Yesterday my dad took advantage of the warm January weather to take down Christmas lights. This meant the end of the holiday season. My mom will take the weekend to remove the rest of the decorations in the house. Thus, every season has its beginning and its end.

We will move on to the next big holiday, Valentine’s Day 💕. Stores are already peddling their wares even before Christmas has come. I understand you need to promote your products. But one holiday at a time.

I’m not one to celebrate the holiday that centers around love. I hope to eventually but in my life it’s never stood out to me as a holiday worth ushering in.

However I am a sucker for good chocolate and I surprised my friends with a lot of sweets at Christmas. Hope you enjoyed that stylish gift exchange, Ashley, Maura, Chase and Emily. We’ll have to do it again.

It’s sad to see to a beautiful holiday end. Christmas makes the snow much more enjoyable. Plus it’s hard to see all that Christmas product on clearance. However that is the best time to buy it for next year. After that you just want to count down the days until Spring gets here. 78 days as of this blog.

Let’s take the holidays and throw around the spirit all year long. Not just at Christmas but Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and every special day year round. Easier said than done right?

Enjoy the first weekend of the NFL playoffs.

❤️ you.

A short blog today covering some upcoming Toastmaster Events and other things.

Next Saturday since I’ll have all of my stuff from JCP in the mail, I’m going to show off my new clothes. This will be better explained in pictures than words. I’ll lay out some outfits for some great photo opportunities.

The middle of January is going to be swimming in Toastmasters functions. The 15th is my upcoming club contest. I’m participating in both the International Speech and Evaluation contests. If I place second or better I will move on the area contest March 7 in Oakmont.

January 18th is the Division C TLI makeup training being held at the Monroeville Public Library by Gateway High School. The training will run from 9 to 12. I’ll be serving as Toastmaster and speaking on the club officer training as well as my DTM journey. The next day will be my monthly Achievers meeting, so it’ll be a busy Toastmasters weekend.

Aside from modeling my new stylish attire and being busy with all things Toastmasters, I also want to think about getting my name out there. That Ashtabula trip made me realize that I’m longing for someone in my life 👩. Maybe I’ll place an ad online seeking a SWF. We’ll see what happens. That’s a project for late January.

That’s all I have for today. I’m just filling you all in on what’s going on in my life. Until next time ❤️ you.

Now there’s a blog title that speaks to the most stylish of us all.

There are times that most of us are all dressed up and have nowhere to go. Tonight was a good example. I was dressed in my usual stylish attire of jeans and sweater and boots 👢 .

Upon coming downstairs, my dad asked me if was going somewhere and I told him I wasn’t. I don’t think he approved of me wearing shoes in the house. I turned my nose up at that. It’s 2020 and I’m not worried about what people think anymore. Actually it was good inspiration for the title of my second blog tonight.

It’s a new year and that means a new me. I proposed a moratorium on visiting my Alma maters, but doesn’t mean I can’t talk about them. It will be 20 years since I started college so that’s getting its own blog later this summer.

All dressed up and nowhere to go. That ends this year. I’m going to devote more time in 2020 to going out on Friday nights. A great example would be grabbing dinner 🍽 and a drink 🍹 at Sun Dawg (open until 9 on Thursdays and Fridays). I want to attend more concerts (either in Pittsburgh or at the Palace 🎭). I want to get together with friends and have dinner together instead of going solo. I want to do more movie nights complete with popcorn 🍿.

My brick and mortar shopping days are mostly done. I’m not trying to contribute to the demise of these institutions but it’s easier to shop online because you can find merchandise easier. Maybe the same goes for Target and Giant Eagle and grocery shopping. I lead a pretty busy life so Target pickup and Curbside Express might come in handy once in a while. As for eating out, I’ll stick to my local eateries and once in a while hit up a chain (so I can use those Red Robin and Starbucks gift cards).

Other things I’m doing in 2020

I’m living at home but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be independent. I’ll take the time to look around to see what works best.

I’m using my Amazon gift cards to update my wardrobe. I want to keep that stylish appearance going strong.

I’m celebrating with all the new Distinguished Toastmasters in District 13 and running the gauntlet at the upcoming Spring Conference.

It’s going to be a big 2020 and I’m excited where things end up. Happy New Year. ❤️ you.

I recently did a 2019 review that was thorough and had plenty of details. With today being the first of the year, I decided to do a more essential, less is more, review of the last year.

I’m going to break down the year into threes.

