Apr 3 2026
Oh you guys, to be back in Busch Gardens after 4 years! What a dream, what a blessing, what a…oh, who cares. It’s just an amusement park, what do you guys care lol. It was unseasonably hot that day – mid-80s in March! I hate winter (well, I guess technically we had reached the milestone by this point) but it seriously scares me when we get weirdly inappropriate warmth so soon. Like, legitimately terrifies me. Luckily, it wasn’t humid so the sunshine and heat was very enjoyable.
After choosing the wrong ticket-scanning line (always have to pick one wrong line, whether it’s the parking booth lane, security, or ticket-scanning) and standing for an eternity behind two people who didn’t have their tickets ready on their phone and then couldn’t find them (and hello ticket-scanning lady, did you think to maybe have them step aside and scan us while they got their idiotic selves sorted??) we speed-walked straight to Darkoaster and by that I mean first we had to stop at a restroom so our token Old Man could pee (fine, we all took the opportunity) and then walked for a good fifteen minutes around the sprawling park before finally reaching our destination. I always forget how freaking giant Busch Gardens is! And for as many times as we’ve been there, I cannot get the layout to stick in my memory so I’m always like, “Is this the right way? Shouldn’t we have been there by now?” It’s not great when you’re in a hurry. (And we always are!)
Durrr.
This was one of the new coasters that arrived on the scene after our last visit. It used to be a dark ride – Chooch and I went on it the first time we ever visited way back in…2013? 2014? and it was super fun and unexpectedly “high tech.” Kind of like a precursor to what Universal would eventually do with the Harry Potter dark rides. Looking back, it seemed kind of ahead of its time. I had to google it – it was a 3D motion-based dark ride called Curse of DarKastle. So, BG kept the building and themed an indoor coaster around the original lore.
We were making Henry take pictures of us in the BACK ROW line. We actually had to wait quite a bit for this one – maybe around 40 minutes? And we were dying the whole time because Henry stupidly got in the same line as us rather than choosing another row where he could ride on the same train as us, and it was looking like he was going to be riding with a young girl (maybe 10 or 11) who was very forlorn-looking AND had a bandaid across her forehead. Her dad and sister were in the row next to us, leaving her relegated to single ride status. Henry was NOT amused by our giggle fits.
I was just so giddy to be back at an amusement park, waiting for a backrow ride on a new-to-us coaster!
I mean, it wasn’t that great of a coaster – the thoosie reviews were correct in that the lack of theming was very sad – but it was still fun and I was doing my hyperbolic screaming much to Chooch’s chagrin. Then we were DYING when our train rolled back in the station and we saw that Henry was gone…but BANDAID GIRL WAS STILL IN LINE! She opted to NOT RIDE WITH HENRY which meant that she actively chose to ride on an entirely different train than her dad and sister too LOL. We were cracking up so hard over this that people in line were probably like, “Wow, they thought this was a really fun coaster, maybe they’re Amish.”
Busch Gardens makes a killing from parking ($35!!!!!!), admission, and food prices so I do not feel bad ONE BIT that I didn’t pay for this picture.
LOL, Henry the Lone Rider.
From there, we headed over to the other new-to-us coaster that Chooch needed for his coaster count – Big Bad Wolf. (I think?) It’s a family suspended coaster and another long-ish wait. Probably 45 minutes? I need to state for the record that the park was NOT crowded by any means – it was just the park was only running ONE train on nearly every coaster, paired with slow-ass ops. Obviously I’m not an expert on the fiscal aspects of this industry but when you’re charging astronomical prices (it was just under $300 for us, not including parking!!!! and food) you should be running all of your trains no matter what.
At least there weren’t annoying people (not including us) in any of the lines we were forced to spend time in. And blessedly only one line-cutting incident during the entire day.
Speaking of theming, this coaster got some nice treatment on that front! The station was cute and there was also some little village scenes built out along the course. This ride is supposed to be an homage to the fan favorite coaster that was removed years ago to make room for Verbolten (my favorite coaster in the park but it was closed on our visit because it’s being refurbed / reimagined so I’m excited to see the new version of it someday!). Oh, sorry, I just realized the full name of the coaster is THE BIG BAD WOLF: THE WOLF’S REVENGE and clearly the OG coaster was The Big Bad Wolf. So, a very original name for the revenge coaster lol.
(KENNYWOOD ALREADY DID THIS, BTW. TRY AGAIN, OTHER PARKS.)
Henry had a friend to ride with this time lol.
“Are they talking??” I cried to Chooch.
“I think so!” he said, holding up his phone to take a picture.
We asked Henry later what they talked about and he said, “Nothing. The guy sat down and said something about his neck.”
THAT WAS ALL?
Papa H did his dadderly duty by waiting on the exit ramp to take pictures of us returning to the station. What a fucking peach.
Anyway, this was a cute family ride. Nothing to write home about though which reminds me, I wanted to get some postcards to send to friends BUT FORGOT.
I still love Busch Gardens with my whole heart but I need to stop ignoring the fact that I have miserable food experiences there 100% of the time. Look, I get it – it’s because I don’t eat meat, etc etc. but come the fuck on. This isn’t the 90s.
I wanted to go to the place that has the veggie burger (this was CLOSED the last two times we were there) but Henry was being a dweeb and taking way too long looking at the map or whatever on his phone and we were sitting right across from the dumb Festhaus – where we eat 109% of the time so tell me if that has anything to do with my 100% miserable food experience rating. I mean I didn’t take Statistics in school but…
So Chooch was like “Fuck it, we’re here let’s just eat at Festhaus.”
Ugh.
The veg options are cheese pizza or salad. Or a small selection of sides. The one time I got the pizza, I became instantly “with cheese” and spent the rest of the day with crippling gastrointestinal pain and the inability to poop for like 2 days. So I was NOT getting the pizza. The salad looked gross. So I got a thing of three small rolls and Chooch grabbed a basket of fried pickle sticks to share with me.
He and Henry both got pizza, Henry also got fries, Chooch got a small salad. Plus two waters and a Coke.
Can you guess how much this cost?
Ok if you read my post from Spoonwood you already know (cheater) but it was $98!!!!!!!’
And that didn’t include the two beers that Henry and I got which was another $30!!!!
And I immediately got sick. Barely ate anything but I started the day with a headache and Henry conveniently only keeps advil or whatever in the car when he knows HE will need it so I was like “I will be a real woman and push through it” because to be honest I don’t usually take anything for headaches. I am STRONG.
(Forget the fact that I tried to run away from the hospital when it was epidural time in 2006.)
I was sick but not so sick that I couldn’t obnoxiously participate in the Festhaus lederhosen battle cries with the LIVE PERFORMERS. I was born to be on the “you say” end of the “When I say <x> you say <y>” bits. I am so good at repeating in a loud and boisterous manner! Henry and Chooch were glaring at me. Especially when it was the chicken dance time and I was too sickly to stand up and do it but not too sickly that I couldn’t perform a seated version.
Also, we were there at peak lunch hour and more than 1/2 of the tables were empty so THE PARK WAS NOT CROWDED, EVERYTHING SHOULD HAVE BEEN A WALK-ON.
He was so bored, you guys. So bored.
Meanwhile, I was like, “Holy shit, I might have to throw up” and also “but this beer cost almost as much as parking so I must finish it.” I ended up taking to go
Most of the rest of the day was spent with me holding my stomach and moaning. But here is this iconic shot of Loch Ness Monster.
We took our good old time walking over to the Italy section, in hopes that my stomach would be OK to ride Pantheon. You know what’s hilarious? We couldn’t remember if there were small item baskets in the station and a sign near the steps to the station was like ABSOLUTELY NOT, GET A LOCKER so we thrust our stuff at Henry who dejectedly left the line, only for us to run to the back row queue, see that there ARE baskets up there, and then get slapped with the ATTENTION RIDERS, THIS RIDE IS NOT OPERATING AT THE MOMENT announcement.
WHAT IS IT WITH US AND PANTHEON??
