I can’t believe this happened, but I somehow failed to bring either of my two Charmera cameras with me on Friday so this will just be a Saturday and Sunday Chameradump I guess. :(

Saturday’s coffee break led us to Redstart in the East End. I didn’t realize until we pulled into the lot but in 2019 when Jiyong and I used to meet up every Saturday, we came here but it was called something else at the time. All I could remember was that it shared a space with Schoolhouse (the lighting company) but when I googled it, “The Bureau” is what came up, which didn’t seem correct AT ALL.

So I consulted my blog, and yeah, it was the same place. I remember very well being INSIDE but the name rings not even the tiniest bell buried in the recesses of my corroded mind. I did have fun reading the blog post that mentioned it though, which has us meeting Tommy and Jessy for lunch somewhere in Butler that also rings zero bells in my mind but Chooch’s sick burn near the end of the blog post had me gagged. I sent him a screenshot yesterday and he said, “Lol wow, got him.”

(RIP Jessy though for real, ugh.)

Anyway! This place had the most quiet vibes. It was mostly people there alone to either read a book or work so this is the atmosphere I was looking for on my Baby Girl Goes to the City Alone day earlier this month. (God, it was still July yet it feels like that months ago at this point. How is this summer going by so fast but then these weird time lags are also happening!?)

I got the coconut latte and Henry got pandan but then I made him swap with me after I tried his. We also split a vegan sea salt chocolate chip cookie. Overall, great lattes and the cookie would have been better if it wasn’t shared. The barista was also a super nice guy who didn’t make us feel like we were encroaching on holy grounds. (OH COME ON YOU KNOW HOW SOME OF THEM CAN BE!!)

I would go back. Good job, Redstart.

Before we went home, we stopped at Bodega Film Lab to pick up some film for our little mini trip coming up later this week.

The guy who helped us was super nice and also didn’t act like an elitist so I was happy about that. I love photography but I love it on my terms and by that I mean I know zero of the technical aspects of it so please do not ask me what kind of ISO I’m looking for and if you even START to say aperature, just know I’m already tuning you out on the first syllable.

Later that night, we watched the Italian horror movie Torso, and it was excellent.

Sunday (today!) I met Sandy and Nate at Palm Palm for brunch! I haven’t seen them since February so it was a nice little catch-up sesh. They brought me a birthday bouquet :)

We were all smitten with the water carafe that looked like a volcano.

Not Charmera, but I got the coconut pancakes with yuzu marmalade and the most delicious whipped topping which ended up being my brunch AND dinner:

It was so good but I am excited to eat something savory today, lol.

And here’s a better picture of Sandy and Nate too:

It was such a great brunch! And I loved Palm Palm (they even have matchbooks which to me is such a great touch) and already can’t wait to go back.

Later in the afternoon, Henry and I went to my mom’s because she is moving out slowly and I wanted to not only poke around and see what things of mine are still there, but we also needed to send Chooch some pictures of my brother Ryan’s old bedroom set because he (Chooch) is moving into a new place this September and has no furniture. I asked him if he liked it and he was like, “Well, I have nothing so I’m relying on Val’s donation here.” LOL I guess that’s a yes.

Meanwhile, I found some really good old shit—LIKE MY FIRST PUBLIC DIARY FROM FIFTH GRADE!!! So, I was pretty happy about that but overall felt kind of weird. I haven’t been in my mom’s house in probably over 15 years if we’re being honest here, and it made me sort of sad to see my old room which used to be so cool, I’m not getting, it was so fucking cozy and ambiant, but after I moved out one of my brothers took over and killed the vibe.

But, I digress. It’s just really weird that both my childhood home and my grandparent’s house on the same street are basically just…done.

So after we left there, we stopped at a local pizza shop / brewery called Truss to have a “we were just sweating in an attic” beer.

I had a red ale and it was SO GOOD, but not only that, we chatted with the owner and he is so cool and down to earth. He was encouraging us to sample everything but once I tried the red ale, I was like, “No need, this is the one.”

Henry got the CAR WASH COMING SOON summer wheat which is based on an inside joke with the community because there are so many car washes on one small strip of highway that runs through, that every time a new one pops up, people get so triggered. Anyway, one guy took it to the next level but having a giant “car wash coming soon” sign printed and then he hung it at Chick-fil-a on a Sunday so the community Facebook page popped of with, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME, CHICK-FIL-A IS TURNING INTO A CAR WASH???”

Anyway, long story still long, that guy is friends/friendly with the Truss owner, and when the Truss guy went on vacation, the CAR WASH COMING SOON sign ended up in front of the brewery, lol. He told us that he came back from his trip to Mexico with his inbox full of concerned messages about Truss closing. So, the car wash beer was born. IT IS SO GOOD, TOO! I stole some sips :)

Then I read aloud from my 5th grade public diary and Henry was like FML. SHOULD THIS BE MY FUTURE CLOWN ACT!?!? Just, me in face paint sitting on a stool and reading pages from my journals??

Hilariously in the same vein, Henry was digging around on some old computer drives and found an audio recording of the time I read an entire haunted house review for LiveJournal. (It was the infamous IGOR’S FRIGHT SHACK review!!!)

Well, that pretty much sums up the weekend, minus Friday which will be a separate post. CIAO FOR NOW.

Gayle from ye old days of the Law Firm texted me last week to say hi and I am firmly set in my “make the plans!!” stage of my life so I said, “No more talking about it, let’s get a lunch scheduled now” and it ended up that we were both free this past Sunday! I love when things work out quickly.

