Spring continues in the #7 event of 2021 as Katie and Matt buy a house.
Katie and Annabelle were living in our Grandma’s old house for the last year and a half after I moved back home in the Fall of 2019. It wasn’t going to be a permanent fix and eventually they wanted to find another place to live. That Spring they moved out of the house and found one closer to us. It was within walking distance to us which meant Annabelle could walk right to Gigi and Pappy’s and go swimming anytime she wanted during the summer. Dad offered his services to Katie and Matt and cut the grass during the warmer months.
The first Saturday we moved the rest of the stuff out of Grandma’s house that we didn’t a few weeks earlier. The heavier stuff like furniture and other things. Dad put a lot of time into cleaning out the house to get it ready to sell that Spring. A week later I went over there for the last time and it made me so sad to see it empty. Another piece of my childhood was being taken away (like Greengate Mall and Hills). It was put on the market and sold quick. I know my parents wouldn’t want this on my blog but it was a big part of my 2021 so forgive me.
While life in the new house was great for Katie and Matt and Annabelle, changes would be coming soon at work for my office. We lost two of our top guns who would move to other positions in the company. Also, we learned that WIS bought RGIS which meant major changes down the road. You’ll read more on that as I round out the bottom half of my top ten and begin the top five next week.
There was also a beautiful wedding that took place that Spring too but I’ll get to that later.
In this week’s look back at 2021, we highlight the #8 and #7 event of the year. That would be the crazy Spring I had to endure. It all began at the end of March.
I finally addressed the elephant in the room after so many years and made the decision to visit a dermatologist to have them look at my head. After what seemed like an eternity, I was going to have my cyst drained and my head would finally look normal again. Don’t ask me why I didn’t get it addressed sooner.
Before I did that, I would have to visit the doctor and get a referral. I hadn’t been to the doctor in 14 years (again don’t ask) so it’d been a long time for them too since they last saw me. I had my blood pressure taken and it was HIGH. Like “I’m about to have a stroke HIGH”. Dr. Gerger made arrangements for me to go to the emergency room at Excela Health in Greensburg that afternoon. What I thought was going to be a few hours in the hospital turned into a four day stay.
That night I posted on Facebook that I was being hospitalized for high blood pressure. I got the biggest outpouring of support from family, friends, my church, and my coworkers. I was in good spirits despite my situation. “Fashionable even when in the hospital” is what Sara told me on Facebook. The nurses crushed on my Coach crossbody purse.
The nurses and doctors took great care of me. I watched a lot of Netflix and spent a lot of time sleeping. I don’t think I ever left my hospital room those four days. I was released the day before Easter and couldn’t have been happier to come home and celebrate the holiday with my family. Easter Sunday was a beautiful day.
I began the long road to recovery by taking my medicine everyday, visiting my heart doctor, and getting my cyst drained. I would have a stress test done in May. My head looks normal and my test came back good. Blood pressure has come down and I’m in good spirits.
The week after I came home, I received an invitation to attend Rob and Sara’s wedding in May 15. I RSVP’d immediately. Paula told me, “You’re family. Of course you’ll be there.”
My family mourned the loss of my uncle that weekend, the same weekend I attended the Spring Conference on Zoom. Everyone came out the night before to visit. I stayed home as I was just removed from my hospital stay.
I haven’t started my Christmas shopping yet, since I didn’t work much in November. But I recently took a job at Giant Eagle and should get my first full paycheck next week.
I’ll make plans to shop later next week. Not sure where I’ll go yet. It all depends on my work schedule. I’d love to shop out in the Pittsburgh area and hit up Market District. I can probably get a discount there now that I’m employed by Giant Eagle. That’ll still happen as I want to buy alcohol for the holidays. I want to buy my wine coolers (I’m a cocktail 🍹 person as well; it’s the year of gender nonconformity after all) and get dad some beer 🍺 . I might have to keep it local however when it comes to actual Christmas shopping.
