November is almost over and I am nearing my milestone 500th blog post. It was a busy month with my store getting ready for Thanksgiving and the holidays. Plus, we thought about Benny at Children’s and visited him as well. The Christmas decorations are up, the tree is decorated, and it’s time to look ahead to December.

Winter TLI is this Saturday at WCCC and as always, looks to be a fun and enriching time. There will be a talent show during the event as well as lunch. The club officer breakouts will be a great time to take stuff home to our clubs to help them grow. I look forward to seeing everyone and learning from our presenters on Saturday.

I’m getting my Christmas list together this week and I hope to make a dent in my Christmas shopping this week. If not, then I will find time next week to do it. Christmas shopping is fun, but what’s more fun than going out to Pittsburgh and doing it there at one of the malls? It’s a tradition that I’ve had since 2016. I did it because I had leverage from all the experience working in the Pittsburgh area when I was with WIS.

Last year, I went to South Hills Village and did a majority of my Christmas shopping while I was on vacation from Giant Eagle. I couldn’t stay away from work completely as Market District was one of my stops that day. I went to Target and bought gifts, as well as Bath and Body Works. I even had lunch at The Olive Garden by Kohl’s, where I also did some shopping as well. It was a full day and I enjoyed myself. My Market District experience saw me buy some Christmas goodies, including a cheese ball and some chocolates from Sarris candies. Not sure yet where this year will take me, my heart is set on either Robinson or the North Hills. As long as they have a Market District nearby. My sister works in the same area as the Market District in the Village at Pine.

Christmas baking should be in full swing very soon. Some of the traditional cookies we make include thumbprints, Hershey’s Kisses, and red devil’s food. I’ll be including my Elf sugar cookies in there as well. Our famous Christmas staples, turkey balls, will be in there. But, we’ll be making those closer to Christmas.

In an upcoming blog, I’ll be talking about my favorite Christmas movies and specials. I found a couple of new movies on Max (A Christmas Story Christmas) and Netflix (Christmas Chronicles). Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is on tomorrow night on CBS. I’m looking forward to quoting my favorites, like Elf and Christmas Vacation.

I recently took a Sunday drive out to Ligonier and the Diamond was already decorated for Christmas. Friday night was Light Up Night in Ligonier and it looked like it was a great turnout from what I saw on Instagram. When I have a free night off, maybe Saturday night after TLI or even next week, I’d like to see it and get some pics.

Finally, this December, I want to issue a challenge to myself and that is to double my content. I’ve posted 11 blogs a month on average and I’ll publish my 500th post later this week. Doubling my content, and that will include mostly holiday posts, will give me 22 posts for the month, thus putting me ahead of 2021’s total. After a light 2022 and some months where I wasn’t up to writing anything in 2023, this year is going to end very well. I’m up to completing this challenge and feeling very confident going into 2024. I want to live up to being more of a fashion blogger in the new year as well.

On this Thanksgiving holiday, there is a lot to be grateful for. Good health, another year under the sun, and getting full time at Giant Eagle. Come with me as I go down the list and find a dozen things that I’m thankful for in 2023. Also, don’t forget to look for my Top Ten of 2023 blog post which comes out on December 23.

Without further ago, here is what I am grateful for this on this Thanksgiving.

The gift of a laptop so that I can work on my blogs, as well as attend online Toastmasters meetings.

Contest season in our Toastmasters district so I can see the best compete.

The opportunity to lead my club to success. When I was tabbed for the role of President, it’s as if my Toastmasters fire was rekindled. It went out following my Distinguished Toastmaster achievement and the COVID-19 pandemic which forced us to stay home.

Getting to have dinner with Mr. Clougherty and continuing the friendship we’ve had since 1996 when I was a student and a manager on the swim team. My favorite experience from the Dinner Series was eating at Burgatory for my birthday and before we went to the Pirate game, when we ate at Primanti’s.

Having support from my co-workers when it came to my “fashion” journey. Losing them hurt, and soon after I felt attacked over everything going on with Dylan Mulvaney. The talking heads on YouTube and their podcasts don’t really use their platform to help, but rather divide. Thankfully, I didn’t let it bring me down and in the end, I won.

A store leader who celebrated us and the hard work we do every night to make our store look good. We had a luau theme and the spread was plentiful from pulled pork to a meat and cheese tray and punch. Anytime I need something, I know I can talk to her.

