My friends and family give me the inspiration to be unapologetically me. My cousins view my stories and react to my Facebook and Instagram posts. Now that may make me somewhat of a social media slut but it does give me confidence and makes me feel loved.

Let’s start with my family. While there are too many to name, I will only choose a select few. However, I’m blessed with a wonderful, loving family.

My cousin Emily (Gaffron) is so sweet and always finds the nicest things to say in our chats on social media. Back in March when I posted my #joyspotted, she posted some kind words on my Instagram.

“You’re incredible and so beautiful 😍 inside and out ❤️”

“You deserve every kind word and more ❤️❤️❤️”

I took those words to heart and made them my own. “You’re incredible. Shine bright ☀️ like a diamond 💎.” “Embrace your style.” “Explore your beauty.”

My cousin Katie (Nicholson) has made her blog, Everyday Adventures With Katie, a hit with her weekly posts. I started this blog, Stylish and Trendy, in November 2019 to compete with her blog which has been so successful itself. Katie is always following my blog and my updates on social media and she too provides some great compliments.

I have come into my own with the blog as much as I have with my fashion and style. Last year, building upon the quick run of success in 2019, I felt my head was getting a little bit too big. I was blogging every day and I posted some stuff that I shouldn’t have. At least the shutdown helped put some things into perspective.

Next is my adopted family. Paula and Sara and I have known each other since 2008 when we attended church together at Greensburg Alliance Church. We parted ways for a bit but life brought us all back together.

I met up again with Sara in 2018 when she was working at Old Navy at Westmoreland Mall. She had gone through a lot herself and it was nice that we reunited. Paula and I chatted on social media. Both women mean a lot to me. We all got to meet in person at Rob and Sara’s wedding this past May. I had a dinner date with the Newsoms back in December and a coffee date earlier this year. Of course we also communicated via text and social media.

Paula and Sara inspire me because they accept me for who I am. I worried at first that no one would like how I dressed or what I carried on my shoulder but these girls were always here to give their approval.

When I was interested in buying a new bag, and I posted pictures of Coach purses, they shared my interest and even were a little envious that I was purchasing one. Paula and Sara showed their love to me instead of discouraging me.

When I post my outfit of the day on social media or share my blog, Paula and Sara will always find the nicest things to say. They compliment me on my posts on Facebook and Instagram. “SLAY 🔥”

Paula and Sara aren’t just friends, they’re family to me. I am family to them as well.

Another person who gives me inspiration to be fashionable and stylish is my coworker, Emily Swager. It was a little more prevalent in 2019, but a couple times outside of work, her sense of style really rubbed off on me. It’s amazing how those couple of experiences changed my perspective. She deserves credit even if she doesn’t realize it.

I liked her ban.do lunch tote so much I had to buy one of my own. She’s also part of the reason why I became interested in Coach and eventually bought my crossbody and tote. I liked her Coach purse so much I had to have one of my own. But it’s also because of the encouragement I’ve received from Sara and Paula.

I’ll close off with some coming attractions. Club officer training is next Saturday and there will be a blog covering the experience. I’m going to take some time this weekend to get acclimated into my VPE role for Greensburg. We made Select Distinguished and big things are coming in 21-22 for my home club.

I’m planning a visit to ULTA Beauty and Target to shop for HBA products and check out some of their cosmetics. I might even get some work done at the salon 💇‍♀️. I’ll even look for dinner too. I’m scoping out a good place to go. Monroeville, North Hills, Cranberry, Robinson, and South Hills all have an ULTA and Target close to each other.

I’m also looking another outlets visit for some back to school deals (I’m not going back to school but this is something I want to report on 🎤 for the blog). Finally, I want to shout out my local businesses and visit some boutiques and florists. Sara and I want to check out a shop in Ebensburg right up our alley (Sandy Johns).

Bye everyone. ❤️ you.

Rogelio De La Vega wows me with his vanity.

Gene Belcher gets me with everything he says.

Harry Styles brings me in with his amazing fashion sense. Need I say more?

My mind has undergone a transformation in the last few years. Long gone are the days when my brain fed on the good old days of college and academia. I still enjoy educating myself, but in a different way now.

