Hey sorry for the lack of new material, yinzers. I’ve been away from the blog for a little bit, but I am coming out with more content later this month. My Giant Eagle staycation has just begun and with more free time this week, I am able to write more blog posts. I have a lot of fun things planned for my week off, in addition to posting amazing content for you guys.

I will be in the city a few times this week to check out the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium, as well as the Heinz History Center. I’ll spend time visiting family and friends (I’m hoping to connect with Paula and her girls at some point this week). I’ll be at my usual Wednesday night Greensburg Toastmasters meeting at the courthouse. I’ll also be continuing my 2023 Pumpkin Spice and Fall Drink tour at bakeries 🧁 and cafés 🍵 around Westmoreland County (and even in Allegheny county as well).

Not much has happened here in the last few weeks. We had a nice Labor Day picnic at our house complete with wonderful picnic food and a cake since it was my aunt’s birthday. We are getting ready for Fall 🍂 as we prepare to close our pool down for the year. This is just as hard for us as it is to take down Christmas decorations in January after the holidays have come to an end. We are experiencing a few cool nights as well with morning lows dropping into the 40’s. We should see a change on some of the trees soon but the best color around the Laurel Highlands arrives in mid-October.

Nevertheless, here’s to a fun-filled week off.

Sorry for the delay in content but we are back as we move closer to 500 blog posts. We take a look back at August in today’s edition of Stylish 🍒. There was a lot that happened and I can’t wait to share it with you all.

We are just a week away from vacation and I am looking forward to taking some time off and recharging. I have some fun adventures planned for my week of rest and I’ll cover those in more detail next week.

But for now, let’s recap last month.

Pittsburgh Pirates game with Mr. Clougherty

For my birthday, one of my presents was a couple of vouchers good for the Pittsburgh Pirates game of my choice. It had to be any day but Friday and Saturday. I asked Mr. Clougherty if he’d be interested and he said yes. He is a die-hard, loyal, long-suffering Pirates fan.

When Mr. Clougherty and I ate dinner at Burgatory for my birthday, we pored over the schedule to see what would work best for the two of us. I had to be aware of when he went back to school, and he had to take my work schedule into account, plus any appointments I had. We decided on the August 7 game vs. the Atlanta Braves.

The weather forecast did not look favorable, but the rains held off for the most part. We ate dinner in Market Square at Primanti Bros.. That location is great but nothing beats the Strip District Primanti’s. After dinner, we rode the T to the stadium, getting there with 15 minutes to spare. We enjoyed the experience and I got some insight on the young players called up from the minors. We had an hour and fifteen minute rain delay but we had fun nonetheless. We left early but enjoyed listening to the game on the ride home.

Pirates took a 6-0 lead early before Atlanta came back. The home team ended up winning, 7-6.

Night Turn Appreciation Week at Giant Eagle

August 20 to 26 was Night Turn Appreciation Week for Giant Eagle. This is where the store leaders throw a party and thank those who work behind the scenes late at night to make the store look great during the day. Our store leader made sure we knew how much we were appreciated for our hard work.

I got to experience this last year as we ate steaks and had a crab boil (surf and turf). We were gifted with plenty of tasty Giant Eagle treats and enjoyed ourselves outside. I never experienced anything like this at WIS outside of a few Christmas parties. At Kings, I got the opportunity to attend the company picnics at Kennywood. One of those years I got to be the dessert mascot known as the Frownie. I just wish I appreciated that more but I digress.

Our theme for Night Turn Appreciation week was a luau. We ate pulled pork, mango chicken, beef and cheese, and had fruit and vegetable trays.

First day of school memories

I posted some stories dealing with things related to school, as kids would be going back soon. For me I hit on such topics as back to school shopping, going back to my high school days. I also reminisced about my college days, talking about my first semester at the Hiram G. Andrews Center and the story behind why I went there. I also looked back 20 years on the journey to Slippery Rock.

Vacation for me starts next week. What I have planned so far includes going into the Pittsburgh area, and checking out such places as the Heinz History Center and the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. I’ll venture into Indiana and stop by the Jimmy Stewart Museum. My fall coffee tour continues and, I will modeling some more new fall outfits.