Chooch and I opted to wait it out since we were like, 3 trains back in the queue. It was the right call because they started testing it immediately and there is something so perfectly voyeuristic about witnessing these types of things from the station. It makes me feel like I’m in the know. And it was only about a 25 delay anyway.
I want to say that I still love Pantheon as much as I did when it debuted in 2022 but…I quickly realized that perhaps I shouldn’t be riding coasters at the mo’ because I immediately felt worse and the entire last half of the coaster was physically painful. So what did I do after this? Immediately get in line for Apollo’s Chariot!
Again, this is another coaster that is usually a walk-on or a station wait at most every time we go there, but we actually HAD TO STAND IN A LINE that snaked out from the station and down a set of steps.
BECAUSE THEY WERE ONLY RUNNING ONE TRAIN!
I will spare you the details but good lord, I really thought this one was going to break my record of “never puked at a park” lifetime track record. I was so clammy and cold by the time we returned to the station and began a frantic search for a shaded bench to hopefully not die on.
Found a bench here and plopped down while Henry – finally – set off to find me something for my head because that was the ROOT ISSUE. This fucking headache went on too long.
So thrilled to be sharing a bench with me. Oh wait! Henry went to get me a cookie first. Then I sent him back out for Tylenol, lol.
We stopped to watch a wolf performance on our way to Griffin. In case you didn’t know, both Busch Gardens (Williamsburg and Tampa) also have numerous animal things/shows/etc. But now you know because I just told you. So, we watched some wolves get fed treats for sitting and stuff. They were so precious.
Then Henry and Chooch rode Griffin while I sat on another bench and let the Tylenol do its thing. I was nearly cured by the time they came back! (This one had two trains running and they barely had to wait at all.)
I really hate Henry’s phone. This was me and Chooch on Alpengeist WHICH WAS A WALK-ON because they were running 2 trains. The first ride, we were in the back and I was like, “OK! This is fine! I forgot how much I loved this ride!” and then when we got off, the station was still empty so I was like “LET’S RIDE AGAIN” so we did and this time I was in an outer seat and yeah – no bueno that time around. I came off feeling like I was green in the face.
Chooch and I then rode Invadr which always looks like it has a short line until you realize it’s one train plus the ops are slow AF. It’s a family coaster so you get lots of annoying little kids in line too. There was some – OK I’m saying it – white-trashy grandpa and his grandkid a few people behind us. The kid was being really bad, so the grandpa kept yelling his name, which was….BANIYA?? I don’t even know how to spell it. I kept expecting him to say “banana” and it was catching me off guard every time.
Then there was a little boy and his sister behind us. The little boy strapped on his Go-Pro at one point and started giving his sister prompts.
“Say what ride this is,” he stage-whispered.
“Um, Ok. Yeah. So. We are, um. We are standing in line, um, for, uh, Invadr.” It was excruciating to watch. Chooch kept trying to squeeze past me because the boy fixed his camera directly on him several times. “I do NOT want to be in this kid’s vlog,” Chooch muttered.
Meanwhile, there was a solo guy in front of us in line wearing an Iron Gwazi shirt. He looked kind of familiar to me but I didn’t think much about it until we made it to the station and he was in the queue for the back row, with us right in front of him. He kept sighing heavily and at one point, I thought, “Is he trying to get our attention?” I couldn’t really figure out what was going on – if anything even WAS going on – but then during the actual ride, hearing his backseat reactions, a memory was unlocked and as we exited the ride, I whispered to Chooch, “I THINK THAT GUY WAS AT FUN SPOT ATLANTA THE DAY WE WERE THERE.”
Literally, you guys, I think it was the guy that I bonded with on the brake run of ArieForceOne???
Chooch thinks that is where he knows him from too! We pointed him out to Henry afterward and he was like, “Go ask him!” and I was like, “NO THANK YOU!” I spent almost all day trying not to vomit and now he was trying to push me into a SOCIAL INTERACTION?
Mm. Hard pass.
Then it was Loch Ness Monster time! They revamped this one since the last time we were there and I was excited to see the changes. They added more theming and the tunnel portion got a big audio/visual glow up! I just wish there were less head-banging moments, but this is still such a classic coaster. And so visually pleasing too!
I can’t even remember the last time we rode this. It’s my least favorite coaster in the park. We didn’t ride it this time either but I always like to take a picture of the lights in the queue! Anyway, this was after we rode Pantheon one more time, this time with Henry in tow. I was able to enjoy it so much more this time around too, now that my headache was gone, taking my nausea with it.
“HE WAS WAVING AT YOU!” Henry cried after I stood up from taking this picture.
“Wha—who??” I cried back, heart racing, thinking I missed a Kpop idol sighting or something.
“The conductor!” Henry yelled.
Oh.
I just want to say that is this tree was in Korea, there would have been a crowd of nature paparazzi, aggressively snapping pics, with influencers lining up for selfies.
The last picture of the day, right before we left. The park closed at 8 and we made it until a little after 7. Chooch was already wanting to leave by 4 but I was like WE PAID A LOT OF MONEY TO BE HERE, BOY, SO YOU ARE GOING TO RIDE COASTERS AND LIKE IT!
Overall, it was a really nice day once you factor out my illness and food fails. I was just happy to be there again with those two, after 4 years! To be at an amusement park in general!
No commentsApr 1 2026
View from the elevator bank of Chooch’s floor at his Drexel suite.
Yes, that means we were in Philly, returning our PRECIOUS GOODS to the Home of Gritty. :(
And can you believe that Henry had the audacity to suggest I STAY HOME because I woke up feeling a sickness coming on? It was the beginning stages of a head cold / sinus thing. I wasn’t yet dripping like a broken faucet (that would be Monday and Tuesday) but I was in the extreme “my face is constructed of shifting tectonic plates” type of pressurized pain. Plus, I slept for most of the ride there and that just isn’t something I do especially since I brought a book with me AND we were having a nostalgic Pierce the Veil deep dive which started because earlier that morning in our bedroom, Henry goes, “Since when do they play this on the radio???” and I had to actually ear-squint to hear because my brain initially rejected the information that it was PTV. That’s a good indication that I was sick—I can usually pick up on what’s playing in the bedroom FROM DOWNSTAIRS. It drives Henry nuts, especially because the bedroom radio isn’t even on loud.
But yes, it was PTV! Granted, we haven’t listened to the alternative radio station here in years but only recently put it on again when I accidentally go back into hockey since that’s the station that airs the games and we don’t have the ability to watch it on TV.
PHEW that was a lot to say: we were inspired to listen to PTV in the car that day.
I had to laugh though because Henry used to be the disgruntled lone passenger on a stinky bus to Frown Town anytime we’d go see Pierce the Veil but now he is so far-removed from that timeline that it’s a nostalgic listen for him I guess and he defensively said in the car, “I NEVER SAID I DIDN’T LIKE THEM.” Oh, OK! Coulda fooled me!
Anyway, this song is three years old already so who knows when The X started playing it. Before we move on from the PTV portion of this post, I need to just remind everyone that they have been one of my favorite bands since 2007 and I will never not love them, and Vic is one of the few singers from that scene who has never let us down.
Oh, this has nothing to do with Sunday, but yesterday Henry was telling me that he was almost done with a book that I have been hounding him to read for years. “She just got fired,” he said.
“And she doesn’t have a back-up plan?” I quipped, all nudge-nudge, wink-wink. He just looked at me blankly.
“Oh OK, I guess you’re not really a Pierce the Veil fan after all!” I cried. IT WAS A REFERENCE TO THIS SONG, ASSHOLE.
(I can’t hear the part “You know I’ve never held a gun in my life / but now I carry one around in case I see you tonight” without tears spontaneously springing forth.)
