Ring Bling

When people find out I'm engaged the first question I get is "where's the ring?" I guess when my boyfriend proposed to me via FaceTime from 4,000 miles away the last thing we were thinking about was the ring. After the engagement really settled in, we began to talk about ring style and what I'd like. If you know me, you know I'm not a big over the top kind of person. I also don't like being simple or ordinary. I prefer to be somewhere in the middle and do my own thing. Dan was more than happy to go out and buy any ring I wanted, but I wanted something special...something that would have more sentimental value than anything you could buy in a store. I asked my mom for permission to use a ring set from my grandmother, complimented by my mother's own rings. 

My mom went to her safe deposit box, took the rings to the jewelers and shared some photos so I could make a decision on style. Once I saw my grandmother's 25th anniversary ring, I knew I wanted to incorporate it somehow. Not being much of a ring or jewelry person myself I didn't know anything about carat size or diamond channels (yes, this is a thing!). While Dan was visiting me in London we went to Tiffany's to try on a ring similar to my grandmother's so I could get an idea of what her ring might be like. 

I think I'll be re-setting the ring in white gold to keep the overall vintage feel and style. I'm then going to use diamonds from my mother's 25th anniversary to complete a wedding band to match my grandmothers ring. Something about this just feels right. Rings from both my mother's and my grandmother's 25th anniversaries feels like a great representation of how I want this all to start.

Job Interview Pep Rally

Dan has a job interview today so I thought he needed a little support from team Suz. Cue awkward emails.

Email 1

His response: I'll try to show some cleavage for the interview.

Email 2

His response: Lovez itz. thankz for zombiez

I have succeeded in making him laugh today. I shall now go off to conquer the world.

The Next Chapter

It has been a while since I've opened my blog and found the time or energy to talk about anything. Honestly life has been pretty crazy these last few months and although I've had a lot of stories to share I haven't felt the desire to type it out and hit publish. Today is different. Today, I need to talk about it, need to document, need to write it all out.

Pardon me while I gush a bit. This is the story of Dan (AKA Good Lawyer) and I.

On a summer Saturday last year, I was hanging out with my best friend Brandon. We spent a few hours eating and drinking, laughing and talking. Somehow we ended up on the topic of dating and my prospects. I recounted each terrible date I'd been on and also each fantastic date. I'd been on a lot of bad dates recently (your friends weird film goth party?! really?!) and some fantastic dates but no matter what the date, I felt like it wasn't the place for me. Some other girls might have been swept off their feet by those dates but I just didn't ever feel a spark. After some joking around, Brandon and I decided to try OKC Local, a blind date app. My entry was something along the lines of "Let's go grab a GOOD beer tonight." Within minutes I had several replies and one guy caught my eye. Less than two hours later, I was scooting downtown to meet Dan for the first time. I'm not going to say it was love at first sight. I'm not going to say,

"I knew from that moment," but there was something different about him. He made me laugh, we had inside jokes from the get-go and I couldn't wait to spend more time with him. We spent the whole evening together and there wasn't an awkward or silent moment the entire time. I knew I wanted to see this guy again. That's how it has always been with Dan. Easy, simple, fun and I find myself always waiting for our next moment together.

Over the next few months Dan and I had adventure after adventure together, we went to Chicago festivals, experienced new things together, took a weekend trip to LA (where we first said I love you), made our way around Michigan and Indiana to visit some of the best breweries, took a trip to Austin to meet my family and each day was fun, each day I was left wanting more.