It will be a perfect time for me to unwind and just forget about life for a while.

Looks like we made it, finally! The calendar was turned this morning to September. For those of you who love Summer, it comes as a hard dose of reality that the season will be over soon and the pools will be closing. Kennywood goes from amusement park to haunted Halloween hideaway.

The forecast next week proves otherwise as it will be hot with temperatures reaching into the low 90’s. For those of us who love fall, we will have to wait at least a week or so for cooler weather.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love summer just as much as I love Fall (with a little less heat and humidity). But there’s just something about those cool nights, as well as the sights and smells of the season that just get me in a good mood.

Football season is upon us, and that means the Steelers will kicking off soon. The road to Super Bowl LVIII (58) goes through Kansas City and the trip to Las Vegas begins September 7. We have to close the pool and that’s not fun. But then the attention shifts to planning Annabelle’s birthday party and the Gaffron family reunion. Raking leaves and winterizing everything will soon follow.

Fall colors begin to pop later in the month and really hit their peak as we get into October. For now, I’ll enjoy the last weeks of Summer.

Let’s go in depth on what’s coming up in September. Take a backseat, October and November! We’re not there yet!

Pumpkin Spice Tour begins!

September 1 for me marked the beginning of my Pumpkin Spice tour. Today I had my first pumpkin spice drink at Dunkin’ and enjoyed it. The plan is to go to independent coffee shops as well. Next stop on my Pumpkin Spice tour will be White Rabbit in downtown Greensburg on September 6. Oakmont Bakery is one of my stops on the tour and that date will be announced later.

Giant Eagle staycation begins Sept. 17

My long-awaited vacation will be the week beginning September 17 and ending September 23. On the agenda will be a day in the Strip District as well as a trip to Indiana to visit the Jimmy Stewart museum. I also have some Toastmaster club visits planned including Achievers (a club I was a former member of). This is likely going to be the week that we close down the pool so I’ll be helping out with that as well.

New home decor and design books coming

My books will be arriving around the middle of September and I can’t wait to look at them. Bobby Berk will be releasing his book on the 12th, and social media influencer Steffy’s book will be coming out on the 26th. I’m not a whiz at home decor or design, but watching Bobby on Queer Eye has opened up new interests for me. I’m intrigued to learn more about how Steffy makes her A-frame house perfect for all seasons. My mom has also read plenty of home decor books and so she too is another source of inspiration.

I’ll also be reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I’ll make an impression on my cousins at the upcoming Fall family reunion.

Dinner at North Park Lounge Sept. 28 with Kevin; another place to be determined for vacation week.

Our dinner series continues as Mr. Clougherty and I will meet at North Park lounge in Murrysville on September 28. I also have a few places in mind as I take my day trips into the city as well as the Laurel Highlands during my vacation week.

New fall ‘fits coming from Old Navy

I’m continuing to build my fall wardrobe (but not overdoing it) with a new sweater and jeans and a few other things as well. Check out my cute pumpkin tee that I wore especially for the first stop on my Pumpkin Spice Tour 2023. I’ll have pics up and who knows, I might wear that new sweater to Ligonier or to check out the fall colors.

Is it fall yet? I’m so ready to go apple picking, embark on a hay ride, and go to the pumpkin patch. Maybe on my week off, I might even go searching for a few covered bridges too.

August is coming to end, and September will be here soon. That means three things. Cooler weather is on the way, the NFL kicks off its regular season, and Pumpkin Spice season goes into full swing.

My favorite season kicked off Aug. 16 when Dunkin’ starting selling their pumpkin flavored drinks and pastries. Starbucks followed suit a week later. I like to wait until September 1 now to enjoy the tasty fall treats. In the past, I have taken my first sip of Pumpkin-y Spicy goodness before 9/1 but I feel it’s best to enjoy summer while it’s still here.

Temperatures next week will not be worthy of a pumpkin spice latte, but rather a Frappuccino or iced coffee.

I had a mini Pumpkin Spice tour a few years ago and stopped at a few small coffee shops in the area. I did a review of who had the best pumpkin spice drink.

