Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

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?


Mom

A few months ago I wrote an ode to my mom.  I know it’s cheesy, but she probably is the most important female figure in my life, which is today’s Blogger, May I theme for the day.

And super-appropriate because tomorrow is Mother’s Day.

Moms are so important. Mine is the most important person to me. Who's your most important female figure?

I’ve said it before, but I get a lot of things from my mom.  Don’t get me wrong, I of course get things from my father and his sisters and family on my mom’s side, but in terms of women I’ve spent the most time with, it’s my mom.  I learned how to make the perfect pie crust from her and how to keep a garden alive.

I’ve also learned how to say the wrong thing and get annoyed easily and have little patience.  But y’know…I’m well rounded!

Having my mom be so far away in Virginia is actually a great thing for our relationship.  When you spend a lot of time with anyone, you naturally have things that get under your skin.  Being so comfortable with my mom, I would say things I didn’t mean or that I did mean but came out wrong in the heat of the moment.

When someone moves far away, you really appreciate the time when you do get to see them and you spend less time getting annoyed and more time sharing things.

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!

Who’s the most important female figure in your life?

People Over Profit

Today’s Blogger, May I prompt is A Story Without Words.  I’m kinda cheating because the pictures have words in them.  But they tell a powerful story.  They’re from Dale Partridge’s new book, People Over Profit.  If you are looking to do any leading or inspiring, you need this book.  For real.

"Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen." Brene Brown #quote #peopleoverprofit

 

"A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity." Dalai Lama #quote #peopleoverprofit

"Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, and truth loving." James E Faust #quotes #peopleoverprofit

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt #quote #peopleoverprofit

"Stop complaining. Start creating." Dale Partridge #quotes #peopleoverprofit

What’s your story?


Home

Today’s Blogger, May I prompt is Where Do You Call Home.  Man that is a loaded question.

Home to me is where the kitchen is. It's the warmest place in the house!

Since I was about 10 or 11, I lived in two different places.  Half of my life was spent at my mom’s house, the other half was spent at my dad’s house.  I still have clothes and shoes spread out between the different locations, even though I’m living in my own house (which is actually my mom’s house that I’m renting from her while she is living in Virginia).

I’ve given a lot of thought to the idea of “home” recently.  If you go back to posts in March, you’d see that I spent a lot of time whining that I had to pack up my father’s house while he was in the hospital.  It’s one thing to move away from your first home, but it’s another entirely to pack it up and sell it.  Two different mindsets, I guess.  You can always go back if you move away.  When you sell it…well, you can’t go back to those memories.

It’s ironic that I’m writing this because I just found out that my father is putting his house on the market.  It’s happening for sure whereas back in March it was a suggestion from his sisters.  It’s definitely bittersweet.  He and I acknowledged that I can’t live there and take care of him forever and that I’ve worked hard to afford what I can and get where I am.

And it’s sad to think that last year, we unwittingly had our last Christmas there.  And Easter.  And birthdays.

But now, home is where my kitchen is.  Like I wrote a few weeks ago, my mom’s kitchen is one of my favorite places.  I love to cook and bake.  I definitely got that from both of my grandmas, but my mom had a biiiig role in that, too.

She taught me a great deal in her kitchen.  I tried to make her kitchen my own, but some things still remain, the her Pfaltzgraff rejects (she got new ones so I got the hand-me-downs.  Not complaining!)  Nice little touches of home.

Pfaltzgraff utensil holder

Franktuary poster

So while home is in transition right now, I’ll still have things that remind me of my dad’s house, like the bookcases he built that were in the living room the whole time I was growing up (I already said I’m taking those, no exceptions) and the beautiful Barry Jeter pieces he bought for me.

Where is home for you?

An InLinkz Link-up


Cocktail recipes for summer

So I’m sitting here (on Cinco de Mayo might I add) drinking a daquiri out of a pouch, eating potato chips, watching QVC with a load of laundry going in the dryer.  Do I know how to party or what?  Oh, I also have a face mask on.  It’s Mask of Magnamity, so it’s super-chunky, too.  I’m so classy right now.

I figured in honor of today’s Share A Recipe prompt for Blogger, May I, I’d share a few of my favorite drink recipes I’ve found on Pinterest lately.

Amazing cocktail recipes you need to make for summer. Beer cocktails, classic cocktails, and something with a twist.

First, this margarita from Laura at Life with Lolo (that I didn’t find on Pinterst, I saw it on her blog because she’s hilarious and I love her and I went right to the source. Direct traffic, baby!) because I feel quite basic tonight with my Lush face mask and liquor out of a pouch.

This best G&T recipe from Drip and Drizzle.

Blackberry beer cocktail?  Sign me up.  I’d so drink with Fat Head’s Bumbleberry.

Laura posted about a beer-mosa/bromosa last week, but I want to make this Strawberry Beermosa version.

Oh, and {shameless plug} try my Lemon Basil Mojito cocktail as found…..here!

Lemon Basil Mojito make with lemon basil and white rum is the perfect summertime cockail with a little extra something special!

What are your favorite summer recipes?

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!


Let’s Play

           

People Really Dug These

We Belong in the Garden Together