2021 was a milestone year for my family. A lot of us have turned over a new decade in our lives. My cousins and I all celebrated our big 4-0, my oldest cousin turned 50 in October, my aunt had her 60th in September, and my uncle and his cousin (and my mom’s) turned 70 in October. We commemorated the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. My grandmother would have had her 90th birthday next week. It’d be too cold to celebrate at Twin Lakes like we did for Great Grandma so we might have done it at Olive Garden, Rizzo’s or Persichetti’s.

The Fourth of July weekend was my weekend to celebrate my milestone year. That Wednesday before the holiday I turned 40. Celebrations were being planned. My cousins love the Jean Bonnet tavern in Bedford and I was asked if I wanted to come here to celebrate my big 4-0. I gladly agreed to it. We met at my aunt’s house and spent a few hours in downtown Bedford that afternoon before dinner. It’s beautiful but everything closes early. In addition it was raining while we were en route. I did to see where Bedford Springs was located and I think I’d have enjoyed this part of the trip if we got to see Fort Bedford or take a nice drive around Shawnee State Park (it was too wet to take a walk around the lake that day).

We met up at the Jean Bonnet Tavern with my uncle and my two cousins early in the evening. We had a nice big table waiting for us in the main dining area. I ordered the loaded potato crisps as my appetizer and a raspberry margarita for my drink. For dinner, I had the chicken parmigiana with a house salad. At the end of the night before heading home, I got to see the goats 🐐 and my cousins fed them but I was a little bit squeamish to do the same myself.

The day before I got a text from my sister/twin/fashion buddy. She wanted to make plans for us to get together for lunch. Sara and her mom had a birthday gift for me. We agreed on having lunch at the Olive Garden in Greensburg (we wanted to do coffee at White Rabbit or breakfast at Sun Dawg but both places were closed). Sara tagged me on Facebook wishing me a Happy birthday and it brought me to tears.

We met for lunch at Noon. She greeted me at the door and got us a table. Very sweet of her. We ordered our food and enjoyed each other’s company. We were dressed fashionable as always. I wore a pastel blazer and T-shirt with jeans and she wore a dress. We also talked about work and of course, fashion. Sara saw me with my Coach purse and said, “Coach should hire me to promote their product.” We had a great lunch and a wonderful time together. She gave me my gift bag and I loved everything she and her mom put together. I also loved the birthday cards and posted them on the blog.

There was a third celebration on the Fourth of July. My mom had my cousin Katie and her family up to celebrate the holidays and my birthday. It was the first time Patrick and Henry would be visiting and they would have the opportunity to swim in our pool and jump on Annabelle’s new trampoline at her new house. Mom made enough food to last us a week. Meatballs, sausage, watermelon 🍉, Mac and cheese, and plenty of drinks to go around. It was perfect weather for swimming, which is what the younger ones all did. After we ate, I showed off my Coach purses to my family. I would do the same thing at our family reunion in October.

We ended the night and the birthday weekend by watching the fireworks from Katie and Matt’s new place. This weekend I turned 40, and I felt fabulous, fantastic, and fashionable. From the looks of it, I enjoyed every minute of it.

It’s been a while since I posted a Toastmasters News and Notes blog as I’ve been busy with other blog content. I’ve also embarked on my job search during the month of November with much success. I’ve since landed a part-time job at Giant Eagle and I’m getting established there.

Toastmasters International launched its first club in West Virginia in 1949 when the Wheeling Toastmasters club chartered in March. The East Central part of the state was next when it came to seeing interest in Toastmasters. District 13 was known as the Keystone District and the formation of the Reading Toastmasters would keep that theme intact. They’d get support from clubs in Philadelphia and Wilkes Barre, primarily locally.

The Pittsburgh club started doing demo meetings in 1949, at the time a new PR campaign. They’d speak at other meetings about what Toastmasters has to offer and what the club does. It’s kind of like the alliance that Toastmasters International and Rotary have today.