We aren't perfect, no one is. We fight just like anyone else, and we've had our ups and downs and struggles. A little over a month ago, I had to make a very difficult decision about my career and our relationship. I was offered the opportunity to work in London for 3 months. Making this decision put a lot of strain on our relationship. Dan was excited that I had this opportunity but in all honestly, we weren't thrilled about the

idea of spending 3 months apart. On my last day in Chicago, Dan drove me to the airport and I completely lost it. I couldn't believe I was leaving. Couldn't believe I wouldn't see him everyday. He walked me into the airport and I broke down as we said our goodbyes. The first few days were rough but Dan and I found ways of making the 4,000 mile difference work for us. Being apart has made us realize even more how much we love one another. Distance does really make the heart grow fonder. :)

Last weekend, Dan and I were talking about the big M word. We had tossed around the idea before but the conversation had never been this serious. We knew we wanted to be with one another. I figured he'd propose within the next few months but I didn't think it would be like this. Before I even knew it, he was calling my parents and asking for permission and word spread pretty quickly about our conversations. Next thing I knew, Dan and I are on Facetime with my mom in the background on Skype and Dan was proposing to me. This definitely wasn't a typical proposal but it is very us. I laughed my way completely through it and I've had a smile on my face for the last week straight. 

I'm so happy to have found someone that makes me laugh, a deep down belly laugh. And someone that I know I will have endless new experiences and adventures with. Here's to our next great adventure. I can't wait to spend it with Dan, all I ask is that you don't take up too much room in my closet.

Missed Connection Monday: Game store in the mall

Title: Game store in the mall

Description: Hello, I bought some dice and a dungeon set. You had a beautiful smile, and seemed very nice. I would like to talk to you some time if you see this. Have a wonderful day.

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Pink Bathrooms and Toy Massacres

This afternoon I decided to tackle decorating one of the bathrooms in the house. For weeks I've been trying to pick a paint color but nothing suited the room. First there was cornbread yellow, too bright. Then a lilac, too blah. So today I went with a different color...pink. After throwing a quick paint sample on the wall, I was sold. Four hours later and I ended up with a pink bathroom.

While I was working on the bathroom, my usually super handy helper (Opie) was no where to be found. I walked into the bedroom to check on her when I finished working and saw...

...that there had been a loofa toy massacre! Then I spotted Opie on the bed, preparing to attack her next victim.

See that glimmer in the elephant's eye...that's fear.

Five minutes later the elephant lost all of the stuffing out of his left leg and his squeaker has been compromised. Here's to buying toys that last less than one day and to painting a bathrooms pink because you can :)

Domestic Confessions

First off, let me start by saying, I am not Susie Homemaker and I never said that I was.

On Tuesday evening while I was playing with the puggle in my newly decorated dining room I accidentally knocked over one of my big lightbulbs and it shattered all over the floor. After looking at the mess on the floor a few thoughts entered my head:

"Well crap, I was supposed to leave for trivia in a few minutes. How can I quickly clean this up and still have a beer in my hand in 20 minutes?"

"Hmmm...I don't own a broom...or a dustpan and I think the glass will kill the already weak motor of my Swiffer Vac."

"PAPER TOWELS! I can grab a bunch of paper towels and attempt to sweep up the mess."

I then took about half a roll of paper towels and sweeped the glass shards into the center of the dining room.

"Ok...I've collected all the glass together but I don't have any way to transport it so I guess I'll leave it and buy a broom tonight."

"Suz, seriously you can't leave glass just out on the floor! What if Opie tries to eat it?!"

I had a eureka moment when I decided to use more paper towels to cover up the glass so Opie couldn't see it/eat it. But knowing her, she'd eat the paper towels and get to the glass anyway. So I put my ottoman on top of the glass pile.

That's right folks, I put an ottoman on top of paper towels on top of glass so I could go drink beer and deal with it later.

So this brings us to today, Friday, I have yet to buy a broom, and the ottoman with the glass is still sitting in the middle of my dining room. My dog walker and other humans have been in my house and have seen said glass and no one has brought it up. My ottoman and glass pile are literally the pink elephant in the room.

The worst part of it, I live across the street from a Menards where brooms come in all shapes and colors but I haven't walked my non-domestic butt over there to get one and tonight I'm meeting a co-worker for drinks so I doubt I'll be visiting the store this evening.

I'm totally going to domestic hell for this.

Update: Ramon (the owner of six Domino's pizza places in Chicago) just sent me the following tweet.

