little ashamed that I wasn't strong and confident despite the uncertainty of the future. I told him that it was just something that I was going to have to work on.

Then we went home and listened to music and danced and got all romantic- just talking about the last year and how blessed we feel to have found each other. We started telling each other things we love about each other. After winding down a few minutes later, he said "You know what else I love? your ring...."

I was confused, but assumed he was talking about the ring I wear all the time on my right hand, and started to talk about that, and he interrupted me and said "No, this ring..." and pulled out a big sparkly ring from his pocket!

I was stunned. I was completely speechless for about 30 seconds. I cried and laughed at the same time, and then he said, "Will you marry me?" and I said, "Of course I will marry you!!" At that point I remember thinking that my voice didn't sound like my own and I felt like I was floating. He put the ring on my finger (it fits perfectly) and we hugged and kissed and laughed for a few minutes before we finally had to sit down and take it all in.

We didn't call anyone until the next morning, it was nice to just revel in the moment and tell each other over and over how happy we were. I couldn't put my thoughts into words and I was glad that he hadn't done in a huge, extravagant way, because then I would have known it was about to happen. This way, I was totally caught off guard, and I will always treasure those moments when I was truly and genuinely surprised.

Looking back on the night, I feel silly about out conversation we had at dinner. But most of the concerns I had shared are pretty much gone now. (imagine that...) I still need to work on being content in each day and stage of life, but there's something about being engaged... I feel like it gives me a new sense of security, and it gives me permission to plan and dream about our wedding. I kept myself from doing that too much before then because I didn't want to get ahead of myself.

Now we're wedding planning and I'm loving every minute of it! My pinterest page takes forever to load because I've pinned so many pictures in the last few weeks.

P.S. If you'd like a Pinterest invite, let me know!

Blue and Green Notebooks

2012-01-04T11:51:00.000-06:00

Here's what my desk at work has on it right now:

The blue binder is for wedding planning and the green binder is my planner. They're sitting right at my side, ready for any random thoughts or notes.

I'm loving my planner. I ended up buying pre-printed calendar pages because I liked the tabs they came with. Other than that, all the pages are ones I've shown you here and here or scrapbook paper.

Here's a peek into my planner (blurry pictures from my phone...)

Pen loop from the Container Store

Month page

Amy Butler paper

Tabs... pretty colors get me every time.

The layout I settled on for my weekly pages

New Planner Pages!

2011-12-13T15:52:00.001-06:00

Here is my second installment of printable planner pages. To see the complete list go here.
and to find the other pages go here.

First, here is my Weekly Grocery List. This is just what I normally buy each week with room to spare.

Weekly Grocery List

Second,Master Grocery List

Third, WW Points + Tracker

And if you'd rather have a plain old one: Diet Tracker

Here is my Prayer List
I use this to keep track of things people have asked me to pray about. I currently keep a list, but I don't plan on using names on this list so that if someone happened upon my binder they wouldn't know who I'm talking about.

Then, here is my Shopping List

I use this for things I want to buy, but aren't groceries. Such as socks, craft supplies or a sweater for Brody....

Next is my list of things To Save For

This is a list for Goals

So there ya go! A few more pages checked off my list.

Fabric Find: Posy in Blue by Rebekah Merkle

2011-12-07T13:10:00.000-06:00

This one is so vintage, I love it! Found at Moona Fabrics, part of the England Swings collection.

Sparkly Surprise

2011-12-05T12:21:00.001-06:00

Some of you might know that I've been dating a handsome guy I call BL here on the blog-a-log. (BL is a family nickname that seems to fit for blogging purposes...) This weekend was our one year anniversary and he surprised me with something pretty and sparkly and... well it looks like this:

That's right, we're engaged!!!! I was completely surprised, not expecting a ring this soon. It's amazing how many emotions I've experienced since Saturday night. Shock, amazement, wonder, love, intense giddiness... I have felt so blessed and overwhelmed and speechless and ready to burst and and and....

I want to remember all of this, because it is such a special time. I had no idea...

I'll work on writing proposal story for all of you, so stay tuned for that!

Thoughts on this thing called blogging...

2011-12-02T09:21:00.001-06:00

from bhg.com

Blogs are amazing. Really, they are. Some people spend hours on Facebook or Twitter, socializing, keeping up with friends, sharing their lives. Blogs are more personal, more creative, less filled with farmville and other time wasters... On blogs, it is easier to avoid content you don't like.

I read blogs that make me smile. I read blogs that are encouraging, blogs that are written by women that I can relate to. Reading blogs makes me think, strive to be better and love people more. I learn about travel, sewing, being a woman of God, dealing with disease, having a sense of humor, fashion, and so much, much more. Blogs written by authentic people make me realize that we are all dealing with something. We all have struggles and deal with them in our own way.

What are some of your favorite blogs? Check out my list of Blogs to Read to see mine.

A Thursday kind of week

2011-12-01T15:49:00.001-06:00

Happy Thursday!

