Reflect...

I've just found my New Years Resolutions from last year and thought I'd reflect on some of my accomplishments and failures of 2011.  This is what I wrote...
LAST YEAR:
1. Start exercising.  I've lost an incredible amount of weight and I feel like I've been cheating myself for not taking advantage and being my best self.
2. Be more self-reliant.  I've got a wonderful boyfriend who is far too nice to me and I've let myself grow too dependent.  If I had a nickel for every time I ask Jeremiah a question in a day.  Being back in Iowa made me realize I want to feel like my own person again.  Make things happen for myself.
3. Sack up and ride a damn horse.  I'm tired of being afraid while riding.  I'm tired of being timid.  Riding horses isn't that hard if you do it right.  So, that's what I'll do.
4. Join a choir.  I love to sing.  I sing all the time.  There are choirs all over Denver.
5. Make more friends.  I feel better when I'm around more people.  I will make the effort.
6. Climb more, hike more.
7. Decide what to do.  Do what I love.
HOW HAVE I DONE, YOU ASK??
1. I still don't exercise on a regular basis.  UGH.  But I have kept off my 30 lbs of college beer and maintained a steady weight within the normal range for many months now.
2. I'm still not as self-reliant as I'd like to be.  UGH.  But I do feel just as blessed to still be hangin' round with Jeremiah.
3. I'm happy to say, I have "sacked-up" and I have ridden a horse without fear in 2011.  BIG WIN!!!
4. I joined a choir and then said choir broke up.  But it was fun while it lasted.
5. I've made many friends this year.  Especially gal-pals.
6. I've done more climbing and more hiking this year but there is always room for more GNAR-GNAR!
7. I've decided I love to do many things and I'm attempting a bit of all of them.
AS FOR 2012:
1. Self-reliance will be a big deal for 2012; I can feel it!
2. Scratch my fashion itch.  I'm loving on everything fashion lately and 2012 is the year to scratch that itch.
3. Introduction to Powder 101.  I'm wanting some winter sports in my life so skiing and snowboarding will be a MUST.
4. Get a job, yo.  Not much more to say about that one.
5. Maintain relationships.  I always try at this one and it's HARD.  Whether it's family or the many friends I have scattered around the globe (including the ones in Denver), I must get better at maintaining these relationships.
6. Find a hobby.  I've been big into riding horses, checking out art and going to shows in 2011 but I'm not so much feeling those scenes anymore.  (Except for the horseback riding "scene."  I'll always be into that!)  I'm looking for something new and different.
7. Do well in what I do.  School must continue to be my priority.  Getting scholarships, writing a bangin' thesis and applying to grad school will be my priorities for 2012.
8. Continue to travel.  France and Italy were the perfect introduction to all the traveling I MUST do in 2012.  Here's looking at you Amsterdam and London!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ERR'BODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gone...

I feel so bad for the absence but not so bad for the excitement I'm feeling for my up-and-coming fashion bloggy.  I promise the big reveal will come after the holidays and it will be EPIC.  I shouldn't make false promises.  Probably not epic; but it will at least be fun!  Until then, happy holidays, all!

Oh la la...

Ooh la la... it's been a bit.  I think I'll write a quick post about what I've been up to and what I'm excited about in the upcoming months.
1. Finals have been stressing me out in their usual fashion for the past couple weeks but the end is quite near.  2. Today one of my teachers gave me a hug during our last meeting in class and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy.  Teachers are great.  Let's hope this means I'll get an A!
3. I've managed to hang out with a few girlies which is always super fab.  Ashley and I met up at Sephora for my first time EVER.  Such a lovely place.  Kelsey and I got all crazy-pants at her place for our first sleepover and there was some serious giggles.
4. Jeremiah and I spent Thanksgiving with his lovely family.
5. Jeremiah is refinishing our kitchen.  The drywalling he's done looks SO fantastic but I'm already over the construction.  Boo to that but YAY for the beautiful kitchen to come.
6. My whole family got together and had a Thanksgiving meal.  I can't remember the last time the five of us were in the same room together.  Amazing.
7. Jeremiah's cousin Tinah is helping my out with buying the most amazing high/low dress from Buffalo Exchange in Tucson.  Can't wait to post it to the new bloggy!
8.  I lost my camera.  And was devastated.  And then my camera was found!!  No longer devastated.
9.  Jeremiah and I are headed to Estes for our two year anniversary.  TWO YEARS!  We'll be hiking, snowshoeing, eating, and hotttubin!!!
10. I might be headed to London to study in May.  Which would mean I'd HAVE to go to Amsterdam to see Eva... and then I'd HAVE to go to Germany with Jeremiah just because.  Holy buckets.  I hope this all falls through.  To make this happen I'll be needing a job asap which is also sorta/kinda exciting.
11. I'm coming home for Christmas.  IOWA!  I love Iowa so much.  I already have a long list of people I must see including Paige, Meredith, Brendan, Jenna, Keely, Lara, Lauren, Dave, Kelsey, Lynde and oh my stars!!  I just can't wait.
12. New bloggity.  I believe I'll be taking a social media course for a prereq and if so, I'll be kickin' off my fashion blog during the spring semester!  What fun!

This is long and oh-so random.  Mah bad!  Happy December!!

Absence...

