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Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

June 1, 2015

What I Learned from Blogging Every Day

June 1, 2015

Guys, I’m so excited today.  I wanted to keep writing every day and Katy and Meghan are so fantastic, that they were like, “Hell yeah, we’ll keep going too!”  So we’re launching a weekly link up dedicated to helping you Be a Better Blogger.

If you know anything about me, you know that I want to bring people together and make connections.  I love that this is encouraging and elevating other bloggers.  Part of that support is sharing what we’re learning.

Blogging every day is a huge undertaking but it is possible to do well. After a month of every day blogging, I'm sharing what I learned in the process.

Planning is your friend

I know that I should have an editorial calendar and a list of posts that I’m committed to at the beginning of the month.  The closest I’ve gotten to that is having certain themes for the days that I posted.  It helps so much when you have a plan.  Using Katy’s prompts in May was so helpful because it allowed me to focus my thoughts when I was writing.

Ride the creative wave

For me, much of blogging means spending time figuring out what to write about and then actually writing it.  There are times when I didn’t have a post written for the next day and I’d be sitting here at my computer saying, “Okay, brain, what’s it gonna be…wanna give me something good now?”

When you get the creative spark to write, do it.  And write as much as you can to get yourself ahead of the game.  Even if you end up using a different post (I’ve had 3 different posts written for today), at least you have some writing that you can pull from later.

Batch posts

This is another thing that I know is necessary but never really did.  Write everything, then work on figuring out what photos you want to take, then go in and edit them all, and finally add the correct tags and information to them.

This helps so much when you can just open up Photoshop, load in a few post’s worth of photos, and plug them into the post.  Then schedule away.

Schedule your social media

When I get busy, the first thing that goes is updating social media.  That’s why scheduling is indispensable for me as a blogger.  I can write my posts and then as I’m scheduling them, I’ll queue ’em up for Tweetdeck.  That way I know that I’m taking the necessary steps to have a successful blog without stressing too much during the day when I should be focusing on work.

Comment, share, and support other bloggers

I’ve always tried to comment as much as I can, but blogging every day takes away some of the time to read other blogs.  This is something I want to work on more for the following month.

It’s also so valuable to have a network you can turn to for support and inspiration.  If you’re out there supporting other bloggers, you’re racking up good karma points.  It doesn’t go unnoticed!

Most importantly, keep learning, it’s okay to make mistakes, your job is never “done”

There are so many things that I learned from blogging every day for a month.  It taught me a lot about time management, having a clear plan, and that batching posts is your friend.

What tips do you have for being a better blogger?

 

Be a Better Blogger is a weekly link up dedicated to helping you be a more intentional blogger. The linkups will happen on a weekly level over on the BBB page. Link as many of your posts as you’d like! Join us as we support each other to be better bloggers!

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4 Comments · Labels: Digital Creatives, Five Things Tagged: be a better blogger, blogging, five things, how to, tips

May 31, 2015

Sunday Lately, 22

May 31, 2015

I have been hit with crazy allergies this week.  Ever since I got back from Virginia, I’ve had a sore throat, aching ears, sinuses draining, and fits of sneezing.  Mostly the sneezing fits come when I’m carrying a cup of coffee.  Yup.  It also makes it hard to sleep when I’m exhausted yet I can’t stop the coughing and the draining.  Thanks for that, body.

But despite the allergies, I’ve manged to blog every day with Katy and Meghan for Blogger, May I.  I’m so proud we made it!  This is the last day that I’ll be a semi-cohost with those two and Nicole for Sunday Lately.

Huge beautiful white peony!

Doing

Preparing for a yard sale.  It’s been years since I participated in a yard sale.  It wasn’t even hosted at my house, it was at my uncle’s house.  I’m woefully unprepared for this.

Appreciating

The peony flowers in my yard.  I love the way they look and how they smell so wonderful in my house.  The only downfall of fresh peonies in the house are fresh ants in the house.  It’s kind of annoying.  But, I’ll gladly take some ants if I means I’m surrounded with beautiful, fresh flowers.  I’m sure there’s an adage in there somewhere.

