Hello from a new-to-us state! I don’t know why but going to Iowa was one of the  things I was most excited about when planning this trip. Just because, why Iowa, you know? Like, who goes to Iowa for vacation. But it just so happens that there are some cool amusement parks here!

Anyway, we spent most of the day at World of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri after checking out the NOT-Victorian in Branson. It was another hotter than Hell day. 95 degrees I think but the “feels like” was 108. It felt every bit that hot too.

We left there around 5:30, (they closed at 7:00 but we had already done everything we needed to do, plus get re-rides our faves) and stopped at ZOMBIE BURGER in Des Moines. We made it there around 8:15 and I’ll be so for real here, it wasn’t all that – just a gimmicky place capitalizing off of horror by decorating with zombie art and naming the food after horror movies. But I buy into that shit, PLUS they had a veg section. I had homed in the Negan burger, which was the Zombie Burger’s own veggie nut burger and that sounded fantastic plus, NEGAN.

“I hope they actually have it, or I’ll cry,” I said, because, tragically, “Sorry, we don’t have that anymore” follows me from restaurant to restaurant.

“HOW?” Chooch dead-panned. “Do you even have anything left? You’ve been crying all day.”

Wow. He is such a good son. The best boy.

Anyway, YES THEY DID HAVE IT.

Henry got a beer and I had some sips. It was a WarPigs Foggy Geezer IPA. I created a monster with him and IPAs. Bro, branch out a little.

The Negan! It was good – my favorite part was actually the bun. It was very soft and fluffy and I enjoyed it very much, thank you for asking, omg you’re too kind but no I don’t think I’ll be starting a bun-reviewing periodical at this time.

Bathroom graffiti.

Decor was really on point.

Oddly, a baseball game was on the TVs at the bar – if I’m going to a zombie-themed eatery, I’m expecting zombie classics playing on a loop. But cook on with your baseball game, I guess.

Afterwards, I didn’t want to immediately go to the hotel. We’ve  never been in Des Moines before and I wanted to see some of it! Henry signed and drove toward the river at my command. There was parking along the bridge! So we did that and Henry thought I was just going to get out and take a quick picture but turned into, “Let’s just walk to the edge of the bridge and back” which then bled into, “I want to just walk a block down there and get a picture of that sign.”

“The TRAVELERS SIGN?” Chooch scoffed in a who cares tone.

“Yeah, I like it,” I shouted back. LET. ME. LIVE.

We saw whatever the fuck this is on the way, and the CASEYS CENTER – a venue named after Henry’s new favorite gas station that he has stopped at a hundred times on this trip so far. Also, there was a baseball stadium with a game happening and Chooch found out it was their minor league team, Cubs. I wanted it to be the Cornstalks.

Come on, it was a cool sign!

I didn’t look to see what this is, I assume an art museum or something.

After walking back on the other side of the bridge, I determined I was satisfied and that we could go. But then I saw what HAD to have been the Capitol Building peeking out in the distance. I SCREAMED when Henry got onto the highway because I thought he understood by my cries of childlike wonder that I wanted to get CLOSER to the Capitol. So, he muttered under his breath and veered off onto a ramp back into the downtown area. Yayayayayayay!

Oh, and I should mention that there was a wicked lightning storm happening, which got way worse and has since turned into a storm-storm as I sit here in the hotel writing this.

I just really thought this was so beautiful and am so happy that we got to see it at night!

This is the Iowa Soldiers and Sailors Monument a/k/a “Iowa’s Most Scandalous Statue”:

LOL – this is on Roadside America so I was stoked to get to mark another idiotic thing as “been there.”

So, that part of the night was very nice – I like when we get a chance to actually see parts of the cities we visit for roller coasters, especially because I can’t foresee any other reason that would have brought me there. And from what I saw, Des Moines is beautiful!

Then the night took a turn when we drive the 15 minutes to Altoona Iowa to check into our hotel, which ended up being a Best Western directly across from Adventureland with a ton of truckers parked in the lot and the area was just bad vibes all around. When Chooch and I  were waiting for the elevator, one of the aforementioned truckers  walked past and mumbled, “Welcome to the shit hole” to us. WTF.

Then we got to our floor and some weird child-thing came slithering out of its room at the same time as someone from the floor above took off running back and forth and then as soon as we opened the door to our room, there was maniacal pounding from the room above.

“Nope,” I said and walked right on out. Henry was in the hallway at this point and I said, “I’m not staying here,” as I walked past him to the elevator. Just felt it in my gut. The trucker’s ominous non-greeting, the stampeding, the blah room. I couldn’t do it. Not on the eve of my birthday. This of course resulted in a big argument in the car, but now we are ready for bed in a nice, clean, reputable Hilton:

Sory. But sometimes I need to be fucking spoiled, and I don’t care. I wasn’t sleeping in that other place. And for as much as we harped on Henry over the Branson hotel, that one was clean and quiet at least. No frills at all but we slept well and it legit felt like we were the only ones there. Not a peep from the other rooms.

I don’t know what the plan is for tomorrow. The weather looks iffy – storms and rain. Not sure if the park will even be open. If it’s still lightning the way it is tonight, I don’t know what we will end up doing. :/

Shit, son, am I getting too old for this or what? We’re only on Day 3 and I am so depleted lol. Granted it’s been 95 degrees every day and we have been at amusement parks aka pavement tundras. Today was Silver Dollar City and it was a long ass motherfucking day. Mostly good but there were some low lights as to be expected with long and humid days navigating crowds (actually wasn’t crowded though) and hunger. A ton of memorable moments though that will probably become long-lasting inside jokes of course – I laughed so hard at one point that it felt like I damaged something internally.

One of the last things we did before calling it a night was have Chooch take pictures of us in front of VICTOR THE BULL, downtown Branson.

You’re welcome ;)

Bonus: here’s a picture before we went to SDC, from a “scenic outlook” which was anything but?!

Random jean skirt?!

Meanwhile, we were joking that even at the scenic overview, there was a huge billboard for Dolly Parton’s Stampede. It is legit everywhere you look around here.

Even the elevator door at our dumb hotel that chooch and I hate but Henry loves. We’re annoyed because there is a really beautiful hotel called HOTEL VICTORIAN at the top of the hill but Henry was too cheap to let us stay there. So Chooch’s response to everything is, “I bet THE VICTORIAN has [insert something our hotel doesn’t have].”

Last night, we walked up the road to get to the main drag so Chooch could get some stupid +1 coaster cred at one of the many family fun zones here. It’s a pretty steep grade and Chooch huffed, “We wouldn’t have to walk up a hill if we stayed at the VICTORIAN.”

Then this morning, he said, “I’m opening the window so everyone at the VICTORIAN can look down on us.”

