The Importance of Being Lauren

I don’t remember carving pumpkins often as a child. Now as an adult, it’s one of my favorite Fall traditions. When Phillip and I first started dating we started our carving adventures. Phillip tends to favor basic pumpkin faces, and I like to challenge myself to do more intense figures.  In 2024 I did a dinosaur and asteroid! What’s more scary than mass extinction??? In 2025 I went less scary. I attempted to do the homescreen for a PAC-Man game! The letters and all the little figures were so difficult to do! I was happy with the results but it was obviously amateur hour! I can’t wait to see what my brain comes up with for 2026!!

I have a love/hate relationship with NYC. Despite the many traumatic experiences I had while living there, there are still so many things I love. I miss the food, the walkability, the history, some of the people, and the energy of being in the city. Years ago when Hadestown first debuted, my friend Amelia saw it and loved it. Since then it’s been on my Broadway bucket list. My goal for my last NYC trip was to go see the musical on Broadway, however, we got so busy doing other things I wasn’t sure it was going to happen.  A day and a half before my flight home a miracle happened. Amelia and I were hanging out when she got a text message. The text message was in a church group chat and said “giving away a Hadestown ticket for free. Show starts in 45 minutes.” Amelia and I looked at each other and she immediately responded to the message.  Less than 5 minutes after that I was running (in heels) to the nearest subway station. I prayed the whole time that there would be no delays. ...