Thursdays are my most tired days of the week, so today I have tried to do things to keep my energy level up. Including:

listening to Christmas music on Pandora (Gene Autry and Bing Crosby anyone??)
Planning out what I'm going to do tonight (who am I kidding, I do that everyday at work)
writing with my peppermint scented candy cane pen (33 cents at wags. yup, I bought one for each of my work buddies too.)
adding new clothes to Polyvore (take a look at my latest versions of my work uniform---> below)

Winter wardrobe uniform #2 by simplysuz featuring cashmere tops

My winter uniform by simplysuz featuring cz earrings

I haven't been successful lately at losing weight. I stopped gaining right before my RAI, but I can't seem to lose any. So I've still been wearing a lot of skirts to work. They are so much more forgiving than pants as my weight fluctuates. I almost bought two pairs of khaki pants at Old Navy this week, but my budget won out over the $42 I would have spent. Plus, their pants don't last very long so it was probably wise to wait ( and maybe a little bit more motivation to lose weight? as if I don't already have enough...)

Brody has been with BL this week. I've missed him. At night I've been cold since he's such a little heater, and when I get home the apartment seems so still. BL sent me this picture on Monday of what Brody had been up to:

See those little paws??? so cute.

Free Printable Calendars from around the internet

2011-11-25T10:40:00.000-06:00

If you're like me and love printables, you'll love these free printable calendars.

Customizable Owl Calendar from the Owl Barn

This one has been around for a couple of years. I found it again via How about Orange.

Doodle Calendar from Creative Mamma

This one is super cute, and would be lots of fun to add to a planner binder somehow.

Pink Border Calendar from The Nest Effect

Free Birthday Calendar

Printable Inspirational Calendar

Another Birthday Calendar at Elephant Shoe Love

Another Printable Birthday Calendar at Craftaphile

A Peek at the Week from I <3 organizing

Happy Turkey Day!

2011-11-24T11:55:00.000-06:00

from Graphics Fairy

Fabric Find: Medalion in Iron by Patricia Bravo

2011-11-23T13:39:00.000-06:00

Isn't this a cool print? I found it on Moona Fabrics, it's part of Patricia Bravo's Bazar Style collection.

Fossil's Holiday Lookbook with Kendi

2011-11-22T15:49:00.000-06:00

Ok, so you can't read fashion or style blogs without knowing about Kendi Everyday... I mean, she's the one who started the 30 for 30 remix that everyone seems to be doing now. (I haven't, for the record...)

Browsing through my reader today I saw that Kendi worked with Fossil on their latest lookbook, and I had to share! I am a big fan of Fossil's clothes and shoes (or used to be...two years ago I wanted every top and skirt in their summer collection, but since then I haven't been quite as smitten.) But I really loved looking through the lookbook. I admit, I would probably only wear 50% or less of the outfits shown, but some of them are soooo cute. Take a look at some of my favorites:

click here to see the complete Fossil Holiday lookbook

Printable Planner Pages

2011-11-21T14:52:00.000-06:00

As promised, here are links to the planner pages I've made. Here is what I have so far:

Monthly pages
2012 Calendar
*you can pint this file as one month per page, or two and it will give you the 81/2 x 5 size that fits in a mini binder.

Weekly Pages: Option one
Weekly Planner Pages Option One
*I'm a list maker, and this layout seems to work well for long to-do lists.

Weekly Pages: Option two
Weekly Planner Pages Option Two
*I use the left hand side on each day for my schedule and appointments and the right side for reminders and lists.
*Print either one of these weekly pages onto 81/2 x 11 paper and cut in half.

Food List/Meal ideas
Food Lists
*I use this one to record menu ideas, meal ideas, healthy snack options, and other food related things that I don't want to forget. With Pinterest, and so many great food blogs out there I come across so many good ideas and then promptly forget them when I'm making a grocery list.

Food/ diet tracker
Daily page
Weekly pages
Monthly pages
Yearly calendar
Prayer list
Shopping list
Big items shopping list / things to save for
Goals
Contacts
Food List/Meal ideas

Wool Pencil Skirt

2011-11-18T15:31:00.000-06:00

This wool pencil skirt from Jcrew is too much for my limited budget right now, but a girl can dream, right?

jcrew pencil skirt #2 by simplysuz featuring cable knit knee socks

Jcrew pencil skirt #1 by simplysuz featuring buckle shoes

Fabric Find: Joel Dewberry Aviary 2

2011-11-16T16:35:00.000-06:00

I love this line from Joel Dewberry. Aviary 2 in Lilac has some really fun prints. These are two of my favorites: Bloom and Sparrows. See the whole collection of Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry here.

A tutorial...

2011-11-14T09:01:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! I hope you're having a great day so far. I have only noticed a few symptoms/changes since the RAI treatment.

slightly sore throat (comes and goes throughout the day)
Goiter is gone! My thyroid doesn't feel squishy anymore
My resting heart rate has increased
I am exhausted! no matter how much I sleep I don't feel rested and my mind also feels tired.

Anyways, on to something I wanted to share. Shelly at House of Smiths shows how you can change your blogger profile so that when you leave comments on blogs the author can easily respond by e-mail. I think you can also make a similar change on your google profile if you don't have a blogger account. I did this a couple of months ago and it's so fun to have a conversation back and forth through e-mail with blogger friends. I would highly recommend it! If you feel uncomfortable about sharing your personal e-mail address, you can always create a separate "blogging" e-mail address. Click on Shelly's screenshot below to take you to her tutorial.

