A couple of days ago I finally did it.

I went to the dentist.

You know that feeling when you’ve been on a responsible grown-up schedule for years… and then suddenly it’s been a couple of years since your last visit and you’re convinced you’re going to die the moment the hygienist reaches for that tiny metal scraper?

Well. That was me.

Now, let me just say in my defense, the delay wasn’t entirely my fault.

The dentist I’d been going to before… hmmm… something just felt off.

If your dentist is the one cleaning your teeth because the office doesn’t have a hygienist?

No. Red flag.

And to top it off, I had that cheapo bargain-bin dental insurance and she was the only one in the plan.

Big. Red. Flag.

So I waited for a new insurance cycle, upgraded my plan, blinked, and suddenly almost a year had gone by.

And you know how it goes .. the longer you wait, the less inclined you are to go because you know it’s bad and you don’t want to face The Scraping.

But I finally mustered up my courage and booked an appointment with ​Sunshine Dentistry​ — they had great reviews.

It was a late-afternoon appointment (which is basically midnight to me because once it gets dark, I’m done driving), so Kathryn volunteered to chauffeur her poor mother and sit with me.

Well, I met the loveliest hygienist, Maddy.

Thorough, gentle, knowledgeable… an absolute unicorn.

And she’s getting married next summer, so naturally we ended up talking about seasonal flowers and a la carte weddings. (Can’t help myself.)

Then the dentist came in, another very nice young guy, all bright-eyed and enthusiastic.

To break the ice, he asked, “Were you born or raised here?”

Now. Now.

Here’s where the generational gap shows up in the most spectacular fashion.

When someone asked me that for decades, it meant “Were you born in the U.S. or did you immigrate?”

So I answered confidently, “Oh, I wasn’t born here, I came to this country when I was around seven.”

Which made Kathryn absolutely lose it. Tears streaming, shoulders shaking. She had to jump in and clarify that we had “moved here”, as in CAPE MAY, four years ago.

The dentist meant: Have you always lived in Cape May?
Kathryn heard: Have you always lived in Cape May?
I heard: Tell us your immigration story.

Never felt so old.

Mortified laugh from me, polite laugh from them, and a daughter still giggling hours later.

But! No cavities. So there.

And I found my new dentist.

Farm Happenings

We picked up our first load of just-cut evergreens from the tree farm and oh my goodness… it was beautiful.

Picture acres of pines, that crisp winter smell, and Steve and me stuffing bunches of pine, Fraser Fir, Douglas Fir, and Norway Spruce into the Denali until she smelled like Christmas on wheels.

I took a little video, it’s up on Instagram if you want to swoon right along with me.

Our first wreath workshop is this weekend, just one session on Saturday and it’s full, but we have plenty of other dates still open. I’ll be making our first preorder holiday greens plus a few gifts for friends and family.

Let the season begin!

The peonies arrived (cue my happy squeal) and will be planted this week.

We’re also prepping the tulip rows but won’t plant those until after Thanksgiving at the earliest. The second batch of ranunculus is sprouting away, they’ll go into the ground next week.

And yes… I tripled the amount of ranunculus this year and doubled the tulips.

I had a hunch about what many of you wanted for our first-ever Black Friday offer, and turns out… I was right.

More details tomorrow!

As for the rest of the field cleanup, well, it’s still patiently waiting for me. Hopefully wrapped up by the end of the month. Fingers crossed.

And Since You Didn’t Ask

Season 2 of Squid Game: The Challenge is baaaaack. Totally coincidental that it was created in Korea, but I do love a good reality competition where they force contestants to wrestle with their morals, their strategies, and their desire to win cash. It’s wild. It’s dramatic. It’s on Netflix. And I’m fully in.