Shifting back to cafes from breweries was such a good move. There is just something that’s so much more fulfilling about stopping into a cafe for a drink and a sweet treat, and then walking around the neighborhood. And Sunday was the perfect day for this – the heatwave had finally broken and it was so perfectly summer. I was able to walk full blocks without my face glazing over with a protective oil sheath.

We initially planned on only going to Sidecar in Oakland. It was a good pick – the barista was so friendly and even though the place was kind of crowded (this usually deters me, I’m so averse to crowds in small spaces, I mean, what sane person wouldn’t be) but he made me feel relaxed and not rushed. I got an iced maple latte and it was perfecto, but the scene stealer of the day was the slice of vinegar pie that Henry and I shared.

Holy shit, why didn’t we each get our own slice?! Ugh, it was so good but I wanted it all for myself. The top crust was so sweet and crispy, like a brittle.

I took one with my phone too because I wanted to have a back-up in case the Charmera version was shit. (It’s hard to tell in the little screen!)

After I ordered this for us, I noticed that there was an entire case of other baked goods and pies that we could have chosen from UGH. Oh well, just another reason to go back!

I don’t know why he looks at me like this—he’s the one who bought me this camera! HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN IT WOULD BE JUST ANOTHER ANNOYING ACCESSORY TO MY ALREADY ANNOYING PERSON.

The Charmera is very fickle. You have to take the picture and then hold the camera still for an additional second or else you get the above result. I know this too but when I’m taking pictures that have people in it, I get into super stealth mode by default and end up rushing it.

Another comparison between iPhone and the Charmera. The Charmera is definitely not for perfectionists! You have to go into this understanding that the shots you get are going to look like you used a webcam from 1995.

Afterward, we walked around a little while I, FULL DISCLOSURE, cried and whined about wanting to see The Home Team but the problem is that when their tour lands in Pittsburgh, we will be in Chicago for Riot Fest. At first, I was mature about it and said to myself, “Erin, it’s OK. You’re an adult. This is not something to be upset over. You can see them another time.”

LOL yeah right.

Instead, I ended up making myself go from “casual fan” to “SUPER FUCKING SASAENG” (OK, we’re not quite at sasaeng levels, I only know the name of the singer and nothing else!) which turned into coming up with the genius solution of just picking a different tour date to see them. I settled on Columbus, which is smack in the middle of the week in September, right after we come back from seeing BIGBANG in New Jersey, and right before we leave for Chicago for Riot Fest.

Henry was like, “Yeah, that’s going to be a big fat no. Sorry.”

But was he sorry? Was he really?

Anyway, then we drove to Shadyside because I wanted to go to Kawaii Gifts for stationary stuff for my journal lol.

Pissed that this came out blurry but it’s Henry surrounded by Kpop albums at Kawaii Gifts. Two things here:

• they were doing a V8 (Vernon + The 8 from Seventeen!) pop-up event on 7/3 and 7/5 but completely sold out on 7/3 and I was sad because I had planned on going on Sunday since my Friday in the boiling tundra of downtown left me completely zapped of energy!
• now I can’t remember what the second thing was going to be.

Then we went to Kards Unlimited – Henry’s suggestion, probably because he was stalling the inevitable chores that awaited him at home. Walking around Walnut Street brought back a surge of bad memories though, out of nowhere, totally kapchugi, about the time way back in probably 2002 or 2003 when I thought I was positively rolling in the dough with those tightwads at Weiss Meats gave me a Christmas bonus. It was probably like $150, maybe $200 and I stupidly thought this was good. Anyway, I remember going to Walnut Street with Henry that December so I could get my friends “nice presents.” I got my ex-friend Keri some really nice soap and lotion from L’Occitane–it was $$$ for a measly office manager in the early 2000s—and her response was to comment on how she didn’t like how it smelled.

Anyway, L’Occitane is still there as a brick and mortar and obviously people like it because everything is still $$$ so fuck off.

< insert more pouty lips and whining about wanting to see The Home Team in Columbus >

Oh, yeah. Kards Unlimited. Great store as always but there was a group of the most annoying young 20s people (I can’t keep up with the generation names) in there acting like it was their fucking house and they were the only motherfuckers in the joint. I was extremely annoyed. By this point, we had been out in public for over 2 hours and my threshold is usually less than that. I turned down another aisle and there were more loud assholes screaming like banshees at each other even though they were standing RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER and by this point, I was morphing into one of those middle-aged hags that mutters obscenities and threats toward people who are within earshot. Finally I was like, just get me out of here.

Later, we passed BOTH GROUPS on the sidewalk–they had reconvened outside of the store to merge into one large dominating glob of ignorance and I said loudly to Henry, “Oh, I should have GUESSED they were all together.” My inner curmudgeon comes out if I’m not kept well hydrated and fed. I should have had my own slice of pie.

Since we were there, we stopped into Heat Check, which is affiliated sort of with one of the cafes I went to on Friday (The Boredom Set). It’s a vintage + local artisan shop that also has their own cafe powered by The Boredom Set.

“Be prepared to feel out of place and surrounded by Blakes,” I told Henry as we walked up the steps to the second floor. This means nothing to you but the only way I could explain The Boredom Set to Henry was that, after perusing their Insta and seeing the guy who runs it, it just seemed like it was made for the “Blake demographic.” Like, hipster adjacents who wear Carhartt and like sad boi music. I can’t explain it and I’m getting worse at generalizing and categorizing people as I age, I have noticed. But when we walked in, Henry was like, “Oh.” And I think that meant he understood.

All of their denim jackets were like $90 but I wanted one, ugh.

Henry seemed not too annoyed by this place, and then some REALLY LAME OLD PEOPLE came in and suddenly we weren’t the outliers like I had anticipated.

LOL L’Occitane!

I got a cold brew with cornbread cold foam and Henry got the iced banana milk latte. I tried his and can confirm that the matcha version I had on Friday was much more delectable. Banana and matcha just somehow really works.

We looked to see if they had any vintage Seahawks shirts for Chooch with no success.

Then we walked to Jitters because Henry wanted a snickerdoodle but they were all out so he turned and left without asking me if I wanted a cookie?! I mean, there were other cookies in the case! I actually didn’t need a cookie but it felt like a prime opportunity to transform my already pouty attitude into a full-blown tantrum. Then it started raining on us as we walked back to the car so that was very apropos.

(J/K, I didn’t really fully tantrum but I was definitely getting hangry and needed real food not more sugar.)

I did cry about The Home Team the whole way home, though.

But bro, seriously, this song broke me:

Overall, a good Sunday!

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