The opportunity to have a paid vacation from work. I took the time to relax as well as get out. Having good weather helped too. A little rain towards the end didn’t spoil my time off.

For making it through the Canadian wildfire season that brought a hazy sky to our region early in the Summer, as well as the doubt I had when I felt attacked once again in my journey.

A weekend filled with fun, family, and food. It started with Annabelle’s birthday party at Mammoth Park. The next day was our family reunion at Laurel Hill State Park, which was even better.

This passion that I have for writing that continues to burn in me. I’m grateful to have been on this platform for four years with no intention of slowing down. In just a week, I’ll be publishing my 500th blog post.

That I was able to apply at Giant Eagle when I was ready for a change two years ago. I interviewed over the phone and got the job just before Thanksgiving. This Spring, I applied for the full-time bid and got it not long after. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work for a company that provides room for advancement, helps me thrive, and is supportive of me in my journey.

Finally, I had the opportunity to move my schedule around so I can attend Friendsgiving with my “sister” and her friends on Saturday night. I’ll get to reunite with a few of them and meet a few new people as well. Plus, it’ll be nice to be complemented in person and catch up on life.

I am so relieved that this week has finally come to an end and that I am able to have a nice night off. It’s hard working retail during the holidays and Giant Eagle is no exception. Nothing like when I worked at WIS and always had time off at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of course those unemployment checks don’t match up to what I make now. I’m coming up on my two year anniversary on the night before Thanksgiving; therefore, I am grateful to have a job with room for advancement. Did I also mention that it’s a five minute commute?

In this blog, I’ll be talking about my trip to the mall to look at Christmas decorations. I’m hungry for another tasty Thanksgiving sandwich so I’m making my way to Primanti’s. Finally we’ll celebrate the blog’s fourth anniversary and discuss how it’s evolved over the last few years.

First things first, I made my way to the mall. I was deciding between Westmoreland Mall and Monroeville Mall. I’ll be going to Pittsburgh next weekend for Friendsgiving, so I decided to stay closer to home and go to Westmoreland Mall instead. I drove around the mall to see how busy it was. I eventually parked over at Macy*s. I stopped into a few stores and began at Macy*s.

They had plenty of tasty Christmas treats including Godiva chocolate, Peppermint Bark, and lots of popcorn. Lots of stocking stuffers for everyone to enjoy. Both Macy*s and JCPenney had great Black Friday deals. I also checked out the calendar place in the mall and was looking for a LANG Folk Art calendar. Mom has always had one on her wall and now it’s my turn to hang one of my own. I couldn’t forget Old Navy either.

I bought some Christmas things at JCPenney and was tempted to buy a Christmas shirt at Old Navy which Sara would have loved. I walked into Hickory Farms for inspiration to put together my cheeseboard for next week’s Friendsgiving event. I also found a cheeseboard kit at Giant Eagle and I may just buy that to take to Friendsgiving. My mall experience soon wrapped up because I was hungry, so off to Primanti’s for me.

Round three of the Thanksgiving sandwich series took me to Primanti Bros. in Greensburg. I saw an ad for their turkey sandwich and had to have it. It was between them and Eat’n Park for my next stop and I figure I’ll enjoy an amazing Turkey dinner at home on Thursday. It was a busy Saturday night, plus I took a few minutes to decide on my drink. I almost got a mimosa (thinking of Sara since we’re getting together next weekend) or a Jameson Irish Cream (thinking of my former coworker Mark from WIS).

I decided on the Drunk Dunk (comes with its own little rubber duck). My cocktail tasted very tropical with the coconut liquor. I knew what I wanted to eat so I had no trouble picking my sandwich. The sandwich comes with stuffing and cranberry sauce and gravy, kind of like the Pilgrim but with less crumbs. I was tempted to skip the drink and go for the pumpkin spice fries. but I’m over pumpkin season now.

It’s hard to pick a winner in the battle for best Thanksgiving sandwich but I will give the nod to the Gobblerito (second time trying it and no sophomore jinx here). I could be biased and pick this sandwich or the Pilgrim because I work for Giant Eagle but Mad Mex just edged them by a piece of turkey.

Happy Birthday Stylish . Today celebrates four years that I’ve had this blog. This isn’t the original name and like me it’s been through its ups and downs.