Henry and I drove out to New Castle to meet her and her husband Jeff at Kelly’s Side Door because Gayle and I wanted pierogies. The place we met the last time is closed on Sundays so she suggested this cute little local bar as a substitute. I’m glad she did because it was a great vibe, a nice drive, AND there was a Dollar Tree out her way that had three of the four journals I was searching for!

(Empty Nest Erin is going through a lot of phases right now, although I have been journaling since elementary school, my obsession is now ramped up.)

Gayle made some big life changes in the last few years and she is thriving health-wise. I am so proud of her! She looked happy, healthy, and so freaking adorable too. Talk about a glow-up!

Henry got this burger that was even too big for his manly food pouch to hold the entire thing. Do you know how rare it is for Henry to box up leftovers? Meanwhile, I devoured my ‘rogies like I just returned home from the construction site because all I had eaten prior to that was a snack bowl of cherries.

The World Cup finals weren’t on yet, unforch.

I really hate my face, lol. But really. Lol, ugh.

After my Dollar Tree journal haul, we started to make our home but by this point, I required more coffee. We stopped at some place in Cranberry called Maxine’s and in spite of every instinct I had telling me DON’T DO IT, YOU CAN ALREADY TELL THIS ISN’T THE PLACE FOR IT, I ordered their season rose matcha.

It was DEEEEEEEE-sgusting. From the gross, dirty olive hue of the bargain bin matcha to the gross flavoring they tried to mask the cheapness with, it was absolutely undrinkable. I do love matcha a lot and I can always recognize when it’s low quality, but I am also the type of person who will usually still drink it regardless because often times the added flavors DO mask the low quality taste of the matcha but this? No. I didn’t watch the girl make it but it had to have a been a mix because there is no way that little high school girl was back there whisking my matcha with love, care, and precision.

Ew, then this was on the wall and I noticed the benches were church pews. I started to panic thinking we were in a religious cafe but I googled it and it turns out that the owners’ grandma Maxine was religious and used to tell people “someone is praying for you” and that they are also religious but the cafe isn’t? And they don’t push it on their customers? Whatever, I won’t be returning because their drinks are gross. (Henry didn’t like his latte either.)

We actually fought so much over these pictures because I was suddenly in a bad mood. We drove home in silence, but then I was OK after that and normal Erin and Henry Life resumed. In case you were wondering.

And then Spain won the World Cup! Yay! I wasn’t watching it because we don’t have whatever we needed to watch it, but Chooch and Threads were keeping me updated. Now I feel like I have that post-Summer Olympics depression even though I only watched 5 minutes of one game. I was really enjoying all the drama and memes on Threads and Instagram!

Well, that was pretty much it for Sunday. Aside from Henry pissing me off at Maxine’s and my dishwater matcha, it was a pretty great day!

I needed a cafe break bigly by the time Saturday afternoon rolled around. The cafe of the weekend was Kinder Being, located inside the Government Center record store on the Northside.

First of all, the barista was MAD FRIENDLY. Like, to the point where it felt like we were regulars. That’s the best feeling.

I got the Dandy Bee, hot, and Henry—OMG—got the Keanu but the way he said it made me snap my head over to look at him in horror. He called it, “KEENU.”

The secondhand embarrassment hung PREGNANT in the air before the barista (very politely, I might add) said, “So, it’s actually named after the actor, Keanu Reeves” and TOTALLY turned it around so that Henry probably felt less dumb but don’t worry, I made sure to belittle him relentlessly as the day wore on, and I also texted Chooch IMMEDIATELY to tell him about his embarrassing father’s faux pas du jour to which Chooch replied, “Ew.”

In case you were wondering though, the Keanu was an Arnold Palmer but they didn’t want to call it that so when the barista was searching for a better name, he actually saw that it’s Keanu Reeves’ favorite drink, so. Keanu is the Kinder Being’s version of the Arnold Palmer! The more you know.

“Is that one of those little cameras I keep seeing on the Internet?” the barista asked me once the Keanu-Keenu conflict was resolved and I was so excited to say YES, YES IT IS!! I love this little fucker so MUCH.

Sitting in his shame.

I came into the bathroom just to take pictures, of course.

This was my favorite.

Before we left, we popped over to the record shop where Steely Dan was playing and I was like, “Yay, Steely Dan,” to myself because I can never get sick of Steely Dan. Then I walked over to where Henry was looking at soundtracks and whatever else was over there and a Steely Dan record was right in front. I should have bought it because I THINK Aja is the only one I have, from the ones I salvaged from Gillcrest in 2016.

But instead, I bought these!!

We’re actually going to se LEENALCHI at the Warhol this fall so I was stoked to see their album there.

Afterward, we went to Michaels in the north hills because we’re on. the hunt for small toy dinosaurs (it’s always something) and Steely Dan was playing!! Steely Dan x3 on a Saturday in July. I was there for it.

Then we wanted a sweet treat and originally went to Haven Cafe but it was POURING down rain and the only two tables were being selfishly occupied by:

• 2 WASPy bitches their annoying daughters who were done eating but just sitting there taking up space
• some bitch not eating and taking up a table for 4 while she stared blankly at her laptop

So we left and went to the nearby Moochi & You donut place which was better anyway because Henry wanted a Korean corndog (he ended up being a nice person and got one with just mozzarella so that I could have some too). The woman running the shop was so sweet and everything was going amazingly until this mom/daughter duo showed up. Then it got ultra annoying. They started out as typical entitled Karens by complaining about — GET THIS — the fact that they ordered a milk tea on Thursday morning through Door Dash, and then when she tried it the NEXT DAY, the milk WAS BAD. So now, late Saturday afternoon, over 48 hours later, SHE WAS RETURNING IT?! And the Moochi woman was all, “I’m so sorry!” and took it from her and made her a new one?!

