Celebrating my 24th birthday in Salem, MA

In February 1692, two young girls from Salem Village started acting bizarre. After a local doctor diagnosed them as being bewitched and other girls in the village also started acting strangely, the original girls accused their slave and two other women of being witches. And thus began the Salem Witch Trials. From February 1962 to May 1963, over two hundred people were accused of witchcraft, and thirty were found guilty. 

Today, Salem is sometimes called the Witch City, and the month of October is usually filled with events and people walking around dressed up as witches and other scary characters. If you've seen the movie Hocus Pocus: it took place and was partly filmed in Salem. Due to COVID, most of the festivities were canceled this year, but there is still plenty to see and do.

My friend, Erin, and I talked a few weeks ago, and she brought up how none of us have ever visited Salem at Halloweentime. I looked into it and decided that for my birthday, I wanted to spend a day in Salem with Erin and our two friends Megan and Carli. So we organized our schedules and spent the day wandering around the city. 

The first thing we did was make our way into a shop called Witch City Wicks, where I (obviously) bought a candle called "Sleepy Hollow," since that was the short story I wrote my Senior Thesis on in college.

We then ate a morning snack at Gulu Gulu Cafe. I can't think of a better way to start the day then Mimosas, French75s (for Gin lovers a.k.a. not me), a soft pretzel, and a charcuterie board. Can you? It was delicious, and it was the first time in a while since the four of us had all been together to talk instead of just texting. 

When we had first arrived in Salem, I said to my friends that I had spent the morning talking myself out of buying a witches hat because I simply did not need one. Famous last words, right? While we were sitting at the Cafe, I saw a woman walk by wearing a cute, subtle witches hat and new I wanted it. So we found them at Coon's Card & Gift Shop and it's actually called "Modern Witch Hat." I'm in love with it, even if it's only practical one month a year. I bought the gray one, and Megan, whose birthday is also in October, bought the red.

We were in and out of plenty of stores, all located in one area, so it's not like we were wasting time walking all over the place. At one point, Erin pointed out that the Hotel Salem has a Rooftop Bar, so we made our way up there. We all ended up getting specialty cocktails because 'tis the season. Erin got the Cramble, Carli the Autumn Mule, Megan the Orange Blossom Rita, and I had the Maple Smash. We also had to order nachos because of the new COVID guidelines that don't allow people to get drinks without food, but there were zero complaints all around.

From The Roof, we slightly rushed to make our appointment for the Witch House. Formerly the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin (1640–1718), the Witch House is the only structure you can visit in Salem with direct ties to the Salem witch trials of 1692. It was a quick, self-guided tour that let us learn about how the Corwin family lived and their involvement in the Witch Trials.

We left Salem after the tour, but not without ticking off some Hocus Pocus boxes. Unfortunately, the Sanderson Sister's house isn't real, although I like to believe that if Disney had known how big that movie would be, they would have built an actual structure in Salem. However, Allison's house is the real-life Rope's Mansion, which we walked through the gardens of, and Max Dennison's house is someone's actual home.

I could have spent more time in Salem, but I had to get back to Carli and Megan's apartment to jump on a Google Meet call. When I was done, we ordered pizza, and my friends sang Happy Birthday to me. While picking up the pizza, they also stopped and grabbed some Hostess Cupcakes to put candles in. The funniest part was that they didn't have a 4 candle, so it was 22 + 2. 

It's crazy that I am officially in my mid-twenties. My 23rd year was pretty crazy: going from living in Edinburgh to spending most of my time with my dog. Plus the whole start-of-a-worldwide-pandemic thing. Nonetheless, it was a pretty great year, and I can't wait to see what 24 brings!

Look Back on Twenty-Two

I was texting with some friends the other day trying to figure out where the line between early and mid-twenties lies. We decided that 21-23 are early twenties, 24-26 are mid-twenties, and 27-29 are late twenties, which makes sense mathematically, so it was pretty easy for us to all agree on.

So here I am, officially in the final year of my early twenties. My birthday was Tuesday, October 8, but before I fully embrace being 23, I wanted to take a look back on what being 22 brought me.

This was my second year using the "1 Second Everyday" app. I love using this app, but there were definitely a few days I wasn't using my phone or forgot to record something. When that happens, I try to recreate something or put in the picture that correlates with what I did that day. However, you'll probably figure out that any day where I'm wearing a pink long-sleeve and speaking to the camera is a make-up video.

Last October, I was a senior at Saint Anselm College, living in an on-campus apartment with two of my best friends and two girls who I didn't know when the year started, but quickly became close with.

It was also an exciting time because the Red Sox won the World Series! I skipped school and went to the parade with my best friend, Casey. I filmed the day, and you can watch it here

It was also a time for me because I was writing my thesis. I chose to write it about "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving and how different adaptations have sprung from that original piece of work. It was a long process, but now it's an essay I am extremely proud of. Let me know if that's something you'd want me to write about in more detail :)

In November, my sister and cousins went to New York for a night. This involved a flat tire, sightseeing, and a comedy show. And then in December, I spent New Year's Eve in Orlando, Florida, to visit Disney. I wrote about both of those trips in a blog post you can read here.

I also went to Providence to visit my best friend, Erin and see Anastasia the Musical. I've talked about my fascination with Anastasia Romanov a lot this year, but it's true. This play was amazing!

And at the beginning of December, my family and I got all dolled up to go to my brothers' best friend's wedding. It's not something we do very often as a whole family, but the wedding was a blast!

When my second semester of senior year started, I had a new internship that I really enjoyed, and I was still working on my thesis. At the end of January, I was talking with my boss, who is also a professor at my school, and he talked me into applying to Grad School - something I wasn't super interested in pursuing originally. I was fully applied by the beginning of March and accepted by the beginning of April.

February brought another New England victory and even more celebrating. Unfortunately, my schedule didn't allow me to attend this parade, but I watched it on TV.

During the first week of March, my sister and I went to California to visit her friends and our cousin. We saw the sights, toured Dodgers Stadium, went to a Kings game, and went on a Wine Safari. I wrote about that more in-depth here.

With the spring came graduation and the Senior Days we had leading up to that. I filmed the weekend, and you can watch that here.

This summer, I went on a road trip with my best friend, Erin. It was almost two weeks of making our way from Massachusetts to Colorado. I filmed the entire trip, and you can watch those videos here. I also went to New Hampshire for my Aunt's birthday, Philadephia, for a friend's birthday, and Maine for a final hurrah! with friends. I wrote about all those trips here.

I have taken on the mantra, "Make plans, God laughs." because that's what 22 felt like for me. If you had asked me on my 22nd birthday how I thought I'd be spending my 23rd, I would have said that I'd be living at home and working, probably in some entry-level marketing position because I wouldn't be able to afford to live in New York and work at a publishing company. Instead, I'm living in Scotland and studying for a Master's in Creative Writing.

Like I said, this is my second year using the "1 Second Everday" app. I bought it right before I turned 21 because that year I had a trip planned for Iceland and I was studying abroad in London. I never expected 22 to top that, but I think it did. And I've got a few things planned for 23 that might make that year even better, so I hope you keep following along!