Dude you guys were fucking delirious at this point, lol.

We just stopped at the Arch on our way to Six Flags – the first time I saw it IRL was at night when we drove past it en route to Silver Dollar City. Even then it was horrifying to me. Being up close at its base was even scarier!

Please enjoy these pictures. We didn’t do the tour because we don’t have enough time but being there was enough for me, tbh!

9:17am: we’re almost to Ohio, just stopped at Sheetz in WV for breakfast foods and Henry is mad because I always get a fruit cup and then pick around the fruit I don’t like and try to pass it onto him while he’s driving because I can never get the lid back on and he screamed IF WE END UP IN THE HOSPITAL ONE DAY ITS GOING TO BE BECAUSE OF THIS!!! and angrily shook the fruit cup then passed it off to Chooch in the backseat. “You do this! I can’t do this while driving 70mph!” And then Chooch was crying about “why can’t she do it??!!” Meanwhile I was laughing so hard I almost choked.

Then Chooch was bitching about Henry leaving trash (specifically candy wrappers) in the side of car door. Then Henry turned around and put his breakfast trash in the empty Sheetz bag next to Chooch, which made Chooch deadpan, “wow. I’m surprised you didn’t shove that into the car door. Muscle memory” and I lost it.

You guys, these road trips are chaos but I freaking treasure them lol.

Oh also we were listening to the Kpop Demon Hunter soundtrack and I burst into tears. “This song makes me cry,” I shakily laughed, dabbing my eyes with a napkin lol ugh.

9:42am: I’m mad that Henry doesn’t have a military ID thing because he could be getting mad discounts at parks but he is now mansplaining this to me. He legit just said “I’m pretty sure they took that from me when I left” and I said, “I believe the word is CONFISCATED. They CONFISCATED your ID because you went AWOL and had a dishonorable discharge.”

He’s done talking about this now, suddenly.

Chooch, telling me, “you’re so annoying! You’re actually so annoying!”

Oh yeah I forgot he was also bitching as soon as we left this morning because I always have to get a full birthday week when everyone else gets a day. Well, when you’re forced to take birthday matters into your own hands because no one else cares, you too can drag it out for a week. More if you want! Go hog wild, honey bear.

11:02am: LETS JUST STOP, DROP EVERYTHING because Henry just admitted that the classic 2005 Chiodos track “Baby, You Wouldn’t Last a Minute on the Creek” is ICONIC.

12:46pm: KENTUCKY!

1:05pm: I just had the most satisfying pee of my life at a rest stop after chugging a liter of water. Ahhh. Henry and Chooch were grateful for this update so I thought you might also appreciate it, Blog.

1:41pm: Just left Love’s and Henry is being a big bitch baby because we apparently “rushed” him out so he didn’t get any food for himself and is being a huge martyr about it like look at Henry, willing to STARVE in order to get his family to the amusement park faster. Get over yourself! It’s not like I’m dining on a lavish lunch – I got a protein bar and a Cracker Barrel cheese and cracker thing. Thanks, Loves.

Also I wanted everyone in that place to get the fuck away from me. Welcome to Kentucky.

Lol Henry gets to buy the old person ticket at Beech Bend, love this for him.

3:02om: Just left RaceTrac whatever that is where Chooch made Henry buy an air freshener for the car so now there is strong stench of vanilla wafting through this bitch.

Anyway, obligatory bathroom selfie:

And an extravagant froyo section:

3:17pm: Lots of bickering later, we made it to Bowling Green! 12 minutes to Beech Bend Park from here.

3:52pm We’re in line for our second coaster! Will probably do a full recap tomorrow but here’s us!

I highkey love it here already.

6:15pm: Just left! They close at 7 but we got to do everything we wanted. I forgot that we’re in Central time so we actually got here at 3:30. We didn’t fight at all! It was delightful and I will definitely be posting about it separately probably tomorrow.

The downside is that it’s about 90 degrees and blazing sun – there was very little shade there.

We’re at Farm Boy in Morgantown KY after pulling into the lot of KUNTRY KITCHEN and leaving bc it looked sketch but now I wish we had stayed because this place is creepy but at least our waitress is super nice. We tried to order breakfast though and she got the ALAMO TOUR GUIDE tone real quick when she said they stop serving breakfast after 11 on weekends.

Chooch and I had to order grilled cheese from the kids and senior menu.

7:11pm: Chooch literally has no idea what parks we’re going to and just realized we’re going to be gone for a week and probably didn’t pack enough. He’s so annoyed lol.

Also the waitress seemed like she was trying to suppress her “taken aback-ness” at my request for tomato on my grilled cheese. Is that not common in Kentucky?!

7:28pm: Ugh one of the reasons we left KUNTry Kitchen was because some creepy old guy was slithering through the parking lot and I said, “oh hell no I don’t want to eat with that guy” and Chooch was like, “you’re so judgmental” but seriously ugh.

Then Henry just started laughing and I was like WHAT and he was like “look at who is sitting over my the door” and ITS HIM ugh. Chooch was cracking up – he has actually sort of letting himself laugh these days lol.

7:36pm:

Omg now he’s sitting outside talking to himself lol.

8:27pm: Some bridge over the Ohio River, now we’re in Indiana I guess.

Ugh:

Indiana Michigan Power apparently.

10:25pm: In bed at whatever Super 8 this is in Evansville IL apparently. I don’t understand geography so I don’t know how Illinois factors in.

The lady at the front desk told me she liked my shirt and turns out she likes Pierce the Veil. “I like my music angry so I don’t have to be” so said and then just kept going with the bit and it was starting to get unhinged.

Then the key didn’t work while Henry was out in the car so I thought he gave me the wrong room # and I kept calling him repeatedly and the dumb fuck wouldn’t answer so then Chooch and I just stood in the hallway listening to the screechy sounds of our temporary neighbors and I am not happy right now.

(Yes it was the right room and miraculously the key worked as soon as Henry got off the elevator and joined us. Ugh.)

Good night!!!

Our annual poorly planned amusement park road trip for my birthday week starts tomorrow! This one is pretty ambitious: lots of states, SUPER GLAMOROUS, no hotels booked yet, and honestly probably not enough effort was put into this. But hopefully there will be many pockets of fun tucked into the chaos!

Henry has changed the route numerous times and even tried to change it AGAIN the other night but I snapped and said JUST LEAVE IT!!

The most solid plans are as follows:

1. Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, KY
2. Six Flags over St. Louis
3. SILVER DOLLAR CITY, THE REDEMPTION TOUR in Branson, MO
4. Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, MO
5. Adventureland in Altoona, IA (our first time in Iowa and I am bizarrely stoked for this! I WANT A CORN MAGNET)
6. Lost Island in WATERLOO, IA
7. Arnolds Park Amusement Park in….Arnolds Park, IA
8. Bay Beach in Green Bay, WI (you might remember that we were supposed to go here a few summers ago when we went to Wisconsin Dells but the forecast was BIG RAIN and it was quite a bit out of the way so we dumped that plan.

