Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Five things to be happy about

Many experts say that practicing gratitude is a sure-fire way to boost your happiness, highlight your abundance, and generally be a more positive person. When you’re a positive person, it’s easier to be happy. (And happy people don’t shoot their husbands.) It’s a circle, you see. Here are five things to be happy about — even if you aren’t particularly happy today.

Changing of the seasons

Even though I’m a hardXcore summer person and I’m not ready for fall (and subsequently winter), I love when the seasons change. It feels like a fresh start — and anything is possible. Clean slate, yo. It feels good.

Doing at least one thing a day that makes you feel good

Speaking of feeling good… call it self-care or a guilty pleasure, but doing something just because it makes you feel damn good is a great thing. Today, for me, that included cooking myself a good meal, cleaning the counters until they were shiny and not grimy anymore, and treating myself to a glass of wine at a cool bar while I write this. (Spoiler alert: I wrote and scheduled this baby ahead of time.)

Child-like obsession for anything

Anyone who knows me knows I am not a kid person. I am pretty much the un-kidliest person around. But damn if their happiness isn’t infectious. Now, I’m not saying be a creeper at a park or a daycare. But you can harness that happiness.

Have you ever seen Under the Tuscan Sun? Remember when Katherine is drunk and she says, “Never lose your childish enthusiasm”? Kids are all in for whatever occupies their mind at the moment. And they don’t let it go until they get it or figure it out.

Find something akin to that wonder in a child’s eyes, something that is endlessly fascinating to you. Even if it’s just a small tickle deep down. Hold on to that and keep coming back to it. It gets easier to find the more you do it. Learning and growing, or even just laughing, is a wonderful part of the human condition.

Target

Okay, this is kind of a fluffy, give-away point. But Target it the shit. I don’t think I’ve ever walked out of Target unhappy in my grumble-grumble years of going to Target. What is your Target? In other words, what is your “happy place”? That is my point here. Find your happy place and go there often. Be grateful for it.

The fact that you are reading this

You have your eyesight, an internet or cellular connection (and the ability to pay for said connection), and breath to breathe to make it all happen. Trust me, I’m not a “just be thankful you’re alive” kind of person. But I mean…it is something to be grateful for. You woke up today, hopefully in a bed. Or in someone you love’s bed. Or on their couch. Or anywhere that affords eyesight and an internet connection. And you have the ability to choose what you want to read/do/consume.

And really, if things were that bad, reading this post would be the least of your concerns. #perspective

What are you happy for today?

Five Favorite Beauty YouTubers

I don’t pay for an expensive cable package. I’m rarely in a position to sit down and bingewatch Real Housewives and let’s be real, if I did have a cable package that included Bravo, I would get nothing done. So instead, I watch a lot of sitcoms on Netflix and keep up with a lot of YouTubers.

It’s no surprise that most of my subscribed YouTube channels include a ton of beauty vloggers. I can’t help it. I live vicariously through their eyeshadow that never creases and lipstick that never wears off. And their endless supply of new loot. Seriously. Where do they get the money? I know..brands send them things for free..just let me think that they buy these things themselves or I’m going to start begging companies to give me a lil’ somethin’ somethin’.

Five Favorite YouTube Beauty Experts. They basically taught me to do makeup.

Makeup By Tiffany D

Tiffany is my first and favorite beauty YouTuber that I watched and took seriously. I’ve watched her channel morph from tutorials and dupe highlights to being more open about life with her day in the life and random chit chat videos. I seriously learned how to do a smoky eye from Tiffany and trust her product recommendations completely. I also can’t get over her gorgeous house and adorable little Olivia.

Leighann Says

Leighann holds a special place in my heart. I love that she also lets you into her daily life with her Weekend Vlogs, but her personality comes through no matter what she does and it’s incredible. I don’t think I would like her channel as much if she wasn’t the animated character that she is. The way that she talks reminds me of my conversations with my best friend. Lots of hyperbole and connections to random things that shouldn’t be connected…ever.

I love her tutorials but my favorite videos are her monthly favorites/unfavorites and her hauls. They’re mostly drugstore/Target finds so when I want to go out and buy everything after watching her videos (like I do with all of these ladies), it doesn’t totally kill my budget.

Beauty Broadcast

Emily is the sweetest thing ever. She’s always so down to earth and real about what she’s sharing. Her mix of drugstore and high end is what attracted me to her channel in the first place. I love her Try This Not That series, her comparisons (thinking about splurging on a high end product? She probably has found a drugstore dupe that works even better), and her Beauty Broadcast Express channel with 5 minute reviews on one specific product.

