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My South Hills Christmas Shopping Trip!

2025 is drawing to a close, and that means it’ll soon be time for me to post my top ten from the past year. The best (and worst) from 2025 will be posted to Stylish on December 23. Some of the highlights (and lowlights) will include:

Toastmasters contests and events
The closure of some noticeable chain stores
Getting a new contract at work
Anniversaries

Yesterday, I began my Christmas shopping and got a good bit of that done. Since 2016, it’s been a yearly tradition for me to go to Pittsburgh to shop during the holidays. I like to change things up once in a while. Every year I’ve done this except 2020 for obvious reasons, but also because I felt that it was more important to shop local and support my local everything.

I began my Christmas shopping adventure with a stop at Tractor Supply in Finleyville. In case you’re curious I drove down I-70 to PA 43. My playlist was all over the place from the standards to new age to country. This is a very new Tractor Supply and not too far up PA 88 is Trax Farms. I drove through South Park Township and Library Road parallel to where the T travels. I arrived at South Hills Village around Noon.

Over the years I’ve split time between South Hills, the North Hills, and Robinson Township. It’s leveraged by all the traveling I did working at WIS over the years. It’s a nice change of pace but it’s also to keep that part of my life in the past. Plus I don’t miss the traffic that I had to deal with in the days before working at Giant Eagle.

But I like to do part of my Christmas shopping locally as well, and Westmoreland Mall still holds its own as a great mall. The addition of the casino during late 2020 has helped. The addition of Dick’s House of Sport as well as a Convention Center and Hotel will continue to keep my hometown mall relevant.

But somedays I still long for the old Greengate Mall.

When I have some time during the holidays, I also want to walk around Ligonier. The small town nestled in the Laurel Highlands is beautiful during Christmastime and lots of engaged couples and families get pictures done there. Maybe closer to Christmas I’ll make some time to head out there.

South Hills Village celebrated 60 years in 2025! It debuted the same year as Greengate Mall. Yesterday while having lunch in the Food Court, I got to see the lovely mural celebrating the mall’s 60 years of existence. Their original anchors were Sears, Gimbels, and Hornes. Kaufmann’s moved there from the Galleria at Mount Lebanon in 1987.

When I’m in Pittsburgh, I try to hit up Market District when I can. That also rings true for the holidays. It feels a little different now since I’ve worked for Giant Eagle for four years. It was the last stop on my shopping trip, and I picked up a few things for Christmas Eve. One of those is a cheeseball that goes great with crackers, a staple of Christmases past with my Grandma.

Looking ahead, next week will be 20 years since my college graduation from Slippery Rock. December 2005’s commencement was the end of one era. I was thinking about crafting a speech, but not sure I’d have it ready in time for Wednesday’s meeting. Five things that have defined me since college include: Toastmasters, finding myself, writing, transition, and learning that it’s OK to not be OK. My college years took a long time for me to get over, but two decades later, I’m at a good place in my life.

Closing–Regional malls like Beaver Valley Mall and the Mall at Robinson are struggling or are beginning to show signs of it. Clearview Mall and Pittsburgh Mills are on life support. Malls like Westmoreland, South Hills, and Ross Park are standing the test of time and still going strong in 2025. The rural malls along the I-80 corridor stick around since there isn’t a big shopping district in places like Cranberry (Venango), Clarion, and DuBois.

The demise of the shopping mall is a sad reality, unfortunately, and we’re witnessing it with the demolition of Century III Mall and Washington Mall. Washington Crown Center is being demalled. Facebook has a page called the Greengate Gazette: Life After Greengate Mall where I get most of that information and I find it very useful.

Onward and Upward at 2025 Winter TLI!

On Wednesday night, I served as Table Topics Master at our Greensburg Toastmasters meeting. I didn’t answer any of the questions myself. However in this blog, I will answer one of them. My question and answer I had for it will be at the end of this blog.

