Christmas Trees, Treats and Tropical Plants

Life Lesson Learned: Signs are there for a reason

How are we just a couple of weeks away from Christmas? Maybe it’s just me, but my brain seems to be stuck in September for some reason. Time is flying way too fast this year, and I can’t seem to keep up! 

Now that we are, in fact, in December (despite what my brain seems to think), my parents and I like to try and do at least a few Christmas-y activities on the weekends. Some of these are more close-to-home traditions, but every year we generally do one entertainment attraction that requires some kind of ticket. (Last year, for example, we saw the play “A Christmas Carol” in downtown Cleveland).  

This time around, we chose to go to the Cleveland Botanical Garden for their seasonal attraction “Frost.” I couldn’t even remember the last time I had been to the gardens. (All I know is that it was for a gingerbread themed display!)

Being planners, we purchased our tickets in advance so as not to end up out of luck with admittance. The one area I didn’t do much investigating was the parking situation, but I didn’t think I needed to do so. The garden’s website said they had their very own parking garage, which took the stress out of finding a place to park. Or so I thought…. 

The Botanical Garden is located in the University Circle area of downtown Cleveland. The drive there is thankfully a straight shot once you get off the highway, and GPS makes it easy to not get lost. In fact, as soon as we saw a parking garage entrance, I thought, Great! That was easy! We paid to enter, and got a great parking spot on the second level. 

But before we got out of the car, I noticed a banner in the garage showcasing a medieval suit of armor and a sign about how to get to the museum entrance. That’s odd, I thought. Maybe the parking garage is shared by the garden and the Museum of Art?  

Since Google maps was showing the gardens as being right around the corner, I naively assumed the correct building we needed was just tucked behind the garage. But a quick walk down the sidewalk revealed that we were supposed to have stayed on the main road that led up the hill, and not turn onto the side road for the parking garage that clearly had a massive “Cleveland Museum of Art” sign up front. Oops…(I’m going to blame this one on a night of poor sleep). 

Realizing the mistake, we returned to the car so we could drive to the proper garage and I was grateful that we didn’t have to interact with the garage attendant on the way out and admit the screw-up. (I would have been in the back seat refusing to make eye contact otherwise).

Parking mishap aside, I was still excited about the attraction and I had no idea what to expect as I had avoided reading too much so as to be surprised on the day.

The best way I could describe it is a Christmas tree shop mixed with an art installation and tourist pop-up attraction. The first section was certainly more artsy, and featured a beautiful walkway of poinsettias that led to a giant arctic-themed room. (Truthfully I felt like I was on the studio set of a Rankin/Bass movie that was supposed to take place somewhere cold). It was definitely picturesque and I appreciated the display even though it basically only existed for the purpose of taking photos. 

It reminded me a bit of those pop-up attractions in NYC where you pay an overpriced admissions fee to take a bunch of Instagram photos in just 15 minutes. I leaned the hard way with those tourist traps when I wasted money on one that was egg-themed …

Throughout the hallways of the main building were Christmas trees decorated by various local organizations. It was fun to see what themes everyone chose, though there were so many nature-inspired trees they were starting to blend together after a while! I was particularly delighted to see a tree decorated with mushrooms, fairies and birdhouses, three of my mom’s favorite things. I think she and I both wish we had enough room in our own houses to put up multiple trees decorated in different ways!

Since we were at a botanical garden, we figured we might as well head through two indoor plant environments: tropical and desert. I was surprised to find they had thrown a few Christmas decorations into each area, but I was so overwhelmed by the suffocating humidity and heat that I couldn’t wait to get out of there. (The live butterflies were a joy to see though!) Honestly I have no idea how people can get into the Christmas spirit in warm climates; give me cool temperatures and snow for December any day! 

My favorite display by far was the gingerbread house and display competition. I’ve covered the topic of gingerbread houses for work multiple times (shameless plug for my recent story here), so I really have an appreciation for the amount of work that goes into these creations! Plus, every time I make my own house using a kit, it ends up looking like it was created by a 5-year-old; so I truly commend these bakers (both novice and professional) for their impressive, edible works of art!

Our last stop (other than the gift shop that should have been arrested for highway robbery), was the small display of lights outside in the plaza. Normally I’m not a fan of overcast weather, but since we were visiting during the day, it did make it easier to see and photograph all of the lights. Unfortunately, it did start to rain during our brief walk outside, which meant we didn’t spend much time exploring. (And wouldn’t you know it; the rain stopped as soon as we were done. Sounds about right!) 

My overall thoughts about the exhibit? It was cute and certainly festive. Worth the price? Not so much. Yes, it also included admission to the gardens, but there isn’t exactly much to see this time of year! Basically you’re paying full admission for something you’re going to get through exploring in a couple of hours max. 

That being said, it was still a fun Christmas activity (and we stopped for a late lunch at a Chinese buffet afterwards, which is always a win in our book!)

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Life Lesson Learned: Look for the “back door”

Christmastime in New York is just as magical as it appears in the movies, and I’m glad I got to spend so many years admiring all of the decorations that go up throughout the city in December.

Of course, no visit to NYC at Christmas is complete without stopping to see the Rockefeller Tree. I went for the first time with my then co-worker in 2015 (you can read about it here), and I was pleasantly surprised to find that although it was crowded…it was tolerable. In fact, we even had a front-row spot to the light show on the facade of Sak’s Fifth Avenue. 

But with each passing year, I felt like the crowds in the Rockefeller Plaza had begun to get suffocating. Honestly it was so bad that it was almost hard to breathe at times. Hoards of people trying to cross between Sak’s and the entrance of the plaza meant the only way you’d get anywhere fast was if you started to crowd surf. 

I hated everything about it, but there was absolutely no way I was not going to see the tree. It didn’t matter that I got photos every single season that probably looked indistinguishable to most people. I felt the same as Kevin McCallister; it was a must. 

The majority of tourists prefer to see the tree for the first time from fifth avenue, and in 2015, I completely understood why! 

(I did wise up in 2016 and discovered that if you stood on one of the concrete benches, you could get a gorgeous photo that didn’t feature the backs of hundreds of heads and phones being held in the air). 

But I knew there was no way that I was going to deal with the crowds in that area every season, especially when I already had that “wow-worthy” photo. So one year I decided to try something different; I made my way to the plaza from Sixth Ave. (down W. 50th to be specific), and was absolutely delighted to find the tree was there, and easily accessible, in all its glowing glory. 

This meant I could get great shots of the tree and actually get to see it up close without getting my internal organs smashed by hoards of people. (Sure, the trade-off was having to avoid the countless families and couples taking selfies in front of the tree –and I’m pretty sure I was asked at least a few times to take photos for people–but it was worth it!) 

I had discovered a “back door,” and knew I’d never be going down Fifth Avenue at dark during the holidays ever again. (Ironically this “back door” was anything but secret, yet it still was one of the least popular ways to get to the tree. I never understood why!) Plus, you could still see the Saks’ light show throughout the entire plaza.

Another perk? Sixth Ave. is packed with its own amazing decorations that you can still enjoy, and with less crowds too. My favorite was always the giant ornaments!

Seeing the Rockefeller Tree in person will forever be one of my beloved NYC memories! In fact, I have an ornament of the tree I purchased from the Christmas in New York shop (and two years ago also bought one for my mom online) so I can still get a little taste of it even now at home.

Best of all? I can admire it whenever I want….and no crowd-induced claustrophobia required! 

Homegrown Goodies

With leaves falling, cooler temperatures sneaking in and Halloween just around the corner, that means one thing: garden season (at least in northeast Ohio) is coming to an end. 

This is only my second year trying to develop a green thumb, but I feel like I’ve already learned a lot from my little backyard garden. Although with nature’s unpredictability, sometimes just when you think you have something figured out, it throws you a curve ball.

So I wanted to do a round-up of some of the highs and lows that popped up this year.

Life Lesson Learned: Garden cages are an absolute must 

I’ve shared before how lucky I am to have a number of regular wildlife visitors that show up at my house. This can quickly go from a blessing to a nightmare though when they discover you are growing fruits and veggies in your backyard. Let’s face it, a fence can only do so much to keep them out. Last year I had to work with some makeshift protection using garden netting and poles to try and keep birds and other critters away from my bounty. It wasn’t a great situation. 

So my dad offered to build me a gorgeous cage last October using wood and chicken wire to surround my now two raised beds. It’s perfect, because it lets me and pollinators in, and keeps hungry animals out. This year I’ve watched raccoons, red squirrels and groundhogs have hilarious tantrums when they discovered a plant they wanted to get their paws on only to realize their access was denied. Success! Guess you have to settle for the bird feeder, huh? 

Life Lesson Learned:  Potatoes might as well come from trees

I’ve always had an appreciation for nature, but I’m not ashamed to admit that until I started my own garden, I was quite ignorant about what it takes to grow most vegetables or what the plants themselves look like before the harvest ends up on your table. 

It’s been eye opening, to say the least. One gardening shocker? Potatoes! I used to think, “Potatoes grow in the ground, what else is there to know?” While that is, in fact, true, it’s a bit more involved than that. 

I planted the seed potatoes back in April (seed potatoes are small pieces of potatoes with sprouts in them) and before long, lush green stalks were poking out of the soil. Those potato plants became huge so fast that I was convinced they were going to outgrow the garden cage. They also took up so much space in the garden bed that it was basically like having a bunch of giant maple trees sticking out of the soil. 

I ended up with a beautiful batch of delicious Yukon gold potatoes that I harvested in July, so I guess I can’t complain too much. But next year, I’ll definitely be growing spuds in their own containers so my other plants don’t feel like they’re being overshadowed (literally!).

Life Lesson Learned: Gardening can be full of surprises

I grew two Roma tomato plants from seed myself (a proud accomplishment!) and I was particularly eager to watch them both really thrive once they were transplanted outside in late spring. 

Naturally, I was also excited once the plants began to grow fruit, but I was expecting things to go wrong after last year‘s tomatoes (from two store-bought plants) resulted in empty or moldy tomatoes for most of the summer. Yuck! 

Luckily, that wasn’t the case this time around, but I did encounter a different issue. As the weather warmed up, I noticed some rather odd looking tomatoes appearing on one of the plants. Roma tomatoes are supposed to be long and oval shaped, but these cuties were plump and round. 

