Things I Love. Archives - Page 8 of 10

I heart Blogland.

March 11, 2011 by Susan 1 Comment

I am all about adventures! I love exploring new places, meeting new people, and navigating through the unknown. Tonight I bonded a little bit more with Blogland. Did you know that you can get lost in new country (which I’m lovingly naming “Blogland”) without even taking your passport out of the lockbox?!

You can try new foods and recipes people share. You can take in tons of different cultures and religions. The crafts… the crafts are endless!! (Maybe that is because I tend to follow crafty blogs) Music! Just like when visiting a new city or country, you can pick up tons of new, different, and hip tunes in Blogland. I love photography, and have such a desire to learn more about my camera. Believe it or not, this too is possible in Blogland!! I feel like I have become friends with some of my fellow Bloglanders as I read through their stories of adoptions, or vacations (real ones, not Blogland ones), or working crazy jobs I have never even dreamed of doing. I have “met” people who are just like me and love, love, LOVE planning parties and celebrating the most random things. Best of all I have been inspired by so many Bloglanders to try new projects, reflect on other opinions, learn new skills, or plan my next big adventure!

I’m not really sure of blogging etiquette; if it even exists or are certain things deemed “rude” in Blogland? When someone finds a new blog she loves and links to it in her own blog, does she inform the newfound blog’s blogger? Someone explain this to me because tonight I added a whole slew of new “blogs i love” to my google reader list.

Also, how in the world do some of these girls have hundreds (dare I say in some cases thousands!!) of followers! Not that I need followers, because I am well informed that my boyfriend and my mom read my blog every now and then. But how is that even possible!? I guess, maybe by chance, someone will travel from one blog to the next like I did this evening, and fall upon 2 cats and chloe. I love how I started with checking out one girls photography blog from Texas and it opened the door to 50 (easily) new found blogs I love.

After some great exploring tonight I have been inspired to revamp the look of 2 cats and chloe at some point in the future. I just spent three days sick in bed with the flu, so catching up on work comes first… but mark my words, this blog will see a face lift soon.

So friends, fill me in on blogging etiquette. Share your blog with me. Or just secretly enjoy the random ramblings and silly projects that you may have just stumbled across.

JMUBenji

March 4, 2011 by Susan Leave a Comment

It was a good few years, but the legacy has come to an end. When the cost of personalized JMU plates were double the cost of the generic white Virginia plates it was time to decide where costs needed to be cut. It killed me to get new plates. And not just new plates, new un-pretty plates with no personality! Not to mention how the whole “JMU Represent!” thing has now gone out the window! I’m going to have to be even more generic and get a bumper sticker.

But let’s be real, the economy sucks. (This girl had a whopping 47 closings in February, which is not enough to pay the bills never mind continue with pretty shnazzy JMU Benji plates.) But it’s the time to get creative and crack down on certain things that are considered excessive. By getting my generic “400th Anniversary” plates I saved myself 75 smackaroos! I was shocked! $75! Seventy-five big ones, that will now be used for bills or food or put towards the new alternator that the same vehicle will be needing very soon.

So now, on the brighter side, I something new to hang on my wall. Lovingly placed right above my imac is my favorite license plate ever. (It’s so much cooler than the “AKA SUZ” plate that I was rocking on Bonanza the Stanza back in high school!)

Anyway, I’m off to work! Gotta find myself some realtors who need warranties! Happy Friday!

Step One: Summer colors!

February 6, 2011 by Susan Leave a Comment

Step one to getting away from the February Funk: Surround yourself with summer colors (and if it just so happens, flowers!)

A trip to Farm Fresh in the monsooning rain yesterday and this girl came home with these:

DO IT!!!

February 5, 2011 by Susan 1 Comment

My ex-boyfriend would probably applaud this post if he read it. I used to give him such a hard time about his love and obsession with Google. I remember prodding at him with questions like “What if Google just died or exploded?! What would happen then?!” I appreciated Google, but at the time, I just didn’t understand.