I’ll be doing the tour again in 2023. The pumpkin spice fun kicks off September 1 with a trip to Dunkin’ to try out one of their pumpkin spice creations. The tour runs through October 27 and will take me throughout Westmoreland and other counties to find the best drink and pastry.

I’ll go to chains like Starbucks and GetGo but also independent coffee shops. Some of them include White Rabbit in Greensburg and Abigail’s Coffeehouse in Ligonier. I’m also going to try some newer cafes I discovered on social media such as Grant Avenue Coffee in Vandergrift and Market Street Pastries in Blairsville. I think a nice finale to this tour would be going to Oakmont Bakery.

When Pumpkin Spice season wraps up, it’ll be time for Peppermint Mocha and other holiday drinks.

But for now let’s enjoy the hot weather and take advantage of the pool privileges while we have them.

Thursday night at Giant Eagle, our store leader put together an appreciation dinner, thanking those of us who work hard overnight to keep the store stocked. She put together a great spread which consisted of: pulled pork, mango chicken, beef and cheese skewers (sticking out of a pineapple) as well as a tray of cheese cubes and salami, tropical punch, and fruit and veggie trays. Some of the higher ups stopped by the store and they too thanked us, including the district leader. One of them used to be the night turn leader years ago and he moved up the ladder quick.

Andrew and I wore our Hawaiian shirts and everybody was fitted with a lei. There were no grass skirts or hula dancing but still, a great time was had by all. For all the work and effort Dana put into this event, I think the luau definitely gets a 10/10 in my book. We hung out in the boardroom and the break room and I impressed everyone with my knowledge of pop culture. I’m happy to have Dana running our store. Not only is she a great store leader, but she is very supportive of me in my non-binary journey. Before Donald and Brogan left Giant Eagle, they told her all about me and my journey. They made sure I knew that there were people who would support me.

I took plenty of food home Friday morning and still have a good bit of it in my refrigerator.

Aloha!

Saturday I set a milestone with Duolingo as I completed a lesson for the 500th day in a row. It’s been a joy to keep up with this. After starting with Spanish, I branched out into French, Italian, and German. Glad to say I’m still learning every day, even though I still make plenty of mistakes.

I’ll set my next milestone in December when I hit 600 days. This will come right after I publish my 500th blog post.

It’s safe to say I’ll have accomplished quite a lot in 2023.

My journey to higher education began during my senior year of high school. I was looking at colleges that I was interested in attending. I considered my options, which included Robert Morris, Point Park College, and Westmoreland County Community College. Two things to consider when I was applying were finances as well as SAT scores. I took the test in January of 2000 (long after most of my graduating class took their SAT’s) and I got an 890, not good enough for the big schools that I was considering. WCCC would have been a perfect option as it was close to home and I could transfer those credits to a four year college down the road.

My OVR counselor mentioned this little campus in Johnstown called the Hiram G. Andrews Center. My mom and I looked into it. Despite being overqualified and WCCC being a perfect option, she wanted me to experience life on my own. The plan would be to attend HGA before transferring to community college (they had a campus in Johnstown). I then had the option to transfer to a four year school.

I graduated high school in June of 2000. That summer flew by and, before I knew it, the day had arrived. We packed up all my stuff on August 26, 2000, and made the drive down Route 30, through Ligonier, up the mountain, and to the Hiram G. Andrews Center. We sat in the lobby and soon were introduced to Jason, the dorm counselor who got me checked in. Aunt Sue and Katie made a trip to Ames to get stuff for my room, while Mom helped me get settled in. We ate dinner at Ryan’s by the Johnstown Galleria, which is like an Old Country Buffet, and made a trip to Staples. I went home for one more night before settling in at school.

At the beginning, I felt homesick but it didn’t last long. I made a few new friends in the dorm lounge and we watched Daria on MTV. Soon enough, I would discover that this school had quite a cast of characters.

That cast of characters consisted of four groups. You had your geniuses. These were the kids who knew what they wanted to do after they graduated. They did the right thing and would not be swayed. A good example of their work was when we had a Christmas party at the end of the year and an awesome time was had by all. The geniuses contributed to the success of the event.