When I brought up the oddity in a Facebook group, I learned I wasn’t alone. Many other people were starting to notice their tomato plants (also grown from seed) were producing fruit that in no way matched what (they assumed) was planted. Considering 2023 was the year of Pepper-Gate (pepper plants around the country being mislabeled), I guess this isn’t overly surprising. 

Somehow the same tomato plant continued to produce both regular roma tomatoes and the mystery fruit throughout the season. I was never able to determine what exactly they were (perhaps a form of heirloom tomato), but they were still just as delicious.

Life Lesson Learned: Carrots grow so slow, you’ll almost forget about them

Last year when I planted carrots, the end result was nothing more than some fast growing weeds. Bummer! This season, I had so many sprouts that I actually had to thin out the seedlings. (And boy, did I feel bad about it!)  

Like the potatoes, the green carrot tops quickly became lush and massive. Another similarity? I had no idea what was waiting for me below the soil. The seed packets for carrots suggest it only takes 100 days for them to reach their full size, but I’ve learned from online gardening groups that the timeline is often severely underestimated. People will eagerly pull up carrots only to find they’re no thicker than a pencil. (Or their carrots have grown into some questionable and often R-rated shapes….but that’s another story) 

In September, I decided to harvest one of my carrots to see if I was going to be pleased with the results or laughing at what I found. It was actually of a decent size, and my bunny certainly appreciated the “fresh from the garden” flavor. 

I gave it a little more time before harvesting any other carrots, or at least those that looked like they were probably ready to be plucked. My bunny Dobby enjoyed the goodies, and I was able to incorporate them into a couple of different dinners for myself (much to his dismay I’m sure). Weeks later I went back out…in a rainstorm…to harvest what remained. 

Should it really have taken six months to get some decent sized carrots? Who knows. But hey, at least I can brag that I got something other than weeds this time.  

Life Lesson Learned: Plants are going to do what they want

You can follow things by the book and give your plants some extra TLC, but at the end of the day, it appears they’re either going to thrive or they’re not. I’m also starting to think that some plants have a rebellious streak. When are they going to do some research on that? 

For example, I started off with two zucchini plants, and one was struggling so bad I had to pull it up in late summer. My second is somehow still hanging in there, but it’s had a rough season for actual fruit production. To make matters worse, the plants completely overtook the nearby onions I had high hopes for, severely stunting their growth. I gave up on those for the second year in a row, and pulled out about 99% of the stunted bulbs. 

Yet here we are with less than two weeks until November, and I have a couple of onions that have sprouted some green tops like they have an entire summer left to grow. Who wants to tell them? 

My beloved tomato plants have been just as rebellious. Those lush beauties are a determinate tomato variety, which means they are supposed to produce a lot of tomatoes in a short amount of time before dying off. Again, here we are in October and they not only have a number of tomatoes still on the vine (that will likely never ripen because it’s so cold out) but actual flower blossoms too. Crazy! 

At this point, it’s looking like my mom and I will be having lots of fried green tomatoes to enjoy soon! 

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Life Lesson Learned: Appreciate those farmers markets!

When one thinks of New York City, I’m sure farmers markets don’t exactly come to mind. It certainly never used to for me! 

Yet I was surprised to find that there were a number of them popping up in Manhattan every weekend, and boy, were they popular. The one that I remember the most was the market at Union Square. I can’t tell you how many summer Saturdays I weaved my way through the crowd of shoppers as I was leaving or heading to the subway station. 

I was certainly always intrigued by all of the booths there, but was in a bit of a tricky situation with shopping. Since I didn’t actually live in NYC, I couldn’t buy anything perishable, or if I did, it would have to be right before I was planning on catching a bus back to New Jersey. 

Needless to say, I never did any actual shopping there, other than buying a loaf of sourdough bread once. (And later realizing there’s not much one can do with sourdough bread…)

But that’s not the worst of it; it seems I don’t have a single photo of the actual farmers market despite passing through it countless weekends. Here we go again…

I can still picture the sights and sounds of the market like it was yesterday, but unfortunately I’ll never have any actual photo memories to look back on. I guess I was too focused on getting around people to get to the Union Square Petco, running to the station to catch a subway train or making my way to The Container Store on the next block. (The same can be said for the smaller market that was held on the Upper West Side near the Natural History Museum. I was too busy running off to do other things to really pay attention or photograph the booths). 

While I wasn’t able to truly appreciate the NYC farmers markets or do any shopping, I did eventually take advantage of the one held in Hoboken every weekend. Sure, it was a lot smaller, but I couldn’t pass it up.

(Okay, so it took me like four years before I actually stopped at that one too. But better late than never!) I decided to buy myself a cinnamon roll and some sweet pickle chips, both of which were delicious.

After moving back to Ohio, I quickly discovered that the “farmers market” (if you can even call it that) near our town was incredibly disappointing. This is ironic to say the least, since we have countless family farms in town and the surrounding areas. It sounds like they’re most popular in cities, which I guess makes sense because farmers are trying to bring their products out to people who normally can’t enjoy them. 

Looks like I’ll be buying any locally grown goodies (that aren’t from my own backyard) from produce stands in town. If you have a farmers market by you – even in NYC – take advantage of it. It’s a win-win for you and the local businesses! 

Fair Festivities

Life Lesson Learned: When there’s a lot to see, people will be too distracted to see you…

Summer winding down can only mean one thing around here: it’s fair time! 

County fairs have always been one of my favorite events to attend since I was a kid. Our own Lake County Fair used to be such a treat, and growing up I would enter art projects and various collectibles into the Fine Arts competition. I even won quite a few blue ribbons over the years! As I got older, we discovered the nearby Great Geauga County Fair and quickly fell in love with it. That’s when the Lake County Fair became more of a “just going because we’ve always gone” tradition rather than something we enjoyed. But over the years the quality has gone downhill, so we decided to take a hiatus from it. 

When I moved back to Ohio in 2021, we actually ended up going to both fairs that summer. I did enjoy going back to our county fair simply because it had been so long, but honestly the experience was a bit depressing….animals brought in from other counties, a nearly empty Fine Arts building, far less vendors than we remembered. So sad! That feeling only increased when we went to the Geauga Fair a few weeks later and saw how much things were still thriving there. So until the Lake Fair bounces back, we’ll be sticking with the other one for now!

Geauga’s fair is fantastic in every aspect. The actual fairgrounds are massive (I mean there’s a huge permanent pond there!), there are so many food options it’s overwhelming, there’s a plethora of animals to see and the Fine Arts, Flowers and Domestic Arts buildings are teeming with entries. It’s always a fun (albeit tiring) experience! In fact, I hated being on a semester schedule in college because it meant I was away in Columbus during Labor Day and one year even considered taking a Greyhound bus back home for the weekend. The fair is that  good. 

Needless to say I’ve been looking forward to going all summer; and as usual, it didn’t disappoint! We were lucky enough to get sunny clear skies and decent temperatures before a gross heatwave moved in today. (And this was after unusually cooler temps the last week of August. You never know what to expect anymore honestly.)

Apparently we weren’t the only ones eager to be there because the crowds were in abundance even before noon. It also became quickly apparent that we had unknowingly brought our invisibility cloaks with us to the event. We had a family nearly crash into us at the gate as they cut in front of us to get wherever they were in a hurry to go. To be honest, they acted like they hadn’t even seen us. Okay then…

Once inside the fairgrounds, it didn’t take long for us to get hit with all of the iconic smells that accompany a day at the fair. I joked to my mom that it’s the only place where you can smell a mix of fried greasy foods and horse manure and somehow still have an appetite! 

As tempting as the food was, it wasn’t quite lunch time so we kicked things off by looking at the various vendors near the entrance. I did snatch up a cute bunny figurine (which is ironic because I had said on the way to the fair that I wish you could find bunny merchandise there!) and we found plenty of photo opportunities. I did have at least two different people nearly collide into me and my mom within the first hour of being there…and I actually bumped into someone myself who had gotten in front me unexpectedly and I walked right into his back.

The animals continue to be one of my favorite aspects of the fair (though the three of us prefer to avoid looking at those who are simply there as part of the 4-H auction…talk about depressing), so I was excited to see what kind of sassy donkeys and miniature horses were there this year. I’m convinced most small animals have a bit of a Napoleon complex, but I love that about mini horses. Those small bodies are packed with big personalities! 

While looking at the various educational cabins that surround the picturesque pond, my dad pointed out that it was shortly after noon in case we were interested in grabbing lunch. I said I was in no rush, then not even 10 minutes later my stomach started growling. So, naturally, I asked if we could pause our sightseeing and get some food. (Better to get ahead of the hanger before it gets dangerous, right?)

I wish I had been updating this blog during our 2021 fair visit because I would have shared a rant about our food. But luckily for you, you still get a condensed version of that now. Long story short, it was tradition for us in the past to get freshly made fried rice and it was something we looked forward to every year. In 2021, we saw a stand selling Chinese food and foolishly assumed it was the same vendor. (The lack of Chinese-Americans running the stand should have tipped us off that we should have run in the other direction). It was greasy, lukewarm rice that tasted like it had been made a week earlier. Gross! I ended up getting a corn dog afterwards to satisfy my hunger and wish I had just gone with that in the first place.

This year when my dad and I confirmed the person running the stand was a teenage, redhead Caucasian male and not someone of Asian descent, we knew to stay clear. So I went with a corndog yet again since I was pleased with how tasty it was the last time, then followed up with fried swiss cheese on a stick (my first time trying) which basically tasted like a mozzarella stick and looked like a corndog. But no complaints; both were delicious. 

My parents had a good laugh during lunch when the teenage guy working the corn dog stand handed my dad their cups of pop–sans lids–and told him which cup was the Sprite and which was Coke. Wow…

With our bellies content, we made our way back to all of the animal barns. Unsurprisingly, seeing all of the rabbits is a highlight for me even though I have my own cutie bun right at home! (However, I absolutely loved seeing all of the baby bunnies and it made me wish I had seen Dobby when he was that little….and he was still only five months old when I adopted him!)

We also spotted a surprising handful of kids (this time of the goat variety) and I don’t think I’ve ever seen them so small. Cows are also one of my favorite animals, and we got to see a few of them being milked at the Milkshake Stand. So neat!

Speaking of milkshakes…we had yet another family nearly walk into us at one of the barns because they were so focused on enjoying their milkshakes. Clearly this was becoming the rather annoying pattern throughout the day. 

