Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Five questions (plus six more)

If you don’t know who Emily Cassel is, you really should.  She’s all about taking your passions and making them into your job.  You’d think the market would be saturated with that by now, but it isn’t!  I’ve been loving her blog for gentle-yet-no-BS inspiration and I found something fun.

She was nominated for not one but two Liebster awards.  Emily wrote a post and asked for her readers to respond with answers to her questions.  So naturally, I just had to write my own post answering them.

No, she didn’t nominate me nor am I claiming I was nominated for this award.  I’m just responding and sharing a little more about myself. (Who doesn’t want more Angelica?)  Think of it as, “If we were having a drink together, here’s what I’d tell you…”

If we were having a drink together.... #askmeanything

What is your favorite place you’ve ever visited in the world & why?

My mom’s kitchen, hands down.  It’s always warm and smells great.  It’s totally one of my happy places.  I haven’t seen her since Thanksgiving and I’m totally missing her cooking.  And her dog.  Clipper is the best.

Who is the most inspiring person in your life right now?

I’d have to say my best friend.  She’s graduating with her masters in a few weeks and then getting the hell out of Pittsburgh.  D has known for ages that she isn’t staying here; in the past, she didn’t know where she’s going or how she’s doing it, just that she is.

I’m happy to say, she has a plan now, though.  I so admire that courage to leave what you know for something different.

If you could choose only 3 foods to subsist on for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Barring the fact that they aren’t nutritionally sound at all….. Anything from a Pittsburgh food truck (definitely Oh My Grill‘s sandwiches, Steer and Wheel‘s burgers, and Leona’s ice cream sandwiches), my mom’s homemade pierogis, and cinnamon rolls.

Ooh, and good beers.  And pie.  I can’t decide.  If only I were Leslie Knope and I could answer, “Waffles, waffles, and waffles.”

I think that covers most bases, right?

What is your dream career? If you already have your dream career, what’s your alternate dream career?

Writing.  I’d write all day in cute coffee shops, on my back pork with a glass of wine or beer, curled up on the couch with a blanket and coffee.  I’m getting there.

What’s your favorite/most-played song at the moment?

I’m sooo sick of everything on the radio.  That said, I discovered The Griswolds last summer and still can’t stop listening to them.  And anything Fitz & the Tantrums always gets me going.  And y’all know Anberlin is hands down my favorite band ever.

What do you purely because it brings you joy?

Sleep.  Kidding.  I love making things tidy.  Weird right?  Especially since my house is kind of a disaster.

I also love creating things just because I want to, not because I have to write a post on it or I signed up for a class.  Just sitting down to make something and not knowing exactly how it will turn out is fun.

If you could choose one responsibility in your career or life to eliminate, what would it be and why?

Making decisions.  I hate making decisions.  I also am not a fan of customer service, but that’s kind of my whole job, so I can’t really eliminate that.

If you could choose one super power, what would it be and how would you use it?

I’m so torn between flying and making time stop.  Or turning everything into ice cream.

I’m sure if you asked me a few years ago, I’d say turning back time or reading minds.  I’m happy to say I’m more confident now, so I don’t think I’d need those super powers anymore.

What’s your favorite room in your house?

My entire house is kind of in transition.  I think the winner goes to the kitchen.  It’s the most complete of all of the rooms and my mom installed seriously awesome appliances before she left.  I LOVE my stove/oven.  Gas stove with a convection oven and warming drawer/mini oven in the bottom.  It’s a baker’s paradise.

Post your favorite photo of yourself and tell us the backstory. Do you remember what you were thinking, doing, or experiencing that day?

I scrolled through some photos but I really don’t take pictures of myself, so I didn’t see much I wanted to share.  Sorry, guys.  I still love the photo here with the duck (and Jonathan) though.

I think it’s the stigma attached to “selfie.”  Ugh I hate that work.  I used to take pictures all the time with me and my best friend just being goofy and making silly faces, but we haven’t taken a single picture of us since she’s been home.

What’s your go-to order at a coffee shop?

It depends where I am, but 99% of the time, I’ll get regular coffee.  I’ve been going to Coffee Buddha a lot more recently (it’s another one of my happy places) and I usually just get regular coffee but an iced coffee with Vietnamese Spice syrup is so refreshing for summer and their Peanut Buddha latte rocks, too.

So tell me about yourself today. Pick one of these questions (or all 11) and answer in the comments!

Oh!  If you have burning questions you want me to answer in a future Ask Me Anything series, leave them below, too!

Life lessons learned at work

Work.  It’s my least favorite four-letter word.  I’m lucky in that my work environment is pretty laid back and I don’t have many complaints, unlike some places I’ve worked before.

Even though people mostly learn from the negatives, I like to think we can learn from all experiences both good and bad.  Here are a handful of things I learned (or am still learning) about the working world.

Work is my least favorite four-letter word! There are good things you can learn about life at work. Stay motivated, stay strong.