Anyway! After helping Chooch unload all of his crap to his room (don’t worry, we interrogated him before we left home that morning to make sure he had his: wallet, backpack, laptop, student ID after last time when he left ALL OF THOSE THINGS AT HOME), we took the train to…wherever – I still don’t know my way around, but it was like 5 stops from where we got on at the Drexel campus lol – and then walked about 15 minutes until we arrived at Madjal Bakery, a Syrian bakery that I found out about from Cari Cakes when she was visiting home a few weeks ago from Korea. (If you read the plethora of nauseating Korea blog posts from 2 years ago, you might remember that she is an American expat Youtuber in Korea – I have been a subscriber since 2017 when I found her “apartment tour” video during a very chaotic period in my life when I was 100% convinced of giving it all up and moving to Seoul. And we ended up running into her in Seoul on that trip and had an awkward conversation lol.)
Cari really pimped this place out well so I had to try it.
We ended up getting there RIGHT BEFORE a huge influx of customers, and also right before they sold out of the pastry I had my heart set on – the pistachio cinnamon roll.
It’s small inside but very pretty.
Pictured: Tahini Rye Brownie; Tahini, Maple & Pecan Babka; and my coveted Cinnamon Cardamom Bun with pistachio cream cheese frosting.
YES, SIR!!! Everything was divine.
Henry and Chooch also got some savories which they loved. And no, all those baked goods weren’t just for me! We split them, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I also got a hot spiced tea which was perfecto for the state I was in that afternoon.
Also, I’m sorry but any time I think of Men I Trust (see: Chooch’s shirt), I’m immediately transported to the backseat of Corey’s car, seeing a dead lady on a sidewalk outside of the Mattress Factory, UGH.)
The man working that day (I don’t think it was the owner based on Instagram) was so friendly. I appreciated that every time he said, “Hi there!” to a new customer, it felt sincere and didn’t devalue the “Hi there!” he gave to us when we walked in, lol. I’m very protective of the salutations bestowed upon me! He made me feel SEEN and was very patient as we deliberated amongst ourselves.
We were lucky to get a table with three chairs, because as soon as we sat down, there was an unrelenting surge of customers through the door, like some divine God Hand was reaching down from the heavens to finger-pluck people off the sidewalks and deposit them on Madjal’s stoop. Good for Madjal!
Highly recommend this place and already can’t wait to go back and try more! (Preferably when I’m not on the verge of a sinus situation.)
Afterward, we decided to eschew public transportation and walk back to campus – it was about an hour walk but the sun was shining and it’s all flat so it was a really nice afternoon stroll. Especially after being cooped up in the car for 4+ hours. Right away, we passed a record store and Chooch slipped inside. We had to stay outside because we had beverages, but then curiosity got the best of me so I thrust my tea at Hery and walked inside. It was mayhem in there! Then when you factor in my invisibilty, people were just stepping out in front of me left and right and it was very frustrating because I could see Chooch halfway down an aisle, holding up a record to show me, but it was like I was in some niche 1990s NES game, trying to navigate through a record store and reach my son while patrons blocked my path every step of the way and poorly-placed tables further obstructed me while also delivering insulting blows to my hipbones. It was almost comical.
Then I walked back to the counter with him to check out. There were two men working – one very young, one old. The older of the two was ringing Chooch up with the younger one kept directly asking me something about a bag. I couldn’t hear him – HELLO, I WAS SICKLY – and asked him to repeat himself, but Chooch was over there answering, “yes.” So I thought that was the end of it but then the guy asked me AGAIN and I swear he was saying that they needed to check my bag. I was like, “You have to check my bag?” to which he said the thing again but as if he were swimming in a fishbowl and I was desperately trying to parse this together in my clogged-head.
Chooch was still next to me saying “yes” and this is when it finally occurred to me, AFTER I WAS HANDING OVER MY PURSE, that he was asking us if we wanted a bag. And even though Chooch kept saying yes, it was like he NEEDED TO HEAR IT FROM ME TOO which added to the confusion.
“I thought you were saying you needed to check my bag, I was so confused!” I laughed nervously. The older guy laughed too and joked, “Give us your purse, show us what you’re hiding in there!”
It was so bizarre but luckily ended with us all chuckling like it was some sketch from The State that ended up on the cutting room floor.
We were regaling this scene to Henry afterward and Chooch actually had my back and didn’t make me out to be the fool in the situation! I was….shocked.
This is part of the Magic Gardens – the artist, Isaiah Zagar, actually just died in February. :( His mosaics can be found on the facades of a lot of buildings in Philly.
Literally, such a beautiful spring day. Just chilly/windy enough to need a light denim jacket but that shining sun was so wonderful, especially on my face as it felt like it was being torn in two. Fucking sinuses.
I loved this walk and prolonged time with Chooch! Also, we were joking that we’ve now been to Philly at least a dozen times what with concerts and Drexel stuff and still have not done anything tourist-related aside from the Mutter Museum, which we passed on our walk back and I had no idea it was so close to Drexel! I threatened Chooch that one day, Henry and I will come to visit just to do tourist things and he mumbled, “Great, can’t wait.”
I hate these goodbyes. This one cut especially deep because we don’t know when we’ll get to see him again since his first co-op has just ended and now he’ll be in classes all through the summer until his next co-op starts. We’ll definitely see him end of August / beginning of September to help him move into his new apartment (we got to see the outside of it on Sunday – it is on the cutest street!!) so that should be a nice headache.
And then we just found out yesterday that he forgot his toothbrush charger and potentially his earbud charger.
No commentsMar 31 2026
Ugh you guys, I’m sad looking at this because 1. it was our last full day with Chooch at home and 2. it was the last day of good health before some kind of sinus nightmare hit me. I feel like all I have been doing since Sunday night is leaking out of my face and fitfully sleeping.
I’ll have to make this one short because I have Kleenex plugging my nostrils and my eyes and every time I blink, more emotionless tears fall from my eyes.
We took Chooch out to lunch on Saturday. He had plans to play football with some friends afterward, and then went geochaching later that night, so I was glad that he fit in his lame ‘rents on his last day home.
I will just say this now – I don’t get the hullaballoo over Spoonwood. The food is just OK and the beer is mid, and the atmosphere does NOTHING to balance that out. But you have no idea how much people here love this place. I only suggested it because we had a gift card and their current beer list sounded OK.
I hated every beer I had there last year when we went for Chronica’s going away party. In fact, it was such a weird vibe that day with the way Spoonwood treated Chronica that even they started to reconsider their loyalty. There was one server in particular that day who was completely rude and exchanged words with Monica even though Monica HAD CALLED SPOONWOOD IN ADVANCE TO TELL THEM TO EXPECT A LARGE-ISH PARTY THAT DAY. Spoonwood dropped the ball bigly and then tried to make Chronica feel like it was an error on their part and that ain’t it, sis.
Anyway, as soon as we arrived on Saturday, Henry IMMEDIATELY had a near-collision with THAT SERVER so I texted Chris to tell her this, after the hostess sat our party of three at a tall table meant for eight people?! Bro, we got there right when Spoonwood opened and there was an entire floor full of empty 4-seaters but OK, put us at this large-ass party table?! We felt so weird sitting there so we asked to move to a normal table, god forbid causing friction right off the bat! They did let us move but I felt like we were getting some dagger-y staff side-eyes after that.
Get over yourselves, Spoonwood.
I actually did moderately like the taster I got:
I think it’s safe to say that I have a strong preference for holiday beers.
And then I got a full-sized Working Class Hero because it said it had corn in it. It was OK. I didn’t like anything Henry got.
Also, I got a falafel wrap and it was OK. The falafel was kind of dry, and there was no “wow factor” to it – it tasted like an average falafel wrap. I got cornbread for my side and that was also dry but also kind of OK. Again, I don’t get the hype over this place?!
I will say that three lunches and a bunch of beers cost less than our completely underwhelming lunch at Busch Gardens last week. I still haven’t recapped that because Hipstamatic keeps freezing on me when I try to edit my pictures, but I’ll tell you now that our lunch there was $98 and came with much less food and that didn’t even include the two beers that Henry and I got. Theme parks are so shameless!!