I am sure there will be TONS of arguing, crying, stressing (hate leaving Penelope BUT my mom will be staying with her so that gives me some peace), and general bitch fests. But it’s gotta be better than last summer’s emotional disaster of a birthday road trip. I won’t discredit the memories because there were some good moments but the fact of the matter was that I was not emotionally stable enough to be able to go on a healthy vacation like that. I was deep in the throes of grief over the loss of Bambi, and consumed with daily stress and fear over Chooch leaving for college. PROBABLY should have stayed home, but can’t change that now!

I am lowkey hoping that this one turns out to be as memorable and fun as our Spring Break Coaster Road Trip of 2022 – that one was AMAZING and we actually barely fought. Please wish this for us, lol.

Anyway, I’ll be liveblogging and microblogging along the way because it’s legit my favorite thing to do AND I EVEN GOT A NEW VACATION JOURNAL so I can write down my BIG FEELINGS every time Henry and Chooch hurt me. I anticipate lots of closed-quarters gaslighting. We’ll see.

What I’m most looking forward to:

• getting to (hopefully) ride the coasters that weren’t running the last time we were at Silver Dollar City
• A BRAND NEW RMC JUST OPENED LAST WEEK AT LOST ISLAND!!!
• legit just being in Iowa, I’m so oddly fascinated
• Mamba at Worlds of Fun
• hopefully finding quirky and old diners to eat at and potentially purchase merch! (I love collecting t-shirts from diners we eat at, it’s dumb but I don’t care)
• sending postcards! I was prepared this time and bought postcard stamps to take with me and by that I mean Henry sent to Chooch to the post office to buy postcard stamps for me
• spending time together because this might be Chooch’s last summer home while he’s in college and after that, I do not anticipate him wanting to vacation with his parents lol.

Well, that’s it. Catch me on my exotic road trip for the next week. In the middle of MAGAland. Yee haw.

In case you didn’t know, Chooch is oddly obsessed with Ibuprofen. Not the “taking ibuprofen” part, but just the…idea of it? The concept of the pill? I have no idea how this started. I’m sure there is some inside joke / back story that I’m not privy to because I’m a MOM.  I remember back when he started high school, shit was still virtual because of the pandemic and I got a CALL FROM ONE OF HIS TEACHERS because he jokingly said something about snorting Ibuprofen in the class chat???? I mean, OK , I get it – it was stupid on his part, but like…he wasn’t talking about coke or Angel Dust?? Anyway, his IG handle and email address both have Ibuprofen in it, and this is actually a crime against me because I have the hardest time pronouncing that word and he and Henry drag me so hard for it. Then a few weeks ago, I saw this shirt in an IG ad and was like, “Finally, a shirt that I know he will want” because he usually says NO THANKS every  time I try to buy him shirts so that he can stop wearing all of the free shirts he won on campus by doing stupid challenges or spinning a wheel or signing a petition, etc.

Yo, he wore it all day before realizing that it’s misspelled and the misspelling is actually the way I pronounce Ibuprofen!!!!

I hate AI and who knows who much energy this expended but Henry made this dumb picture of us from the Stray Kids concert and I begrudgingly have to admit that it’s adorable. LOOK AT MY LIGHT STICK!

Ugh, Chooch is so rude and takes picture of Penelope when she’s in vulnerable states, I swear to god he is so rude to her!!

Well, I think that’s all I got. To sum up my life lately, one of my work friends messaged me and said she dropped her lunch when she took it out of the microwave and asked how my day’s going and I said that every day is basically one big metaphorical dropped lunch.

Noroc!!!

(That’s one of the only Romanian words I know so far, along with copil – child, lol.)

I feel like everyone has been asking me lately if I’ve watched Kpop Demon Hunters and the answer was always a polite no. Honestly, it’s not because of the hype and I’m being a K-hipster or whatever, but I just genuinely don’t care for animated movies. I think the last one I gave my full undivided attention to was probably CARS.

CARS!!

That was a long-ass time ago.

And it’s not even the “it’s for kids” reasoning because you all know how much I loved Degrassi and iCarly as a full adult, lol.

I had listened to some of the songs though because of Twice, and a lot of my fave idols were all up in my IG feed doing the Soda Pop challenge, so I definitely knew some of what was up.

Then on Saturday evening, Henry and Chooch blew me off for a night at Blake’s (I wasn’t invited and yes we talked about my hurt feelings in therapy today LOL) so as they were walking out of the house, I said, “That’s fine, Penelope and I wanted to watch Kpop Demon Hunters anyway, so I guess that’s what we’ll do tonight.”

Chooch mumbled, “Thank god,” because he’s such a hater and refuses to be around me when I’m consuming any kind of media that he deems “lame” or “overrated.”

So, that’s just what Penelope and I did! We drank some Lolev beers (OK, I only let Penelope have a few whiffs) and we quickly becamse ENGROSSED in this movie.

Like, immediately obsessed.

Screaming over the kimbap and cartoon versions of recognizable places in Seoul, LIKE THIS PLACE – the Seoul Fortress Wall / Naksan Park where we visited on our first and last trips to Korea and when I tell you that I felt an ache in my heart, like a full-on PULLING and TUGGING, I am not exaggerating.

OK, heartstrings. I feel you. You exist.

Ow ow ow.

And Namsam Tower was so prominently featured too, I was in tears.

This movie!

The music!

The Korean culture!

It was beautiful, and by the pivotal scene at the end, I was in fucking tears.

I get it now, you guys! I understand why this movie is trending – it is beautiful, funny, original, and has the BEST songs. But oh, did it make me feel achingly homesick for a place that isn’t even my home. We have been talking about this lately, about how I have wanted to go to Romania for more than half of my life and am finally (God willing, etc etc) going this year, and I was wondering if this will replace Korea in my heart. Henry and I just looked at each and both said, “Nah” at the same time. I can’t explain it but Korea feels like somewhere I’ve lived before, in another time, and each time we visit it hasn’t felt like a vacation, or even your traditional “trip,” but something so much more nostalgic. And for a cartoon to play on those feelings – I was in deep!

It was not the worst way to spend a Saturday night after being ditched by your family, LOL.

The best part though is that apparently, this is Blake’s kids’ favorite movie at the mo’ and it was on at his house so Chooch was unable to escape it after all. He was so surly when he came home, LOL!

Anyway, I made Henry watch it last night. I said, “You can watch this while I look up stuff for our trip,” but then I ended up sitting here and fully watching the whole thing again. I hate myself haha.

