Gardening in High Heels

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Sunday Lately, 59

Sunday Lately is a weekly link up brought to you by the Blogger Tribe. Link up and see what's been happening lately!Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (which is being fearlessly lead by Meghan, Nicole, Katy, and myself). We e-hang out every Sunday, sharing a small glimpse into the last week of life in our own worlds. We’d love if you could join us!
This week’s themes: Updating, Remembering, Needing, Wearing, Being

Happy Valentine’s Day! So I’m turning into that person who only writes on Sunday. Hey, at least I’m writing. It’s been a rough few weeks. I’ve been sick, stressed out, selfish, unhealthy, afraid to ask for what I really want. It’s been a little tough.

Updating

Awkward: I may have to move (cough in a month). So I’ve put a hold on the house updates that I’ve wanted to do. I guess it sounds selfish, but I don’t want to take time to redecorate or organize if I have to pack it all up in a week and move it somewhere else.

Awesome: My mom might be coming back to Pittsburgh (which is why I may have to move out — I’m renting her house and it’s not that she’s kicking me out, but…) That’s my update here.

Remembering

Awkward: What’s awkward to remember that you’re not embarrassed on share on the internet? Oh, here’s something. I tried to take a bath last night. And I remembered how much I really don’t enjoy baths. It’s like Angelica soup.

Awesome: I remember how awesome it feels to not be sick. I can’t kick the last of whatever it is that I have. I’ve been nauseous and motion sick for a week. Ugh.

Needing

Awkward: I am needing some guidance from the universe about where to live. It’s all I can think about at this point. It really dominates the conversation with me lately and it isn’t fun. Ugh. Again.

Awesome: More coffee. Coffee is always awesome and I always need more of it. I tried a home pour over today and it isn’t bad but it definitely needs a little work. Any recommendations?

Pour over coffee and donuts. Does it get any better??

Wearing

Awkward: I’m wearing the same thing over and over. Stupid winter.

Awesome: I did have a nice Instagram mini-series of my daily tights last week. If I have to wear a dress or a skirt, I need some bright tights. Bonus if I get to work in some pattern mixing. I’m also wearing these beautiful new Solshine Strands. Looove them. This is the one to help manifest dreams and desires. Each bracelet has a different energy to help you do something.

Solshine Strands! Made in Pittsburgh and absolutely beautiful.

Being

Awkward & Awesome. Like last time this came up.

What have you been up to lately? Link up and let us know!


Five Valentine’s Day date ideas (And 5 in Pittsburgh!)

There’s nothing like the excitement of a mystery date, especially on Valentine’s Day.  But, there’s also nothing like having no clue what you’re going to do on Valentine’s Day

In the interest of love this week, let’s talk date ideas.  Jonathan does a great job of finding fun things to do and I’m told he already has something brewing for this year (darling, just tell me to wear).  In case you aren’t so lucky and are scrambling for something to do for the big day, these ideas should translate to almost anywhere.

Five date ideas for Valentine's Day (or anytime!)

If you’re in Pittsburgh, then you’re extra lucky because I have specific events happening in the ‘Burgh on or around Valentine’s Day!

Have a Fancy-pants Dinner

I never get to dress up anymore.  I’m thrilled to be able to wear jeans and Converse sneakers to work if I want to, but I do miss getting a little more dressy.  Dressing up is pretty much now reserved for weddings.

Take a look and see if your favorite restaurant is having a formal dinner and get get on those reservations, like, yesterday.

In Pittsburgh…

There are tons of special dinners, but this one at uber-popular Brew Gentlemen will be out of tickets fast.

Day Drink

As my drinking partner in crime for my guest posts over at PCBN, we have shared many, many beers together.  Since Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday, why not take advantage of that and do a little day drinking?  Wineries are great for this, but some of my favorite Saturdays together with Jonathan have been at breweries.

You get to learn something (how beer is made) and taste it.  Then bring home growlers/bottles of your favorites.  Bonus: breweries have their beer on tap.  You couldn’t get fresher beer if you jumped into the barrel.

In Pittsburgh…

There are tons of breweries and wineries sprinkled around.  And we’ve had great times at every one we’ve visited.

I also love stopping by Wigle Whiskey.  Their tour tickets are sold out for Valentine’s Day, but you can still taste.  There’s also a Cupid’s Cocktail Class on Friday, February 13th!