Early 2019—Things happened the way they were supposed to. Giant Eagle didn’t work out for me, so I went back to WIS full time. We got Target back. I jumped back into Toastmasters and helped out with the contests.

My grandma was diagnosed with cancer in February but early on it looked like she would fight it. I attended all four division contests and heard some great speeches. I also attended the District 13 Conference and celebrated with many great friends as they got their Distinguished Toastmaster medallions. Grandma had her Easter dinner despite her health. A bad night at work results in the resignation of a colleague and great friend.

Mid 2019—I enter into a period of loneliness and mourning. Grandma has a bad fall and has to go to the hospital. She is later put into hospice care.

I complete the final two requirements for my own DTM award. We visit Grandma at St. Anne’s over Memorial Day weekend and it was my last time seeing her. I learn that she passed away after I got back from a weekend trip to Hershey.

The summer of 2019 is one of my loneliest periods of my life so far. I go on vacation and celebrate my birthday. Not much to take from this summer. However I am surprised when I reunite with someone at the end of August.

Late 2019—Things will eventually start falling into place. I retire the traditional homecoming trip to Slippery Rock and sign up to attend the Toastmasters Fall Symposium. I also start to build a little family at work.

I make plans to move back home. I am presented with my Distinguished Toastmaster award at our club’s open house. The county commissioner even presents me with the award and a proclamation.

I move back home in early November. After a bad first week, things really begin to turn around. I get back into blogging full time and make plans to launch my present blog, The Stylish Traveling DTM.

I have a great Christmas and do an awesome gift exchange with my friends.

In conclusion, 2019 was a sad year as I lost a couple of family members. But this year also saw me grow up and I plan to take that positive energy from the last third of the year and apply it to 2020.

Well, after weeks of hype and so many status updates on Facebook, my new blog is up and running. I posted a small blog earlier this afternoon highlighting some exciting plans for the Stylish Traveling DTM.

There’s already some scheduled style and toastmaster blogs for the winter months. I’ll be documenting my TLI makeup on January 18 and the upcoming area contests in February and March. I’ll also be documenting my stylish wardrobe updates in January and February, plus I’ll be taking pictures of me trying them on. Plus I’ll put together some nice outfits and blog and photo op that too.

My TV has been the best Christmas present and I’m making the most of it by binging my favorite shows. One that has been a surprise is the Gilmore Girls. I never liked the show when it was on the WB but now it’s really grown on me. I’m drinking coffee like a Gilmore and talking as fast as I can. Places like Ligonier and even downtown Greensburg have that Stars Hollow feel to them.

I might have to talk my friends or family into a Gilmore Girls night once I get to Rory’s Chilton graduation. Coffee at Luke’s–I mean White Rabbit, anyone.

I’m finishing up the Good Place on Netflix and then it’s on to How I Met Your Mother on Hulu. I’m looking forward to watching all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies on Disney+. This TV was a great Christmas present.

I’m looking forward to taking my friends out to Red Robin 🍔 🍺 when we decide to get together for dinner. I’ll look into that later on this winter but we’ll play it by ear.

The end of one decade and start of another means it’s time to leave some things in the past. I’ll still go to Pitt Johnstown for Toastmaster events but other than that I’m going on a college moratorium. I treasure my Alma maters 👨‍🎓 but it’s time to let them go. I’ll always have my memories though.

The ball is dropping in less than three hours in New York City 🌃 and it’ll be a new decade.

Happy New Year 🎆🎊🎈. ❤️ you.

I am looking forward to taking this journey and inviting you into my world. I just started blogging regularly this past fall and the response has been so great that I have decided to take it public. 

You have likely read my blogs under the Slippery Rock Toastmaster name. While that name is nice, I wanted to go with the times. I like to look good when I go out, hence the Stylish part of the blog. I enjoy traveling (whether for pleasure, Toastmasters, or work) hence the Traveling part of the blog. Speaking of Toastmasters, I received the highest honor in my Distinguished Toastmaster award, hence the DTM part of the blog. 

There’s a lot of fun things coming to the blog. I’ll talk about my daily life. I’ll provide you with upcoming wardrobe updates as I get ready for Toastmasters speech contest season as well as the upcoming Spring conference. I plan on doing food reviews and making some classic dishes. I’ll also get into some new hobbies that will help me better myself in the new year and new decade. 

I’m ready to take 2020 by storm and I hope you’ll join me. Exciting times are ahead.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

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• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
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The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

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