Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Sunday Lately, 55

Sunday Lately is a weekly link up brought to you by the Blogger Tribe. Link up and see what's been happening lately!Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (which is being fearlessly lead by Meghan, Nicole, Katy, and myself). We e-hang out every Sunday, sharing a small glimpse into the last week of life in our own worlds. We’d love if you could join us!
This week’s themes: Completing, Visiting, Repeating, Writing, Scheduling

**I totally slacked off yesterday and decided to fall asleep on the couch for most of the day instead of post this on Sunday. So we’re doing Monday Lately.

Completing

Awkward: I’m just now getting around to completing my Holiday Council sheets (that have sat untouched since the beginning of the month).

Awesome: Blogging discussions with my Pittsburgh girls Marissa and Kristin are amazing. And they’re going to force me to complete my goals.

Visiting

Awkward: On Saturday, Katy and I went to a beer festival. It was fantastic. Why is it in the awkward category? Because of my terrible white girl dancing. Katy is smooth. I am not. But we did have people comment on our moves. Hey, if you play music, expect tipsy girls to dance.

Awesome: We also went to the Andy Warhol Museum and it was fantastic to walk around and make fun of art. Listen, I love Andy, but some of his art just looks like he got bored halfway through and walked away from the project. Although that’s an interesting life lesson…

The Andy Warhol Musuem cow wallpaper is so cool! I need this in my house.

Repeating

Awkward: Lists on lists on lists. They keep me organized and sane, but I start to write them on a pad at work, then in my planner, then on another page in my planner. I know I could use an app on my phone, but physically writing something makes me remember it more.

Awesome: How excited I am to read Kayla Hollatz’s Brave Little Bones. Many thanks to Marissa for this one!
Brave Little Bones by Kayla Hollatz

Writing

Awkward: Sunday Lately on Monday morning at work…that’s what I’m writing. Sorry guys.
Awesome: Hey at least I’m not skipping it!

Scheduling

Awkward & Awesome: So I have two different planners and I’m writing in both of them and I’m quickly realizing that I’m using The Happy Planner more than my Moleskine planner I purchased (to carry daily since it’s smaller than The Happy Planner). I love that I’m using THP more than I thought I would, but I can’t give up my Moleskine planners. Plus, it has Snoopy on it.


Belly Up to the Barre (Code)

Right before the new year, my friend Marissa and I were talking about our goals for 2016. She mentioned that she wants to take advantage of those free introductory fitness classes. And I’m like yes, sign me up. It gets boring doing the same thing over and over and yo, it’s expensive. Each fitness studio has their own package deal. And depending on the day, I may want to do Pilates, yoga, barre, or just run.

Long story short…I tried a barre class at The Barre Code‘s new location (right by my Trader Joe’s..win!) and was blown away by how awesome barre is.

We live by a code..the Barre Code.

So I get there and everyone is just hanging out..not looking at each other..not really talking. And I’m like shit, what did I get myself into? Naturally, I took a spot in the back and then found out that people new to barre should probably be closer to the front. Yep, put me right by the instructor when I’ve never done this before. Because that isn’t mortifying for me.

Turns out, everyone is so focused on what their muscles are doing that no one cared.

Dude. I was tapped out when it was all said and done. We used a smallish ball as our “resistance” in the class and focused on working the muscle out entirely to the point of fatigue with focused, precise movements. Like, I was on my toes barely holding onto the barre and using my quads to raise and lower my body. Just my quads. And if your heels dipped, Vanessa came around and held them up.

Basically if your muscles aren’t shaking, you’re doing it wrong.

Vanessa told us to pick a mantra to get you through class and say it over and over when you wanted to give up. While I completely appreciate mind-over-matter thinking, I’m pretty sure this was just to get our minds off of how much it all hurt and how many seconds of pain was left.

Does it sound like hell? It really isn’t, I promise! It’s the best.freaking.feeling ever to walk out of that class knowing you a) didn’t die b) didn’t fall over and c) didn’t give up.

Seriously, I need to have someone standing over me holding me accountable to doing the full 30 seconds or I would be like, I’m just gonna half ass these last few reps…

I signed up for a Barre Code class, but there are other tons of other classes to try out depending on what you want to do. I was really excited to try a class at The Barre Code, especially now that I know it is a completely accessible workout and makes you feel like you’re floating on air when you’re done.

How do you mix up your workouts?

I was able to take this class complementary as part of The Barre Code’s grand opening celebration in the North Hills. All opinions are of course my own. Be sure to check them out and tell them I said hello!

Snow Daze

This is the first #HashtagHumpday that I’m doing for the year and I have some thing at I just have to get off my chest. Buckle up.