I plan to shop for my family. My mom has given me some ideas as what she wants. She always answers my question with Peace on Earth, knowing that always annoys me. I know she’s kidding and I should have a better sense of humor. It’s hard for me to say because I’m older and my interests have changed. With my gender nonconformity the highlight of 2021, it’s hard to explain to my old school parents that I want a gift card from ULTA (they’ve never even heard of the beauty chain). One thing I’m interested in are some charms for my Coach purse. I saw these cherry 🍒 charm I can put on my bag to make it look more stylish.
I also plan to shop for my other family, my adopted family. I mean a lot to Paula and the girls and they are the same to me. Sara even told me I was more family to them than most of her blood family. I got some gift ideas from Sara when I was there for Friendsgiving. I’m hoping to come up and pay a visit around Christmas depending on their plans. We’ll also schedule dinner at the Rialto soon for her early birthday as well make plans for Ligonier (to have coffee) and see the lights (I’m sure she’s talking about Overly’s). I would also like to get something for the Mighty Thor 🐶 🐾.
I want to shop at JCPENNEY (maybe Sara and I will make plans to shop if our schedules agree) and Target. I still support the small businesses but in a different way from 2020. It’s more shoutouts on Facebook and Instagram this time around. My mom and sister and aunt shopped at Market District, HomeGoods, and IKEA. Mom even brought home some baklava from Market District. We’ll eat that a little closer to Christmas.
I’ll get some stocking stuffers together as well. Target is perfect for that. I did that a few years ago for Chase, Ashley, Maura, and Emily, buying them chocolate kisses and peanut butter cups.
Another thing I want would be gift cards. Since we have a lot of stuff, that’s a good way to go this holiday season. Mom asked what I’d like and I told her Target, Kohl’s, JCPenney, and Old Navy. I didn’t tell her this but I also want a Sephora or ULTA gift card. I know she will probably say NO to that but it can’t hurt.
Maura showed me some scrunchies at one of our Rite Aids a few weeks ago and I thought they were really cute. Maybe that’s one of the gifts I will get from my amazing fashion buddy. Can’t wait to celebrate Christmas.
Last night was my first night working for Giant Eagle. Nervous about how it would go, last night/early this morning felt like nothing at all. In fact I think I picked up where I left off.
Before I talk about my first night on the job, let me enlighten you all with a little backstory on why it went very well.
I worked for Giant Eagle briefly about three years ago because I wasn’t happy with the way things were going at WIS. I didn’t like the bullshit Target special projects we were doing; our office had less than twenty people in it; and I gave in to speculation that Target was going to be horrible when we would get the account back in 2019.
I got a call from the Eastgate Giant Eagle in November of 2018 and took the job when they hired me. I went through orientation a few weeks later and worked my first night on Dec. 15 (coincidentally my ten year anniversary with WIS). At the suggestion of my dad, he told me not to give up WIS in case Giant Eagle didn’t work out. I worked three days at Giant Eagle and two days at WIS. That would turn out to be the deathknell of my short lived Giant Eagle career.
Working overnight at Giant Eagle and daylight at WIS just wasn’t going to work out. On my end, it really meant no days off in between jobs. On their end it was hard to schedule me with the other job. With a gap in between days, it was too hard to learn my new job when I was already ten years into working at WIS. A month into it, I told my boss at WIS I was coming back. That turned out to be a good thing as they got a driver back, I was able to take part in Toastmasters events, and that Fall saw me find new interests that made me who I am today.
The changes made this year as WIS bought RGIS have not been in my favor. Therefore, I was ready to make a change. I applied at Giant Eagle and Goodwill and thought of Target, Walmart, and Excela as other options. From the looks of it, most people are bailing out of WIS so it’s not just me.
Last night I got right to work and met some of my new coworkers. Ian (the HR representative who trained me) told me I was going to enjoy working with the night crew and he didn’t disappoint. The team was really awesome and they made my first night go really smooth and I’m thankful for that.
I started on paper products and that went really quick. From there it was onto pet food. Hardest part of that is putting away the little cans of Fancy Feast. Easiest part is putting away the big bags of dog food that weigh 20-30 pounds. That’ll give your muscles a workout for sure. I took my first break around Midnight. When we finish a section, we need to block it to make it look good for customers when they shop.