Today, I’m putting together my Christmas list. This morning, I’m going to Pittsburgh to knock out a good portion of my holiday shopping. In case you are curious, I’m going to South Hills Village. I’ll talk more about my shopping experience in Monday’s blog.

Now, my feature presentation.

Summary of TLI–Saturday morning was our Winter Toastmasters Club Officer Training. With the merger of Districts coming in Summer of 2026, this event was a bittersweet one. It was a hybrid and online event but the in-person turnout was plentiful. Those of us in-person met at Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood.

During the morning, our presenters covered the subject of contests, changes coming to the District and Pathways, and evaluations. Topics also included team building and club officer breakouts. Mike from my home club led the “Enhancing Evaluations” portion of the training. In the VPPR session, our presenter had us break into teams.

The program quality director put together an amazing team to help with registration and training as well as help out elsewhere. I picked up my program and some other utensils provided to help me have a good training. The notepads courtesy of Civista Bank helped me take productive notes.

Networking at Breakfast–I arrived at Westmoreland County Community College at 8:15am. Surprisingly, the parking lot was already filling up with those attending the event. After picking up my training materials, I found a table with area and division directors, as well as members from other clubs. I talked about my blog and some of the things I cover in it, excluding the fact that I am closing on a thousand blog posts. That will come sometime next year. Our Area 35 Director from the South Hills Toastmasters Club held an impromptu Table Topics session, asking us who our favorite all-time Steeler was. We had some people answer with Jack Lambert and Jack Ham, part of that vaunted Steel Curtain Defense, and even Terry Bradshaw. I had a great time talking football with one of the guys whom I met from the Bettis Club. Sometimes the best part of these events is meeting new people and getting to know each other. It’s a great way to share club success stories.

Post TLI Activities–After a fun time was had by all at 2025 Winter TLI, we wrapped up the day at around 3:30pm. I left Youngwood a lot richer than I did when I walked in the building. It was a little bit too late to stop for coffee as Cutie’s was getting ready to close. My fun weekend continues as I make plans to go Christmas shopping on Sunday and you’ll read about that in Monday’s blog. Maybe I’ll find a cute, little coffee shop along the way.

Last evening after a comfort meal of grilled cheese sandwiches and tortellini soup, we made plans for a wonderful movie night. We began the night with Charlie Brown Christmas and later on enjoyed White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. I crashed early after a full day on Saturday and watched the last half of the movie, as well as repeating Charlie Brown Christmas. My cup was full for the first half of the weekend and I hoped for repeated success on Sunday.

A Chilly Day and a Nice Outfit– It was a dry but cold December day. Keeping the weather in mind, I wanted to make sure Saturday would be a good day to travel. It was similar to last year’s training with a little bit of snow on the ground then too.

I stepped away from my usual cheetah print and wore a nice cream colored shirt. My division director complemented me on my “peasant blouse” and I returned the favor. I just wish I could get the negative thoughts out of my mind as they still permeate and ruin that good feeling I have about being my authentic self.

What is your favorite Christmas memory?

One of my favorite Christmas memories was when we would all get together on Christmas Eve at Aunt Lotte’s. She was my great great aunt (Gramma Hilde’s aunt). I was a teenager when the tradition came to an end so I was too young to really appreciate it. Aunt Lotte passed away in early 1997. A few weeks before she died, we had her up at our house for Christmas Eve at our house.

It felt like a proverbial passing of the torch.

Feeling the Christmas Spirit!

My Christmas spirit is out in full force this week as it began the end of the Thanksgiving weekend with all three installments of the Grinch. It continues tonight with Rudolph on NBC and later the Muppet Christmas Carol. Over the weekend, I’ll view White Christmas and The Polar Express. As Christmas draws near, my traditional reading will soon take a backseat to some Christmas reading, including the Christmas Story in the Bible.

Currently, I am in the middle of “Matriarch” by Tina Knowles and have made my way into the early years of Beyonce. This is before Destiny’s Child’s founding in the 1990s. In Meet Me at Luke’s, I’ve made my way to the midpoint as well and have been learning about couples on the show and throughout TV and literature. I’m feeling like some of these books may be on my reading list in 2026.