Next, it was onto the area of the fairgrounds featuring the crafts, baked goods, flowers, produce and fine arts. Let me tell you, the talent in Geauga County is noteworthy! I’m always particularly impressed by the crocheting/sewing projects and woodworking. Now that I have my own garden, I do get a kick out of seeing the produce people enter to try and win the “largest” category.

Nothing, however, beats the cake contest. I’m consistently amazed by the entries people turn in and this year was no exception. The fair foods and the Friends “The One where I Entered a Cake” themed creations were my favorites! But the kids’ entries were equally impressive, as well. I’ve gotten better at baking over the years but I can barely drizzle chocolate onto a dessert without it looking like a toddler smothered it on with bare hands. Kudos to the young bakers!

Unsurprisingly, those cakes brought out our sugar cravings, so it was time to wrap up the afternoon with dessert. I knew I wanted to get cheesecake on a stick, partially because I had recently written a digital story for work on the topic, and partially because I thought it would be fun to stick (pun intended) to foods on a stick for my fair day. Boy was it ever the perfect treat to cool off with. Yum! 

Since half the fun of fairs is the food, I couldn’t leave without grabbing a pricey, fresh-squeezed lemonade to help quench my thirst after the rich cheesecake. I was nearly chugging it as we made the long stroll across the race track field back to the parking lot. 

And for the first time all day, we managed to walk somewhere without a distracted human being cutting into our path. Sigh…

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Life Lesson Learned: Parking lot fairs just aren’t the same…

Back in 2017, a then-coworker invited me to join her, her boyfriend and some of their friends at the State Fair being held at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey. I knew it wasn’t exactly a “county fair” but it still sounded like a fun time so I happily agreed to meet them there. (Once I figured out the proper buses to take!) 

I quickly discovered that the fair was comprised of food vendors, a handful of rides and some entertainment/shows. (To be fair, we had a local annual event like that in my hometown that ended when I was in middle school. Sure, it wasn’t much, but at least it was something to do). Unfortunately, as someone who suffers with motion sickness, there are very few rides I can actually go on. So the only one I hopped on at this fair was the Ferris wheel….and I didn’t even get to appreciate the view as much as I normally would. There was some dark ominous clouds hovering overhead, so I’m pretty sure I was more concerned about being dumped on than admiring the overhead view of the fair. 

The food was the usual offering of greasy, carb-loaded fair fixings (no complaints here) so I got myself a stromboli to enjoy while my friend and her boyfriend rode some of the rides I wasn’t interested in. 

One of the highlights of this fair was their entertainment offerings. Magicians, dive tanks and my personal favorite: the pig races! Hopefully the owners treated them well because I absolutely loved watching the piggies run around the track! (I wish they’d bring something like this to county fairs…I think 4-H kids would have a blast having their animals compete!) I probably would have stood there for 20 minutes and watched the races if I had been alone, but even the few heats of the race that we caught were a delight. 

The other main attraction I distinctly remember was the hypnotist. They had brought a handful of people up stage to be hypnotized live (I’d rather sell my kidney, but to each his own) and it was quite the sight to see. I believe we only ended up in the tent where the show was being held because it quickly starting pouring outside. Or was that just an illusion? Hrm….

I didn’t end up staying at the fair that long thanks to the less-than-favorable weather and because I didn’t want to be stuck trying to catch a bus late at night. Although it was nice to spend some time with friends at the time, the experience honestly just made me miss good old fashioned county fairs! That confusing aroma of fried foods, hay, kettle corn and manure just can’t be beat. 

Waterfront Fun

Life Lesson Learned: Sometimes, you gotta mix it up

How is summer almost over? Where has the time gone? 

It’s been a rather odd summer weather-wise with many days being more humid than hot. Although I have a lot of disdain for humidity, I am grateful that we haven’t been battling the excessive heat warnings that often pop up in August. It’s been sticky and smokey, but I guess things could always be worse. 

Last weekend we were blessed with sunny and fairly comfortable temperatures, so my parents and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and spend our Sunday at Geneva-on-the-Lake (GOTL). Since we weren’t heading there on a holiday this time, we were hopeful we wouldn’t be fighting crowds everywhere we went. (I blogged about our 2022 Father’s Day experience here.)

I’m sure this comes as no surprise, but we tend to be creatures of habit when it comes to our traditions. GOTL is hardly an exception. We park in the same general area, eat lunch at the same place (though this has changed a tiny bit over the years), play mini golf at the same location and hit up the same attractions. Okay, that makes us sound as dull as can be. But hey, why fix what isn’t broken?

This time, however, my mom suggested we start off our time at the strip on the opposite side of the street. (What rebels, I know!) This sounds rather unimportant, but believe it or not it can make a difference. Since we usually begin our day on the right side of the street, we are all so hot, sweaty and exhausted by the time we get to the sites on the left. At that point we basically just drag our feet to the car and groan that we may as well have parked the car in Indiana. As a result, almost everything on that side of the strip gets passed up because we’re too tired to care about anything but a seat and air conditioning. 

Not this visit! Mixing things up meant we could actually enjoy those usually passed-up spots and instead save our “God, I can’t feel my legs” walk for the opposite side the street. 

This shake-up ended up having another perk…we got to explore a section of GOTL that we haven’t seen in a long time. There used to be a mini (about as mini as you could get) amusement park tucked along Lake Erie, complete with a carousel, haunted house, ferris wheel, water slide and more. It was definitely quaint and built more for kids, but it was still a nice attraction to have. (Minus the carousel….the music on that thing always gave me the creeps!)

Unfortunately, the entire park closed in 2006, and much like Geauga Lake, there are few remnants of its existence still remaining. Luckily, the Ferris wheel was purchased by the Firehouse Winery down the street, so at least some history remains! It was actually the Ferris wheel that caught our eye on this visit, so we decided to wander over and snap some pictures since we haven’t had a good look at it in ages. 

That’s how we happened upon the site of the former Erieview Park tucked away behind the buildings. Of course, it’s now full of extra bar tents, axe throwing (sigh), and more outdoor seating, but it was still interesting to see what had been brewing back there over the years. (Even if it did spark a bit of nostalgia for the amusement park!) 

One tradition we’ll hold onto dearly is playing at Allison’s Mini Golf, which I’ve mentioned in previous updates. We were thrilled to find the course was far from busy, as it’s hard to enjoy yourself when you feel like you’re being rushed by players waiting for the hole. It was also the perfect time for the course to be nearly empty because boy, did we stink. Usually at least one of us walks away with bragging rights (heck, I’m still hung up on my impressive 2021 game when I managed to get a couple of holes in one while calling and texting my real estate agent….), but this was just overall embarrassing. Collectively we may as well have been about 40 strokes over par per each hole. Oh well…it’s about having fun right?

GOTL is packed with restaurants, but we tend to stick to your favorites. For as long as I can remember, we’ve made our lunch choice Eddie’s Grill. The food, particularly the burgers, has always been delicious. But it’s usually like the Hunger Games there trying to get seating, so eventually we decided to look elsewhere for options. We started going to a different stand with a small collection of picnic tables for the past few years, and while the food was tasty, it just didn’t hit home the same way. We were set on Eddie’s Grill this time around; and it was completely worth it! Juicy, hot burgers as tasty as I remembered and we actually managed to get a table. Huzzah! 

The rest of our afternoon was just as busy–but enjoyable–as the morning: stocking up on an unhealthy amount of candy at the candy shop, stopping into the various boutiques, grabbing some donuts to go and losing badly to my dad at air hockey in the arcade. I did much better at a handful of other games…and I was so close to earning just enough tickets to win one of their adorable GOTL mugs. Sure, I could have spent like another half hour and another $20 to win what was probably a $6 mug, but we still had a bit left to see at that point. The good news is that that I can save the game card (with the tickets I’ve already accumulated) and earn enough additional tickets next year to hopefully snag the prize. 

Though we were still worn out from a fun day, it did seem that the annual  “I’m so tired” walk back to the car was not quite as tedious as usual. But more importantly, this time we knew we weren’t missing anything on the way! 

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Life Lesson Learned: Skip the parade! 

There are a few places in NYC I still regret not seeing more, and Coney Island is undoubtedly one of those. 

I made my trip out there in June 2016 (you can read my initial entry here) to watch the annual Mermaid parade, which turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. Sure, there was a parade full of unique costumes and photo opportunities, but everything was insanely crowded by the time I left. In fact, things were so bad I couldn’t even get any cell service. Crazy! 

I’m not generally one to hop onto most amusement park rides (thanks to good old motion sickness), yet I’ve always enjoyed being around those types of parks. Strange, no? I thought Luna Park looked so cool even when nearly empty in the morning, and I would have loved to see the thrills in full swing. It brought back fond memories of Geauga Lake as a kid and it was hard to believe I was still in NYC. 

Since I was not about to do any rides (see above), I basically just walked around to explore and snap photos. (Basically what I did during most of my six years living in the greater NYC area. ) 

I  did at least have enough sense to get a hot dog from Nathan’s on the boardwalk. Yes, I had eaten plenty of Nathan’s hot dogs from stands around Manhattan, but something about enjoying it there in Coney Island just couldn’t be matched…even if I was sitting at some table with a less-than-stellar view.

Speaking of views; can you believe this is the only photo I have of the beach and ocean? 

I think the police line border had me nervous to venture into some blocked off region, but by the looks of the plenty of carefree souls on the other side of said line, I was just too timid to investigate. Sigh. I was barely into my first year of living there at the time and although I was clearly brave enough to venture to Coney Island solo, I’m confident my now 30-year-old self would have been nearly climbing on top of beach-goers to get the perfect photo. 

The rest of my time there was spent watching the parade, and although it was entertaining, I probably could have spent it instead exploring the restaurants, shops and you know…the beach. I’m sure there was a lot there that I didn’t see! It reminds me a lot of GOTL just looking at photos, and I think I would have had a blast there had I gone at a less busy time. 

Ironically, when I was making a couple of new friends in early 2020, the possibility of going to Coney Island together that summer had come up. Obviously that never happened….

But hey, at least I can say I’ve been there at least once! 

Tales from the Theater

Life Lesson Learned: Always double check your ticket 

I think a lot of people can agree that the weather this summer has been….unfortunate (And by unfortunate, I mean mostly crap). Last summer was a dry one in northeast Ohio that required regular use of a sprinkler to keep my lawn from looking like fried onion crisps, but this one has been miserable in its own right: humid, hot, and poor air quality for most of it. (To make matters worse, we went from an unusually cold spring right to what Ohio weather memes have dubbed “Hell’s Armpit.”) 