Meanwhile, I happened to glance over to my left and noticed a woman at a table that I am 99.99% sure I played doubles with when I was a freshman in high school. She was a grade above me and we were friendly, and I think we were even Facebook friends when I was still using that garbage site, but I have this complex where I assume that no one remembers me. Chooch kept threatening to go over to her table and say, “Excuse me, are you Julie? My mom talks about you ALL THE TIME.”
He’s such an asshole, lol.
When we came back, Chooch went off with his friends and Henry and I walked to Uptown Coffee in Mt. Lebanon because Megan tipped me off to their banana pancake latte and I was in THE MOOD FOR IT. First of all, the girl who took our order was wearing a Wonder Years shirt, and then there was a comically tall barista wearing a hat that said something like, “I’m just a little guy” or something and that really endeared him to me. I don’t come to this place often at all, but the last I went was during the pandemic when Chooch and I walked there and I remember having a great interaction with the barista over her Michael Myers tattoo, and Chooch was so embarrassed because god forbid his mother ever engages in small talk!
I was actually remembering this when Henry and I were walking there that afternoon and exclaimed, “Chooch is the reason I can’t do small talk anymore, and resort to acting like an alien just beamed to Earth every time someone asks me a question.” Speaking of complexes!
Can confirm that the banana pancakes latte slapped – I think I need to fully divorce myself from 802 and Potomac Station because even though they are way more convenient to get to from our house, they disappoint more than anything. The owner of Potomac is all about teaming up with Pgh influencers (Yinzfluencers???) now and their Insta has become to annoying and try-hard. I just want a good latte, is all. But there is always something…off. And the baked goods are very hit or miss – everything tastes of Crisco.
Uptown had a much more robust selection of baked goods and their snickerdoodle was top tier. I hate that Henry and I split one instead of each getting our own!
Right before we left, a super tall man came in – had to have been over 6’5″ – and the super tall barista was eyeing him up territorially, like he didn’t want to be dethroned as TALLEST IN THE CAFE, even temporarily. It was crazy because they were both extremely tall, comically even.
And that has been 1,000 words about a Saturday. Thank you, thank you.
No commentsMar 28 2026
Thursday was our 2 year wedding anniversary! And it just so happened that the next Lolev beer pairing event was that day—yay, anniversary plans were basically made for us! This pairing was with Umber – a local woman-owned artisanal chocolate shop. Amani told us about this at the last Lolev event we attended so I had my eyes peeled for the event sign-up to go live!
I really love Lolev so much. Not only is the beer the best I’ve had in this city, but the ambiance is on point and the people there are so friendly and inclusive. The same bartender has been there every time we’ve gone – he’s the one who put me on to the Pgh Beer stamp book thingie – and his laugh so boisterously contagious. Plus, Amani is so upbeat and talkative, it brings even this near-recluse out of her shell.
When we were at the Self-Reliant Seitan pairing last month, Amani and I got into a conversation about Lolev’s match lager which they said wasn’t going to make a reappearance this year, so Amani had started a petition to show the brewers that there was a vested interest in this naturally-green beer perfect for that famously green March holiday. It was actually last March when I had it at our inaugural visit to Lolev. Anyway, Amani’s plan worked because a few weeks ago, Lolev announced on Insta that Iroh was making its much anticipated return! I was worried that it wouldn’t still be available if we waited for the Umber event, so Henry and I actually went to the Zelienople location the day it debuted.
And it was good that we did, because Amani said they actually didn’t have any left, except for one keg that she asked to be saved for the brunch event that she had planned to celebrate its return. I think she said it’s this weekend, actually, but she sneaked out two tiny samplers for us on the downlow – SHE IS THE BEST!! Henry doesn’t like matcha so he took a sip and then when she left the room he slid his glass over to me. Yessssss.
THE DEETS!
Would you look at these gorgeous chocolate drops of art?? Almost too pretty to eat. ALMOST. You better trust that I was choking on my saliva as soon as Veronica, the cocoa virtuoso behind the Umber brand, set down the box in front of me. I wanted to take Henry’s box too.
Veronica recommended taking a sip of the beer first, then a bite of the chocolate, separately. Then finishing the chocolate with another sip of beer at the same time. This was a good suggestion because it forced to slow down when my basic instinct was to essentially swallow each piece whole.
UGH EACH CHOCOLATE WAS SO GOOD. If I was forced to choose a favorite though, it would be the matcha. It was the perfect balance of matcha and white chocolate.
Oh! And we learned stuff that night too because when Veronica came over to sit and chat with us, she told us that white chocolate is actually only 2% less cocoa than milk chocolate?!? I truly do love white chocolate (I’m one of “those people”) and was never one to bitch if I got a white chocolate Jesus in my Easter basket as a kid, and sometimes I actually crave white chocolate over regular, but I always thought it wasn’t actually chocolate??!
I really love orange + chocolate.
This may have been my favorite pairing. It was my favorite beer of the night and the Mexican hot chocolate was subtly spicy and tasted JUST LIKE MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE in solid form.
I mean, would you look at the detail on these though??
Zeus was my favorite beer from the last pairing we went to and I was so stoked to try this Zeus-infused chocolate at the end. I could really taste it, too! Incredible. Amani said they are talking about doing the reverse now, where Umber chocolate is infused in a Lolev beer. Even if it’s a stout or porter, I will be down to try that. I feel like where Penn Brewery failed spectacularly with their Sarris Chocolate collab, Lolev will get it right.
I am such a simp for Lolev.
That’s how Henry always looks at me, btw.
What a fine way to spend an anniversary! And the best part is that Chooch is still home for spring break so one of his friends dropped him off at Lolev after they were done playing football at CMU, so he could be our DD! To thank him, we took up Umber’s offer of 10% off if we re-filled our boxes with chocolate at the end of the night (twist our arm) – Henry and I got one to share, and we gave the other to Chooch.
I can’t believe two years ago, we were in Korea. Bambi was alive. Chooch hadn’t yet committed to a college. It feels so long ago and like just yesterday, all at once.
4 commentsMar 27 2026
I love Mae Martin. Like, lovelovelove Mae Martin. Ever since watching their show “Feel Good” on Netflix several years ago, I’ve been enchanted by their nervous comedic delivery and pure adorability. When I saw they were coming to Pittsburgh on their The Possum* comedy tour, I was all in. Originally, I was going to go alone, but then Henry watched “Wayward” with me and I sent him some of their late night show interviews, and he was on board too.
*(SPOILER, THERE WERE NO POSSUMS AT THE SHOW.)
I thought I lost this jacket!
Having Chooch home this week has been so great – for us, anyway, LOL. It’s been pretty annoying for him, like when I made him take pictures of Henry and me before we left.
LOL, what faces.
Then, to further Chooch’s annoyance, we made him drive us downtown to the Byham Theater so that we wouldn’t have to either take the T or pay exorbitant parking prices. This was actually almost as funny as the Mae Martin show because Chooch was SO PISSED IMMEDIATELY when I put on NCT127 at high volumes and then Henry was nagging him for driving too fast through the church parking lot across from our house, and then!! Henry was digging around the backseat of the car (we make him sit in the back when Chooch is driving, LOL) for his hat and Chooch was like, “Oh well, I’m not going back” but then Henry was like, “NO, I THINK I HAD IT ON THE ROOF OF THE CAR!!!!” and then I realized it was his Canada hat, so I said, “Oh, you HAVE to turn around then!”
So, Chooch grudgingly looped around Brookline and went back to the parking lot.
“THERE IT IS!” I screamed, while Chooch was breaking his fingers in his intensity to get NCT127’s “Sticker” off the radio.
You can hear a clip of my unhinged cackling in the background, but it actually went on for so much longer – that irate flourish with which he snatched his lost hat SENT ME.
“Anything else you’d like to report missing?” Chooch said drolly after peeling out of the parking lot before Henry even had the car door shut.
“YOU,” Henry spat.
This of course made me lose it all over again and after another full minute, Chooch side-eyed me and said, “OK, it wasn’t that funny, you can stop now.”
AND THAT JUST MADE ME LAUGH LOUDER as I reached over to crank the volume on NCT’s 2 Baddies (another of Chooch’s most hated songs).