The beginning of Evaluation contests took place in 1949. This coming Spring Conference in 2022 is having that contest to go along with the International Speech contests. The different levels of contests took a lot longer in 1949 than they do now, starting in September and going until March.

That September saw Philadelphia charter its second Toastmasters club, the Quaker City Toastmasters. The first club is called Philadelphia’s First. The formation of Quaker City Toastmasters gave the clubs an opportunity to work together and ensure continued growth and success for the new club.

Toastmasters then came to Beaver County as the Beaver Falls club chartered. While Beaver Falls is no longer around, the Beaver Toastmasters honors that legacy by being the premier Toastmasters club in the area.

Back in February, I went on the best shopping spree of my life so far. After work, I had plans to drive to TANGER Outlets in lieu of a nice bag to take with me when I go out. I was also going to stop at Old Navy and Bath and Body Works. I arrived in Washington just before Noon. I wasn’t far that day therefore I planned well. So far my shopping trip was going good. Now it’s time for what I came here for.

It was interesting how I pulled this off. I grew a little nervous as I made my way to Coach. To prep myself to shop here, I window shopped at Kate Spade ♠️. They too had some nice purses in the window. I walked into the Coach Outlet very confident, looked for the perfect bag, and made my purchases. I got a tote, crossbody, and a wallet. I walked in there eating cake 🍰.

The city tote and pink satchel have become my favorites. There’s definitely more Coach in my future. I do have some Lauren Conrad purses in mind at Kohl’s, as well as the Juicy Couture line at JCPENNEY. I’d love to find a leopard print bag sometime on my retail adventures. I love this color from Lauren and I think I answered my question on the leopard print bag. Perfect for a trip to NYC?

It’s my favorite brand of designer bag, but where exactly did my interest in Coach come from? What (or who) inspired me to buy one of my own? Finally, what’s the messaage that comes from this experience?

Back in the summer, I started carrying a bag around at work and when I went out. At first I hid it so no one would make fun of me or look at me differently. Eventually I brought it out more and really no one has said anything. Even one of my managers has shown interest in my purple bag. Even if on Amazon it says it’s for females only, that hasn’t phased me. Like Sara has told me, “Fashion is nothing to be ashamed of.” 

My interest in Coach came from:

1. That same girl who wowed me with her pink sundress a year earlier on that overnight trip in Ashtabula. Back in September of 2020, she’d come to work with her big Coach purse.

What or who inspired me to buy one of my own Coach purses?

2. Emily gave me inspiration when I saw her with her cute Coach tote. She could even fit her leather jacket in there. That, along with all the ads I saw on social media for Coach. Put two and two together (and the support of my fashion buddy and her momma) and you have the inspo I need to buy one of my own.

What’s the message that comes from this experience?

3. When I approached Sara about buying a Coach bag and felt awkward about buying it in store, she gave me these words of wisdom. “Aww don’t be embarrassed. Be proud. Fashion is nothing to be ashamed of.”

It’s been a driving force behind my gender nonconformity journey this year. My friends and old coworkers have all given me compliments on my bag. I care less and less on what others may think and that says a lot about them. Be you. Do whatever makes you happy. Own who you are. There’s nothing more beautiful. Lastly, don’t let others shame you. Lastly, fashion is nothing to be ashamed of.

Bye everyone. ❤️ you.

Last night I made a special trip out past Youngwood to see the phenomenon known as Larry’s Lights. This was second time getting to look at it as I went last year with family two days before Christmas. We didn’t get out last year due to COVID, but I got out and walked around the property tonight. It was very colorful and the displays were amazing. But what’s the inspiration behind Larry’s Lights and what about the causes that he supported?

The Christmas light display is in honor of Larry Wilson. He started putting up lights at his house in 1994 when lived in Harrisburg. His displays won numerous awards. He was known as Mr. Christmas.

He did it because he enjoyed seeing the delight in people’s eyes as they saw his display. Also, Larry was an avid dog lover and believed in helping animals in need. He retired in 2013 and moved to Greensburg. He passed his display onto his family.