September 24, 2019, had an impact on me. At first I was longing for someone after I saw my two coworkers happy together. I was crushing on the girl, but also I was crushing on her sense of style. Seeing her rock her cute pink dress helped open my eyes to dressing better. Eventually, the crush wore off as we dealt with COVID and moved in separate directions. However, she left in me a love of fashion and style (even if I’ve only seen her dressed up twice).

Last summer, I began searching for a bag to carry to work and when I go out. I ordered a purple canvas bag from Amazon. Originally, I was shy about having it out and about, worried about what people would think or say. Eventually, it caught their eye. My manager even complimented me and I sent her the link for the bag. I was no longer afraid to express who I was.

I feel like I’ve had to explain myself to my friends and family because they might think I’m weird for carrying a bag/purse, watch a lot of Hallmark movies or, read books by Candace Cameron Bure. All they’ll tell me is to be me. Be You. Thank you Jojo Siwa. They also tell me, “Have You Heard of Harry Styles?”

So far, this year has seen me really come into my own. But it’s also my love of fashion and just being more confident. It all started when I began waxing Coach and it got the attention of Paula and Sara, my adopted family. Sara always reminds me, “Don’t be embarrassed. Be proud. Fashion is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Harry Styles is always rocking a bag. He loves his Gucci. I love my Coach.

As Spring approached, I began to consider buying more stylish clothes even if it was defying gender norms. Harry Styles wears a lot of patterned suits, just as I can be seen in my leopard print cardigan or pastel blazer. Harry also high waists his pants. I try to do so myself. It works best with my Old Navy jeans. I do want to buy some floral tops, since I crush so much on my coworker’s fashion sense. She wore a nice one on Thursday with a black top underneath and high waisted black pants.

I just bought some new blouses 👚 from SHEIN. That’s really defying gender norms and breaking down barriers and shattering glass ceilings. Perhaps I should be shopping in boutiques after all, since I follow them on Instagram. Have you seen the cover of Vogue with Harry on it rocking that dress 👗? Not quite sure if I’m ready for that yet, but Harry Styles is definitely one of my guiding forces.

Bob’s Burgers 🍔 is one of my favorite shows. It’s fun to watch and a nice reprieve if the Simpsons and Family Guy are getting too stale for you (no offense to the people who still watch them).

I discovered the show in 2017 and watched the first seven seasons on Hulu. I definitely want to get back to Bob’s and watch the newer stuff. I hope the movie comes out soon. The series just completed its 11th season on FOX.

Out of the Belcher family, I love Linda because of her enthusiasm and Louise because she makes the show funny (she’ll never give up those bunny ears). Tina is the hopeless romantic who will never get boys to notice her and loves horses and butts. But my favorite character out of them all is the musically talented Gene.

Gene as you know is a mystery. I can’t tell if he’s trying to be masculine or getting in touch with his feminine side. His one liners are hilarious and they do show that he is possibly gender fluid.

I know what you’re thinking, is this why I like Gene and the answer is no. Here’s three reasons why Gene Belcher inspires me to be fashionable and stylish.

He’s not afraid to say what’s on his mind.

There was one sequence of dialogue in particular, which inspired intensive reflection about Gene’s sexuality. Here’s an excerpt from “Bob Fires the Kids”:

Gene: We’re working girls now! Deal with it!

Mickey: You’re a girl?

Gene: Yes, I am!

Bob: No, he’s not.

Gene: Tell that to my vagina!

He’ll dress up just for the fun of it and doesn’t care what others think. Remember the episode where they had a casino 🎰 downstairs. Gene tried to lead a girl group but they all quit on him, so he just dons one of their outfits. The sequin gown and gloves are a nice touch, Gene.

He’s proud of his fashion sense, or trashion sense.

Remember the Thundergirls episode where Tina was trying to uncover who the mole was in the troop? In one part of the episode, Gene is digging through the trash and he finds the Jessica sweatshirt. He rocked that piece of trash with enthusiasm no matter how dirty it was.