NO. I couldn’t believe this was happening. You don’t order A DRINK MADE WITH MILK via Door Dash, wait a full day to try it, and then return it another full day later? Also, it was like 98 degrees on Thursday, who knows the story here, did it sit on their porch for some time? Oh I was so annoyed.

But then instead of being full Karens, they played the role of Moochi’s #1 fans but pointing out to me the donuts that are SO GOOD (all of them) AND THEN—oh sweet Jesus—they had the audacity to explain to me WHAT A KOREAN DONUT IS.

I wanted to be like, “I know, I ate those when I was in Korea but they’re just called ‘donuts’ there.”

Ugh, there was so much more, but here, just enjoy the journal page where I included my texts to Chooch about it because I literally could not stop being angry over these annoying know-it-alls.

We were going to eat our stuff there but those two really sucked the air out of our sails—they were there nearly as long as we were because we had to wait for the Korean cheese stick.

So we ended up taking it to go and found a little park nearby, where it began POURING again as soon as we started walking to a pavilion.

Worth it.

We asked to swap out one of the three donuts we had already chosen for a honeydew one instead and the woman was like, “You can just have it!” and I’d like to believe it was her way of saying, “Sorry you had to experience those two weirdos.”

LOL.

Purple yam, black sesame, Hot Cheetos.

I sent this to Chooch who immediately replied, “Yeah, I’m not watching all of that.” LOL.

Well, that was Saturday. Check back for my equally scintillating Sunday recap. (ALSO, YEAH SPAIN, FUCK YOU ARGENTINA! FUCK TRUMP! FUCK FIFA! FUCK ICE! FREE PALESTINE!)

I always start my mornings out with a walk, but for the last year I have been doing Japanese walking. If you’re like, “Wow, what kind of a racist bullshit is this bitch on” it’s a Japanese-researched way of walking that is really good for cardiovascular health, and it’s especially good for older people. You walk for 30 minutes in 3 minute intervals that alternate between a slow, casual pace, and a very fast speedwalk like you’re being chased but you can’t break out into a full-blown jog or the bomb strapped to your chest will detonate. I don’t know, I really enjoy it. So that’s how I started my Sunday and this was a patch of flowers in front of someone’s house that made me feel happy so I took a picture. GOD, WHY DO YOU QUESTION EVERYTHING I DO CAN I BREATHE PLEASE.

ANYWAY. Later that afternoon, Henry and I went to Tu y Yo in Sewickley. Originally, it was going to be just a coffee break but then I saw their food menu when I was researching “weekend cafe options” and decided that we’d also be eating lunch there. So, as we’re firmly in the bowels of another disgusting heatwave this week, I am going to mostly let the pictures do the talking from this point on. Oh, why yes, I did bring my Charmera with me, thanks for asking!!!

Forever fangirling + there is my baby Charmera in the background.

Same picture with the Charmera.

I am literally the most adorable and entertaining person and this is how he looks at me.

Trying to spell words then gave up, lol.

STILL BORED WITH ME.

This place was really cute. It’s South American cuisine and there was a good bit of veg/vegan options so that’s why I wanted to eat there. It was actually difficult for me to choose what I wanted because…OPTIONS.

Still figuring out Charmera placement for selfies.

Oh, quick aside. I have been awake since around 4:30AM because Penelope was like ATTACK TIME, MOTHERFUCKER and I am starting to doze off at my desk while writing this. I sincerely hope that’s what this is and not my body actually shutting down because I went for a power walk on my lunch break in 97 degree heat for 40 minutes.

Chicha latte! I had to google this earlier before we went because I wanted to know if it was like horchata and I guess so? Some sites say it’s a rice drink, others say corn, one says cassava. But they all say that these things are chewed and spit out and that’s how it made!

“I DON’T THINK THAT IS HOW THEY MADE YOUR LATTE,” Henry sighed, and by they he meant the young white girl working the counter that day, lol. Imagining her squatting down in the back, gathering enough cud in her mouth to flavor my latte. Anyway, it was a good latte! Very creamy, I guess from all that added saliva.

I got the domino arepa! It was filled with black beans and a salty white cheese. I was obsessed with it.

Henry got the special which was two tacos and a coffee and then IMMEDIATELY asked if it HAD to be hot coffee, couldn’t it possibly be ICED COFFEE? The girl’s eyes flickered in fear to the owner who was sitting at a nearby table, doing work, and then said sure. HENRY IS ALSO ASKING FOR EXCEPTIONS AND ACCOMODATIONS.

We also got an order of yucca fries to split, but the owner came over to apologize because she had a migraine and completely forgot to make them so she had only just put them in the fryer right as were finishing our lunch. We were in no hurry and she was so sweet, so we didn’t dock her any points! Also, she stayed at our table for a bit to talk about how she cooked the meat in Henry’s tacos using her mom’s recipe and that part was whatever to me because…meat.

Then some strange family sat next to us with a little boy who was insanely annoying in a very—and I don’t know if this is going to make the journey out of my brain and onto the page with any shred of sense intact—Nantucket way. Like I can see him throwing a fit during a nice after dinner stroll with mumsy and father because he doesn’t like the $20 ice cream he chose. Anyway! At one point, he leaned across the table and stared at his mom in a way that made me feel so gross, like animated butterflies were going to pop out of his eyeballs.

“What?” the mom ask, with the slight vibrato of trepidation.

“Nothing, I just like smiling at you,” he said.

HHHHNNNNNGGGGGGG.

First of all: EW.

Second of all: CHOOCH NEVER SMILES AT ME!

Anyway,  that was Sunday’s cafe adventure that turned into a lunch date, I guess. Who knows with us.

