My heart is in a million pieces over the horrific tragedy that happened today in Itaewon. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Please give someone a hug tonight.

:(

While I’m still over here processing my emotions/feels/thoughts, here is a video from Thursday’s concert where NCT127 opened with Henry’s all time favorite NCT127 song, Kick It.

(Not my video!)

I know, you think I’m being facetious. “LOL like Henry would have a favorite Kpop song.

” But I cannot stress enough the fact that he genuinely likes (almost all) Kpop and the whole NCT universe particularly is god tier for him. (He just said “maybe.” But I don’t think he understands what god tier means, so.)

Speaking of Henry though, I need to get him to sit down and collab with me on my next concert post because he had a very different experience than me, lol.

Meanwhile, he went to Target tonight with Chooch and brought home the Target exclusive of their new album!

What a sweetheart. Drew came over to see who I pulled:

Haechan! (And also Jungwoo, Henry’s former bias.) Haechan is my ult NCT bias so I was happy. :)

Chooch was mad that Drew that was interested in this.

Ok 잘 자요 여러분.

(I WILL NEVER GET OVER THIS NIGHT BTW OMG UGH.)

Here are some terrible photos of the mini cakes we scooped up from Vegan Treats last Friday. They got a little roughed up in the car on the drive home but they still tasted delightful.

Semi-related, I was ranting about how I was a fat kid in the 90s because my family stocked the kitchen with so many economy-sized boxes of snacks. You would never go hungry between a meal at the Kelly house: Cookies, Rice Krispie Treats, ice cream, Klondikes, a wide variety of chips, pretzels, what seemed to be a self-replenishing stock of Pizza Rolls, actual vintage pop machines in the garage. We were the Processed Palace.

“It was probably different for you people in the 60s and 70s,” I said to Henry.

“‘You people’…?” he murmured.

“Yeah, you people wanted a snack back then, you had, what? An apple. Ants on a log, maybe.”

Henry, in a sad whisper, “We weren’t PIONEERS…”

Ok fine, and JELLO.

Anyway my point is that I learned the hard way that I can’t eat stuff like cakes everyday, so it’s a good thing Vegan Treats is like, 3 hours away.

9:25am: hola, we have been on the road for nearly an hour and have only just gotten on the turnpike somehow. Had to stop at Sheetz in Monroeville but nothing eventful happened. I was mad because the old bitch making my latte stopped to have a conversation with one of the guys back there with her and I was furiously tapping my foot but then it somehow ended up being one of the better lattes Sheetz has ever served me. (I mean, it’s Sheetz, so…)

Last night, NCT announced that there is going to be a preshow merch opportunity starting at noon which is way earlier than we will be arriving in shitty Newark and I dunno for how long this thing will be open so of course I’m in a bad mood about this because panic and anxiety make me project onto Henry.

10:09am: The Korean version of Highway to Heaven was just on and I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer and Henry was like “Omg” and I wailed, “I don’t know if I can do this, Haechan is going to make me cryyyyy.” I hope whoever is sitting next to me is cool because I am going to need someone to lean on lol.

10:49am: Henry finally got his concert ticket! Well, I got it for him while he was driving.

He’s really mad because he wants to go but doesn’t want to sit alone with a bunch of screaming girls but he’s in like the very last section, second to last row so maybe there will be other parents back there with him??!!

Bathroom selfie now that I’m starting to not be as sullen lol.

11:25am:

Love/hate these. Sometimes (like now) they taste like I’ve been heavily SOBBING on a fainting couch for 5 hours. You know, that awful taste of tears needing an alternate outlet so they start flowing down your sinuses and into the back of your throat? Yeah, that taste (which I clearly know well).

Chasing that bitch with a lemon drop. That’s how we do it up in the Lee Jinki (THAT’S MY CAR’S NAME IN CASE YOU DIDNT KNOW).

2:34pm: BREAKING: Henry changed his NCT bias from Jungwoo to Yuta.

We’re about 40 minutes from Newark. This ride has been beyond boring. It rained heavily for a lot of it and that slowed us down a lot. Ugh. We’re supposedly still going straight to the venue to see if the early merch pop-up is still happening.

