My friend Jenn is coming!!!

I'm so excited I can't stand it!!!
My friend Jenn is coming to stay with me for four days. I met Jenn a few years back when she came to California with a friend. She wanted to come visit the store when it was in the garage. She asked me if I would come teach at her store when she opened it. I was so thrilled! I've been there twice. Her store is absolutely beautiful!!! If you are ever in Auburn, Maine go visit Memory Lane Pages.

So we have become SUPER close!! She's my IM buddy!! We chat and laugh at everything.

Anyways, we were chatting almost two weeks ago. I brought up Anniversary crop. Jokingly, I said, "you should come!" You should have seen my face when she hesitated for a bit and then said she would. I was THRILLED!!! Within minutes I had found a fare for her from MA. She quickly replied that she found one cheaper from ME. OMG I begged her to book it!LOL
She talked to Phil, who by the way, is the nicest guy ever!!! He told her to come!!! LOVE YA MAN!!!
So now, tonight at 11:30pm I'm going to pick her up!! I can't wait to see her!!!! She'll be here til' MOnday night.

Can't wait to spend time with her!! It's going to be a party because my other awesome friend, Angel is coming from Sacramento and is staying with me from Friday-Sunday. We are going to have a blast!!!!

Hugs
Suzy West

So excited!!!

La Fondue finally re-opened!!! Yipee!!!
They closed in June so they could move the restaurant about 20 yds. down the street.
They were supposed to close for ONLY 2 months. They ended up closing for THREE and I was having serious withdrawls!!
I was calling every week to see if they were open and I kept getting the same message...that they were closed.
So last week I called and the message was gone and the phone started to ring!! I was soooo thrilled that I didn't know what to say!LOL
I got a new gal and made my reservation. TWO OF THEM!LOL One for this week and one for next week.
So tonight, Erin, Rocio, and I will be heading over there!!!
Oh forgot to mention, they opened on Friday. I went on Saturday!!LOL
It looks super!!!! They have the blue, pink, black, and I think they said the retro room.
Can't wait to go with my girls!!
Hugs
Suzy West

I know I'm a slacker!!! updates

Okay so I know I'm a slacker. I've been so busy with so much going on.

1. Finishing up the last projects for my next book coming out!!! It's going to debut in January! So excited about this one!!
2. We are getting ready for our anniversary crop! We have so many we have two days!
3. The big event is just around the corner! The projects rock!
4. Lonae has put together this awesome event, Crop for the cure. SO EXCITING!!! Coming up next month!!
5. I'm hosting a Cookie Lee party on Tuesday! I'm so excited! Amber Swickard is a new consultant and I couldn't wait to do a party!!! If you would like to join us email me @ psajfamily@aol.com . The party starts at 7:30pm.
6. The kids have a lot going on. Poor Jeremy always has a ton of homework. I can't wait to get home every night to spend time with them.
7. We have two kittens that we are trying to find homes for. They are about 3 months old. We can't take care of them so we want to find them a nice home. If you are interested in one or both please email me @ psajfamily@aol.com. They are the cutest things ever!

I think that's everything!
Hugs
Suzy West

I've been Simponized!!

Have any of you Simponized yourselves? If you haven't, you should!!! Go here to do this!!! Let me know what look like.

Hugs

Suzy West

Sierra starts 1st grade

Sierra started 1st grade today!!! She was so stinkin' excited!! She kept saying, "I can't believe I'm in 1st grade and I'm in room 9." she's so funny!

She asked me to post pictures of her on the blog. She loves to see herself on it. She also asked me to take pictures of her shoes, pants, and shirt. LOL

Sierra, excited about being in room 9!!!

two new layouts

These are two that I've done recently!! Thought I would share. TFL!!

This is using NEW Love Elsie and some Hambly!! The real cool poka dot paper is adhesive back fabric paper!! LOVE IT! The buttons are from buttons galore.

This one is using NEW American Crafts. The letters are vinyl!! I used the slick writers to write on the picture. The flower on her hair is prima and making memories brads.