You had the dreamers. That’s what most new college students fall under. They didn’t know what they wanted and would try different things to see what fit best. For the protagonist, it was easy for him to befriend new people because they were all in the same boat.

There were the veterans and by that I mean older students who were going back to school. They usually clashed with the geniuses on whose way worked best. The protagonist introduced himself to one of the older students one morning in the Fall and got to know more about them. He loves the destiny this school has to offer.

You had to watch out for the drama queens. You know, the ones who liked to cause trouble and spend more time in the annex than in class. Our protagonist ran across them quite a few times early on but he learns to ignore them and trust his instincts.

Three Things I Did During my First Semester at HGA that shaped my future.

I took Pre-Baccalaureate classes instead of the usual classes I’d take in a degree/diploma program before transferring to community college in the Spring of 2001. Thus, it would be easier for me to move on to a four year school down the road.

I learned how to use and rely on Johnstown’s public transportation system. This helped when I had to take classes off the HGAC campus later on at the other community college sites downtown and in Richland.

HGAC offered life skills classes and one that I took was Driver‘s Education. We went over the manual, answered questions, and watched driving videos. Eventually, I got my permit and got my name on the list for driver education training. You’ll read my blog this fall about my experience with that.

Conclusion

My first semester is over and it was a success. It’s now on to the community college where I’ll go for my associates’ degree.

Last night, Mr. Clougherty and I did our monthly dinner series. This time it was off to EDO Hibachi Steak House and Bar. For me, this was my second time there. For him, his first time.

How was dinner at EDO Hibachi Steak House and Bar?

I was impressed with how well the chef prepared our lunch as well as the entertainment that I wanted us to have dinner here again. Unlike lunch with my Mom and Annabelle last month, we had a packed house Thursday night. However, we were able to get a seat at the hibachi table, which is why I brought Kevin in the first place. We ordered our hibachi and told Kevin to prepare to be amazed. I got the chicken and he got the vegetables.

Kevin was impressed with the work of our chef, just as I was that first time last month. The chef even sprayed soki in my mouth, some of which got on my white shirt and inside. However, it dried off and didn’t stain. The onion fire volcano was a sight to see. Our food was good and unlike lunch here in July, I finished the plate. Grade: A+

Next stop in the Dinner Series: North Park Lounge in Murrysville on September 28.

On to the next question, when am I drinking my first pumpkin spice latte?

Dunkin’ and Starbucks recently came out with their pumpkin spice drinks. I just bought Fall stuff from Giant Eagle (Pumpkin Spice creamer included) and plenty more is coming in the next few weeks. My rule of thumb is that I wait until September 1 to have my first drink. Oh wait, that’s next Friday and that will be the day when I do it. Dunkin’ and Starbucks will be my first stop. I plan to hit up both as well as some of the local independent coffeehouses. I’ll have a review up in late September as well as one in October and end my “Pumpkin Spice tour” close to Halloween.

By November 1, you can expect me to drink a peppermint mocha and play Christmas music.

August 22 marked 20 years since I arrived on campus at Slippery Rock. I remember the morning very well. It was late summer, overcast, and humid. We had already seen the campus a few times to go to orientation, schedule my classes, and to take a look at the place. This was officially the day that I was moving into my dorm room.

We had a team of helpers at Kraus Hall ready to help the incoming students move into their new rooms. This group of volunteers was known as the Welcome Team. They all had matching shirts on and waited for the new students to arrive. My room in Kraus was on the second floor and every floor had two separate resident assistants. These were equivalent to the dorm counselors we had at Hiram G. Andrews Center. Our dorm also had a basement floor which also housed study areas as well as washing machines (make sure you have quarters ready).

After we got my stuff moved in, my family and I went off to Grove City and visited the Outlets. We also had lunch at Eat’n Park. I was taking it all in, just as I had done three years earlier when I moved into the Hiram G. Andrews Center. Slippery Rock was going to be a different beast entirely, though.

Time to open up a six-pack of facts covering my journey to Slippery Rock University.