Of course, the Emily Awards series is fantastic. She breaks makeup into categories and does a full video on each and pulls out the best products she’s found, both high end and drugstory, in each category. Emily is another YouTuber I trust completely when she reviews a product.

xSparkage

Leesha’s tutorials are insane. The girl can apply eyeshadow and rock all the crazy colors. Yellow and poison green on her eyes? No problem, Leesha can pull it off. I also turn to her when I hear about something new coming out. Chances are she already has it, swatched it, formed an opinion on it, and filmed five tutorials with it already.

And along with Tiffany and Emily, has an adorable baby. How do these people crank out genetically perfect children? Is the makeup in their genes at this point?

My Simple Little Pleasures

Colette is a genius with water marbling. If I had the time, I’d do all kinds of crazy things to my nails and change my polish daily (long-time readers know how obsessed with nail polish I am.) But I don’t have the time so I live vicariously through Colette’s nails.

Her water marbling tutorials are genius. I love her Polish in Motion series, too. It’s truly just that; she’ll show you how the polish looks when it catches the light at different angles. Sometimes a still photo just doesn’t do it justice. She also has tutorials for just about every holiday as well as nail care/polish application tips and tricks.

Who are you favorite YouTubers?

Five Favorite Fall Essentials

I am a summer girl through and through. I can wear ripped jeans, tank tops, and sandals every day of my life and be happy. Wait…as a “fashion” kinda blogger, should I really admit that? Anyway, when I was younger, fall was everything to me. I loved the start of school, the new opportunities, the pretty piles of leaves to jump in, and just about everything else that came with fall.

Since I was a kid, my list of fall essentials has changed a little bit. I still love the slower pace and the fresh feeling a change of seasons can bring, but I’ve embraced some other fantastic fall things.

Favorite essentials that make it easy to fall in love with fall | Gardening In High Heels

Dark Lipstick + Nails

I mean, really, you should have seen this coming. I’m getting more bold with what I wear to work, which means I can experiment with my lipstick a little more than I have in the past, even last year at this time. For my money, it doesn’t get any better than ColourPop’s Bossy Lippie Stix. It’s a rich red that looks great any time of day. Dazed is also a great color that’s a little richer with a berry hue to it. Revlon has some great options, too, and you can see them in yesterday’s Makeup Mix-Up post.

Of course, I also had to add in dark nails. I love OPI Lincoln Park After Dark, OPI Vampsterdam, Essie Chocolate Kisses, and Essie Velvet Voyeur.

All the Fall Coffee

I’ve been experimenting with homemade pumpkin spice syrup and it wasn’t working until I found a recipe that I love on Gimme Some Lovin’. I realized I was missing the syrup step..kind of essential, but for some reason, I figured my kitchen just magically caramelizes things on its own without heating sugar and water first. Her recipe is amazing. I’ve been adding the syrup to plain coffee and it’s lasted me about two weeks in the fridge.

I also love this list of coffee additions (that aren’t creamer) from Chemistry Cachet.

Scarves + Converse Sneakers

To me, fall is all about dressing for fashion and function..as opposed to winter where I don’t care what I look like as long as I’m warm. It’s function all the way once November hits. I mostly look like Ralphie’s little brother from then until May, so I cling to cute scarves, leather jackets, and Converse sneakers for as long as I can.

I’ve been trying to KonMari my clothes and I can’t cut down my embarrassingly large collection of jeans, sneakers, and scarves. They all bring me joy, damnit, and I’m wearing them for as long as I can.

Scented Candles

If you can’t tell, I’m all about making myself a nest in the fall so I can just stay there throughout the winter. I’ll poke my head out somewhere around February and quickly run back inside. I’m very much like Phil that way. My favorite way to make my space cozy with with candles. I absolutely adore Leaves and Pumpkin Latte and Spice. I can burn through those in a week easily. No pun intended.

I’ve had to place a block on myself this year and force myself to go through my candle collection before I buy any more. I mean, Bath & Body Works does their 2 for $22 sale and then send out a coupon for 20% off and I’m not supposed to use it? Come on.

Good Books

You can’t get comfortable at home and not have a book to curl up with. I’ve been loving Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, Yes Please by Amy Poehler, People Over Profit by Dale Partridge, If You Find This Letter by Hannah Brencher. Up on my list next is 700 Sundays by Billy Crystal, Appetite for Life by Noel Riley Fitch, and What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis. It’s quite a mix. I can’t read one genre for long without mixing it up a little.

What do you do to prepare yourself for cold weather with your fall essentials?

 

5 stages of putting together IKEA furniture

I have spent the better part of the summer putting together IKEA furniture and the process is the same no matter what. It’s long and painful and never really gets any easier the more you do it.  It’s almost like the Five Stages of Grief, but with more crying and throwing things.

Putting together IKEA furniture sucks! Five stages everyone goes through when they're putting together IKEA furniture | Gardening In High Heels

Excitement

Yeah, alright, I have new furniture! I’ll refresh my look and it’ll be so affordable. I may even do one of those Apartment Therapy IKEA hacks. And I got this fun organizer, and these plates, and a funky Euro print, too, and it was all in one place. One-stop home furnishings shopping. I love this place and I’m never leaving. I’m so urban and hip, I can’t stand myself.