I had blogged before this but I wasn’t too committed. With inspiration from my blogging coustins, I gave it a try once again. I did my first post on an overnight trip for work in Erie. I used the same name for a month and then made a decision to merge that blog with a new one that had a less outdated name.

I survived the lockdowns from COVID in 2020, and this blog got too big too early. In 2021, it was a health scare, turning 40, and the end of an era. I left the church for personal reasons and, I departed WIS for Giant Eagle. In 2022, I took two steps back and didn’t blog as much because I was trying to figure out a new routine with my new schedule. Also, I felt discouraged because I wasn’t getting support in my journey.

In 2023, I got a laptop for Christmas from my cousin making it easier to blog once again. But I still questioned my journey (because of all the hate TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney was getting for her Bud Light ad). I was also dealing with family health issues. Through it all though, I emerged victorious.

This platform will soon hit a milestone with its 500th blog post and I can’t wait to publish it.

Falling sales and ongoing opioid related lawsuits have had a huge impact on drugstores. Camp Hill based pharmacy Rite Aid has been hit hard by this and recently closed nine stores in the Pittsburgh areas. For those who get their meds at one of the Rite Aids that closed, they must get them elsewhere now. Those who got their medication at the Greensburg Rite Aid on US 30 will now get it at the Hempfield Giant Eagle.

I’ve driven past Greensburg and Export and notice the signs down, or they have been blacked out. Latrobe has also closed their storefront. This one was located in the shopping center and wasn’t on the list of closures, having shuttered over the summer.

While it shouldn’t matter which ones closed, this does affect me emotionally as it was one of our big accounts when I worked for WIS. Working on the dedicated Rite Aid crew meant I felt like one of the elite. Learning of the closures meant another thing from my past was gone. Kings is down to four restaurants and who knows how much longer they have, and more Rite Aids may be closing in the future. Walgreens and CVS may also face closures as well.

YouTuber WallieB26 explores closing and abandoned storefronts, having been to many K-Marts, Sears, and Ames that were closing (K-Mart and Sears) or have closed (Ames). Others on the platform (Ace’s Adventures, This Is Dan Bell) have done the same and also explored dead or abandoned malls. Urban exploring is fun but dangerous and anyone doing this should proceed with caution and show respect to the place.

I wonder if WallieB will be visiting these now closed Rite Aids in the near future. He also does Christmas videos from the stores he visits (Gabes, Kohl’s). I’m currently watching one of his Gabe’s videos. Follow him on YouTube at WallieB26.

Two years ago today marked the end of an era. This day will always be an emotional one as I left a job I had for 13 years working at WIS International. I would soon be hired by Giant Eagle (five minutes from home). That last day I worked in Rochester (Beaver County) at a Rite Aid. That store was one of the nine that closed in the Pittsburgh area last month. Rite Aid just announced that 22 more stores are closing, three in Pennsylvania and one in Pittsburgh.

We got done that day before Noon and that drive home was bittersweet. Passing through Robinson Township I remembered all the stores I counted over the years. I didn’t really make it official until just after the New Year, but that day in Rochester was my true last day. We just merged with RGIS and broke up the office. I was put on the traditional team and had to use the old machines. Everyone was light years ahead of me it seemed. It was nice to spend my last few days at WIS with people I knew well.

A few days later I celebrated not only getting hired by Giant Eagle but also, my First Friendsgiving. I got an invite a few weeks prior to the event and was excited about getting the opportunity to attend. I drove up to my friend’s house in Johnstown and we had a great feast. It wasn’t turkey and stuffing and all the sides, but it was really green. Nevertheless, we ate well and had a great time.

I was introduced to an amazing card game called “Cards Against Humanity”. Rae and Kit beat Sara and I handily but we enjoyed ourselves. Sara did my makeup (a precursor to her working at Sephora) and we enjoyed my pumpkin bread. I was in transition that holiday season being between jobs and having just left the church. We wrapped up the night by walking to the Johnstown Incline. She has a better incline in Pittsburgh.

I got an invite from Sara to attend Friendsgiving once again next Saturday. We’ll be home for Thanksgiving. My parents will be visiting Aunt Sue and Benny at Children’s during the day and we’ll eat later. I’ll get to meet some of her other friends and I’m sure I’ll have a great time.

It remains to be seen what’s on the agenda but I will for sure be slaying it!