I’ll reconvene with both reads after Christmas.

Tomorrow, we have a full slate at TLI. I’ll be arriving just past 8am to enjoy some continental breakfast and get registered. The list of events we’re doing as District 13 is dwindling down and I just hope we continue to have this training at our present location. For me, it’s only a ten minute drive, though I like to take the scenic route and make it a twenty minute drive. Depending on when I get done and leave Youngwood, there might be a Cutie’s visit.

Speaking of Cutie’s, I went down there this afternoon and enjoyed a Sugar Cookie Latte. It was my first time down there since our snow event on Tuesday. Therefore, parking may have been tricky but I was able to manage.

The weather looks cold and overcast, but dry, for the weekend. Very January-like in the month of December. Hopefully the early snow is not a sign of things to come for the winter months. Still, I’m able to do what I want this weekend and very fortunate to get it off as well. I’ll be paying for it in the days leading up to Christmas but will be enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

A First at Greensburg Toastmasters?!?

Wednesday night, I braved the wind and cold temperatures to attend my Greensburg Toastmasters meeting. Just like two weeks ago when Greensburg had its Night Market, parking was hard to come by. That’s because there was a holiday show at the Palace Theatre. I parked all the way over on Second Street near all the little shops and boutiques.

We had seven attendees at our meeting in person and online, including our guest. Adrianna enjoyed the meeting and I even got her to participate in Table Topics. My theme for Table Topics was centered around Christmas and Google Gemini helped me find nine good questions. I got some hilarious responses to the questions, the best being Jim’s. I didn’t know that Twister Sister inspired a Christmas song. I even made mention to Kiss and a Christmas special (though that may have been from Famiy Guy).

Tonight was a first at Greensburg Toastmasters. Our two speeches centered around presentations that will be given at Saturday’s Toastmasters Leadership Institute. Mike will show us how to enhance our evaluations, and Sam will be giving us tips on sharing Toastmasters with others. His story took him to Cumberland, close to the home of Western Maryland Toastmasters

Our next meeting and final one for 2025 will be on December 17. That day for me marks 20 years since my graduation from Slippery Rock, thus marking the end of my college career.. I signed up to give a speech that night, and the topic might just be a reflection on these last two decades. There will be a blog post coming that day too.

My Christmas List

During this festive month of December, I always try to find the time to watch a Christmas film or special. Now later in the month just before Christmas, my family’s tradition is to watch the more iconic movies like Christmas Vacation and Home Alone. My dad enjoys the very old movies like It’s A Wonderful Life and White Christmas. Earlier this evening, thanks to the magic of Youtube, I came upon a lost classic that can’t be found anywhere.

Here are the Stylish Headlines:

I’m making my Christmas List this week. What are some things I want for Christmas?
How did the first snow event go this morning?

Christmas Shopping–As I talked about on Yesterday’s blog post, I plan to do a majority of my gift buying this weekend. I’ll do a little more closer to Christmas as well. I’m hard at work getting my list ready for my family and friends. But I can’t forget to prepare mine as well. The location is yet to be determined due to the weather forecast, and also my work schedule. By Thursday evening, I’ll have a location set as well as a day and time. So check back later this week. Thursday is when next week’s schedule will be released.

If time permits and I’m able to go to Pittsburgh this weekend, I’ll add a Market District trip into my holiday travels. This has been tradition since 2016 when I’ve done my Christmas shopping. I’ll either go to the one in the South Hills or at Settler’s Ridge. I haven’t shopped at Shadyside yet. I have been to the Pine Township Market District once to get gift cards, and that was a few years ago. If it’s not this weekend, then it will be closer to Christmas.

I’ll either shop at Westmoreland Mall or South Hills Village, schedule permitting.

