Inspiration Destination: Texas-Tulip Farm
11/13/2025
While many of my colleagues seem to enjoy going to museums to gaze at sculptures and paintings and various works of art, or to the theater to watch musicals and other performances, I am much more likely to search for and find my art in the great outdoors, enjoying nature’s many masterpieces.
With the first signs of spring slowly sprouting in the southern states, back in February, my husband and I took an opportunity to head out to the Texas-Tulips farm in Pilot Point, which is not far from where we live. We went on the first opening day of the season, which happened to be a very breezy weekday, so there weren’t a lot of people there. The nice thing about that was we didn’t have to worry about too many people posing for photos among the blooms while we attempted to take our own pictures. The downside on going so early in the season was that we’d had more rain than sun over the previous month, and there were rows and rows of bulbs that had not yet bloomed. Luckily, there was still a good variety for us to enjoy.
Texas-Tulips in Pilot Point is a 6-acre farm that is re-tilled and replanted every year (since 2015) with bulbs from Holland (aka the Netherlands). That’s where the owners are from. Prior to opening this location, the Koeman family operated and ran an 80-acre tulip farm in the Netherlands for more than 40 years). Texas-Tulips also has a second location in San Antonio that just opened up this year. Both locations are only open for a very short period of time between February and March (sometimes early April), seven days a week, from 10 am to 8 pm. With a $5 entrance fee, visitors are welcome to wander around enjoying the view and taking photos. At $2.50 per stem, guests can also pick their own tulips to take home with them to create a bouquet or plant them in their own gardens. You can find out more about both locations and the thousands of tulips available in a wide variety of colors at their website.
The availability of specific tulip varieties changes throughout the picking season. We saw a wide array of beautiful colors that we enjoyed. They were so pretty. Some of the varieties available included: Texas Gold, Texas Flame, American Dream, Blushing Lady, Monte Carlo, Hocus Pocus, fringed, parrot, striped tulips, and many more. While it’s too late to check out this destination location this year as they will be closing very shortly, you might want to pencil it in on your calendar for another year. The blooms are beautiful and the memories you might make while enjoying these beautiful brush strokes of nature will last far beyond the fleeting days of spring.
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Mean Girls the Musical is “so Fetch”
11/13/2025
About two years ago I was scrolling through Facebook when an advertisement for Mean Girls the musical popped up on my newsfeed. I was instantly intrigued after I noticed that one of the Plastics was played by Taylor Louderman. Taylor had performed in the production of Bring It On: The Musical, which I had seen in New York six years prior. I became obsessed with that musical after her performance, despite my initial reluctance to see it. After the show, my family and I stood outside the stage door to meet the cast. Taylor was super sweet and took a picture with us. I became one of her fans that day and began listening to her performances on YouTube constantly.
So, I was ecstatic when I saw that she would be performing in a musical adaptation of one of my favorite movies. From there, the journey of my love for Mean Girls the musical grew as I began listening to the Broadway soundtrack on a loop. I started watching covers of some of my favorite songs from the show including one sung by Regina George called “World Burn.” Another cover that caught my interest was performed by Youtuber, Mariah Rose Faith. She added such power, confidence, and a villain-like essence to the song that I really enjoyed it. Although I liked her voice and how she portrayed the infamous Regina George, I resigned myself to the fact that I would only be able to appreciate her singing through her YouTube channel.
This past August, for my birthday, my parents let me choose two musicals to see at the local Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. I instantly knew my two choices would be Les Misérables and Mean Girls and I decided to Google who the cast would be for each production. There, I discovered that Mariah Rose Faith would be debuting as Regina George in the touring cast. I was super excited to see her live, but I was concerned that I would end up seeing an understudy instead. I figured I’d have to wait until February to confirm whether I’d see her live or not. When Mariah posted in Instagram that she was in Orlando, I reached out to her via her post to ask if she would be starring in the performance I was going to. I was thrilled when she actually responded to my comment and confirmed that she would be performing “unless [she’s] sick or something happens!” This only increased my anticipation as I waited for the day of the performance.
The day finally arrived when I entered the theater to see Mean Girls. The background of the stage was filled with pages from the Burn Book to set the tone of the show.
Tina Fey welcomed audiences with humorous, pre-recorded pre-show announcements, reminding us to turn off our cellphones and providing other info. During the opening number, I noticed that some of the lyrics had changed as well as parts of the melody of the song. Initially, I was annoyed because I had expected the tour production to be identical to the Broadway version that I had watched clips of on YouTube. Throughout the show, the production continued to change lyrics or rearrange the music to familiar songs.
During intermission, I attempted to figure out why the touring company had decided to make these changes. I pulled out my phone and Googled my question. Other people had similar questions on a thread on reddit; however, no one had an exact answer as to why these changes were made. Although I was unsuccessful in solidifying an answer, I decided to accept that the tour version of the show fit the space and audience. In addition, those who hadn’t listened to the Broadway version would never know the difference.
The tour production kept the most iconic lines from the film, which I was happy to hear, but others were adjusted due to casting. I reminded myself that art is constantly changing in order to adhere to the world it is communicating to. Since the movie came out in 2004, the writers of the musical had fun adapting the show to today’s era with the inclusion of social media, emojis, and memes to help drive the storyline. With these additions, the musical recognized the power of social media in society and addressed both the negative and positive uses of social media where hurtful comments can harm individuals, but positive ones can also cause a false sense of love that can be addicting. In the musical, Cady becomes obsessed with her social media image and starts neglecting her friends in order to maintain her online status.
