Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Sunday Lately, 11

Let there be sun!  Finally, the weather is turning the corner and it doesn’t feel so depressing anymore.  I’m not going to lie, I’d still like the solid excuse a snowstorm gives you for sitting around inside all day not doing anything.  BUT I have tons to do and I’m digging the above-30 degree weather.

What have you been doing lately?

Planning

I’ve been trying not to plan things out and go with the flow a little bit more, but it’s competing with who I am.  I am a planner.  I plan things.  I like to know what I have to do and how long I have to do it.  That said, if I’m having a relaxing weekend day with Jonathan, I just need to know when it’s going to start and have a general idea of what will happen.

That said, if it’s a work day and I have tasks to do after work, I need to list them all out.  The long and short of this is that I need to start planning again.  Time to break out my trusty Moleskine planner that I made for myself this year!

Loving

The “Upper Strip Amble” that Jonathan and I did on Wednesday.  Wigle Whiskey organized it, so you started at their distillery with a complimentary cocktail (I had a Nimbus made with local coffee-flavored yogurt and vanilla mole and it was like drinking delicious, boozy, melted ice cream and a I-Can’t-Remember-The-Clever-Cloud-Name but it had ginger beer and was like a Dark & Stormy).

Then you moved to appetizers and more drinks at Savoy (I skipped the drink as I already had two).  I hate to say it, I wasn’t impressed with the service – the bartender totally forgot about us!  And we were sitting in the middle of the bar.  The quesadilla was tasty, but it was also 7pm and I was starving, so anything would be good.

And you ended at Klavon’s, an old-fashioned ice cream shop, with Wigle-infused milkshakes made with….Penn State Creamery Ice Cream.  My favorite.

Reading

Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum.  I’ll be sharing a review next Friday.  It’s a little…darker..than I thought it would be.

Wishing

For a burger, wings, and/or Chinese.  Oh, and maybe a pizza!  I didn’t go grocery shopping this week and I had a lot of after-work events, so I haven’t really been cooking a lot at home and I’m going nuts with my food desires.

Feeling

Slightly stuck.  I’ve been looking at some new blog themes that I like, but I don’t want to give up on this one.  I know I can modify the CSS, but I can’t figure out how to modify the big thing I want to change.  I’d like the content width to be wider than it is and no one has guides for changing that.  Color?  Sure.  Padding?  You bet.  Content width?  Nada.

I have cute new photos and patterns and ideas I want to implement but I don’t want to do it and then have to re-do it all over again with a new theme.  #FirstWorldBloggingProblems #AmIRight?

Shameless plus: take a look at what I’ve been writing this week, especially about Dessange hair care (free from Influenster) and the Creative Soul Connection Weeknight Retreat!

What have you been up to lately?

Five things you don’t know about me from reading my blog

There are things I don’t share with the internet – actually, there are a lot of things I don’t share with the internet.  Sure, I’ve talked about recent struggles, terrible jobs, and lots of makeup.  So it may come to a total and complete shock to you when I say that for the most part, I try not to divulge suuuuper personal things online.

I don’t want to be superficial, and I am real with you guys, but I have family members reading and I know current/future employers will be checking in on me (my profession is digital marketing, I know how our minds work).Five things you don't know about me from reading by blog (thing one: I hate selfies).

 

But today we’re breaking that down.  Are you ready for some stories you’ve never heard about me? Thing one: I hate the term “selfie” and how I can no longer document cute outfit days for fear of being a “girl who takes selfies.”

I broke a backboard

I always tend to lead off with this one, but it really should be a closer.  I was in the indoor color guard when I was in middle and high school.  This was during the marching band off season, so we practiced (as indicated by the name) inside.  In a gym.  Where someone didn’t raise the hoops before we started.

I was attempting a saber toss and instead of coming down neatly into my hands, it arced, hit the plexiglass, and shattered it.  I should remove the “wanna-be” because I am a badass just from that.

I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was little

Maybe you did know this one.  I’ve wanted to be a writer for ages.  If I could sit in a little coffee shop and write all day, I would.  I sound like a loner, don’t I?  I promise, I like people…sometimes.

I took a journaling class at a community college with my mom when I was younger.  The instructor was skeptical about having me in the class, but my mom insisted.  It’s a good thing she did.

There is seriously nothing better than creating something beautiful with my words.  If I could write something that moves people to comment and share their thoughts on it, that’s fantastic.  If I can make a difference for businesses with my words, that’s powerful stuff.  Words are organic and spontaneous – they can hurt or help on a very deep level that something physical simply cannot do.  I love words.

