February feels like a lifetime ago and I am looking at this list like, “I read these books?” To be fair, I had a lingering fever for like 2 weeks so who knows what was going on.

1. Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown

Dark academia and one that I actually liked. Dual timelines and POVs. As with all dark academia, it was very far-fetched but also, I didn’t go an Ivy with secret societies so who am I to say that disbelief must be suspended? Chooch has a frenemy from high school who goes to Princeton and I want him to ask her if she knows anything, lol.

Anyway, this follows two sisters – one is a Princeton alum, the other is a current student – and I admittedly kept getting the timelines crossed. The younger sister uncovers a scandal within the most secretest of all the secret societies and then ends up murdered.

  2. Darkly by Marisha Pessl

This was alright but there were a lot of times when it wasn’t holding my attention and just honestly made me want to go back and read The Westing Game instead. I am a firm believer that YA books can be enjoyed by all but this one missed the mark for me. I probably would have loved this as a kid though.

3. We Could Be Rats by Emily R. Austin

I’m going to be honest here, I gave this an alleged 4 star rating on Goodreads and cannot for the life remember a single word of this book. February was such a crazy month. But OMG this book cover tho.

4. How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang

OK this I do remember reading and I know that I disliked it immensely. Girl falls in love with the guy who accidentally vehicular manslaughtered her suicidal sister in high school. I felt no emotional connection to anyone in this book. Also, love story? Bitch where.

5. Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo

OK, this one was weird. I very much high-key hated this book. The main character was insufferable (also I feel like I had no idea what she looked like either) and has some bizarre secret friendship with a woman who could be her mother and I guess on some level I get that aspect because I have constantly befriended surrogate mom-types through my whole adult life since I don’t really have a mom who acts like a mom.

But this book just went on and on for a million pages and I was so disgusted at every turn. And then the very last several pages hit me like a freight train and I felt like I was done so dirty. 

Because this was able to touch a nerve and evoke emotions at the end, I gave it a 3.

6. The Trunk – Kim Ryeo-ryeon

One of the few Korean novels that I haven’t liked very much. I wanted to read this because it was adapted into a K-Drama with one of my favorite actors but after reading this book, I am really confused about how they were able to drag this out into a 16 episode series?? I haven’t watched it yet and now I don’t know if I will because legit nothing happened in this book. The main character works at this matchmaking company that has a secret marriage division so she’s basically a wife-for-hire for the wealthiest of the clients. You could imagine all the different directions this story could take but it was just like one long flat-line with no pay-off.

7. The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

Mid.

8. Keep It in the Family by John Marrs

Mid x2. This was actually just ridiculous. I think my standards for thrillers have just gotten to be too high so this sounds like a me problem. I can admit that.

9. A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall

This one was OK but I have read much better from this author and expected more. Rich family with dirty secrets, secluded and private family cabins in the winter, protagonist who can’t remember where she came from…it was decent but forgettable. Also, the “connection” between the main character and her fiancé was not believable to me.

10. Big in Sweden by Sally Franson

Beautiful and quirky cover! Narrated by Meg Ryan! Set in Sweden! Too bad none of those things were enough. I admittedly only picked this up because I was feeling nostalgic for Sweden but this didn’t scratch the itch. A trip  to Ikea would have been better. The main character is just insufferable and sorry Meg, but not even your voice could make me like her. Basically this broad wins a spot on some family tree reality show but it turns out to be like MTV/Road Rules the Challenge, but make it Swedish with the main point being that the Swedes love to watch the Americans cry.

And then the winner gets to connect with their Swedish family.

It was a miss for me, fam. Maybe if I had read this on a plane or something, it would have had a better effect on me, but a cold February at home in Pittsburgh somehow managed to provide the exact opposite of escapism.

the end.

8:09am: we just left to drive Chooch back to Philly :( Running behind schedule because

1. He wasn’t fully packed
2. He “lost” his wallet (it was on his bed but he didn’t realize he didn’t have it until we were getting in the car

Anyway, I didn’t plan this but my nail polish perfectly matches my windbreaker so then I had to swap out my shoes and purse to complete the coordination. Not seen – pendant that also got the memo.

8:40am: Sheetz update! Henry is bitching because we spent over $40 like we just went to a restaurant for breakfast. Then Henry thought he was a hero because he held the door open for a man exiting with a case of Mountain Dew but I ALSO HELD A DOOR OPEN FOR HIM?! Then right as Henry was getting ready to start the car, the Mountain Dew guy pulled up alongside of us in his white stallion truck to signal that Henry’s DRINK WAS ON THE ROOF OF THE CAR. It was a real wholesome moment like a scene out of Donna Reed or some shit. Henry did the “another mans is talkin’ to me” hyuk hyuk, his standard response.