Thanks for looking!!!

Getting ready for school

Everytime I think of the kids starting school, I'm reminded that they really are getting older. (It means I'm getting older too!LOL)
Sierra keeps telling me that she's not a baby anymore. I can't help it, she's my baby. Maybe it's because she's so tiny. She's always the smallest one in her class. She's going into 1st grade. She's so excited!!!
Jeremy is going into the 8th grade. His voice is changing and he's starting to grow. He's so stinkin' handsome!!
They start on the 4th of September. I guess it's time to start doing some serious shopping. It's time to get ready.
Hugs
Suzy West

Working hard!!!

This week has been crazy! We've been getting a ton of new stuff in the store, so there has been a lot of re-arranging(sp?).

Today we got in SEVEN boxes of Heidi Grace, Cloud 9, and Fiskars. We also got in TWO more boxes of Luxe Designs. We were going crazy over it all but knew at the same time that we had to get everything up and quick!

Yesterday we prepared and emptied out part of the wall and got in ready for todays shipment.

Here are some before and after shots. LOL

We got all the stuff on this wall moved.

Here's Lizz getting the new Luxe on the wall and two racks.

This is all the new stuff we got in today. It took a long time to get it all up but it looks great!

Tomorrow, we are getting in Love Elsie and more!! We found space for Love Elise but have no idea where we are putting the rest of the stuff. LOL

Off to make more room!!! :)

Angel got her Drivers License!

I took her the other day to get her Drivers License. She was so excited, she couldn't stop smiling!!! She had only driven the van a few times so I was a little nervous for her but she did fine.

This is Angel finding out she passed!

This is her before the test. She looked so cute and I liked the wall so we decided to take a few pictures. LOL These are just a few.

Even though this one was blurry I love how it came out!!
So fellow drivers, if you see Angel driving down the street, get off the road. LOL

CONGRATULATION ANGEL!!!!

The wait is over....AMERICAN CRAFTS!!

We have been going crazy waiting for the new American Crafts product lines!! We were so thrilled to get it today and to create a beautiful display with it!!! Check it out!!

Working on our next book!!!

I'm really excited about our next book!! There are four of us working on it. It's always so much fun talking to the girls about it and doing our planning. We have been emailing a lot back and forth!! This book will include:
Nichole Pereira
Sylvia Bargas
Erin Yamabe
and myself.
This book is going to debut @ CHA winter. I can't wait to see it.

This is Erin's first time working on our book so it's fun to see her enthusiasm!! She has so many fun ideas!
Can't wait for you all to see it!!
Hugs
Suzy West

Our really fun SISters gtg!!!

OMG I can't believe how much fun I had this past weekend. On Friday we had our crop which Michelle Hill came to. Saturday we had a busy day @ work and then MIchelle Hill came up again and she, Lizz, and I stayed at this amazing four star hotel called the W. If you have never stay at one of these hotels you gotta check them out!! They are amazing!!! We had such a great time there!!! We didn't go to bed until 1am.

The next day we came to the store so we could finish getting ready for our FIRST ever SISters gtg. It was so much fun!!!! I was exhausted from working so many hours but it was so worth it! Allison Kreft from Hambly came by and did make n' takes. She's a doll!!! We "convinced" Michelle to stay with us another day so she stayed for the gtg. She and Angel got very close!! I can't wait to see Michelle again for the BIG EVENT!!! Maybe we can convince her to join us at our anniversary crop!!!

Here are some fun pictures from the weekend.

Can't wait for our next GTG!!! LOVE YA GIRLS!!

Hugs, Suzy West

No pictures @ Disney but....

Okay so I told my kids that I wouldn't bug them while @ Disneyland with my camera so I didn't even bring it with me those two days.

I did take a few pics @ Downtown Disney and walking towards it. LOL

Before, the pics. Here's some scoop about the trip.

I went with my mom and the kiddos. It was so much fun!!! We met up with one of my dearest friends Rocio and her family.