This Morning’s Snow– The snow that was forecast to hit our region came and went this morning, creating trouble for motorists and cancelling most schools in the region. For me my five minute commute turned into fifteen minutes. It was treacherous driving home, but I got home in one piece with my car intact. I did notice a few spinouts as cars were coming off of US 30. The road was still covered as of 6:30 this morning, but should be OK now. The snow tapered off later in the morning and the crews were out and about making sure the main roads were clear. Wednesday morning should present a much better drive into work and school. It’s clear that Winter 2025-26 has just begun to fight if this morning was any indication.

On the YouTube page LiveStormsMedia, I watched video of how the roads looked in Butler County. It wasn’t much better up north (in fact it may have been worse). The predictions were on the ball as most locations got the two to four inches (Greensburg got four). A few northern locations in Beaver and Butler County got five inches as did Indiana, PA. The weekend is always in view for me. Right now it just looks overcast as I make plans for Club Officer Training and Christmas Shopping.

Both John Denver and the Muppets the album and the tv special are impossible to find. The show aired in 1979, the same year as the album was released. The Muppet Show was still at its height. The music from the special is also on the album. Two of the things my Gramma loved dearly were the holidays and the Muppets.

Grinch Sunday!

It’s December and I’m trying to post 20 blogs this month, because it just wouldn’t be Christmas without posting about it. Even though I won’t make it to 200 this year, it’s still been a good 2025… political drama aside.

This morning, I worked off some of that Thanksgiving Turkey by riding the indoor cycle at the gym. That helped me burn some calories and was also a good way to get an episode of my Gilmore Girls rewatch in. While there, I also viewed the weather forecast in light of the upcoming snow event that will be hitting our region early tomorrow morning.

Here are the Stylish headlines:

It’s the first of December, and I’ll be talking about snow and Christmas viewing.
I pulled off a Grinch trifecta by watching all three installments from the cartoon to the 2018 movie. Which one do I like the most?
The weekend is always in view as I look ahead to Christmas shopping plans and Winter TLI!

Cold air and multiple snow chances this week

This morning was calm before the storm as we had a little bit of sun before it gave way to thickening clouds. The sky looked really neat but really ominous as I was on my way to the gym. It felt like the sun was trying to shine on US 30 but going towards town and the fairgrounds, a different story.

The storm that is forecast to bring snow to our region will be a quick hitter. Yet, the timing could not be worse as the heaviest snow will fall during morning rush hour and when kids are getting on the bus. Expect delays and possibly cancellations in the morning. For my niece, she may be attending virtually. It’s dry Wednesday, so I shouldn’t have an issue making it to my Greensburg Toastmasters meeting. There may be some snow Thursday but the impacts won’t be felt as much.

It will be cold all week as we stay in the 30s. Monday will be the warmest day out of at least the next five. Friday morning could be frigid at the bus stop as most locations will be in the teens. The weekend looks quiet for now, but I am paying attention to any changes that may occur. I have plans this weekend with Winter TLI/Club Officer Training on Saturday at WCCC and Christmas shopping as well.

Grinch Sunday

Yesterday, the NFL wasn’t really at the top of my viewing list. There wasn’t really any marquee game to keep me interested. Thus, it was a good day to begin my Christmas specials era. I took advantage of the night off to enjoy all three installments of the Grinch. I began with How the Grinch Stole Christmas late in the afternoon. Later on, I watched The Grinch, the 2018 movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of the Christmas-hating beast. Kenan Thompson was the voice of the Christmas loving neighbor and Rashida Jones voiced the overworked mother of the central character from the book, Cindy Lou Who. This movie has grown on me more than the 2000 film starring Jim Carrey. It’s a more modern take on the special and more colorful. I feel like I could really live in this Whoville.

Also on the agenda this week are the Muppet holiday movies and specials, the usual Holiday Baking Championship, and the Polar Express. I’m really starting to get into the Christmas spirit.

Weekend Plans

I’m keeping an eye on the forecast for the weekend. So far so good but things can change and life could get in the way. For now, I’m in the clear. Anyway, what’s going on this weekend?