Then we’re getting take out from Urban Vegan and taking it back to the hotel where I will proceed to be sick because NERVES.

3:40pm: Hate you so much, Newark.

Anyway that early merch thing was happening but the line was pretty long and Henry was like IF YOU GET IN THAT LINE YOU MIGHT AS WELL PLAN ON JUST STAYING DOWN HERE UNTIL IT STARTS AT 8 and look Linda, I’m already going to be standing in a line to get in, I’ll take my chances and wait to get merch tonight ugh.

Also Henry is being such AN ASSHOLE DRIVER ever since we entered the hell hole that is Newark. He keeps snapping at me and I’m like alright brother, I’ll remember this.

I HATE YOU.

(He just asked why I took his picture and I told him it was for my blog wherein I declared my hatred for him and he said “oh it wasn’t on Insta so it doesn’t matter” and I said, “wow thanks for the reminder that no one reads my blog, guy.

“)

3:56pm: Mark Lee in this outside of Urban Vegan!

I originally saw it from pretty far away and yelled IS THAT MARK so I guess my shitty eyes really do just wanna see what they wanna see.

4:19pm: at least our room is ok.

5:17pm: I just did laps around the hotel because I’ve been sitting in the car all day and need to hit my step goal! Now Henry is napping and I’m bored so here are pictures of me with my NCT light stick:

Also! Pictures of our delicious Urban Vegan füdz that we ate in the room while watching the tail end of What Lies Beneath*:

Literally Henry turned on the TV and I saw a .0006 second glimpse of Michelle Pfeiffer on a staircase and I said, “is this What Lies Beneath??” As if this was a flick I watched religiously back in the day and not one (1) time when I rented it from Hollywood Video (probably).

I pulled the curtain shut so I live over on this side now. Henry can go to hell over there.

6:29pm: In Uber on why to Prudential Center. Posting this now but might be back!

11:59pm: On our way back to the hotel where I will proceed to cry my ugly face off because that was SO MUCH on my heart. SO MUCH.

Cemeteries in October are my favorite places…

…even when I’m a walking obstacle while Henry is teaching Chooch how to drive :0

This past weekend wasn’t particularly extraordinary for any specific reason but it was just NICE. And sometimes NICE is more than we can ever hope for, right?

I’m off all week for my annual Hallocation – I took it earlier this year because we’re going to Newark on Thursday – Friday for the NCT127 concert (literally can’t type that without feeling weak in the knees) so I figured I’d just declare this my week of October lovin’.

I don’t really have much else planned aside from reading, going on long walks, watching some horror shows/movies.

I thought about hitting up some friends with flexible schedules to get lunch/brunch but my haunted house fund is over here like “don’t feed yourself, feed me.”

Sigh.

Today, I went on two long-ass walks, read, watched an episode of Midnight Society, talked to squirrels, and took Chooch driving :/

Speaking of reading though, I’m like 90% done with Her Majesty’s Royal Coven and I am screaming. It is SO GOOD!! I checked it out of the library and then was like “why did I do that, I’m predisposed to hate books like this” (fantasy) but it is EVERYTHING I didn’t know I needed right now. Love it.

So on that note, I’mma peace out, curl up next to Drew, and get this book finished.

Chooch informed me that today is Penelope and Drew’s 7th birthday! In case you were unaware, they are legit sisters from the same litter and we adopted them together in 2016 when they were several mths old. I do vaguely remember Sandy (who adopted their brother) telling me that their birthdate was October of 2015 but I am a terrible lady and forgot the actual day. Thank god for Chooch!

It’s kind of interesting because they usually just stay away from each other but today they were sitting on their tower at the same time and they’ve been “playing” together most of the evening almost like they’re celebrating?? By playing, I mean chasing and attacking each other though, so…

Anyway, I can’t believe they’re 7!! It seems like yesterday when we told Chooch we were taking him to his new foster home because we couldn’t afford to take care of him anymore but really we were taking him to Sandy’s friend’s parent’s house to choose a kitten to take home after living a year in a catless house after Marcy’s death and then we came home with two* which Henry said he was fully prepared for and had been bracing himself for it.