Via ReactionGIFs

Via ReactionGIFs

I will judge you when you put apostrophes where they don’t belong. Seriously, it isn’t that hard to figure out if you need to make a word plural, possessive, or a contraction. Kegs / Keg’s have two totally different meanings. #TheyreThereTheir #FifthGradeWasYearsAgoPeople

Hey, Pittsburgh drivers, last time I checked, there’s a law that states you must clear off all snow and ice from your vehicle. I’m already sick of being stuck behind a stream of snow flying off your roof and we’ve only had legitimate snowfall for one day. If you can’t reach your roof, get a smaller car. #ClearlyYoureOvercompensatingForSomething #YoureNotFoolingAnyone

While we’re on the subject of driving in the snow… It is absolutely 100% necessary to use caution when driving in the snow. It is not necessary, though, to drive 20 MPH in the fast lane when there is no one in front of you for miles and the roads have been cleared. If everyone else can keep up with a moderate speed, you can, too. #YourCarIsntSpecial #IPromseYouCanDriveFaster #IJustWannaGetHome

Is there anything more disappointing than thinking about dinner all day long only to realize that you don’t have a key ingredient? I was so focused on making some yummy guac or avocado toast or something with an avocado the other day and when I got home, I realized it had gone bad already. #TheWorst #WhyAvocadoWhyyyy

Hashtaghumpdaysm_zpsc121607aI’m linking up today with Life with Lolo and Genuinely Lauren for #HashtagHumpday!

Sunday Lately, 54

Sunday Lately is a weekly link up brought to you by the Blogger Tribe. Link up and see what's been happening lately!Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (which is being fearlessly lead by Meghan, Nicole, Katy, and myself). We e-hang out every Sunday, sharing a small glimpse into the last week of life in our own worlds. We’d love if you could join us!
This week’s themes: Updating, Remembering, Needing, Wearing, Being

 

Updating

Awkward: I killed most of my houseplants because I left them outside too long and they got frostbitten. I went to Lowes to replace them and couldn’t find any. Sad face.

Awesome: I did find some other air purifying plants and a poor orphaned clearance succulent for $1.00. They’re all repotted along with some surviving houseplants I’m trying to rehab and doing well.

Baby succulent from Lowes clearance section. It is possible to rehab a plant!

Remembering

Awkward: I don’t think I have anything awkward to remember today. Yay!

Awesome: How awesome it is to has fresh blueberry muffins in the morning. I love blueberry muffins. I used this fantastic recipe from Averie Cooks. It’s a skinny recipe so it isn’t as crumbly and sweet as a traditional bakery blueberry muffin, but it still tastes great.

Needing

Awkward: I still have my Christmas decorations up. And they really need to come down. But it’s such a pain in the ass. I have to get the boxes out. I have to put things in the boxes, I have to try to puzzle-piece them back inside their bigger storage box. I’d rather just watch Netflix.

Awesome: I rearranged some art and made some new things to use on my gallery wall sections. If you need to refresh a space, try moving around art.

Wearing

Awkward: The weather on Saturday was bananas-level warm. I started out with my winter coat and scarf and by the end of my errand session, it was all off. It was freezing just the day before. What is happening with this weather??

Awesome: I didn’t need to bundle up in a heavy winter coat, so I call that a win.

Being

Awkward & Awesome – that’s my answer. I’m being awkward and awesome.


Sunday Lately, 53

Sunday Lately is a weekly link up brought to you by the Blogger Tribe. Link up and see what's been happening lately!Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (which is being fearlessly lead by Meghan, Nicole, Katy, and myself). We e-hang out every Sunday, sharing a small glimpse into the last week of life in our own worlds. We’d love if you could join us!
This week’s themes: Creating, Finding, Switching, Forgetting, Craving.

Creating

Awkward: I pretty much blew my life up at the end of 2015. I was lazy, complacent, drinking too much, forgetting to check in with myself to find out if I was okay with the choices I was making (surprise: I wasn’t). So now that I tore myself down…

Awesome: …I get to build back up. Create new things in 2016. My word is RADIANT this year and damnit I’m going to sparkle if it kills me (no ingesting of glitter, though. That shit really will kill you.)

Finding

Awkward: I came home last night to hear scratching noises above my head in the living room. Fast forward to 5:30 am this morning and I was woken up by the same scratching noises. I felt a little like Leslie Knope. Except their part of town appears to be my bedroom.

Leslie Knope raccoon quote. Leslie is the best.

Awesome: I’m finally figuring out how I want to use my Happy Planner. I would LOVE to be one of those people who decorates it all pretty and whatnot, but then where do you write? I use a planner to plan, yknow?

Switching

Awkward: It’s always awkward for me to switch years. I haven’t really ever placed much stock in a shiny new me the second the clock strikes 12. Let’s be real here, I’m gonna be the same sarcastic ass I was at 12:01 that I was at 11:59. So it feels disingenuous to say I’m going to flip to an entirely new mindset the minute it’s a new year.

Awesome: I do have some pretty awesome goals, though, so I have to switch my mindset if I want them to happen. I want to bust out of my jeans-and-t-shirt/stale-routine kinda way I’ve been going. I did officially register the domain for the fry blog that I want to do, so that’s step 1.

Forgetting

Awkward: To write anything until it’s almost noon the first day that I’m a part of the Blogger Tribe Sunday Lately linkup. Whoops.

Awesome: I went to a Pens game last night and I forgot how great it is when we win. Should that be in the Awesome or Awkward category…?

Craving

Awkward & Awesome: Now that I’ve talked about Leslie Knope, I want waffles. Oh you beautiful sunfish, why do you have to be so addictive?


Let’s Play

           

People Really Dug These

We Belong in the Garden Together