Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Cocktail recipes for summer

So I’m sitting here (on Cinco de Mayo might I add) drinking a daquiri out of a pouch, eating potato chips, watching QVC with a load of laundry going in the dryer.  Do I know how to party or what?  Oh, I also have a face mask on.  It’s Mask of Magnamity, so it’s super-chunky, too.  I’m so classy right now.

I figured in honor of today’s Share A Recipe prompt for Blogger, May I, I’d share a few of my favorite drink recipes I’ve found on Pinterest lately.

Amazing cocktail recipes you need to make for summer. Beer cocktails, classic cocktails, and something with a twist.

First, this margarita from Laura at Life with Lolo (that I didn’t find on Pinterst, I saw it on her blog because she’s hilarious and I love her and I went right to the source. Direct traffic, baby!) because I feel quite basic tonight with my Lush face mask and liquor out of a pouch.

This best G&T recipe from Drip and Drizzle.

Blackberry beer cocktail?  Sign me up.  I’d so drink with Fat Head’s Bumbleberry.

Laura posted about a beer-mosa/bromosa last week, but I want to make this Strawberry Beermosa version.

Oh, and {shameless plug} try my Lemon Basil Mojito cocktail as found…..here!

Lemon Basil Mojito make with lemon basil and white rum is the perfect summertime cockail with a little extra something special!

What are your favorite summer recipes?

Need the prompts for the Blogger, May I challenge?  Gotcha covered.  Want to use your own prompts?  No problem!  Just grab a button to show that you’re linking up with myself, Katy, and Meghan.  Oh, and use #BloggerMayI on Twitter/Instagram to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!


Story Behind The Blog Name

Kids, let me tell you a story.  Today’s Blogger, May I prompt is the story behind my blog name.  Back when I had an AOL email address (hello 90s), I was enthralled by ‘zines.  They were basically just bulk emails that were sent out.  I wanted so badly to be one of the popular ones and have tons of replies when I wrote something.

Then there was DeadJournal and LiveJournal and Xanga.  I think the only thing I didn’t have was a GeoCities site!

The story behind the blog: Gardening In High Heels

I always loved writing and putting it out there for others to see it.  I remember my father asked me why I couldn’t just write in a journal.

Come on now.  If you didn’t publish your deepest thoughts for the internet to see, did you really think them?  I think I was the original (unintentional) hipster.

Fast forward quite a few years.  I saw Julie and Julia.  I loved it.  I wanted to do that, so I got the genius idea to do it with a quilt.  I was in Ohio with my mom and she bought me the most perfect Moda jellyroll I have ever seen.  I found a pattern and got to work.

Moda Fabrics Jelly Roll

Since I was using Moda fabrics, I named it Moda Vivendi (a play on modus vivendi, meaning agree to disagree; a way of life).  And I wrote maybe 2 posts.  My follow-through needed a little work.  The quilt got finished, though!

Quilt squares made with Moda Fabrics jellyrolls

I loved the name so I kept using it throughout college.  I mostly shared pictures of my nail polish and random thoughts that came up.  In 2013, I switched to SyntaxxErrorrr.  It’s what I used for all my social media accounts.  I would go to events and introduce myself as SytnaxxErrorrr because that’s how people knew me.  I had to use it for my blog’s name.

There are still photos tagged like that because I didn’t keep the PSD files and it’s a bitch to reupload everything but they’ll change some day.

What I failed to admit to myself is that “SyntaxxErrorrr” is hard to find online.  If you want to have a successful blog, you gotta make it easy for people to get to.

One day last June, I was in the garden watering my plants between jobs – I worked at Sharp Edge in the morning and interned with Yelp in the afternoon.  It’s terrible to admit, but I didn’t give a damn what I looked like for Sharp Edge; Rachel, my Yelp supervisor, always looked amazing in cute dresses and accessories, so I always tried to do it up on Yelp days.