Then later that night, we watched The Other Hell since I just bought the soundtrack on vinyl and now Henry wants to watch ONLY nunsploitation films BUT ONLY from the 70s and earlier.

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!

Chooch is on the train on his way home right now so I’m killing time by blogging because I don’t know what else to do with myself! Here are two cafes that Henry and I recently went to, because why not.

Last Sunday, I was being a total shit after we went for a walk. I wanted to get coffee but I wanted Henry to pick a place just so I could shoot down every one of his suggestions to the point where we made it all the back home just for me to throw a fit and then Henry was like WHO DID I WRONG IN A PAST LIFE TO DESERVE THIS. Long story short, we ended up going to Ghost Collab and it was good. (It was also my choice, so.)

I got a strawberry latte and a PB chocolate chip cookie which Henry wrongly assumed we were sharing.

I need to go back for a basic pour-over because I feel like this could be Pgh’s equivalent of Dark Matter in Chicago and I need to know. Also, I want to try their chai because I am super picky with chai and currently there is only one place in this city where I will order a chai latte with my full chest knowing it’s going to be my style, and that is Yinz Coffee.

I follow them on Insta and was nervous that this was going to be not just a coffee snobbery joint but a MALE coffee snobbery joint which is even worse, but the guy barista on duty when we were there was super nice.

I was still mad at Henry while we were there. Meanwhile, there was another couple enjoying each other’s company and playing some stupid card game a few tables down AND I WAS NOT IN THE MOOD FOR THIS LOVE THAT WAS IN THE AIR.

Today, we took a post-lunch walk to the boulevard because I had some books to pick up from the library (got to see my fave security guard Robert too, shout out to Robert, my pandemic friend!) and then we walked right the fuck past 802 Coffee or whatever the fuck that dump is called and crossed the street to Socotra Cafe. This was my second time here and Henry’s first. I truly love this place and feel so grateful that they chose little old Brookline to bring their delicious brand of Yemeni drinks and sweet treats (and now the grill is open, too!).

Yes, it’s pricey but to me, it’s worth it because it’s delicious and has a high-quality taste. Unlike 802 where I am disappointed 9 out of 10 times.

Henry and I got a saffron milk cake to share. (I was in a sharing mood today.)

It was DELECTABLE. I still like the pistachio one better that Chooch and I split the last time, but this was also really good. And the matcha latte slapped. They have a banana biscoff matcha latte on the summer menu but I didn’t want to get that AND the cake. I’d have gone into sugar shock! But maybe I’ll make Chooch walk there with me while he’s home this week and I’ll get one as a midday work antidepressant.

This is very swanky by Brookline standards.

Then on the way back home, we got hustled by some kids outside of the Teen Center who were selling lemonade. Henry was like, “Sorry no cash” and they were so quick with the “we take Venmo, CashApp, and PayPal” comeback. Dang, this kids are so fucking savvy.

Anyway, I was like, oh what the hell. It’s the freaking teen center after all, and Chooch spent so much of his time there when he was a teen. Plus, this was a legit teen center-sanctioned pop-up going on, with adult supervision. Actually, the lady who started the teen center was there and I have actually NEVER MET HER. So, after I Venmo’d my payment and showed the receipt to these little swindlers who upsold me via the addition of frozen fruit, I introduced myself as Chooch’s mom and she immediately started gushing over him which I freaking knew he would because he was a teen center mainstay and OG, honestly. I don’t know why he didn’t volunteer as a mentor while he was home last summer.

Well, it was nice to finally meet her so she knows that I exist and that I’m not “Riley’s shut-in mom” or whatever since I was never one to get involved in his extracurricular activities. Or school in general, really. PTA/PTO mom I am not. I left that shit to the real ones.

Speaking of kids and their lucrative side hustlers, last weekend I got stopped by two young kids on the boulevard slinging candy from a Tupperware container. All I really noticed was a bag of Sour Patch Kids because I only just glanced at it and was too busy trying to recuse myself from getting swindled by saying I didn’t have cash.

“We take CashApp,” they retorted with a quickness and I was like, “JESUS CHRIST” and actually started to redownload it but then it was asking me for my bank info because I guess I never actually fully set this up in past and I lost my patience and said, “Venmo or GTFO” in so many words so they moved on to another sucker who was walking her dog and gave them cash FOR NOTHING, didn’t take a thing out of their dumb Tupperware, instead imparting a “Be good, boys” on them.

Hilariously, I was checking CRIME RADAR later and saw that someone called the police because “two young boys were selling candy and destroying property at the laundromat.” LOL.

Kids these days though honestly. I’m so afraid that I’m going to get beat up by a Brookline gang one of these days. The kids that walk past our house seem super sus and you know what, they scare me but mostly because I’m afraid they’re going to make fun of me, call me a fat bitch or something. That’s a real fear of mine.

(OMG remember the time a hooligan literally kicked a rock at me in an alley downtown when I was on my lunch break walk!?!!?!? KIDS ARE SO MEAN.)

Bonus: here’s a shot of the matcha latte Henry made me the other night – having my own personal matcha barista is such a game changer. Anyway, this was made with Nami Matcha’s genmaicha which is mix of matcha and toasted brown rice, making it less vibrant green but has such a delicious nutty, rice flavor. I really enjoy this variation!

Highly recommend Nami Matcha in general!

We had a good weekend. Every time I can say that these days, it feels like an accomplishment. The day before was a bad day. I kind of slipped and fell back into the really bad sadness and it was scary, but I woke up on Friday and felt OK. I felt happy that we had plans for a haunted house that night. It doesn’t really seem that big, but these dumb things have been such a mammoth part of my life since the 90s and even though it’s few and far between these days when one sincerely scares me, I still have fun at most of them. I still enjoy writing in my haunted house journal (I bought Halloween washi tape from Amazon a few weeks ago, and Halloween stickers from Target last weekend! I’m like a little kid sitting here with my tongue peeking out from the side of my mouth as I carefully place scary accoutrements on the pages of my idiot journal, lol).