9:52am: CHOOCH IS/WAS READING A BOOK. Apparently I disrupted him by telling Henry I need to pee so that drew attention to him at which point I started bombarding him with questions and then Henry was like HE IS READING A BOOK! and I almost broke neck trying to turn around to see. It’s a Brandon Sanderson book and I said “I want to read his books but they’re like 800 pages.”

“I know,” Chooch grunted.

“That doesn’t look like it’s 800 pages,” Henry said.

“That’s because it broke and the other part is in my dorm,” Chooch said. Sounds about right. It’s also not his book but his friend Ben’s in case anyone needs to note that in the log.

10:13am: First rest stop of the drive in Bedford and Chooch realized that he forgot something.

“My Rubik’s Cube!” he cried. Oh to the well.

Then it took him forever to decide what snack he wanted from 7-seven and Henry was so annoyed and ughhhh I’m going to miss this. :(

12:57pm: In traffic outside of Philly. Chooch and I slept most of the ride haha. But now he and Henry are arguing because chooch put the window down. “THE AC IS ON!” Henry bellowed. And chooch mouthed off back and then Henry angrily twisted the AC knob to OFF and is pouting now. Welcome us, Philly! We’re here!

Also this was happening during the Jennie / Dua Lipa “Handlebars” song and I yelled at them for ruining it for me.

“I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT THIS IS!” chooch yelled. Wowowowow.

I can’t remember if it was our flight to Korea but on some recent long-haul flight I listened to a Dua Lipa playlist on the inflight entertainment thing for nearly the whole flight while playing some number game and Chooch was disgusted.

1:27pm:

1:51pm: We’re here! First Henry to go back to get his phone in the garage because he’s an idiot so Chooch and I ditched him because we had to pee.

In that building back there! There are also bunnies roaming the grounds everywhere over there which is cute but weird.

College bathroom selfie!

Now we’re waiting for gross SEPTA to take us downtown.

2:25pm: well no one was paying attention and we passed the stop (to be fair no one told me where we were going) so we ended up having to walk a bit which was a big Lost in Korea mood with Henry and Chooch bickering. It warmed my heart.

But anyway we had to put our name in at Bae Bombon so we came next door to Black Turtle Coffee where the most agitated girl waited on us but whatever. We have iced drinks and are sitting peacefully in wait.

5:56pm: Henry and I are on our way home now. :( Another lackluster goodbye from our son lol.

We did finally eating at Bar Bombon and it was good but S H E E S H getting a table was an ordeal and I said no less than 17 times that I wanted to just go elsewhere. We did attempt to go to a place across the street called The Love or something but they had just closed for the between brunch / dinner time.

I got really mad because it appeared that the hostess gave our table to some old bitches who came straight from yoga, rolled mats and all, but Henry the White Knight of Hostesses because it reminds him of the packaged baked goods mmm Ho Hos, insisted that they were ahead of us on Open Table. Ok Henry. You know everything.

Then they tried to give us the lone table in the front right smack in the busy sidewalk after saying that they would seat us inside and I was like NO THANK YOU.

They promised Henry if we could wait a few more minutes they’d have a table for us inside. Overall our 30 minute wait in the beginning turned into over an hour and I was very displeased about that because it was after 3pm and none of us had eaten since around 9 and I especially was getting hangry. Ok I had bypassed hangry and was firmly planted in much mad starving zone.

Henry was all THANK YOU THANK YOU when the hostess finally summoned us and it was so annoying.

But we had the best seat in the place at all – corner table just the way I like it.

I will say this: ambiance was great. Our server was wonderful. The hearts of palm “fish” tacos I ordered were incredible.

However! We also ordered two starters but our tacos came first (and actually surprisingly fast) and we were told like 3x that our starters would be out soon, then our server was like “let me go check on those starters.” Approx 15 minutes after we finished our tacos, the starters came and Henry joked that they were finishers now but Chooch and I didn’t laugh because that was dumb so you better not have laughed either.

We got some kind of yuca sticks on a pool of nacho (?) sauce which was really good but now what I was expecting. I thought the yuca would be like fries and crispy but they were soft.

And a plate of sweet plantains. I love plantains so much.

Overall it ended up being a good meal but kind of not worth the wait and probably won’t be going back.

We opted to walk back to Drexel after that because I always like to walk after eating a big (to me) meal. MAYBE THAT IS JUST ME. And it’s a really nice walk too. Flat, scenic, and only about 20 minutes.

7:01pm: Checking in to say I’m on my biannual Danity Kane nostalgia tour. This time it’s because Henry said that one of Jennie’s new songs reminds him of a Danity Kane song and I said WILD BC JISOO’S EARTHQUAKE REMINDS ME OF DANITY KANE. (Jennie and Jisoo are both from Blackpink for any anti-kpop person who might themselves reading this).