We put away juice, coffee, and some baking products and blocked the other aisles and then it was onto the biggest job of the night, stocking the dairy aisles. One thing I learned about dairy is that you need to rotate it all the time. Check the dates, especially on milk and cheese. While we put away dairy, another guy was putting away the frozen aisles. That’ll be my next task I’m sure.
After the meal which we usually take around 3am, the rest of the night usually goes fast. We stocked the aisles from the other vendor (UNFI). They have a warehouse out in New Stanton near our WIS office. How can you tell if it’s UNFI? Check the labels. If it’s blue, it’s Giant Eagle. If it’s orange, it’s UNFI. Yellow means it’ll be a separate vendor (Frito Lay, Pepsi, Coke). We finished all of UNFI around 6am and wrapped up with some Health and Beauty. Overall my first night was good. Hopefully I won’t hear of anything bad we did when I get there tonight.
I even got my Giant Eagle mask last night. Does this mask make me look legit?
The Top Ten of 2021 continues with #9. We move on once again in the Spirit of Toastmasters and talk about last summer’s DTM gala at Westmoreland County Community College.
Finally after a year has passed and our conference was cancelled due to Covid, that I was able to run the gauntlet with the other Distinguished Toastmasters. In addition to that we got some great pictures in front of the “red carpet”, disco danced to some great tunes that our DJ Tyler Crummy played, and got sent outside when the fire alarms went off. The dancing went on even as we made our way outside.
I got to meet Sharon A. Joseph and learn more about the new Laurel Highlands Toastmasters Club. She had an awesome team of mentors and sponsors to help her put it all together. It had just recently chartered and became the first club to be hybrid (online and in person). This club is going to do big things and I’ll be joining them very soon as a member.
The red carpet became a theme for the Laurel Highlands charter party and officer inductions a few months later in November. I attended the event and took a few pics on the red carpet myself when I walked into the building. I even did my own little strut on the red carpet. It was a full house and I was happy to be there. I got to meet some great people whom I will be soon be representing the club with. Some of our district leaders also attended the event. Dana wowed me with his knowledge of the history of Toastmasters in Fayette County.
Let’s not forget we had a conference several years ago at that great resort called Nemacolin.
I’m kicking off my top ten of 2021 this weekend as I go over some of the best (and worst) things to happen this year. There’s more positive than negative but social media is not real life. These next five weeks I will talk about two big events that happened in 2021 and number one will be revealed on December 23 (before we celebrate Christmas).
We’ll kick off this top ten of 2021 countdown by talking up Toastmasters.
It was a beautiful summer night in mid-August. A group of us Toastmasters got together and had a potluck dinner at the home of Ron and Sarah. We had a great dinner, played Catch Phrase, sang Karaoke, and the best part was Disco Dancing. Well, the whole night was just awesome.
I was grateful for the opportunity to attend and having the chance to get together (which is something you can’t take for granted anymore). I’m hoping to do more fun disco dancing nights with Sarah, Jing, and many more Toastmasters friends in the near future.
Today I’ve been sharing the good news about my new job with my friends and soon to be former colleagues. Everyone’s pulling for me as I begin this new chapter of my life tomorrow night. I feel confident that things will work out better this time than they did in 2018. I feel like I was trained better this time around too. Even this weekend I applied the safe lifting techniques I learned in my training on Friday when I was helping bring Christmas decorations downstairs.
Paula was proud of me for starting the new job and told me I have to have Mason blood in me. That means I’m loyal and a hard worker. I’m proud to know that side of the family.
I’ve been struggling to produce blog content this month and for that I’m sorry. I’ve been busy looking for a new job, which I landed last week. I was hired at the Giant Eagle four minutes from my house. That’ll feel good when I’m not counting a Lowe’s two hours away from home not knowing when I’ll be done. It’ll also feel good knowing my alarm isn’t going off at 3am (I’ll be working during that time but I’ll be close to home).
The breakup wasn’t kind to me when we split off into Dollar and Traditional. With everyone going to Dollar that’s pretty much anyone who could count a Lowe’s from our office. I took a long hard look and told myself it was time for a change.