(ONE DAY, THESE WILL ALLLLL BE CHOOCH’S TO CHERISH!!! What a fun and worthless Will I am going to have.)

We only went to one haunt this weekend but it was a good one! And somehow, it was also a “new-to-us” one – Eerie Acres in the Butler County area (aka Trump’s Paradise, ugh). I have seen this one advertised for years but it never makes the list for some reason!? This year though, there was a Groupon for it and Henry and I are suckers a deal (haunted houses are expensive, people).

I already briefly mentioned this, but Helltown Brewing was there and we shared a can of their Oktoberfest while sitting near a bonfire waiting for our group number to be called and it was….really nice.  The epitome of an October evening, you know? Good weather, autumnal vibes, not-too-annoying people, excellent Halloween party pop music playing. Even though I was there with Henry (LOL), it was a good time! And the haunt itself was old school and had lots of opportunities for me to interact with the monsters and develop crushes (there was this alien….).

I kept taking pictures of us to send to Chooch who was not giving a shit because he’s living his best life in Philly right now and completely not missing his totally cool mom and embarrassing dad.

Ew, lol.

I dunno, empty nest life is OK so far. I feel like this was what we were doing the last few years anyway, with Chooch working and not really going to haunted houses with us anymore. UGH, it is still tough to reconcile though!

Later that night, I sent this picture of Penelope watching NCT Dream content to Chooch :) Note Henry’s bottle of FAYGO ROOTBEER in the background, such a dad bev.

Saturday started out dumbly. Well, no scratch that – it started out good because we swung by Megan’s to check on her cat, Penny, and Megan had left us a container of freshly-baked cookies with white chocolate chips and they were HEAVENLY. So that was a nice start to the day, also when Henry spilled my piping hot Dunkin’ coffee on his forearm in the car – that was also part of the “nice start to the day.”

(For me, anyway!)

Then we drove to HOUSTON, PA which is in WASHINGTON COUNTRY (see also: Trumpville, similar to the aforementioned Butler County) for a pumpkin festival. Just for something to do, it’s October, get off my basic back. Anyway, it was supposed to start at 10am, and there was also a parade starting at 10am but what wasn’t posted anywhere was the fact that the parking lot was literally blocked off to all access because of the parade – cop cars were blocking off every street that we would have needed to take to get there. AND HENRY THOUGHT HE WAS SO SLICK KNOWING ALL THE ALTERNATE ROUTES. Well, the parade gods were like, “LOL you thought. Not on our watch, sonny boy.”

This took about an hour out of our day and I was so pouty about it too, especially when Henry was like, “OH WELL WE TRIED” and just…started driving home?? Without a discussion? Without a sidebar at a local cafe over a seasonal latte and baked good?! Ooh, I was simmering. I glared out the passenger side window the whole way home. Actually, I even put on my headphones and listened to an audio book (I was near the end of A REALLY GOOD HORROR BOOK) like a moody teenager.

But then we got home, and it started raining so I guess it was good that we didn’t stay. Henry knew he was in trouble though so he started working on refurbing our doorbell to play the Kraftwerk song that I have been hounding him about for years, probably since we adopted Trudy. This appeased me greatly.

That night, we watched THANKSGIVING and I was so pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it! It was the perfect blend of tongue-in-cheek and actual terror. That Addison Rae broad is in it and I had never heard of her until a few weeks ago and so I decided to watch one of her music videos and OK, but no.

Sunday. Sunday Sunday Sunday. Oh yeah, I met Pam at 802 Coffee on the Blvd and that was nice. I had cat-sat for her recently (apparently that’s what I do now, while I am still deep in mourning but that’s fine) and it was nice to just chat, I guess, except that she doesn’t care that I don’t like football and always wants to talk about that still.

Maybe I should just counter with kpop news every time she does that.

I got pumpkin chai at 802 because I am disappointed with their coffee and it was actually ok.

(Wow, I have been trying to write this throughout the day and I am in such an absolute shitty mood, I feel like I need to break several (pallets of) glasses. I am really so sick of everything tbh lol ugh fuck everyone.)

Ok slapped myself in the face and now I’m back. Nothing else to really report from the weekend. We went to Target. That was boring. We walked to Potomac Station because they have a sweet potato casserole latte for Pgh Coffee Week. I was disappointed. I had amazing sweet potato lattes in Korea and have yet to find any place here that makes comparable versions. So that was a waste of money but at least I got some steps in.

I guess.

But ugh I almost forgot I wanted to die because when the Potomac guy asked Henry if he wanted any flavor in his iced coffee, Henry was looking at the menu and goes, “Mmmmmm….horchata.”

The guy – and it’s this old man who is usually there when we go on weekends so he has to recognize us which means I can never go back – goes, “That’s….a drink.”

So Henry tried to play it off, like he meant to ask for brown sugar cinnamon instead.

Now, as this was playing out, I was only half-paying attention l because I was looking at the baked goods. So afterward, I whispered, “Did you just try to get horchata in your coffee as a flavor?”

“Uh huh!” Henry said loudly and confidently.

“You are so embarrassing!” I cried, and then texted Chooch about it later whose response was, “ugh he is so embarrassing.”

Mm, then we ended the night with another episode of the Menendez season of Monsters and I am just so disturbed. I remember the trial from when I was a kid but literally knew nothing other than two rich kids shot and killed their parents. Never knew the full story and now I wish I didn’t.