Larry passed away on 2019, so his family decided to display all his lights that were still usable and expand the display in his honor and memory. They would then decide to raise money for his favorite charities and continue to spread his Christmas joy and spirit.

Here are some more pictures I posted from this evening’s visit.

The two charities that the display raises money for are the Top Dog Therapy Team and the Youngwood Dog Club. The first one is a nonprofit that does various acts for the community. They take time visiting nursing homes and schools to spread joy and comfort to the community. Larry Wilson owned a therapy dog (Bella) and was very proud of her. The second one has a Puppies in Need fund that assists in emergency pet care.

There’s a mailbox at the home of the display which has a direct link to the North Pole. Every letter each child sends is answered by Santa 🎅 with a personal message. If you want to donate to Larry’s cause, 100% of the proceeds go to these charities that I mentioned.

Parking is available across the road (strongly recommended on weekends) or in the driveway (during the week).

I wish I’d gone earlier as I would have had opportunity to see Santa on his sleigh (for photo opportunities) as well as the Grinch. They were there from 6 to 7.

If you get a chance this holiday season, I recommend checking out this amazing display and supporting some great causes.

As I will likely be moving on from WIS at the end of the year, here’s a look back at some of my memorable moments over my dozen or so years with the company.

1. Being part of a dedicated Rite Aid crew for three years. I got certified to count pharmacies and was one of the best counters. I also had some great supervisors and coworkers over the years.
2. Becoming a van driver in 2014. I took the role on after the passing of one of our longtime employees in December of 2013. I officially got the OK to drive in February after passing my road test, which I took on the turnpike coming back from Beaver Falls.
3. Working with two WIS legends who have sadly passed. Mike and Paul were longtime employees of the company going back to their days as Washington Inventory services. Mike was a navy veteran and his first store was Hills in 1989. He had some great stories to tell about his time there and had a heart of gold. Paul was a longtime track coach (we may have met at Hempfield at a meet or at a tournament). He knew the same coaches and runners I did. He was very dedicated to the job as Area Manager or as a supervisor or counter. He was also a longtime baseball fan who loved his Pirates. It was a devastating day when we found out that he had passed away. We got word at our Dollar General that he died. Sarah and Chase broke down that morning at their stores and I did so later.
4. Getting two big accounts back. We had the opportunity to get Kohl’s in 2015. It was quite a big deal at the time. Our big bosses showed up for the first one at West Mifflin in March of 2015. We formed a good relationship with our loss prevention guys. We kept the account until the end of 2018 when RGIS took them back. In 2019, after almost a decade, we got Target back. Chase would be the one taking the wheel for this adventure. He even had to go to Corporate with other WIS managers to learn more about how to run the account. Our first one in Butler went smoothly on Valentine’s Day 2019.
5. This is cheesy to most of you but to me it’s a big deal. We had some great overnight trips during my time at WIS. None were more impactful than Ashtabula. The trip where my definition of style began to take off. My love of fashion was born that night. All because one of my coworkers decided to look amazing while I was dressed frumpy (gym shorts and a T-shirt). Sara always inspires me to be fashionable and apologies to my sister/twin/fashion buddy, but Emily did one better on this trip. The legend of the pink cherry 🍒 dress started on this trip and that’s why it was so memorable.

The #5 story of my 2021 marks the end of an era. It also highlights my new job, and that awesome Friendsgiving.

In the summer, my previous employer bought its competition. That’s like McDonald’s buying Burger King or Wendy’s. Pepsi buying Coke. Lowe’s buying Home Depot.

What it meant was changes were coming. Nothing big over the summer but once September got here I began to hear whispers about the changes that would take place. The office was going to be split up into Dollar and Traditional. 3609 was going to no longer exist. Most of the office went over to Dollar and a few of us went over to Traditional. Basically I was going to be working with most of RGIS.

