Sunday
Miss Sedgie Turns a Goulish 51
On Oct 30th, the day before Halloween, Our Little Miss Sedgie turned 51. We celebrated at the Studio by all coming in costume. We had a great time.Dressed in festive attire,was Jacob as Spider Man, disguised as Peter Parker, Rob as Obi-Wan Kanobi (...big surprise, I know), and Hannah Banana as the Wicked Witch of the West. (She even did her cackle laugh for a few customers on the phone) Our birthday girl was the Cat Woman, Al came dressed as me (I was not amused) and Darian walked off the pages of her very own fantasy artwork and came as a fairy elf. Even Lucy the dog came appropriately attired. However, she started out as a hula girl but half way to the studio ate her grass skirt. Telle came as a character from the Godfather and I'm the one dressed as an angel. (I know, you're thinking Suzy, an angel???...but Im not that kind of angel. I'm the fiesty kind that kicks people in the butt!)
Anyway we had a fun day, we feasted on Telle famous homemade Lasagna (Don't worry Chase, I saved you a piece in the freezer) and we all fought over every last bite of her famous strawberry cake. It was all yummy.
Telle's birthday is next and we're already planning... any excuse to have a party!!!!
Monday
It's a Pajama Party!!!
Since I was traveling on my birthday, the day I got home, the gang threw me a pajama party. (I wear my PJ all day whenever I can get away with it. So everyone joined in the spirit and wore theirs too.)
Since my all time favorite food in the whole world is meatloaf and mashed potatoes, Hannah orchestrated a spread of comfort food second to none. Everyone pitched in and it was delicious! After being on the road for 5 weeks straight and eating enough fast foods to last a lifetime, it tasted sooo good to me.
Just to be funny, Al wore a pair of mine!!! Lucy, the dog even got into the spirit with her Hawaiian lei
Rob definitely won the prize for best jammies. He wore his super hero PJ's and looked so fun. All he was missing was the theme music.(No doubt next year he'll bring a soundtrack to finish out is look!) What a character!
Thanks for the fun party. I love you all.
Tuesday
The Gang at the Studio
This is Chantelle, or "Telle" as we all call her. Affectionately known as the Rottweiler...since trying to pull anything past her is like getting into a fight with an angry Rottweiler. She is very protective and loyal. Not a bad quality to have in a friend... 
Since we let our team all pick their own Job title, "Telle's" changes depending on the mood she is in. But to keep it simple, we just all call her "Boss."
Without her amazing organization skills and tireless work ethic, our business would fall apart.Chantelle is a Florida girl, who also happens to be my neighbor. She's an animal nut and recuses anything with fur on it from the local shelter. This photo here is with my cat Bob. Holding him was the only condition by which she'd allow her photo to be taken!
My favorite thing about Telle is her brutal honestly. When I ask her "Do I look fat in this?" or "Is this funny?" I have to brace myself for the truth! But it is so wonderful to have someone like that around here...never afraid to tell me what she thinks.
Hannah is the girl with all the answers. Although she is young, she is wise beyond her years. Also a Florida girl, Hannah is in charge of crossing all the T's and dotting all the i's. She is a detailed person... a quality I truly lack. Heading up our accounting department is no easy task. But Hannah does a great job as long as she continually broadcasts to everyone "Do NOT let Suzy touch the books!" (I am not good with numbers!)
My favorite thing about Hannah is that she is never flustered. She takes everything in stride. I tend to be hysterically happy, or frantically stressed, or whatever. But not Hannah. She is always cool as a cucumber!
Rob tries really hard to masquerade as the art director for us at the Studio. The truth is that he is just a big, goofy kid at heart. A former Walt Disney animator, with credentials to knock the socks off anyone who knew anything about the graphic arts world, we could hardly believe he was willing to work with a bunch of wacky women like us. The truth is that he fits in beautifully and his work has given us a whole new dimension.
As the head of our art department he is vastly creative in turning my conceptual ideas in to reality with three dimensional prototypes, as well as the development of our website. Bob, the cat, seems to think Rob needs his help once in a while and its easier to give in to a 28 lb cat rather than argue.My favorite thing about Rob is that he gave me my life back. I was drowning in work and got caught up in all the graphics. Rob has allowed me to once again put all my energy into creative design and writing again. As far as I am concerned, thats all the job security he will ever need!
Rob has a darling wife and a couple of the cutest kids you ever saw... both of his young boys are chips off the old block and are little miniature versions of Rob!
(PS He asked me to make sure ya'll notice his "Cars" lunch box in the picture! It's his, not his childrens'! He's quite proud of it...like I said. "Big ,Goofy Kid!")
Miss Sedgie is our "go-to" person. She over-see's all the packing and shipping. She is so fussy about everything being perfect she sometimes makes us all nuts. If an order is messed up, you can bet Miss Sedgie did NOT pack it!
She is also our resident "Green" person. Sedgie recycles, re-uses, re-purposes, re-invents refurbishes and re-does everything. She even reinvented herself by losing 70 pounds! If we could multiply Sedgie a couple of trillion times, we could solve global warming, world hunger and have peace on earth!
My relationship with Sedgie goes way back. She stepped in and helped us out in the very early days of Suzy Toronto Studios when I thought I would never survive the growth spurt we were in. Unselfishly, she jumped in and just started putting out fires as they were ignited. I will forever be grateful to her and cherish her friendship. Sedgie, you're the best!
Besides the fact that she is drop-dead gorgeous, something she will adamantly deny, Darien is a fabulous artist. While pursuing a degree in Graphic Arts, she continues to develop her own unique style of fantasy art. I hope to see her work all over the fantasy world someday. Until then I am blessed to have her here in our studio. Darien is in charge of overseeing all of our production. Since everything we carry is "Made in the USA" Darien keeps busy making sure our shelves stay full. Managing both in-house and out-of-house production is no easy task but Darien takes it all in stride. 
My favorite thing about Darien is that she makes me laugh. Her dry wit and dark humor catch me off guard everytime...something that is not easily done. Darien is also our official Goddess of sassy t-shirts. She usually shows up to work with some off-the-cuff sassy, wild saying printed across her chest that sends us all into fits of laughter.
JACOB
Jacob is the "new kid at the office" but he is quickly feeling like he's been there forever. Since our sweet Hannah is going to be taking off work for a couple of years to be a full time missionary, Jacob is learning all the in's and out's of her job. 
We are just beginning to realize the amazing skills Jacob is bringing to the table. Recently he has taken it upon himself to create our email campaigns and is doing a whiz-bang job.
The only thing I can't figure out in this photo is whether he is trying to show off our new handy-dandy, super cute product display or hide behind it so I will stop snapping his picture. Either way, he is quickly becoming a valuable member of our team and we love him!
BIG AL
What a guy. He deserves a day at the beach!Besides..you just gotta love a guy that looks this great in a hot pink shirt!