When I look at how I evolved into what I’ve become, I think of Gene in that classic Beefsquatch episode. When it comes to my fashion and style, THIS IS ME NOW!

Last month at Rob and Sara’s wedding reception, I rocked a nice outfit (a black on black ensemble with a leopard print cardigan). During the reception, Sara and I are outside chatting with her friends and she comes up to me and asks “What’s the Inspo for this outfit?” That gave me the inspiration for my blog that week.

This time I’m going to tell you who the inspo is behind why I’m always being my fashionable and stylish self. Who encourages me to be unapologetically me? I’ve come up with three celebs and three non-celebs (but they’re my celebs) who motivate me to have a love of fashion 👗 and style 👠.

I stumbled upon Jane the Virgin this past winter and I’ve since become an addict of the telenovela. Rogelio has become one of my favorites on the show and in my upcoming blog “Who’s the inspo?” are some reasons why he inspires me to be unapologetically me.

I know, OMG 😱 right? Well friends, let’s begin. When Jane was 13…. Oh wait this is my blog. No love story here.

How does Rogelio drive my passion for fashion and style?

He’s a star ⭐️. The man stars in a hit telenovela, and is an amazing actor. Even if his ego is a little bit inflated. He might be at odds with his rival or costars, but he’s always the better man. He built a house on set for Jane and her mom and abuela when a pipe burst. Rogelio always looks out for Jane and would take a bullet for her.

He always looks good, except for that time when he had tire grease on his best shirt. How was he going to an audition looking that dirty? Rafael to the rescue.

His bromances with Michael and Rafael. Let’s face it. I’m team Rafael all the way, but Ro and Michael were cute when they hung out. He loved him so much that he named him and Darci’s baby after Michael (Baby Michaelina De La Vega Factor). I just watched the episode where Raf and Ro babysat Mateo. Rafaelio makes a good pair too.

The man owns more makeup 💄 than Xiomara. Well the guy does make a living in telenovelas and is in front of the camera all the time. I’m watching makeup tutorials myself and in the market as well and I am doing a future blog that will have me going to ULTA Beauty (as well as Target) to look at cosmetics. Rogelio gives me encouragement to be me and try something new. But if any of my friends want to help me as well, please, the floor is yours.

He looks great in lavender. We all have our signature colors. I love pink, other people love red and blue and green, Rogelio rocks anything lavender well.

I know, straight out of a telenovela right?

It’s always a fantastic day to be Rogelio.

Come back for Inspo #2 tomorrow.

This blog was meant to be about fashion & style.

Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy talking up Toastmasters but I enjoy showing off my Amazing Fashionwear. I just need to quit apologizing for being unapologetically me and explaining “this is who I am” all the time. If I enjoy it that’s all that matters.

This latest entry will find me styling. You’ll see some of my favorite outfits; I’ll drum up some scenarios where I wear my pastels, black and white, or my scarves; and, I’ll show off some of my cute props I used in my Amazing Fashionwear blog/photo shoot.

All in all this will be an enjoyable blog and the first of many that highlight my love of fashion and style.

In a future blog, I’d like to take a trip to ULTA and Target and check out all their beauty products. Another Tanger outlets trip (going to visit Coach again as well as Kate Spade ♠️) and a visit to some of the local boutiques in Greensburg and Ligonier is on the agenda.

I wore this outfit to the birthday event at Trendy back in March. The jeans are from Old Navy (no better place to buy great jeans), the T-shirt is from State of Virginia boutique, and the cardigan is from Amazon. I also wore the mustard colored cardi on a previous dinner date.

This next outfit is my fave. I wore this to Rob and Sara’s wedding last month. I think the leopard print cardi and hat says it all. Sara asked me “What’s the inspo behind this outfit?” and I spilled the beans.

I just ordered these two pastel blazers recently and took a few pictures with them. I’ve been getting a lot of likes on the mint blazer but the peach is just as nice. Eventually I’ll go to a store and buy stuff this fashionable. Like Sara tells me, “Don’t be embarrassed. Be proud. Fashion is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Here’s the perfect scenario where I can rock this outfit. Summer TLI at WCCC. It’s a Saturday morning and I want something nice to wear. Why not rock this cute mint blazer with my cute Coach tote; picking up tips in my Division breakout or learning how to perform my new officer role, I’ll be doing so in style.

