friday randoms

Ty and I are headed to the city of brotherly love soon. Ty has to take a twelve hour physical exam. Basically, it means he plays doctor all day with patients/actors and is tested on his knowledge, interaction, and written notes. I am tagging along for fun. :)

Anyone have any must see or eat places in Philly?? Comment or e-mail me at sweetsimplicityblog@gmail.com. I will love you forever.

I have a waitlist for my blog designs. Whoa! I can't believe people actually want ME to design their blogs. It makes me oh so happy! A waitlist means less blog posting and more designing.
Here are a couple of my newest designs:

I love Joi's decorating style and her blog design now reflects it. See for yourself here.


Natalie had a great vision for her design and I turned her ideas into this:

florals, florals, and more florals

I always debate about putting my recent blog designs on this blog. I post them on my design blog, but I want people in my life to see what I have done recently and I know they aren't checking my design blog. I guess I could always print a picture out and mail it to my parents so they could put it on the fridge. You know, that may not be a bad idea. :)

This summer has been all about flowers.

As always, you can click on the picture to take you to the live site.

latest designs

I loved working on these two designs. The colors are so fun and summery!





You can click on the pictures to take you to the actual blog.

latest designs

It was such a pleasure to work with these ladies! {You can click on the pictures to take you to the actual blog.}

Sweet Simplicity Designs

Giveaway Time

It is giveaway time! I have been working on pre-designed blog templates for my blog design site. I am going to offer a choice of any of the pre-designed templates below for the winner.
These designs will be installed by me and can work for bloggers that have 3 columns as well.

The simple rules:
-Leave a comment below.
-Blog about this and get a 2nd entry.
The winner will be chosen on Saturday.

click to see a live preview of any design.

{Blue Bird}

{Swirls & Scallops}

{Orange Lattice}

{Citrine Happiness}

{Eggplant Happiness}

Easy Peasy Pork Chops

I started a blog design site. It can be rather nerve wracking to put yourself out there, but I figured what the heck. I love having new hobbies & starting new ventures. You can check it out here.

Now for the good stuff...
These chops are my go to "company's comin'" meal.

Ingredients:
1 lb. pork chops
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 worcestershire
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. black pepper

Combine all ingredients and marinate. The original recipe said 12 hours. I have done anything from 20 minutes to 4 hours. It doesn't make a huge difference.

Then grill. It is really the only way to enjoy meat. I beg Ty to grill all year long. He doesn't always agree.

I heart thin mints

It is girl scout cookie time!! I love this time of the year. I bought a box of thin mints and a box of tagalongs. I usually buy a box of samoas, but I need to limit myself.


Growing up everyone in my family hated mint flavored things. I loved this about my family. It meant more for me! I always knew I had a whole box of cookies all to myself. Ty has never really cared for chocolate mint food before...until now. Um, I don't think he got the memo that I don't share my thin mints. I guess I will learn to share with him.

The poor box of tagalongs are being neglected at the moment.

I had lunch with Megan today. (She has the cutest baby bump!) It took a lot of willpower for me to ignore the great selection of desserts. But I knew how many girl scout cookies would be consumed tonight, so I had to resist.

I completed a new blog design for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's blog.

Sarah requested something that wasn't too girly and reflected their farm life and her hobby of crafting. She has been embroidering a lot lately, so I was very excited to find this font.

more changes, really!?!

Yes, I realize I changed my blog design not too long ago, but I needed some new color. My house is feeling empty since the Christmas decor is gone. I think it might be too early for me to bring in some spring color. (Although, I am slowly bringing it in. Who can resist green apples in an apothecary jar?)

Then, I thought why not spruce up the ole blog. It doesn't require me spending money on house decor and I enjoy learning new html things. So there you have it.
I will be adding more to the navigation bar along the top in the coming days. I'm sure you are all on pins and needles.

Another Blog Design

Thank you all so much for the nice compliments about the blog design I did for Sarah! I had several people ask if I could design their blog. If you are interested in having me design your blog send me an e-mail and we can discuss different options. sweetsimplicityblog(at)gmail.com

I finished up Cassie's new design on Saturday.

Her favorite colors are red, black and white. Great colors to work with!
She is doing a great doggie giveaway right now, so go check it out.