Saturday is Winter TLI/Club Officer Training at Westmoreland County Community College, and Sunday is tentatively when I’ll do my Christmas shopping. If anything, I’ll do a majority of it this weekend. Where and when I go is dependent on my work schedule. I don’t work most Sundays as others will likely have their set schedule (and we only get one truck). But this is Giant Eagle and it’s the holidays, so anything goes.

If I’m off, I’m leaning towards going to South Hills Village. If not, I’ll head up to Westmoreland Mall Friday night. Any gift card shopping will be done closer to Christmas! A Market District visit will be in the works too, possibly on Sunday as there is a 50% chance this will be the day I do my Christmas shopping.

As for Saturday, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone and learning how to grow our clubs. Big changes are coming with the merging of our District with Northeastern Ohio to form the new District 219 in the upcoming Toastmasters Year. I need to pick out a nice outfit as well, but ultimately I want to make myself happy.

November 2025 Recap

As this month is wrapping up, I am enjoying the start of the holiday season and we’ve wrapped up our Thanksgiving feast. The color from the trees and sunshine in October has given way to sunsets at 5pm and for some, the first snowflakes of the season. Downtown streets have begun the process of looking dressed up for Christmas, and department stores are in the throes of their busy season.

Here are the stylish headlines for this last day of November.

November was a less active month for me compared to October.
Compared to last month, I didn’t blog as much either and that’s OK too
The word of the past week should be “trifecta”.
What was the best coffee at Cutie’s

A Quiet November

Last month was very busy for me. I was on vacation during the middle of the month. I was blessed with nice weather on my week off and took part in some nice activities. A week later my Toastmasters District hosted its 2025 Fall Symposium. With everything I had going on, including Slippery Rock homecoming, I was planning to have a quiet November and I followed through with that.

Highlights from the past month:

The new Christmas menu at Cutie’s.
- I went down on the day of the launch and enjoyed a Toasted White Mocha. I made a few more trips around the Thanksgiving holiday with my most recent trip on Small Business Saturday. It was busy all day and I enjoyed a Cutie Tree Mocha featuring a Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake.
Toastmasters meetings were a balance of in person and online attendance.
- At Greensburg Toastmasters, we met in person and were hybrid in the jury room. Laurel Highlands meetings were 100% online. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, it was very convenient as the weather forecast trended wet and windy.
I voted YES on November 4 for the three Supreme Court Justices. I felt a sense of relief after the results of the 2024 election did not go my way. That euphoria would be short-lived, though.
- My Instagram threads are loaded with many political posts. It’s probably the algorithm, but it really got to me early Monday morning and I don’t think I slept at all. I made up for it the next day and the rest of my week was much better. But the impacts led to a time limit on social media. I’m still trying to figure that out. Seriously, did I not learn from my mistakes years ago?

Less Is More

Comparing this November to the last two, I blogged less than I did last year. I went crazy and published 27 posts in the penultimate month of 2024. The year before I only posted 11, but I did write my 500th blog post (which was on Friendsgiving). I’ll end up at 13 this month, and to me that’s perfectly fine, as I’m in no hurry to get to my next milestone. That will be my 900th blog which likely will be up in February

The Word of the Day? Trifecta!.

You might say that my favorite word lately has been trifecta. This week, I completed my Garfield Holiday Trifecta when I watched A Garfield Thanksgiving. I’d seen the Halloween and Christmas specials a long time ago and didn’t know of the Thanksgiving one until recently. Had I waited a few years, maybe this special would have cured the pain I endured from watching the Peanuts Homecoming cartoon.

I finished my pie-fecta on Saturday, having eaten all the pies from Thanksgiving. The first one I tried was the chocolate pie Thanksgiving night. On Friday, it was the apple pie that Mom made. Finally, on Saturday, I tried a slice of pumpkin pie. My holiday is complete, knowing I enjoyed some good turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes.