Back in February, I went to Tanger Outlets determined to find my Coach bag I’d had my eye on. I found success and a great set up that included the tote, crossbody, and a wallet. Love all the C’s Lots of people have been crushing on my Coach. It’s that pop of red on my crossbody that has some people mesmerized.

I did my black and white shoot last week. While I’m disappointed that I didn’t get too many great pictures, there were a few that stood out. I like this outfit.

The jeans also go good with a chambray shirt as well as a floral top; pair this outfit with wedges, sneakers, sandals, or heels 👠.

Here’s a few more of my favorites. Love that Gilmore Girls top with the black on black. This is the perfect outfit for Ligonier. I made quite an impression at Abigail’s Coffeehouse with my love of the show.

I’m thinking you can wear these for a coffee date at your favorite local cafe or, a Toastmasters meeting (online or virtual). Any combo I just mentioned will work. I’d pair the black and white with a jean jacket.

Let’s talk about some of the cool props I used in last week’s shoot.

I felt like having a little bit of fun so I took some selfies with my Frappuccino (I hadn’t drank it yet) and as always I had to rock my scarf. I love these infinity scarves (I wore this cheetah print at Rob and Sara’s wedding).

Also, I took a nice selfie with my iPhone of me with my camera (which I should use more). I love my photographer friends and should hire one who can take some headshots sometime. I think the Ligonier Diamond is perfect. Also, I love the Ban.do lunch tote. It’s so cute. Thanks to Emily Swager for showing me where to find it, in case Sara or Paula are interested.

Time to close off the blog by talking about coming attractions.

Who inspires me to dress nice and be stylish? I choose six people (three celebrities, two friends who are family to me, and one coworker) who give me the motivation to look great every day and be unapologetically me. Coming June 18.

Ten years of Toastmasters means plenty of TLI memories. I’ll talk about some of my favorite club officer training experiences and highlight my best trainings that I attended. Also, what has it been like holding these big Toastmasters functions online via Zoom? Coming June 25.

I’ll cover this summer’s TLI and also, talk about a pretty big birthday.

Have a great weekend. Appreciate you. ❤️ you.

Today I attended Cranberry High Noon’s meeting and it was a potluck. We were limited as to what we could bring. Everything we brought had to be individually wrapped. I was hoping to bring a cake or pie but, due to Covid restrictions, I couldn’t. A few of us attended in person and others attended virtually. This event was going to be all Table Topics.

While we bought mostly snacks, those who attended via Zoom talked about their favorite foods and there were some good ones. I wish they would attended in person because I’d have loved to have tried Adie’s Russian Meatballs or Maha’s Tikka Masala. Bob made me hungry with those hot dogs from Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe. Kim had my mouth watering with her Buffalo Chicken dip. Sarah had me feeling emotional as talked about her mom. Sarah will be celebrating her fifth year in Toastmasters soon. I just celebrated ten years.

It was my first time up to Cranberry since the Area 13 contest last February before the pandemic shut everything down. My last in person CHN meeting was a huge success. I was greeted kindly at the door, praised for my outfit and my style, and I even had people asking me about the blog. My style’s even better now, and the blog has grown to almost 200 posts. Sarah even complimented me for my Coach purse. However, she and I might have a war of words with our brand loyalty. Kate Spade ♠️ vs. Coach.

Tina Kramer, CHN’s club President and incoming Area 13 Director, and Melissa McGavick, our International Director, took care of any tech issues that came up but ran a smooth meeting. It began a little late and wrapped up five minutes early. We stayed and socialized for a few minutes. It was great to catch up with everyone in person and via Zoom.

I’m more confident now than I’ve been over the last year. I’m not worried about what others are going to think about my sense of style or my accessories. If I like it, that’s all that matters. Believe me there’s more coming. In fact here’s the charms I got on Saturday at the Ligonier Country Market.