I was an intern for Yelp in Pittsburgh

If you followed SyntaxxErrorrr on Twitter, you probably knew this one, too.  Man, I need to revisit what “unknown” means.

It was a fantastic opportunity and it pained me to leave when I found a full time job.  I worked with an amazing woman, met amazing people, and got to promote amazing small businesses in Pittsburgh (three things that are like professional crack to me).

What I really liked about Yelp is that I got to work from these great local businesses that I was helping to bring awareness to.  It was so relaxed which allowed me to do some of my best creative work.

It also was the first time that I really experienced event marketing and it was a blast!  I got to collaborate with these great Pittsburgh businesses, pitch ideas, and see them come to life. That my friends, was so cool!

I used to go to Gettysburg every summer

My mom would drag me there for years when I was in school.  I say drag because now history is kind of cool and it’s been a while so I wouldn’t mind to see what has changed, but it used to get a little repetitive when it was every summer.

We even went for the 147th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address.  We couldn’t make it

My argument of “It’s been here for 150 years, it’ll be here for 150 more, can I be excused this summer please?” didn’t really hold water.

I graduated from college in 3.5 years

And I earned two degrees.  I graduated in less time with twice the degrees than most people.  When I was a junior and picking my classes, I realized that I could bump my English minor up to a second major and still be done early.  At that time I was already on track to graduate in 3.5 years.

Even though I’m proud of my accomplishments, it did mean sacrificing some social time.  I did make sure I had plenty of time to relax, but I didn’t go out and spend lots of my time at bars and parties.  And I went to one of the biggest party schools in America.  Part of my feels like I missed out, but another part of me is okay with how I spent my time (and parent’s money).

Bonus round:

I’m pretty dorky – I have a favorite punctuation mark and a second favorite punctuation mark.  Depending on the day, it’s either a semi-colon or an ampersand (they switch back and forth).  I’m also a total goofball if the moment is right, especially around Jonathan.  If you don’t believe me, come see me after I’ve had a beer.

So..what don’t I know about you?

Time to be a “grown up”

At our Local Levo event on Monday, one of the articles that we read and discussed was the first time we felt like grown ups.  I’m not sure if I’ve ever felt like a grown up.  I’ve feel like Roger Murtaugh a hell of a lot, but not like a “grown up.”

#ImTooOldForThisShit

When was the first time you felt like a grown up?

But I’ve also felt like I’ve had a lot of moments were I was forced to be an adult before I ever was one.  My parents always talked to me like I was an adult.  None of this “Angelica, when I count to three, you better be sitting on your bum at this table” stuff.  #ThatDidntHappenAtMyHouse

Compound that with my parents splitting at an early age, and I had to do a lot of growing up really quickly.

I think the first time I really felt like a grown up is when my mom moved to Virginia.  I don’t care how old I get, I will always need my mom.  To have her move seven hours away was a big adjustment.

It happened really quickly, too.  In April she told me she and my step-dad were moving and on June 21st, they were out. #CouldntGetAwayFastEnough

So she moved pretty quickly and I had to adjust faster.  She trusted me to handle myself and level with me as a mature adult and not like her child.

Another grown up moment coming quickly after that one was when I had to take care of someone else.  Not a dog, or hamster, but a person (and a parent at that).

That’s definitely an eye-opening experience.  I had to make sure bills were paid, surgical gauze was stocked, the house didn’t look like hobos were squatting in it..  #ResponsibilityIsFun

You go from protected to protector and if you aren’t careful, you could get whiplash it changes so quickly.

Of course there are the standards of getting up and going to work when it’s snowing really hard/you’re sick/the day is too beautiful to be inside, keeping food in the fridge that requires that you have some cooking knowledge, and purchasing real furniture. #MyPapasanChairIsTotallyRealFurniture #NoReally

There’s also the time I went to Target on a Saturday night and walked out with clearance lounge pants and Joint Juice.  My fingers get really stiff when it’s very cold and the chondroitin helps with the pain. #OkayIReallyAmTooOldForThis

When did you first feel like a grown up?

I’m linking up with Life With Lolo and Genuinely Lauren for #HashtagHumpday!

#Hashtaghumpday @ Life with Lolo

Dessange Paris Unboxing and First Impressions

Out of all of the beauty-related items I have, haircare is probably the lowest man on the totem pole.  I have enough makeup to Spackle an army, nail polish to paint another Sistine Chapel, and a fair amount of moisturizers, sprays, and perfumes to get the stink out of…well, I’m running out of analogies, but you get the point.