Needless to say, the humid and rainy weekend weather has made it tough to do much on the weekends right now that doesn’t involve sitting inside my air-conditioned box cursing things. One thing I have been able to do? Catch a couple of shows at Rabbit Run Theater! Sure, you’re still breathing in that sticky, smokey outside air as it ventures into the barn but at least it’s cooler that time of day and requires absolutely no physical effort in the heat on the part of the audience. 

And, of course, it still is a great way to spend a summer evening in town! 

This year I decided to see two different shows, with the first being the musical “Anything Goes.” I had heard from my tap instructor Kara back in May that she and a few others I had met through the dance program would be in the show, so I thought it would be fun to go check it out! 

A day or two before the performance (after like a week of mentioning the upcoming show to my Mom), something felt off. I was making my plans for going but something told me to check my email purchase confirmation, and thank God I did. My ticket was for June 30, not June 23 as I had written on my kitchen calendar. (Maybe my brain was thinking it was my lucky #23? Who knows). At least I managed to dodge what would have been an incredibly awkward conversation at the box office….

So a week later I slipped into one of my summer dresses and made the quick drive over to the theater for what I thankfully knew was the correct performance. The one aspect that manages to be a surprise no matter the show is my actual seat, because by the time I get there I forget where I had selected when I bought the ticket. As I’m being helped by an usher my internal response is usually “Oh third row? Sweet!” because it might as well be news to me. 

Other than the brief synopsis of the play that was featured in the program, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. From what I could tell, it was a light-hearted musical taking place on a cruise ship. Sounded promising enough! 

My first reaction to the show was, “Damn, this cast is talented.” Of course, they always do a great job casting the plays at the barn, but as someone who has no singing ability whatsoever, I’m always impressed by the triple threats they get on stage. The humor in the show was also fantastic thanks to both the script and the actors. Well done! 

I will say I never know how I’ll feel about the actual musical numbers in musicals. I’m also not someone who loves a musical just because it’s a musical. (In fact, I hate seeing random pop culture movies and television shows being turned into musicals just because they can do it. Hairspray is an exception for me; and it’s one of my all-time favorites!). That being said, I thought all of the songs in Anything Goes were fantastic. I also enjoyed all of the dancing and the ensemble tap number (are you surprised?), which made me excited for my tap class to start up again in September!

Yesterday was the second show I decided to see (and this one didn’t have a date mix-up): The Hound of the Baskervilles. This was a title I had heard throughout my life, but have never read the story. But being such a huge fan of mysteries (that’s usually my go-to genre when I review books for work), I wanted to go see it. I don’t think I realized the play adaptation was also a comedy, but honestly that was just icing on the cake. 

I showed up in yet another summer dress to find that I had apparently chosen yet another seat in the same row (is this deja vu?) and began my usual pre-performance routine of combing through the playbill. “Wait, there are only three actors?” I thought to myself. (Evidently, I was thinking the same as everyone else, because not long after I heard a fellow theater-goer flabbergasted as they said the same thing to someone). Thankfully the “introduction” to the play quickly proved that the three actors would easily be able to carry the show and bring in a lot of laughs!

I don’t think I knew when I booked the show that it would be opening night, which creates a great energy in the theater. If there were any kinks that needed to be worked out in later performances you couldn’t tell; even when things were a bit “messy” it only added to the humor! For instance, stage hands were responsible for sliding out the furniture pieces in the ever changing set, which meant chairs, fireplaces and more hilariously ending up in unexpected spots or not always meeting their mark. But the show was meant to break the fourth wall from the very beginning (a theater term that means acknowledging the audience and the fact that you’re watching a play), so these little moments were perfect. In fact, one of the actors even took a moment mid-scene to call out a woman who had a hard-to-miss laugh throughout the show. I’m guessing that was improvised, but it was very well done! 

I won’t give away any spoilers, but it really was a delight getting both a dose of mystery and comedy meshed into one show. It was also my first straight (non-musical) show at Rabbit Run since moving back, and I believe my first straight showsince I saw The Cursed Child in 2019. Crazy! 

The only hiccup yesterday? My ticket was determined to ditch me, and I mean determined. This wouldn’t have been a huge issue for most people, but I have been scrapbooking memorabilia and souvenirs for years, so I would have been disappointed to get home and find the ticket was MIA. I apparently dropped it while waiting in the courtyard at intermission, and thankfully an older gentleman on a nearby bench saw it and let me know. Then as I was leaving the theater, I noticed an upside down ticket laying in the aisle. I picked it up, and sure enough…mine again. Clearly it had some underlying attachment issues to the theater, but come on, at least I won’t be throwing you in the trash at my house. 

So…. the lesson here, folks? Always double check your ticket. Check the date to make sure your brain isn’t playing games with you, and check to make sure your “trying to get lost” ticket isn’t doing the same. 

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Life Lesson Learned: Trust no one

Back in 2016, I was so excited to hear that John Krasinski was acting in a play at the Public Theater in Manhattan. I would be seeing John Krasinski in the flesh? Ahhhh!

Spoiler alert: I did not. (Not in a play and not in 2016 anyway…) 

Evidently I was still learning at that point that popular things, especially popular things in NYC, sell out quickly. You can’t expect to waltz up to the box office the day of and buy a ticket. In fact, you’ll probably get laughed at. So, by the time I heard John was even doing the play, all of the tickets had completely sold out. Sigh. I believe I entered a few day-of lotteries but was never lucky enough to snag a ticket. Live and learn I guess….

I did, however, manage to get a ticket for a play called Privacy that would be held at the Public Theater later that summer, featuring Daniel Radcliffe. Wicked! 

First, I would like to take a moment and file a formal complaint against myself for the lack of photos I took during my trips into NYC. I lived 10 minutes away for six years, and do not have nearly enough photos to show for it. It’s borderline embarrassing, Shay. Tsk, tsk. 

So all I seem to have is an awkward snapshot of my lap and an unexciting photo of the outside of the theater.

But no photos of the lobby? Or signs promoting the play? Or the stage pre-performance? Or, you know, anything? Ugh. 

Anyway…

This was another play that i knew absolutely nothing about going into it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going to see it solely because Daniel was in it and because I was still kicking myself for the John incident. This play could have been about zombie llamas and I likely wouldn’t have cared at that point. 

But it did prove to be an interesting show. I don’t remember as much of the plot as I would like (Look… it’s been 7 years and I can’t even remember today’s date, okay? ), but one aspect absolutely still sticks out in my brain: the inclusion of audience members. This play took breaking the fourth wall to a whole new level. 

Various audience members were brought onto the stage to interact with Daniel for a variety of exercises (can you say lucky?) which was highly entertaining. But there was a surprising reveal at the end: some of those audience members were actually hired actors. (If I remember correctly, we were supposed to guess who was an actor and who was a real audience member. And everyone definitely got it wrong!) 

It was definitely quite the twist for a modern play that already had a unique, out-of-the box approach. (And helped prove the point that you should never blindly trust what you’re seeing!) 

I never had the chance to meet Daniel or get an autograph after the show, but it was still an enjoyable and memorable experience in a small, intimate theater. 

Now if only I had more than two photos to remember it by….

Treasures this way =>

Life Lesson Learned: Yard sales are a lot of work

‘Tis the season! No, not for Christmas–it’s yard sale season! 

Last summer (for some unknown reason) I thought it would be “fun” to have a yard sale at my house. I guess it’s because I’ve never been on the seller-side as an adult. My parents held a handful throughout my childhood, with the last being my senior year of high school. To show you how “uninvolved” I was, I basically sat outside with my parents and spent the entire day making a study sheet for a final exam. I still helped out when they needed, but the pricing, putting out signs and dealing with customers was entirely on them. 

So when I decided last year I wanted to have one this summer, it quickly transitioned from my sale at my house to my sale at my house with some items my parents could sell (to help create more inventory). Then we decided it would just be easier to do it at their house (especially since they have a garage and I don’t) and combine our efforts into one giant sale. We spent the past year purging and collecting items around the house and storing them in my parent’s attic. I don’t think I really grasped just how much stuff we were going to have at our sale until April when I helped them bring everything down to the garage. (And it probably would have been even more if I hadn’t already done decluttering before and after moving back from New Jersey). I’m pretty sure we made an Amazon warehouse look tiny… 

About 4-6 weeks before we wanted to have our sale, we began the long and tedious process of organizing and pricing. And by we, I meant my amazing mom who spent many long days turning their garage into the equivalent of a well-organized department store. I had promised to come over and help, but since a lot of what we were selling came from her and my dad, she said there wasn’t much I could do in terms of pricing anyway. (Of course I did take care of pricing my own items!) 

Since we probably had a world record for largest small town sale in history, my mom suggested we call it an Attic-Clean Out Yard Sale so it stood out from the rest. I mean, it certainly wasn’t untrue. Besides, yard sales with catchy names help draw in the crowds. (Or at least give people a laugh!)

It seems that the clever marketing (and useful photos) worked because when I posted our sale on Facebook Marketplace the Monday beforehand, views quickly skyrocketed. Of course, the messages quickly followed. “Do you have video games?” “ How much is the furniture?” “What’s the lowest offer you’ll take on that item?” (Yes, someone actually had the nerve to ask that about a dishware set. Sigh). I refused to answer any of the messages, because the whole point of advertising the sale is to get people to come to it! It doesn’t mean they’ll buy anything, but if they don’t come at all because you tell them you don’t have a specific item then you definitely won’t make a sale! By the time the sale was over, we had received 663 clicks on our listing, which is still mind-blowing to me. (Spoiler alert: we did not have that many actually show up–I wish!) 

My mom and I had carefully monitored the weather in the week leading up to the sale, but since it seems meteorologists are hardly accurate about the current weather (Aka: “There’s a 30% chance that it’s already raining”) we changed our minds at least three times about whether or not to go ahead with it or postpone until Memorial Day weekend.(Yes, we were technically having a garage sale, but we had a lot of items that needed to go into the driveway. Not to mention, few people want to go out and shop during a monsoon!) Thankfully the Friday before the sale it looked like any chance of rain on Saturday would end by lunch so we decided to go ahead and risk it. 