(link)

Lovin' this week: Galactic

Make Star Cookies not Star Wars

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Chewbacca rides a bike - $20

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Abstract Boba Fett Print - $40

House Tour: Dining Room

It's been a few months since I moved into my new house and I've been slowly trying to transform each room from the old owners style to my own. The master bedroom and bath were the first rooms I completed and I'll show you those photos another time. For now, here's the current status of the kitchen and dining room. I still have some painting to do and I'll be adding a backsplash to the kitchen (probably white subway tiles).

The kitchen so far. I replaced all of the knobs on the cabinetry, added hanging pendent lights (in place of the track lighting), and painted.

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The dining room off of the kitchen. I'll be painting the blank canvas this weekend and it will look like the bus roll I already created expect instead of street names, this canvas will have cities (Hacketstown, Chattanooga, Lancaster etc.). Furniture: buffet, dining table and chairs, bar stools, bookshelf.

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Close up of the items on my buffet: Lamp, heart print, aloe plant, Two vintage light bulbs from Uncommon Objects, my collection of "The Wizard of Oz" books and a few other random books and one of my brownie cameras.

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Furniture: chair, entry table

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Close up of the items on my entry table: vintage stereoscope, candles, random books and a few cameras, and a dying orchid :)

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View from the loft upstairs

Missed Connections Monday: Dogs Trained to Find Cute Girls

Seriously who needs romance novels when you can just read Chicago missed connections on Craigslist. I do this at least once a week because I love some of the great (and sometimes weird) things people write. So from here on out, I'll be posting my favorite missed connection in my new section called "Missed Connection Monday." Enjoy :)

Title: Cute Blonde Reading a Book After Diner

Description: I was walking my dogs this evening and walked by you reading a book at Pompei. We smiled at each other but I kept walking when I should have stopped to say Hi. I blame my dogs, they are supposed to be trained to go up to cute girls! Anyways, next time i'll take the initiative and talk to you, but if you see this and want to get together shoot me a quick message.

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It all ends

Today is the last day. The last full day before Harry Potter is no more. It all ends.

I grew up with Harry Potter. It will always that book that got me interested in reading, that left me wanting more. 

I first started reading the books in 1999 (I was 13). The second book was already out and I spotted the first one in the book store. I read through both books fairly quickly and had to wait a whole year to get the third book. The wait was terrible.

I remember when I was looking at high schools with my parents. We had gone on one tour (I don't even remember the name of the school) and I knew it wasn't the one for me. My second tour was at Westtown. From the moment I stepped on the campus I felt like I was at Hogwarts. This is part of the reason  the main reason why I fell in love with this school. While my high school experience didn't have magical beings and butterbeer at the Belfry, it was a boarding school just like the Harry Potter gang.

After my first year of college Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince came out, the 6th book in the Harry Potter series. I was staying with my mom over the summer and she went out of town the week the book came out. I remember being alone at the house, pouring through the pages on a beautiful summer day. I was trying to make it through as quickly as I could but at the same time, trying to savour every sentence. My mom called to check up on me one day while I was nearing the end of the book. I answered the phone sobbing and mumbling words to myself. "He's dead." "I can't believe he's dead." For half a moment, my mom was half scared that something had happened to someone we knew...then she remembered, ah Harry Potter. "Dum---dum--ble---dore he died." She mumbled something like, "I don't know what a dummy door is but I'm glad you are enjoying your book."

My junior year of college I took a Harry Potter class. Yes, I went to a college that offered the study of Harry Potter and yes, it was amazing. We studied the symbols and what they represented, the mythological references and we discussed what a world filled with mandrakes would be like. For once, I didn't regret having to buy hundred of dollars worth of textbooks because these books were cool. I mean come on, who buys Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?

So, tonight is the end. Tonight I'll be joining my favorite Potter buddies for the final event. We'll start at Owen & Engine which has the styling of the Gryffindor common room. From there, we'll mosey over to the theater and partake in the final movie of Harry Potter. Here's to the end.