Printables and a list of planner pages

2011-11-11T12:53:00.001-06:00

I love printables. It's so fun to print a cute notecard, art print, or templates that people share.

from the Graphics Fairy

Just for fun, here's a list of some of my favorite places to go for printables and free graphics:

I've been working on creating my own DIY planner for next year. It's fun to customize everything just the way I'd like it. As soon as they're done I'll update this post with links to all of the pages and you can print them if you'd like! Here are the pages I'm working on.

Food/ diet tracker
Daily page
Weekly pages
Monthly pages
Yearly calendar
Prayer list
Shopping list
Big items shopping list / things to save for
Goals
Contacts
Food List/Meal ideas

Some other things I want to include:

Lined paper for notes
Post it notes and flags
Month tabs
business card page protector to hold Bible verse cards
Pen loops (I want to buy some LePens... anyone know a good place?)

Anyone else use a planner or agenda that they make themselves? It would probably be cheaper and soo much faster to just buy one, but this way is just too much fun.

The post in which I give you a bullet list...

2011-11-09T17:02:00.002-06:00

This is what last weekend looked like. Note- the remote is in a plastic bag... more on that later.

I keep thinking of things I want to blog about. Recipes, craft projects, things Brody has done... Then I get busy with work (very important, since it pays my rent) or I just continue to sit on the couch, crocheting and watching the Biggest Loser. But I can't help but feel like I'm behind- I want to record what's been going on- even though I feel less than motivated to blog. So here it is, a list.

I had radioactive iodine therapy done on Friday, and spent Fri, Sat and Sun locked away in my apartment by myself.
Brody spent the weekend with my sweet friend Kristina. I missed him a lot.
We have a new couch and I've been doing re-arranging and re-decorating in our living room.
I'm making baby gifts. I love doing it, and wish I could share what I'm making, but my friends might see and the surprises will be ruined.
Weight Watchers was great for 3 months, but I didn't renew it and I've gained back the weight.
My thyroid will soon be gone and my metabolism is probably going to tank too....
I'm on a diet. but this time it just includes a few rules: eat fruits and veggies when I'm hungry between meals, only one treat each day, and eat less overall. In theory it sounds good.
Exercising is on the top of my to do list, but I severely lack motivation.
It is dark at 5pm. This does not help me accomplish my #1 to do...
Brody spent an hour last night chasing after, barking at, and tossing around an empty water bottle. Why in the world do I buy him squeaky stuffed dog toys??
My little brother is going to Thailand in December with YWAM. I wish he was closer so that I could take him out to eat at my favorite Thai place before he goes.
Being in isolation for three days gave me the chance to become obsessed with the Canadian show Heartland. Netflix only has season one and half of two, and now I'm dealing with Heartland withdrawal. Someone help me...
It was so beautiful outside yesterday that I pulled my folding chair out of my trunk and sat next to my car in the parking lot on my lunch break. It felt like spring.
I'm going to post about radioactive iodine, but it's still in the works.
I'm busy making planner pages. I would like to share them as PDFs when I'm done. I just need to figure out how to upload PDFs to blogger.
Also, I ordered new glasses today.
That is all.

Fabric Find: Wildfield by Valori Wells

2011-11-09T16:26:00.000-06:00

This one is so dreamy looking. I always love dandelion motifs, and this one is so pretty!

Found at HawthorneThreads.com http://hawthornethreads.com/fabric/designer/valori_wells/wrenly_voile/wildfield_in_cobalt

Sohisticated Kelly Green

2011-11-04T11:16:00.000-05:00

Sophisticated kelly green by simplysuz featuring link jewelry

PAM button shirt
$35 - modcloth.com

Trench coat
$45 - target.com

Target:Merona® Women's Doubleweave Skirt - Assorted ...
$23 - target.com

Leather handbag
$130 - anthropologie.com

Thistle Bee link jewelry
$265 - maxandchloe.com

Kenneth Jay Lane hoop earrings
$215 - net-a-porter.com

Old navy scarve
$11 - oldnavy.gap.com

Target:Women's Merona® Kasia Tall Genuine Leathe...
$70 - target.com

Crochet School at Craftyminx

2011-11-03T12:01:00.000-05:00

Since the cooler weather is here, I'm getting the urge to crochet again. (I mean, who wants to sit in the summer with half an afghan over their lap.) I made a baby blanket for a friend's shower this weekend, and I finished a cream colored throw I started the month I was diagnosed with Addison's. Next I'm going to work on some other baby items for friends and a cowl scarf for me.

Do you know how to crochet? I learned at some point when I got a kit for christmas one year. Between my mom and friends I've learned the basics, but I'm not a pro by any means. I don't do a very good job of following patterns, but I've been trying some new stitches this year. Craftyminx has some great tutorials to help you learn how to crochet if you'd like to. I've been pouring through each lesson to brush up on things. Click below to see the whole series: