My New Site

Hello Everyone and thank you for hanging out with me on my blog over the past few years.

I’ve decided (if you’ve read the last post you know) to move forward with my journey!

I’ll be posting more often and expanding further, it’s an exciting adventure that I hope you will join me on!

Please come over to http://www.designedimpulse.com  and subscribe so you will know all the latest news and posts!

Thank You and I look forward to the adventure!

You can reach me directly at suzie@designedimpulse.com

Suzie

Changing Names

I started my blog in 2014 because I thought it would be fun to just give my views on life. I was in the middle of a Virtual World Game Called, Second Life and I thought this would bring them both together. Designing clothes in Second Life and I thought that was a good word for a blog because I’d be writing on my designs on life too. It was so easy coming up with that name, but I found that I wasn’t writing about Second Life and certainly not about my SweetReds Designs collection.

Fast forward to 2018 and I want to redefine my blog and get back to writing in it more. I need to share my stories again, even if no one is reading them and by the site’s stats, no one really has been. But that’s another blog entry to write LOL. This time however, OMG it’s been excruciatingly difficult to find a name.

I always need help choosing things, just because I like to bounce ideas off other people. Renaming my blog would be no different. I came up with several ideas and set out to poll my friends and coworkers. The S Word, Suzieable, The Daily Suzie, The Kinloch Post, Giggling Addict, Designed Impulse, My Better Laugh, Read Between The Lines and even my original name, Designs By Suzie. My friends were off and running picking their favorites and even added their ideas ……. Cue Suzie, The Super SuzieQ, Giggles Gossip, Suzie Talk and Suzie’s Scene.

The leader was, The S Word and I was ok with that, it was in my Top 3, but then a co-worker read it as The Sword. Oh Shit! I couldn’t get it out of my head, there it was everywhere I looked, thesword.  I googled it and up came Excalibur, how to use a sword and a website I can’t even mention.  Sadly, the fan favorite was not going to work.

2nd place belonged to, The Daily Suzie, and I like it! Until I got to thinking, would I be blogging every day?  I’m not that good, if you look at my past blogs they are very far apart.  Though I want to fix that, I just can’t guarantee that it would be daily, and so that choice went out.

What do I do, What’s in a Name ……. hence the blog post from the other day LOL

How important is the name of the blog, should there be a theme to it.  It’s making me mental!  Hmmm, Suzie’s Ward, because if you are reading this you must be crazy like me LOL.

I took a look at another favorite, Suzie’s Scene but you know it ….. that domain was taken. So I did the thesaurus check and came up with different words for scene: place, set, show, site, spot, stage, sphere, planet, sector, zone, universe, and world.  I just wasn’t really feeling it and Suzie’s Universe is a children’s show in the UK so that was a big no.  Can you imagine, Suzie’s World…. Excellent  LMAO.

A few liked sphere and another said that sector would bring in my love of comics and sci-fi.  So I went off on another tangent into how I get my batgirl cousin into my blog name.  I’ve Got It……… Belfry!  “I believe there is a bat in my belfry” Then I thought would everyone get that?  What kind of folks would be brought in to read my blog, Suzie’s Belfry?  Alas, another google of Belfry and Ward and those are the names of people, so out the window they went.

I’m over thinking this, yup yup yup yes I am, I always do, it’s a major flaw of mine.  Checking out, how to find the best name for your blog/website and lots of write down words associated, use the thesaurus, don’t get stuck on .com you can use others, blah blah blah.  Then I looked at how many domain names were not the names of the blog.  So maybe I can use The S Word and just call it suzieswords .com, but I still couldn’t get thesword out of my head.

One Girl, One Journey (taken), Heart of the Matter (taken), Oh That Suzie, Suzie in Progress (am I really), I started coming up with other ideas which was adding to the problem and making me giddy.

Then I’m reading, what’s your niche, what are you writing about, who’s your audience?   Well I don’t know my niche, I really don’t, so that’s no help.  I write about whatever I feel like on that day.  Going back through my blogs, it’s about life and loss, love, family, snow, music, who am I, cancer, surviving, helping others and more.  What I write is whatever “tickles” me that day, it’s what I come up with when I see something, hear something and/or something I want to say out loud and get off my chest.  I write as I do most things, on Impulse.  There it is, that’s the word, which was the word in my personal choice before I started asking friends for help. Ok, it’s a Suzie Impulse, hmmmm

Now, Who is my audience, I don’t know, I really don’t, kind of like my niche.  I have a lot of people on FaceBook, but when I blog maybe I get 6 to look at it.  It’s kind of like my life, I’m always there to help others, donate, shop, go to events but when it’s my turn, cue the crickets because it’s silent.  So I really should throw out all the advice and the poll and go with my gut and what I think…….

I think I’m Impulsive, if you really know me then you know I am LOL  I like to think I can be inspirational.  There is someone out there who tells me, when she reads my writing, I am inspiring and should write a book.  However, I can’t call myself inspirational, it’s just not my style.  So how about motivational, yeah maybe but you know impulsemotivation is taken.  I’m told from all the sites about how to name your blog that all the good ones will already be thought of, yup, they are right LOL

Should I add my name?  Does my name need to be in the domain/blog name?  Is that the focal point, me?  What’s in a name (yup that’s when I wrote that posting)  I look in the mirror, I don’t mind what I see, I’ve done my best ….. Cue Michael Jackson’s song, “man in the mirror.”  But is my name a really a focus? It is to me that you say and spell it right, hahaha

So, let’s go back to why I named my original, Designs by Suzie.  I don’t know if anyone but me got the play on the word Designs, they were my designs of clothing, of art, of life and what I interpret all that to be.  I still believe that but I think there’s more to say and it doesn’t have to come from Suzie.  If you’ve seen me on FaceBook you know there is inspiration out there that I’ve observed and want to pass along so it’s not always Suzie’s Designs.  There I have it, my name is not necessary!

Motivational, I think So, Inspirational, I think So, but do I need to say that too or can it be implied?  Sometimes I am deep or profound or maybe just really long winded so yeah, those words work.  Other times I’m just “stupid” or silly or annoying and maybe quick witted, I don’t think those words work then.

Design: verb, past tense: designed; past participle: designed.   “1) decide upon the look and functioning of (a building, garment, or other object), typically by making a detailed drawing of it. Synonyms: plan, outline, map out, draft.  2) do or plan (something) with a specific purpose or intention in mind. Synonyms: intend, aim, devise, contrive, purpose, plan, tailor, fashion, adapt, gear; mean, destine. (this paper is designed to provoke discussion)”

Hmmmmm, my first gut idea that no one else but 1 picked keeps coming back to me and I do like it.  Perhaps I was right when I first came up with Designs by Suzie.  Times have changed though and I want more depth to it and not all about my name.  Its taken time and a long thought process.  Many won’t be happy about it but right now on this impulse I don’t care because most of them won’t be reading my blog/website anyway.

If you are reading this post in its entirety then you know what a labor it was to come to this conclusion and the thought process behind it.  I will be moving on from WordPress.com over to a hosting service to do much more with it, to share more and reach many and hopefully, to inspire and motive them.  It will be about life, loss, weight, exercise, lifestyle, clothing, love, family, music and yes ……. snow!

I look forward to your comments, ideas and walking the journey through everything at Designed Impulse

What’s in a name?

Shakespeare wrote, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” So does that mean that a name really doesn’t make a difference? Sad, because I do like to say we are all unique and a name helps with that.

Take my name, Suzanne Marie, not to be confused with Susan Mary. I really was a surprise to my parents, two times actually, first with the fact that 7 years after they had their youngest boy ….. Mom was pregnant. The 2nd surprise was that after 3 boys …… I was a girl! Now, what to name me, mom and dad were prepared for Scott Christopher, but a girl …… what do we call her?

They each came up with ideas but the other knew someone personally or an actress or someone that made them not like that name. I like this story because it makes me feel extra special and it always makes me giggle. Now, my grandmother, Mildred, forbid them to use her name and so when they did decide on my first name, my Middle name could not be Mary, as that was my other grandmother’s name (it would not be fair).

What made mom and dad choose Suzanne? The TV was on in the hospital one day and there she was, Suzanne Pleshette. Dad said, Suzanne, I like that and mom said, that actress always plays good parts, good and nice girls and never in the bad papers. A few years later I remember my mom telling me to remember it’s Suzanne always and we spell the shorter version of my name as S U Z I E. So there it is, out in the open to everyone who has wondered why I cringe when people call me Susan, Suzy, Susie or Sue. These many years later, on rare occasions, I do allow those names, depending on the person using it.

Many other nicknames have been “hatched” over the years, Suzie Q, or just Q and with my giggle and red hair up in ponytail Pebbles. In high school, I decided to take French and I can say I loved hearing my name translated as Suzette. This version even tickled my mom into a smile. Though I added the letter A to the end, when I signed up to Second Life, Suzetta was born. Inside that game, my friends call me SweetReds. In recent years friends started calling me Gigz, which of course makes me giggle.

So, maybe Shakespeare is right, this Suzanne called by any of THESE other names is still Suzanne. Heheheeheh

Cheers!

Outfit of the Day?

You must think I’ve changed, become a bit flaky or just wondering what am I doing that for? Everyday, posting a photo of herself, her outfit of the day, what the heck is that all about? Yes, I have changed a bit and I promise there is a reason.

You see I always shared photos of the day, photos of the stages of when I get my hair done and motivational messages. Up until November 29, 2017, I used to take them, make faces with them and send them to my best friend, my Mom. She’d text me back telling me if it was a good or bad outfit, laugh, give me her own motivational message or just send faces back to me.

When the world first turned upside down, mom was awake and I’d see her everyday so I did not need to take the photo, it was done in person. When Mom was more sedated, I was focused on what can I do to get her better and praying. During this time I did have to have my hair done and my Big Brother John indulged me when I told him I had to do this photo thing. It was not easy and I was sad and I honestly can’t tell you why I had to do it, but I just had to.

I guess I just think if I continue to take the photo and show them it’s keeping on with what became a fun “tradition” with my mom and keeps her close with me. Just a little while before the world turned, mom and I had discussed at how unsocial and hate filled FaceBook became and I showed her the “other app,” Instagram. Instagram was just filled with photos and not so filled with hate and hurt. I would show mom the photos and what was going on in Instagram, she’d laugh and oooh at all the baby photos.

Several months before I found LuLaRoe and I showed mom the idea and what it was about, all the patterns all the colors. She thought they were very pretty and told me to give it a try. Well, you’ve seen my photos you know I have LOL. It’s taken me from 2 pairs of jeans and 2 khaki, a couple of skirts and only a few tops that were super oversized on me to…………… a full closet of Leggings, Dresses, Different Style Tops, Kimonos and Cardigans, that make me feel happy and fun.

I am sorry and sad that mom can’t see me in person wearing my new outfits of the day. I’m sorry I can’t hear her giggle or give me a thumbs up to tell me she liked it. I know she’s around me but it’s different because I can’t see or hear her. I’m not looking for everyone to respond and go overboard and compliment me, that’s not my style. I just felt like explaining the Outfit of the Day photos and where it’s coming from.

LuLaRoe is more than clothing, it’s a direct sales company and filled with really Great people from around the country. Some of the Amazing folks I’ve found are Jennifer and Shane, Erin and Chris, Donna and Ashley! I’ve also met Tanya and Kelly who are Understanding, Fantastic and Fabulous and So Much More!!

I do sometimes cross my Instagram post over to FaceBook, but, I’m really taking a break from FaceBook. I am keeping up with the groups I’m in and do a quick scroll now and then but ……….. if you want to find me it’s suzie_sweetreds on Instagram.