Get Creative

This is probably my favorite, next to day drinking (I’m young and have a disposable income, sue me!)  Jonathan and I have done some great creative things together and I love it because you have the memory of the time together, but then you also something to take home with you as a memento.

We’ve made glass tiles, painted (okay, it was a room in my house and technically not a date, but it was still creative!), and hopefully will continue to get creative.  There is no judgement from either of us so it really helps to foster the romantical connection.

In Pittsburgh…

Make flowers for your valentine at Pittsburgh Glass Center or get hands-on at TechShop and etch a wine glass (and then drink wine out of it with a wine/chocolate pairing!) or make plasma-cut flowers.

Do Something Nerdy

In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a huge nerd.  And I love museums.  There’s a thing in Pittsburgh every fall called RADical Days where museums (and the Pittsburgh Zoo and the National Aviary and….) offer free admission on select days.  Yes, we have gone to five museums in a day because free admission!

Take a look in your city for half off admission nights, deals, or community-sponsored admission programs.

In Pittsburgh…

The Warhol Museum is my favorite.  Every Friday night, they do Good Fridays and offer half off admission and late hours (5-10p).

Fun fact: my grammy rode the bus with Andy Warhol when he was still Andrew Warhola.

Go for Adults Only

Come on, not like that!  A 21+ night is a great way to explore somewhere that you only know from a kid’s perspective (or maybe you avoid a certain places because of all of the children running around.)

I love the 21+ nights at the Carnegie Science Center and we’ve also gone to Phipps when they’ve had one of their nights as well.  It’s definitely a cool vibe and things look totally different in the dark.  There are Chihuly pieces all over Phipps but I never noticed them as much as I did at night!

In Pittsburgh…

Have some adult beverages and then enjoy a late night skate.

The Carnegie Science Center, Phipps Conservatory, The Children’s Museum, and I think the National Aviary have 21+ nights.  Explore the museum, look at the plants, make something and do it all while enjoyed a cocktail.

Bonus: Find Live Entertainment

Support your local cultural society.  A concert, musical, play, mystery dinner…always great date ideas.  Pittsburgh Winery also lets you taste their full flight of wine and they have live music on the weekends, so you can get a two-fer here!

If you’re still looking for something to do, check out your local event pages.  Shout out to Yelp for having a great events board.  Yes, I was an intern for Yelp in Pittsburgh.  Yes, I stocked up our event board every week.  Yes, you should check out Yelp for your local city.  </PSA on Yelp>

What are you doing on Valentine’s Day?  Do you have a date or are you celebrating Galentine’s Day?

A few words about love

I’m not an expert about love and relationships, but I’ve crashed and burned enough to know what works for me.  And what I know is that love means you want to be with someone more than you need to be with them.

Does that make sense?

Love means you want to be with someone more than you need to be with someone

Jonathan and I were talking about this the other day and I don’t think I explained it properly to him (sorry, dear).  So I thought I’d elaborate.

Yes, I would be absolutely devastated and fall into a pile of mush if something happened to us.  It would take a long time to get back up and go on with my life, but eventually it would have to happen.

I know this because I’ve been there before.  The reason why I was there before is because I wanted to be in a relationship more than I wanted to be with the person.  I needed to have that comfort of knowing I was in a pair because I wasn’t okay with being just me.

And then (obviously) that ended and I was alone again.  And it was like, who am I?  What do I do with myself?  What do I like doing with my free time?  I don’t know how to be just me.

I know, it’s scary to just sit in a room alone with your thoughts, but the more you do it, the easier it gets.

So it took a while, but I learned how to be alone and I kind of liked it.  Then I started to go on dates because I wanted to date, not because I had to find my next relationship fix.

Guess what?  I learned what I liked and didn’t like and was okay passing on someone who didn’t fully work for me because I wasn’t focused on “must be a pair” anymore.  I could focus on, “Does this person complement me?”

In my relationship now, I want to be with him more than I need to have someone there with me all the time.  I found someone who complemented me for me.

Want and need are two totally different verbs.  Want is a choice.  It’s something that you decide to do/have/be.  I choose to be with this person.  Need is more situational.  I need water to live.

You don’t need a relationship to live.  That isn’t one of Maslow’s Basic Needs.  It’s actually more towards the middle of the pyramid.  Call me cold, but it’s true.  If I didn’t have Jonathan, I would be upset but I would live.  Physiologically, I could survive.

But I want to be with him more than I need to be with him.  And that’s how I know it’s love.

What does love mean to you?

 

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People Really Dug These

We Belong in the Garden Together