*(we actually only came home with Drew that night; I knew based on a photo that I also wanted Penelope but they couldn’t catch her that night so she was brought to our house several days later, long enough for Drew to think she had become the alpha lol.)

But yeah look how surly they look in that picture haha.

You guys, one more day until the best, most superior month of all! It’s always October in my heart but I really can’t think of a time when I’m consistently as happy as I am from Octover 1 – October 31. Sigh. I will say it’s not AS GOOD as it was when Chooch was little and still dressing up and trick or treating, or when I was in high school and actually had friends who wanted to go to haunted houses. But, it continues to be wonderfully magnificent, just in new and different ways as I age.

Right now, I have a black cat blanket around me, Blair Witch Project on the TV behind me, getting stoked for when I log off work and go to a haunted hayride with Henry (and possibly Chooch if he feels like hanging out with his dumb parents). But in the meantime, let’s do some fiving! I thought maybe in preparation of haunted house season, we could have a jam sesh to five of my favorite horror movie theme songs?! Yeah let’s do it!

1. Suspiria theme by Goblin

OBVIOUSLY.

2. Cry Little Sister – Lost Boys

This song truly is timeless. It’s just as epic now as it was the first time I watched this movie in 1987. Related but random: Chooch and I were at Mad Mex for dinner last month and the song from the infamous BATHTUB SCENE was playing there. I was like, CHOOCH LISTEN, and he couldn’t tell what it was at first but then it clicked for him and we bonded for .0003 seconds over The Lost Boys before he went back to complaining about his food and doing dumb shit on his phone. Anyway, this was a significant moment for me because when I was young, I was obsessed with that song and SO PISSED when I bought the soundtrack only to find that it wasn’t included! Cry Little Sister is still the best song though and let’s be real, the whole soundtrack could just be that song 12x in a row and a bitch would be happy. (Well, as long as Mummy Calls was on there as a bonus track.)

3. Dawn of the Dead theme

Sometimes I just put this one when I need to concentrate on something. It’s a mood.

4. Love Song for a Vampire – Bram Stoker’s Dracula

OK maybe not what you have in mind when you think of horror movie songs but I have always been ohhhb-sessed with this Annie Lennox Dracula classic. I used to listen to it on repeat in my bedroom and cry when I was in middle school.

5. Maypole Song – The Wicker Man

 I mean come on, this is fucking creepy and still to this day makes me ultra uncomfy.

Obviously the theme to Halloween has got to be my fave but everyone knows that jam.

Heyo I’m having issues with my blog AGAIN and I can’t upload pictures so instead of whatever worthless bullshit I was going to publish onto the Internet, here is NCT127 performing a medley of their best songs to give you a taste of how fabulous they are.

“Kpop is all auto tune and lipsynching.”

Bitch please. These boys ate the damn CDs.

“NCT127 is noisepop.”

YES WE CAME FOR THE CHAOTIC NOISINESS AND STAYED FOR THE HONEY VOCALS.

(My fave is Back 2 U in case you were wondering. And please appreciate the harmonizing on Favorite. I love them so much. OCTOBER 13TH!!!)

In other news, I dusted off the haunted house journal! Technically I already have two haunts under the belt for 2022 season and I am have my schedule penciled in for the next several weekends. BRING IT!!

Today was babysitting day. We made Chooch come with us for a walk to Scoops on the Boulevard for some ice cream.

It was the slowest walk of my life but they were good. And they all actually finished their ice cream without making an utter mess which was very shocking to me. I mean, there was still a mess and I wouldn’t let them touch me, but we did ok.

Then back at their house, I kept saying that I was going to leave because I had to exercise (Henry would have still been there, god don’t report me!) but they were like NO DONT LEAVE US WITH BORING PAP so Calvin suggested that I exercise there.

I declined this invitation to use his play room as a gym but then he said “well how about you teach us some exercises?”

SO I DID! We did sit-ups and crab dips! Then Calvin was like OK NOW LETS DO DANCE EXERCISES ALEXA PLAY GUMMI BEARS and I was like OMG GUMMI BEARS? YOU KNOW THE GUMMI BEARS SONG?!

I was so stoked but it turned out it was some different gummy bear thing and not the theme song to the 1980s cartoon like I had anticipated:(

“Just so you know, I put this on the pie party play list,” I said to Henry while it plays loudly on the TV.

