When Chooch was home for Thanksgiving, we made him go to lunch with at Chimera Brewing and he was so annoyed because I only wanted to go there to get a stamp for my Pgh Brewery passport thingie and he didn’t want to be part of that. But then football was on the TVs there so he was happy. Because Chooch, son of Erin and Henry, somehow became a football fan on his own time.

I can’t remember what number stamp this was – 8, I think?? I’m already so over this but I can’t quit until I win. I definitely need something else to fixate on in 2026.

I watched the annual MAMA Awards which was really somber in light of the Hong Kong apartment fire tragedy. :( It was annoying because a lot of people were calling for MAMA to cancel entirely, but then when they opted to go for a somber, toned-down ceremony, people complained that it wasn’t exciting enough. Jesus.

Henry got Trudy all decked out in her Christmas best Friday night after Thanksgiving.

Kevin came over for the first time on Saturday so she had to be dressed for the occasion, lol. We were dying because moments after our company arrived, the doorbell rang AGAIN and we thought it was a glitch until later when Henry reviewed the security footage and we saw  that we were legit Ding Dong Ditched LOL. I was just bummed that our DDDitcher didn’t hang around long enough to enjoy the mesmerizing doorbell jam.

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We had pizza and played the 80s & 90s Song Humming game in the attic – Henry opted out, lol.

The next day, we went to Hazel Grove Brewing for another stamp (#10 – #9 was actually a “cheat” because I sent Henry to a place we’ve already been to – Strange Roots- and he bought a bottle of something called the Plague that was just OK). Anyway, I was excited about this place because they had some Belgians there but I am starting to come to the conclusion that I don’t like American versions of Belgian beers. I have been impressed by NONE so far and keep going back to my imports from Duffy’s. Clearly, I need to just go to Belgium. (And admit that I just don’t really LIKE any other kinds of beer.)

All of my Buddys are totally beefed up for winter. I don’t know how this one doesn’t get stuck in HNC’s roof!!

Last Saturday, Henry and I took the T to the North Shore and had, ugh, a “day date” I guess. BUT ONLY BECAUSE I WANTED MORE STAMPS!!! Right away in Dormont we encountered an aggressively chatty Elder Yinzer but then he liked my shoes (just dark purple Vans) so then I was like, “OK you can stay.” He was in a big hurry to get home and watch the game, whatever game that was.

We went to Southern Tier and had a nice lunchtime beer. Mine was Cherry Pie and it was actually OK but it got kind of cloying after a while. Our server was so nice and that made me like it there even more.

After getting my 11th stamp (yay!), we walked over the bridge to downtown and saw this which is so gross but obviously I had to take a picture because: agreed.

Once we were downtown, we walked around the Christmas Market and look–why do I even bother? I KNOW it’s not for me. And it still is not for me! But we did get a pretzel and cherry strudel to share, so there’s that. I’ll tell you what though, seeing Santa’s Workshop made me so sad though because YOU KNOW how much I looked forward to dragging my work friends over there for our annual group photo with Santa. :(

Here’s the last one we took, back in 2019. MEMMMMMMMMMMMMMries.

Santa always looked forward to our appearances. :( HE TOLD ME SO.

Anyway. Then we walked down to Sly Fox for our second beer and more importantly, ANOTHER STAMP. I got some winter ale thing that was pretty good but the best part was that it was so chill in there (it was also chill the last time we were there after the No Kings protest in June) and they had a bangin’ playlist! PORTISHEAD? BRING ME THE HORIZON? BALANCE AND COMPOSURE? BRAND NEW? It was so good that I had to give the two women behind the bar snaps and they were like, “YESSSSSS.” Being complimented on your music taste is the best, I’ll tell ya. I could have a parade of people going by and telling me I have a nice ass or I’m so smart or whatever, but one person tells me “sick playlist, man” and I am eating out of their hand.

Just like that.

Now you know.

(I miss the old days when people would ask me to make them a mix tape!)

Also, look at Henry smiling because he enjoys my company so much.

On the way back, we saw the Elder Yinzer again! He got on and back again in Beechview. Then on the walk back home, we stopped at Le’s Cafe in Dormont for sticky mango rice (and Henry got a pistachio latte but I learned the hard way that it’s one or the other for me – a sweet drink or a sweet treat from Le’s, I can’t do both or I crash so hard). It was such a nice day! Well, I mean, Pgh weather-wise, it was cold and gray. But it was nice getting out of the house for fun things.

I also learned that flights aren’t great for me. If I get a flight, I feel like I’m drinking less but I always end up feeling so drunk and sick for the rest of the day?! So now I am sticking to one beer. I think I was OK with two on Saturday because there was more than an hour in between the beers since we had to walk from the North Side to downtown for the second place. THIS WAS BY DESIGN. I PLANNED IT THAT WAY. God forbid I should just relax like a normal person. Everything has to have hidden exercise involved.

The rest of the weekend was full of cuddling with Peenlop and rewatching Stranger Things from the beginning. We binge-watched season 5 while Chooch was home but holy shit, did I forget A LOT, even after watching a 35 minute refresher video on YouTube before starting season 5!! I’m not ready for this show to end. Umbrella Academy was hard enough to say goodbye to! Those two shows go hand-in-hand for me and Chooch. I have the nicest memories of finishing a Jillian Michaels workout (don’t worry, I’m done with her) with Chooch and then sitting down to watch Umbrella Academy or Stranger Things. Also, Drew was around for that too.

Super sentimental about everything, I can’t help it.

Also, not a spoiler but Chooch and I were very much against the use of Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” in Stranger Things. We both screamed, “They can’t do that!!!” because UMBRELLA ACADEMY DID IT FIRST. Maybe they could have used DEBBIE GIBSON INSTEAD, JUST A THOUGHT.

Oh, also Henry went to Aslin on Sunday and got a 6-pack which will probably live in our fridge for mths, untouched, just so I could get MY 13TH STAMP!! 7 more by 12/31, can I do it??? We’ll be in Chicago this weekend so I’ll have to really strategize, ugh. All of this for some stupid glass.

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