Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Radiant

For the last three years, I’ve participated in Molly Mahar‘s Holiday Council. Part of the goal-setting work we do includes picking a word or theme to guide you.

Last year, I proudly adopted FOCUS. I wanted to concentrate really closely on a few things and do them really, really well. That lasted for about 2.5 weeks before I totally lost focus and started to go all willy-nilly with my plans and time.

But this year… This year will be different.

I chose RADIANT for my word. Everything I do will be measured against the ruler of, “Does this make me feel radiant?” I want to be so freakin’ unstoppable this year that I’m positively radiating awesome.

Or at least, I’ll try to.

All I know is that I want to glow, damnit. And like I said before, short of ingesting glitter, I’m going to be as radiant as possible.

My word for 2016 is RADIANT. What’s yours?

A photo posted by Angelica (@gardeninginhighheels) on

RADIANT just found me and I’m glad it did. I was going to pick STREAMLINE, but RADIANT is way more fun.

What’s your word for 2016?

Many thanks to Life with Lolo for writing about her word, Thrive, and inspiring this post!

Proud times (plus a giveaway!)

Like I mentioned yesterday, it’s been one year since I purchased the domain GardeningInHighHeels.com.  It’s taken me a while to get this space going and a while for me to get where I want it to be, but I’m thrilled with it and how it’s turned out.

To say it’s one of the things I’m most proud about…well, I guess that would be accurate.  I don’t have a baby or a pet or some star-studded lifestyle, so I don’t feel bad saying that a blog is a big accomplishment.

It’s still a work in progress and I want to take it in different directions, but I’m pretty proud right now.

Last night, I was doing an exercise where I wrote down the things I loved about myself (step one in Molly Mahar’s The Joy Equation is to practice fierce self-love).

There are many things I’m proud of, like my get shit done attitude and my writing abilities.  I wrote a lot of good qualities about myself if I do say so myself, but not one of them included, “my adventurous spirit.”

Probably because I don’t think of myself as very adventurous.  I’m more of the stay grounded and work hard type.  In my mind, spur-of-the-moment and grounded are mutually exclusive.

Sure, I can be fun and adventurous, but in small doses.  Baby steps.  I would love to work up big, adventuresome muscles.  I guess it takes practice, just like anything else.

If you’re like me and need a little kick in the pants to be proud of the adventures you take in life, maybe this giveaway will help get you there.

And if you already are an adventurer, you’ll definitely want to check out this giveaway.

Some of your favorite bloggers and I are teaming up to give you the chance to win a $300 Delta Airlines gift card!  Talk about motivation to flex those muscles.  Enter using the Rafflecopter below and then fly by these fantastic bloggers to say thanks for this opportunity!

deltagiveaway

Brought to you by:

Life Could Be a Dream // A Prioritized Marriage // Life With Grace // A Beautiful Exchange
Hey Kerri // The Lady Lawyer // Gardening in High Heels // Boone & Owl
Aubrey Zaruba // Miss in the Midwest // Life in the Lost and Found Bin // Making Mrs. M
Becoming Adorrable // Wetherills Say I Do // T.O. & fro // Gold & Bloom
Two Places at Once // Twin Stripe

The giveaway will run from 12:00 am EST on June 17th until 11:59 pm EST on June 22nd.  The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to respond and claim their prize before a new winner will be selected.  Entries will be verified, so please be honest.  This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.  Sorry, international friends!  Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Where would you jet off to if you won?  And what are you most proud of?

Be a Better Blogger is a weekly link up dedicated to helping you be a more intentional blogger. Want to be a better blogger but don’t know where to start? Head over to the Be a Better Blogger page for daily prompts and a weekly linkup to help get the creative juices flowing! Oh, and use #beabetterblogger on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!

When Things Get Messy

When I was in college (and even high school) and I was struggling through a math problem I couldn’t solve, I would get so upset.  I would crumple up my paper, cross things out really hard so the paper tore, throw my pencil, and generally melt down.

And once I did that, I felt better.  I was able to refocus and 9/10 times, I would figure out the problem.  I’m not the best at math, but that’s a pretty good track record.

I’m really not a person who cries at the drop of a hat.  Usually I can keep things in check until it’s more appropriate.  Like Kelly Cutrone says, “If you have to cry, go outside.”

But like when I was trying to work through a hard math problem, I still have some moments when the stress and frustration gets too much and I want to sit down, get a carton big bowl of ice cream and just pout/whine (I originally wrote “wine,” which is totally acceptable, too).

Again, I get up and feel better and move on with clear eyes.

When this happens to me, I like to turn toward certain ladies who are so motivational and inspiring.

Inspiring resources for when life gets messy.

