We’ve reached Day 7 of my Giant Eagle Stay-cation, or about 6 1/2. So far, it has turned out good. I took time to get outside and walk at Twin Lakes. I’ll do the same today as I make my way to Mammoth Park. I watched football. I also got out of the house and embarked on a few adventures. I made a change of plans for the end of the week and will take it easy. I visited Achievers and went to my home club last night. Here’s a recap of what happened so far.

Closing down the Swimming Pool

Summer officially ends at 3am on Saturday, thus signaling the beginning of the Fall season. For us, our summer ended last Friday when we began the process of closing the swimming pool. It served us well this summer and while it’s nice to get it done, it’s hard to close it because you know cooler weather is coming. We removed the ladder on Friday. That’s the hardest part because it’s heavy due to the amount of water inside. On Saturday, it took a team effort, but we got the cover on. The plastic wrap and rope help secure it. Luckily, it wasn’t very windy.

Spending a Day at the Zoo

Tuesday, I took advantage of the nice weather and spent the day at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. It was my first time there since before the pandemic in 2020. I saw my fair share of animals. Highlights of my day included seeing the elephants and giraffes. The lions and tigers were either asleep or inside, as were the polar bears. I saw the sea lions as I wrapped up my day. In the aquarium, the sea turtles and fish were a sight to see as were the penguins and jellyfish. The place was very decorated for the Asian Lantern festival, going on through the end of October (Thursday to Sunday).

Remembering Flight 93 and Visiting Aunt Sue

Monday, Mom and I took up US Route 30 to check out the Flight 93 Memorial in Somerset County near Stoystown. It was an hour long drive and first place that we stopped at was the Tower of Voices. These 40 chimes represented the 40 people aboard Flight 93 when it crashed in a remote field in Stonycreek Township on the morning of September 11, 2001. After we saw the tower, we went to the visitors’ center and read some of the headlines and facts and watched all the TV clips from that fateful day. It was sombering, to say the least.

I have family who live near the crash site who felt the impact just as much as I did. I was in math class that morning. My college was inside the Hiram G. Andrews Center, where I was residing at the time. I just had to go in the hall and back to my dorm to find out what was going on.

Yesterday, I drove up the mountain once again and visited Aunt Sue at her house. We hung out on the deck outside, hot tubbing (twice!), and ate lunch out at Rey Azteca. We wrapped our lunch excursion by stopping at Starbucks across the street and ordering frappuccinos. I kept my promise and stuck around until 3pm so I could see Benny when he came home. Soon after, I went home and prepared myself for my Toastmasters meeting that evening.

Before I close off the blog and publish it, may I comment on how much nicer it is to take PA 31 to and from Somerset? It’s more scenic and there’s a lot more to see. The turnpike is faster, but more scarier and seemingly always under construction. These drives to Somerset are going to turn more colorful in a few weeks when the yellows, reds, and oranges start coming out. Other ways home include PA 31 to PA 711 (through Stahlstown) to US 30 (in Ligonier) as well as PA 601 & 985 to US 30 in Jennerstown. Just don’t drive them in the winter coming from Somerset if the weather’s bad.

My Giant Eagle staycation continued Sunday with a guest appearance at one of my old Toastmasters clubs. I belonged to Achievers from 2012 to 2018 before taking the 2018-19 Toastmaster year off and rejoining in the Summer of 2019. The club met in different locations every month and then settled on Blairsville from 2019 until COVID hit in the spring of 2020. Since then, the club has met exclusively online.

Today we had ten people in attendance, including a Toastmaster from Wisconsin. Four of our members gave speeches and they were very creative and all of them varied by topic. I stepped up to the plate and evaluated our guest’s speech on “International Eat an Apple Day”. Hey, I learned something new on Sunday. Kris’s speech was very informative and I learned a lot about apples. I even mentioned our local apple and arts festival held in early October in Delmont. She was pleased with my evaluation and feedback and she was already preparing for her next speech.

I’m happy to see that the club is still in good standing. One of our members is celebrating 30 years in Achievers (that would be Mike, our club treasurer in Greensburg). Out of the ten who attended, three were current presidents of their clubs. I’ll attend sometime in the future when I have a free third Sunday.

My “journey” began two years ago and was one of many changes that I dealt with in 2021. I turned 40, changed jobs, and walked away from the church. After a couple of years away having needed time to think about my walk with God, I feel like I’m ready to go back. The Netflix series Queer Eye gave me inspiration as a non binary person to stay strong in my faith and love unconditionally. Even my adopted momma, a Christ follower herself, loves my fashion sense.

As I was looking for songs on Amazon music, and getting back into listening to Contemporary Christian, it was a reminder how much the church has been part of my life. I love the church but not the politics. I believe in God but not in the views of most people who go to church. While some have been OK with it, others have gotten downright nasty with me. We may not share the same views and that’s fine, just don’t be a bully. One need that I need to learn is that this argument goes both ways.

Listening to some of those songs and hymns reminded me how fun it was to be part of the choir at my old church and take part in the cantatas at Easter and Christmas. I’m starting to get a playlist of Christmas music together that takes me back to those days of attending practice and having dress rehearsals.

In addition it will set my heart on fire ❤️‍🔥 for Jesus once again.

This morning started out chilly. You needed something to keep you warm if you were going outside to do work. We performed the difficult task of closing down our swimming pool for the year. I only swam a number of times in the pool since I had so many other things calling for my attention but I made my swims worthwhile. Yesterday, we removed the ladder. This morning we took apart the filter and put the cover on. That took all five of us, including Annabelle who was eager to put plastic wrap on the cover.

This afternoon, District 13 had a council meeting. I won’t give away too much information out of respect for our members but we voted on some things that needed to be addressed. A business meeting, per se. The finance and accounting major in me enjoyed looking over the district budget and profit and loss statements. In attendance at the council meeting were our dignitaries from the District Trio to our Division and Area Directors. Also at the online meeting were club presidents (myself included) and educational vice presidents. To conclude, we had great attendance and over 50% of the clubs were represented.

Our newly Distinguished Toastmasters were also recognized. Two of them belong to my home club, Greensburg. Our club will soon be known as a “Club of Champions” with half our members achieving the highest honor in Toastmasters.

This evening, while Mom and Dad went to dinner at Rizzo’s last night with his side of the family, and with Katie and Annabelle off to Mammoth Park, I was left to fend for myself. I took advantage of the nice weather and walked around Twin Lakes. Afterwards, I had a decision to make on where to eat. I wasn’t up for going to the mall and Eat’n Park was busy. I decided to stop at the Kings right by my house. I was thinking Oktoberfest fare but was digging the country fried steak.

My experience there was very good. My server took excellent care of me, getting interested in what I was reading as well as complimenting me on my bag. There are four Kings left, way down from the 30+ stores that lined Western Pennsylvania when I worked there from 2006-2008. Business is still good at the Hempfield location, mainly for breakfast. Not sure about the other three stores in the company. None remain open in Allegheny County.

Thus, my week of vacation has truly begun and I plan on enjoying it no matter what I have planned.

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.