1. I chose Slippery Rock over other great schools like IUP and Edinboro.
2. Some things had to happen in order for me to get housing for the upcoming Fall semester.
3. I came up a few days prior to moving in and picked up my books and even got to check out my new residence hall.
4. For my first year, I would be residing in Kraus Hall, which was a residence hall that housed transfer and nontraditional students.
5. The Fall semester was going to be more about me finding my way on campus.
6. I experienced plenty of growing pains that semester, as well as during my first year at Slippery Rock University.

Some of the highlights from my first semester at Slippery Rock included making new friends, and some of them were also local. I even got to reunite with a few that I went to high school with. Our first weekend on campus was a weekend of fun and games. We got to check out the baseball park, have a block party, and watch a movie under the stars. I joined a Christian organization my first week on campus and got involved right off the bat. I even got the opportunity to attend an event (Fall Retreat) at Camp Sequanota, a summer camp near and dear to my family.

I also had some disappointing moments during my first semester, as well as my first year on campus. One of them was that I fell behind in classes, especially my major. I was more interested in having a social life and didn’t realize that I was no longer a college freshman, but now a fourth year student.

When I was at HGA, I met a girl who had just arrived on campus (she had come back after a brief sabbatical) and we easily clicked. I hoped to repeat that same feat at Slippery Rock but it didn’t turn out the same. It seems that a fourth year senior at Slippery Rock has different priorities than someone coming back to the Hiram G. Andrews Center to take a diploma course. My feelings got the best of me and eventually, she said no and broke my heart. I should have seen it from the get-go but I was in love. You live and you learn.

If you’ve ever heard the phrase “poor college student”, please understand that the struggle is real. That first year on campus, I wasn’t broke but I wasn’t working as much as I should have. The lack of work experience in college would hurt me later on after graduation.

In Toastmasters, we give evaluations to our speakers to highlight what we liked about the speech. We also provide suggestions for improvement. How could I have improved that first semester and made it less painful?

One suggestion for improvement was that I could have asked for advice from my cousins who have had experience attending a bigger college campus. I could have taken time in Spring and Summer months to prepare myself for what was to come. I could have joined less organizations and focused more on my studies. I could have joined a study group (which probably would have helped me in my major). The list goes on.

I enjoyed my time at the Rock but that first year taught me a lot. Knowing what I know now, the experience was still worth it. If I dropped out after a year, I would have likely regretted it and thought “what if”. College was always a safe space for me for years and that’s why I longed to go back after holiday breaks. Homecoming would become a longstanding tradition for me for years even after I finished school.

That first year saw me swallow a large dose of humility, and I’m glad it did. Things eventually worked out later on.

This question has been going through my mind the last week, and I’ve been taking some time to sleep on it. Am I taking a social media holiday? For now, I’m not but it might not be a bad idea in the future. I am going to keep my Instagram and Facebook open so I can share my blog posts and any pictures I take, as well as follow my Toastmasters0 district and any news and notes from District 13.

I’m doing this as kind of an experiment and also as a way of improving my mental health. I’m not dropping off entirely as I still need this platform to share my content. I’ll be checking in but it will be limited to about a half an hour a day. Social media is great but it is a huge time waster if you’re not careful.

Here’s a six pack of facts about my history with Social Media.

1. I’ve been on Facebook since 2005. It’s a link to my college years as I joined when I was still at Slippery Rock University.
2. While some may feel that I am a social media junkie, I don’t use all platforms nor I am a fan of some of them. I am not a Twitter user (I’ve never stayed consistent with it). I tried SnapChat for a while but interest quickly waned. I downloaded Tiktok but it couldn’t keep me entertained as I could find some of the same reels on Instagram.
3. For years, I posted weather updates on my Facebook page. It gained popularity among my other Facebook friends.
4. Be careful what you post on your status update. I bashed a former place of employment on Facebook and it nearly cost me my job. I would be leaving there soon anyway but, who knows, that could have had an effect on whomever hired me.
5. Social media is not a place to spread your political views if you don’t have a thick skin. For this thin-skinned individual who easily gets offended, it almost led to a meltdown multiple times. I’m better now but I abstain from posting anything political.
6. I took to social media to follow and support small businesses in my hometown when they needed it most. Like in 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown. I still give my support and encourage people to shop small, but no time was more important than during the pandemic. Truth be told though, it’s always important to support your local everything no matter how good or bad things are in the world.