On Sunday, I began my Christmas viewing with that green beast you love to hate, the Grinch. I watched the 1966 cartoon this afternoon. I’ll have completed another trifecta when I watch the 2000 and 2018 films later on.

Thanksgiving 2025!

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday at our house. For me, I worked overnight (as I have for all four years I’ve been at Giant Eagle). This would have been our slow period at WIS with only a few Rite Aids and Lowe’s scheduled. Since I’ve come to Giant Eagle, Rite Aid would file for bankruptcy and eventually close all its stores.

We had our relatives from Somerset come celebrate Thanksgiving and help us enjoy the feast. We watched football and enjoyed everyone’s company. Even the pups had a great time. The pod was pretty neat too.

Earlier this week, I watched Garfield’s Thanksgiving. This special debuted just a few years after Garfield’s Christmas and it was the first time I’d seen it. The orange cat holiday trifecta is finally finished. The cartoons aired three times over a five year period in the 1980’s. Garfield’s Halloween Adventure aired in 1985, followed by the Christmas special in 1987, and finally the Thanksgiving special in 1989. In my opinion, Garfield’s Thanksgiving is a lot better than “It’s Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown”. That to me is one of the worst Peanuts specials and it led to a change where Charlie Brown wouldn’t be much of a punching bag in future specials.

I also watched a Thanksgiving episode from Gilmore Girls. I moved ahead to season three and viewed “A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving”. This is a classic episode and one of two themed around the holiday. The other one is from season six.

Getting back to our Thanksgiving spread, we had three pies and an apple crumble. My cousin made the crumble, the chocolate pie was from Giant Eagle, and both the apple and pumpkin pie were homemade. The apple pie is always hard to make. A good pie is a cherry pie with the lattice crust. My favorite pie to eat is lemon meringue but that can be a hard one to prepare. We also had cranberry bread, and my mom used my aunt‘s recipe. That also turned out good.

Friday was a good day to finish up some of those leftovers, and the turkey tasted just as good on Black Friday. I’m hoping to complete the “piefecta” with a slice of pumpkin pie on Saturday.

Happy Thanksgiving at Laurel Highlands Toastmasters!

Tuesday night was my night off and also Laurel Highlands Toastmasters night. We were online which made sense due to the inclement weather. I found a new spot in the house to attend an online meeting as well.

When we cleared the spare room out, the purpose was to make room for more seating. With the help of a stool, I was able to prop up my laptop and discover a more comfortable place to sit. I can also work on my blogs down here if I don’t want to be upstairs. In the future, I may invest in a table for my computer so I don’t have to rely on my lap or a stool all the time.

At the beginning of the meeting, the seven of us who attended the meeting all shared what we were thankful for. For me, it was having a job that takes care of me and pays well. Saturday for me marked four years since I started at Giant Eagle. It was during Thanksgiving week that I did my paperwork and my training. The latter consisted of watching videos about OSHA, safe lifting, food safety, etc. Always nice is the fact that I have good benefits including paid time off and holidays. Next week, I’ll have a nice paycheck and that should really help with Christmas shopping.

Our speaker gave his “Reflecting on your Path” speech and talked about his experience in robotics. I signed up to evaluate his speech and gave him great feedback. Table Topics kept with the theme of Happy Thanksgiving. It would have been nice to have a little get together with food but it is what it is. Our next meeting is December 9, coming off the heels of club officer training.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends tomorrow. Is it crazy that Christmas Eve is just four weeks away?

Making (Early) Holiday Plans!

Thanksgiving

At home, we are getting ready for the holidays. The fridge upstairs is packed full and ready to go this week. The turkey is sitting there awaiting its fate.. Thursday morning it will be put in the oven and be eaten along with the stuffing and other sides.. At work I’ve been pretty busy getting the store well stocked for Thanksgiving with all of the canned vegetables including the yams. Lots of pumpkin pie filling, flour, and sugar line the end caps and displays.