I've been absent a while on this little bloggy.  I've mostly been gone because I'm getting a little fashion focused blog ready for sharing.  WHOOP WHOOP FASHION FUN!!  That doesn't necessarily mean I'll be abandoning Simply, Sonja but I do want to follow the path that keeps me inspired!  So, fashion it is.  I'd love it if ya'll would check it out when it's ready.  (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Sonja

Have another!

One more for good measure.  Dressed down this time with Jeremiah's sweater.  The stripes on the sweater are blue, black and red so that's my reasoning for the black hat/navy pants combo... I know you were just dying to know!!

Look #4:

HAT! HAT! NEW HAT! HAT!

Can you tell I'm excited about the new hat I picked up this weekend??  I AM SO EXCITED!  This hat was a total splurge for me at this time in my life as I'm not bringing in ANY bacon whatsoever lately.  No bacon whatsoever, people!!  The money situation is tight but when the right hat finds your head, the purchase simply must be made.   I walked into Baker's with Jeremiah to look at all the trashy shoes and was completely taken aback by the beauty and simplicity of this hat.  Without further adieu, here's my favorite fall purchase.  I challenged myself to style three outfits right out of my closet to justify the $30.00 spent.

Look #1:    

Look #2:

 Look #3:

I'll post full outfit posts when I can for purchase details.  YAY YAY HAT HAT HAT!!!!!

Normal...

I usually like to share my favorite "fashionable" looks on this blog but here's a quick peak at what I normally wear... with the addition of the old school backpack Jeremiah just bought me from Goodwill.  YEAH!!!!!!  Cookin' dinner with mah new backpaaaacckkk!

Scarf via Eva and a Jansport backpack for all my future expeditions!

I'll have one art...

Holy smokes!  What a great weekend I've had thus far.  Let's recap.
Thursday:
1. Completed longest week of school life.  LONGEST!
2. Went to Cherry Creek mall for Levi's sale with Jeremiah.  Walked about.
3. Went to Walgreens (!!!!) with Ashley and then visited Spencer at the Skylark.  Painted our nails at the bar, received rose from random stranger and ogled Spencer's copper cuff.
Friday:
1.  Insane breakfast.  Eggs, waffles, bacon, toast.
2. Went to Boulder with Jeremiah.
3. Went grocery shopping for yums.
4. Watched Vampire Diaries and screamed my prepubescent girly-girl scream.
5. Insane dinner.  Jeremiah's specialty soup and quesadillas.
6. Went to coffee shop.  Consumed best hot cocoa of life.  Finished some homework.
7. More Vampire Diaries.  More screaming.
Saturday:
1. Slept in.
2. Blog.
Last night felt more like Saturday night so the fact that TODAY is Saturday and I have a whole extra day to laze about is simply fabulous!!  Here are some pictures from First Friday a while back:

We'll start with this gem.  Westy and me before he took off for Iowa.

Another for good measure.  Love my brother!!!

We stopped at Home Depot for Adam's birthday.

 And then Adam and Ashley's.

 Spencer and Hotdog.

Then we went to art galleries!!  Jason and his binoculars. 

 Scoping out the art.  We saw Tommy and his lady friend here which was faaabbb!

 The Space Gallery.

Jason's a special boy!

 The blouse I'm wearing is the same one Eva bought while we were in Paris together.  (Friendship shirts!!)

 Upstairs at Space Gallery.

 Back at the house I found this on the fridge.  Ashley just shook her head.

Happy weekend everyone!!!

OMG SHOES...

So, sometimes I look at the Internet and drool over all the pretty shoes in the world.  Here are some of the current trends I'm LOVING!

GLITTER:

Miu Miu is not only having a moment with glitter but also with the incredible shape of these heels.

Here's another glitter favorite by Giuseppe Zanotti.

HOT PINK:

Brian Atwood.

These Alexander McQueens may not look as bright as Brian Atwood's patent pumps but... Bright. Pink. Suede.  That's all I have to say.

NEON/BRIGHTS:

The color blocking on these Giuseppe Zanottis is insane!!

 Giuseppe Zanotti.

In love with everything about these Alexander McQueens.  Heel, strap, color, peeptoe, SUEDE! 

TOE CAPS:

Alexander Wang can do no wrong.

 Gold capped Christian Louboutins FTW.

 And of course some Yves Saint Laurent.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Couldn't keep these off the list though they don't fall into my favorite trends above.

Alexander Wang made a huge splash with his "caped" heels.  My favs are in the metallic silver and don't have the puffball.

Alexander McQueen.

And these are just FUN!  Giuseppe Zanotti.

Which are your favorite???  I've decided I can't decide!!!

All images courtesy of Bergdorf Goodman.

For the love of...

When Jeremiah and I head to the ranch we usually find time to go riding.  Sometimes, though, we don't stay for long enough, or the cows don't need moving, the weather is crap, or we just don't feel like taking the horses out.  At this point, I'm much more passionate about the horses and riding because Jeremiah's been riding [as a JOB] his entire life.  When we don't get to ride, however, I do at least like to spend some time with the horses and pretend like I'm one of them as you'll see in the last three pictures.  I can't wait to see them this weekend and hopefully get the chance to go for a good long ride!

Jeremiah was nice enough to come with me this time.

 Goofy.

 Me an Sherman.

 The blue thing Sherman's licking is a block of salt.  These are scattered throughout the fields for the horses and cows to get added minerals.

Just trying to fit in...

 I wasn't planning on trying the blue block but Jeremiah egged me on aaaaanndd it does indeed taste like straight-up salt.

I almost fit in, right??  Right guys??