Harry Times...All Jacked Up: Marigold

Showing posts with label Marigold. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Perfect weekend

We had the best weekend you guys! It included an MLB game, dinner and jog with Jack, and THE MARIGOLD FESTIVAL!

First up, Minnie attended her first CUBS GAME.

Most importantly, we ate EVERYTHING that stadium had to offer (not me. I packed a yogurt with fruit and granola and a chicken wrap to eat in the car, but I did drink a beer). Cooper even ate a hot dog (his second) IN LINE to get a tiny helmet full of ice cream (also his second).

We also got to jog with Jack at Bradley (IT WAS SO HOT MY GOD)

And it is PUMPKIN COLD FOAM SEASON (with an iced Americano-- best fall order ever)

We ended the weekend at the MARIGOLD FEST-- my very favorite favorite

A snack AND a cocktail

We saw my mom and my childhood bestie, bought a giant snowman for our front door, wandered the Mineral Springs Park. And! Minnie got to run into the street for gutter candy during the parade. ALL OF MY FAVORITE FESTIVAL THINGS

Friday, September 12, 2025

5 on a Friday: Things I love about the Marigold Fest

Did you know that my hometown of Pekin, IL, is the MARIGOLD CAPITOL OF THE WORLD?

We have been to the MARIGOLD FESTIVAL many times:

And! Get excited already for next year because it is the 30th anniversary of my reign as MISS MARIGOLD, so you know the fest will be extra exciting for me. (Kidding and also very much NOT KIDDING).

The highlights of the Marigold Festival for me are the parade and Art in the Park, so those are the high points we hit, along with Double D's ice cream. IHO of a Friday theme, here are my 5 Marigold Fest loves:

1. THE CRAFTS

Thanks to my mom's boyfriend Steve for this wreathe! I found it at the first booth we visited, but ennui prevented me from tracking it down at the end of our Art in the Park tour, and he dipped out to use the bathroom (supposedly) and came back with a wreate for me and one for my mom!

2. The friends. Behold, my bestie since first grade who took us all out to lunch and added Dorothy to her girl gang for the day

3. The fam time:

4. The proximity to Bradley

5. The tradition!!

Thursday, September 12, 2024

Marigolds!

I took the most beautiful walk at work the other day. I was on campus for HOURS and had a bunch of solitary tasks to complete. I set timers to do pomodoros, but I needed to get out of my office for awhile, and it was hard to pass up 78 and sunny.

It was lovely especially because I have been feeling very anxious lately for no reason. Like, al of the sudden out of nowhere, my stomach feels like I am on a roller coaster. I think I have been too long without acupuncture and massage. I kept rescheduling appointments as I ran out of time to juggle everything with limited Minnie care after her camp ended. So! Last week I had an awesome massage (trigger points— a style I do not usually like a ton because I am looking for more relaxation BUT this one was incredible, and I could feel the tension leaving my muscles. I expected my neck and shoulders and right hip to feel tense and need release, but even my ARMS were tense, apparently because feeling the muscles let go was wonderful), and this week I see my acupuncturist. And I have appointments scheduled through the end of the year. THAT I WILL KEEP, DAMNIT.

This morning, I decided to reframe the anxiety as EXTRA ENERGY, and so far, my brain is liking that frame, and I got in an extra 1/4 mile in my usual time on the elliptical, even though I had a dream that I was having a heart attack and woke up with a pounding heart and another large chunk of my brain pretty sure that’s happening in real life and why I feel anxious. ANXIETY. YOU ARE THE WORST.

We went to the Pekin Marigold Festival on Saturday, and it was an absolutely delight. We hung out with my best friend since FIRST GRADE and one of her delightful daughters and friend. 10/10 would recommend and will be back next year!

Ice cream at our favorite place:

Filthy carnival rides:

MISS MARIGOLD!!!! (I was Miss Marigold in 1996, and it was the highlight of my life up that point— I always wanted to be the girl in the crown and the sash at the Fest and parade, and I WAS, so I was over the moon when Minnie wanted to meet the current Miss M)

Downtown Pekin has this lovely marigold mural as part of its Juneteenth memorial, and it was the closest I got to taking a picture of the actual parade.