Kurt Travis time!

On the way there, I had made some outlandish statement about how I’d be fine “just sitting at the bar” during this show since I’m so far-removed from this scene now, etc. But then as Kurt and his band (Zac Garron was there as his guitarist!! Love him) were about to start, I said, “Byeeee!” to Henry and ran out to the floor, getting a cozy spot at the side of the stage. It’s a pull, you guys. Like magnets. I can’t fight it.

Dude, what can I say that I haven’t already said a thousand times over the years about Kurt Travis? This show really brought me back, man. He is so incredible! He could go on a “Kurt Travis Sings the Alphabet Song” tour and I would be waiting for the presale.

We had a good 30 minutes to wait before it was Anthony Green time so we people-watched and I guess chatted, what do Henry and I even chat about. He wasn’t even sitting next to me at our table, but catty-corner!

“Do you think Anthony’s going to be chaotic?” I asked Henry, trying to make CONVERSATION.

Henry just gave me the “now THAT’S a stupid question” smirk in response.

Then it was Anthony Green time! Dang, I am so so so far-removed from this scene but it still felt like no time had passed since I last saw him. I think it’s been quite a while since I last saw Circa Survive, but I’ve seen him with Saosin, LS Dunes, the Sounds of Animals Fighting, and solo myriad times in the last decade at least. I’m fairly positive that every time we’ve gone to Riot Fest, he’s been there in some capacity. (The last time we went in 2023, LS Dunes and Thursday were both there!)

I know I’ve written about it a million times on here, but Circa Survive SPECIFICALLY was such a big part of my life. Juturna got me through my pregnancy to the point where I wouldn’t be surprised if Chooch was partially triggered by the opening notes of any song on that album.

And the first time we saw Circa was the summer of 2005 at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, which was my first time there, actually! And I patiently stood outside that night with a bunch of fanboys, literally the only girl  there, waiting for my chance to tell Anthony how much he means to me and could he please sign my CD. I was wearing my mom’s old Jacki Sorenson aerobics shirt from 1984 – that is the ONE THING that is seared into my mind.

That, and the guy I was standing with telling me that Anthony literally stopped him from killing himself. He had told the guy to reach out to him if he needed to, and he took him up on that and Anthony talked him down. I will never ever forget that. Anthony has always been a genuine person, through all of his own demons and struggles he has always cared about the people who love his music and that comes across so strong at all of his shows. No matter which band he’s with.

So, hearing him sing his solo work on top of some Saosin and Circa that night was so cathartic. It definitely put me in a weird headspace, but overall, it was healing. A merging of my past and present, in a way – a reminder that I can still hold on to pieces, the healthy parts, of my old self without it stunting my personal growth. Does that make sense? Because it made me realize how far I’ve come since those old days of seeing Circa at the Grog Shop, Warped Tour, Mr. Smalls — still loving music with my whole stupid heart but also being so much more stable now. And it’s nice to be able to go into it without feeling SICK TO MY STOMACH like I would get back then, that hyper-nausea of preparing to see a band that made me feel like I had just cut my wrists because I loved them on such a psycho-emotional level. Now, I can just chill out with Henry and enjoy it for what it is, feeling the feelings without it crippling me.

I don’t know what started this exploration of my past (oh yeah, therapy lol) but it feels like it’s doing good things for me.

Then this happened and FML honestly lol:

IT’S A SURPRISE YOU HAVEN’T CAUGHT ON YET IT’S NOTHING PERSONAL YOU’RE AN EMBARRASSMENT.

Ugh, I used to cry and sing that part out loud while walking in the cemetery in 2005.

We lingered a bit after the show because I was hemming and hawing about getting Kurt to sign  the vinyl I bought, and also because we were 99.9% percent certain that one of our Sugar Spell Scoops friends was in attendance and we wanted to say hello to him.

Yo, why am I such a baby when faced when speaking to bands?? Literally Kurt was standing there totally unbothered and I was still so weird about asking him for a minute of his time?? I walked up  to him, holding the vinyl against my chest like a 1950s school girl clutching onto her poety notebook with dear life, and asked, “Hi, will you sign this?” in SUCH A FAKE BABY VOICE WHAT IS MY ISSUE.

He was happy to do so and while that was happening, I said, “I saw you in Pittsburgh 10 years ago exactly playing a house show at some kid’s house. You thought you were the oldest person there, but nope! It was me.”

I feel like HE REALLY LOOKED AT ME at this point, maybe trying to remember, and whether he did or not, who cares because he said, “Damn, if that was 10 years ago, then I’m even OLDER now! And look at us both, we’re still out here!”

I loved that sentiment because, yeah really! Look at us! In our mid-40s and out late on a Tuesday night for the sake of amazing music.

Kurt then gave me an abbreviated version of what he’s been up to personally, including buying a house in N.California with his girlfriend and dog. “It has 4 acres!” he said, and I was genuinely so happy for him, for getting himself to a good, safe and happy place. For still making music.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop making music,” he said after I told him I’m so glad that he’s still out there doing his thing. It was just a really good and super real moment. I already love his music so much, but this really added a special sheen to that.

We ended the night by chatting with our Sugar Spell friend (Mychael – I hate myself if that is spelled wrong) at the bar about the future of Pittsburgh vegan ice cream (please come back soon Sugar Spell!) and I was laughing because we all recognized each other earlier in the night but, seeing each other out of context of an ice cream shop and out in the wild really threw us all off. He said he had texted Amanda at one point like, “I really think it’s them!”

Anyway, he was at the bar with Zac Garron! I guess they are friends! I didn’t want to be a creep and ask, lol.

I didn’t talk to Zac because he was mid-convo with another couple but what a small world.

Yeah, so that was a super action-packed night! I felt like my social battery was crazy-depleted as we walked through the parking lot but it was so worth it, even getting home way past my bedtime and being embarrassingly hung over the next day – AND I HAD A VIDEO CALL. Oh well.

_____________________

On the way home, I was musing about the night. “I can’t believe I’m at the age where musicians I have loved for years are now talking to me about how much acreage they have.”

Sigh.

OK OK OK this was such a fantastic night and probably I’m blowing this up in my head but I feel like so much happened that night that I am preemptively tired just thinking about recapping it so I’m splitting it up into two parts. Because it’s my blog, and that’s just what we’re going to do, OK.

When Henry told me a few mths ago that this show was happening, I wavered on getting tickets for some reason – complacency, laziness, etc. But then I got into Kurt Travis SO HARD again recently and I was like, “OK sold. Lessgo.”

