I can’t remember how much I mentioned in my quick post from Friday and don’t feel like looking but I can tell you in a nutshell that Friday was a whirlwind of emotions even though the Actual Day of Dread was Saturday. I think I was so focused on having “a good, perf day” that I got in my head and way too in my feelings and actually made myself sick and miserable off and on for the whole day (also Henry’s presence in general exacerbated my bad mood but that is a whole other that we don’t care to get into now, right?).

We left the house around 8am and after making what felt like a zillion stops along the way, got to Drexel around 2pm I think? The plan was to go to the bookstore and get that financial damage out of the way and just sort of get the lay of the land. When we were there last April, Chooch hadn’t committed yet so this time it was for real. AND I NEEDED A PICTURE OF HIM WITH MARIO THE DRAGON STATUE! He refused to indulge me in April but now that he’s an actual Drexel student, I think he realizes that there were certain bones he has to throw to mom during these fragile times.

WOMAN. ON. THE. EDGE.

I really like that he chose a college in a big(ish) city. He will never be bored, that’s for sure! We have been to Philly a generous handful of times at this point and have barely scratched the surface so while I’m sad that he will be 5 hours from home, I’m excited to have a reason to get to know Pittsburgh’s rival city in greater depth! (I will say right now that my greatest takeaway after this particular visit is that the stench of pot is so strong here that it’s like it permeated the lining of nostrils because I cannot shake that scent, 24 hours later.)

After sorting out the textbook sitch, we walked to Hip City Veg which was a much farther walk than Henry had advertised and I was HONGRY so this was not ideal. I somehow managed to keep the Big Fits tucked away for future use though and only dealt a moderate verbal evisceration.

Anyway!!! I had wanted to check out Hip City Veg for a bit so I was stoked to finally be there and that there’s a location near the Drexel campus (we could have been lazy and taken the subway – I think they call it the L in Philly – one stop so I will keep this in mind for next time). With all the veg-friendly dining options in University City alone, PLUS the great dining plan he’s on at Drexel, Chooch better never tell me he’s hungry.

Henry got the vegan cheesesteak which made me LOL because Megan’s bf Eric wrote a list of cheesesteak recs in Chooch’s grad party guest book even though Megan was like, “Eric, he doesn’t eat meat!” and then the one who DOES eat meat got a vegan one! Anyway, he let me try it and it was OK.

I got the grilled fake chicken baddie and it was DELECTABLE but also made my stomach REVOLT. I need to get tested for food allergies. I have a sneaking suspicion that I have a moderate gluten thing going on, either that or I just have my stomach so trained to not want to accept anything other than protein shakes and PB toast and other bland pantry staples like saltines. My current diet is so nursing home bad that almost every time I eat outside of the house I feel like my stomach is going to explode, like you can actually see a noticeable bloat like I’m pregnant with a helium balloon.

But even still, this fucking sandwich was worth it, it was so good. And the sweet potato fries were delicious too and I have to admit that I almost said “delish” which is something I would NEVER say, I am going through some terrible changes and fighting it every step of the way.

THEN WE TOOK THE L OR WHATEVER TO CHINATOWN, YAY! Specifically, because I wanted to go to MATCHA PANDA. Love me some matcha.

My stomach was so mad at me and I had no business putting anything additional into it but boy, I wanted a matcha latte and a fucking cake, ok. Also, I had a killer caffeine headache because some douchebag screwed me over at a rest stop and was already paying for his shit by the time I joined him after peeing and then AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT, turned to me AFTER HE SWIPED HIS CREDIT CARD and asked, “Oh, did you want something?”

I said, “Ha, guess not” AND STORMED OUT AND ON MY WAY TO THE EXIT I TOOK OFF MY WEDDING BAND AND THE ONLY REASON I HAVEN’T CHUCKED THIS INTO A LARGE BODY OF WATER BY NOW IS BECAUSE I MADE THIS RING IN KOREA AND FOR THAT REASON ALONE, IT STAYS.

So then, get this, he stops at the NEXT REST STOP and gets me coffee at 7-11 which I proceed to not drink out of principle, and that is how I ended up with a caffeine headache – NO, NOT BECAUSE I’M A STUBBORN CUNT, WHO SAID THAT? Because Henry is SELFISH and OBLIVIOUS! is the correct answer.

Thank you.

OMG all of the booths were so spacious and had giant stuffed animals at each other. I felt like VIP.

The matcha barista was super friendly and the vibes were vibing, totally immaculate. There was lo-fi r&b playing and yo, I felt like we were in a cafe in Korea and now as I am typing this and remembering the serene atmosphere, my eyes are tearing up. It burns. The memories of Korea sting my eyeballs.

Earl Grey and Pistachio millecrepes. D I V I N E. Asian desserts / flavor profiles are my faves.

And this matcha was magnificent. I love matcha so much. There was very little sweetness to this so the matcha really shone through boldly. Loved it for me. Henry did not like it and said it tasted like the earth but also, Henry does not like matcha in general. This is not the matcha that you get at somewhere shitty like Starbucks. This was legit.

Henry got a banana milk latte and he said, “Ehhh….it wasn’t terrible, I’ve had bet—-I mean, it wasn’t terrible. Let’s go with this.”

Chooch got a Spanish latte and didn’t like it. I don’t know what to do with these critiques because they’re coming from two people who, at the end of the day, do not like any type of coffee or espresso drink unless it comes from Dunkin’ and even then – do they really?!!? They load their drinks up with so many pumps of flavor syrups! How would they even know!?

Excuse the messy table, but I just loved the emerald / jade green color palette going on here. It was so soothing. Especially paired with the music.

I think this will become a place I visit regularly when I’m in town. (Much to Henry’s chagrin lol.)

Took the L back, got the car from the parking garage, and finally went to check in to the hotel which was a generic extended stay next to the airport so that made me nervous but the room was nice and it ended up being fine noise-wise too.

Chooch was pissed because he was relegated to the pull-out couch haha.

We rested for about 90 minutes and then I was being a bigmouth about wanting go AND DO SOMETHING. I mean, it was 7pm on a Friday night and Henry was content with just rotting away in the hotel room but I wanted to go out and live my life. I suggested Penn’s Landing (and by suggest I mean that I screamed I DON’T FUCKING KNOW, PENN’S LANDING MAYBE!? IDIOT!!!) and this entailed us driving back into the city when I thought we would just Uber or take pub-trans but Henry Knows Best, and then we saw pretty immediately that Penn’s Landing is under construction but by now, Henry was determined to park so that I could walk BY THE WATER which is what I kept crying about. I don’t even LIKE water that much but when I’m a different city it’s like WE HAVE TO BE NEAR THE WATER OR WE’RE NOT DOING IT RIGHT. I have no idea, don’t look for my travel guides anywhere anytime soon, that’s all I’m saying.

Henry finally found somewhere to park after AT LEAST AN HOUR of driving in circles with me and Chooch screaming “YOU COULD HAVE FIT THERE!” at him every 5 minutes, causing him to fire back with I’LL TELL YOU WHAT, ONE OF YOU TWO ASSHOLES CAN FEEL FREE TO DRIVE THEN! and we were like LOL NICE TRY.

Anyway, once we did park and then walk over to the water pier thingies, it was nice. We didn’t do anything aside from watch a dance-off and see some rats scurrying out in the open, but it was still better than sitting in the hotel room and whatever part of town this (old town??) was really fucking cute.

And then we went to Wawa and got back to the hotel around 11 which is an acceptable time to go to bed while out of town. If you ask me, anyway.

No comments