I applied at Giant Eagle (twice) and at Goodwill (for their new Delmont store and for the North Versailles location). I did all the steps required to get hired by Giant Eagle. I did a digital interview, a phone interview with a recruiter (I was offered the job and then earlier this week did my orientation and training with Ian (the HR representative for the Hempfield store). I learned a lot from the training and feel excited about starting Monday night.
I’ll start off as a night stock clerk. First week I have forty hours. I feel more confident now than I did three years ago. I also had more computer training (possibly due to COVID). I think the videos really helped this time. I learned a lot about safe lifting practices. I want to prove myself this time with GE and maybe a year from now, I’ll be promoted or on a leadership track.
Last night I made my way to my little Stars Hollow for Light Up Night. It was a cold night to be outside but I braved the elements. I grabbed dinner at the Tavern and tasted some vodka. I texted Sara and a few others about my new job and they were excited for me. I gave her my schedule so we could plan stuff for December. Our texting and Facebook conversations are always fun.
This morning we got all of our Christmas decorations out. We got an assembly line going so we knew where things would go. We stacked a few things in the upstairs kitchen and the snowmen in the hallway. Mom and I took the time to put batteries in the snowmen which she got from Hallmark. We also put up some of Grandma’s old decorations she had in her house. This will be the first Christmas we won’t be going to her house (Katie and Annabelle lived there for a year and a half before moving).
Yesterday, while I was at training for Giant Eagle, Mom put up the tree (she got it out a few days prior) and decorated it). Today, I got my tree out and cleared off space on the dresser for it (I put my makeup and scrunchies in my pink cherry box; I also used one of the gift bags to organize all my Bath and Body Works lotions). The house is all decorated for Christmas now with lights up everywhere. I’ll have more pictures up as I go.
Tonight is a good night to get into the Christmas spirit and watch some movies. I have Elf downloaded on Amazon Prime and Home Alone is on Disney+. I started my holiday run with the Grinch on Monday night (the Jim Carrey version). I plan to watch the more recent one as well as the cartoon with Boris Karloff.
I also plan to post more blogs as we Countdown to Christmas. 10 posts in November but that means more in December as we close in on 300 blog posts. I’ll close with our Christmas decor.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and while it may mean turkey, football, parades, and video games, that’s not the point. The point is that we need to express gratitude for those people in our lives. Also, we must be thankful for the opportunities we are given (a job, an opportunity to lead, a roof over our heads, and a space to have our meetings).
Saturday I was grateful for the opportunity to attend Friendsgiving at Rob and Sara’s place. It’s the little things in life that matter. What better little things are there than great friends, great food, and great fellowship? I’ve been thankful that Sara and Rae consider me their sibling (Sara even calls me her twin). When she texted me that forgot we’re not related 🩸, I was looking for a sad 😭 reaction. I’m sure she was too.
Family requires more than blood, it requires ❤️.
Monday, I was grateful for the chance to have a great orientation at Giant Eagle. I’m also thankful that my new job is going to be five minutes away from home. But don’t let that stop me from being thankful for the job I had for thirteen years.
I made great memories at WIS and met some great people. I was thankful to work under some of them like Maura. Zach, and Chase. I was part of a dedicated Rite Aid team, served the company as a van driver, and was welcomed back with open arms in 2019 when I wasn’t quite ready for Giant Eagle. I began to find myself that year as well as one experience that opened my eyes to dressing better and opened my eyes to fashion and style.
2021 has brought me more opportunities to be thankful and they will be part of my top ten. I had the opportunity to meet Sara for coffee on a mild February day in Ligonier. I’m grateful for the liberation I’ve felt carrying a Coach purse. I’m so grateful for the acceptance I’ve received from everyone. I was blessed to be a part of Trendy’s one year anniversary. I also felt my cup runneth over when people wrote on my wall giving me Get Well Wishes when I was hospitalized when my blood pressure skyrocketed just before Easter. A week later I was thankful for the invitation I received from Sara and Rob for their upcoming May wedding. When I accepted Paula told me, “You’re family. Of course you’ll be there.”