Even so, the actors of the tour production did a phenomenal job in recreating the Mean Girls storyline and making it their own. The production celebrated individuality and addressed how being popular often comes at a cost. One particular moment that focused on this was during the song, “Apex Predator.” In this song, Janis and Cady are singing about Regina’s impact on society as Regina, Gretchen, and Karen walk in slow motion with the other cast members gawking at them. During this scene, Jonalyn Saxer, who played Karen Smith, choked on a pretzel instead of flirting with the boys like in the Broadway production. I loved this extra moment because it showed that although these girls are put on a pedestal and are treated as goddesses, they are actually human.
Another actress I adored while watching the show was Danielle Wade’s portrayal of Cady Heron. She developed the iconic character into her own version by making Cady this quirky, awkward new girl who only wanted to fit in. I thought Danielle’s version of Cady was more relatable because she was timid at first when meeting new people but eventually grew into herself, rather than coming off as confident and eager right from the start. Danielle’s portrayal showed the character arc of Cady more clearly by showing how she grew from needing to fit in at first to eventually accepting who she was and wanting to be a light for others.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the character, Janis, in this show. When I’ve watched the movie in the past, I’ve never felt a strong connection to her; however, Mary Kate Morrissey’s representation left me feeling fierce for my individuality. When Mary Kate sang “I’d Rather Be Me,” I felt empowered by my own uniqueness and confident that I didn’t need the approval or acceptance of others to be happy in life. Mary Kate helped me find my voice because, like me, she is shorter than others, but she still drew in audience members with her powerhouse voice and edge.
Lastly, as previously mentioned, I was very excited to see Mean Girls because of Mariah Rose Faith, and she did not disappoint. I got chills every time she sang because she evoked such emotion through her tone and volume to create the glamorous vengefulness of Regina George. She didn’t seem to try to just sing beautifully, but instead took the opportunity to dig deeper into the song to show Regina George’s power and confidence.
I felt like the touring production of Mean Girls portrayed all of the iconic characters from the film in a more relatable sense, which was so fetch. (For those unfamiliar with the term, Gretchen Wieners frequently used the word fetch in the film, trying to “make it happen,” or hoping it would become popular. The word’s actual meaning is supposed to be “nice,” “cool,” or “awesome.”)
Throughout the production, audience members could relate to the desire to fit in through Danielle Wade’s portrayal of Cady by her timid voice and tense body language. We could also relate to the idea of wanting to be perfect but experiencing instances of imperfection in real life, such as when Karen choked on the pretzel instead of being poised and pretty. Although Mean Girls is a popular film, the stage production allowed audiences to see this familiar storyline through a new, theatrical lens.
The music heightened the emotions the characters were feeling as well as highlighted the internal monologue of the characters to portray them as real, genuine people. With all of that in mind, I’d highly recommend seeing this theatrical adaption of the classic film because it applies to everyone by celebrating individuality and showing that no matter who you are, “you are real and you are rare, you star.”
The Beauty of Imperfection
11/13/2025
As an editor, my job requires me to be somewhat of a perfectionist. It is up to me to review style guides and project-specific instructions as well as to know and be highly skilled at spelling, grammar, and accuracy, in general. Our clients count on our editorial department to intensely and critically review their materials to catch and fix mistakes or to make suggestions when the text sounds awkward or a fact appears to be incorrect.
When considering the importance of catching mistakes, especially in print work, it’s understandable why editors strive so hard to be perfect. Most people could never imagine how many mistakes we have caught and fixed among all our various projects over the years, but miss one typo, turning “mature” into “manure,” and boy do we feel lousy. Thankfully, at Composure, we have a team of editors who work together to create the best possible products for our clients. Using a system of checks and balances, what one of us might miss during a first round, the other catches in a second review.
While striving for excellence is understandable, admirable, and necessary, especially in the world of publishing, perfectionism actually makes it harder to meet the goal of being “perfect” or reaching a peak level of performance. Perfectionists may meet and even exceed the requirements of a project; however, they typically do so while experiencing a lot more stress than someone who is simply a high achiever. This level of intensity can lead to serious burnout. Letting go of unrealistic expectations leads to a calmer mindset and a more balanced life.
According to Elizabeth Scott, MS, a wellness coach, “Perfectionists, like high achievers, tend to set high goals and work hard toward them. However, a high achiever can be satisfied with doing a great job and achieving excellence (or something close), even if their very high goals aren’t completely met. Perfectionists will accept nothing less than, well, perfection. ‘Almost perfect’ is seen as failure.”
On a related note, I had gone out to my backyard one day to take a break from work and to take some photos (using my favorite macro lens on my Canon Rebel XS). I saw a dandelion in the yard. But it wasn’t whole. I was searching for a beautiful, perfectly round picture to add to my collection of nature photos. So, I glanced around the yard, but unfortunately there were no other dandelions to be seen, and so I had to settle for the one pictured above. I had failed to find the image I was looking for, and I was disappointed. I spent several days searching for that elusive “perfect” shot. It was only later, when I stepped back from the search, that I recognized the beauty that can be found even in imperfection.
I think the whole experience of looking for and striving for perfection is a big part of who I am, as a person and as an editor, even though I know I will never achieve it. However, I am happy to say that after reading several other articles on the subject, I have come to realize that perfectionism is actually not my problem. High standards do not make it difficult for me to meet deadlines, finish tasks, or trust others. I don’t get angry, anxious, or frustrated with my assignments; I am not overly critical of myself; and I don’t engage in excessive behaviors. Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be your best. So, that’s all good to know.
Overall, I believe I am a high achiever and I’m proud of my work ethic and the skills I bring to the table. While I must admit I am not nor will I ever be perfect, I also have to admit that I will always strive for a high level of achievement and growth in my work as well as in my personal life.
Speaking of growth … I took advantage of another opportunity to seek out and photograph a dandelion, and this time I got a lot closer to the image I was originally looking for. Sometimes it just takes a little persistence and patience to reach your goals.