Naturally, we woke up that morning (earlier than I even get up for work now–go figure!) to dumping rain outside. Ugh. We knew there was a strong chance it would, but can you blame us for being hopeful that the forecast would be wrong? So we waited around for what felt like six hours until it looked like the rain had passed. We were supposed to open the sale at 9 as advertised on our signs, but ended up delaying until 10 when the weather was clear. I’m just grateful that we only lost an hour, so can’t complain there!

We actually got a customer right at opening and, luckily for me, the first thing she grabbed was a set of outdoor planters the sellers of my house had left behind when they moved. Huzzah! An easy $5 for something I never even bought! 

The three of us had our own “roles” throughout the weekend. (You can see mine as illustrated by my mom’s adorable sale “map.”)

I was in charge of the cash box and bagging items, and my mom helped straighten things and write down what was sold so we could keep track of dividing the profits later. (The initial plan was for me to write down that info but I quickly realized that trying to give change and use a clipboard resulted in a bunch of illegible writing that looked like it was scribbled by a toddler). My dad’s role was (in his words) to not be a jinx and stay out of the way because we made most of our sales when he wasn’t around. (And then at one point when he was in charge while I ran back to my house for lunch, he handled the cashbox and forgot to write down an item. Thankfully we were able to figure out what had sold based on our photos on the Marketplace listing. So after that incident we told him he was “fired.”)

I had come fully prepared to the sale with items to keep myself busy in between customers, but thankfully we rarely had a lull. In fact, we seemed to have most showing up in waves. One car would turn into three others, people would look around, and then by the time the last person would leave, I’d have enough time to help my mom straighten up and/or grab a snack before the next person showed up. 

Traffic generally stayed consistent until around dinner time. We decided to use Domino’s pizza gift cards we had from Christmas so we could enjoy the leftovers the next night too. Let’s face it, yard sales are a perfect excuse to treat yourself to some fast food. (Though we joked that half of my parents’ profits were going towards their dinner). 

For some unknown reason, most yard sales in my town close at 2 p.m. This has been a massive pet peeve of ours because not only does it make it difficult to get to sales as a shopper, but the people hosting them might be missing out on even more profit. Our family has never done that for any of our sales. We will stay open until dark if it means more business! Plus, my parents live incredibly close to the township park so it’s common for them to get foot traffic of people walking up to the park to see the lake. 

Unfortunately, that didn’t matter much this year as we only got one customer after dinner hours, prompting us to close at 7. Luckily, we knew we were supposed to have beautiful weather on Sunday so we didn’t feel the need to drag things out. Besides, ending a bit “early” gave us a chance to catch up on sleep. (For me, this meant unintentionally passing out on the couch at 9:30. Whoops!)

Day two of the sale had a much more positive start! We were able to start on time and get everything out to the driveway without worrying we were going to get hit with a  sudden monsoon. Plus, since we had managed to sell quite a few of the larger items the previous day, there was far less we had to drag out from the garage.

Sadly we weren’t suddenly flooded with customers the second we opened. In fact, the first hour was completely dead, minus a few drive-by’s. I began to joke that maybe if I looked like I was a customer it would start to draw in the crowds. Ironically, our first wave of people arrived shortly after. (That ended up being the case all day—short spurts of nothing, then suddenly 10 cars within a 20-minute period). We also noticed that our second day crowd seemed more interested in things that were completely ignored on Saturday, like clothes and holiday decor. We could barely give any of that away the previous day! 

Mom and I were both flattered by the number of people who offered up compliments on what we had to offer, even if they didn’t buy anything. We have actually said the same thing at some other sales we’ve been to; sometimes people might have a great variety or quality items, but they’re just not a great fit for either of us! 

Business stayed steady most of the day until around dinner time again, when Mom and I ended up passing the time by playing hangman. I will say that was the first time all day that I actually even had time to get involved in anything that wasn’t chatting with customers or answering questions. 

When it became clear that things were winding down, Mom and I went in the house to start adding up our profits and dividing up the cash. I will say I made more than I thought I would, but I still only sold about half of the items that I had actually put into the sale. (My parents made quite a bit more cash than me, but unfortunately they too had a lot of items leftover. Almost everything left went to charity!). Also, I’m quite grateful that we were able to even have a two-day sale, because our last one in 2011 got rained out on the second day. (And don’t even get me started on our traumatic rainstorm incident at the community sale.) 

So…was the entire experience worth it? I’m not sure. I learned a lot, and I can check it off my “things I want to try as an adult” list. But when you take pride in having a good yard sale, and have a lot of merchandise to sell, it very much becomes high effort, low reward. 

But hey, at least I earned some cash for summer festivals, new tap shoes for the fall, or, you know…shopping at yard sales. (I have a problem, okay?)

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Life Lesson Learned: Sometimes, it’s all about the view

During my time in the NYC area, a few different neighborhoods quickly became favorites. One of those was DUMBO in Brooklyn, which I’ve blogged about numerous times. It reminded me of Hoboken in a lot of ways: quaint shops, great places to eat and stunning views of the water and Manhattan. 

One cloudy June day in 2017 I hopped on the subway out there for a brief visit and to see the Brooklyn Flea (or maybe it was the other way around and I happened to run into the market while I was there? I’m an old lady at 30 now, so my memory isn’t what it used to be!)

I rarely, if ever, find anything to buy at flea markets…including those in Ohio. Yard sales are where I have the most luck! But still, they can be fun to peruse and often offer up some great photo ops while you’re browsing around. 

This particular market certainly had a “wow” factor. Getting to look at vendor booths under the Manhattan Bridge? I mean, how much cooler can you get?  They probably could have had nothing but rocks being sold in the DUMBO archway and I would have thought it was spectacular. 

As usual, I found myself quickly overwhelmed by everything there was to look at, so I haphazardly snapped photos of random finds just to document my experience. “Random vintage books? Okay!” “Large metal numbers? Sure why not?”

The weather was a bit gloomy for that experience, so I was thrilled to go back the following summer on a much sunnier day. Unfortunately, it was also much hotter that day. I vividly remember being grateful for the shade of the overpass so I could escape the hot August sun. 

Once again there were a number of quirky items that were worthy of a photo, even if I wasn’t on the hunt for collectibles or antiques.

The flea market is actually held weekly, but once per summer seemed to be enough to scratch my DUMBO sight-seeing itch. And let’s be honest, my flea market visits were never intended to be shopping trips. They were just another excuse to marvel at the views of the bridge! (And of course, stop by Shake Shack afterwards for lunch)  

Break a leg!

Life Lesson Learned: That first dance on stage never gets less nerve-racking

I did it. I tap danced on stage again after a 19-year hiatus. 

And, unsurprisingly, I loved it!

The last time I blogged about dance, I was just a month or two into taking classes here through our Rabbit Run Community Arts Association. I was having a blast, but hadn’t even given the winter/spring session much thought, let alone whether or not I would participate in the recital. As the holiday season was approaching, my instructor, Kara, suggested I join the intermediate class after Christmas as they weren’t much farther along instruction-wise than I was at that point. (My extremely small beginner class meant lots of one-on-one time, which made it easy to catch up!) 

Considering how excited I was to return to tapping as an adult, I would have been a fool to not continue with it in the winter. Of course, that meant cutting into my busy Thursday night of putting laundry away and passing out in front of the television, but hey, sometimes you need to make sacrifices, right? 

So I spent the second session with a lovely group of dancers, and together we learned two different numbers to perform in May, which brings us to our recital….

About a week before the event, it really started to hit me that I was going to be on stage, performing, in front of….you know…people. I knew both routines quite well at that point (much to the dismay of my two pets, who probably rolled their eyes every time I cued up the songs to rehearse), but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little worried about screwing up on stage. 

As the big weekend (which also fell on Mother’s Day this year) approached, I was a mix of anxiety and giddiness. Even something as simple as getting ready gave me butterflies, yet I was stressed worrying about how long it was going to take me. Plus, I was a Nervous Nelly about the actual process of getting dressed. Hair and makeup? Fun! Trying to squeeze into fishnet tights without tearing a big hole in them? Big yikes! (Thank God dance tights are of a high quality because I might as well have the nails of a raptor when I need to shimmy into nylons). 

What made things particularly….interesting…was the amount of layers my costume involved. We were told we could change at intermission, but I opted to not worry about it and instead took the route of walking around like a human onion. Fishnets, black shorts, leotard, black dance pants and costume jacket—in that order. But hey, everything fit so no complaints there….until I had to take a bathroom break about five minutes after putting on all of those layers. Pretty sure I burned just as many calories un-layering as I did dancing on stage.

Much like my childhood recitals, there was a mandatory rehearsal the day before. Thankfully in this case, they also wanted everyone to practice in costume, which makes it so much easier to get used to what it’s going to be like trying to move around in whatever you’re wearing. 

Waiting for the class before us to finish their rehearsal

Another nice surprise was that optional dance photos were also being taken at the school before your rehearsal time. (When I was a kid we used to have a separate photo day and we had to go to the actual photography studio to get them done). I really loved the costume, so I ended up getting a solo shot as well as a group photo (though we were short one member who was on a plane home from England!). I haven’t received the photos yet, but I’m excited to see them and add them to my scrapbook! 

The cafeteria/photoshoot set up

While we were waiting to go on stage for our scheduled rehearsal time, Kara gave me a brief tour of Harvey High School’s first floor since it was my first time there. Unfortunately my old high school has a stage but lacks permanent seating and a dressing room, so there’s no way to hold plays or recitals there. I was just impressed that Harvey had actual dressing rooms, and they were connected right to a backstage door which I thought was handy.

Our actual rehearsal went smoothly! Unfortunately, the actual stage was anything but smooth. It had such an odd “sticky” sensation that each one of us were taken aback by how it felt in our shoes. It was great for keeping dancers from slipping, but it did muffle the sounds of our tapping in a way that our usual studio floor doesn’t. Oh well, what can you do? 

Before I knew it, we had run through both numbers a few times and with my eyes burning from the sweat brought on by the hot stage lights, it was time to head back home. 

On recital day, the nerves will still hovering, but at least I had mastered the art of peeling off my layers on a bathroom break…one less thing to worry about! Being Mother’s Day, my parents and I went to the school together so we could leave together afterwards, so the two of them just killed time in the parking lot eating lunch while I hung out in the dressing room with everyone else.