This is my second blog post in 12 hours!

But I’m not going to go crazy and post from now until the end of the year. This one will be short and sweet (that’s debatable).

We are ten days away from Thanksgiving and still don’t know what our plans are yet. If it’s likely we’ll be home again then I’m OK with that.

I didn’t blog much in 2022 for obvious reasons but I will say that the holiday season turned out better than expected. We had Thanksgiving at home due to the uncertainty of Benny’s health and it turned out to be much better than expected. Mom set up an extra table in the living room and we had a nice turnout with our Somerset County relatives showing up as well as Aunt Lorie. We ate well and we enjoyed some Thanksgiving football on TV. The next day we decorated and watched the sequel to A Christmas Story (it was great).

This holiday was better than 2020 and 2021. Even with Benny going to the hospital the week before Christmas and the weather turning sharply colder two days before. I’m hoping for more of the same in 2023. I was relying on approval from others and finally learned to chart my own path this year. I’ve become a better planner this year and I picked myself up after falling ill in late October and feeling discouraged in the Spring.

I’ll be back to blogging later this week, and celebrating the four year anniversary of this platform. I feel like I’m in a good spot with my content and can’t wait to publish that magical 500th blog post at the end of the month.

I wasn’t in attendance Friday night but, the beginning of the Christmas holiday took place at Westmoreland Mall as they held their annual Light Up night festivities. I read that the event had its best turnout in five years (pre-COVID). While COVID is still a thing and will always be around, it appears the social distancing and lockdowns are a thing of the past. Seeing people out and about to celebrate the start of the season had to be a good feeling for the mall. With the demise of Century III , it’s more important than ever for those of us in Westmoreland County to frequent this mall. The casino is bringing in business and they just need something to take the place of Sears, another anchor, junior anchor or hotel. South Hills Village is still going strong and is adding an anchor new to our area to replace that Sears. Anyway, back to the holidays.

I’ll be checking out the glitz and glamour of the holiday season very soon while being sure to rock a nice holiday outfit. Plus, I’ll be sure to enjoy a Peppermint Mocha at one of the Starbucks kiosks. Think of the bigger malls in the Pittsburgh area like South Hills Village, Ross Park Mall, or the Mall at Robinson. Downtown Pittsburgh’s Light Up Night will be next week and I’m sure it will be crowded. Ligonier’s in November 24 and if I’m available that night, I will make it out there.

Toastmasters returns this week for me as I’ll be attending online meetings for Laurel Highlands and Greensburg. Since I got my new webcam for my laptop, I’ve been enjoying attending the online meetings. Having to use my iPad or my phone was a nuisance, and I always hated using so much screen time on my phone. When I attended Winter TLI in December 2020 at the height of the pandemic, I put six hours of screen time on my phone just for Zoom alone. I can see more faces on my computer now and it’s better than touching the screen so many times. Plus, my extreme close-up won’t look so awkward.

I was going to give a speech Wednesday but decided to push it back to after Thanksgiving since our seasoned members will be back in attendance. Plus I’ll have just published my 500th blog post.

I took advantage of the amazing weather Sunday afternoon and drove out to Ligonier. I don’t get out much and wanted to enjoy my day off, thus taking a nice Sunday drive up Route 30. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my little Stars Hollow and the perfect Hallmark Christmas town.

Most of the color on the trees has disappeared, leaving the trees bare. But you can still find color if you look hard enough. There was some yellow on the trees heading out of Latrobe going towards Idlewild and Soak Zone. I spotted some orange as I was coming home from work this morning. The reality is that it’s mid-November and everything is past peak. The only color to look forward to will be from the Christmas lights as people will be out decorating their yards. Perfect week to do it as it will be dry and mild.