“Oh great,” he muttered but I know he secretly loves it even though he was probably IN THE SERVICE when this was on.

Speaking of IN THE, I watched the penultimate episode of IN THE DARK tonight and I am done.

Totally exhausted from the sobbing. This show kills me. Which is why today’s blog post is a cop-out because I’m drained and I have actually been doing a lot of weird crying lately?!

I know I mentioned this recently in another post but I am still very sad about the death of a youtuber I didn’t even know in real life. Like what kind of person have I become that I’m this attached to Youtubers but here we are.

Old Hoju Sara videos keep popping up in my feed lately and I wanted to share this one that she did with another YouTuber I like a lot, Fei, because it’s from when they were together in Korea trying various Inkagayo sandwiches which I love so much. You might remember that it’s what we make on Easter! EASTERgayo sandwiches!

I know you can’t really put too much stock into what you see on YouTube but Sara really seemed like a genuinely kind person and it makes me angry that she was taken so young. She really did live her best life though, and she fostered a love for Korea in so many people. I personally really enjoyed her expat vlogs- she was very inspiring to me. I wish I was brave enough to start a new life in Korea! BYE HENRY.

Anyway, please enjoy this video. RIP Sara. :(

Woke up at 5:30am for this and have no regrets. It’s been on a loop in my head all day and I am READY to experience this performed live in LESS THAN A MONTH with my lightstick in hand.

You know how when you have actual adult things to stress out about, sometimes it’s easier to project that stress onto really dumb shit? Not me being the queen of that deflection.

Here’s some dumb shit I’m stressing out about instead of the actual holes in our ceiling that our landlord has been ignoring for two years, etc.

• The pie party. Why did I think I could handle the stress of planning this?
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  Who talked me into this?! It’s in less than two weeks and we only just kind of had the “what pies should we do” discussion last night. Also I’m worried that the turnout is going to be grim. The announcement seemed well-received but we all know that events are forgotten if the info is not on Facebook. Sigh. Petition to go back to the time when Facebook wasn’t the end all be all.

• European amusement parks. There are so many I want to go to before I die, but so little money. Some kid (literally he might only be about 17, I have no idea) who I’m subscribed to on YouTube recently did a SEVEN WEEK trip spanning 7 or 8 countries and including 27 parks. His older brother was with him and he has THE BEST coaster scream – it’s infectious and I want to have a scream-harmonize with him now. Anyway, I know it probably sounds dumb but I really want to go to Europe and ride rollercoasters and dark rides and be immersed in all the impeccable and magical theming. Sigh. (His #1 park was Phantasialand and that was one of the parks on the itinerary of our corona-canceled 2020 trip to Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Le sigh – so first world-ish to be sad about this. But you know I’m a big spoiled brat so why hide it. I think the bigger picture here is that I’m panicking about aging and running out of time. UGH.
• NCT127: they have a comeback later this week and I’m seeing them IN A MONTH and yes, I am stressed out about this. Excited but stressed! Leave me alone.
• The attic makeover that will never happen.
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  We were supposed to work on it over the weekend but then Henry was like “I have to clean the basement in order to clean the attic so that there is room to move stuff” aka HIS JUNK that should just be thrown out!!

• Work. But for a dumb reason. My old team organized a group dinner for the 20th – it was actually rescheduled twice and then this seemed like the perfect night so we were all-in but then our Dept scheduled the next CASUAL LUNCH for that day so we were like “ok I guess we are going in to the office” and then my current group is also having an IN PERSON meeting that day so I’m already feel socially zapped but none of this has even happened yet?! Also most of our desks have been pared down to just one monitor and I can’t work like that so now I’m doubly-stressed wondering where I will be able to sit on Tuesday so that I can have my favored set-up. These are stupid things to stress over.
• Related: I am also going into the office this Friday because I finished Sandy’s GOODBYE gift – SHE LEFT US IN JUNE DID I TELL YOU?! – and I got ETHAN to agree to be photographed with it even though he has no idea what it is and he will be in the office on Friday which is also NCT127 Comeback Day so now I have to spend that downtown in the office sitting in someone else’s office.
• CONSTRUCTION: THERE IS CONSTRUCTION EVERYWHERE I GO IN BROOKLINE AND I HAVE HAD IT.
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  i am sick of turning a corner only to be met with WORKERS IN HARDHATS AND FLUORESCENT VESTS standing like SENTINELS at the entrance of roads I had wished to traverse. AND now that stupid contracting company that has almost killed me twice has even more of their trucks in the area and I want to literally Hulk out and heave them into a ravine.

