Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Dream big

For some reason, I had such a hard time writing this post.  Today’s Blogger, May I prompt is a big dream/goal.  I have no idea why I totally blanked when I started to write.  Then I’d have thoughts flit through my mind that I instantly shut down because it seems impossible/impractical/narcissistic.

I’m so intrigued by bringing people together and I’d love to be known as a connector in Pittsburgh (and elsewhere).  As my internship with Yelp last year unfolded, I realized even more the power of connections.  Rachel is a master at connecting people with businesses who deserve attention.  She’s also a master at connecting people.  I got many emails from her saying, “Check out this job listing!”  She’s always willing to help others and I’m so lucky to have been able to work with her.

Connections are also my intention when blogging.  I don’t think I could say it enough.  I love making connections and I’m working towards making them count daily.  It’s crazy to think that I’ve had similar experience with a few people that I never would have known about had it not been for blogging.

I was talking to Marissa today (she interviewed me for her What I’m Working On feature dropping Saturday!) and I’m pretty sure I overemphasized just how much I’m drawn to making connections, especially using words.  They’re such a powerful tool.

Inspired by one of my favorite blogging ladies, Laura and her “I can’t wait to…” post, I’m making a someday list today.

This one is for dreamers, schemers, doers, and thinkers. Go get it.

In no particular order, someday, I want to:

  •  Make a living off of writing
  • Drink shameless amounts of coffee (in a cute cafe…while writing)
  • Connect lots of people with deserving readers/customers/other cool people
  • Have a book collection that rivals Thomas Jefferson
  • Have a kickass wedding reception
  • Get married to the man who has my heart
  • Continue the Steers and Beers concert tradition (working on year three)
  • Wear those jackets with wolves and snow-covered evergreen trees while sitting on the porch with my best friend complaining about how everything hurts and kids these days suck. Bonus points if there are canes to shake
  • Adopt a dog
  • Have matching furniture
  • Watch my parents (all three of them) meet their grandchild
  • Figure out a way to have my father and my step dad both walk me down the aisle
  • Go skydiving
  • See my best friend get married
  • Rock climb
  • Travel to the west coast, Europe, and Asia

I think that’s a good start.  Gotta get to work!

What’s your dream?

 Need the prompts for the Blogger, May I challenge?  Gotcha covered.  Want to use your own prompts?  No problem!  Just grab a button to show that you’re linking up with myself, Katy, and Meghan.  Oh, and use #BloggerMayI on Twitter/Instagram to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!

Stop Shoulding, Part 2

Today’s Blogger, May I prompt is this time last year.  Perfect timing to bring up about a year ago when I went to TEDxGrandviewAve (now TEDxPittsburgh!) and heard Britt Reints talk about “shoulding on yourself” and wrote a long, gushing post about how awesome she is and how right she is about that.  If you remember, that’s awesome and I love you and you’re my people.  If you don’t, catch up here.

Okay, back with me?

I’m getting very tired of people telling me what I should do.  I want to yell at them and say, “You don’t get to tell me what I ‘should’ do because you don’t know my situation.”

By telling someone, “You should totally [fill in the blank],” you’re imposing your goals and values on someone else.  You have no idea what you’re talking about.

You know that quote, “Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about,” or some variation thereof?  Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m referencing here.

Be kind, for everyone you know is fighting a battle which you know nothing about. #quotes

I was thinking the other day that I will fundamentally not understand so many things.  I will never know what it’s like to be someone’s sister, to grow up in Texas, to be out on the street, to grow up without a dad.

So I have no right telling someone, “This is what you should do.”  I can offer advice, encouragement, and support, but not impose my beliefs on them.  Because my life that I bring to the table doesn’t at all reflect your life.  Sure, it can be similar, but we all have great experiences that are unique to us.

As such, I’ve been watching what I’m saying lately and trying to replace “should” with other words.  I was talking to Jonathan about work woes and I expressly said, “I’m not saying this is what you ‘should’ do, this is just what I’m thinking is a possible option.”

I love helping people and hearing them out, but I can’t tell them what to do anymore than they can tell me what I should do.

So what do you think?


 Need the prompts for the Blogger, May I challenge?  Gotcha covered.  Want to use your own prompts?  No problem!  Just grab a button to show that you’re linking up with myself, Katy, and Meghan.  Oh, and use #BloggerMayI on Twitter/Instagram to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!

