Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Sunday Lately, 12

March has gone by so incredibly quickly.  It feels like there are things that just happened yesterday, like the March Levo Pittsburgh event, though now it’s actually two weeks ago.  Does that happen to anyone else?  Ugh!  Just when I feel caught up, things sneak up and tap me on the shoulder and say, “Ha, thought you had a handle on me, didn’tcha?”

What have you been doing lately? Link up and let me know!

Doing

Last weekend, I spent hours clearing things out of my father’s house.  There’s still more work to be done, but it’s getting cleaner.  It’s a sad and surreal experience.  I’ve lived in different places and grown up in my mom’s house, too, but my first memories are in that house.  It’s hitting me that I’ll probably never read a book on the back porch underneath all the trees or see the really big Christmas tree in the living room…and I’m now going to cry.  So onward with the other things!

Appreciating

Seriously, the small things.  Like the ice cream glacier Jonathan brought me on Tuesday night.  (For those of you who aren’t near a cute little mom-and-pop ice cream stand, a glacier is like a Blizzard – I hope you’re all familiar with DQ.  If you don’t know your ice cream, we can’t be friends.)

Also suuuper appreciating when traffic isn’t that bad in the mornings.  I’ve been leaving my house on the early side, a little after 7am, just so I can avoid traffic.  I get to work about 30 minutes early, but I’d rather do that than sit in rush hour traffic.  I hate traffic.  Boo hiss traffic.

Designing

My blog blah blah blah I say this every week and nothing ever gets done.  Ugh!  I just need someone to tell me how to make the content area wider.  I can probably figure out the other CSS changes myself, but I’m just not figuring out how to make this one (kinda big deal of what I want this to look like) change.

Humming

I have a co-worker who likes to sing one line of popular songs over and over again.  That results in me leaving work with “Uptown Funk” stuck in my head on repeat.  Not cute.

Expecting

Quite honestly, I have no idea what to expect anymore.  I know I wrote about getting back into hyper planning mode last week, but I have no idea how to plan for half of the big things that are looming over me.  I have no idea how to sell a house.  Or help to clear out a house.

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So that’s what I’ve been doing.  I’ve also been reading a lot.  If you missed it, I’m giving away a copy of Hausfrau to a lucky reader.  Check out this post to see a review and enter!

What have you been doing lately?

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?

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?

Sunday Lately, 9

I can’t believe it’s March already.  February is such a tease because I think I have more time in the month to do everything I need to do.  Grr!

Last night, I went bowling with Jonathan and my best friend and her boyfriend.  She mentioned Baby Mama and all I could think about was watching that movie.  When we were in high school, we watched this and Anchorman on repeat.  So of course I’m watching Baby Mama while writing this.  I mean, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler together?  Hello.

It's time for Sunday lately! Wat are you up to?

Updating

Like last time, I’m still updating what I’m doing here.  Right now, I have some new things to add, but I can’t figure out how to do the CSS on some of them, so I might just get a whole new theme.

Do you do your own coding on your blog (with a theme you already have / with a framework like Genesis) or did you search high and low to find a theme that suited you?  I know that Genesis is the root of most of them; maybe I’ll just

Reminding

Myself to get my damn taxes together.  I need a better organizational system next year.  It’s not like I’m unorganized, but I have receipts in hard copy and saved in a folder on my computer.  Having them on my computer is helpful to keep things quickly searchable, but it takes me forever to hunt down everything I need, print it, double-check I have everything, blah.  I need to start printing them out as I get them and keeping them with my other business-related receipts.

Needing

Cinnamon rolls!  I woke up this morning and I couldn’t figure out what I wanted for breakfast and then I decided I want cinnamon rolls.  I’d bake them, but it takes a few hours and I want them, like, now.  I know I could just fake it with Grands rolls, cinnamon, sugar, and butter (my mom and I used to make a “pie” like that when we baked at a coffee shop) but that probably isn’t the healthiest breakfast in the world.

Also today is the first day of 30 Days of Lists!  I need to do the first list today.  It’s the perfect day to stay inside and craft.  I need to print out pictures to do some scrapbooking.

Amusing

Reminding myself of how much Danielle and I loved Baby Mama.  Some of these lines are great.  “Can I just spray some Pam down there?”

I think the great thing about this movie is that Tina’s character reminds me of myself (neurotically organized, pep-talk Post Its) and Amy’s character reminds me of Danielle (free-spirited, says what she’s thinking).  And also, I mean the good parts of the characters, not the whole “I want a baby,” and “I want to run a scam with my trashy husband, Dax Shepard” things.

BeingLazy and cozy this morning.  It’s snowing again and the roads aren’t even close to being cleared yet.  It’s days like this I’m glad I can work at home if it’s dangerous to come in.  If it stays bad overnight, I don’t have to worry.So how’s your Sunday going?  What have you been doing lately?

[disclaim]The link to register for 30 Days of Lists is an affiliate link.  I participated in #30Lists in 2014 and I know you’ll love it too.  Thank you for supporting gals that support Gardening in High Heels![/disclaim]

Sunday Lately, 8

Man what a week.  I ended up taking a day off on Friday to recharge myself.  I get 17 days of paid time off per year, and while most of it will be spent going to other people’s weddings later this year, I will fully enjoy each of my 17 days.

I’m not usually the person who just takes time off, but working in customer service is draining.  You need to charge your batteries so you can fully give to others again.  I was running on empty for a while between going back and forth to the hospital, shoveling, etc.

What's happening lately?

This week is a continuation of the themes from Sunday Lately 3.  I’m not sure if anything is still the same or matches up, but here’s what we’ve got this week…

Dwelling

I’ve been thinking a lot about my father’s upcoming surgery a lot.  It’s his fourth in under two years.

Helping

I’ve been lucky to have neighbors who are helping me this week.  There’s been a lot of snow during the day and I have been coming home to a freshly cleared driveway.  Bless the snow angels who are helping me out.  I’ll pay back the acts of kindness with cookies and Oreo biscotti.

Forgetting

To get my tax stuff together.  I really have to get on that.  I hate having to get that together because I always think that I’m forgetting something.  I try to keep my receipts separate during the year, but without fail, I end up running around and printing things out, leaaving things in the wrong place, etc.

Switching

From coffee to tea.  Some days.  Not always.  But I try.

I know I should drink more water, but I just don’t want to drink something cold in the winter, so I end up drinking a lot of coffee because that is my go-to.  I get up, walk around at work, and just naturally find myself by the Keurig.

Relying

I’m still relying on Jonathan.  He’s been fantastic.  It was wonderful to spend an extra day together this week.  I’ve been relying on phone calls to my mom a lot this week.  They’re long and there are a few deep conversations, but it’s mostly a distraction from the suckiness of everything, which is so necessary.

And my aunts, too.  They have been so helpful with my father in the hospital.  It’s unfortunate that he’s surrounded entirely by women with no manly break in the action.

What have you been up to lately?

Let’s Play

           

People Really Dug These

We Belong in the Garden Together