I was so glad I didn’t have any kind of major costume change or preparation to take care of once I got there. I was stressed enough just watching the high school girls get ready. We adults basically just stayed out of their way and rehearsed off in our own little corner of the hallway! 

The wait to go backstage for our first number felt like an eternity! It was also challenging because we nearly had to tip toe through both the dressing room and hallway area to avoid making too much off-stage noise. Easier said than done when your shoes make you sound like a horse!

After a bit of a wait, the time came for us to take our places on the stage. Thankfully, they keep the curtain closed between numbers, which gives everyone time to get ready in their spot. As the curtain opened, we were ready to go in our opening poses. I may be coordinated when it comes to dance, but I’m also the kind of person to trip over furniture and walk into walls. So having to hold this pose without toppling over was quite the feat. 

To make matters worse, the music had a delayed start, so I watched my legs start to shake out of nerves. I remember thinking, “Oh God, I’m going to fall over like one of those fainting goats aren’t I? Can they see my legs shaking? Is it that obvious? Where’s the music? Am I dreaming?” Longest one hour….I mean one minute… ever! 

I was in the front for this dance so I was unable to see how we all did as a group, but from what I could tell, it went great! The number was a laid-back “jazzy” routine choreographed to a song called “New York, I love it when you’re mean.” Given my history with NYC I absolutely loved the song, and my mom also said she found it catchy! 

The curtain closed, we all breathed a sigh of relief, and then it was time to wait for the next number taking place after intermission. I never thought I would be so happy to take off leggings and walk around with my bare legs in fish neck stockings. It may have been air conditioned in the school, but we were still hot! I probably would have walked around in a bikini at that point.

With our first dance over, it gave us time to focus primarily on preparing for our faster number called “Rose.” Honestly, I think every single one of us was more stressed about this particular performance for our own reasons. For me, I was hoping I had enough energy and stamina to get me through, even though the song was on the shorter side. (It’s a good thing the recital is in the spring–there’s no way I would have been able to get through it in the fall when I was so out of shape). 

Thankfully, I remembered the choreography and managed to not look like an overexcited dog wheezing for breath. Win-win! 

And just like that….my 2023 recital experience had come to close! (But before staying backstage to watch the advanced class perform one last time. They were fantastic, and I was impressed by both their energy and ability to remember all of that choreography!)

My thought the second the show ended: “Okay, who’s ready for next year?!” 

I already can’t wait to receive my copy of the recital and re-live the fun until class resumes in September!

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Life Lesson Learned: If you know what you’re doing, you should try and look like you know what you’re doing

As a kid, the annual recital was easily my favorite time of year. Unfortunately, it was also the most stressful time of year, compounded by the fact that my dance teacher/owner of the school was particularly on edge in the spring. (Then again, when wasn’t she on edge?) Looking back, I understand why she was under so much pressure; it was her name and reputation on the line, not to mention she was the only teacher and choreographer for the entire show. That being said, we were a recreational studio, and screaming if a kid misses a step is completely uncalled for. 

I performed in three of the school’s recitals, though unfortunately I have very limited memory of my first year. Having VHS tapes (yes, I’m that old) of the other two recitals is such a treat and brings back fond memories of the entire experience. In fact, I watched them both this past spring to reminisce while I eagerly anticipated this year’s upcoming performance. 

Unlike the Rabbit Run recital, these were always held on Saturday night, with rehearsal taking place after school on Friday. I absolutely loved rehearsal as it was the only time I was able to watch the other classes’ routines until we received the VHS recording later that summer. It was fun to see what everyone had been up to over the past year, and of course, when you’re young, you get to look up to the older girls and hope you’ll be just as amazing when you reach their age. Another difference: We also all rehearsed in regular dance wear instead of costumes. At the time, it did an extra element of surprise and magic finally getting to see everyone in their costumes the next night. 

Rehearsing our ballet number in the hallway! (I’m in the back!)

One thing that hasn’t changed? When you aren’t performing (and I’m sure all the audience members waiting to see a certain relative or friend on stage can agree), dance recitals are long. I always thought it was smart that my dance instructor hired high school students to look after the younger classes to make sure they were safe, ready to go on stage and entertained while waiting around for their next number. In fact, the littlest kids usually brought along coloring books to keep busy. Can we make that socially acceptable to do as an adult dancer? 

My last two years taking dance, I performed in three numbers in each recital: jazz, tap and ballet. I’m proud that I remembered all of my choreography because that’s quite a lot for a kid!

But as I was watching the tapes this spring, I couldn’t help but laugh during our “ballet” number choreographed to “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” I have no doubt that I knew what I was supposed to be doing, yet I spent almost the entire number staring at the girl next to me. I have no idea why! It would have made me laugh more if I hadn’t been in the front row twisting my neck sideways like I had slept on it oddly. Thankfully, that wasn’t a habit I kept up for all of my numbers, but it’s definitely not one of my finest moments! (Second place goes to me rubbing my runny nose during a very classic ballet number. Sigh). 

Even to this day, I appreciate that my former teacher often formed a theme for the recital (my fourth grade recital had an entire section dedicated to ABBA) or grouped like numbers together with a cute little title like “The Magic Forest.” She also choreographed classical ballet and tap quite well, I must say. My tap routines were so fun that I still remember them both! (I even performed one of them in my elementary school talent show). 

I’m in the center!

There was always a twinge of sadness when we all gathered on stage for the finale, because after such a fun weekend and a school year’s worth of anticipation, you had to say goodbye to it all again until the fall. 

Then it was back to another 10 months of my teacher scaring the crap out of everyone and students panicking about remembering their choreography until that one weekend that somehow made it all worth it. 

Time to Geek Out

Life Lesson Learned: It’s a small world after all

Well, we made it through the 14-month-long period known as winter, which means we are back to blog-worthy activities once again. So my unintentional blogging hiatus has come to an end thanks to my first comic con in nearly four years.

Anyone who follows me on social media would know that I’ve been to my fair share of comic cons over the years. I started off going to “smaller” conventions in college, then hit up five years of New York Comic Con (and one Walker Stalker Convention) before the pandemic arrived. I’m definitely not the typical comic con attendee, however, as I’m by no means up-to-date with the latest fandoms and am especially clueless when it comes to actual comics. Television is my thing!

So back in January when I saw an ad for a convention in Cleveland where three actors from The Office would be guests, I was obviously excited. The Office is one of my all-time favorite shows; In fact, my home office is decorated with a theme that pays homage to the series. The closest I’ve ever come to meeting anyone from the show was breathing the same air as John Krasinski when he did a NYCC panel for Jack Ryan. Dreamy, sure, but not quite the same.

With Cleveland being an hour away and me still being an inexperienced (and non-city) driver, the only way I was going to go is if my parents were okay accompanying with me. Conventions are completely unchartered territory for them, but I was hopeful they’d still have a good time. 

The weekend before my birthday (and the event), one of our elderly outdoor cats at my parents’ house had a sudden health setback. We still aren’t sure what happened (stroke possibly), but he has managed to hang in there and since then has made remarkable improvement. That being said, with him struggling at the time and the predicted rainy weather the day of the convention, my mom decided to stay home to make sure he was okay and safe during any foul weather. Obviously I was disappointed that the sad circumstances meant she wouldn’t be joining my dad and I, but I was also grateful that she was there to look after him during an unfortunate situation. 

When convention day finally rolled around last Saturday, I was re-thinking my initial suggestion of what time we should head out to Cleveland. My original idea was to spend only a few hours there–not because I didn’t want to be there longer, but because I remember 2-3 hours was more than enough time to enjoy the Wizard World conventions in Columbus. So instead my dad and I opted for eating an early lunch and heading out sooner than planned. And boy am I glad we did!

Despite having printed directions to the convention and this incredibly useful thing on my phone called Google maps, we ended up missing our exit and having to double back to the downtown area. Thankfully we were quickly en route to our designation again but we hit another snag when it came to parking. Rather than track down the parking garage I had read about online, we made a last-minute decision to park at the closer (and cheaper) special events parking garage right near the convention center. Mistake number two! The city of Cleveland may as well have been operating a scam, because after we paid our $15 fee upfront, we quickly found that there were no available spots. And they kept letting cars into the garage! Things were so bad that we would see people at their cars and get hopeful they were leaving only to see they were eating lunch (and with the convention selling three soda pops for $17, I can see why!). We even witnessed one guy, call out “I’m staying!” when he saw us hovering like vultures. The whole thing would have been funny on a sitcom. Living it? Not so much. With a stroke of luck (you know, after driving around the garage for 20 minutes and my dad about to have a meltdown), we finally found an empty, albeit tight, spot. Great! We finally got up to the convention center only for my dad to realize he left his phone in the van. Sigh. At this point I should have been expecting the rest of the day to be a disaster, but thankfully once he got his phone (after yet another stressful ordeal), everything else went smoothly. 

As soon as we got inside the convention, received our badges (I was expecting just tickets!) and finally had a moment to breathe, I suggested we head over to the autograph area first. I was hoping to get an autograph from Oscar Nunez, but because no schedules were posted online I wanted to go to his table to see when he was available. Luckily–though shockingly–there wasn’t any sign of a line at the autograph tables for The Office actors and he was sitting at his table. Finally, something going our way! 

Though I had a photo op scheduled with the Office trio later in the day, I know how little time and interaction you actually get with the celebs in the photo booth. There was something in particular I had always wanted to mention to Oscar if I had a chance to meet him, so an autograph was the obvious solution! Once we made our introductions (I learned that I was the only Shay he had met that day!), I told him that I had lived in Union City, New Jersey for six years and, as a fan of The Office, was thrilled to find out he had lived there before, as well. He did act surprised, though admitted he hadn’t lived there (and many other nearby cities of NJ) since the 70’s. I asked where in Union City he had lived, and he said Palisade Ave. How neat, I said, as I too had lived on Palisade. Then he said 14th and Palisade. My jaw hit the cold, hard concrete as I replied, “No way! Me too!” There were only two apartment buildings at that spot, including the one I lived in for those six years in NJ. Considering my building had been built in the 1920’s and was around when Oscar was living in Union City…was it possible we had lived in the same building decades apart? What a small, small world! (And you can bet I was immediately giddy to tell this bit of breaking news to my mom and later blog about it!) 

My dad and I thanked him, and I walked away with a cool story that’s probably even more entertaining than the photo I had chosen for the autograph. 

