My friend Kristy invited me to this cool Black History Month Beer Release at Burghers last night and I think an Erin from another time would have found a reason to flake because it was one day notice and on a work night and honestly what goes on up there in my head, the mental gymnastics I perform sometimes to make stupid excuses to not do things.

But I haven’t seen Kristy in years and our last plans were legitimately postponed because it was the day after I had that stomach bug  two weeks ago and I genuinely still felt like shit plus, was I contagious?? Maybe! And also, I had to do a presentation yesterday at work for a semi-large group of people and I knew that having something to look forward to later (that involved alcohol, which I would definitely be wanting) would help me get through it. I’m just no good with these types of things (don’t worry – I had therapy an hour afterward and my therapist was prepared to talk me off a ledge lol).

God, it was so nice to sit with an old friend and drink a beer that I ACTUALLY REALLY ENJOYED! It was a Black IPA called Roots & Resilience, and it was dedicated to all the impactful Black Pittsburghers. I also got to meet Kristy’s friend Marcus who is the first Black licensed brewer in the city!

Kristy writes for Pittsburgh Magazine and asked me some questions about my road to beer-liking for an article she’s writing, and that was so exciting for me! It also made me realize that the narcissistic Leo in me could do a presentation at work with NO WORRIES OR STRESS at all if the subject matter was ME. How pathetic am I.

Anyway, we talked about EVERYTHING bugging us and hoo boy, was it cathartic while also still being really fun. It has always been easy to talk to her, no walls, and it didn’t feel like it had been 10 years (??!!) since we last saw each other. I have to be better.

I came home feeling so happy and like a giant weight was lifted – I guess I didn’t realize how much I really needed deep, soul-baring conversation and I hope it helped her too.

P.S. she made me this adorable little Jeeter from Kennywood holding a beer!

P.P.S. the second beer I had last night was an Italian thing that Kristy recommended and it was totally refreshing. I think now that I have been here twice, I’m putting Burghers in my top 3 local brewery!

P.P.P.S. we were talking about the first time we met in person and it’s worth sharing on here again because it was so random and sums up our friendship perfectly, LOL.

How to Die in the Event of a Rape

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