So now we’re listening to Danity Kane. Fuck you, Diddy. Truly.

Anyway back to Philly – here are some pics from the walk:

I sent this to Corey and he asked me if I wrote that? I mean I’m a Stay but I don’t like them THAT much lol.

The sidewalk was closed at one point and Henry and Chooch were arguing about this. I thought I heard Henry say something about having to go underground so I screamed “we get to go understand?”

Chooch said to him, “Great, now you have her saying that.”

LOL wow.

But seriously I kept asking “when are we going underground though?” And they’d yell in tandem, “We’re not!!”

Then we split up so Henry could go back to the garage to get the car while Chooch and I continued on to his dorm. We were sitting outside when he causally said that I might be able to meet his ROMANIAN friend Bianca!!! She had just made it back to Philly. “Actually there she is right there” and then I fucking spazzed out. “WHAT SHOULD I SAY TO HER??!”

“Oh my god please don’t make this weird. I shouldn’t have said anything,” he groaned as she was quickly approaching.

Turns out it didn’t matter because she came over and they briefly chatted about who else was back and then she went inside.

“Wow she didn’t even look at you,” Chooch laughed.

“Yeah thanks for introducing me!” I cried.

“Maybe she thought you were just another student,” he shrugged.

“OMG REALLY!” I squealed, mood instantly brightened. I mean, we really weren’t sitting that close and I was swinging my legs like a kid on a playground with my telephone purse on my lap. Just ignore my gray hairs and crows feet lol.

Then Henry came back and we had to take Chooch’s shit up to his room and he yelled at Henry repeatedly for stepping on his purple shag carpet which is remarkably clean I must say.

Before we left, I wanted to see the place he’ll be living next year. We couldn’t do much other than go on in the lobby but it’s this tall bitchin’ building behind him:

the final stop was the 7-Eleven near his dorm because he spent all week talking about how they have the best croissants – this location specifically. I mean I’m sure the entire country of France would like to weigh in on that but OK. I wanted to try for myself.

I mean, it was better than the one I had that morning but that was from Sheetz, so. For $1-ish (and for a convenience store) it was decent?

Anyway, it is. Ow 9:46pm and we have another hour left in this drive. Ugh. Signing off.

OH MY FUCKING GOD. My G-Dragon lightstick and mini-keychain lightstick just arrived about an hour ago from Korea and I am so stoked! The sales of these items were so chaotic because it’s G-Dragon and everyone wanted it. The first round sold out within minutes but I managed to snag all three items without issue. G-Dragon’s company put out a statement promising to release more, and then that sale sold out immediately as well. I know it’s dumb but I feel so grateful that I was able to get these and can only pray that I can also get tickets to one of his upcoming US concerts so that I can use these IRL!

Being a Kpop stan is stressful. I got into this because my life was so depressing and full of sadness and while on the outside it seems like the Kpop life is so fun and happy, THERE IS THIS STUPID STRESSFUL UNDERBELLY OF FIGHTING WITH OTHER FANS / RESELLERS FOR CONCERT TICKETS AND MERCH. Lol.

But dude would you look at this light stick cradle?? G-DRAGON IS A FUCKING CREATIVE GENIUS. A functional and cute way to display your lightstick? GD’s got you. I love that this is something I would just already have in my house too, regardless of Kpop-association.

What a nice way to end a stupid work week.

Quickly, let’s run down the rest of the Mattress Factory without turning this into a 62196492374 word odyssey.

The second building had the coolest Raggedy Ann-themed display going on called Deep, Deep Woods. It was 100% my jam. Things were really continuing to look up.

Some of the sketches on the wall were Greer Lankton pieces – I didn’t know it for sure at first but thought to myself that it looked like her style and then felt SO SMUG when we were about to leave this floor and I read the description on the wall. There is a permanent Greer Lankton installation in the main building and it remains one of my favorite parts of the Mattress Factory to this day. Chooch and I were there several years when there was a much larger collection of her work on display – lots of pencil sketches of anatomy so Chooch was probably thinking, “This is awesome that my mother actually paid for me to see this.” Hey art is important!

THIS ROOM! INTERIOR DESIGN INSPO.

That tall red is where I work lol.

The top floor was whatever, TBH. We were kind of like, “What is this?” and I feel bad because, much like most art, it has a very strong message that went over my head until later when I read about it. And the other two rooms up there are permanent installations that we have all seen numerous times so we decided to leave and head to the main building while THE COUPLES were pretending like they understood the top floor.

