The other day, I received the sweetest gift in the mail from my friends Nix and Dustin! It came at such a good time too because I was having a shit week, feeling like no one liked me, you know, real insecure bullshit that happens from time to time. But then I opened this package and it felt really nice to know that people who only know me from Instagram thought of me! (I did meet Dustin once though! He came to my last Pie Party in 2017!)
First of all, the way the package was addressed filled me with joy right off the bat:
Did I ever tell you, Dear Blog, that I am called “Kelly” practically on a daily basis from people outside of my work department (and sometimes from people IN THE SAME DEPARTMENT, which is pretty soul-crushing). I swear to fucking god I have such a complex over this. I know it’s an “honest” mistake or whatnot but how hard is it to actually look at the full name of the person emailing you?? Aigoo, the perils of having two first names.
Anyway, you might remember that I started going by Erin Appledale sometime in 2007 or 2008 when we drove past an “Appledale Farm” on the way to Lakemont Park or something, and I was like “THAT’S IT.
THAT IS MY NEW SURNAME SINCE IT WILL NEVER BE ROBBINS BECAUSE HENRY WILL NOT MARRY ME.” This was back when I was really into lomography and started an Etsy shop just for my prints called Appledale Snaps.
All of this is to say that I am back to seriously considering getting my name legally changed to Erin Appledale because just let me live in peace.
Inside the package, shit got even better!
Yo. A Cedar Point scarf, complete with a WICKED TWISTER PIN?? And a vintage book called White Knuckle Thrills, loaded with old pictures of coasters and other amusement park sundry? YES, PLZ, this is so apropos for Erin Appledale! And the best part was that I opened to right to the page about Comet at Six Flags Great Escape, which obviously recalled fond memories of our trip there during Labor Day weekend when we saw Henry’s doppelganger!!
Oh man, it never gets old!!!
And let’s back up a bit and talk about that WICKED TWISTER pin! Cedar Point actually just removed it last fall, and when they announced that the last day of operation would be Labor Day, we made a spontaneous trip out there in late August to get one last ride. It was bittersweet! Chooch and I loved that coaster so much. He lovingly dubbed it Spaghetti Noodle.
It was terrifying and thrilling. I actually liked it so much more that Top Thrill Dragster.
I always am kind of flabbergasted when people see something and think of me. I guess it’s my inferiority complex shining through (weird for a Leo). But this surprise package really made me feel special and I appreciate it so much! I am going to wear that scarf so much next winter.
This also really got me excited to ride coasters again – hopefully our season will start back up in April.
We do have a road trip planned for spring break but we have such bad luck with spring break trips these last several years that I am hesitant to even say anything more because if there is one thing we learned from 2020: no plans are set in stone.