What I’ve learned since: the possibilities are ENDLESS. I use google applications for just about everything except brushing my teeth and feeding my pets! If you’re not using gmail, you’re just plain silly. (You never actually have to delete anything! I believe my boyfriend has well above 20,000 emails in his inbox… crazy, I know!) But look at the tool bar at the top of your gmail… calendar, documents, photos, web, videos, blog, shopping, and so many more! My droid is synced with all of the above. (And yes, I am VERY pro all Apple products, but with the convenience and ease of my google powered droid, do I dare switch to the Verizon iphone on 2-10-11?!) In addition to my planner, my calendar is kept with Google. This blog (and a few of my others) are all run with blogger. I “google image search” just about daily for creative project ideas. I’m a mac user, so I am learning to get by without Microsoft and have been replacing it with Google Docs. I got my first Google shopping receipt last week after purchasing a $10 credit towards the Google Phone! (I can now call anywhere in the world for just a few cents!! I talked to my family in Switzerland for 10 minutes and it only cost me 20 cents!! Incredible!)

Why am I rambling about this? Because I want to tell you about my newest love. Google Reader. Do you have an igoogle homepage? If not, you should. Set it as your homepage and let it organize everything you need! I just recently added Google Reader to my homepage where I can view ALL of my favorite blogs in one place at one time! They don’t even have to be Google run blogs! I have links to self hosted blogs like the Julep Studios Blog. Or fellow blogger run blogs like semi-directed wanderings. And several of my favorite wordpress blogs yet i still dare to hope or Rather Be Making. All easily viewed and easily read! I don’t have to go through my bookmarks and click through for updates, nor do I have to subscribe to them. (Honestly, I feel bad about not subscribing because I know there are tons of perks to having a large subscriber base, not to mention the self esteem picker-upper that people, well, uh, I, feel when you look at your blog and see more than two subscribers!)

Actually I was wrong… I do feed my pets with my igoogle homepage! Check out “Buddy” the hamster in the top right corner!

So if you haven’t jumped on your the Google Bandwagon, or you haven’t yet added your favorite blogs to your Google Reader all I have to say is DO IT!!! You won’t regret it. Happy Blogging!

It’s still January! It’s not too late! Part 2.

January 26, 2011 by Susan Leave a Comment

I just checked the calendar and good news, there are still five more days left in January! That means I have just enough time to get my New Year Resolutions posted! So here we go:

Eat out less. If I had to pick one goal for 2011, this would be it. I’m almost one month into the year and so far, so good! My boyfriend informed me that in order to be a good resolution, it must be quantifiable. I’m not going to decide how many times I am allowed to eat at restaurants, because with my job and my amazingly cool social life, it’s impossible. And who knows where I will be when I get hungry! So here’s the rule: I will not be eating lunches out unless I am meeting someone. This might not be a big thing for most of you, but when you work out of your car, it’s so much easier to stop by Panera or Tropical Smoothie to grab a bite than it is to pack a lunch or head back home to eat. You know, $5 here and $10 there for lunches add up quickly! And by the way, do we really know what kind of ingredients are in these quick meals? No. So this year, lunches will be home made unless I have a lunch date (business or personal!)

Get organized, and stay organized. You should see my car!! That was my first step toward organization in 2011! It is amazing. All of my work stuff is organized in my new, colorful Target boxes. And my back seat is empty of all the random clutter that I had been carrying around for all of 2010. Next on the list is my bedroom and desk, my laundry, and my closet. Stay tuned.

Learn more about my camera. I love my camera and I love taking pictures… now I just want to learn more about it!

Be generous. I’m not really sure what to call this one, but for the year of 2011, when I buy new clothes, I have to get rid of old clothes. I have drawers of t-shirts that I love because they are comfy or they have sentimental value I suppose. Some of these I haven’t worn in a while, but I just can’t seem to part with them. So this year, like I said, if I buy a new shirt, I will donate an old one. Simple enough.

Be honest and say what’s on my mind. Communication is key, to almost everything. Looking back on last year I realize that all of the (little bit) of drama that occurred was because people didn’t actually communicate what was on their minds. Myself included. So this year, even if it’s something awkward or tough to say, I’m going to say it. Brace yourself.

Focus on work. With the job I have, I HAVE to be focused on work, or it will get out of hand and I won’t make any sales. But this year I really want to strive for higher numbers and more events. Whether it’s warranties or weddings, I need to stay focused, meet more people, and get more gigs.

Travel. I know this shouldn’t be a resolution because it is typically a given in my life. But at this point, it is almost February and I don’t have a single trip on the radar. I was supposed to be going to Haiti but that didn’t pan out. I’d like to go to Australia to visit the Kaufmanns. I’d like to go out west to see those giant redwood trees. A tropical beach would be amazing. Decisions decisions. Time to get one or more on the calendar!

So there ya have it. What are your resolutions for 2011?