It was only about a 10 minute drive to downtown, with Henry and Chooch bickering the entire way over directions. Oh, I was wheezing. I missed this so much.
I’m surprised Chooch actually let the car come to a complete stop before booting us out at a curb.
I realized that I hadn’t been to the Byham since pre-Covid when my pal Michelle and her daughter were in town and invited me to the TROCKADERO BALLET with them!
It was such a great night, even when Henry the Doof dropped his phone under the seats in front of us (thankfully it was during intermission) and made me hold his beer while he gently tapped the shoulder of the woman in front of us to tell her he had to retrieve his phone which had landed near her purse and didn’t want her to think he was trying to rob her. She was super impressed by his politeness and commented on the gentleness of his shoulder tap, which irritated me because I hate when Henry’s inner feminist is on display and stealing my spotlight.
Sigh.
Her partner seemed equally impressed and I was like OMG WE GET IT, HENRY IS AN ALLY.
I wanted to pop into the conversation with a reminder that I have had to correct Henry’s misuse of pronouns when referencing Mae Martin all night, BUT THEN HIS BEER SPILLED ON MY LEG AND PULLED ME AWAY FROM THE SCENE.
Aside from Henry shifting uncomfortably in his seat all night, miming his discomfort and earlier diatribe of how poorly-designed theater seats are (maybe it was because people weren’t fat asses back then who ate king-sized Twix during shows, HENRY), it was a really great night. We had good balcony seats, everyone was respectful, and there were lots of laughs! Mae Martin is a treasure. Canada, you produce the best people, I swear to god. I am fully in my Canada-era right now, I think. I mean, we came home and I forced Chooch to watch more episodes of the Nirvana the Band web series, which he said I’ve ruined for him and made it feel like homework, LOL.
The first half of Mae’s show was stand-up (I could have listened to them talk all night – they have such a nervously hilarious vibe that I am so attracted to!), then after intermission, their friend Matt came out for some improv (this was Henry’s favorite part of the night) and then Mae ended the show by performing several songs. Yes, they can act, make people laugh, do improv, sing, play guitar, AND they just taught themselves how to play harmonica after getting inspo from the Bob Dylan biopic.
I need, need, need Mae Martin and Matt Johnson to work on something together. PLEASE. My two favorite Canadians. <3
Anyway, it just felt really good to laugh so genuinely all night, starting with the drive down there courtesy of Chooch’s surliness and Henry’s rooftop hat mishap. This was almost one of those events that come up in my feed and I go to myself, “That could be fun” and then take no action. I’m glad that I bought tickets though! I had that niggling sensation that I would get FOMO if I didn’t. I think I was right to trust the niggle! I think I’m doing pretty good in my mission to “get out there more,” as prescribed by my therapist.
Afterward, Chooch was waiting for us in the parked car a few streets over, sitting there reading a book (The Martian) like a real dad. He went to the bookstore and visited his friend at work and then grudgingly came back (in time!) to retrieve us. What a sweetheart.
2 comments
Mar 25 2026
Way back in August of 2023 when we came back from our Coaster Crew vacation, I was walking my usual trail through Brookline when I noticed that a storefront that has been abandoned for YEARS was displaying mysterious activity. I peeped in one of the windows and saw that a counter had been placed inside, with what looked like a fry-grill thingie behind it. There was also mail on the counter! I texted Henry post haste like, “Wake up, babe, something’s brewing on the blvd!”
It seemed like they had some set-backs because a good solid year of non-activity followed. But then process began again and signage was put up, lots of “coming soon!” promises. But this started last spring! Eventually, a sign was put up with the name and I found the place on Insta. I followed immediately but there was no information other than it was going to be a Yemeni cafe.
Earlier in the year, they started posting legit updates, showing sneak peeks inside and then FINALLY they launched their soft-opening about two weeks ago!
Chooch and I walked there today on my break and I was so excited! The place was poppin’ for it being 2PM on a random Wednesday. I loved to see it!
I ordered the Socotra signature latte with pistachios, Chooch got a Spanish latte, and we got a slice of honey cake and pistachio milk cake to share.
This place is beautiful! I couldn’t get a picture of the banquette area which is lined with these gorgeous cushions, because it was taken by a party of women and I didn’t want to be like, “Say cheese, latte-lovers!”
I don’t know about Chooch’s, but my latte was very refreshing and delicious and 100x better than anything I’ve ever gotten across the street at 802 Cafe. Maybe it’s because that place is run by this woman who genuinely rubs me the wrong way – one time she got real condescending with me because I ordered a latte that came with cold foam and asked for it hot with almond milk and said, “But the cold foam is fine” because I’m so used to people asking if I still want whipped cream or cold foam when I ask for a milk alternative, and this bitch goes, “WELL YOU ASKED FOR IT HOT SO THERE WON’T BE ANY COLD FOAM…!?!?!?!!?” in this fucking sneering shit-eating tone and I was so close to telling her, “Cool, then you can just SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS” but Henry was with me and he was already giving me a disapproving stare as though he was anticipating attitude. Also, I overheard her saying unsavory shit about the vaccine during Covid so I’m pretty sure I know exactly where her votes go. DOWN THE FUCKING COMMODE.
But anyway, I liked it better when it was run by the really nice man before her, and he had a wonderful big dog named Max who would hang out in the cafe but now this bitch has a NO DOGS ALLOWED sign on the door, further telling you everything you need to know about her ass.
And before that, it was a Brookline classic called Cannon Coffee and I truly miss that place. It was a legit coffee-lovers cafe. I used to get real macchiatos there.
Anyway!!! Back to Socotra. I will say that it was on the richer side, price-wise, but the quality of what we got didn’t make me mad about it. Both of our cakes were what I would call an afternoon delight without the scandalous innuendos. Especially the pistachio milk cake! It was straight up sopping in a puddle of milk like a missing lyric from the Starland Vocal Band’s notebook.
We also had to wait quite a while for our order even though there was only one order in front of ours, and then the people after us somehow got theirs first. I don’t know what was going on but I will cut them some slack since they just opened and are likely ironing out their kinks.
Idiot Henry texted me and asked us to bring him something home, which was annoying and at first we decided we weren’t going to since he could have just met us there – he got home from work shortly after we left – but then I felt bad (what is wrong with me!?) and got him a piece of the pistachio milk cake which he promptly beasted and agreed that it was very good.
Henry liked it, you guys.
Then on our walk home, we stopped to talk to Jeannie the Crossing Guard who has known Chooch since his elementary school days (she is such a lovely lady) and right after that, the passenger of a car driving by yelled, “IT’S CHOOCH!” out the window and it ended up being our friends Niffer and Weird Paul! Chooch is very popular in Brookline, it was like I was walking with the mayor.
Well, anyway. That was my Brookline cafe review.
No commentsMar 24 2026
I can’t explain fully what my deal is with Mama Steve’s, but I just really super love it so much. I was actually more excited about going here than Busch Gardens, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the food. It is all about the outdated ambiance for me. Please do not ever renovate, Mama Steve and Fam.
I was positively shaking with giddy anticipation. It was just as I had remembered!
Henry and Chooch were not even a fraction as stoked as I was. They’d have preferred the free hotel breakfast, I’m sure.
I’m not even going to pretend like this is the best food ever (although I’m the wrong person to ask since I’m very limited to what I can eat from this menu) but it’s just the fact that I truly get such frivolous joy from eating while swathed in a palette of baby blue. I mentioned this in my first ever Mama Steve’s blog post from…2021?? But it reminds me so much of my Pappap’s living room and dining room, color-wise. I feel instantly comforted every time I’m there!
Chooch was so over it before we were even seated, me taking pictures of everything like it was my first time there. But I was just so excited about everything in that moment! Chooch was back with us AND we were at Mama Steve’s!? Both of these things happening at once?!
I’m fairly certain that I took this exact picture the last time we were there but oh well. I love the coffee cups and I love the table tops and that’s that.
I became outrageously incensed because Henry’s meat-fists ruined this picture and you better believe I cried openly about it.