Dessange Pairs Oleo Miracle Replenishing line has three weightless oils to nourish your hair without leaving it heavy or greasy. It's a Paris hair secret! Loving it! #influenster #voxbox #JAdoreDessange

That isn’t to say I don’t have hair products that I buy time and time again, but I really don’t do anything outside the norm.  Shampoo/conditioner (sometimes a conditioning mask), leave-in conditioner, and finally a shine serum after I blow-dry (that is if I blow-dry at all).  And if I curl my hair, Hot Off The Press heat protecting spray.  Dry shampoo if I can’t bring myself to wash (and subsequently dry) my hair.

So when Influenster sent me new haircare items from Dessange Paris, I was intrigued.  I received the Dessange Paris Oleo Miracle Replenishing Line with a Replenishing Shampoo, Conditioner, and Oil.  I  could easily see myself incorporating all of that into my hair routine without a problem.

The whole Dessange Oleo Miracle line is infused with three natural oils: argan, camelia, and pracaxi – and yeah, I have no idea how to say “pracaxi.”  The only oil I’ve heard of here is the argan oil.  I LOVE argan oil.  Josie Maran’s argan oil is usually what I put on my hair when I’m done drying it.

As you can tell, I can’t say Dessange without a funny accent.  Oh, and a note in regards to the Replenshing Oil: you are supposed to use it on dry hair.  It’s a highly-nourshing yet non-greasy leave-in treatment.

The first thing I noticed was the smell.  It was pretty perfume-y, but thankfully it doesn’t stick around strongly.  That said, Jonathan did mention he prefers what I was using before – good ol’ Pantene – to the Dessange smell.

When I hosted a French foreign exchange student, I did notice that most of the beauty products were heavily scented, so that must be the “thing” to do.

After one day using this, I did notice my hair had more life.  I recently got it cut, which always brings out a little more volume, so we’ll see if the volume is due to the Dessange or the fresh ‘do.

Dessange seems to be all about adding nourishment and shine to hair without weighing it down.  Like I said in the video, my hair is thick and heavy and it just hangs unless I take time to style it.

Truth be told, after one wash, I can’t tell much of a difference in texture or softness.  It did seem like it got “bigger” and had to brush down some frizzies that I don’t normally have, but again, it could just be thanks to a recent cut.

I’m interested to see what happens with continued use.  I think the biggest obstacle to using this is going to be getting over the smell in the shower – it’s just so heavily perfumed, like Great Aunt Bethany – but I do like the volume.

What’s your miracle hair secret?

[disclaim]Influenster sent me these products to test and review.  My community means more to me than some shampoo, so you can bet I’m going to tell you my honest opinions.

Want to be an Influenster?  Join me here!  Yes, it’s a referral link.[/disclaim]

Sunday Lately, 10

Guys, I feel like every week I sit here and go “ugh, this has been such a hard week,” but this was another hard week.  I was texted on Monday saying that the real estate agent wants my father’s house to be ready to put on the market by the end of the month” and it just started things off on the wrong foot.  I’ll save that story for another day.  But suffice to say this week has been another week where I just want to stick my head in the sand and pretend like this didn’t happen.

You feel me?

What's happening lately?

Completing

I feel like a lot of things right now are in progress with very little completing happening.  I need to start getting back into my to-do list making game.  When I feel like I’m floundering and don’t have direction, a to-do list always helps to clarify what needs to happen and allows me to prioritize.

Visiting

My father is still in the hospital, but now it’s a rehab hospital.  It’s a step up.  (Thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to comment with well-wishes.  It means a lot.)

Applauding

Gonna toot my own horn here – I’m applauding myself for making my work week rock.  We have a function on our website where visitors can chat with a Marketing Consultant for help – LiveChat.  It isn’t my favorite thing, but I sucked it up and had it turned on for my computer for most of the week.  I started to look at my ratings toward the end and it seemed like I did a good job.

I don’t know about you, but I’m learning that it’s important to recognize the good things I do (not to be cynical here, but if I don’t, who will).  This month’s Local Levo meeting is an article club (like a low-commitment book club) and one of the articles is about how to share accomplishments with co-workers.  It’s some good food for thought.

Repeating

I’ve been trying to write down three things that I’m grateful for every night before bed.  It doesn’t always happen, but I’m trying to repeat that as much as possible.

Scheduling

Trying to look at March and April and think about Levo events and blog posts, packing dates and fun time.  I love having plans, but I’m not gonna lie, I’d love one more snow day with no obligations to do anything.

What have you been up to lately?

Let’s Play

           

People Really Dug These

We Belong in the Garden Together