Favorite blogging tools

As a blogger and a social media professional, you’d think I’m all about apps and digital stuff when it comes to blogging.  Not so.  There are only so many apps that do the same thing that I can have and actually use.  I love list-keeping apps, but sooner or later, a favorite comes out and I get rid of the other ones so they don’t bog down my phone, yknow?

Today’s Blogger, May I prompt is Favorite Blogging Tools and I’ll let you in on a little secret…it’s a pretty simple list.  I wrote about a few other tools I like for blogging, so take a look at it here if you’re interested in other ways I keep the blogging train going.

You'd think I'm all about digital apps when it comes to blogging. Today I'm sharing my favorite blogging tools and the simplicity may surprise you! #BloggerMayI #blogging

Moleskine Journals

I keep basically all of my ideas in a small Moleskine journal.  I have the fonts, sizes, colors I use in there, too.  It’s easy just to grab my Moleskin notebook and a pen and put it in my work bag or my purse and jot down something quickly when inspiration hits.  I can also easily flip through and look at notes about what I want my blog to be and rekindle that excitement I had when I started GIHH.

I also use a larger (homemade) Moleskine square journal as my planner.  I keep a running list of blog to-dos here and it’s also where I write down my editorial plan for the month.  I really wanted a separate blog planner and editorial calendar, but realistically, I wouldn’t carry both a personal and blog planner around with me.  So this suits me for now.

Evernote

Evernote is my backup for when I don’t have my notebooks on me.  I have a hard time going back and remembering to check this, though!  I really wish I got more use out of it, but I prefer to write things down with a pen.  If you’re more of a digital person, this is great for organization.  I used to use it a lot more frequently before I started keeping a separate notebook for blogging.  Within Evernote, you can have different notebooks and different notes, search your notes, take pictures of physical notes, and reorganize your thoughts into logical orders.

Maybe I’ll play around with this a little more.  I’ll report back on how my use of this changes if you’re interested!

WordPress

So I couldn’t blog without a place to publish.  For me, that’s on WordPress.  It’s my platform of choice.  I actually started Moda Vivendi, my quilt blog, on Blogger, and I’m so glad I switched.

Honorable mention to my domain geniuses at Tubu.net and the great tech help at 17th Avenue.  They recently helped with a problem I was having on my social icons and Allie stuck with me until the problem was fixed.

Here in WordPress, I keep a running stream of blog ideas with their external links once they’ve gotten out of the Moleskine notebook.  From there, I start my draft.  Some people write in Evernote/external app and then transfer into their publisher, but I prefer to write all in one place.

TweetDeck

TweetDeck is what I use to post to Twitter for my blogging tweets.  I use HootSuite professionally to help with Twitter scheduling, but I like TweetDeck for the blog because I can have streams of hashtags to track, have multiple Twitter accounts all in one place, and easily switch between different accounts.

Another honorable mention goes to Photoshop – it’s what I use to edit my photos and add text, though Canva is also great for making quick graphics on the fly!

What are your favorite blogging tools?  I love seeing what everyone uses to make magic happen!


 Need the prompts for the Blogger, May I challenge? Gotcha covered. Want to use your own prompts? No problem! Just grab a button to show that you’re linking up with myself, Katy, and Meghan. Oh, and use #BloggerMayI on Twitter/Instagram to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!

How to: use manifesting and affirmations

Today’s Blogger, May I prompt is what are you learning?  It’s the perfect time to share this post.  I love Britt Reints, Emily Levenson, all the other women in the Propelle community who are believers in manifesting their dreams through intentions and affirmations.

I am a little skeptical.

Manifesting is an interesting idea that's getting a lot of attention in empowerment groups. Here are a few resources to learn about manifesting your dreams.

I am learning about it, though, and it’s fascinating.  My mom is a big believer in listening to your intuition; I am getting there, but I’m still having a hard time recognizing what I’m consciously thinking and what I’m hearing “the universe” say to me.  That said, I usually am pretty good at following my gut [insert joke about needing to tone my abs here].

A little over a year ago, I did Emily’s Project Miracles and had a great experience.  Based on Melody Beattie’s book, you write down your goals and what you want to and in 4o days, poof, it should be there.

It did take some time to get into the groove; I had a hard time trying to figure out where it was all going.  It was about a year after I did it that I finally saw some of the miracles I wanted to manifest take place.  I’m so impatient that I expect to work out once and see results, so manifesting and positive affirmations are as much an exercise in patience as they are in faith for me.

If you’re into manifesting and using affirmations, here are a few things that I’ve found to be helpful.