“Oh no,” Chooch said drily. “It’s too bad that nothing you wanted a picture of is still there. Like the tables. And that wall. Gone.”
NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE!!!!!!!!! Chooch said that I actually made him hate it with my zealous enthusiasm and wow, no one could have predicted that.
Anyway, in mock-excitement, Chooch blurted out, “Wow, 10 silver dollar pancakes?! Maybe that’s what I’ll get.” And then, “How big do you think they are?”
“Uh, silver dollar-sized??” Henry answered, incredulity pooling in the corners of his mouth. It was a whole thing. You had to be there.
That’s our server back there! Her name was either Lemon or Lenora. But she truly seemed to get a kick out of us and left our table chuckling to herself every time. When she took Chooch’s order and he hit her with the swerve of “vegetarian omelet,” she acted REALLY SHOCKED and goes, “OK! Vegetarian omelet….I thought you were gonna get the pancakes!” and then as she walked away, she said out loud, “I heard him say ‘10 silver dollar pancakes!‘” and then she chuckled so hard to herself. It was the cutest.
I don’t know what was going on behind my pancakes, but Henry clearly must have had the gall to ask Chooch to pass him the pepper and Chooch can’t complete any task without mouthing off in one way or another.
Anyway! I asked Henry if he would eat some pancakes if I ordered them because 4 p-cakes is too much for me. He said sure so I got a stack of blueberry and then immediately doused it with blueberry (or “blueberp” as it appeared on the carafe thing) syrup. “Wow, first you get my least favorite pancakes – blueberry – and then cover it with more blueberry,” Henry sighed. I almost peed my pants laughing because WHY WON’T MY BRAIN RETAIN THE FACT THAT HENRY HATES BLUEBERRY?!
Every time we go, we are usually only one of 2 or 3 tables. Lemon even told us not to hurry when she brought our check because, “as you can see, I don’t have any other tables,” she said with her patented chuckle. But then the hostess said, “The bus hasn’t come yet,” and Lemon chuckled some more so we weren’t sure if there really was a tour bus on the way or what? I mean, it’s freaking Williamsburg so I have to imagine that Mama Steve’s must get waves of crowds. I think every time we’ve been there, it’s been a weekday morning.
I look exhausted and my hair was wet. But I was so happy to be there! Henry looks like my prisoner.
And now for a series of pictures taken by Chooch which is always scary.
This was after Lemon busted us posing for pictures and did her “Pee Wee-watching-the-movie-about-himself-at-the-end-of-Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” chuckle.
Genuinely happy with a bellyful of blueberry pancakes from Mama Steve’s very own kitchen. Why does Henry look like he’s in the middle of psychological break, though. Like someone just put him out to pasture and told him to look at the flowers.
Oh! Speaking of the kitchen, we were desperately trying to figure out what they were listening to back there. It just sounded like the same several notes over and over. Chooch said it sounded like Nine Inch Nails because, “all I can hear is screeching and that’s what it sounds like.” I could see where he was coming from, but the cooks in the kitchen were a middle-aged black man and an old white lady. I mean, who I am to judge but they didn’t seem like the demographic for NIN.
My guess was that it was some sinister classical piece, something that would be used in an old horror movie. It was actually chilling. Henry even walked past the kitchen on purpose on his way to the restroom to try to get a better listen, but he said it only sounded worse the closer he got. We shouldn’t have sent the one person in our party who is hard of hearing.
(I actually really want it to have been NIN though because it just makes no sense, similar to my love for Mama Steve’s.)
Chooch always does this thing where he ultra-zooms on Henry when he’s supposed to be taking pictures of us, so I have a whole-ass collection of horrifying Henry close-ups on my phone. I sent this one to Alyson because it also happened to be her BIRTHDAY! She was excited because it was the live version of it, so she got to see Henry hee-hawing in motion.
And then we started our 6 hour drive home (well, first we had to stop at the Goodwill down the street from Mama Steve’s because Chooch’s latest obsession is starting a DVD collection). This was Henry whenever he was relocated to the backseat when it was Chooch’s turn to drive:
Wow. The end.
P.S. The last time we were at Mama Steve’s!
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Mar 22 2026
6:30am: On our way to Williamsburg for a quick overnighter! We left the house about an hour ago and I’m fighting to keep my eyes open out of solidarity for Henry as he drives in the dark.
Nothing eventful to report as yet. I finished an audio book that was mid at best (Single Player – not something I would normally choose but I needed it to complete a Goodreads challenge) and we stopped at Sheetz on 51 a while back for morning things. I only just got coffee because it felt too early for food and now of course, I’m hungry. Also, I was so tired at Sheetz that I didn’t realize I was pouring the creamer into the garbage instead of my coffee!!
But now we have a Romanian hits playlist on so I’m pretending like we’re cruising through the Maramures even tbough this is just dumb Laurel Highlands (I think? We just passed Laurel Caverns).
7:56am: in some rural part of Maryland rife with MAGA lawn ornamentation. Yes, even still.
Oh wait, we JUST crossed over to West Virginia somehow?! We’re in Paw Paw! I asked Henry if we’ve ever come this way before to Williamsburg and he doesn’t think so, he’s at the mercy of Waze. We just passed a sign for Berkeley Springs and I remembered that we came home this way from King’s Dominion in 2023 and now Henry (in his gross uncle Tay-Bans btw) just nodded knowingly like he knew this whole time when he had JUST SAID “I don’t think so” after I first asked?’ Friends, gaslighting in process. Sound the alarm.
8:18am: just got the welcome to Virginia announcement on Waze! Also, I need to add that yesterday Henry and I went for a walk around the neighborhood and he tripped THREE TIMES, and I mean TRIPPED, like “lurch into the air, Superman-arms” tripping. And all three times it was in front of witnesses like this was the new town spectator sport. I was at once horrified and embarrassed. He made excuses every single time too, refusing to admit to neurological damage. “These people need to straighten their sidewalks!” he cried and I was like, “Or you can just LOOK WHERE YOU ARE WALKING?!” Jesus Christ.
10:40am: Chooch just called out Henry for eating cashews grossly and it reminded me of when we were on the coaster crew trip and someone was trying to catch a bee on the bus and it was very action-forward so I was recording and ofc Henry is in the frame totally inhaling a Nordic cinnamon bun like a feral beast, using TWO HANDS and kicking his fingers to boot. I sent the video to chooch and we’re dying at the memory while Henry is like NEXT TIME YOU TWO CAN GO BY YOURSELVES and for those of you keeping count at home, yes he says this at least once on every trip, no matter how big or small.
11:32am: just entered Williamsburg! Can you believe we only stopped three times, and quickly? I really did not think we would make it here before noon but here we are!
5:02pm: Sitting in the Griffon pavilion area while Henry and Chooch are in because I had a headache that had gotten progressively worse as the day goes on because Henry refused to give me Tylenol in the car. I’m getting a little better but bro, when I was on Pantheon, that was the closest I have ever come to puking on a ride. More later!
7:13pm: we’re about to leave Busch Gardens and OUR HOUSE BY MADNESS is blasting in the England section FML.
7:25pm: just made it back to the car and I said that it’s hard to believe he’s going to be 20 next month when he still acts like a baby and he said “ok and you’re over 40 and still act a baby.” UGH TOUCHE.
7:55pm: just checked into our hotel – it’s a Homewood Suites and we got a suite so chooch has his own room and he is very happy about this.
Lobby things.
8:26pm: At Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steak Burgers and the service has been DELIGHTFUL to the point that I don’t even care at this point if the food sucks.
They make their veggie burgers from black beans!!
OH AND THE CURE WAS PLAYING WHEN WE WALKED IN! (Just like Heaven.)
It was actually satisfying and they have good sauces. While we were sitting there waiting for our food the manager came over to see if we needed anything and he was so nice, and the kid who took our order was so nice, so I was inspired to thank them for mainframe our experience so nice before we left and they invited me back for bingo on Tuesday.