The two of us together are like little girls. We have such a great time and understand each other so well!!! She's more like family to me now. I love that girl!!!

We got on the NEMO ride. It's the new submarine ride at Disneyland. I loved it!!! So much fun!!

We were in line and saw to people go straight to the front with a disney guide. It was actor Jay Mohr and his wife Niki Cox. They were so cute together. They got on the same ride as us. I took a few pics with Rocio's camera.

My son was adorable!!! He was a talking machine. For those that know him know he's pretty quiet but he didn't stop talking on our entire trip. Every so often he would put his arm around me and say, "I love you mom!" He was just adorable!

Sierra was just in heaven over everything but didn't want to get on any of the "scary rides". She was just adorable!!! At the firework show she said, "this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, I think I'm going to cry!" She's so cute!!!

The last day we just walked around Downtown Disney and had a great time shopping and hanging out.

So Sierra wanted me to take a ton of pictures of her. What I wasn't expecting was the poses she was giving me. They were so cute. After each snap shot she would give me another pose. I'm not going to post them all because there are many!LOL Here are a few of my favorites.

My mom with the kiddos!!

Have a wonderful day!! Hugs, Suzy

Time flies when your having fun!

In less than 2 weeks my store will be celebrating 5 months of being open. Time is flying by so fast!!!
I love the store. Working with Lizz, Michelle, Angel, and the rest of the girls is so fun for me. Everyday we laugh at so many different things.
Honestly, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it when I moved the store from the garage to here but I really do!!
Here are some new shots of the store. It doesn't show the whole store but you get the picture.:)

Side view of our store. The class room is in the very back.

Loving the new Scenic Route.

This is my favorite wall. It's filled with all the new products.

I love our a la carte section. It's filled with a ton of fun goodies. The drawers are full of flowers and chipboard.

Had fun scrapping!!!

I have been so busy that I haven't had time to do what I love best...SCRAP!

Last night I decided to go ahead and sit down and start something. I had so much fun I didn't want to stop. I finished it today.

Here's what I made.

I am so blessed with amazing friends!!!

Rocio

Laurie

Erin

Thank you for being my friend and always being there for me!!

I love you gals!!
Hugs

Suzy West

CHA was a blast!!!

CHA Chicago was AWESOME!!! We had such a great time!!! There is noone that I would have loved to do CHA Chicago with than these three girls.

We laughed so freaking hard the time we were there I came home with a stomache. Regular words like "special" and "wonderful" became something crazy that we would laugh over!LOL You had to be there to understand. :)

As much as I enjoyed ordering for the store and seeing all the new products, it was the girls that I was with that made my time so memorable!!

Don't get me wrong, when it was work time...it was work time. LOL All of us had a "job!"

Rocio--photography and the one in charge of "the credit card!" I think she liked that job a lot!LOL

Sylvia--Marking all the catalogs for us to remember what we ordered. She was awesome!!! She cracked us up @ the Maya Road booth!! Nothing is marked but we ordered everything time's 8!LOL (one of the laughing for hours moment)

Erin--had "the binder!" SHe had to write down the estimated ship dates, the totals, and keep the invoices together.

ME--I was in charge of getting to all the places we needed to go to. Find out what was new and how and when we could incoorporate things into classes, events, and more.

Anyways, when it was time to work we worked.

When it was time to play, we played...

Picture of us in front of the BEAN!!

I love this picture of me taking a picture of us in front of the bean.

This is us at the restaurant that we walked MILES for because I forgot where it was and couldn't remember the name. It was a place where they served all MINI foods. So much fun! Finally decided to ask someone if they knew of the place and they said, "yes, it's called....Mini's!" ROFLOL

Sylvia and I @ Mini's

A beautiful street we walked down while trying to get to Mini's

In front of the famous Chicago theatre.

A picture I took while standing 103 stories high @ Sears Tower!!

The first two nights we stayed with our fried AC in Chicago. We went all over the place!!!