In Ligonier, the lampposts are looking festive inside the Diamond and the tree is up in the bandshell. The center of town was a perfect writing spot for me to work on this blog today and watch people go by. In just a few short weeks, families will be coming here to have holiday pictures taken. Memories will be made and this town will sparkle when the tree is lit. I’ll have to plan a trip out to Ligonier at night and take in the holiday atmosphere. I took a few pictures with my iPhone and made my way back home as the sun began to set and Mom, Katie, and Annabelle were coming back from Children’s Hospital. I enjoyed the sounds of the season going to and coming back from Ligonier as I listened to WISH 99.7

Finally, Mom visited Benny at Children’s Hospital this afternoon and Katie and Annabelle came along for the ride. Benny is making good progress from what Mom had told me plus my aunt provides updates on Facebook. Fingers crossed he’ll be able to come home soon. Mom will be there all day on Saturday; thus, giving me an opportunity to get out after I wake up. I’m off Saturday night and making plans to check out some Christmas decorations. I’m also hungry for another Thanksgiving feature. Primanti’s has a “Primanturkey” sandwich and Eat’n Park and Bob Evans have their turkey dinners. I also want to go to Market District and buy some holiday goodies. So while Westmoreland Mall seems the favorable place to go, I may just have to venture out into Pittsburgh for this trip. We’ll see what happens once I get closer to Saturday.

Last night, I drove out to Monroeville and ate dinner at Mad Mex, located in the Miracle Mile shopping center. It was the perfect time of the year to try their seasonal staple, the Gobblerito. For me, this was my second time expereiencing this culinary masterpiece. Last year was my introduction and I got an excellent first impression.

I arrived at dinnertime so there was a huge crowd. The whole plaza was packed so finding parking was a miracle. Who says the economy’s tanking? Time for a history lesson. At one time, Miracle Mile was home to JCPenney and Kresge (which eventually became K-Mart). They had two grocery stores at one point (Kroger being one of them; they left the market in early 1984). Where Lowe’s is now was Kaufmann’s (now Macy*s) Department Store. Meet me under the Kaufmann’s clock. Monroeville has grown into quite the suburb of Pittsburgh and a thriving shopping mecca.

Anyway, back to dinner.

I had no trouble ordering and I picked a seasonal margarita to complement my Gobblerito. My server even provided me with water. I always hold myself to one drink since I’m going to be driving home afterwards. I savour my meals and this one was no exception as I ate it slowly. It paired very well with the cranberry sauce which I used for dipping.

My fall pumpkin spice coffeehouse tour failed but I was able to enjoy Fall coffee at home going between Pumpkin Spice and Creme Brulee. However, this mini Thanksgiving tour is going well. I enjoyed my Pilgrim last week and of course my Gobblerito. But where to next week on this tour?

After I finished my meal and left a nice tip for my server, I set off on US 22 and drove home through Murrysville. I contemplated making a Market District run in the near future. Pretty soon, I’ll be starting to see Christmas lights in my travels, especially throughout Penn Township and Westmoreland County.

Monday night began the Holiday Baking Championship on Food Network and the Discovery app. While Halloween is fun and scary at the same time, Holiday is more the exciting competition and with the better host to boot. My next seven weeks will be spent cheering on the best baker to win the Holiday Baking Championship. Also, I’ll be learning new culinary terms along the way.

Speaking of holiday baking, let’s talk about this shelf in my mom’s pantry cupboard. Giant Eagle had great deals on baking supplies last week; therefore, Mom took advantage of the sales and loaded up for the cookie rush. I can’t wait to see what she has in store. I’m sure it’ll be the usual (thumbprints, red devil’s food, etc.) with a few new creations in store. I’ll be making my Elf sugar cookies in a few weeks as well. Speaking of Buddy the Elf, happy 20th anniversary to this iconic holiday movie which is in good company with others for G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time).

Finally, I’ll be digging the holiday T-shirts this weekend and buying some newer designs. I’ve retired a few older shirts (Simpsons and Christmas Story) and acquired a few newer ones over the years (Elf and Bob Ross). I’m still hanging on to the Eat’n Park Star as well as Elf. The Ugly Christmas sweaters? That’s another project for another time.

This weekend has been a treat with mild temperatures and dry conditions replacing the rain and cooler temperatures that seemed to dominate the October landscape. Color is starting to fade in most of Pennsylvania or is already past peak. Some of you saw snow to kick off November. We saw a few flurries but nothing else out of the ordinary. Just a sign that winter will be here soon.

WISH 99.7 is playing Christmas music this weekend to get its listeners into the Christmas spirit? A little bit early? Maybe, but I’ve been giving in since Fall began. A little bit at a time until the middle of the month and then it’ll be full blown holiday tunes. Christmas Mariah Carey is almost defrosted, kids.