I was determined to go to the floor with the Kusama infinity room first so we could take idiotic pictures of ourselves before THE COUPLES caught up. We had some elevator issues which lost of us some time but we finally made it to the correct floor and there were only two other people there but they were messing around with another installation.

Chooch and Corey got distracted by these skeletal arcade games first and I had to drag them away. WE WERE RUNNING OUT OF TIME. I’ll tell you something I just realized about myself. When I was VERY YOUNG and lived on SYLVANIA DR in South Park, I used to play with these older kids across the street – Ben and Adele. They were kind of “bad” I guess but that’s neither here nor there. One of the made up games we would play was called THE VILLAGERS and we would run around their backyard usually at dusk pretending to be chased by these invisible people called, you know, THE VILLAGERS, obviously. It was so fucking scary to me back then, hiding behind their above-ground pool, literally thinking that someone was after me with a pitchfork, I don’t even know. Anyway, I truly believe that this is why to this day I am always in a hurry, it’s always a race, I’m forever trying to outrun the Villagers.

And that’s what was happening on this day at the Mattress Factory.

But Corey and Chooch grew up playing regular games I guess and don’t speedwalk through life throwing furtive glances over their shoulders. Heart racing. Underarms sweating. Etc.

We made it though! FIRST.

We did “Blair Witch” poses here too. No one has ever done this before We are trailblazers. Tremendous work.

Visiting Trudy’s family.

On the way out of this area, THE COUPLES were putting the booties over their shoes (you have to either do that or take your shoes off before going in).

“Be glad you didn’t walk in on us being creepy in THAT room,” I stage-whispered to the girl couples and they were like, “OMG” and laughed.

I could NOT get that thing to play

The basement is always hit or miss. It was a miss for me this time.

I think that was pretty much all of the highlights from this visit. Not all of the installations grabbed me this time and sadly one of the rooms was closed while a new installation was being constructed so that was sad. Of course I read somewhere afterward that the MF will often give free tickets to come back when the new installation opens but this was not offered to us and truthfully I was NOT a fan of the girl working at the front desk that day.

Spent some time in the gift shop. No one bought anything but Chooch was happy to collect a free sticker for taking an online survey. Also, Chooch said that his favorite part was the darkroom / attic in the first building. I agree with that. It was also the area we spent the most time in.

I promise I won’t do this every year, but this is our FIRST anniversary as a married couple and I am feeling nice about that today and was in my feels looking through pictures from our Korean Marriage Mission.  So, here are some (the only, actually) pictures of me and Henry from that trip! Most of the pictures were of Chooch, or of all three of us. Not too many of just me and Henry together probably because he IS SO ANNOYING to take pictures with.

(Henry. Yes, you are.)

In Gyeongju!

Our handmade wedding bands that we made in Hongdae!

LOL us with our marriage license; Chooch was SO PUT OUT that we asked him to CROSS THE STREET and come over to us to take this picture. He gave literally zero fucks about this whole thing because his life did not change at all.

I loved loved loved this place. 

Buddhist Food in Insadong!

Cheonggyecheon <3

We actually came here to take Chooch’s senior pictures, but he snapped some of us too, grudgingly.

I love this picture so much, thanks Chooch! I should probably get this framed.

Henry’s dumb face lol.

One of the BEST places to walk and a great place to watch the sun set. 

I hope that we get to go back to Korea again someday. I feel more alive there than I have anywhere else in my life and the fact that Henry was willing to marry me there means so much more than any traditional wedding we could have had here. It was no frills. Just us, in jeans. I actually couldn’t imagine doing this any other way and would not change a thing.

(OK, maybe I’d have eaten more salt bread. Lol.)

Ugh, I’m crying as usual.

I woke up today to a gift bag full of Totally Erin gifts:

I was cracking up because these could easily pass for a middle schooler’s birthday presents.

Speaking of…Henry said that he talked to his mom today. She said something along the lines of how it’s too bad he didn’t meet me before “that other one” and married me first. Henry was like, “Mom, I’d have gone to jail.” I mean, considering I was IN MIDDLE SCHOOL when he was marrying “that other one.”

So, then she said that he could have “waited for me” and I screamed, “EW, SHE WAS SUGGESTING THAT YOU GROOM ME?!”

That was such a sobering moment on The First Anniversary of Ruby & Hoover’s Marriage Fit for an LJ Post.

Anyway, baby’s first Enhypen album!

Since leaving the nest, Chooch has apparently developed an interest in art, which is annoying because HELLO remember when his mother used to make fake art?! Where was his interest then?? (OK to be fair when he was little, he liked a Jeffrey Dahmer portrait I painted on wood and asked to keep it – it’s actually still in his bedroom so maybe I should ask him why he hasn’t taken it back to Philly?? IS HE EMBARRASSED OF IT?)