I was so stoked all day at work about this and my pal Lyda from our Seattle office let me go off on Teams about my history with all three singers – Anthony Green, Kurt Travis, and Geoff Rickly. It was so much fun sharing music with her while also getting to retell some of my favorite stories, like the time I dragged Janna, who could give a shit about the bands I like lol, to some frat kids’ basement in Oakland for a Kurt Travis house show 10 years ago!

Anyway, the show as at Jergel’s in Warrendale, and at first I was annoyed that it was a bit of a drive outside of Pittsburgh when I should have just been grateful that this didn’t require us to leave the state as EVERY KPOP CONCERT does.

This is what I was wearing. Ignore my old-ass fugly face.

Idiot Henry.

We arrived a good hour or so before the show started so we had plenty of time to grab a table, get some drinks, and order food. I had a really good wheat beer from Troegs and Henry had who cares. Our food was mid, but our server was an actual delight – so attentive and friendly without being overhearing and her smile never seemed fake – EVEN AROUND HENRY. It was just good vibes.

Meanwhile, Henry had checked out all of the merch booths on his way to the bathroom and reported that not only was Geoff Rickly’s book available at his merch table—it’s been on my TBR list for a few years—but Geoff himself was up there selling his merch.

“Go talk to him,” Henry urged.

“And say what?” I sighed. “‘Your sweat got on me when I saw you play at Smiling Moose with United Nations and it was one of the greatest concert moments of my life’?” And then, “DO YOU REMEMBER THAT??”

“Yes, Erin,” Henry said. “How could I forget.”

Then I joked that I could ask him if he’s still friends with Robert Smith (Henry rolled his eyes) because FUN FACT/STORY TIME:

The first time I saw Geoff’s band Thursday was in 2004 at Coachella. Yes, back when Coachella was only moderately despicable and schmoozy. Influencers didn’t exist yet, after all. I really liked Thursday a lot back then so it was a bonus that they were going to be there, as we were there FIRST AND FOREMOST to see The Cure.

Henry was much less open-minded about 99% of the bands I enjoyed back in the 2000s and I remember he was very “……….” about Thursday so he does not remember this AT ALL but it was like 113 degrees that weekend in the desert if I remember correctly, and Geoff ended up passing out on stage. I was so scared and screamed when it happened! Clearly he ended up being OK but that always stands out in my mind.

Anyway, they were playing on the same stage that The Cure would be headlining on later on that weekend.

That summer, The Cure put together something called the Curiosa festival and toured around the US with it. Thursday was one of the bands they brought with them and when we went to the Cleveland stop, I’ll never forget Robert Smith telling the crowd that he loved Thursday so much when he saw them at Coachella and had become friends with Geoff, and personally invited them onto the Curiosa festival.

It was something that really stuck with me, all these years later. It was such a heartwarming moment because at the time, Thursday was still an up-and-coming band and to be taken under the wing by the actual Robert Smith? What a dream!

Anyway! Geoff went on first that night. Just him and his guitar.

He told us so many great stories, starting with that when Anthony told him about this tour, he thought Anthony meant that this was just a solo singer thing, so he was kind of surprised when he showed up alone and saw that Kurt and Anthony brought their bands with them. Just his deliver made this so funny YOU HAD TO BE THERE OK.

More Geoff anecdotes:

• He said when he was asked if he wanted to go on tour with “the singer from Dance Gavin Dance,” he hesitated and asked, “That depends….which one?” and everyone in the crowd laughed so hard. IYKYK! And when he found out that it was Kurt, he said, “Fuck yeah, best one!”
• Geoff said that while he is now clean, he used to NOT be and told us about how one time years ago when he was on tour with Anthony Green, he was so drunk at the airport that he couldn’t scan his boarding pass so the staff at the gate said that they wouldn’t be able to allow him on the flight, so Anthony stepped in and said, “It’s ok. I’m his dad.” And they let him on the plane. This even made Henry laugh – Anthony and Geoff are around the same age. WHY was this so funny to me?? I was thinking about it the next morning and laughing all over again!

Also, Geoff not only resembles Wendy’s husband (mostly just from afar because I have bad eyes) but their laughs sound nearly identical!

His set was phenomenal and already I was patting myself on the back for not skipping this show just because it was on a school night.

While Kurt’s band was setting up, I went over to buy Geoff’s book “Someone Who Isn’t Me.” While I was standing in line, I was watching the people before me showing him their Thursday tattoos and otherwise proving the longevity of their fandom by having him sign old concert tickets and setlists. I’ve always just been a more casual fan (although I was PISSED at the last Riot Fest we attended in 2023 because the gates didn’t open until late due to rain so as we were waiting to get in, Thursday started their set and we had to be content with just hearing it from a Chicago sidewalk, le sigh) so I wasn’t sure what, if anything, I was going to say when it was my turn.

I started by shyly asking if he had any books left and then after he retrieved a stack from a bag, I proceeded to ask—still in my shy voice—if he would sign it for me.

As he was signing, I said, COMPLETELY OFF THE CUFF I WAS SO PROUD OF MYSELF FOR NOT LETTING MY SOCIAL IDIOCY TAMPER WITH MY WORDS, “I love your music, but I could listen to you talk all day. Your stories are so great.”

“Thanks!” he said. “Then hopefully you’ll like the book, too.”

And then something dumb came over me, and I stage-whispered (CHOOCH HATES WHEN I DO THIS BECAUSE I HOLD MY HAND UP TO THE SIDE OF THE MOUTH AND EVERYTHING FOR THE FULL EFFECT), “Can I ask you something weird?”

Geoff, still signing my book, glanced up. “Sure!” he said, doing a great job not letting hesitancy show in his voice.

“Are you and Robert Smith still friends?!?!?” I blurted out in such a dork-alert manner that even my shadow was trying to disassociate itself from me.

He definitely seemed a little caught off guard by this question, I don’t know what he was expecting, lol. But he said, “I mean, we exchange little notes here and there.”

I then felt compelled to explain why I was asking, briefly mentioning the Coachella / Curiosa 2004 thing and maybe my hyper-awareness was making me blow this out of proportion, but he did seem to relax after learning why I was asking and TOLD ME A STORY ABOUT THE CURIOSA TOUR!

“I don’t know if you remember this, but the NY Times wrote a review about Curiosa at the time,” he started. He said that his mom had come to one of the shows and met Robert. “She was very goth then, looked very goth, too,” Geoff said. So when the NY Times was looking for a picture of Robert to use, they somehow found a picture that Robert had taken with Geoff’s mom and wrote, “Robert Smith and his wife” in the caption!

Geoff said he was like OMG and apologized to Robert who said, and here Geoff did an impeccable impersonation of Robert’s accent, “I should be so lucky, your mother is a lovely lady!”

LOVED THAT STORY SO MUCH!!!

