View from the elevator bank of Chooch’s floor at his Drexel suite.

Yes, that means we were in Philly, returning our PRECIOUS GOODS to the Home of Gritty. :(

And can you believe that Henry had the audacity to suggest I STAY HOME because I woke up feeling a sickness coming on? It was the beginning stages of a head cold / sinus thing. I wasn’t yet dripping like a broken faucet (that would be Monday and Tuesday) but I was in the extreme “my face is constructed of shifting tectonic plates” type of pressurized pain. Plus, I slept for most of the ride there and that just isn’t something I do especially since I brought a book with me AND we were having a nostalgic Pierce the Veil deep dive which started because earlier that morning in our bedroom, Henry goes, “Since when do they play this on the radio???” and I had to actually ear-squint to hear because my brain initially rejected the information that it was PTV. That’s a good indication that I was sick—I can usually pick up on what’s playing in the bedroom FROM DOWNSTAIRS. It drives Henry nuts, especially because the bedroom radio isn’t even on loud.

But yes, it was PTV! Granted, we haven’t listened to the alternative radio station here in years but only recently put it on again when I accidentally go back into hockey since that’s the station that airs the games and we don’t have the ability to watch it on TV.

PHEW that was a lot to say: we were inspired to listen to PTV in the car that day.

I had to laugh though because Henry used to be the disgruntled lone passenger on a stinky bus to Frown Town anytime we’d go see Pierce the Veil but now he is so far-removed from that timeline that it’s a nostalgic listen for him I guess and he defensively said in the car, “I NEVER SAID I DIDN’T LIKE THEM.” Oh, OK! Coulda fooled me!

Anyway, this song is three years old already so who knows when The X started playing it. Before we move on from the PTV portion of this post, I need to just remind everyone that they have been one of my favorite bands since 2007 and I will never not love them, and Vic is one of the few singers from that scene who has never let us down.

Oh, this has nothing to do with Sunday, but yesterday Henry was telling me that he was almost done with a book that I have been hounding him to read for years. “She just got fired,” he said.

“And she doesn’t have a back-up plan?” I quipped, all nudge-nudge, wink-wink. He just looked at me blankly.

“Oh OK, I guess you’re not really a Pierce the Veil fan after all!” I cried. IT WAS A REFERENCE TO THIS SONG, ASSHOLE.

(I can’t hear the part “You know I’ve never held a gun in my life / but now I carry one around in case I see you tonight” without tears spontaneously springing forth.)

Anyway! After helping Chooch unload all of his crap to his room (don’t worry, we interrogated him before we left home that morning to make sure he had his: wallet, backpack, laptop, student ID after last time when he left ALL OF THOSE THINGS AT HOME), we took the train to…wherever – I still don’t know my way around, but it was like 5 stops from where we got on at the Drexel campus lol – and then walked about 15 minutes until we arrived at Madjal Bakery, a Syrian bakery that I found out about from Cari Cakes when she was visiting home a few weeks ago from Korea. (If you read the plethora of nauseating Korea blog posts from 2 years ago, you might remember that she is an American expat Youtuber in Korea – I have been a subscriber since 2017 when I found her “apartment tour” video during a very chaotic period in my life when I was 100% convinced of giving it all up and moving to Seoul. And we ended up running into her in Seoul on that trip and had an awkward conversation lol.)

Cari really pimped this place out well so I had to try it.

We ended up getting there RIGHT BEFORE a huge influx of customers, and also right before they sold out of the pastry I had my heart set on – the pistachio cinnamon roll.

It’s small inside but very pretty.

Pictured: Tahini Rye Brownie; Tahini, Maple & Pecan Babka; and my coveted Cinnamon Cardamom Bun with pistachio cream cheese frosting.

YES, SIR!!! Everything was divine.

Henry and Chooch also got some savories which they loved. And no, all those baked goods weren’t just for me! We split them, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

I also got a hot spiced tea which was perfecto for the state I was in that afternoon.