 If you’re not okay with something, speak up

This is something I’m working on actively.  There have been so many instances in the past where I didn’t speak up when something wasn’t right and it bit me in the ass.

Just right now, I’m trying my best to let my manager know when I feel overwhelmed with my work instead of just silently martyring myself and letting my anger and frustration fester.

You’re not there to make friends

I know, this sounds harsh, but really, you aren’t getting paid to goof off, you’re paid to work.  I’m not saying don’t form relationships with your co-workers.  I’m saying the primary goal isn’t to make friends with everyone you encounter.

I cannot tell you how much it annoys me when I’m silently martyring myself in my cube and I hear people just BSing.  So please, don’t be that person.

You totally need a work BFF, though, and if you happen to become good friends with your coworkers, that’s fantastic.  Just don’t treat it like a social club, mmkay?

Recognize your accomplishments

I’m so awful at speaking up (as I mentioned before).  So I have a Warm n Fuzzies folder where I’ll sort out emails of praise and good work.  It really helps to recognize my accomplishments when they’re sitting right there in front of me.

For example: I wrote a blog post for my company’s “Company Culture” series.  It was nice to have someone else recognize me as the writer I know I am.  It helped me to be like, “Yeah, I am a good writer.  Other people can see it, too!”

Here’s a great article about recognizing your accomplishments at work.  Thanks, Levo!

It’s okay to leave

I’m not afraid to admit that I was fired.  Yep, I got the boot.  Canned.  Sacked.  Let go.  Etc.

And that’s okay.  Sometimes if you can’t say no yourself, someone else has to do it for you.  It was one of the best things that happened.

Leaving, either willingly or unwillingly, allows you to make changes that you need.  Just like Rachel from Clarity On Fire says, though, recognize where the problem is.  Are you leaving and not fixing problems that are fundamentally wrong?  Maybe there’s a glaring trend that you just aren’t seeing.

What have you learned from your experiences at work?

Sunday Lately, 16

I wonder if I’ll ever start a Sunday Lately post with, “Dang that was a perfect week,” because this week felt like it took forever but then also felt like I didn’t have time to do half of what I wanted to do.  Y’know, story of my life.  I swear, it isn’t for lack of trying!

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

Planning

Summer!  It’s finally warm in Pittsburgh.  I hope we have a “spring” this year with cooler mornings/evenings and warmer days before endless humidity hits.  Also looking forward to a weekend away next week.

Loving

Having a plan.  I seriously feel so much better when there aren’t many variables bumping around.  I dislike not knowing what’s going to happen next.  I’ve mentioned that my father was selling his house and it seems like it isn’t quite so “holy shiz, this is what’s happening and it has to happen yesterday.”  That is great to know.

Reading

Still reading Gretchen Rubin’s Better Than Before.  I’m sorry, Birchbloggers, when I finally get to read at night, I make it a page before I fall asleep!  Then I have to more on to more Julia Child biographies and books I’ve been loaned that need to be reunited with their long-lost owners.

Wishing

To see my mom.  It’s been since Thanksgiving.  We haven’t gone this long without seeing each other…ever.  At this time last year, I had already driven down to Virginia twice.  This whole “full time job” thing is just crampin’ my style, man.

FeelingSo happy that snow is gone.  Calm and confident about the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in exactly two weeks.  Excited to take a weekend trip this Saturday and Sunday.PS: if you’re interested in running, I’ve been writing a lot about it here and here.What’s been happening with you lately?

Half marathon prep

As I mentioned last week, I’m running in my fifth half marathon on May 3rd.  It’s definitely an intimidating undertaking, especially if you have no idea what you’re doing.  The first half marathon I ran was in Williamsport, PA, and it was a benefit for ovarian cancer.  I prepared as best as I knew how, aka: I ran a lot.

And then race day came.  Now, I don’t know if many of you have visited Williamsport or any area in PA, but it’s all basically just one big hill.  I was feeling great going down, but the back half was all up.  And it sucked.  I walked most of the back end because I couldn’t run up a hill for 6 miles straight.

The first time I did the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, I took my aunt’s bib because she hurt herself in training.  It was in February and the race was in May.  I again did the best I could, but it was still hard because I didn’t know what I was stepping in to and vastly different than in Williamsport.  It almost felt like my first half marathon again.

Five things I wish I knew before I ran in my first half marathon. #gameonPGH #running

So, in my best effort to impart the wisdom I wish I had known, I give you five things I wish I would have known before I ran my first half marathon.

1. Your toe nails will probably abandon you.

I wasn’t ready for this one.  I got blisters under my nails and it damaged the nail bed.  And there went a few toe nails.  Yep, it’s gross, but at least it doesn’t hurt.

The best advice I have for you is to find shoes that don’t rub and are held securely to your foot.  I like this post to help identify different ties for your shoes based on your shoe woe.  Socks also make a big difference.  I like good ol’ Hanes socks.