By the time I returned to our table, I had been gone for quite a while and Henry was like *eyeball emoji*

“I was chatting with Geoff,” I shrugged in a douchey “no big deal” manner. “I asked him if he was still friends with Robert!” I squealed.

“Omg,” Henry mumbled.

This was just the first part of the evening! So memorable and heartwarming, revisiting these old days with Henry. (Who is way more accepting of all of the music, new and old FYI. I wore him down, guys.)

This past weekend was pretty chill. Another hot one though, that’s for sure! Henry has finally started on the fabric-portion of the bedroom dresser refurb which required him to dust off his sewing machine and “practice” on scraps of fabric, lol. He is such a little Henrietta Homemaker.

I let him take a break in the afternoon and we went to Duffy’s for some Saturday night beers. I think I am mostly over IPAs now, and actually not really excited about beer in general anymore (I’m so hot and cold, anyone will tell you that!!) but we did get two varieties from the local brewery Lolev. We went there over the winter with Amy and Dick and it’s kind of become the benchmark for me as far as local breweries because we had such a great experience there. I’m just going to go on record here and say something that is probably considered contentious by Yinzers, but I think Lolev is a million times better than the overhyped Spoonwood. I SAID WHAT I SAID. I won’t be going back to Spoonwood unless Chronica have another large gathering and that’s the venue. Then I will go. But I will probably just drink water!

This was absolutely delightful.

The next day, I went to Sally Ann’s for brunch with Sandy, Lauren, and Amber. Always nice to chat with them! I miss Lauren and Sandy a lot – and even though I still chat with Amber weekly at work, I miss seeing her IRL!

Brunch was really nice but PICKLESBURGH was gearing up right as we were leaving so downtown was turning into pickled pandemonium. I guess this was the 10th anniversary of Picklesburgh so the city went all out and expanded it to various bridges and streets. I only went to the first one, which was contained to one bridge and even then it was way too much for me. Chooch and I had only gone to see our friend Bethany and her band Balloon Ride Fantasy perform at the end of the bridge and I distinctly remember that this older woman from the mail room, BETTY, was there and I was like, “OMG Betty sighting in the wild!” She was a crazy character, but very beloved by people in the firm.

Anyway, I was hoping to check out the little vendors’ square near Heinz Hall to see if there was anything fun to get my friend Lyda from our Seattle office as a housewarming gift. Amber and Sandy accompanied me and Amber said, “Lyda’s really taken a liking to you,” and I said, “I know.” Super smug, as usual :) I’ve been training Lyda at work and we had already had a good rapport before that but now we chat even more frequently and my absolute favorite thing is that she will come to me for song recs to listen to during her afternoon “strut.” She said that she likes asking me for music because I’m so passionate about it and always give her back stories and I said, “Yo, THANK YOU” because it genuinely seems like most people find this to be on the long list of my most annoying traits! On Tuesday, I introduced her to  the Dance Gavin Dance lore and she was all in. (She’s Team Kurt Travis, in case you were wondering.)

(You weren’t.)

I was extremely disappointed in the pickle wares on display so I parted ways with Amber and Sandy and continued out of the boundaries of Picklesburgh to a cute little shop called Love, Pgh. I go here often when I’m looking for Pgh-centric gifts for friends. It’s so cute and the people working are always extremely friendly. On this day, the cashier immediately said she loved my kimoni-esque coverup when I walked in, and then when I was paying she said she loved my purse too and I was like, “I know.”

No, I’m kidding, I’m not that cunty lol. I just shyly said thanks.

But yeah, I should have just come there first because it had so many things that made great options for a housewarming gift.

I mean, I had to walk there with a sketchy older gentleman panhandler who I could NOT shake until he dropped his plastic cup of donations at which point I said the classic, “Op!” paused for a second to show concern, then swiftly walked on.

I can only be so people-y before I get burnt out.

Later that afternoon, Henry and I walked to Potomac Station because I wanted to try this new Cherry Coke espresso drink they have?? Apparently, they have buddied up with local influencers (ugh) and let some of them create new drinks for them. The first 30 people to get this one after it debuted on Saturday got it served in a cherry tumbler. Well, I guess they overestimated the hype for it because we went a full day later and I got it in the tumbler too. It was just OK.

The smoothie bowl Henry made me for dinner later on was definitely more write-home-about-able.

Jeez guys, I think that was all I have to say about the weekend! I did stuff but it was just very mid overall. There is some action on the calendar for the coming weeks so I should be appreciative of slower weekends – they can’t all be amazingly memorable! Nice to see my friends on Sunday though!

P.S. I just realized that every picture in this post is a drink + a drink in a bowl. What a fascinating weekend recap, you are so very welcome.

Just a quick post to share Chooch’s OOTD from one day last week and to share an exchange we had today that literally made my heart feel so full after missing him this past year while he was at school:

He came downstairs around 1:00pm or so and went into the kitchen to make lunch. That was my signal to also go into the kitchen and make some protein coffee.

“Really? Every time I’m in the kitchen you suddenly also need to be in the kitchen. Ugh you’re so annoying! You literally had all day to do whatever it is that you suddenly need to do now!”

Then when he was trying to get something out of the fridge and when he turned around I was waiting all up in his face and said, “oh good get my creamer while you’re in there”

I love torturing him and invading his space so much. It’s like the sole reason I was put on this earth. <3

So many good comebacks have been happening lately! LIKE NCT DREAM, JESUS CHRIST. I’m going to a non-Kpop concert tonight after work but here are some k-goodies I have been loving lately!

Jesus, Wonho:

My Czennie heart is so full right now – 2 new MVs from the Dreamies plus an album! My favorite from it is actually this song, but there was no official video for it so let’s watch this one together instead.

This video makes me wish I had friends to frolic around with in the summer lol:

My fave Kang Daniel <3:

ONEW! He also dropped another new one today actually but this one fits the summer vibe more:

And last but not least, is it even summer without a new Hyolyn song?? No, the answer is no. She makes me want to drop everything and go to the beach and I am not even remotely close to being a beach person.

OK I’m out.

I was going through my camera roll and found some shit that I never documented because June really got away from me. Let’s go through them, shall we?

First of all, DO NOT EVEN GET ME STARTED. I FUCKING KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN:

TO PURCHASE THE WHOLE SET OF 8?? Oh, go fuck yourselves, Penn Brewery.

Meanwhile, in our front yard this shit was developing:

Henry asked me if an animal threw up there, since he apparently thinks I am posted at the front door 24:7 on wildlife patrol (OK, I really am though for a good portion of the day). But after he hosed it off, IT GREW BACK EVEN BIGGER?? So, he did some RESEARCH and found out it’s a fungus called Dog Vomit?! We have never had this growing in our yard before so now I’m super fascinated and also wildly disgusted.