Our last day as office 3609 was October 29. My first day under the new Pittsburgh Traditional office was Halloween. I gave it a try and even did a CVS with their crew. For most of my remaining time I was using my normal 750s on Rite Aids so it’s not like much had changed.

Once I knew we were being split up I wanted to look for another job anyway. After 13 years of traveling for work I decided it was time for a change.

I applied at Giant Eagle and Goodwill and also made plans to look at Target, Walmart and Excela. After a successful digital interview with Giant Eagle, I got a call the following week for a second interview. I was officially hired the Friday before Thanksgiving and did my orientation the following Monday and some training on Black Friday.

So far Giant Eagle has gone well and I seem to be enjoying it. I got some praise last weekend for how well I was doing from a few of my veteran coworkers (who worked at the old Greengate store years ago). My first night didn’t even feel like it, though I still need help finding stuff so I’m still fairly new. It’s great being five minutes from home, knowing when I’ll be done. It’s also great to have a helpful night crew that works hard every night.

Takeaways from my 13 year WIS career are plentiful. I came up with five of them. They’ll be in a separate blog post which I’ll have a link up for.

This past Thanksgiving my amazing sister/twin/fashion buddy Sara invited me (her icon) to a Friendsgiving get together. It was a great experience as we ate some amazing food, played Cards against Humanity, had a fashion show on her patio, did makeup, and walked to the incline. I shared some outfit ideas with her and we all had fun that day. My other sister Rae was there too and we had fun socializing that day. They were excited to learn of my new job as well. Sara and I both cried 😭 as I left her house that night but we had Christmas to look forward to.

What a crazy November but alas, a good one.

Toastmasters rounds out the bottom half of the top ten of 2021 at #6.

June 1 marked ten years in Toastmasters for me. Ten Years Toastmasters Strong. There have been many memories made along the way in my decade long Toastmasters Journey.

I’ve attended many district events such as the conferences and club officer training. I accepted the award for Select Distinguished District at the Fall 2013 conference. I served as Sergeant at Arms for the District from Fall 2012 to the end of the 2013-14 Toastmasters year. I am a two time area director with a stint as Division Director in between.

I achieved my Distinguished Toastmaster award in the summer of 2019 and accepted the plaque at our Fall Open House. I showed off the medal at our awards ceremony at the 2020 Fall Symposium. I also won the prestigious Spirit of Toastmasters award along with two other dedicated members. My goodwill to the District helped me achieve the award. We did a panel discussion at the Winter TLI that December.

Going remote because of COVID helped us visit other clubs when before it seemed impossible. Earlier this year and in the Spring, we held all our contests and Spring District conference all online. The conference turned out to be a huge success.

I finally got my opportunity to take part in the DTM gauntlet at our DTM gala on July 24. I hugged all the past DTMs and even twirled a few of them. What a fun night that was in addition to the disco dancing and fire alarms going off that sent us outside. We still danced though. The fun continued at Ron and Sarah’s on August 14. I highlighted these events a few weeks ago. It’s a honor to be an adopted member of Cranberry High Noon Toastmasters.

Last month I got the opportunity to visit Cranberry High Noon Toastmasters open house on my day off. They had many guests visit whether it was in person or by way of Zoom. We had 30 in attendance that day physically and virtually. I joined Sarah Rashmee Souri, Maragatham Maha and Linde Geissler Riley for lunch afterwards at Chen’s. My first time there and we had a great lunch. They even played Disco music. It was sign that we needed to be there.

The next night I attended the red carpet gala and officer induction at Laurel Highlands Toastmasters Club. What a celebration that was as everyone was dressed for the occasion. It was a great program too with Dana Mitnik talked about the history of Toastmasters in Fayette County, and Robert Johnson and Melissa Davis McGavick giving great speeches. Fred and Shawna were amazing that night as our emcees and the members couldn’t be any more proud than they were that night to be recognized as one the newest clubs in District 13.

I’m also proud to say I’ll be joining Laurel Highlands very soon as their newest member.