Anyway, a few weeks ago, he was sending me pictures of art that he thought I would like at some gallery in Philly (aw, I bet he doesn’t send Henry pictures of…what? Beverage he thinks he would like?) so I suggested that we go to the Mattress Factory when he’s home for spring break because it’s been a while since he was last there with me. He actually AGREED and then I said we should invite Corey too because Corey wanted to hang out with him when he’s home and Corey also likes the Mattress Factory. So…boom. Look at me, so good at organizing. Wish I could apply those skills to my head.

Corey picked us up around 11 even though I wanted to BE THERE BY 11 because I am so rigid when it comes to these. They open at  11 and I wanted to “beat the crowds” and also “get a spot in the parking lot.” I have ALWAYS been like this.

Then Chooch was pissed because I was nagging him for days about not forgetting to bring his student ID so that he could get the STUDENT DISCOUNT and he was like “I HAVE MY FUCKING ID, IT’S IN MY WALLET. YES, I HAVE MY WALLET! OMG!”

OK, I can see where I could be a little overbearing and annoying.

Then we got there and the bored broad at the desk didn’t even ask for his ID and he was extra-pissed, lol.

(I should note that I had never heard of the Mattress Factory until I was a Pitt student and looking for free things and discounts that my Pitt ID could get me and the Mattress Factory was listed. The first time I ever went, I was pregnant with Chooch!)

Bored Broad “recommended” that we start our day at the Sampsonia annex which was whatever – fine, we’ll do it, but we won’t necessarily LIKE it. I was annoyed because there were only two other cars in the lot when we got there and OFC as soon as we entered the annex, four people were immediately in the first room. Look, I don’t even pretend to not be a curmudgeon, OK? I know I am. And I am one of Those PPL who hate being in museums etc with other people because it makes me feel rushed and/or self-conscious.

I couldn’t tell if the two couples were together, but there was a girl couple and a man/woman couple. They were all kind of whatever but one of the women from the girl couple STOPPED AND READ EVERY SINGLE ARTIFACT on the wall. I’m not even going to front –  I did not like the first two floors of this exhibit, which was largely about pollution and the Clean Air Act. Lots of pictures of trains, smokestacks, old local newspaper articles, etc. Chooch texted me, “I hate these people. They’re making me feel like I should be studying everything.” I was like 100% agreed, sonny.

Anyway, this whole building was Luke Stettner’s State of the Sky. The description on the Mattress Factory’s website really explains it well so you should give that a read if you care.

Then the one couple was looking at something and giggling and the other couple joined them and also giggled. We waited for them to head on up to the second floor and then tried to figure out what was so funny about what they were looking at but I have no fucking idea.

Studying.

Yo, I liked this part. It was on the second floor and these windchimes / pipes dropped down through the ceiling. I assume you were supposed to fuck around with it to make it sing, so that is just what I did after everyone else just glanced at it with “hmmm” expressions.

There was also a little nook in a corner where several old-ass televisions were stacked and playing creepy b&w images. “It reminds me of the Ring,” I said and everyone agreed with me because my observations rule. 

But then it was time for the upstairs, the ominous red lighting on the steps gave us a preview of what was to come.

It was a dark room motif! WE SPENT SO MUCH TIME UP HERE BEING DUMBOS.

This floor had another TV set up but it was showing nightvision footage of a field / weeds and I said, “This reminds me of Blair Witch,” and Corey took this and ran with it.

“Take a picture of me doing Blair Witch!” he squealed and plastered himself into a corner.

I had to make Chooch it too and then OFC I WANTED ONE OF ME.

I don’t know why this was but Corey tried twice and both times it came out blurry maybe because I AM the Blair Witch. But when he was on attempt #2,  THOSE COUPLES came back into the room, presumably exhausting every single text on display for their eyeballs to absorb in the other rooms, and while I was facing the wall, I heard one of the women gasp and say, “OK, give me a heart attack!” and the Corey’s bombastic laugh filled the floor.

“We’re doing Blair Witch!” I muffled into the asbestos (probably) filled wall.

“I applaud your commitment to the performance,” one of the women said as I continued to stand stalk still into the corner, and I gave myself a silent FUCK YEAH head pat. I will take praise and attention anywhere I can get it. After that, I decided I didn’t hate them so much anymore. The guy part of the guy/girl couple was still mid though. I was glad that those two missed my show.

Chooch took my Blair Witch picture at the top of the steps after everyone else left out of the fire escape exit and we had free reign.

I love these so much, lol. I posted them on Instagram and someone said that they looked like horror movie posters (specifically Corey’s) and that made me so happy.