Yesterday, I ordered a Pilgrim sub from Getgo Cafe and Market and it was the best thing ever. It’s not my first time as I’ve had them for several years now. The Pilgrim is definitely a holiday favorite and it was the perfect lunch yesterday before I laid down for my afternoon nap.

Last year, I ate my first Gobblerito at Mad Mex and it was worth the money and the drive to Monroeville. I’ll be making it a tradition once again when I go next week on one of my nights off for dinner. My cousins rave about this Thanksgiving treat and now I am too. Even my aunt enjoyed hers when we went last year the week before Thanksgiving.

Back to my review of the Pilgrim. It was well prepared. The bread was very savory, and the combination of turkey, gravy, and cranberry sauce made this a tasty lunch. Be prepared as it is a messy sandwich. I enjoyed mine with a bag of chips and a bottle of Cherry Coke.

I felt more alive this Saturday than I did the last few weekends. Perhaps the weather had something to do with that. I’m also not sick like I was two weeks ago. Boy was that an ordeal. I won’t take this weekend, or any other, for granted. Last week I could have done some things but didn’t want to go out on account of the weather. I felt like I cheated myself, and could have taken the time to sit in a cafe or bookstore and do some writing for a future blog. Oh well, I learned my lesson.

Wednesday night, we held our Greensburg Toastmasters meeting. It was exclusively online on Zoom due to our usual meeting place being prepped for Election Day activity. Get out and vote this Tuesday, everyone. For me this was the first online Greensburg meeting since I got my new webcam which makes the Zoom meetings much more fun to attend. I even gave a speech about change in my life that took place during 2021. I referenced the book “Who Moved my Cheese?”, which goes into detail about change.

I’ll be speaking again next meeting (to be held online on 11/15). My project is one that will be near and dear to me, “Write A Compelling Blog”.

Finally, I got a nice compliment and a new perspective on what it means to slay. I’ve used that term and have been complimented with it due to my fashion sense. I talked about my growth over not just the last couple years but the last dozen. My “sister” Sara praised me for also slaying at life and being my true, unique self, in addition to slaying my outfits. I won’t ever stop doing my fashion journey, but I can look at the term “slaying” differently now thanks to one of my biggest supporters.

Hard to believe I almost let a national talking head discourage me and almost cause me to quit, even in 2023.

This month, I’ll be celebrating two years with Giant Eagle (November 22) and it was one of the best moves I made. At the end of the month, I’ll be publishing my 500th blog. I’m definitely happy with my life and where it’s going.

I don’t know about any of you reading this, but I thought that little touch of snow was a welcome sight Wednesday morning. As I left work, I was faced with the task of cleaning off my car and scraping some of the ice that had frozen to my windshield. I’ve also had to scrape off the frost and bundle up with morning lows in the 20s and 30s. Warmer weather is coming next week but we know the 40s will eventually win out as November rolls on.

Without further ado, here is my recap for the month of October.

We celebrated Annabelle’s birthday and had our Gaffron family reunion the first weekend of the month. The cooler weather sure made it feel like fall after we began with summer-like weather. Held at Mammoth Park, Annabelle’s birthday party had a Harry Potter theme from the table setting down to the cupcakes and party favors. The amount of pizza ordered was enough to feed all the adults and children. I discovered the giant slide that Mammoth Park is famous for and slid down it a few times, pretending I was doing the luge in the Winter Olympics. When we got home, we got to watch Annabelle open her birthday presents. I got her art supplies from Michaels but I think the coolest gift was all the Harry Potter funko pops that she got from her aunt.

The next day we had our Gaffron family reunion at Laurel Hill State Park. We had the indoor pavilion reserved and it came in handy with the cool weather that was forecast. The pavilion had a fireplace and plenty of firewood to keep us warm, but we did a considerable amount of time outside. We ate plenty of good food, I supplied the coffee which I got from Dunkin’ Donuts, and there was even a charcuterie board. I spent a lot of time talking to my cousins and watching the younger Gaffron cousins chase each other around. Jonathan took group pictures during the afternoon (you see one of them up top). One is reminiscent of the old cousin photos that we took on Mother’s Day. The only ones missing were Jason and Nik , both of them doing their own thing. We remembered my mom’s cousin Greg who passed away the day before.