With that first comic con bucket list item checked off, I suggested we spend the next hour before the Office Q&A panel checking out all of the vendors. I was surprised by how many booths there actually were and it was almost overwhelming.

My dad and I were on the hunt for potential Harry Potter items for my mom, while I was keeping an eye out for Office or The X Files goodies, and anything worthy of a photo. We did find my mom a couple of great collectibles: a “Moody’s Polyjuice Potion” flask and a Ravenclaw keychain. So cool!

When panel time rolled around, I was surprised to find that the main theater was basically a section of the show floor that had been sectioned off. Oddly, they wouldn’t let anyone sit down or claim a seat until just a few minutes before it started, but Dad and I were able to still get some decent seats. That’s the nice thing about smaller conventions; you don’t have to wait in line at 5 am to try and get close to the stage. 

The combination of Kate, Leslie and Oscar together on stage was nothing short of hilarious. Kate and Oscar both have improv comedy backgrounds and it definitely showed! The trio also had a lot of patience and a great sense of humor when it came to fan questions. I know I was pretty impressed with the questions that were asked, and was pleasantly surprised that there were only a couple of awkward questions asked. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a panel where there wasn’t at least one awkward person (more on that later!). Had it been a smaller crowd I probably would have stepped up to the “question mic,” but decided to stay in my seat. I still enjoyed myself, and my dad seemed too, as well!

At this point, I could tell I was already getting tired (because apparently I’m now 30 going on 75), but we spent the next 45 minutes or so checking out the rest of the booths on the show floor. My dad kept saying how “out of the loop” he was with a lot of the fandoms, comics and artists, and I kept reminding him that I’m equally clueless when it comes to most things at comic cons. (Go figure). It was still fun to look at everything though! We even encountered the same issue with costumes; I only got a few photos of those in cosplay because they were the only costumes I actually recognized! 

Our day more or less came to a close with my 5:00 photo op, which I knew I was going to purchase the second the comic con guests were announced. It was my second time doing a “Team up,” which was all three of the actors together for the photo, and I thought the price was a steal as far as celeb photo ops are concerned. 

It made me smile that the woman scanning tickets loved my t-shirt (which I purchased especially for the occasion), as did the two ladies in front of me. Of course, I was especially giddy when Kate said how much she liked the shirt when it was my turn to get my photo taken. The snapshot went well (no re-takes because of me blinking—a first!) and all three of them were incredibly kind and chill. It was a great experience and a worthwhile keepsake! 

Overall, I was pleased with the convention. It was definitely on the pricey side for just admission, but I do feel like you get a little more of a bang for your buck than at the couple of Wizard World conventions I attended in college. Like any smaller convention, I don’t think I would go if there weren’t a guest or guests I wanted to meet. But they’re a fantastic close-to-home opportunity when you do get lucky!

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After attending five New York Comic Cons, they do tend to blend together, so I decided to end this entry by focusing on five things I learned from my experiences there.

Life Lesson Learned: Be prepared to cringe at a panel

As I had mentioned earlier, I have a love-hate relationship with Q&A panels. They’re fun to watch in person, but you also know there’s going to be at least one person who makes things weird for everyone in the room. In a Jack Ryan panel with John Krasinski, someone used their “question” to ask for a photo with him. Being the nice guy he is, he agreed, but the moderator had to put their foot down after that to keep people from asking again. Sigh. At the 2017 panel for the upcoming Season 11 of The X Files, some guy started asking Mitch Pileggi about his role on Stargate Atlantis. Naturally, this prompted some serious “booing” from the crowd who was there for, you know, The X Files. Self awareness, people!

Life Lesson Learned: Food trucks are a blessing

NYCC was always an all-day experience for me, so it was necessary that I had snacks on hand to avoid some kind of hangry Shay episode. With that being said, I still usually had at least one full meal at the convention hall just for something special. I’m pretty sure I made the mistake one year of buying something from the mediocre, over-priced convention food hall. Why I thought that was a good idea, or worth it, I don’t know. Thankfully, there was always a collection of food trucks on the property. Unfortunately they usually had ridiculously long lines at peak hours (which meant you wouldn’t have time to wait if you had something to attend to), but they were a great “end of day” dinner option. And at least you felt like you were getting something more fun of your money! 

Life Lesson Learned: Early birds don’t always catch the worm

After ending up in the back of the room for the ‘15 X Files panel, I decided I was going to line up early for the show’s other panel two years later. My thought process was that I’d not only be guaranteed to get into the panel, but I’d be pretty close to the stage for the event. Well, everything became chaotic when the convention workers forced everyone to leave the line after getting their badge scanned for a panel seat. They told us we couldn’t just stick around and had to wait to get back into line until after enough badges were scanned to meet capacity. Everyone who had been waiting since early morning (myself included) was furious. I thanked my lucky stars that I was able to still get a decent spot after lining up the second time, but the whole thing was handled horribly. 

Life Lesson Learned: People really like Spongebob

At my last year at NYCC, I decided to meet Tom Kenny, who is probably best known as the voice of Spongebob Squarepants. It wasn’t my first time getting an autograph, but it was certainly my first time waiting for what felt like three hours for one. I remember sitting on the cold, hard floor charging my phone, wondering if i would even get to meet the guy before I had to run off to get a copy of Divergent signed by Veronica Roth. Hell,I probably could have written an entire novel in the time I had waited. Luckily, when it was finally my turn to approach the autograph table, he was an incredibly kind guy. I was also impressed that he still had energy to chat with fans (and I believe I said as much). I guess he has Spongebob’s optimistic outlook and cheeriness! 

Life Lesson Learned: If you get a memorable photo op, you’re lucky!

I quickly learned after my very first con that if you want more than two seconds to interact with a convention guest, you better spring for an autograph. It’s usually a “get in and get out” situation, where they shuttle you like cattle to ensure they stay on schedule. (But hey, if you blink, you get a few extra seconds in the photo booth!)  The only exception to this is if the guest(s) decide to have a little fun with the experience. When I got my photo taken with Sean Astin and Billy Boyd from Lord of the Rings in 2019, the duo was playing around with fans and even messing with the photographers a bit. Everyone kept laughing when one of them would hide out in the line among the rest of us and confuse the workers. Although my other photo ops have always gone well, that one was my most memorable by far! 

‘Tis the Season for Shows

Life Lesson Learned: Beware the “fog” 

My family absolutely loves Christmas, so every season we make sure to do at least one Christmas-y thing to really get in the spirit. This year, we opted to see the Great Lakes Theater production of A Christmas Carol at the Playhouse Square in Cleveland. 

Not only is it my mom’s favorite Christmas story by far, it’s a production we’ve seen before, so we knew just how good it was. Our last time there was just a day or two after my college graduation on Dec. 21 (how we had the energy I have no idea!). We first went in 2011 and I’ll be honest that all three of us still find the details of the experience to be so fuzzy that we couldn’t even remember when we saw it. Even my mom, ever the avid photographer, didn’t snap any photos of the theater itself. Strange!

On at least one of those occasions, our seats were in the balcony. It’s definitely more affordable, and you do get a nice birds-eye view of the show! Thankfully, the special effects in this rendition of Dickens’ famous story are fantastic, so you can truly appreciate them no matter where you’re seated. One of the aspects that I remembered clearly over the last eight years was the larger-than-life Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. It was so eerie that even from the balcony, it almost gave me chills. (Think a non-flying Dementor from Harry Potter that’s more than three times the size of an adult male). 

This time when choosing seats, we discovered that those closest to the stage were more affordable than expected. Of course no one wants to sit right next to the movie theater screen unless you’re okay with craning your neck like Jerry and Elaine in Seinfeld. But when watching a play? Sign me up! You get to appreciate the actors’ expressions even more, but in this case…I was especially eager to see the special effects up close. 

After arriving at Playhouse Square and navigating the crowds of families to snap so many photos of pretty, decorated Christmas trees that I was starting to lose count…..

We headed to the Mimi Ohio Theatre to take our seats. My first impression was, “Wow! We can practically identify Scrooge’s eye color from here!”

My second impression was “It’s a good thing I’m wedged between my parents and not next to a stranger because these seats are tight. Were they this small before? They couldn’t have been this small.” 

The play itself was just as magical as I remembered, and…of course… I found myself mentally quoting much of the story as I do with every version of A Christmas Carol. 

As I anticipated, the special effects were still impressive. Seeing the Ghost of Christmas Present walk around the stage with Scrooge was entertaining since we were able to appreciate his size more than we had on the balcony. Naturally, I was in awe when The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come appeared (as expected!) and all I kept thinking was how much I wanted to sneak backstage and figure out how the Hell that thing operated. That, and what a wicked Halloween costume that would be for gliding down the street! 

The one aspect of our great seats that I was not anticipating? Feeling the effects of all of that mood-setting “fog.” I have no idea if it was dry ice or something else, but I quickly noticed it affecting my sinuses and even heard others in the audience clearing their throats or coughing at various times. How the actors manage to breathe through that daily is beyond me! 

Despite feeling like I was in the fog “splash zone” at times, I had a great time seeing the show. Nothing gets you into the Christmas spirit quite like hearing Tiny Tim say “God bless us, everyone!” 

Life Lesson Learned: The Rockettes are a Christmas must-see in NYC

Every single Christmas while living in New Jersey, I made it a tradition to spend at least one evening in NYC visiting the Rockefeller Tree and admiring the department store windows that had been decorated for the holidays. Even if it meant braving the insane crowds, those were non-negotiables for me! 

In 2016, I decided to add another popular Christmas attraction to that season’s itinerary: The Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. 

If I remember correctly, tickets were on par with Broadway (maybe slightly cheaper). So in order not to end up living in a box on the street, I opted for the least expensive ticket option in the balcony near the back. Sure, it would probably look like expressionless blobs dancing around to Christmas music during the performance, but that was okay with me. At least I’d be there!

The venue was buzzing with holiday cheer when I arrived, and I quickly observed guests loading up on treats and souvenirs.

I couldn’t resist buying a souvenir program for my scrapbook and a keychain for my keychain collection. Plus, all purchases came in a cute, themed shopping bag which I still have today and like to use to haul over holiday items to my parents’ house. 

The show itself was chock full of holiday spirit! I think even Ebenezer Scrooge would have had a hard time keeping a smile off his face. Each of the dance numbers had its own unique theme and I still fondly remember most like it was yesterday! The fall of the toy soldiers, Clara from the Nutcracker dancing with massive teddy bears, “Santas” ringing bells in sync, and the Rockettes dancing their way through a “tour” of New York City in winter were some of my favorites. 