Molly Mahar‘s Stratejoy is fantastic.  I signed up for The Joy Equation course and I know I will love it based on the past Holiday Councils that I’ve attended with her.

There’s something about the way that she speaks to me that just touches something that both calms and energizes me.  And her Instagram is insanely beautiful/adorable/unapologetically, “Hey this is life,” which I love.

Along the same lines is Nicole Antoinette from A Life Less Bullshit.  Her energy is totally different than Molly’s, but she’s still a huge proponent of accepting that things get messy, not showing a Pinterest-perfect facade, and saying, “Listen, life gets sucky, get up, show up, and do the work.”

And her No BS Lab is fantastic.  It’s where I got all of the podcasts I listened to going to Virginia (that you can read about here and here).And finally, I love Marie Forleo‘s coaching.  She’s more business focused than life focused, but there are still gems that are applicable to everyday life.  Her personality is like sitting down with that friend who will tell you, “Get over yourself and do the work or stop whining about it.”

Of course, there are friends who will listen and commiserate.  I love those people in my life.  But I can’t share them with you (well, I can tell you about them, but I can’t say, “Here’s my best friend’s number, call her if you need someone to make you laugh.”)  These ladies..these I can share with you.  They’re great people to follow.

Who gives you inspiration when you need a reality check?

Favorite Quote, Part Two

Today’s post is going to be nice and short to make up for yesterday’s sprawling post.  To be a good quote, I think it has to be short, simple, impactful, and incredibly direct..everything this sentence is not.  To be a favorite quote, it has to carry power and meaning to the reader / person whose quote is their favorite.

Last month, I really wanted to share Baron Batch‘s line, “Be aware when your time is up,” because it was perfect for the day I shared it.  While I absolutely love that saying, another quote that I always come back to this one by Abraham Lincoln:

Whatever you are, be a good one. - Abraham Lincoln

Whatever you are, be a good one.

I always liked that saying from Abraham Lincoln.  Whatever you want to be, just make sure you’re really damn good at it.

It’s like what I heard Jenny Blake say during my Nicole Antoinette No BS Lab podcast binge.  She wrote a post about having a life purpose.  She says if you need a life purpose, take this one: Be as helpful as you can to as many people as you can.

Jenny is just about echoing Lincoln here.  Whatever you choose to do with your day, make sure it’s done to the best of your abilities.  However you choose to make yourself useful, be really useful.

Spread this around as far as you can, so long as it’s still doing good for someone else.

Just don’t spread it too thin.  If it’s too thin, it doesn’t do anyone any favors.  And when you get to the point where you’re sacrificing your doing good in the name of profitability, that’s when you need to turn back around and remember where you started.  That’s a very Dale Partridge thing to say, but I’ll get there later.

What are you doing today to be a good one?

Be a Better Blogger is a weekly link up dedicated to helping you be a more intentional blogger. Want to be a better blogger but don’t know where to start? Head over to the Be a Better Blogger page for daily prompts and a weekly linkup to help get the creative juices flowing! Oh, and use #beabetterblogger on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!

Holding Out for a Hero

There are so many great people out there in the world who deserve to be recognized.  They don’t do things for accolades, awards, money.  They do it because they know they have to.  Or they want to.  There is no outside pressure on these heroes; they have a pretty strong moral compass and operate in there.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others. - Audrey Hepburn

This post is dedicated to any hero who needs a little kudos.  The hero who…

  • Stops at stop signs. #DontDoTheCaliforniaRoll #AndPutYourPhoneDown
  • Mows three lawns in the neighborhood just to be helpful. #ThankYouKarmaForThisOne
  • Helps out a neighbor when someone runs over their mailbox. #ThereAreSkidMarksOnTheDriveway #HowDrunkWereYou #OnSundayMorning
  • Tears out a board on the deck and manages to replace it even though I purchased it a foot too short. #IKnewIShouldHaveSaidEightFeet #MeasureOnceCutTwice
  • Flourishes in customer service. #BlessYourHeartImNotThatPatient
  • Takes a little blog and turns it into something awesome. #TellMeYourSecretsPlease
  • Manages to keep their tupperware lids and bottoms together. #WhereDoTheyAllGo
  • Lets the world see that they are real and not Pinterest-perfect all the time. #RealBloggersLiveInTheRealWorld

Who is your hero?

I’m linking up with Life With Lolo for Hashtag Humpday and….myself, Katy, and Meghan for Be a Better Blogger!

Be a Better Blogger is a weekly link up dedicated to helping you be a more intentional blogger. Want to be a better blogger but don’t know where to start? Head over to the Be a Better Blogger page for daily prompts and a weekly linkup to help get the creative juices flowing! Oh, and use #beabetterblogger on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!

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We Belong in the Garden Together