For the summer I’m planning to post a couple of blogs that will have me going out to Pittsburgh and the Outlets (not sure yet if it’ll be Washington or Grove City). It’s a little far out but I know this will be fun and could possibly grow the blog. I also want to visit some of the local shops and give them some attention as well. Maybe a future blog will include highlighting some of their Back to School or Fall sales.

Have a great week. ❤️ you.

Let’s talk about the Ligonier Country Market. It was my first Saturday there so I was a bit overwhelmed. Vanessa (thebombshellsuite) was right. I am obsessed. So much going on.

I did get to meet up with Kelcee and Lacey at their spots and reconnected with Jocelyn Fox and her husband at their booth (Laurel Mountain Soaps). The three of us used to attend Greensburg Alliance Church.

Purchases today included coffee and a cinnamon roll (my breakfast) as well as a candle from Care Candle Company. I also bought jewelry and have a bracelet with pieces of the map on it coming Tuesday. I ended the day with an apple 🍎 bacon 🥓 grilled cheese from The Pickled Chef. They have a physical location in the Latrobe Shopping Center.

Let’s talk about this bracelet I bought from Around the World. I had it custom made with pieces of the map from a Road Atlas. There were nine circles to fill in. I chose four local cities, my Alma mater, two US cities, a vacation destination, and a word that best describes me. Here they are.

Four local cities—Greensburg, Johnstown, Latrobe, Ligonier

Alma Mater—Slippery Rock University

Two US Cities—Nashville, New Orleans

Vacation Destination—Cape May

Word that best describes me—Stylish 👗 💅 👠

It was a little too much for Dani to get done by the time I left so it’ll be mailed to me Tuesday. She was very nice about it. I’ll show it off Thursday at the Monaca Target and post it to the “Amazing Fashionwear” blog this coming Friday.

I plan on attending the upcoming Night Market in Ligonier on the 17th and Greensburg’s a week later. It’s nice to support your local everything.

Will I be coming back to the Ligonier Country Market? You better believe it.

Bye everyone. ❤️ you.

Tuesday marks a decade that I’ve been involved in Toastmasters. I have made memories along the way as well as many friends in my Toastmasters travels. I’ve attended countless club officer trainings, also known as TLI, as well as District Conferences. I’ve heard countless keynote speakers, and attended countless breakout sessions where I learned a lot.

My home club will help me celebrate my ten year anniversary with Toastmasters Wednesday night. Our Vice President Education Chuck Dietz has added me to the agenda so that I am able to embellish a little bit on my decade in Toastmasters. Next year that torch will be handed to me and big things are expected of me and will happen.

Part of our normal Toastmasters agenda involves speakers and evaluators. In this upcoming blog, I’ll be giving three facts about my Toastmasters journey and two ways I can improve. I’ll close this blog with a challenge to myself for the new Toastmasters year.

I joined Greensburg Toastmasters on June 1, 2011. Soon after I gave my ice breaker speech. What inspired me to join Toastmasters?

I was still in a dark period in my life after college when I felt the need to get another undergraduate degree to make up for how mediocre (at the time) I felt my college experience went at Slippery Rock; (I’ve long since accepted my time there and felt it was the right place at the right time for me). My reasoning for joining Toastmasters has long since changed since starting the blog.

I also belong to the advanced Toastmasters club, Achievers. This is a club that has a round robin evaluation to go along with the regular evaluation portion of the meeting. I have also served as Club Coach for the McKeesport club. They become Distinguished and led me to get my Distinguished Toastmaster award in September 2019. I am also an unofficial member of the Cranberry High Noon club. So you see, I do make my way around the District.

In January of 2015, I served at event chair for the Winter TLI. What was the inspiration behind me taking on this endeavor?

Beacuse I was looking to complete my High Performance Leadership project requirement. I assembled a great team of workshop presenters, a Toastmaster, and Sergeant at Arms, and a Registration chair. She put together her own team to help get everyone signed up and ready for a great day of learning and growing as a leader in their club. Who inspired me to take on this project?

We had a great District Trio in 2014-15 led by District Governor Melissa McGavick, Lieutenant Governor of Education and Training Josue Batista, and Lieutenant Governor of Marketing Eric Schultz. These three have inspired me to go far in my Toastmasters journey and encouraged me to go after this endeavor.