• It’s been 21 years without a proposal so just bear that in mind the next time you’re like OMG HENRY IS THE BEST AND ERIN IS JUST A DUMB BITCH. I’m not bitter or anything lol.
• Chooch – he always stresses me out but I guess would I even be a parent otherwise?!

Whatever. Goodnight.

Hi it’s me. Your friend, Erin. Just checking in because I’m addicted to blogging but haven’t had a chance to properly sit down and pound out 2,000 words about our day at Mt.

Olympus like I had planned on doing today, because instead we got caught up in STUFF AROUND THE HOUSE since we’re not on the go this weekend.

Deep breath. That was a long sentence. I’m whatever the finger-equivalent of being winded is now.

Here is a picture of Drew from this morning:

Also today:

• I bought a bunch of new plants over the last several days because attempting to care for and nurture fauna is another addiction of mine.
• I’m redoing the carouselfie wall because I ended up actually hating it bigly. It needs stripes I think. That’s my solution to everything.

  Stripes and glitter.

• the Targets we went to today had barely any Halloween stuff set up yet and I’m mad because I want to see if they’re doing the Day of the Dead line of decor again because I LOVE THOSE PICTURE FRAMES. If you see anything LET A BITCH KNOW.

  (That bitch is me.)

• I’m also redoing the cat wall!
• I split a Nancy B’s snickerdoodle and chocolate chip cookie with Henry and now I wish I had just eaten the entire chocolate chip one by myself but the last time I did that was when Sue brought them into work and I was like I WILL HAVE ONE AND JUST EAT HALF but then ate the whole thing and got sick. If you’re from Pgh and have had a Nancy B’s chocolate chip cookie, then you know they’re bigg’uns.

Ok I think we’re painting a wall now so bye.

(These are Target’s Dias de los muertos frames from 2019ish / 2020ish.)

One of my favorite things to do before going on a road trip is look for restaurants in the area. I have a very particular set of requirements so it’s good to be proactive. If we’re going to a bigger city, I will for sure look for vegan joints but small towns have me looking for the greasy spoon time capsules. If a review is bad because the place is outdated, it goes on the list.

If it’s quirky or novel, borderlining on roadside attraction, here comes Erin. (See: Mr. Happy and Pal’s!)

These are the very important duties I task myself with, in case you were wondering what I do when I’m not getting yelled at by attorneys at work or walking my feet off because I’m a slave to my step goal.

So when I came across Mr. Pancake, housed in a structure shaped like a river boat and family-owned dating back to the 60s, I refused to leave Wisconsin Dells until we ate there.

Especially after watching some local news story from 12 years ago highlighting the breakfast spot loved by tourists and locals alike.

That clip of the food-faced bitch getting floaters all up in her apple juice made me dry heave though.

But I was otherwise reminding Henry by way of FACE-SCREAM that we were going to eat at Mr. Pancake and he was like “ok” while pushing past me to finish his chores and Chooch would just curtly say, “I don’t know what that means” and then acted like it was NEWS TO HIM when we drove past it yesterday while going to our hotel.

Anyway, we almost had to scrap the plan because they’re only open until noon so we would have had to go Sunday morning except that we still need to drive to Chicago-ish to go to Six Flags and prefer to get to new-to-us parks when they open because we’re always on a mission, you know.

I’m sure Henry and Chooch were less then thrilled with my declaration that we’d just have to leave the hotel earlier than intended and get to Mr. Pancake as soon as they opened at 7.