Well, now we’re going to Dunkin to see how bad they botched their version of an ube-flavored coffee drink.

Maybe I need therapy twice a week instead of just once.

UPDATE: Now I’m standing outside of Dunkin because I accidentally ordered an iced version of what I wanted and I almost started crying in the middle of the store so Henry went back in to get me a hot one god I just hate myself and everything around me. I ruin everything.

Yo, what a nice weekend. Henry and I spent a nice amount of time outside, which is always GOOD FOR THE SOUL or whatever someone with a collection of Rae Dunn cups would say. Saturday was decent enough but it was hot off the heels of some pretty heavy raining, and we admittedly picked a dumb locale for a walk that afternoon – Schenley Park, which has sand-like trails so we were dodging puddles left and right. ANYWAY, I wouldn’t have included this in here at all except that as we were walking, we found car keys on the trail by the soccer field. Henry scooped them up, I guess because he figured it would be safer than leaving them on the ground and also because he thought they probably belonged to one of the joggers who had splattered past us in the mud.

Sure enough, some lady who was actually parked in front of us eventually started jogging over to us and panted, “You didn’t happen to see car—” and Henry held the key up for her to take.

“Oh my god!” she cried. “I said to myself, ‘I’m gonna ask these ppl over there’ and thank god I did!” and we were like, “<good natured lip service>” but really in my head I was like WOW MUST BE NICE TO LOSE SOMETHING AND THEN GET IT BACK.

So then I whined about my missing ring for pretty much the rest of our walk. Picked up Chooch from his game design class at Pitt, stopped at Grim Wizard for a chai but then ended up getting a Vlad the Impaler latte instead and it was OK but had a bit too much strong flavors swirling up in it.

Not too much else happened on Saturday. Oh, we went to Kohl’s which has become one of my least favorite places in the world but I needed to find a top to wear with a skirt I got for my not-wedding and it ended up OK but I just truly hate shopping, I think.

The weather on Sunday was much more beautiful than Saturday though and I was rearin’ to go. This time I chose Monongahela Cemetery because it’s been a few years since I was last there with Chooch the day we went out without a chaperone to geocache. 

We stopped at a Sheetz down the street first so I could pee and I found a pair of sunglasses hanging in the stall! SO I TURNED THEM IN TO SOMEONE AT THE CHECK-OUT.

WHY COULDN’T SOMEONE TURN MY RING IN??

(Ugh I honestly spent all weekend reliving that night.)

(Yeah-yeah that’s me, linking back to one post ago like a loser.)

Anway. Ugh. What a nice day.

Ew, you can see Henry BANDAID in this picture. He started to tell me what the cause of his injury was but it had something to do with a car seat of a truck and it fell on his arm and UGH I started screaming because I think I was picturing this to be way worse in my mind because Henry was doing a poor job explaining it so I had to fill in the gaps with my mental Play-Doh Factory of worst case scenarios.

Of course, we mainly talked about K<3REA.

AND THEN I

SAID THAT’S

THE ONE THING WE’VE GOT

(Hate that song, actually, so I’m thrilled for myself that it popped in my head just now.)

You guys! I couldn’t tell if this raccoon was dead or just sleeping!?! Henry said it was definitely sleeping but I couldn’t see that he was breathing and I was so freaked out.

That was a nice hour of sunshine and acting like morons.

Then we drove a few towns over to CHARLEROI and had lunch at some place called Perked Up cafe. The vibe of the place was decent – I mean, we were so far removed from ThE bIg CiTy that this wasn’t a magnet for Instagram Influedouchers.

I was sad though because I must have been looking at old menu and the AVOCADO TOMATO sandwich I was eyeballing wasn’t on the actual menu board there :( The cashier suggested just getting the avocado toast with tomato but I had it in my head that the retired sandwich was meant* to be actual slices of avocado and tomato on a sandwich, son. Not smashed avocado. :( So instead I got the spinach & artichoke on marbled rye and let me just tell you that the bread was the best part because the stuff between the slices was scant and lacked absolutely all flavor. And for $10!!!! Jesus Christ. I abhor making sandwiches but you better trust that even I would have made this better.

*(I had a friend who moved away from Pgh many many many years ago and she would always say “meant” instead of “supposed,” for example: “You were meant to turn there.” I would get angry and scoff, ”Stop talking like you’re British!” So, good job triggering yourself, Erin.)

I mean, I still ate it though because I was fucking hunggggy.

Henry kept raving about his cold brew and I was like, “Calm down, guy, it’s not that special.” For instance, I got a French Toast latte it tasted like neither French nor toast nor French toast. I didn’t hate it, and I somehow didn’t hate the place in general. But I was still fucking hunggggy when we left.

LOL you’re welcome.

And by mini hop, I mean that over two days, we went to two cafes. Living recklessly, doin’ em up big, etc.

On Instagram last week, I saw this new-ish cafe from Greensburg called Cutie’s Cafe and while the name is kind of barfy, their drink menu was extensive, plus they have latte flights which sounded appealing. Plus, I thought it would be a…cute…belated Valentine’s Day thing to do with Henry. Or whatever.

Greensburg is about 45 minutes away from us in Pittsburgh but on a chilly February day, it’s not like we had much else going on. I’m always looking for a reason to take a mini-drive, since I spend pretty much every single day at home. Get me out of here, you know?