Between the festive costumes, twinkling lights, upbeat music and incredibly talented dancers, it was clear to me quite quickly why their annual show is such a spectacular hit. Whether you’re a tourist or a local, if you have the chance to catch a performance during the holidays, I highly recommend it! 

And when you’re done, don’t forget to admire the awesome Christmas decorations waiting just outside the building! 

Natural wonders and woes

Now that my first gardening season has come and gone, I wanted to look back at some of the challenges I encountered and also reflect on a dreamy NYC garden visit.

Life Lesson Learned: Wild animals also like to have beer for a wildly good time

In late spring, it became clear that I had a slug problem on my hands when I went out to water my plants in the morning only to find much of the soil teeming with, well, slugs. Shockingly, they left my tomato plants alone and focused their attention on my then-struggling cauliflower and thriving basil. 

My first attempt to tackle the problem was to simply grab a piece of mulch and carry each intruder to the opposite side of the yard. How fast could they possibly move, right? 

Either they sprout legs in the middle of the night or there were more of the little pests than I realized, because I continued to find them during my morning watering sessions. (Especially after a humid or damp night. Yuck!) 

I decided I needed more “drastic action” and opted for a DIY beer slug trap. (I’ve actually covered the topic of banishing garden slugs multiple times in First for Women for work, but this seemed to be the easiest solution). It was rather simple to make and involved poking holes inside of a sour cream container, adding some beer and burying three-fourths of the container into the soil. 

Lo and behold, the next morning, I found quite a few of the little buggers (and some other unaware insects who fell into the trap). Huzzah! I was confident knowing I had a hands-off way to capture the slugs in the middle of the night when they were at their most active. 

Unfortunately, the slugs weren’t the only one who couldn’t resist the aroma. Not long after adding the trap, I woke up to find the entire container tossed sideways on the top of the soil and empty of beer. Sigh. Evidently some animal needed a late-night buzz. I could never figure out what the culprit was, especially because the “damage” to my protective netting was so minimal. (And anyone who knows racoons knows they’re clumsy and destructive even when they don’t intend to be.) 

Since wildlife is a natural (though often unwelcome) part of gardening, I sighed and just put the trap back together. Days later, the mysterious Mr. Hops actually dragged the entire container out of the garden, popped the lid off and enjoyed the beer, the bugs, or a combination of both. 

At that rate, I would have been going through a bottle of beer a day, so I surrendered. Not worth it! 

Ironically I had purchased Summer Shandy for the trap so I could save one of the bottles for myself to try. Turns out, I wasn’t a huge fan. But hey, at least someone in the neighborhood enjoyed it…

Life Lesson Learned: Beware the butterflies

There’s a running lesson here: if you garden, they will come. And by they, I mean every living creature (sans neighbors, thankfully) in the area. 

Besides stink bugs (which appear to be one of the biggest nuisances when it comes to gardening), I came to discover one particularly pesky–and misleading–bug out there: cabbage worms. 

During the summer, I remember watching these beautiful white butterflies fluttering about in both my front and back yards. Gorgeous! 

Around this same time, I was dealing with a sudden infestation of green caterpillar-like creatures setting up camp in the giant leaves of one of my cauliflower plants. Naturally they needed to eat, so those same giant leaves began to bear the brunt of their hungry appetites. No matter how many times I would “relocate” the bugs, more would appear. 

Then one day I saw a couple of those beautiful white butterflies hanging out near my garden bed. A quick Google search revealed they were the dreaded adult cabbage moth. (And as I write this, I just learned that they ARE in fact butterflies; the term moth is inaccurate. Who knew?)

I was able to cut down on the problem with a DIY salt spray, but by then it was too late as much of the plant had been eaten. I was still able to harvest the cauliflower, but it wasn’t in perfect condition.

Ironically my other plant fared much better. The cauliflower head didn’t even begin growing until long after the cabbage worms had disappeared (and the summer’s heat was over), so it was a beautiful specimen. I enjoyed it roasted in the oven with lots of seasoning. Yum! 

Life Lesson Learned: Tomatoes without juice look like a science experiment

During my first season of gardening I was most excited about growing my two tomato plants (one salsa, one roma). I opted for determinate varieties, which means the plants produce all of their tomatoes within a short amount of time before dying off. Thankfully, they’re also smaller (though, as I learned, can still get quite big), which means I didn’t have to worry about a 10-foot tall plant taking up space. 

I was so thrilled when the first tomatoes appeared on my plants. And let me tell you, there’s an extra satisfaction with eating a juicy, fresh-from-your-own garden ‘mater. 

Though the first tomatoes to ripen were amazing, things quickly went downhill. I’ll never forget my disappointment when I cut open a tomato to find it was…hollow? And wrinkly? (It looked something like a brain inside. Gross!) Before I knew it, I was playing tomato roulette. Tomatoes that looked perfectly great on the outside were revealed to have disappointing interiors. 

I’ll be honest that I still have no idea what the cause was (even Google was giving me mixed results) though most of the issues seemed to be with the salsa tomatoes rather than the roma. Bad genetics? Disease? Who knows. 

Of course I was thrilled that I had any tomatoes to enjoy when we dealt with such a hot and miserable summer. But next year, I think I’ll stick with roma tomatoes and cross my fingers for better luck! 

Life Lesson Learned: Onions are full of surprises, not just layers

I love onions…which is ironic as I seem to have a mild sensitivity to them. Doesn’t stop me, however, from incorporating them into any dish I can!

So, naturally, I wanted to grow them in my first garden. Most people buy them in sets (mini onions) to plant, which speeds up the growing process. I followed the directions and before I knew it, I had two rows of beautiful green tops poking out of the soil. I was able to harvest some for green onions, which was a dream for an onion lover like me. 

The elation didn’t last long sadly…because before I knew it, most of the once green tops were becoming shriveled, yellow and falling over. (No, it was not harvest time!) 

I suspect this could have been the result of flies (Ugh. What am I running here? A bug buffet?) but again, I don’t know for certain. I do know I’ll be needing to use my garden netting early on in 2023 just in case. 

Eventually the onions basically “disappeared.” I saw no signs of the bulbs remaining and gave up hope. Then while digging up the remains of my tomato plants for the season in October, I discovered not one but two tiny onions sprouting green tops in the soil. Sigh. Little too late, onions, little too late. 

How they managed to make a comeback, I’ll never know. But I was impressed by their resilience nonetheless.

Life Lesson Learned: Weeds do no produce carrots

Another crop I was excited about but turned out to be an absolute flop? Carrots! Their seeds are planted directly into the soil once the spring weather warms up, then you let nature run its course.

Well apparently that means letting what I can only assume were chipmunks dig up the seeds for a midnight snack. Sure, why not? Help yourselves. I re-planted more seeds and was cautiously optimistic when a bunch began to sprout. I suspect I didn’t keep the soil moist enough though as most didn’t make it. 

There were, however, three little seedlings that looked promising. Every day I excitedly checked on them, and it seemed the small greenery was getting bigger by the day. Before long, I would have carrots!

Then one afternoon I noticed the carrot tops looked weird. They weren’t looking at all like my garden books were saying. With my mom’s suggestion, I pulled on the mysterious greens. 

Yeah, they were weeds. 

Yes, I had to buy canned carrots instead.

Life Lesson Learned: Fish fertilizer is a messy business

When my salsa tomato plant and onions seemed to be lacking in nutrients, I decided to try and give them a boost with fish fertilizer. If you’ve ever smelled Lake Erie when dead fish wash ashore, its odor was very reminiscent of that. Unpleasant and strong to say the least and nothing like Long John Silver’s. (Thank God for that!) 

I guess I should have known that it probably would have attracted a mountain lion all the way from California, but I was especially naive at that point. Sure enough, some local animal had helped himself to seedlings and onions. I guess it could have been worse though!

It was clear by this time that my garden bed might as well have had a neon light above it that said “Free food here!” When animals are hungry, they’ll find a way, but I knew I needed a better method to keep them out.

Luckily, my dad is quite the handyman and was willing to build me a cage to help ward off some of the wildlife problems that could pop up in future seasons. It was quite the task but it looks fantastic! I’m sure I’ll still be dealing with chipmunks (and plenty of bugs) but it should help tremendously. Plus, I have much more room to get around not only my original bed but the new addition I purchased. 

Thanks a million Dad, and I can’t wait to enjoy it next year!

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Life Lesson Learned: New York Botanical Garden should be its own borough

Central Park will always hold a special place in my heart. Even at its busiest, it was always a wonderful place to walk, picnic or people watch. 

That being said, few things prepared me for the wonder that was the New York Botanical Garden. A then-companion had invited me to go see the Garden’s Orchid Show, and I couldn’t resist. Getting there was an…experience….(a short walk from the subway station to the park in the Bronx can feel like a century), but I was so glad I went. 

I remember immediately being overwhelmed by how huge the place was. Apparently it’s 250 acres and the largest in the U.S. Crazy! 

The orchid show itself was a treat, especially since I won’t be traveling to any tropical destinations to see them in the wild any time soon. (Me and humidity don’t mix!) But my favorite parts of the Garden were undoubtedly the outdoor themed areas. 

Daffodil Hill in particular was breathtaking in April, as were the blossoming trees. I remember they had a section for Cherry Blossoms, but I can’t recall if those were in bloom or not. I’m not much of an botanist! 

Each area made you feel like you were in a different part of the world, which was such a fun experience. One of the most memorable moments of the visit was the stunning view of the Stone Mill overlooking the Bronx River. Even without a photo, I would have remembered this shot like it was yesterday. It was that beautiful! I’m sure it’s especially gorgeous during autumn. 

SadlyI didn’t take as many pictures as I would have liked, and I can guarantee it was partly because we actually took a tram tour at one point.

That’s right, the place is so big they’ll take you on a drive-by view of the place…which is like watching the trailer of a great movie and not seeing the actual film. Such. A. Tease. I wanted to get out and explore more on foot in the worst way possible but realistically we didn’t have that much time…or energy…to do so. 

Ironically I spent an hour in Central Park that afternoon as a pit-stop on my way back to NJ. It was packed with both tourists and locals, as usual, which normally didn’t bother me. But that day, I was already missing the magical and peaceful escape of the Botanical Garden.