We were the first ones here! We arrived at 6:53 and Henry was like I AM NOT SITTING IN THIS PARKING LOT IT WILL MAKE THE WAITSTAFF NERVOUS so we had to drive around the still-sleeping Dells. When we got back at 6:58, the lot was still empty and I told Henry to park right next to the door and he was like I AM NOT PARKING THERE I WILL PARK OVER HERE AWAY FROM THE BUILDING. What a weirdo.

Then I got out and ran over to the door but the CLOSED sign was still up even though it was now exactly 7 so I got nervous but JUST THEN the hostess came over and flipped the sign while smiling at me through the window of the door.

I ran back down the steps and yelled, “SHE CHANGED THE SIGN TO OPEN!” to Chooch who was like “yes I know I’m standing right here, I saw, you’re so annoying.”

MR PANCAKE SELFIE! WE WERE THE FIRST PATRONS! Our waitress’s name was Paula and she was amazing and really helped us navigate the tricky menu.

(It was not tricky but she still held our hands and promised us that we would never walk alone while in her care.)

(Fine. She didn’t hold our hands but her soothing tone implied that was spiritually braiding her fingers into ours while leading us down a path of tulip petals and housemade maple cinnamon syrup.)

FIRST ONES BEST ONES!

Chooch is in the Blocking His Face From Mommy’s Camera stage of his life.

You guys!! I got a blueberry waffle which came with lemon butter! When Paula checked in on us later, I blurted out with such urgency that her face flashed with alarm, “I didn’t know the butter was going to be lemony!” But then I gushed, “I love it!” so her face relaxed into her standard cheerful Wisconsin visage and she proudly declared that it’s made in house. JUST LIKE THE SYRUP.

A few years, two bitches from some local supper club took the reins of Mr. Pancake from the family who had been running it since the 60s. The history on the website says that they kept the OG recipes but added some stuff to the menu and I told Henry I bet the BARISTA section of the menu and the fancy house made butters and syrups were their doing. But for some reason I said it is a disparaging, snippy tone like these uppity supper club broads were really leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth for literally no concrete reason that I can give you to back up my intentions. Sometimes I JUST BE LIKE THAT.

Anyway, I also had my eyes on the Iowa Corn Pancakes (?!?!?!) because they were filled with corn and corn meal!! But I cannot eat three pancakes and there was no down-sizing option. However, Henry got an omelet which came with two pancakes and Paula said that he could substitute any of the specialty pancakes for a small upcharge so I told him to get the corn ones and he did and they were SO GOOD. Actual corn kernels plopped out when he cut into them. I mean, it wasn’t like a pouch of corn cooked into the cakes but more so just interspersed throughout. I love corn stuff, especially when it’s surprise corn like in Korea, where they love to sneak handfuls of kernels in where you’d least suspect it, like pizza and lattes.

음ㅁㅁㅁㅁ, 옥수수 🌽.

By the time we left, Mr. Pancake had filled up with patrons filling up on carbs before a day of water-parking, including a family with a really fucking bratty toddler that proceeded to scream its face off immediately upon being seated and at one point the mom yelled YOURE BEING BAD and I am going to start publicly calling Chooch out for being bad too. It’s what he deserves.

Mr. Pancake gets an A- from me though because I didn’t like their souvenir T-shirts and they didn’t have coffee cups for sale!! I would have bought one for sure. They should make white ones with a red outline of the Mr. Pancake river boat thing.

끝.

Dear blog I can’t believe I forgot to come crashing through your gates screaming my wet face off about the NEW SONG that Pierce the Veil dropped the other night at midnight, after a SIX YEAR HIATUS since their last album (I know, not *that* long but in the Kpop world, groups have like 3 comebacks a year and that is what my spoiled American ass is used to now).

I dunno how they did it, but it all at once sounds super fresh and new, yet nostalgic all at once. Vic’s screams drop-kicked me out of bed (their midnight text woke me up and I had to listen to the song immediately!) and straight to 2008.

We’re on our way to Wisconsin (lol) and I just played it again and even Henry was like “yes I like it” and that is saying a lot because Henry was never a fan of PTV – he wouldn’t even stand with me when I cried in front of their stage at Riot Fest in 2016!

I think PTV is just one of those bands that I will never outgrow.

The whole band is a diamond in the rough but Vic especially is God tier in my eyes and I just want to protect him forever.

Long live PTV!