Erin, Sylvia, and I posing for another shot!

Just another fun photo!!
We also saw the building where Oprah does her show. We saw the ABC Studio and where they film the news. We saw tons but I can't remember it all.LOL

Next show....Memory Trends!!!!

Exhausted!!!

So there is a lot going on this month which is why I'm so exhausted!!! LOL
This past weekend we had a big crop on Friday. A 10am-10pm on Saturday. A huge garage sale(all the mechanics) on Sunday. We then took out the family to dinner and then watched the new movie Rat-a-something. SO CUTE!!!

So it must have hit me last night that I was exhausted and then realized that I...

**got the kids ready in the morning and dropped them off at my parents house.
**only to realize I should have brought Sierra with me because we had kids camp at the store. Lizz picked her up for me. She was there for an hour!!!
**Then took out FOUR teenage boys to the mall and to lunch.
**went back to work.
**closed the store @ 7pm and then took Sierra, Ashleigh, ANgel, Tanner, and Christian out to Golfland for some mini golf game. At the same time Paul had the four boys that I had earlier and ended up going to Golfland too!LOL
** got home around 10:45pm.
**watched Will and grace....and somewhere there fell asleep!

So let's see what's next...

We have a trip in 9 days. I have to still pack for that. We have to finish kitting my class that I'm teaching @ Windy City Scrapbooking. There are weddings and a few baby showers. We've had four birthday's in the last few days and two more this next week. We have a few classes and lots more going on.

Even though I'm tired, I enjoy going home and spending time with my kiddos.
I'm excited when I'm with them and Sierra is telling me, "You're the best mommy in the world!"

Okay so off to work. Have a great day!!
Hugs
Suzy

The Big event!!!

I'm excited about an event we are having @ our store!!! We just announced it yesterday and we had a great response!!!!

The big event is a two day event that will be filled with classes, lunches, crops, and fun!!!
When the two days are over, attendee's will go home with 8 completed classes.
They will be taught by our awesome teachers and one GUEST teacher!!!

Saturday, October 27th & Sunday, October 28th

Teacher list:

Krista Lund
Nichole Pereira
Michelle Tornay
Erin Yamabe
Rocio Duran
Sylvia Bargas
Emelyn Magpoc
and.......... Michelle Hill from Lil' Davis Designs!!!

If you want more information go to www.bayareascrappers.com

Thanks
Suzy West

Happy birthday Jeremy!!!!

Unbelievable, my son is a teenager!!! Thirteen years ago I gave birth to my amazingly sweet and handsome son!!
Thirteen years ago today I was 34 weeks pregnant and for some reason I woke up that morning and felt horrible. I was so emotional and could not stop crying. I had no idea why. I called Paul and told him that I couldn't figure out why it was but I just needed to cry that day. He told me to stop or he'd take me to the hospital. I told him to take me because I couldn't stop crying. I also made a decision that it was the day to have Jeremy. Ummmm you can't just decide to have a baby whenever you feel like it. Well I had this overwhelming feeling come over me that Jeremy needed to be born that day.
After hours of crying I went to the hospital and of course they checked me. They said I was perfectly fine. They were about to send me home, and I got mad because I just FELT that he had to be born that day.
They had hooked me up to some monitors and were about to take them off when they saw that his heart rate was dropping. They brought in an ultrasound machine and saw that there was absolutely NO amnioc fluid. They looked at me and said, "I hope you didn't have plans because you are having your baby TODAY!". They also told me that if I had not come in that day he would have died!
So thirteen years later and look at him!!! He's so sweet. Last night we went to the movies and he put his head on my shoulders and it just touched me. I love him so much!! He's such a great kid!!
Tonight we are taking him to his favorite restaurant, Nijo's Castle. It's like Benijanas(sp?). Tomorrow I'm taking him and his friends to the mall to hang out and then Paul is taking them to a two story Lazor tag place!!! He's so excited!!!
I love you sweetie!!! Happy birthday!!