I took advantage of my day (or night) off to do some Christmas shopping. I could have stayed local and shopped at Westmoreland Mall but decided to head out to the other side of Pittsburgh and shop in Robinson.

I braved the traffic on the Parkway (and there was a lot of it… Squirrel Hill Tunnel, Fort Pitt Tunnel, and Greentree Hill) and arrived a little after 4 this afternoon. My first stop was the big Market District in Settlers Ridge. I don’t think you know this but I work for Giant Eagle now. This was the first time I saw the entire Market District and it is huge. It’s also very boujee. But I enjoyed myself there. I had some pizza, bought some alcohol, and headed to my next destination, Kohl’s.

I got a few Christmas items checked off my list at Kohl’s but despite the coupon, this trip could have benefited more from not coming here as it looked very picked over. Sephora taking over Kohl’s phased out their fine jewelry section in the bigger stores (smaller stores like Monaca and Butler still have a fine jewelry section). They’re definitely a better fit for JCPenney. That was my next stop.

I headed to the Mall at Robinson next and things got better here. I parked by the Food Court and walked into JCPenney through the home area. This was always a challenging inventory every year we did it when I worked for WIS. Ten of the eleven years we did it we always had trouble. It was also done in the summer most years so it was always a miserable count. Anyway, I had more success here than I did at Kohl’s. I knocked a few more items off of my list and got some great deals.

I started to feel like I was more into the Christmas spirit now. I seemed more chipper as I walked through the mall. It was time for me to shop for my second family. I found one of the coolest stores in the mall called Boxlunch. They have a lot of neat pop culture stuff in there. A few years ago they had a decent amount of Bob’s Burgers merchandise in the store and being a big fan of the show I almost bought some of it.

I stopped at Starbucks and got a Peppermint Mocha latte. By now I was feeling festive and I was dressed fashionable. The cashier who rang me up at JCPenney loved my fashion sense and complimented me on my Coach accessories. This Christmas Shopping adventure would have been much improved if I skipped Kohl’s and ate in the food court, Bahama Breeze or even Olive Garden. Not that Market District was a bust but the sandwich area was closed (I wanted to try that Rachel that my mom had last week or a Reuben).

After I finished at the Mall at Robinson, it was off to Target. Here I would thrive in my Christmas shopping as I checked a lot of things off my list tonight. I got my adopted family taken care off including the Mighty Thor. I still have a little more shopping to do next week but I’ll keep that local (Westmoreland Mall, my Giant Eagle, and the local Target). In the meantime, I’ll do some wrapping this weekend and see the lights down in Youngwood.

I’m a week and a half into Giant Eagle and so far so good. I got some compliments Saturday night for how much effort I’ve put in so far. I barely lasted a month the first time around and really shouldn’t have taken the job anyways (or just put myself on a leave of absence at WIS).

I’m on a leave of absence at WIS/RGIS right now and I’m going to need to make a decision soon on when to be scheduled again. Given the way things have gone at Giant Eagle so far, it’s a win win there. I’m enjoying this taste of freedom and being so close to home; thus my time with WIS will likely be ending very soon.

If so, I’ll resign within the next two weeks and make an announcement on Christmas Eve. It’s been a good ride and I’ll miss the people and the all the great times we had together. If not for coming back in 2019, I likely wouldn’t be where I am right now. I’d have missed some memorable overnight trips (Ashtabula comes to mind).

I wouldn’t be blogging and I probably wouldn’t have found myself. Therefore I wouldn’t be as happy as I am now. I likely wouldn’t have been as inspired to buy Coach and my gender nonconformity wouldn’t have been as accelerated as it is now.

WIS 2008-2021? It seems that way.

Bye everyone. ❤️ you.

Last week we talked about what we want for Christmas and Mom brought up the idea of what kind of gift cards I would like for Christmas. The stores that came to land were: Target, Old Navy, JCPenney, and Kohl’s. The reason I’m putting this blog post together is to think of what I can buy with these gift cards if I get them for Christmas.