Anyway, I like telling people when I had a good experience- I’m more likely to let bad service/experiences go because complaining takes so much energy and just makes me feel gross afterward (I mean, depending on the severity of the situation then I crack the knuckles and get to work on an e-missive full of expletives). But telling someone they did a good job is nice because how often does that happen, in a world of Karens and Chads.
Actually! This makes me think of the last time we were at Busch Gardens when I stopped by customer service on the way out to sing the praises of the Pantheon crew and the two bitch ladies there were just like “ok and.”
9:36pm: back at the hotel after getting ice cream at Kilwins. Henry and I bought got a small scoop and it was $16! William & Mary will do that, I guess.
Mine was no sugar added caramel ripple. It was ok but I gave most of it to Henry because my disordered eating has my stomach on fire right now.
Chooch opted for a shamrock shake at McDonald’s where some man brought in his boombox and was acting like the resident DJ of his own accord. Granted, Chooch and I were just watching this from the car but Henry was excited to come out and tell us.
Well, on that note, I’m getting ready for bed. This 4am start to the day has me feeling like I’m about to pass out!
No commentsMar 20 2026
I feel like I have nothing to say lately even though we have actually been doing stuff.
For instance, we went to the Hollywood Theater on Wednesday to see Frankenstein. I still feel bad for being a bitch about the new ownership but at least we are regularly patronizing the place as penance? I called Henry a cunt lord at some point that night and the name has really stuck.
Also, I had no idea that CHARLES DANCE was in it until I saw his name in the credits and engaged in a public outburst of CHARLES DANCE?! Henry was like, “YEAH I THOUGHT YOU KNEW” in a smug tone which is real rich considering he didn’t recognize MIA GOTH who had way more screen time than CHARLES DANCE.
Anyway, I thought it was a choice to end it with a Lord Byron quote but overall, I really enjoyed it.
I have a Romanian playlist on Spotify today and this song came on which made me have an intense pang of nostalgia for Romania, and then Henry turned on the blender which killed the moment:
I hope I make it back there someday!
Meanwhile, I’m waiting for Chooch’s train to arrive later this evening so spring break can officially commence! We’re making Henry take us to Busch Gardens on Sunday but first, I’m making him sit with us on the couch tonight and watch the entire Nirvana the Band web series!
BTW, I’m writing this on my new MacBook Neo – I got the citrus version and love it x127 because of the obvious NCT connection. #KpopThings
My other laptop was from like…2016 I think?? Very old and half-decrepit. I was in dire need of a new laptop especially for blogging when we’re away – I hated lugging my other laptop around with me and actually left it at home on purpose when we went to Romania which made airport security a lot easier but then I wasn’t able to blog from there. Boo hoo, the trials and tribs of a half-rate blogger, am I right?
Well, Penelope is now laying across my arms, majorly impeding upon the process of typing so I am going to sign off, and by the way, I have nothing else to say anyway.
(OMG should that little rhyme be my new standard sign-off??)
No commentsMar 19 2026
What is one word that describes you?
On the first day of training at Echostar in 1999, our trainer made us go around the room and say one word that described ourselves. When it was my turn, I punched my invisible pompoms in the air and exclaimed that I was EFFERVESCENT. Sadly, I probably super meant it too because I was 19, overconfident and ready to steal the show.
Now, at age 46, sitting on the couch in sweats with a cat collapsed across my chest, I’d say…what’s the opposite of effervescent?
Flat.
(Also, the amount of times I call back to that Echostar blog post is kind of concerning considering I was only there for less than a month.)
No commentsMar 17 2026
Can you believe that the bathroom was the LAST UNPAINTED ROOM in the house?? I never really cared about it but over the years, it’s become the place where I hang all my religious oddities, and after this last batch of crucifixes etc from Romania, I really started LOOKING at the walls and decided that they needed to be more gilded in order to properly showcase by churchy souvenirs. So Handy Hank (not to be confused with Handsy Hank, which is what the cashiers AT ALL OF HIS GROCERY STORE HAUNTS probably know him as) got some gold paint and went to town.
(He mixed in some gold glitter too so when the light hits certain areas of the wall, they glimmer which tickles my inner Liberace.)
I bought that frame from Five Below and two of the crosses I brought back from Romania fit perfectly in it and I love how it looks especially with the background that came with it.
Is it weird that I have lived here since 1999 and never noticed the pattern on the bathroom window? Henry just put this colored film on them for me and when I was inspecting his work like the amazing forewoman I am, I was like, “Wow, since when did we have actually really pretty windows in here?”
I guess because there is usually a screen on the window but when Henry took it off to put on the film, I was like, “LEAVE THE SCREEN OFF!”
“OK, but we can’t open the window then. Bugs will come in.”
LOL, OK so.
I also bought a set of two mirror shelves from Five Below and they’re perfect for showcasing cute items while being functional because it keeps them within reach. For instance – did I buy that Pore Shrinker from Olive Young just because it had Tom & Jerry on it? Ya bet.
I could have cleaned the mirror first but I didn’t feel like it and around these parts, I do what I feel and nothing extra.
I painted the Last Supper frame over the weekend while watching White Lotus episodes and then got stuck on the floor because I can’t sit CRISSCROSS APPLESAUCE at this age now I guess.
I also painted that Jesus portrait a long time ago back in my Fake Artist phase. (I grew out of that, thankfully! You’re welcome.)
Obvi I needed a new lightswitch plate thingie to match the vibe. Found this one on Etsy!
Well, that’s been my bathroom update. Excited to see how long it takes Chooch to notice it when he comes home on Friday!
No commentsMar 16 2026
Ugh, Monday. We had a pretty nice weekend, weather-wise, and now it is dreary and rainy, and the temperature drops more and more as the day goes on.
Thankfully, we made time to get out yesterday while the sun was out there strutting. I wanted to take flowers to Barb’s grave since the last time we visited, there was snow on the ground and we couldn’t do much. That meant stopping at Market District on the way to Queen of Heaven cemetery, and I HATE GROCERY STORES ESPECIALLY ON SUNDAYS. But for Barb, I’ll do it. It was stupid-crowded there and we had to wait in a long line for the self-check out! I was like, “What is this madness??” but Henry was basically tilting his head back, eyes closed, basking in the audible chaos around us. He really has a sickness. I’m telling you. In fact, he stopped at a Market District Express after the cemetery (allegedly just to pee and get a drink, then why was he gone so long BECAUSE HE HAD TO WALK DOWN EVERY AISLE) and then he went to Giant Eagle after dinner!
He needs help!!!
(One of these days, I’m going to come on here crying about how I just found out that OMG all those times Henry was “going to the store,” he was actually GOING DOWN SOME BITCH’S PANTS and you guys are going to be like, “Yeah, no shit, you thought he was really just GOING TO THE STORE? OK wow. Stupe.”)
This is not where Barb is, but I just thought it was pretty.
But oh, Barb. It still sucks so bad. She was so special to me, and to so many others! I can’t believe she has been gone for two years now. 2024 was really just such a fantastically shitty year, I hate even thinking about it.
The rest of Sunday was pretty chill. We watched the Oscars and that was…a thing that happened. The only nominated things I had seen were Marty Supreme, If I Had Legs I Would Kick You, One Battle After Another, Hamnet, Kpop Demon Hunters, Weapons, and Sinners.
I thought for sure Sinners had best picture in the bag. Really thought it was more deserving, but I did enjoy OBAA too. I saw someone say on Threads that OBAA is a movie that you watch and enjoy and then forget about, but Sinners is a movie that sticks with you and makes you want to rewatch it for all of the layers and I agree with this.
And I used to like Jessie Buckley until she so grossly bragged about hating cats and making her now-husband get rid of his. Why, Jessie Buckley. Why. I liked you so much and wanted to be more stoked for you.
But overall:
Honestly, watching the whole thing did not make me wish I had never given up awards shows, that’s for sure.
There was not enough speaking out against the administration though, I will tell you that much. Thank you, Conan, Jimmy Kimmel, Javier Bardem and the “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” crew who were the only ones with any balls to say anything against Trump, Free Palestine, No War. Disappointing, overall.