Purple peony

White peony bloom

Designing

Because I have fresh peonies, I took some new shots to use for desk photos here and maybe an image on a home page.  I’m excited at the prospect of seeing where I can go with this little blog of mine.  I’ve been energized by photos of flowers, which I want to share more of here, and late-night wine, and early mornings waking up gently and getting some things done.  The late nights and early mornings don’t happen back-to-back.

Humming

Taylor Swift songs.  One of the companies that I do social media posting for is going a TSwizzle concert ticket giveaway.  In the posts, I’ve been trying to get punny with song titles.  And after I write it, I get the song stuck in my head.  Guess I’m just gonna have to shake it off.

Expecting

To be busy in June.  There’s the yard sale all next weekend.  I want to keep going writing a post per day in a continuation of Blogger, May I – I want to call it #GoBlogGo, but we’ll have to see what the group decides on!  And I’m also going to be participating in Emily Levenson’s Project:Food Budget.  And like I said, I want to share garden updates and photos of the progress there.

What have you been up to lately?

An InLinkz Link-up


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2 Comments · Labels: Blogger May I, Life, Right Now Tagged: blogger may i, flowers, gardening, lately, link up, peonies, sunday lately

May 30, 2015

If I Had a Super Power

May 30, 2015

I’m not one to cut corners, but if I had to, I’d totally use superpowers to cut down on some tasks that I’m not a fan of.  I guess you could say that my superpower would be to make errands and stupid-but-necessary tasks to do themselves.  Get ready for the second-t0-last day of Blogger, May I, if I had a super power…

If I had a super power...

If I had a super power…

  • All coupons would cut and sort themselves
  • The garbage would walk itself out on Tuesday night
  • Traffic would part before my car
  • My charging cables would all be in easy reach
  • My craft supplies would organize themselves (I actually kind of like organizing, but only if I have furniture in my office, which I don’t right now.)
  • Bills would put themselves into the bill binder
  • Blog images would edit and alt-text themselves
  • Meal plans would make themselves (but I’ll have to get better with this because I signed up for Emily Levenson’s Project:Food Budget so I kind of don’t have a choice – so let’s do it together and make it less painful!)
  • Weeds would pick themselves from the roots and fling themselves from my garden

What would your super power be?

 

An InLinkz Link-up


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2 Comments · Labels: Blogger May I, Life, Right Now Tagged: blogger may i, humor, list, super power

May 29, 2015

Plant a Garden in Under an Hour

May 29, 2015

Gardening is a new found love.  I really got into it when my mom moved away and I moved into her house.  It was either maintain her garden, weed a little bit, and get some veggies out of it OR weed a big space of dirt and get no veggies.  I think the choice was clear.

She has a thumb so green, it’s practically neon.  I’m not so day-glo just yet, but I have learned a thing or two.  For today’s Blogger, May I prompt, a list of 10 things, I’m sharing how to easily make your own garden a reality in under an hour in 10 easy steps.

How to plant a garden in under an hour in 10 easy steps.

1. Find somewhere to put some plants.  Got a little space in your yard?  Is it sunny?  Great!  Next step.

2. Go and buy the plants.  I’d love to start my plants from seed, but that requires a lot of forethought.  I wasn’t invested in the garden enough to start them in January, and if I planted most of the plants now, they wouldn’t start producing until like..October and ain’t nobody got time for that.

If you’re like me, Home Depot will be sold out of cherry tomato plants and you’ll have to go back to buy more plants.  Much fist shaking happening at Home Depot.

(Okay, this part may take over an hour in and of itself.  I can never decide how many tomatoes I want or what kinds of herbs I think I’ll need/don’t have seeds for.  Don’t count this against the hour allotted!)