When the reunion wrapped up, I stopped in Ligonier and spent some time in the diamond writing a blog post covering the weekend’s events. I witnessed engagement photos being taken in the gazebo as I got ready to come home. On the way there and home, I saw plenty of color as the leaves began changing along PA 711 and US 30. It’s November 3 now, and most of the color is starting to fade or is already past peak. Remember, some of us saw snow to start November, be it a dusting or several inches.

I bought cheetah print tops from Old Navy and throughout October, I confidently wore them and got compliments from family and friends. At home, I overthink and worry about what will be said but that shouldn’t really be an issue. I wore my t-shirt to dinner with Mr. Clougherty, my sweater at the reunion, and my cardigan to the Fall Symposium. Maybe one day I’ll wear them all at home with joy and without feeling ashamed.

The Fall Symposium was a success. I was lucky to attend the event because of my schedule and was grateful for a free night on Friday so I could get up the next day and attend. Our speakers all did a fantastic job helping us take good information back to our clubs. We awarded our Toastmasters and District Leaders who came to play in the most recent Toastmaster year. Before we ended the event, all the Distinguished Toastmasters in the District got together to welcome those new to the DTM club.

The second half of October was marred by sickness and not really going anywhere. I spent whatever days off I had indoors fighting a cough and cold. I got better just in time to have dinner with Mr. Clougherty. It was our final meeting in the 2023 Dinner series and we met at Kings in Hempfield. Only a few cars in the parking lot at dinnertime made me think that they don’t have much time left. Kevin enjoyed his K-Boy because it might have been his last one.

Maybe that quiet second half of October is what I need to get me ready for the busy holiday rush ahead. I’m looking forward to posting that 500th blog at the end of the month and feeling accomplished.

Ten more blog posts to go!

I‘m feeling much better than I did last week as my cold and cough have gone away. Despite feeling better I stayed inside due to the inclement weather all weekend. That gave me an opportunity to watch football. Not much else I could do even I wanted to. I don’t need to shop for anything and if I do, it’s online because there’s more of a selection and I don’t have to worry about feeling judged. But it feels nice to get out of the house.

Here’s my look ahead to November and when it’s time to defrost Christmas Mariah

I’m interested in updating my winter wardrobe very soon. I still stand loyal to my Columbia jackets (which I’ve had several years now) and love my patterns. Cheetah and leopard print are my trademark, with houndstooth being a close second. If you can find a pink cherry pattern, please send it my way. I have my eye on a houndstooth coat, as well as some leather gloves, a wool scarf, and maybe a matching hat to complement that coat. I’m looking at Old Navy and online at fashionnova.com for inspiration.

November is a month to celebrate for me. Four years ago, I began this blog while on a work road trip to Erie. I posted my first blog from my phone in my bedroom. Two years ago, I ended my long run at WIS International and got hired on at Giant Eagle. I’m grateful for a short trip home every day, working full time, and having personal days and great benefits. Later this month I’ll post my 500th blog and that too will be a cause for celebration.

As of now, Thanksgiving plans are up in the air because of Benny’s recent health issues. It’s looking like he will be in the hospital for at least a month but I am not certain. We may be home once again or we may be in Somerset County. I’ll post when I know what’s going on.

Pumpkin season is wrapping up and soon it will be Egg Nog, Gingerbread, and Peppermint Season. I bought some holiday things yesterday at Target, including some Egg Nog and these really cute Elf sugar cookies that you can make in the oven. Once Thanksgiving ends, I will be enjoying these more along with other tasty Christmas treats. I’ll begin listening to Christmas music within the next week. I have been bringing it gradually, especially on the cooler days. Yesterday, I played my Backstreet Boys Christmas CD in the car on the way to and from Target. It’s almost “defrost Christmas Mariah Carey” time, kids!

Plus, I’m welcoming the snow flurries tomorrow morning. There’s just something about the first snow that makes me smile. It’s not a welcome sight in April or even May but in November, yes. A little bit of snow is just right. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

Finally, I’m wrapping up the Halloween Baking Championship tonight. For the last three years, I’ve enjoyed this competition that is shown on Food Network. The bakers that take part in this eight week show are very talented and all are in it to win the grand prize. The creations that they come up with are very good and the judging for this competition is very tough. As this series wraps up, I’ll be looking forward to the Holiday Baking Championship next week. In my mom’s opinion, the latter is the better show but I think both shine in their own way.

Someday, I will check out the Spring Baking Championship.