So there I was tending to my garden wearing a flowy skirt, platform wedge sandals, and lots of jewelry while wielding a dirty garden hose trying not to get dirt smudged all over my legs.  I was rarely successful with that one.

And I said to myself, “Gardening In High Heels – now THAT would be a name for a blog.”  I was so excited, I told my mom right away.  Even she liked it (and she barely uses email).

I turned that idea over and over until I finally purchased the domain.  I just sat with it for a long time until I decided to let go of SyntaxxErrorrr earlier this year and made the leap to change my name for the third time.

Guys, I think this one is going to stick.  I really like it here.

Are you a blogger?  How did you come up with your name?

Need the prompts for the Blogger, May I challenge?  Gotcha covered.  Want to use your own prompts?  No problem!  Just grab a button to show that you’re linking up with myself, Katy, and Meghan.  Oh, and use #BloggerMayI on Twitter/Instagram to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!


Never Have I Ever – Beauty Edition

The older I get, the harder it is to play Never Have I Ever.  It’s also been quite a few years since I’ve had to play Never Have I Ever.  Never have I ever had a Big Mac, broken a bone (knock on a huuuuuge pile of wood), operated a chain saw..

Today’s Blogger, May I prompt is Never Have I Ever.  Since it’s Makeup Monday, I’m sharing health and beauty things that I’ve never done.  When I was sitting down to write this, I realized there are a lot of things I’ve done when it comes to “beauty” stuff – I’ve waxed, dyed, permed, and just about everything in between.

There are very few things I haven't done when it comes to makeup and hair. But there are a few. Read on to see what "Never Have I Ever" done. #BloggerMayI

Never have I ever…

Successfully teased my hair.

I have a Spornette Little Wonder and it’s great but I have no idea what I’m doing with it.  I kind of just push hair around.  It looks messy instead of..BAM look at my big hair don’t care, which is what I want it to look like.

Gotten a French pedicure

For the longest time, I always wore red polish on my toe nails.  I can’t make up my mind when it comes to finger nail polish, but toe nails were always red.  Finally, I managed to break out of that rut, but as experimental as I get with my nails, I can’t bring myself to do the French style on my toe nails.  My little baby toe nail is soooo small, it would basically just be entirely white.  And look weird.

Successfully used home wax kits

I’m Italian and as expressive as we are with our hands, our eyebrows are just as expressive.  I have dark, heavy brows and they need to be controlled.  So I figured I’d get an at-home wax kit and try to use that instead of tweeze.  Fail.  Fail all over.

I ended up getting about a quarter of my eyelashes stuck to the strip.  I did not realize that before I pulled it off my face.  I just realized how many waxing blunders I’ve made.  I should just leave that to the pros.

And that’s all she wrote.  This headache is getting worse the longer I concentrate.  Time to zone out with Netflix and Parks & Rec.  Leslie Knope heals all wounds.

What have you never ever done?


Sunday Lately, 18

As you’re reading this, I’m out on the mean streets of Pittsburgh running for my life.  Okay, just running.  It’s Marathon Day!  Let me say in advance how excited I am to be running with Jonathan for a second year and for the post-race Bloody Mary at Wigle Whiskey.  I may be more excited for that.

Nothing like a little alcohol and spice after putting your body through a great strain.

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

Dwelling

On how amazing Lush products are.  I ended up treating myself to a shampoo bar at Lush when I went to pick up a present for a mama-to-be.  I love the scent (it’s lemony!) and I also walked out with a sample of the R&B Hair Moisturizer.  Now that scent is amazeballs and a half.  It’s this beautiful citrus and jasmine scent that sticks around all day.  I wake up the next morning and don’t want to wash my hair because it still smells so good.  I will cry when the sample runs out because it’s $22.  Why are Lush products ridic. expensive?

Helping

I feel like I’m still picking up a lot of slack for everyone.  It’s especially frustrating at work.  We’re now being graded on our job, which is nice to have solid numbers showing performance of everyone, but so much of what I do is dependent upon others.