We arrived around 1:30 and right away, before we even parked, I could tell that it was going to be…cute…but also super small. Even on their Instagram, I thought it was CURIOUS that there were no pictures of the interior. Well, let me just tell you that it was, in fact, extremely small inside with very limited seating, but I didn’t really stick around long enough to get a good long look because I was immediately sucked-punched with a wack vibe that did not resonate with me at all. How can I explain this…it was as though we crossed the threshold into a real life VSCO filter, like Dorothy landing in Oz but everything is colored in the hues of PSL SZN with a SWEATER WEATHER overlay. And every single seat was occupied by Those Girls. You know the ones. They have Balayage, orange bronzer, NASHVILLE HATS. It was like we walked into a dressing room full of girls getting ready for a Taylor Swift bonfire.

AND THEY ALL HAD THEIR PHONES UP, TAKING PICTURES OF EACH OTHER HOLDING THEIR CUTIE’S LATTES.

When I say we were only inside for 2 seconds, I am not drawing from the hyperbole reservoir. We walked in, I stopped dead in my tracks after giving the place one good head-swivel, and said, “Yeah, I don’t want to be here. No thank YOU,” and we turned around and left. Not a single fuck given.

Usually, Henry HATES doing this but he was relieved. Like, so relieved that he couldn’t stop laughing as we walked back to the car. “No, I didn’t want to stay there either!” he said emphatically after I was like, “Sorry if that embarrassed you but that was not my scene at all and I couldn’t even try to hide my feelings.”

I guess we were both in the right mood that day though because instead of this making us argue, we rolled with it and found another cafe in a neighboring town (New Stanton) and had a nice, calm experience there with good drinks and an OK cinnamon roll (I’m sorry but Scandinavia and Finland spoiled me rotten in the subject of cinnamon rolls).

We had dead flowers on our table which I felt was symbolic of our current relationship status. (Old and shriveled, etc.)

I got a cinnamon latte and had big remorse after realizing that, AS USUAL, I managed to completely overlook the Specials. Henry got his first ever London Fog after whispering to me, “What is that?” He thought he was so cool.

We made the right choice, leaving Cutie’s Cafe. I found out later that they had apparently recently gone viral on Instagram and then were on Pittsburgh Live one day last week, whatever that is, some local TV thing I guess, so that explains it. There’s also a college in Greensburg (Seton Hill – Chooch actually applied there and was accepted but things are still up in the air on that front, ask me again later, etc.) so I guess they probably get a lot of college students there too. The crowd was….very overwhelming. I’d like to go back sometime once all the buzz dies down (& the Yinzer food ‘grammers move on to the next new fad) to see if their lattes are at least worth the hype because from my quick glance, the cafe’s aesthetics did not seem like anything special at all.

So, that was Saturday.

Today, I decided to walk to Potomac Station in Dormont. They’re always liking my pictures on Instagram and look – that’s fucking smart marketing. Appeal to my ego. More, more, more.

I’ve been here a handful of times and have never had a bad experience, honestly. Henry brought me an Earl Grey scone from there during my CHRISTMAS 2023 DEATH BED DAYS and it was so delicious. I love Earl Grey-flavored things! Anyway, I wanted one more sweet thing this weekend and was hoping they would have it again today.

Holy shit, we got there and it was PACKED. Luckily, there wasn’t a line or anything, but every single table and seat was taken. Some by assholes who were there alone but hogging entire tables for four while doing “work.” I was pretty bummed about that because after walking there in the cold, I would have preferred to sit a while.

But what really matters is that I got the Red Hot Horchata from their V-Day menu and it was F I R E. I love horchata so much to begin with adding red hots really elevated it to the next fiery level. I don’t know what Henry got. Some kind of iced coffee, I guess.

Then we came home and got sugar-sick after splitting a black forest cupcake AND a burnt almond torte cupcake. Henry is currently sleeping off his sugar coma and I’m about to close this laptop and stare at the wall for an hour or so.

Hope you had a good cup of something hot this weekend!

Here are some photos from last Sunday before I got sick.

We had decided to kick off Henry’s Coffee Corner again (this ship started to sink before it even left the dock, let’s be real here), so he chose Carnegie Coffee, which is in…you know, Carnegie. Not something I would have picked but OK.

I never bothered to take any pictures because we got there at 1:42 and were met with a sign on the door that said they were closing at 2 for a private event so that really lit a fire under our collective asses. I wanted to just go somewhere else, because I had a book under my arm and would have liked to have sat down and read a chapter but cook on, Carnegie Coffee.

It seemed comfortable enough inside – ample seating that extended to a second floor, and you know how much seating means to me. But he staff was unsmiling, and then Henry had a weird interaction with some weird-ass who came up to him and asked if we were in line. We were, in fact, in line, but the guy said, “Oh, because the line is usually over there” and pointed to the other side of the column we were standing next to. Really buddy. Sorry we’re not fucking regulars in your dumb townie cafe.

So that really set off Henry and then I was secondhand mad about it too, especially when the d-bag actually went over to the right side of the column and stood there, like wow, you’re really sticking it to us, Line-Standing Warrior.

I got a vanilla rose latte. It was fine, but now I associate it with the stomach flu, so that’s great. Chooch got hot chocolate. Henry got iced coffee I think, who can be sure. That stringent line stander got freakin’ hot tea because of course he did. He probably took it back to his table to daintily slurp while carousing Craigslist for, I don’t know, 1950s dinghies.

(?????????????)

Then we got our drinks and left because god forbid, 2:00pm event.

It was a decent enough day, weather-wise, so we decided to take a stroll, much to Chooch’s chagrin because I guess he had important things to attend to at home? We were in the same area where Janna and I went to see that play, Mumburger, last year, so we scoped out the posters for upcoming shows for that little theater and Henry and Chooch seemed moderately interested in maybe possibly attending a future show, so we’ll see if we can shoot some culture up Henry’s butt after all.

I got to see some churches and Chooch pet copious amounts of dogs (lol, actually just 2).

Chooch was really unimpressed with both churches. OK DAMIEN.