The wedding was a perfect day and I was so grateful to be a part of the celebration. Spoiler alert: it’s in my top five of 2021. As my gender nonconformity began to take off in the Spring, I’m thankful that I can be me. I’ve gotten some heat from my outfit choices but for the most part I’ve gotten a lot of support as well. It’s really blown up since then. Spoiler alert: it’s also in my top five.
I’m thankful to Toastmasters and District 13 for finally getting us all together for the DTM gala at Westmoreland County Community College in July. I got to meet Sharon and learn more about the new Laurel Highlands Toastmasters club. I’m grateful we got the opportunity to dance and take our party outside when the fire alarms went off. I talked to Sharon about becoming a member when I visited last night. I was also blessed to be a part of their red carpet event and charter party a few weeks ago and made friends with some of the new members. A few weeks later a group of us met at the home of Ron and Sarah. We had a potluck dinner, played Catch Phrase, drank wine, sang karaoke, and disco danced until we couldn’t dance anymore. The blog post I wrote about this event got mega views too.
I’m grateful for celebrating another birthday and a milestone birthday on top of that. I turned 40 on June 30. I was given three wonderful birthday celebrations. The first one at Jean Bonnet Tavern with family, the second one a few days later at the Olive Garden with Sara where she gave a gift bag full of great stuff from her and her mom, and the Fourth of July when we had a picnic like old times and went swimming. Needless to say I felt 40 and Fashionable, Fabulous, and Festive.
Lastly, I was grateful to get together with my family and have a nice reunion at Laurel Hill on Columbus Day weekend. A day later I made my way to my little Stars Hollow to celebrate Ligonier Days. I ran into my friend Vanessa and her fiancée and we chatted about fashion and I gave her some new outfit ideas I’d been thinking of. I now have my new shackets, blouses, and even some dresses.
So tomorrow, give thanks for those people who made you who your are. Give thanks for the opportunities you’ve been given. Finally, give thanks for the memories you’ve made.
I learned of this Friendsgiving event two weeks ago when Sara texted me about it and asked me if I wanted to come. Of course I would be there, I’m family. While bringing something was optional, I decided to make pumpkin bread to take to Friendsgiving.
I counted down the days and before you know it, Friendsgiving was here. I arrived at Rob and Sara’s house in Johnstown around 1:30. I made myself at home and said hi to Rob and then I was greeted by Rae and her friend Shannon. Rae complimented me on how fabulous I looked. Then I introduced myself to Rob’s friends Dan and Shawn (he made the mimosas… Sara’s favorite). I greeted the hostess Sara and gave her a big hug and thanked her for throwing this great Friendsgiving party.
We gathered at the table for Friendsgiving dinner around 2:30. The amazing Friendsgiving spread consisted of spaghetti with vodka sauce, stuffed peppers, potatoes, all types of green vegetables (spinach, asparagus, and broccoli 🥦 to be exact), and biscuits. The earlier appetizers included a vegetable tray and chips and guacamole 🥑.
We sat around and passed the food around. We drank, we laughed, we cried, we had a great time. The conversation was plentiful. I regret not getting pictures of the amazing smorgasbord of food that Rob and Sara put together. I enjoyed chatting with Rae and Shannon and then it was my turn to chat with Sara. We chatted about fashion (as we usually do) and I had some great outfit ideas for her (I showed her my sweater dress with leggings and tights; for warmer weather, I asked her opinion on the pink cherry dress). We caught up quite a bit on Saturday. I also introduced her to my work family on Facebook.
After we ate, we got pictures on the deck. We took quite a few and they made it to Facebook. I’ll let the pictures tell the story.
Rob and his boys played their card game in the living room. I became one of the girls and played Cards Against Humanity. I never played it before and it was a lot of fun. Sara and I enjoyed ourselves even though we lost bad to Rae and Shannon.
The party dwindled as it got dark. I stuck around to hang out with Rob and Sara. She and I had coffee, talked more fashion, and made plans for December. We may celebrate her birthday at the Rialto early in the month and then do a gift exchange before Christmas. I have ideas in mind for what to get them. Rae took her pie home with her, which irked us because we wanted some. However, my pumpkin bread more than made up for the loss of said pie. Rob and Shawn also loved my bread. But we were dying for pie.
