After the morning turmoil simmered down and I got my sads out, we finally got to see our friend Kristen for the first time since 2013! She and her husband Christopher are currently staying with her brother on his alpaca farm on the coast of Maine and since we were going to be somewhat in the area, I asked her if she’d be free for a visit and she was!

I will tell you, being around Kristen and in such a tranquil setting was very therapeutic and cathartic. This place was a legit sanctuary and Kristen has such a down-to-earth presence that I finally felt like I was able to get out of my head and out of my own way for the few hours we were there.

First, we got to feed the alpacas and llamas while Kristen explained to us the ins and out of farm life. It was fascinating and definitely something that we were all interested in learning about, as animal lovers.

Chooch got to drive Kristen’s beloved Truckie!

This is the view from the house. Gorgeous! Maine is enchanting. I can’t believe it took me 45 years to get there.

I was cracking up a little a few days before our visit, thinking back to the first time Kristen and I met. I had been friends with her then-boyfriend Matt first (whom I have since fallen out of touch with since I am no longer on Facebook). He and I had become LiveJournal friends back when I was a member of the most pretentious, hifalutin, you-can’t-sit-with-us “Lj Review” group. Basically, you would submit your LJ for review and the community members, an ELITE SOCIETY of linguistic snobs, would rip you to shreds….

….or collectively appreciate you and invite you to join them.

For some reason, these total assholes (and, if we’re being real, cyber bullies) actually liked me and I became one of the few broads invited into the frat house. Matt was one of those frat boys.

Hilariously, there was only one guy who didn’t like me and he said, and I STILL QUOTE THIS TO THIS DAY, “I don’t know why all of you are q-tipping your dickholes over her.”

Yeah, really. Y tho?

Anyway! Flash forward to a few years later, I had just had Chooch (I remember Matt was H O R R I F I E D when I made my pregnancy announcement on LJ, and for good reason if you had known me back then!) and Matt said that he and his girlfriend Kristen were going to be passing through Pittsburgh and asked if Henry and I wanted to meet up! They even brought Chooch some Boston sports baby clothes! So, Henry and I, and this other local LJ guy – Lin – who we were all friends with but honestly his LJ was SO BORING and NARCISSISTIC, went to dinner at The Sharp Edge which was a really cool place to get fancy beers before breweries took over the world. Now, I only drank those fruity Belgium lambic things back then and ALWAYS ordered that when I went to Sharp Edge, so that night was no exception. Matt happily announced that he was going to pay for everyone, and I was like, “Good thing I’m a one-and-done drinker” but then the check came and I happened to glance at it and I saw that my drink was like $30 or something ridic?! Apparently, I had accidentally ordered some special Lambic that was made with limited edition ingredients from some protected fantasy land and sealed with a kiss from God’s lips. I don’t even know what happened there, but Henry muttered, “good job, Erin” which was the alternate title for this blog, by the way.

But yeah, I just remember even then thinking, “Wow, Kristen is amazing and so cool and smart and pretty yet REALLY NICE and easy to talk to!?” That never had been my experience with other people’s girlfriends in the past. Then Kristen and I became friends too so she wasn’t just “Matt’s gf” and even though we only got to hang out once more after that, she and I remained in touch through the years and friendships like that are so cool, aren’t they? Kristen has been such a big support for me over these last few mths, especially through the college process. Having a friend that cares about my kid’s future and education is so amazing!

THEY HAVE YAKS!!

AND DOGS! And a “barn” full of cats! I say “barn” because those it’s luxury digs for those kitties. They are probably living more comfortably than us!

We also got to meet Kristen’s brother who is beyond chill and welcoming, just a cool guy with an incredible eye for design; her niece and nephew; and her husband Christopher who was in a Gatorade commercial with Sidney Crosby and yes that was my big take-away from the day!

I look like a total shrub as usual, but I’m so glad to get this photo together! I can’t believe we got to see Kristen after all this time! Thank god for LiveJournal, honestly. Anytime I tell Chooch about some friend I have in another city, he says, “Let me guess, LiveJournal.” I mean, sometimes it’s Twitter or Instagram or even in some cases, Etsy! But yeah, 90% of the time, it’s gonna be LJ.

I hope that next time, we have more time to hang out. There was so much activity and action going on around us and it was so exciting! But we still had more poorly-planned things to cover on this road trip, so we parted ways in early afternoon and headed off to the first lighthouse of the day. COME BACK LATER FOR THAT.

Also, Kristen, if you ever come back to Pgh for a visit, I’ll let you feed my squirrels!

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