Third floor of the Sampsonia annex slapped. Totally made up for the other two floors of what came off like someone’s high school research project plastered onto a wall. I mean, don’t get me wrong, environmental activism FTW. But it was just a lot, and we were definitely ready to head out to the Monterey annex.

NCTshoes on the fire escape.

Skipping Saturday’s action for now and going right to Sunday because there’s less to say and I am lazy. (A lot happened on Saturday!)

I really wanted to have a NICE FAMILY AFTERNOON. Chooch got really into collecting records several years ago so I thought it would be best to offset the misery of “hanging with the parents” by including the incentive of record shopping. He seemed to perk up at that.

I found this random Turkish cafe in Harmar which was on the way to the record shop we were going to in New Kensington. It was called Gino’s Petit something so super confusing because it sounded both Italian and French but then…Turkish. I loved the vibes of the place! It seemed to maybe be a family affair? There was some yelling going on in the kitchen. Our server was wearing a bright orange crop top and leather shorts. I don’t know that this has much to do with anything, but I wanted to remember that lol.

To start, I got Turkish coffee and it was d-i-v-i-n-e.

Crepes seemed to be the main draw there but Chooch and I had just had some of the best crepes in town the day before with Corey, so we both went for something different. Henry and Chooch both got omelettes and I got the TURKISH PLATTER which was like a fancy Lunchables that someone plated for me. The scrambled eggs were mid but I really enjoyed making one-bites out of the tomatoes, cucumbers, feta and mozzarella. And you know I love some olives, boy. They gave me more than what was advertised lol.

Plus, the inexplicable inclusion of french fries – this wasn’t featured in the description so I feel like they were an after thought, maybe some stragglers left in the fry basket or something.

But yo, listen. The best part, and I am closing my eyes in remembrance of the ecstasy my mouth experienced yesterday, was the SUBSTANTIAL SLICES OF MARBLED RYE TOAST which I straight up SOAKED in the provided honey and Turkish jam (it was pureed strawberries in a fruit syrup and I was ready to drink that shit, it was INTOXICATING). Henry and Chooch had to sit there for a full 10 minutes after finishing their meals while I ate each part of my plate. They were so annoyed at my exaggerated savoring of each component, haha.

I would like to go back sometime to try one of the sweet breakfast offerings after seeing plate after plate being shuttled past us to other tables.

Then we went to Preserving Vinyl in New Ken, where I was disgusted at how many Taylor Swift records there were, and the fact that there is vinyl pressed for Halsey of all the crap singers out there, what a waste of resources, if you ask me.

Anyway, I have been out of the record collecting loop for a big and was surprised to see so much Top 40 vinyl.

Then I just felt nostalgic when I saw all of the Joyce Manor, Citizen, etc AND THEN PVRIS STARTED PLAYING and Warped Tour Erin was like, “Knock knock, I’m still in here, you know.”

Chooch got a Daft Punk record (did not know he liked Daft Punk) and an Otis Redding collection.

Then we walked to the other location that’s in an old church which is also a music venue where Armor for Sleep was just playing and I wanted to go but it was the night after we came home from Chicago and Henry was being an Old. And I only know two other people who like(d) Armor For Sleep but:

1. Both live 4+ hours from me in each direction
2. I don’t talk to either of them anymore
3. lol

Anyway, at this place, Chooch got a super old Peter & the Wolf record which was cool just for the cover alone, and an Emerson Lake and Palmer record just because he liked the cover which was also coincidentally wolf-themed and I screamed, “I USED TO LOVE ELP YOU WILL PROBABLY LIKE THIS” and that was probably a mistake, I just swayed him in the opposite direction and am not preparing for him to be like, “So, I listened to that Emerson whatever record and actually it’s garbage.”

I really should have fucking bought this. I reference this movie once every two or three years and no one ever knows.

Then we left and I put on PVRIS for the drive home. What a wholesome afternoon with Chooch, Home from College.

You guys! Chooch came home Thursday night and all feels right in the world (ok I’m gonna walk back on that one and just go with “in our house”).

First! During my lunch break on Friday, we walked to 802 Coffee where I, as per uje, ordered poorly and hated my latte but chooch’s was delightful (it was their dumb March leprechaun menu).

Then we stopped at the library specifically so he could say hi to Robert the Security Guard who always asks me how he is doing and just told me the other day that he keeps him I. His prayers. Get you a library security guard friend, you guys. Robert is such a gem and one of the few good things that came out of the pandemic because I only started talking to him during the very strict book pickups during the early part of COVID.

After work, Janna & Kara came over for pizza and to pepper Chooch with questions about college. So far, the first thing he tells everyone, including Robert, is that he has been playing Spikeball. (Shout out to Corey who got him this for Xmas and Chooch has said repeatedly that it’s one of the best presents he has ever got ok wow, RIP the memory of me presenting him with Hamilton tickets the first time it came to Pgh.)

