Dearborn Market Orchid Show

Dearborn Farms and Market has been around since 1925. It’s a great store with a small farm behind it in Holmdel, NJ. In 2015 it was purchased by the owners of the Shoprite chain but despite that Dearborn has kept its character and amazing foods and bakery. The bakery in particular makes amazing pies and bread! Dearborn also has a great garden shop and every year they host a fabulous Orchid Show. At the show both commercial and amateur orchid growers are judged for the plants, but you can also buy quite a number of orchids and other plants and flowers. This Throwback Thursday I’m sharing some photos from this year’s Orchid Show and in case you’re wondering, yes, I did buy an orchid (a $20 special!). This orchid is already throwing out blooms unlike my other purchase many years ago which only rarely blooms. As soon as the flowers are open, I’ll share some photos with you!

A Blast from the Past

My niece has been doing some family research and ran across this photo of me from our high school yearbook, I believe. I was President of the Leaders Club my senior and this is a photo of the officers. Leaders Club members were female athletes who would assist the Physical Education staff with various tasks around the gym. I’m dating myself, but this was only a few years after the passage of Title IX, and female athletes had to scrabble for recognition and acceptance. For a long time we weren’t part of the annual award event for athletes and to this day I remember how one of the male Phys Ed staff members asked me if I thought I deserved it when I was awarded the Pantherette Award for the best female athlete. I had no doubt I deserved it, and not just because Title IX said they had to do something like this since there was a Panther award. I’m so happy to see how things have changed for female athletes and hope we continue to make progress.

Levittown Memorial High School

It’s Buffy Time!

I was a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan and my daughter and I would often watch together. This is a photo of us getting ready for the premiere of one of the seasons. We actually had a watch party with some friends for the start of Season 6 and had a blast. I don’t have to ask if any of you were Buffy fans. I know a lot of you were!

Fun Conference Moments

I love going to conferences. I always learn something new, meet new people, and come back inspired and ready to write! If you haven’t gone to a conference in a while, I highly suggest you think about doing it in 2023. This photo was from an RT Readers conference where we were having a fun time during one of the panels. I got my crazy on and loved letting my hair down with my friends. If you like reader conferences, check out the new Book Lovers Con where I’ll be in May! As for writing conferences, I always love my local Liberty States Fiction Writers conference. I’m actually the Conference Chair this year and it’s shaping up into a fab conference. In addition to the workshops and keynote, we have a Game Night where you can let your hair down and also win some fab prizes or baskets! Did I mention that there’s also a book fair that’s open to the general public where you’ll be able to pick up autographed copies of some of my books, including the South Beach Security series? You can check out the LSF Writers conference at http://www.libertystatesfictionwriters.com/conference/.

conference

Winter Winter Go Away

I know winter has only just started, but I’m already counting down the days until Spring! Yes, I’m that bad about the cold. One of the things that helps me keep sane is going to the Philadelphia Flower Show in March. Thanks to Covid the show had shifted to June and an outdoor location, but apparently the show is back in March and at the Convention Center this year. I can’t wait to go!!!! Today’s Throwback Thursday photo is to a picture that I took of some hyacinths at one of of the shows. I love hyacinths and their scent. So lovely! If you’d like to see more Flower Show photos you can visit https://bit.ly/CaridadFlowerShow.

hyacinths

Winning Season is a Top Featured Kindle Vella

I’m so excited that Amazon has selected Winning Season as a Top Featured Kindle Vella for the next two weeks! If you love sports romances, you’ll love this story about a second chance at love between Eric Mendoza, a baseball player at the end of his career, and his ex-wife Yvonne Lopez, a rising basketball star. Winning Season is full of emotions, surprises, and redemption as the two struggle to rebuild a better marriage than what they had once had. You can read the first three chapters for free at https://amzn.to/3v5nVEl.

baseball romance