Disbelief

Wait a minute, that cost how much?? But I just got some dog-butt hooks and a night stand! Also how do these Swedish people transport this stuff? Are they ridiculously strong and carry it home on their backs? Because this defintely isn’t fitting in my car and aren’t European cars even smaller?

Frustration

Why do I have 50 little screws and only 10 holes? Do I have to make my own? Am I being punked? This can’t be right, can it??

And what’s this diagram showing me? Not to climb on the bookshelf? No kidding! How about I also don’t take my new desk lamp into the bath with me.

I give up. I’m going to lay here like Sadness until Joy drags my away by my foot because I am done and this is stupid and I’m stupid because I can’t figure out why this little line drawing looks so happy and I just want to jump into a bath with my desk lamp plugged in.

Acceptance

Fine. I’ll keep building because it’s better than figuring out how to get it back to the store half-built. Also, I don’t want to go to the 7th circle of hell ever again. So I’ll just stay right here. Pouting.

Begrudging Relief

It is done. Someone get me a coffee the size of my head and follow it up with a stiff drink. I need to forget that experience ever happened. I am never doing that again. Oooh mail’s here, look at the new catalog! I want this..and this..

—

I swear, if you want to get married to someone, put together IKEA furniture first. If you successfully build it will all the parts and don’t want to rip each others’ head off, congrats. You should get married. You could also probably raise kids together as well or at least care for a very large dog.

I think I’m going to lay off the IKEA furniture for a while.

What’s your IKEA experience been like recently? Any fun stories?

TV Time

There’s something so fantastic about a good show.  You get sucked in.  The characters are dynamic.  The story lines are captivating.  The scenery is vibrant.  You want to live in the show.

I’m going to preface this by saying I don’t watch a lot of TV.  My set is from college and I’m pretty sure I have purses bigger than the screen.  So when I live for a TV show, you know it has something magic about it.

A lot of these shows are from years past when I did have more time and the luxury of a bigger screen.  They’re still favorites and shows I’d love to live in.  Do we have any favorites in common?

The five best TV shows I wish I could be a part of

Sex and the City

When I was younger, I would watch SATC on HBO until my mom came home from work.  I thought I was being so slick and she had no idea that I was developing a deep attachment with this show.

Well, she knew.  She’s a mom – she always knows.  And she started to watch it with me.

This is my number one if I could live in a TV show, it would be this one pick.  Everything about it from the friends and clothes to the themes and the Of course, I’m a Carrie.  Hello, I love writing and shoes.

Gilmore Girls

I slightly based my decision to attend Penn State based on Rory and her beautiful, old, ivy-covered campus.  I was no Rory in terms of books smarts, but I could have my own, less trust-fund version!

I love that while Gilmore Girls is mostly happy, fun, and upbeat, there’s a real dynamic with the characters.  It isn’t all sunshine and roses, even though Lorelei and Rory are basically inseparable (expect for that one season that was just a waste of our time.)  There is a real view of relationships here.

And Stars Hollow is just so dang cute.  Many thanks to Meghan for sharing that link!

Parks and Recreation

Back when I was working at Sharp Edge, I had the idea of hosting a Waffle-Off (like a bake-off but with waffles).  I even pitched it as a possible Yelp Pittsburgh event idea.  No further proof needed that I am Leslie Knope in spirit.

What I love about this show is that it all seems plausible.  I know, it’s a caricature of a small-town governmental agency, but it seems really real.  The relationships, the characters, the whole thing is very identifiable.

Plus, Ron Swanson has the best lines ever.

On giving your all: “Give 100%.  110% is impossible.  Only idiots recommend that.”  On crying: “Crying: acceptable at funerals and the Grand Canyon.”  On small dogs: “Anything under 50 pounds is basically a cat and cats are useless.”

Imagine what he’d say when cameras aren’t around?

Royal Pains

This for me is all about living in the Hamptons.  If I could live in this show, I would want to be Paige.  She has the best clothes/hair/makeup.  And she’s living her dream job as an artist.  I mean, what could you want more of?

Oh, so you think you want more?  How about beautiful shots of summery beaches and brilliant-blue Hamptons water?  Yeah.

The Office

I think I’d like to be a fly on the wall of this show and not so much in the show itself.  It isn’t anything against the hijinx that everyone gets into, it’s just fun to watch everyone interact.

I think more than anything, I’d want to know what’s happening in the background.  They got a little into this in the later seasons with more of a personal look at the characters, but I want more.  What Dwight is like when he gets drunk?  What do Pam and Jim do on Saturday morning?  That kind of thing.

It’s no wonder that Parks and Rec and The Office are both on my list.

What TV show are you just so obsessed with, you wish you could live in it?

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