It was a really chill night and also I liked this beer a lot even though I poured it wrong apparently.

Oh btw when Chooch came home Thursday night, he opened the fridge and yelled in disgust, “There is only beer in here!!!”

TO BE FAIR – we still have a lot of beer left from Chingumas. I put a moratorium on the weekend Duffy’s runs for build-your-own six packs because I was afraid of becoming an alcoholic. Now I will only drink in social situations like before. You heard it here first.

Smirking because approx. three of us asked him who he was texting and if it was this girl that I have latched on to because he let her name slip several times. They’re going to see The Weeknd with two or three other ppl and she bought all the tickets so I had to Venmo her money for him because I’m Mommy Dearest and also because concerts is the one thing I will never deprive him of.

(well, food and love too I guess lol.)

Anyway, it was such a wholesome night of reminiscing about psychos I attracted during the LJ years, game nights of yesteryear, and when Chooch was a baby with a giant head. It was the perfect start to the weekend!

Just a quick post to say that yesterday was our director’s retirement party and while it was so awesome to be in the office around so many old friends that I rarely see anymore. Wendy yelled at me at one point because apparently I was the designated photographer but no one told me, so I had to run around and try to capture everyone. I have this bad habit of diving in with no warning and snapping, so lots of pictures were taken of people mid-chew or looking like they’re arguing (maybe they were arguing).

Anyway, I will only post pictures of the people who know about my blog.

I had champagne and a seltzer in the middle of the afternoon at work, dopey-face activated.

There was beer there but Megan advised that it was BASIC BEER so I said HARD PASS.

Last month, we had a get-together at Steel Mill and I never posted about it because I got fucking sick for two weeks right after that and then it dropped off my list. But anyway! Similar to Chingumas, I made everyone would listen to me download the Party app so that I could use our shared pictures to create a photobook for Sue. I think it turned out cute!

I also made her a “Glenn” as a token of appreciation for letting me run amok all these years with my idiot ideas. I was calling it, in my head, the Stat(S)ue of Conflicts. She’s holding a Fig Bar because she used to always stock our snack table with them and then Todd and me would literally fight over the last one. And she always ended our dept meetings with “be kind.”

Lots and lots of conflicting (LOL) emotions with this one. Sue is the greatest boss I’ve ever had. She genuinely cares about everyone in our department and also let me get away with so many shenanigans (some of which were probably very annoying to her but if so, she never said it) like my non-sanctioned Easter egg hunt, all of the Glenn desecration, my fucking obnoxious desk-decor for Halloween (not to mention when I decorated other peoples’ desks and offices without their consent), THE ZINE, the G-Dragon Military Discharge Party that she had no idea was happening until she walked into the office that day and did a double take of the decor and food and just shook her head.

Sue and Barb were the ones I interviewed with 15 years ago (probably nearly to the day, considering I started working there on April 5th, 2010) and she would not have known this, but I was at one of the lowest points in my life then. We were struggling so bad financially, I couldn’t keep a steady job, I had recently lost my best friend (she didn’t die, she was just an asshole), and we were trying to raise a three-year-old as best as we could under these conditions. I had NO EXPERIENCE in this field. NONE. But she gave me a shot and over these years, she has seen potential in me and helped me have the confidence to use that.

Not to be dramatic and maudlin here, but she literally had a hand in turning my life around. Yeah, I know, I did that myself etc but she helped put me on that path.

Ugh, now that I have made myself depressed again, I need to go and do some jumping jacks or something because Kara and Janna are coming over to have pizza with us and interrogate Chooch on COLLEGE LIFE.

This post is going to be all over the place because I have been in a creative/chaotic frame of mind the last couple of days which hasn’t happened in a long time but I was inspired to come out of retirement and make something sort of art-y for a gift, so I am currently riding the adrenaline on that one. It’s a good feeling but also, sheesh, settle down, child.

I had a really nice weekend, I’m so happy to say! Henry and I spent a lot of time talking about G-Dragon, speculating when he will come to the US on his tour (rumor has it – September), if BIGBANG will officially reunite, etc. This is nothing new, everyone knows Henry is a freaking hero, etc., but I am so glad that we have this common interest and it’s not just me making his ears bleed with all of my incessant Jonny Craig gushing like back in the day. Whoever would have thought that it would be Korea of all things that came forth as the glue to keep us together? I love this so much, every time I think about it! Here’s Henry with his bias list and constant Instagram reel sending. SOMETIMES HE EVEN SCOOPS ME ON KOREAN NEWS!!

Anyway, that’s my little love note to Henry, feeling mushy because my phone calendar alerted me that our “Dumb Anniversary” is next week.