As for our plans, we’ll be staying home and enjoying our turkey. I work Wednesday to Saturday; therefore, it’s better for me to stay home than to travel. Originally, I was off Wednesday but this change works out better for me as I won’t have to lay down during the day on Thanksgiving and I can get up a little bit earlier to enjoy some of the Lions game. We are expecting a small turnout with just my Somerset family and maybe a few others for dinner. This is the fourth year in a row that I’ll be home and six out of the last seven (one of the years being due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Now that the bed has been moved out of the spare room, that makes room for extra seating on Thursday and for Christmas Eve.

Holiday Viewing

Thursday is our normal night to watch the Holiday Baking Championship. It airs too late for me to watch on Mondays since I usually work. With the holiday on our usual watch night, we plan to push it up to Tuesday night this week. I’m on season two of Gilmore Girls and plan to watch The Bracebridge Dinner episode today. This week I’m going to check out some of the Thanksgiving episodes from the series, including “A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving”. I watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving over the weekend and I plan to check out Garfield’s Thanksgiving sometime this week.

The Bracebridge Dinner is a holiday-themed episode and is one of the best in the series.

Decorating

I’ve been in my Christmas music era since the beginning of November, ramping up my listening as the month goes on. Just a little bit at a time so I don’t get burned out before Thanksgiving. Just this morning as I was on my way to the gym, I listened to the Carpenters’ Christmas album, having began putting it in my rotation a few years ago. A few of their songs are part of the Christmas music playlist on the radio. With Thanksgiving upon us, I am about to enter my Christmas movie era.

Sunday, we got the decorations out of the attic in preparation for the big decorating spree on Black Friday. Last year on Christmas Eve, my cousin posted on her blog about how nice our house looked, saying it was decorated “to the nines”. It’s then we’ll begin to put up the Christmas tree as well. We previewed the upcoming holiday with a small desktop tree in the living room.

I began the Christmas movie season a few years ago with the sequel to A Christmas Story. That may be in the plans for Black Friday. That, or kick it off with Elf. I also want to watch a few of the Christmas-themed Office episodes as well. Yes, it is the Committee to Plan Parties.

Early December

Last year the first week of December saw me take vacation. It was cold, we had a fresh blanket of snow, and I was getting over a cold that I caught between my Hershey trip and Thanksgiving. This year, I’ll work and luckily it’s the calm before the Christmas storm. My likelihood for attending Winter TLI on December 6 are probable to 100%, erring on the side of I’m definitely going. In fact, my registration just went through this morning. With next Friday or Saturday open, I also need to think about when I’m going to do my Christmas shopping.

Market District visit in the cards?

That first weekend sounds like a perfect time to get some Christmas shopping done. Last year I did some at Westmoreland Mall and the next day went to South Hills Village to finish it. I’m hoping to do that again although I have shown interest in that new shopping district down in East Liberty. Recently, Giant Eagle opened a new Market District and a new Barnes and Noble is about to open. I’m impressed that they are doing well in the digital age and still opening stores even in 2025. I’ll check my schedule for that week and see what the best fit will be. Time to make that list and check it twice.

Wrapup–Sunday visit to Cutie’s

Finally, I made the most of my Sunday off with a trip to Cutie’s. I was in the festive mood and recently tried the Peppermint Mocha Latte. Up next on my Christmas coffee agenda was something with Gingerbread. I was surprised at how steady it was for 3:00pm on a Sunday. I saw a group of four enjoying their Gilmore Girls coffee flight. I took my drink outside and enjoyed the seasonal 53 degree day. I took the scenic route home driving down PA 130 through downtown Jeannette. There’ll be some more of those as we go through December, maybe into North Versailles.

The schedule change means that I’ll switch my next visit to Small Business Saturday. I’m thinking about getting the Cutie Tree Latte. This is the one that comes with the Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake. I have some of those in my fridge. In addition, I have that Little Debbie creamer in mind and may buy a bottle of it before I head home. With plenty of Peppermint Mocha, I may try this closer to Christmas.