Before we wrapped up the night, Rob, Sara, Shawn and I walked over to the Johnstown Incline. We got a breathtaking view of downtown and the lights really looked pretty. Sara told me how grateful she was for my friendship over the years. I never came over for discipleship so many years ago, I came to visit Paula and the girls. Oh how my friendship with them has grown. I wowed Shawn, Rob and my fashion buddy with my knowledge of Johnstown and remembering my time there as a student. It got too cold and we made our way back to their place. I got in my car and began the hour long journey home. Not ten minutes in, Sara was already missing me 😭.
Friday I celebrated my two year blog anniversary. I began working on it on the Erie Lowe’s overnight trip and it soon became a thing. I added a lot of content early on and got too good too quick. COVID hit but that didn’t hurt my blogging as I found stuff to write about. However I wasn’t putting out as much content as 2020 rolled on.
Early in 2021, I didn’t do quite as much and in the Spring I hardly blogged. By May, I began to pick it back up again. Since the summer, the blog has really grown. Doing 15-16 posts a month really helps. Less is definitely more. We will hit 300 blog posts by the end of the year.
My gender nonconformity and dressing non traditionally has also grown.
I blogged about my workplace crush early on and talked about it to the girls two years ago at Bud Murphy’s. Last night I showed those same blogs to Sara. She really enjoyed reading them. That was my favorite memory until last year’s dinner at the Tavern where I met Rob for the first time. Yesterday’s Friendsgiving became one of my favorite memories. Will it be the best of 2021? You’ll have to wait on that one.
Thursday I got my long awaited package in the mail from Target. Inside was the sweater dress I had my eye on, as well as pair of leggings and a pair of tights. All Target brand. I tried the leggings and the dress on initially to see if they fit and they did. I’ll give the diamond tights a go this week.
On Friday I took a few more pictures and posted them to Facebook. Up first were the leggings. They’re a Target brand and I bought them in 2x just to be safe. I’ve owned compression pants before (I ordered them on Amazon) and they just didn’t do the trick plus they were see-through which could have gotten some weird stares from other people. This was back in 2016 but since then my confidence has improved so much.
I think this is best pair so far. I’m a longtime Amazon shopper but I think my preferences are changing as well. A 2x Amazon brand may be a great deal but not always the best option. Do your homework beforehand. I need to teach myself to shop secondhand too. Places like Gabes and TJ Maxx and Marshall’s and Ross have amazing deals too. My coworker bought a leather jacket and black boots with two inch heels from Ross.
We’ll get to the sweater dress in a bit but I wanted to hit on my experience at my local JCPenney a few weeks ago. I was starting to get some Christmas shopping vibes and I hit up Sephora while I was there. Their makeup is expensive but it’s really good. One of my Toastmaster friends and his daughter were asked to be part of one of their campaigns. Maura has mentioned the Fenty Beauty line of makeup to me before (that’s Rihanna’s makeup for anyone keeping score). Shut up and drive. I also saw some cute PJ sets from Juicy Couture (pink and leopard print… go me) and a nice shoulder bag on clearance (it was snakeskin and half off). Plus when I was in Sephora, I spotted some sweet gift sets that would be great for my friends or me.
Here’s what you’ve been waiting for. Friday night I took some great pics of my new cream colored cable knit sweater dress. I found accessories to make it stand out as well. I was particular at first about who I wanted to show it to. After only showing it to a certain few, I made it public on my cover collage. Later this week, I’ll wear it with the leggings and the black tights and shoe some pictures and some leg. No heels yet because I can’t find ones that fit but I would wear a red or black pair. My sweater dress everyone.
Take note of the eye shadow I’m wearing. It was done by my nine year old niece and is from ULTA. My future Target haul (I think I love Tar-jay more than Amazon now) is pretty awesome too. The sweater dress is a hit and I’ve had these cozy tunics in mind for a while. I need another belt to accentuate said sweater dress. Also, leather leggings are goals and they’ll go great with these sweater tunics or a sweatshirt and boots.