The club officer training I put together was one of the best ever and it helped me achieve my Leadership Excellence credit. This counted towards my Advanced Leader Silver award (which I received in the summer of 2019) and eventually my Distinguished Toastmaster award that September.

I attended the final District 13 Fall Conference on the final weekend of October 2017. The District and Toastmasters International was phasing out the Fall event in order to focus more on growing clubs. We had a prolific keynote speaker in Reggie Ford and excellent training sessions and contests. It was a bittersweet weekend as we said goodbye to a longtime tradition.

What inspires me to attend these big events? It’s the opportunity to get to meet new people from other districts and learn more from their Toastmasters experience.

The 2013 Fall Conference was great for me because I accepted the award for Select Distinguished District from our past District Director Russell Drake. I served as District Sergeant at Arms from late 2012 until mid-2014 and my delivery was always spot on.

Also, because it’s fun to see your Toastmasters family. The Spring 2019 event was a comeback of sorts for me after I was down for most of the previous year. Getting together and socializing with other Toastmasters on Friday night and having a full day of learning and laughter Saturday made this worthwhile. You always find a great group to sit with at the dinner and celebrate what a great weekend it was.

Those are a few of the cold hard facts about my ten years in Toastmasters. Here’s some of things I can do better in the next year.

I want to be a better example to the club as the incoming Vice President Education. One way I can do that is by planning to give more speeches. Over my ten year Toastmasters journey and throughout life, I’ve spent a lot of time wallowing in self-doubt. That needs to come to an end. I’ve come a long way but I still have room for improvement.

It’s time to get serious about Pathways. I have paths in place but I’ve remained stagnant while others have earned education awards. I need to dust off my paths and work through them.

I have aspirations to be a future workshop presenter at TLI, or education chair at a future conference. The sky’s the limit. Taking my own feedback to heart could help me get there.

I need to become more confident in myself. One example of this self doubt came in January 2015, a few days before our Winter TLI that I was chairing. I worried that I wouldn’t have time to get everything ready on top of everything else going on. But it all worked out and I put together one of the best club officer trainings.

I need to accept a role with grace and not moan about it. The worst that can happen is that I come down with a case of “membertude”. We had an issue in Greensburg with one of our former members contracting a case of “membertude”. It got so bad that it almost cost our Club Coach an opportunity to get his Distinguished Toastmaster award.

So how will I challenge myself in 2021-22? I want to be a better steward of time management with Toastmasters, including my officer role, my job, and life in general. That’s what Toastmasters is for, right? I finally kicked the habit of being bogged down by other people’s drama. However, I want to eliminate any self-doubt I have so that I can perform my role effectively.

In ten years of Toastmasters, I’ve had great meetings and bad. I’ve been in meetings with four people and meetings with 24 people. I wanted to give up some days because things weren’t going good and other days I can’t stop talking about Toastmasters. I’ve attended awesome conferences and spectacular club officer trainings. After ten years, it’s been a good run and I want to continue with it. Looking forward to another great ride in 2021-22.

Bye everyone. ❤️ you.

“Own who you are. There’s nothing more beautiful.” — Paula Mason aka Mom

I’m grateful for the comments I receive on social media over my outfits and my bag. But no matter how many times one tells me how great I look in that jacket or how much they love my crossbody, what matters is that it makes me happy or that I’m being someone who makes me happy. Don’t base your happiness on other people’s opinions whether good or bad.

Those negative comments you see on your feed or hear from a colleague or total stranger? Take them and use them to lift yourself up. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Last night I pulled up this picture and told myself how great I looked in this cropped jacket, blue polo, black jeans, and my cute Coach bag. That’s all the approval you need sometimes but compliments are nice too.

Look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself, “I love the person I am.”

June 1 marks ten years that I have been involved in Toastmasters. I joined the Greensburg chapter on that Wednesday night and ever since, my life has changed for the better. I’ve made many friends along the way in my home club and in other clubs as well. I’ve also visited some great clubs in person and virtually. Cranberry High Noon is my most visited club and they’ve made me an unofficial member.