Megan and I met up with Debby and Mar two weeks ago at Fish Nor Fowl for an extremely overpriced dinner. Megan and I were trying to get out of it because we are not foodies and can’t get behind paying nearly $40 for a mushroom pasta but we gave up in the end and while it was actually good food, I was very pissed that my vegetarian version of the same dish Debby ordered was actually a much smaller portion (like, comically smaller) and still cost the same!?!?!

But, our server was very handsome and the focaccia (NOT COMPLIMENTARY, AND BTW WE EVEN PAID FOR THE FUCKING WATER) was honestly some of the best bread I have ever eaten. Would I go back there though? No, unless it was my birthday and someone else was paying.

Oh, also this was during a heatwave (over 90 degrees for like a week and my house has no AC downstairs) and they sat us in the loft which was so stifling I wanted to scream. I had been looking forward to leaving my house for an air-conditioned restaurant that whole day!

But in the end, all that mattered was that we got to catch up with Debby and Mar so it was still worth it. This was also the same day I bought G-Dragon tickets so I was extra focused on prices LOL.

OH HELLO how fucking accurate. Good one, Duolingo!

OK, you’re dismissed.

Our dear friends Chronica have just moved to Spain for three months (maybe permanently – this is a trial run for them!) and we went to their send-off gathering at Spoonwood on Sunday. First, let me get this out of the way – I have been clearly exposed as a beer poser because everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, in this damn city Qtips their dickhole over this place. Previously, we had only been there once in the past and coincidentally, it was also for a Chronica gathering – Monica’s 40th birthday! I must have had either cider or wine at that event because I know I sure as shit was not drinking a beer then.

Well….aside from the beer pictured above which was a “Brown” something, I didn’t like ANYTHING I tried. I kept getting tasters and sliding them right down to Henry. There was one that everyone was fanning themselves over. I had tried it before anyone got there and immediately gave it to Henry, but now I was getting caught up in the enthusiasm for this spicy brew and peer-pressured myself into getting another taster of it.

AND I STILL HATED IT.

Nate was also there and blamed himself for this because he was sitting next to me raving about it. BLAME NATE!

“Didn’t you already try this and hated it?” Henry asked when I slid it down to him.

“Yes.”

“THEN WHY WOULD YOU GET ANOTHER???” he cried.

(Chooch was sitting in between us so Henry was not privy to the events that led up to this moment.)

“And then the baby I helped birth during the Great Twizzlers Shortage of 2010 was this big,” probably is what Chris was saying. Chooch seems skeptical.

I also want to add that the Spoonwood people handled this low-key event very poorly. At first, our server was borderline annoyed that we didn’t know how many people were going to be joining us. We had just sat down at a 4-top inside to get drinks and then when she came back to take our food order, we said we needed to wait until the people of the hour arrived because we would likely have to move tables. She was like I WILL GET YOUR CHECK THEN and it was crazy watching how fast her demeanor changed.

Eventually, Chronica arrived, explained the sitch to the hostess, and we were given an area outside on the patio in the 90 degree heat. Sweat started to trickle down my back immediately, even in the shade.

As more people arrived, Chronica asked if they could pull more tables over and the server, the same one we had inside and who was back to being OK again, was like, “Yes, you can.” But then the manager came out and was a big bitch about it because, and I do understand why this was not great, they were pulling tables from other servers’ areas and I actually heard her say at one point, “If you had called and given us a heads up—-” to which Monica quickly and politely interrupted with, “I tried that weeks ago and was told we couldn’t make reservations for this and had to just show up.”

Get it together, Spoonwood!! I will not be going back there unless Chronica have another event there someday.

Chooch got asked a lot of “How’s college?” questions and he mumbled the same blurb each time like a telemarketer.

Beer and management and sweltering heat aside, I was happy to be there because I love Chronica a lot and am so excited for them to be embarking on this new adventure! Spain is to Chris what Korea is to me, but even deeper because she studied abroad there and lived there in her younger years and has been back a bunch of times. I really hope this works out for them because this country is trash and I do not blame them one bit for leaving!

Also, I want to add that I got to see Chris’s cousin Amber for the first time since our White Elephant party years and years ago – she sat across from us and started talking to us like she had just seen us last week and I loved that so much. I always feel like no one remembers us but she was like, “Wow Chooch, I can’t believe how grown you are!” and I was like, “O M G SHE KNOWS US!” I really like her a lot – she has actually become good friends with my brother Corey after they also met at the same White Elephant party and then reconnected years later when he helped her buy a house, so I was like “Next time you hang out with Corey, LET ME KNOW!!” I want to be a part of this club too lol.

And I met Sarah, their friend from WV who apparently used to do both of their hair but is no longer a hair stylist? I knew of her though and it was cool to meet her in person and she is WONDERFUL. So easy and casual to talk to and you know what it made me realize? You can tell how amazing your friends are by how amazing THEIR friends are. She was so fucking cool! (You can see her and her tattoos in the background of my first picture up there!)

We were there for about 3 hours and I felt like a dog dying in a desert by the time we left. I was so glad that I had brought a kimono-type coverup thing with me because otherwise, I would have put my soaking wet back and butt on full display when I finally peeled myself off the chair. It was so disgusting – sweat everywhere. Ugh.

We had planned on going to Kennywood that evening so Henry could use the rest of his Bites and Pints card since that was the last day for it, but I ended up feeling so sick and delirious that I hung back. Henry and Chooch went for about 90 minutes – long enough to get the rest of their food samples and ride Phantom:

LOL WTF????

Then Henry sent me a picture of a lady in front of them when we were leaving because she was wearing the Stray Kids DominATE tour shirt!!! I was like, “ASK HER WHICH ONE SHE WENT TO!!” and he said, “No I will not, that’s weird.” Ugh, I would have if I had been there.

I was so fucking wiped out from the heat that I ended up passing out in bed early. The next morning, I woke up, laid there blinking for about a minute before reality hit me and I texted Henry, “Wait, did you really book our flight to Romania last night???” and he was like, “Yes, we are going to Romania.” I was so out of it Sunday night that I couldn’t even remember if that was real or a sunstroke-induced hallucination, but it was true! We are going to Romania for 9 days in October for our belated honeymoon!

We’re doing a Transylvanian road trip! I have been trying to get here for actual decades but could never find anyone who was interested in accompanying me, and Henry and I couldn’t afford to both go back then. I can’t believe that this is almost a reality now.   I hope I’m not jinxing myself!

I’m going to try and zoom through this recap because as usual – it was a vibe, hard to describe, amazing, awesome, beautiful, etc. I have no complaints.