For example: If I call someone for a scheduled appointment, I can only hope they remember we were talking.  Half the time, someone else tells me, “Oh, Susan isn’t available today. Try again later.”  That now is a strike against me.  I can’t control what someone else does, so I’m a little worried about how this will pan out.

Forgetting

The prompts for this week.  I know the last time this prompt came up, I said it too.  But srsly.  My brain has so much in it, five random words just do not stick.

I’m also forgetting to return emails until it’s like, 10pm and I’m in bed running through a list of everything I wanted to do for the day and making sure it matched up with what I got done.  Does anyone have inbox management tips?

Switching

I’ve made a weird switch when it comes to nail polish.  I always used to wear polish on my nails.  It helped that I worked at a spa and when it was quiet, I would just paint my nails.  I had a lot of downtime back then.  Now, it doesn’t happen near as often.  I don’t get home until later and I hate painting my nails at night because you get those awful sheet marks.  Sometimes that happens even if I paint my nails in the morning and 12+ hours go by.  So many girl problems.

Relying

On adrenaline to carry me through this marathon.  I prepared as best I could, given what was happening this winter/spring.  With the goal of “Sell this house in a month!” and Mother Nature raining down her cold, frosty disapproval over us, it didn’t leave much time to run outside.

I do feel eerily calm about it all, though, so I’m assuming that’s a good sign.

What have you been up to lately?

Blogging Commandments

Today’s prompt for the Blogger, May I challange is Five Favorites.  I haven’t written about blogging in a while, and this post by Marissa at Ampersand Creative got me thinking about what my blogging commandments are.

I really don’t have many hard and fast rules when I’m blogging, but I do have some guidelines.  Think of them as the Pirate’s Code.  Here are my top five favorite blogging commandments.

I really don't have many hard and fast rules when I'm blogging, but I do have some guidelines. Here are my top five favorite blogging commandments. #BloggerMayI #blogging #guidelines

It doesn’t have to be “perfect”

Life isn’t perfect, it isn’t always pinnable and neither is my blog.  I want my blog to be an extension of me, and of course I want it to look good, but getting caught up in making everything perfect is a sure-fire way never to start.

Don’t wait for the “perfect” [fill in the blank] to start a blog, publish a post, change your niche.  That moment will never come, I assure you.

Engage with your readers

So I know a blog is usually mostly sometimes can be very narcissistic.  I know there businesses who blog and serious business bloggers (I guess see also: find your niche).  But most blogs are more like Every vapid, insipid thought that passed through Annabelle’s brain (name that movie, folks).

So, if you want people to get anything out of what you’re saying, offer something they can connect with.  Sure, share your story, but also ask about theirs.  Why bother even publishing something if you don’t want to inspire or engage with other people?

Honor your tribe

Along with engaging your readers comes responding to their comments.  If someone is nice enough to comment on something you’ve written, you best believe you can type out a reply to them.  A very dear bloggy friend’s comments don’t let her respond to me (hey Laura), so she’ll periodically email me.

Do what you can to show your community that you appreciate them.

Be the blogging friend you want to have

Ooh, look, another blogging commandment that goes off of the previous one.  Make your readers and your community feel special – honor that connection.  That means sharing what others are writing in addition to promoting yourself.  Again, no one wants to read something that is entirely self-centered and egotistical.

Give kudos where you can, comment on other blogs, link to another blogger’s post when you find it inspiring, pin their stuff (Jaelan does this every Friday for her tribe!) – whatever you can to spread the love.

Keep learning

Never stop learning and growing.  There are always new things to learn, from new social media practices to writing techniques to design elements.  I really want to evolve my blog as I do, so I have to keep moving.  I fully believe that you’re never really quite “finished.”  There is always something new to see, do, be, hear, smell, try.

So those are my guidelines when blogging.  I want to make them all pretty and printable and hang them by my desk.  And keep adding to them.

What are your blogging commandments?

Let’s Play

           

People Really Dug These

We Belong in the Garden Together