I’ve attended many speech contests and other district events like club officer training and the annual conference (used to be twice a year). I’ve also made my presence felt in other districts as well. I attended an event in District 18 in September of 2019.

I’ve served as a District Leader in the area, as well as in the division. Both Director roles have different requirements but you are representing the District, so be proud. I got my start as a District Sergeant at Arms at the Fall 2012 conference and I really enjoyed that role, getting praise from those in my District, and introducing our Toastmasters, event chairs, and event speakers.

My best Toastmasters memory was from the final in person conference we had pre-COVID in April 2019. A bunch of us gathered in the hotel lobby to hang out. It was on a Friday night and what a beautiful way to end the week. My Toastmasters comeback had just begun as I just completed the run of division contests a few weeks prior. That Saturday night at dinner, I watched my friends from Cranberry High Noon achieve their Distinguished Toastmaster awards and form their “DTM huddle”. That motivated me to complete my requirements (I had two left) for my own Distinguished Toastmaster award.

I received my DTM award at my home club’s open house in October 2019. When I came back to Toastmasters earlier that year, I was more than determined to finish my projects and achieve that coveted award. All I needed to do was conduct a seminar from the Successful Leader series and lead a club to Distinguished as club coach. I had no problem doing either.

What’s the inspo behind me getting my DTM award and why was it important? I wasn’t giving up after eight years of hard work. That would be like dropping out in May of your senior year of high school.

I watched Bob, Kathy, Leslie, and Sarah at the April 2019 conference forming their DTM huddle and that motivated me to finally get mine. That conference weekend was one of the best things to happen to me in 2019 besides getting my DTM, Chase’s return, and the launch of this blog.

I never got a chance to run the DTM gauntlet in person because of COVID, but I was able to show off my DTM medal 🏅 at the virtual Fall Symposium in September of 2020.

What gives me the inspo to visit other clubs? You see, making your presence elsewhere gives you a look at how other clubs run their meetings. It’s also a great way to meet new people and make new friends. You’re also there to provide support for other members and sometimes can be asked to step up and fill a vacant role. So you see, visiting other clubs in Toastmasters is one thing I enjoy.

A great example of a club that I always visit is the Cranberry High Noon Toastmasters club. I’ve been there multiple times and plan to make more visits there this year. When I launched my blog and showed off my stylish attire (no surprise I was slaying it that day), the club made me feel at home during my visit. Cranberry High Noon has adopted me into their family (just as Paula and her girls have adopted me into theirs).

At Wednesday’s Greensburg club meeting, we held elections for 2021-22 club officers. I expressed interest in the Vice President Education role. What’s the inspo behind me taking on a role that is one of the most important in the club?

It’s a role I’ve had little experience performing. I did it once before in 2012-13. The only officer role I’ve never held is Treasurer 💵 but we have a longtime Toastmaster who does the job well. The VPE position is more imperative now since we’ve switched over to Pathways. This is only my second time performing it, but I am definitely up for the challenge.

You see, I have big things planned for my VPE run next year. That will include putting together a chart to keep track of the progress in the Distinguished Club program. I also plan to encourage our new members to giving more speeches which will help contribute to the cause as well. So you see, what better way to set an example for Greensburg Toastmasters going forward in 2021-22?

In September of 2020, the District held its annual Fall Symposium online. During the awards ceremony, our past District Director gave out awards to three Toastmasters who exemplified The Spirit of Toastmasters. Nate Stephens for his work leading Penn Hills from Extinguished to Distinguished; Tina Kramer for her dedication to the Earlybirds club as their club coach; and myself as the goodwill ambassador to District 13.

At the Winter TLI in December, the three of us teamed up for a panel discussion and answered questions related to Toastmasters. It was all worthwhile and we had a great time dressing up at the Spirits of Toastmasters past, present, and future. Overall, it was a good training and a great day for me because I met some great friends for dinner in Ligonier that night.

My Toastmasters spirit has made a triumphant return despite self-doubt, COVID-19, and my recent health issues. You just can’t keep a good Toastmaster down.

Have a great week everyone. ❤️ you.