This was my first time going to a concert of this magnitude, as a stand-alone and not in a Coachella / big music festival setting. So, it was very overstimulating! For this reason, it being a first, I wanted to get seats on the floor. Having already seen SKZ and not being a huge stan, I wasn’t willing to Big Splurge on this so I got us reasonably-priced seats in section D:

The stage was still super far away but it was fine. This place was HUGE.

One thing I will note about Stray Kids is that there were men in attendance than any other Kpop show I’ve attended. The crowd in general was very diverse but that’s generally the case with most Kpop shows. You get people of all walks of life, just not many men!

The show was delayed by about 10 or 15 minutes, and the intro might have been the longest intro of any Kpop group I have seen thus far. It was super dramatic, and I was like OK PLEASE COME OUT NOW! I swear to god though, Kpop concert intros never fail to excite me.

This guy was a huge inflatable that came out just for one song!

Not my video but this is one of my all-time favorite SKZ songs, and usually the one I send to people when I’m like YOU MIGHT LIKE STRAY KIDS???

I can’t put into words how hyped up this entire concert made me – Stray Kids have such a powerful catalogue of music! I was about to say that it must be impossible to be there and not move but then I remembered that Henry was seated and still the entire time LOL. And he actually does like them! He is a very stoic concert attendee. But you know what they say – everyone enjoys music their own way. For me personable, I bounce up and down with no rhythm like I have to pee. That’s my go-to move.

The girl next to me was very tall and stood with her arms crossed the whole time. Never clapped, cheered, screamed, moved. But the fact that she was standing made me feel like she wanted to be there at least? Maybe she was enjoying it in the same way Henry was.

My bias Han with my bias-wrecker, Felix.

FYI when I film snippets at concerts, I never hold my phone over my head. I am so careful and aware of not impeding upon someone else’s view and I just wish everyone had that same consideration. Some of those phones NEVER WENT DOWN ONCE. If everyone had kept their phones down, we would have had a clear view of the stage. I know I am guilty of recording parts of concerts but PLEASE KNOW that it is because I like to have little memories on my phone to go back and rewatch (and yes, I do, years later) BUT I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE.

You have no idea how much I have wanted to see a Kpop group use the cart! THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS AT THE ASIAN CONCERTS BUT NEVER AMERICA! WE FINALLY GOT THE CART!! I WAS SQUEALING AND HOPPING UP AND DOWN WITH MY LIGHTSTICK GRIPPED IN MY HANDS LIKE A ROSARY AT MY FIRST HOLY COMMUNION.

OMG this whole night felt like a huge party. It was so festive! So uplifting! With the exception of the grandma in front of me who held her phone up and recorded entire songs until she got too tired and finally sat down for the rest of the concert, everyone around us was wonderful, polite, stoked to be there (even Henry although he never shows it). My favorite “non-song” part of the night was when Bang Chan had us split into 4 groups to have a screaming contest, and then said he wanted to wait for a plane to fly over so we could try to get our screams to reach it – he was being half facetious since he had made numerous comments throughout the night about how weird it was to be performing in the middle of nowhere with planes flying so low overhead since we were next to an airport. But then literally right after he said it, a low-flying plane appeared and we went ballistic. It was so funny and endearing! I did see later that someone had posted an aerial view of the Rogers Stadium from a plane they were on, flying back to Toronto from Vegas, saying, “Looks like the new Rogers Stadium is having a concert.” It wasn’t the plane we were screaming at but it was still funny to see that circulating!

In lieu of listing out the set list like I normally do, here’s the SKZ pages from the concert journal that Megan got me which I recently realized is the perfect way to keep all of my freebies and wristbands, etc! I highlighted my fave songs – I FORGOT HOW FUCKING HYPE “MIROH” IS LIVE!!!!

Another highlight – SEEING HAN IN PERSON. I love him so much. His banter is so precious and hilarious!

I don’t think they did this in 2022, but they faked us out with a surprise encore – a bunch of people (including us) were already starting to leave, when we heard, “WE’RE BAAAAACK!” and then this is when all Hell broke loose because a bunch of them left the stage so everyone just rushed forward – INCLUDING ME because I get really caught up in these things, lol. Henry was just like, “You do you, I’ll be waiting RIGHT HERE by our seats.” So I went up to the front of the section we were in and couldn’t really see any better but it was still fun! Security just kind of gave up.

I didn’t see this until days later, but Bang Chan ran the entire circumference of the floor, barely being noticed, and then security almost didn’t let him back on stage LOL. He was like, “This is my concert” and then then they were like, “OMG” when they realized and opened the gate for him, lol. He was also going over to handicap areas and I love that so much.

After the show ended for real, 50,000 people all made their way out at the same time. It seemed like most people were headed in the direction of the subway station. We were still technically on the grounds of the stadium when the crowd in front of us came to a dead stop. I could see red lights ahead but couldn’t tell what was going on. Then I realized that security was up ahead, cutting off the crowd in waves to alleviate stress and overcrowding on the subway. We got stopped in twice, and the second time we were about 2 rows back from the line of security and I need to give them a special shout out here because if  this was in America, it would have been so aggro and negative, they would have been screaming at us to stop, people would have pushed back out of defiance. But here in Canada, they were SO NICE. And everyone LISTENED. One of them, an amazing man named Kyle, took the lead and was asking us all if we had a good time, who our favorite member was (people tried to teach him that the correct term is bias, lol), and then he said he wanted to be our favorite member from this part of the night and had us all chanting, “Kyle! Kyle!” It made me so giddy and now I’m tearing up at the memory because I love Canada so much and it was such a special way to end the night!

A few minutes later, our group was allowed to continue on and yes, there was a big crowd but it was moving safely, no one was pushing, everyone was calmly taking their time entering the station and walking down to the platform. We got lucky because since we were heading away from Toronto, less people were lining up on the side we were on, so we were able to get on the first train that arrived and it was nearly empty.

Two or three stops later, we were back at the lot where we parked. Probably took about 45 minutes in total to get back to the car after the concert let up. So our personal experience was quite smooth and positive, but I have seen a lot of negative feedback from other people who were apparently stuck in the stadium for up to 2 hours. We must have been in one of the first waves of people to leave so it hadn’t bottlenecked yet.

Hilariously, as we were walking back to the car, the tall girl who had been seated next to me at the concert and her friend walked past us! Henry and I both looked at her and then at each other, like, “Out of 50,000 people….” They had been walking out when we thought the concert first ended, before the gotcha encore, so we definitely did not leave at the same time as them where we would have been on the same subway. Yet there they were, in the same parking lot as us!

I will be rewatching videos from this show for a long time, I think. It was just such a great night, especially once the sun went down and it cooled off – it was so nice to be outside for this. I sincerely didn’t want it to be over. And Henry and I got along the whole time! And even the whole way home the next day!

(I cry every time I watch this one LOL):