In the shower this morning and I remember my friend Michele is coming over to give me tips on how to properly update the dressers. Instead of what I would normally do which is cross my fingers and start slapping paint all over. Because also I am impatient and I hate doing prep work. Which made me think about her sister (and also my friend) Melanie and how she and her husband recently renewed their vows after 25 years together. Which brought my thoughts back to Michele and her

This is not a sponsored post, I sourced and paid for all items out of pocket - but if you like what you see and use one of my links, I may receive some financial compensation. Also this is going to be a multi-part series. It started with wallpaper. For the record, when I started my search I was looking for something that would look good with my recently purchased comforter shown in the before post. But it was such a bold, graphic, colorful print finding a wallpaper that would

This is not a sponsored post, I sourced and paid for all items out of pocket - but if you like what you see and use one of my links, I may receive some financial compensation. Also this is going to be a multi-part series. Here's a few things you should know about me when I am starting a new project: I will grossly underestimate the total cost. I will grossly underestimate how long it takes to complete. I will grossly overestimate my own abilities to complete. And I will alway

I'm trying something new. As a reminder, the name of this blog is really an inside joke. I don't really think I am an Influencer nor do I really want to be. I see how much work content creators put into their brand and I already have a full time job. Still considering changing the blog title to Birth of a (Lazy) Influencer. Stay on target Suzanne. Target? Who's going to Target? Can I come too? Just kidding. I rarely leave my house. Why would I when I can have everything deliv

Last August I finally decided to stop putting off taking care of myself. Sort of. I am mainly referring to the multitude of overdue doctor appointments. See I sort of have a little bit of that White Coat phobia. It isn't debilitating, but my blood pressure does shoot up when I am at the doctor office - regardless of reason. So last July I finally thought to myself, you are getting married and you want to stick around for a good long time. I told Rob I am in it for the long ha

I have been re-reading my old blog posts. Probably because my Facebook memories have been reminding me of why I started this blog in the first place. And wow. The memories today. 12 years of me gushing over him - which I did not just limit to Valentine's Day. I can assure you, in spite of his protestations to the contrary, I very loudly and very frequently proclaimed my love and gratitude for him and our life. But that's the past. And I can tell you with 100% certainty that I

Surprise! I had to go back and read my last post to see where I left off. Looks like I owe reception photos but it sort of feels like too much time has passed? Do you want to see/hear more about the wedding, or are you over it? What about the honeymoon? Does anyone want to hear about Aruba? *just tell me if you want more, silence will imply you are over it but is kinder. ;) I'd like to say I've been MIA because I've been so busy and I suppose that wouldn't be entirely wrong.

*heads up - another wedding centric post But first, if you haven't voted yet, please go do that right now. I'll wait. Today's topic is going to be photos of us - and our family. I planned the after ceremony photos meticulously. It was one thing most photographers loved about me back when I was a pro. I could order the photos in a way that we could fly through them in 30 minutes or less and not forget anyone. It's all about layering. You start with the eldest family members -

*Another obviously wedding centric post. I've been thinking about it a lot, so this post is dedicated to all the ways we personalized our wedding. But first, another disclaimer: I worked for nearly 10 years in the Austin wedding industry as an officiant, day of coordinator, and/or full on wedding planner. I've seen all kinds of weddings. Literally had a couple jump out of a plane and I did the ceremony right after they landed. I've seen small budget weddings and I've seen ext

*Obviously this is a wedding centric post but now it's going to be more detailed and include the obnoxious amount of photos I promised. A quick recap: A few weeks before the wedding, Mel contacted me saying she had injured her back and was not sure if she would be up to photographing our wedding. My first concern is always health, so obviously I wanted her to know if she needed to back out (no pun intended) we would understand. Did I panic? Yes. A little. Most of our wedding

Time flies when you are having fun, doesn't it? September was a whirlwind of activity...and it started with a wedding! Actually it started with a lobster. ;) I have been waiting for this for a while now, and spoiler alert - everything was perfect. That's not to say there weren't hiccups, but more on that later. It was challenging coordinating all the flights for everyone, making sure we had cars and could fit all of our luggage and people. Rob and I each had 3 bags - I have n

I just opened this to start blogging again and realized I never published this post because I meant to add a photo. So here's a photo and an old post...stay tuned for more updates! *************************************************** It's been just over a month since my last post - there's a lot to catch up on. And while there will be some talk about the wedding, it isn't all this is about. I don't know about you, but it's been a pretty busy summer over here at #ParadiseHeld.

On my way to the dentist this morning I had a thought and it's been bugging me ever since... ...why do I have a reputation for having a low pain tolerance? Yes, I can be a klutz. I cannot deny I am accident prone. And I am definitely over sensitive to hot, spicy foods. But I am not a LPT. In today's blog I shall explain why: I had undiagnosed migraines for YEARS and I just sucked it up and went about my day. Occasionally one would take me down for the count but I carried on m

Spoiler alert - we are all fine. Quick little story time. This morning around 8:30 one of our fire alarms in the house went off. It was loud, but not constant. Just a random lady yelling "FIRE! FIRE!". Then nothing. We investigated, found nothing, went about our morning. Then it happened two more times and I am starting to get concerned. Rob checked the attic space above the alarm that was going off and didn't find anything, and the lady stopped yelling at us, so we figured f

*Disclaimer* In case you couldn't tell, this is a wedding centric post. If you are not interested, please move along and I will see you next time. <3 I used to get this question a lot and I still see it popping up weekly on at least one of the wedding groups I am in - how do I make my wedding more personal? The answer is - any way you want to. If you've been on Pinterest for a minute, you are inundated by one beautiful wedding after another. And while I can't pretend to be as

I had a vivid childhood flashback this morning. I was reaching for a shirt to wear this morning and I chose the one I got from the Natural History Museum from our recent trip to DC. And I was thinking about how annoyingly long it took me to decide which shirt I wanted when I bought it. I mean I was annoyed, so I can only imagine Rob was at least a little annoyed too. It never fails, anytime I am trying to spend money on myself I agonize over it. Picking out a souvenir for the

I don't know about you, but my cup is FULL. Have I talked about this before? Forgive me if I repeat myself. But then if I am repeating myself, I guess it bears repeating. But before I do a deep dive there, let's talk about REELS. I know that reels are mostly Facebook stealing the TikTok concept, but I don't have to download a new app so it works for me. I've learned some interesting things from them. Some times it is useful cooking hacks. Or fashion and make up tips. I've eve

*Disclaimer* In case you couldn't tell, this is a wedding centric post. If you are not interested, please move along and I will see you next time. <3 Also I am aware this is Thursday but alliteration is important! Quick recap: beginning of March I was notified by David's Bridal that my wedding dress was on indefinite back order (at this point it had been on order for 6 months) and they recommended canceling my order and refund my money. Which I did because when David's Bridal

I have finalized the photographer - can't remember if I have discussed that or not. I'm actually importing my favorite (now retired) wedding photographer from Austin. You probably think that's crazy and no wonder my budget is out of control but it was actually more affordable to bring her to us - including travel expenses - than it would be to book a local photographer I have no experience with. I have been very fortunate to work with some truly gifted photographers. There ar

I have completed my first week on my new job and let me tell you... ...it's going GREAT so far. I think all new jobs come with a little bit of a honeymoon period - at least in my experience. You know what I mean? That period of time when everyone is happy to speak to you and they are impressed by your every move? I love that time. Last week I was in training all week. We have a corporate trainer that I was scheduled to be with all day, every day. I was not looking forward to