Oh, and I texted Chooch during it to see if he thinks Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie will be nominated next year and he said “lol” ugh.
Speaking of Dear Son, he comes home on Friday for Spring Break! I’m excited.
Bye.
No commentsMar 14 2026
I was looking forward to today all week because we had plans to go to Lolev (the Zelienople location) for the release of their matcha lager, Iroh II. But first, I had to be Queen Miz all morning because I was FASTING until my 10:40am appointment at Quest to get bloodwork done. Nothing major! But Nourish (the nutrition app) offers FREE PANELS every couple of mths and my dietician put in an order for me to get them done again. Of course, I have my check-in call with her on Monday and only just remembered that I hadn’t made the Quest appt so by the time I scheduled something for today, the earliest available was 10:40am. I get up pretty early even on weekends and normally eat around 9:00am but you literally would have thought I was on a forced hunger strike for a week, the way I was lashing out at Henry.
“Great, I’m going home to eat now!” I said to the Quest phlebotomist before she had even fully withdrew her fingers from the cotton ball / tape contraption she had put in the crook of my arm. I was HUNGGGGGY, you guys.
Later that day, we got to Lolev around 1:00pm and I was so stoked for this matcha drink of the goddesses that I ordered A FULL POUR. I’m a half-pour princess, for those who don’t know. But I knew this was all I was getting and I wanted it in the cool glass that it was meant to be served in.
It was just as divine as I remembered from my inaugural stop at Lolev a year ago. This brewery, man. It is just god tier in my book.
Henry got this New Zealand pilsner and it was light and refreshing. Before that, he got Luminis, a double IPA which was almost as good as their 5-star Zeus. Every time I think I’m over IPAs, Lolev is like, “Here – drink this. Haha, you thought.”
Not pictured: the droves of green-clad 3/17 revelers milling all about Zelienople. I always forget that people start celebrating the Saturday before because, contrary to popular belief surrounding my ultra Irish name, I am NOT Irish and actually, St. Patrick’s Day is right up there with Flag Day in terms of “holidays IDGAF about.”
We actually briefly considered walking down the street to another place called ShuBrew to get one more beer and a late lunch, but that place was poppin’ off with Leprechaun LARPers. We walked in, walked out, and drove to the neighboring town of Harmony for baked goods and caffeine.
Not pictured, part 2: the German pretzel bakery where we got a double chocolate cookie (mine, and it was SO MOIST that it was POSITIVELY GLISTENING like it had been smeared with SUGARED OINTMENT from the heavens above), a Snickerdoodle (Henry is a hardcore s’doodlehead), an Irish scone, and a load of sourdough. Then we walked up the street to ANOTHER bakery called Lagerhaus and I felt bad because it was 15 minutes before they were closing but the ladies behind the counter were so sweet. (Same with the lady at the pretzel bakery – we got there at the very end of their day, and she was apologetic that they barely had anything left but we were happy with the pickins slim as they were!)
I like to take action shots of Henry returning from the bathroom in order to send to Chooch.
And this one was sent to Alyson STAT! This frown of the day was way too good to not share with her, and I knew she would be the only one to appreciate it. She texted back that she was saving it for future phone wallpaper and then asked what had made Henry so CROSS. I read that part of the text to him and he goes, “Has she never hung out with you?!?!”
Wow. Just, wow. I have been so amiable all day!
I really liked this place. It was cozy and made me feel like I was on vacation. BTW, I got a cherry vanilla matcha and Henry got a honey bun iced latte. Both were very well-crafted (I am PICKY with matcha because I love it so much), and we got a mini banana cream pie and carrot cake square to go. They gave us the carrot cake square on the house because the barista accidentally made my matcha with whole milk at first and caught it right before giving it to me, and we truly didn’t mind waiting for a few one but they were like, “Take this for free!”
Honestly, I was the who felt bad because we had gone in there 15 minutes before closing and the remaking of the matcha put us there at exactly closing time. I hate doing that to businesses!
But again, they could not have been nicer and if they felt put out by our late arrival, they definitely did not let on.
On the way back to the car, we were lured over to the WEAVERS HOUSE by this adorbs lamb whose name I learned is CHUGGER because he’s bottle-fed. I learned this because I got sucked into the WEAVERS HOUSE and an older woman sitting behind a loom immediately struck up a conversation with me and I had no idea what was going on but she reminded me of Barb Riley if Barb Riley was into textile craftmanship.
(Can I just take a moment to state for the record that I miss Barb Riley so goddamn much that she still appears in my dreams every now and then and SO MUCH reminds me of her. In fact, I had dinner last Monday night with Margie and Sue at Amel’s and I realized that the last time I was there was with Barb. And on the way out, Sue pointed to the dessert case and said, “Makes me think of our girl” and I was like </3 in real time. 2024 was such a shitty year. I can’t even keep track of the amount of times I see something, hear something, remember something, and think, “I HAVE TO TELL BARB—-oh.” I think I need to visit her grave tomorrow.)
(Chugger agrees.)
Anyway, when I finally emerged from the Weavers House, Henry—who had stayed outside the whole time lamb-loving—asked drily, “So, when’s your weaving class?”
Wow.
I mean, I did take the flyer home with me, so you never know.
Then we came home and Henry immediately went to the store because OMG it was after 4PM and he hadn’t gone to the store yet and he has to go to the store every day because it’s literally his favorite thing, pushing the cart mindlessly down each aisle, letting the soft rock waft down from the ceiling speakers and restore his will to live.
No commentsMar 12 2026
this picture has nothing to do with the titillating subject matter of this post but it’s from Sunday and the most recent picture I have of HENRY, the SUBJECT of this post
We were just sitting here when I saw the news about the US Air Force refueling plane going down in Iraq and I screamed, “HENRY, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN YOU!”
“No, it could never have been me because I was never flying on those planes,” Henry said, annoyed at my outburst yet DESPERATE to talk about his pre-AWOL SERVICE YEARS.
“Wait, you weren’t on those planes?” I cried, my mind racing through a brain rolodex 20+ years of FALSIFIED INFO.
And it was at this point that Henry, by explaining that he was ON THE GROUND doing mechanical work on the refueling planes, obliterated the Spielberg-caliber movie that my mind had scripted, directed, and produced over the last 2 decades wherein Henry was sky high in a refueling plane, laying on his side and grunting as he tried to feed a floppy fuel-tube out of an open door and into a hole of the ARMY PLANE it was flying alongside of.
Wow, I feel so stupid. Henry’s real job was way less exciting than I thought! He should have just let me believe it.
Mar 10 2026
What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?
I don’t usually care about these WordPress writing prompts, but this one was intriguing to me because I did not have the answer. I actually had to text my mom and ask her if there is any significance to my middle name. It’s the one part of me that I have always really liked. I like how it feels to say it and I like that it’s just unique enough that it’s not a name you hear very often without sounding ridiculously forced and make believe.
I also like that there is a story behind it, BECAUSE YOU SEE for the first several years of my life, it was spelled “Rachele.” I even had this darling (lol) silver cup that had my name engraved onto it: Erin Rachele. When I learned how to write my full name, this is how I would spell it. But then at some point, and I’m going to say it probably had to do with the time my step-dad decided to adopt me which was in either 1st or 2nd grade, my mom was looking at my birth certificate and realized that she had misspelled my middle name as Rachelle. So, then I had to train myself to start writing it the legally correct way even though it was the incorrect way, and this is something that is so on brand with my life in general, so I really actually love it, without a hint of sarcasm.
But now I know that it stemmed from my Pappap’s suggestion of “Rachel.” My mom said that at the time, Rachel felt too popular, so she added the extra “e” to the end to fancy it up a bit. Knowing that my Pappap was a part of the naming process makes me love it so much more.
Me, probably before I knew – or cared – that my current middle name was wrong LOL. <3
This post is brought to you by the same person who also had a completely made-up, imaginary birthdate put onto her wedding certificate.
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