Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Wear to Where, Day 2 – Brunch

I grew up when brunch was something we’d do almost every Sunday. There was a hotel in Pittsburgh that had my favorite brunch. I can’t remember what it was actually called, but it was painted a salmon pink color so I called it the Salmon Hotel.

Since it was the 90s, I had some pretty awesome brunch looks, but these ladies today are rivaling my neon and pouf-y bangs: GLITZ a Beautiful Life, The Fashionable Eye, The Art of Oh, Scientific Seamstress, Rebel & Malice

Wear to Where Blog Tour: Brunch!

Be sure to head over to Wild+Wanderful or Gardening in High Heels to check out the other brilliant bloggers, sewists and stylistas on the tour, as well as be able to link up your own looks and show us what you would Wear to Where!

Now let’s talk giveaway prizes for this tour!!
For the sewists: Choice of 3 patterns from Cole’s Creations, Choice of 3 patterns from Made for Mermaids, Pattern of choice from Patterns for Pirates, Pattern of choice from Scientific Seamstress, Sewing-tee of choice from Sewing Stadium, Pattern of choice from Simple Life Pattern Co, Pattern of choice from StitchArt

For the Fashionistas: Set of 6 cards from Designs by Nicolina, 30 minute Social Media/Copy Consult by Gardening in High Heels, Tee of choice from Handmade Escapade, $20 Store Credit from Jenny Penny Designs, Tumbler from Joy+Tren

A big thanks to our amazing sponsors!
Cole’s Creations | Designs by Nicolina | Gardening in High Heels
Handmade Escapade | Jenny Penny Designs | Joy+Tren
Made for Mermaids | Patterns for Pirates | Scientific Seamstress
Sewing Stadium | Simple Life Pattern Co | Stitch Art

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Link up with our bloggers each day and follow along with #WearToWhereTour.


What’s your favorite part of brunch – the style or drinking at 11am? No shame here!

Style is Subjective

This, like the defining beauty post, is a hard one for me to focus my thoughts.  You guys have seen some of my outfits, so that’s a pretty good feel for how I approach dressing.  But there are so many more ways to look at style than just your clothes.  What you do and say are just as important as what you wear.  So I thought I’d tackle this Blogger, May I prompt a little bit differently when describing my style.

Style is fluid and uniquely your own.

Of course, clothes are first thing that people notice 99% of the time, but there are more ways to look a style.  How do you act, carry yourself, speak, write, dare I go here…smell.  Style is entirely subjective and matters so much more of what you do with it than what you look like.

I’m still trying to figure out what my style is.  In real life, I try to be witty and I’m a lot sarcastic, quick to pick up on references that I get and turn of phrases.  There are times I think I could go into standup comedy, especially when I’m on a snarky rant about kids these days or the customers I work with.  It’s just one one-liner after another with a sharp bite and a cheeky attitude.

In writing, I’m still trying to work on making that liveliness come through all the time.  There are so many ways that tone can be misconstrued when writing and that’s what I’m worried about.  But I should sit here and say, Listen, if you don’t get it, that’s okay; you do your thing and I’ll do mine and we’re both gonna be okay.

It was easier when I was just writing for myself, back in the days of Moda Vivendi.  I loved those posts.  They aren’t particularly blogger-y, but they’re me.  I loved that quick bite that came through the screen.  I probably employed that style a lot more because back then, I wasn’t well known.  Well, I’m not now, but you know what I mean.

What I love about style is that it is constantly changing.  We aren’t stuck with one way of being.  It’s always moving and flowing from one iteration to another.

I’m so thrilled to have you come on the way with me during this, though; unlike Moda Vivendi, it’s more fun when I can communicate with people!

In a nutshell, style is more than just what you’re wearing.  It’s like beauty – the whole package is your style.  There are elements that are more pronounced, but they all work together to create your own unique style.

That said, I’m a jeans and tee shirt kinda gal.

What’s your style?


Creative Closet: Favorite Denim

I love denim so much, I could live in jeans.  LIke, find-a-large-pair-and-make-myself-a-tent live in jeans.It’s another prompt from The Creative Closet that was made for me.  Denim is my favorite.  It’s casual, classic, dressy.. It can be whatever you want it to be.

This is an outfit I wore to work on Friday and got so many compliments on it, I couldn’t not post it.  And it’s an outfit that I don’t want to take off.  You know that feeling when you just nail something and it all comes together juuust right?Denim is perfect any time. Love casual, destroyed denim looks.The problem is…I didn’t take pictures that day.  In true Angelica fashion, I let it go until the last minute, but I absolutely had to participate today because my girl Jaelan is co-hosting the link up.

That is another post for another day, but it involved a self timer, a car, and a scarf.  I need one of those remote thingies Katy told me about from Amazon like, yesterday.