One is setting the intention.  I received an email from the Propelle ladies that had this specific intention: I am open to receive.

That’s perfect.  How can you manifest anything if you aren’t open to the experience?  If you aren’t sure if you’re listening to your gut, tell yourself that you’re open to receive and just wait to see what vibe you get.

Second, believe what you’re manifesting is possible.  In another Propelle email, they wrote this:

Manifestation is not only about envisioning what you want to happen happening but it’s also believing it’s possible and that you’re capable and worthy.

There’s also a fun letter to the universe you can use.

Three: get specific.  That’s another theme throughout my research that I’ve noticed.  Propelle recommends getting very specific.  Marie Forleo talks about it in conjunction with a gratitude practice.  My mom would always tell me that, too.  Tell the universe very clearly what you want.

How’s this for specific: tapping for $50,000.

Lastly, meditation.  It helps to have a clear headspace when you are manifesting.  I love this practical guide from A Daring Adventure.  Britt Reints also has many helpful affirmations if you sign up for her newsletter!

Everyone says to “sit with it.”  This is something I hear all the time, most recently from a Google Hangout that Emily Cassel hosted.

I’ve come to learn that I need help just marinating in things.  I definitely trust in feeling out a gut reaction, but sometimes I have a hard time knowing what the universe is saying to me and what am I consciously thinking.

If you’re looking for more information about manifesting, here’s a seven-step process from Kate Northrup.  And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Gretchen Rubin, too!

What are you learning?  Would you ever try manifesting?


Need the prompts for the Blogger, May I challenge? Gotcha covered. Want to use your own prompts? No problem! Just grab a button to show that you’re linking up with myself, Katy, and Meghan. Oh, and use #BloggerMayI on Twitter/Instagram to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!

Sunday Lately, 19

So.  This week.  I know, I know…I said it last week, but I need to stop writing these weekly wrap ups when I just get bad news.  I found out that my work schedule may be changing.  I mean, it isn’t anything like *terrible* but I took a full time job, in part, for stability and consistency of schedule.  We may be switching to a different set up and I’m really not sure about that at all.

On a happier note, Happy Mother’s Day to my Blogger, May  I partner in insanity, Katy!

What have you been up to lately? This is week 14 of Sunday Lately link up with Katy, Meghan, and Nicole!

Updating

My blog theme!  Finally!  I think I’ve said this for every Sunday Lately “updating” prompt, but seriously, I finally did it!

And I have a sponsorship package if you’re interested in that kind of thing.  And I also offer consultative social media/blogging work for small businesses and bloggers (but that’s always been an option)  And that’s about it.  All the conjunctions!

Reminding

Everything happens for a reason.  I know this is trite, but I really do need a reminder of that every now and then.  It takes some time to see what that reason is (and sometimes we still don’t know), but when you look back, you see that there was a purpose behind X event that lead to Y outcome.  It’s all connected to a crazy universe.  She’s a tricky one, she is.

Needing

To seriously get my butt in gear and take things out of my father’s house.  After my family decided back in March that no, we aren’t going to sell the house at the end of March, I sort of stopped working.  I think part of me was hoping my father could stay there and I was hoping I would still be there for Christmas dinners and Easter mornings.

I said to Katy in a comment the other day that deep down, I was hoping for my children to have memories of coming back to my childhood home.  I have such wonderful memories of my grandparents’ house when I was younger and it would be nice to pass that along so my kids could have memories in their grandfather’s house.  But I’m crying in public now, so I’m going to stop this train of thought.

Wearing

Sandals!  And shorts!  It’s finally warm here in Pittsburgh.  The only downfall is that it seems like we’ve had about 1.5 weeks of summer and now we’re steamrolling into 70+ degree, humidity-filled weather.  Not that it’s a bad thing after the winter we had, but I’d like a few more days weeks of cooler temperatures with a nice breeze before oppressive swampiness sets in.

Being

I’m really excited to be blogging with Katy and Meghan this month.  I thought a post per day would be a challenge (and it is, don’t get me wrong) but I love having a direction to guide me.  If I was just sitting down to write every day without rhyme or reason, I would not be having as much fun as I am now.

Need the prompts for the Blogger, May I challenge?  Gotcha covered.  Want to use your own prompts?  No problem!  Just grab a button to show that you’re linking up with myself, Katy, and Meghan.  Oh, and use #BloggerMayI on Twitter/Instagram to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!

What have you been up to lately?


Let’s Play

           

People Really Dug These

We Belong in the Garden Together