3. Weed the garden space one last time.  You probably will have done this two weeks ago and then gotten a handful of frosts, so you couldn’t put plants in yet.  Frost will kill a new pepper plant, but apparently nothing kills the spiky weeds in my garden that attack me to no end when I try to eradicate them.

Optionally, you got lazy and the frosts were a coincidence. #BlessingInDisguise

4. Figure out where you want to put your plants.  Don’t put the same plants where you had them last year.  Crop rotation, soil fatigue, gardening terms here…

This took me a while because I wanted to keep like plants together, save room around the edges for beans and peas, not forget about seeds I wanted to plant, and keep in mind where everything was last year.  I went through a few different configurations.

Plant a garden in under an hour in 10 easy steps.

5. Plant!  I mean, there isn’t much to say about this step.  Dig a hole, drop the plant in, cover with dirt.  Ta da!

6. Discover more little weeds that need to just.die.already. Pick them and vigorously throw them anywhere but inside the garden.

7. Give your plants a little food.  My mom recommends Miracle Gro plant food.  I happened to have Osmocote from my Christmas stocking, so that’s what I used.  This will really help to get them started off on the right foot (root?) and get them to grow big and strong.

8. Water.  Gently, por favor!

9. Do a little happy dance.  Realize you forgot to leave a space for the cherry tomatoes.  Curse Home Depot a little more.

10. Marvel that it only took an hour.

Have you ever planted a garden?  What’s your favorite thing to grow?

An InLinkz Link-up


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5 Comments · Labels: Blogger May I, How To Tagged: blogger may i, gardening, how to, planting

May 28, 2015

The struggle is real

May 28, 2015

I try not to write about work too much here because I don’t want to put something on the internet that I may regret or not want to have it reflect the company I work for in a negative way.  But today’s Blogger, May I theme is hashtag everything, so I figured this is a fun way of talking about it.  Take it with much salt.

Not that I’m absolutely hating life and not wishing to work there anymore, that’s not what I’m saying at all. #ItIsntLikeACertainRestaurantIWorkedFor

I’m starting to realize that I don’t fit in with my coworkers.  I’ve always been a head-down kind of person.  I work until the job is done.  So while everyone is standing around having fun and talking, I’m in my cube staring at my computer. #MyEyesWillHateMeSomeDay

I’ll stand around and BS with them, sure, but I don’t feel like I’m 100% included in their group.  I’m wondering if I’ve separated myself from them and if I could ever be truly a part of their group. #IveNeverFitIn #BlackSheepWalking

It’s also becoming crystal clear now more than ever that I’m not a customer service person.  I like coaching people on how to best use social media to their advantage.  That part is awesome. #MyRetailersAreAwesome

But I don’t like repeating myself, especially when it’s simple questions over and over. #ThisIsTheSongThatNeverEnds

#IHaveNOPatience and it really tries my patience.

I’d rather work with a handful of customers and do it well than a lot of customers and do it so-so.  Y’know?

Like I said last Sunday Lately, it clicked with me why I have no patience for people who won’t just click the damn button on their own.  #JustTryItAlready!

You don’t need permission to always make the right decision.  Just make a decision.  And try doing something for yourself first. #SeriouslyThoughJustTryItAlready

So I’ve been trying to figure out ways to satisfy my desire to work hard yet be part of the group, to have a select group of clients rather than support a large base of them. #TheStruggleIsReal

Have you ever been caught in this situation?  What did you do?

An InLinkz Link-up


I’m also linking up with Life With Lolo / Genuinely Lauren for Hashtag Humpday!

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8 Comments · Labels: Blogger May I, Life, Right Now Tagged: advice, blogger may i, hashtag humpday, hashtags, link up, struggle, work

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Who’s Angelica?

Life Un-styled Blogger, Gardener, Shoe Lover..among other things

I'm here to encourage and empower you to grow where you're planted and embrace the weeds that sometimes pop up. I'll share inspiration, products I like (and you may too), and stories from the garden.

Gardening In High Heels is for badass babes who aren’t afraid to get a little messy. Want to learn more? Start here.
           

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