2. Take the solar blanket.

I didn’t do this after my first run in Pittsburgh because I didn’t have this option in Williamsport so I didn’t know how necessary it was.  It felt like I was almost in shock after the run.  This really helped the next time to gently regulate my temperature.

3. You will probably shit yourself.

It ain’t fun to talk about, but let’s get real here.  I don’t know why or how to prevent this (although I did take some Immodium before the run last year, which made a difference).

I didn’t even know this happened until my mom asked me in hushed tones, “So…did you…crap your pants?”

I didn’t, but I realllllllly had to go soon after stopping.  So just be prepared for that.

4. Eat the gummy worms.

Another point from the Pittsburgh half that I didn’t know the first time.  Around mile 8, they hand out gummy worms.  Take the gummy worms (or power bars or gel or whatever).  It really helps to give you a boost.

5. Have someone waiting for you at the finish.

It’s nice to have people cheering along the course, but it’s really nice to have someone you know waiting for you.  Or running right beside you like Jonathan and I did last year.

Either way, it really helps motivate you when you have someone waiting for you at the end to congratulate you and be amazed that you ran that far.

Bonus!

Bring another change of clothes.  I needed to get out of the cold, sweaty clothes I was in.  Bring a change of pants, shirt, and socks.  It feels so great to get out of your running shoes, trust me.

A woman I worked with told me this one: drink water the first half, then switch to Gatorade.  Your body really doesn’t need a boost of electrolytes after 3 miles, but it sure could use some water.

Another woman I worked with shared this with me: hills are easy for short people to climb.  Our little legs don’t have to lift up as high to clear the road as you tall people.  It makes me feel good going uphill, even if it’s a placebo effect.

Have you run a marathon (or a half or even a 5k)?  What are you best tips?

I need my phone fix

This weekend has slightly been a Murphy’s Law weekend.  It was nice, but not what I thought it would be, which is okay.  Then Monday rolled around and it was like, please just get it over with.

I went to work, went to the hospital, then came home and said I’d run just three miles but went for five.  Then I read (a long overdue task) Gretchen Rubin’s Better Than Before in the tub.  It was relaxing and soothed my muscles.  It seemed like the day was going to end on a high note.

It didn’t.

What happens when you drop your phone in water and you're forced to be without it for 24 hours.

After I managed not to drop my phone in an entire tub of water, I went to the kitchen for a drink of water.  I reached across the sink with my phone in my hand, completely forgetting it was there.  It slipped and went for a quick dip in a shallow pan of water I had sitting in the sink.

Never in my 10 years of owning a cell phone has this ever happened.  Like, ever.

I could see a few screens overlapping (like I could see Instagram faintly in the background of the home screen). The buttons seemed to be working but the touchscreen wasn’t.  And then it started to get faint lines in it.

Shiiiiiiit.

At this point, I was semi-panicking.  But I’ve seen enough pins on Pinterest to know that you should put your phone in a bag of rice (not enriched!) to dry it out.  So into a bag of rice it went.

Then I pulled out my laptop and went a little crazy searching for “Will my life ever be the same now that I am the kind of person who drops my phone in water?!”

What I have learned (aside from “be careful around water” and “I have at least three tampons in every purse I own but absolutely no silica packets”) is this:

The universe has crazy ways of telling you to chill out.  Maybe it was telling me to unplug.  Maybe it was telling me to get off the phone.  Maybe it was telling me to focus on myself and not be so readily available for everyone.

Maybe it was me just being stupid.  Maybe I need to learn more patience (as if I’m not learning it enough at work).

Maybe it was telling me to stop saying, “If only I had done X, then Y wouldn’t have happened.”  If only I had done the dishes, then I wouldn’t have a pan and water in the sink.

Or maybe, just maybe, the universe isn’t telling me anything.  Maybe it just happened.  And that’s a lesson in and of itself.

This was a crazy-cruel detox, though.  Even though I can do everything I do on the computer (including using iMessage and Google Hangouts to communicate), I’m so used to having my phone around me.

If I need to fill in a spare minute while waiting for a file to download, I’m on Instagram.  I habitually tap the home button to see if anyone texted me while I was looking away.  Gee, I wonder what’s happening on Twitter?  Let me look.

As I’m writing this, I’ve gone 24 hours without it and I hate not being able to text Jonathan like normal.  Using Google Hangouts is great because I can still hear from him, but I feel so immature, like I’m on AIM messaging my crush.  Ugh.

And what if I want to call my mom and not be chained to the landline with the cord.  I don’t even know if I have long distance calling.

I don’t even know if a run counts if I don’t log it with RunKepper.

And how many steps did I take yesterday?  I can’t tell without syncing my UP!

First world problems.  I know.  I’m going crazy and need a fix.  I hope it’s dry soon.  I don’t want to rush it but, guys, I need a hit.

Have you ever gone through a digital detox?  What happened?

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