Also, I’m sorry but any time I  think of Men I Trust (see: Chooch’s shirt), I’m immediately transported to the backseat of Corey’s car, seeing a dead lady on a sidewalk outside of the Mattress Factory, UGH.)

The man working that day (I don’t think it was the owner based on Instagram) was so friendly. I appreciated that every time he said, “Hi there!” to a new customer, it felt sincere and didn’t devalue the “Hi there!” he gave to us when we walked in, lol. I’m very protective of the salutations bestowed upon me! He made me feel SEEN and was very patient as we deliberated amongst ourselves.

We were lucky to get a table with three chairs, because as soon as we sat down, there was an unrelenting surge of customers through the door, like some divine God Hand was reaching down from the heavens to finger-pluck people off the sidewalks and deposit them on Madjal’s stoop. Good for Madjal!

Highly recommend this place and already can’t wait to go back and try more! (Preferably when I’m not on the verge of a sinus situation.)

Afterward, we decided to eschew public transportation and walk back to campus – it was about an hour walk but the sun was shining and it’s all flat so it was a really nice afternoon stroll. Especially after being cooped up in  the car for 4+ hours. Right away, we passed a record store and Chooch slipped inside. We had to stay outside because we had beverages, but then curiosity got the best of me so I thrust my tea at Hery and walked inside. It was mayhem in there! Then when you factor in my invisibilty, people were just stepping out in front of me left and right and it was very frustrating because I could see Chooch halfway down an aisle, holding up a record to show me, but it was like I was in some niche 1990s NES game, trying to navigate through a record store and reach my son while patrons blocked my path every step of the way and poorly-placed tables further obstructed me while also delivering insulting blows to my hipbones. It was almost comical.

Then I walked back to the counter with him to check out. There were two men working – one very young, one old. The older of the two was ringing Chooch up with the younger one kept directly asking me something about a bag. I couldn’t hear him – HELLO, I WAS SICKLY – and asked him to repeat himself, but Chooch was over there answering, “yes.” So I thought that was the end of it but then the guy asked me AGAIN and I swear he was saying that they needed to check my bag. I was like, “You have to check my bag?” to which he said the thing again but as if he were swimming in a fishbowl and I was desperately trying to parse this together in my clogged-head.

Chooch was still next to me saying “yes” and this is when it finally occurred to me, AFTER I WAS HANDING OVER MY PURSE, that he was asking us if we wanted a bag. And even though Chooch kept saying yes, it was like he NEEDED TO HEAR IT FROM ME TOO which added to the confusion.

“I thought you were saying you needed to check my bag, I was so confused!” I laughed nervously. The older guy laughed too and joked, “Give us your purse, show us what you’re hiding in there!”

It was so bizarre but luckily ended with us all chuckling like it was some sketch from The State that ended up on the cutting room floor.

We were regaling this scene to Henry afterward and Chooch actually had my back and didn’t make me out to be the fool in the situation! I was….shocked.

This is part of the Magic Gardens – the artist, Isaiah Zagar, actually just died in February. :( His mosaics can be found on the facades of a lot of buildings in Philly.

Literally, such a beautiful spring day. Just chilly/windy enough to need a light denim jacket but that shining sun was so wonderful, especially on my face as it felt like it was being torn in two. Fucking sinuses.

I loved this walk and prolonged time with Chooch! Also, we were joking that we’ve now been to Philly at least a dozen times what with concerts and Drexel stuff and still have not done anything tourist-related aside from the Mutter Museum, which we passed on our walk back and I had no idea it was so close to Drexel! I threatened Chooch that one day, Henry and I will come to visit just to do tourist things and he mumbled, “Great, can’t wait.”

I hate these goodbyes. This one cut especially deep because we don’t know when we’ll get to see him again since his first co-op has just ended and now he’ll be in classes all through the summer until his next co-op starts. We’ll definitely see him end of August / beginning of September to help him move into his new apartment (we got to see the outside of it on Sunday – it is on the cutest street!!) so that should be a nice headache.

And then we just found out yesterday that he forgot his toothbrush charger and potentially his earbud charger.

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