Target is easy. I can buy some more amazing fashion-wear. I bought a pair of leggings and a sweater dress in my last haul. I have a pair of leather leggings in mind as well as some sweater tunics and a leopard print fleece.

Old Navy is my second favorite. I already have enough jeans and sweaters but I can buy an amazing blouse or two or even some lip gloss or other beauty products. Maybe even a cropped jacket would be nice.

For Kohl’s, I’d love to check out their new Sephora kiosk (that goes for JCPenney as well). There’s also their Lauren Conrad line of purses I have in mind. I want this dusty pink crossbody that I found on Kohls.com. Also some fuzzy socks to keep my feet warm in the cold winter months.

JCPenney has always been one of my longtime favorites. I used to buy a lot of my wardrobe there (not so much anymore). My interests have changed a good bit too. I browse more at Sephora now than I used to. Their gift sets look amazing and their Fenty line (that’s Rihanna’s makeup line) may be expensive but I might try it out too.

Since I’m on the subject of makeup, why not think of ULTA as well. I’ve been in a few of their storefronts and they have some cool stuff too.

I had to lay low with my gender nonconformity until I got established at my new job. It’s back and I’m not giving up on being happy and living my best life and loving myself.

Change of plans for Wednesday. I want to shop at JCPenney in addition to everywhere else so that means I’ll be going to Robinson instead (there is no JCPenney in the South Hills since they closed the Century III location). I’ll start out with Market District and go from there. I plan on getting all my Christmas shopping done this week but I might have a little bit left over next week.

Let the festivities begin. 18 more shopping days until Christmas.

My first week at Giant Eagle came to a close early Sunday morning. Overall it went really smooth. Every night we have been busy putting away orders that needed stocked. It is Christmas after all. It won’t be like that come January and February but like Dad said, tough it out. I’ve had an opportunity to meet new people and learn more about some of the veterans in the company. I asked questions so I could perform my job more effectively. I’ve also gained an understanding of how the grocery business works.

Monday night was my first night on the job. By the end it didn’t even feel like it. I worked hard from the beginning and learned a lot. I started in paper products and made my way into pet. My first night I even got a cool Giant Eagle mask. That made me look legit. I had some experience from working at Eastgate Giant Eagle for a brief period. That would have gone better had I taken a leave of absence from WIS but it is what it is. At Hempfield we also put away Dairy and Frozen. My takeaway from my first night was that Dairy must be rotated and the expiration date should always be checked. We have a stockperson who is very passionate about the Dairy aisle and so far, things have gone well there for me. I’ve taken on most of the dairy aisle except for eggs, butter, and coffee creamer. I took my first swing at frozen foods on Thursday night and wrapped up the night with HBC.

Last night was a breakout performance for me. I got praise from one of my coworkers for how much effort I put into my work this week. I was also told I was doing an excellent job from a few of the longtime employees (who actually worked for that Giant Eagle when it was at Greengate East). Once we finished our part of dairy, we went over to frozen and put away five flats in a short amount of time. All of us including the frozen leader and the morning stock person got it done within a few hours. I put the last item away at 6:15am and then blocked a section before clocking out 15 minutes later.

The Dairy/Frozen leader was a big help and I enjoyed talking to him and learning more about his experience with the company. I hope we get to work again. A lot of people have worked many years with Giant Eagle so they really know their stuff. I want to continue making a go of it here and see where it leads me.

It’s nice knowing when I’ll be done and being so close to home.

Wednesday is my next night off so I plan to make the most of it and go Christmas shopping. I plan to head out to Bethel Park and shop around the South Hills Village area. I’ll shop at Kohl’s as well as hit up Market District across the road for my beer and wine coolers for Christmas. I also plan to do some holiday shopping at Target (the big one in South Hills Village mall). I plan to get all my shopping done in one day. Maybe next week I’ll get my wrapping done as well.

Time to check out some Christmas movies. I haven’t done so yet besides watching the Grinch. Elf and Christmas Vacation await.

Bye everyone. ❤️ you.