A thing we saw.

Then we went to Fresh Thyme (Henry and Chooch love this damn market and I’m just like, OK it’s still boring) and I washed my hands there twice and lubed up with hand sanitizer, came home and started to watch Knives Out with them and then 35 minutes into I excused myself to tend to an Olympian Vomiting Event which, on a scale from Hipster After a Bloody Mary Bar Brunch to Regan’s Pea Soup, I would rate myself a solid Carnival Ride Puking Scene From “Problem Child.”

Really looking forward to a better Sunday today!

Genaroasta* was the coffee place of the week , I had nothing to do with the choosing of it this time. That was fine, due to the fact we were meeting Tommy and Jessy.

*(EDITOR’S NOTE: Way to misspell the name of the cafe, Henry.)

The cafe is in a small strip mall, for me that’s fine (notice I said for me)*, it takes nothing away from the place.

*(EDITOR’S NOTE: I hate when things are in strip malls!)

Service was fast and friendly, I just got iced coffee and a peanut butter cup peanut butter cookie (which I had to share), much better bake goods than the last place and more choices. Erin and Chooch got food, not important how they liked or disliked it, it’s all about me this post. T&J also got food, again not important! They all seemed happy with their choices.

The place wasn’t too crowded, we got a table as soon as we got there, the space was set up in way that you didn’t seem like you were sitting on the person next to you. Had tables, booths, comfy chairs and a long table, something for everyone.

The coffee was good enough for me to get another one, without Erin even noticing, she doesn’t notice much about me anymore!

Was good to see T&J again, we don’t get to see them that often. Hope to see them soon!

All and all it was a good coffee trip, next week is still a mystery.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: when Henry was preparing to write this post, I want everyone to know that he said “two dicks” ate half of his cookie; this is how he treats Chooch and me! He acted like it was the last cookie in the world that he begrudgingly was forced to share with us, when meanwhile we discovered an entire container of Valentine sugar cookies from a bakery that he was hiding from us in the backseat of the car! What an actual cookie monster! WHO DOES THAT TO THEIR FAMILY? I hate him.)

(EDITOR’S NOTE, AGAIN: I had to change a “to” to a “too.” Expected.)

(EDITOR’S NOTE, A DAY LATE: Henry forgot to mention that we had a rousing discussion re: “free passes” and when they asked Henry who he would choose for his free pass, he was all thoughtful and then I got super panicked and yelled, “NO! DON’T SAY IT! I DON’T WANT TO KNOW”! and then I got super-clingy and whined, “I DON’T WANT YOU TO HAVE A FREE PASS!” and then I decided if he was going to have one, they would at least have to be older than me. He’d probably pick some bitch from NCIS or some other dumb American TV show.)

As the owner of Oh Honestly Erin, I have made the executive decision that Henry will be reviewing on here each cafe we visit in his quest to acquire a taste for The Coffee. I thought it would be interesting to see each place through his Old Man Ex-Service Person eyes, because whereas I judge a cafe by its seasonal latte flavors and Instgrammability, his criteria is probably a bit different.

Originally I was going to ask him questions about life or whatever but we’ve done that before and his answers are boring and also I didn’t feel like thinking of questions haha. So to kickoff this series (which will probs die off just as quick as it started), here is Henry to tell you about his experience at Steel Valley Roasters!

LOCATION: Steel City Roasters, Homestead

COFFEE: Cold brew w/Almond milk (Barista gave me soy milk instead, not an issue)

BARISTA: Friendly and quick, gave me soy instead of almond milk, offered free refill for it, or they give free refills on cold brew, not sure.

COMFORT: I’m guessing if you go when yoga class is not letting out it would be quieter, and don’t sit on the long church pew , it moves with whoever is sitting on it.

CLIENTELE: not many people, it was a Sunday early, so it was a few people and the yogi’s. One with a bar voice more than a coffee shop voice.

AESTHETICS, on a scale from truck stop diner to gimmicky LA Instagram Trend Cafe: I would go back, only this time I would not get the subpar danish from the bakery down the street, I’ve had goods from that particular bakery before, not great! So I would put it the middle of the scale.

FINAL WORDS: For me it comes down to service if I go back to a place, and this place had good service, the barista was friendly and quick, one small mistake, taken care of quickly. The bake goods, yeah nothing special, made down the street. Should have stayed down the street! I would go back, not right away though, I have many places to go first.

***

ERIN’S NOTE BECAUSE THIS IS ERIN’S BLOG: Henry failed to mention that this place is connected to a yoga studio. Thankfully, we got there right before class let out so there was no line, but then we had to sit there and drink our coffee while all the dumb yogi yuppies came out and loudly congregated. One of them had a voice that was so loud and grating that I was like, “WE NEED TO DRINK FASTER, I CAN’T TAKE THIS BROAD ANYMORE” and Henry ended up getting the rest of his cold brew to-go before I could cause a scene. I brought a book with me in hopes that I could power through a chapter or two since Henry never has anything worthwhile to talk about, but those dumb broads were so freaking loud, and one of them had a screaming toddler and husband waiting for her, that it was impossible to block out.

My latte was good, though. I didn’t like the seasonal options so I went with just a plain soy latte, which I usually end up enjoying better anyway. I let Henry taste it. He still doesn’t like hot coffee, I guess.

And apparently, sometimes this one bakery I like, Jak’s, supplies this joint with baked goods but sadly, today’s offerings were from Blue Bonnet whatever that fuck is, but I guess Henry has been there before because he makes a career of eating baked goods. Anyway, it sure is fun dragging Henry to cafes! WHERE WILL WE GO NEXT SUNDAY, HOO BOY, CAN’T WAIT.