What would a benefit of leaving social media be?

It would spark a substantial improvement in my well-being. Nothing has drained my mental health more than reading pointless Facebook posts and watching videos that don’t carry much value or merit to me. It’s a habit but I know I can find better things to do with my time. I already have with reading, writing (as I’m doing with this blog), and playing Switch. Don’t forget taking time to get outside.

What would be a detriment of leaving social media?

As I mentioned earlier, it would be one less vehicle to promote my blog with. I share the link to my blog posts on Facebook and Instagram for those who follow me. Maybe I can reach out to my cousin on what to do if I decide to go down that route of eventually disconnecting Facebook for good. Also, another detriment would be not learning about fun events coming up in the Fall and Winter months. Social media is good for promoting those. There is good and bad to being active on Facebook and Instagram.

Why else would I want to consider taking a holiday from Facebook or Instagram?

Technology is an asset but there’s also a liability to having it in your life. One such liability is less time to get outside and enjoy life when the weather is nice as well as less family time. I feel like the answers that I came up with have already been explained in greater detail (mental health, more free time).

In closing, I’m not leaving the platforms for good but I am going to control how much I use them. I already have made some changes but I know that I can still do better.

I’m calling this blog what it is, and that would be a potpourri blog. It will have a little bit of everything from the last few days (today included).

Tuesday night, I took advantage of some free time between work and dinner. We eat early (usually around 4pm) when Annabelle has karate so that means more time to get outside when the weather is nice. I took a drive into Greensburg and walked around downtown. Parking is free after 5pm, which comes in handy during Toastmasters meetings. I’ll get to that in a moment. I snapped a few pics with my iPhone and made some interesting discoveries. Five of those pictures really stood out and I’ll post them to this blog.

The long awaited work on the front of the courthouse is finally complete. I walked around the plaza Tuesday night and loved what I saw.

Greensburg has really nice shops that cater to all interests, as well as cafes and restaurants. The city also boasts of having a great cultural district with the Seton Hill Center for the Performing Arts and the Palace Theatre. This mural that is being worked on in the little park on Pennsylvania will look very lovely when it is done

The bridge on Main Street between downtown and the Westmoreland Art Museum always has good words to live by.

While Wednesday night’s Toastmasters meeting was exclusively an online event, I enjoy making my way downtown twice a month to take part in my home club. We recently achieved “Select Distinguished” honors, meaning that we had met at least seven of the ten goals needed in the “Distinguished Club program”. I joined Toastmasters in 2011 and served as a leader in the area and division and have attended numerous events in District 13 from leadership training to conferences. I achieved the highest honor, the Distinguished Toastmaster award, in 2019.

I lost some interest in Toastmasters when the pandemic happened in 2020 and had my issues with the new learning program. Just like my nontraditional “journey” to find myself, I have twice felt tempted to give up and quit, only to come back every time. Very soon, Greensburg Toastmasters will be a “club of champions” with three of our members set to achieve their Distinguished Toastmaster awards. That Spring 2024 DTM gauntlet is going to be sweet as we all represent Greensburg.

The new getGo Cafe and Market opened yesterday to much fanfare. Located on Main Street next to Main Bowl and across from Callaghan’s, the new store is big. They have a decent size cooler to hold on-the-go food as well as a great selection of drinks. It’s one of the few getGo’s I’ve been to that are new to the area. Other ones that recently opened include New Stanton, North Versailles, Murrysville, Latrobe, and Jeannette. A new wetGo car wash will be opening in Irwin at the site of the old Penn Motel.

Say what you will, that we don’t need another new getGo, Sheetz, Dollar General, or bank, but for me today was a good first impression. Good deal on gas right now with the grand opening too (if you use AdvantagePay).

I will always love Latrobe and Ligonier, but the same can be said about Greensburg. This town really has a lot to offer. You just have to look for it.