Despite all that, I still couldn’t narrow down the pictures.  I told you, I’m never taking this outfit off.  Pardon me, but I look damn good if I say so myself.  It’s all in the accessories (and a confident attitude is the best accessory, but rockin’ necklaces really help.)Destroyed denim from American Eagle. Perfect for spring with a light sweater and a bright lip!Destroyed denim from American Eagle. Perfect for spring with a light sweater and a bright lip! Add a scarf for a little extra something on a chilly day. Destroyed denim from American Eagle. Perfect for spring with a light sweater and a bright lip! Destroyed denim from American Eagle. Perfect for spring with a light sweater and a bright lip! Add a scarf for extra texture.Most of my jeans are from American Eagle because they fit the best to me.  The thing about denim is that what feels good on one person doesn’t feel good to the other.

Usually I wear jeans that are skinny (here, here, here) or that have a boot cut flair (here, here), but these straight jeans rolled up just a bit work on me for some reason.Isaac Mizrahi Live watch, Studebaker Metals brass cuff, and Pandora #armparty American Eagle Straight Jeans Destroyed denim from American Eagle. Perfect for spring with a light sweater and a bright lip!Paired with my other favorite polka dots and some bright lips, I have spring casual written all over me, don’tcha think?

Top: Sonoma
Sweater, scarf, jeans: American Eagle
Booties: Old Navy
Watch: Isaac Mizrahi Live
Cuff: Studebaker Metals
Triangle necklace: from The Shop in East Liberty
Lips: Almay Smart Shade Lip Butter in Pink Medium

What’s your favorite denim look?

[disclaim]Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a copy of Hausfrau, Jill Alexander Essbaum’s new juicy read![/disclaim]

Rockin’ with Rocksbox

It’s no surprise that I’m writing about Rocksbox today being the jewelry addict that I am.  (See here and here.)  I’m sure many of you are saying, “What took you so long?”  True story: I’ve photographed so many boxes and never got around to posting the goods.

Rocksbox is an awesome subscription box sending you designer jewels as often as you want!

So if you haven’t heard of Rocksbox…

Rocksbox is a subscription box service that sends three pieces of high-end, designer jewels per box.  I’m so used to “monthly” boxes that the first month I actually forgot I could exchange what’s in my box as many times as I wanted.

You get a shipment of jewels to your doorstep, wear all/none of them as much as you want, and send them back when you want more jewels.  And repeat.

Rocksbox unboxing!

First you take a style quiz so they can get a feel for the kinds of things you’re interested in and you can leave feedback about your pieces so the stylists there can pick out items that you’d be most likely to wear.  You can retake this as your style evolves.

It took a few boxes to see “results” in terms of receiving pieces that I’d actually wear, but now that they know what I go for, I usually get pretty good sets.

These pictures still aren’t my current box, they were from a box that was sent in early February.  I exchange my boxes as quickly as I can to maximize that $19 per month price tag!  This box had Gorjana earrings, a Margaret Elizabeth Necklace, and a Matterial Fix cuff bracelet.

Rocksbox subscription sends designer jewelry to your door! Rocksbox is seriously awesome. They send you designer jewelry as often as you want. Return your box when you're ready and they'll send you another round! This box has Gorjana earrings, a Margaret Elizabeth Necklace, and a Matterial Fix cuff bracelet. Gorjana earrings, Margaret Elizabeth Necklace, and Matterial Fix cuff bracelet from Rocksbox.
This cycle was the first time I’ve purchased something from Rocksbox.  I had “Shine Insider” money to spend, so I picked the cute earring pair that came in this cycle’s box.  With the $10 credit and the 20% member discount, they came to $14.  I’d say $7/pair is pretty damn good.  That’s almost like Target clearance status.

That said, there are some more expensive pieces that, while gorgeous, I would never be able to justify the purchase.

I even found out that a style of earrings that I almost purchased from Gorjana a while ago weren’t for me – not these earrings pictured, they were the Chloe studs.  The posts on the studs felt so flimsy; I’m glad I got to try them out first.  But if I did want to get them, they’d be 20% off, so either way, it’s a win.

What I like about this is that I can wear jewelry that is on-trend without having to bite the bullet and purchase it.  It’s quality jewelry with a small price tag.

The downside is that it takes time to send the box back and receive a new collection of pieces.  I’d say I cycle my boxes every week or so, though I probably lose a week out of the month due to shipping.

Insider tip: leave feedback on the website instead of the card that you mail back so the stylists can turn around and send you off a new box instead of waiting.

Have you tried Rocksbox? What do you think?

This isn’t a sponsored post.  I just really like Rocksbox and wanted to share this with you.

If you want to try Rocksbox, let me know and I’ll send a code to get your first month for free.  I only have 3 of them, so hop to it!  (If you sign up, I get $25 to shop, but if you invite friends, you can get $25 to shop, too!)

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