Well, here’s some things from the weekend that I’d like to remember, because who knows – maybe one day in the future life will be worse than it is now and I will look back on this season and scoff about how naive I was.

I love when “Abbott Elementary” has Drexel Easter eggs in it! This one particular episode even had scenes that were filmed in one of the buildings that we visited on Admitted Students day. It’s just exciting to me, OK?? I had literally never heard of Drexel before Chooch was like, “Oh yeah btw I got into Drexel” and I was like, “Huh? Where even is that??” I just…don’t know stuff about colleges, OK? I’m a high school drop out, after all.

Saturday was so nice. Henry and I went to Pink Box for some later afternoon snacks and then walked it off for an hour in Homewood Cem while literally (literally!!) spending the ENTIRE TIME ranting about that piece of shit Elon and his VP Trump. My friend Nate and I are going to protest at a Tesla dealership and I know Henry is nervous about this because I have been on this kick lately about wanting to get arrested at a protest.

Even Chooch was like, “That is the LAST place you need to be.”

EXACTLY!!

On Sunday, I met Lauren, Sandy, and Nate at The Abbey for brunch. It was SUCH A GOOD TIME. First of all, I somehow had not seen neither Sandy nor Nate since the last brunch I went to with them LAST MARCH.  How is that even possible?!?

Anyway, what a great fucking time, I’m not even kidding. I miss seeing these guys every day at work. And the best part is that we didn’t even really talk about work at all!

Our waiter this time as opposed to when I was there a few weeks ago was so wonderful and charming without being aggressive and there were times when I almost slipped and asked if he wanted to join us, lol. He vibed with us so well. And when Sandy asked for separate checks, he didn’t react in a way that came off as him pegging her as tacky, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO ME THE LAST TIME AND I FUCKING DWELLED ON IT FOR THE ENTIRE WEEKEND AND MAY HAVE EVEN TALKED ABOUT IT IN  THERAPY.

I dunno man, the stars were just well-aligned this time around.

My vegan pancakes – so good but I could only chip away at half of that biggun’ stack!

After brunch, we walked down the street to get some French delights from La Gourmandine to take home. It pains me to say this but I thought of someone other than myself for once and chose something specifically for Henry. Ugh. Some chocolate almond thing. I guess he deserved it because he was at home working on G-Dragon pins haha.

On my drive home (the Abbey has a parking lot now so I can drive there on my own without stressing about street parking which is 100% the reason I will usually make Henry drive me – I HATE driving around looking for a spot and then when I find one, I’m scared that my car will get sideswiped) it started POURING down rain. Like, torrentially. Then it stopped after I came home and I was on the front porch trying to get three of my Buddys to share walnuts when another storm came in out of nowhere (well, a meteorologist will likely have something to say about that) – this crazy-ass sideways rain, the street in front of my house began  to flood, and all the squirrels peaced out. Henry and I were watching this from the front door when suddenly there was a loud bang coming from the back of the house.

Oh, just a very substantial part of a tree breaking off and falling onto the roof of the backporch.

LOL ignore all the refuse back there. Our neighbors like to dump large trash items back there, like air conditioners, those pipe things, there’s also a Big Wheel type kids car that has been there for so long, I can’t believe it hasn’t sunk into the earth by now. But yeah, now this huge ass tree branch is in pieces on our porch roof, backyard, and driveway.

Oh well.

No damage was done to not-our house, so whatev.

Yeah, I really don’t think there was anything else to note. I was so drowsy the rest of the day, those fucking pancakes. This is why I usually always opt for savory breakfast fare but they were called ROSE WINDOW PANCAKES and came with nut butter, I’m such a sucker. They were so good but even Henry was like, “Jesus, this is a LOT of pancake” when I gave him my leftovers.

In non-weekend news: Chooch comes home for spring break tomorrow so hopefully I will have some blog fodder during his visit since my life is otherwise so empty these days lol.

Penelope has been ‘specially adorbs lately so I wanted to document some or that cuteness for internet prosperity.

Henry bought her cat grass and she is a big fan.

This was when Henry had the audacity to try to say something in Korean last night. She whipped her head back with a quickness and glared at him. As you do.

Same, goyorl.

She is always with us on the couch in the eve. She loves watching Going Seventeen, in case you were wondering. (Please just pretend that you were.)

Such snug!!

The back porch is her daily hangout once it’s warm enough to keep the door open.

Has a güd nite.

We started to make our way over to the Allstate Arena around 6:30 so I could pass out my freebies to people in line. The arena has a plethora of hotels around it so usually when we go to a concert there it’s just a short walk across the street which is so convenient. Especially afterward when all you want to do is go lay down (maybe that’s just us elders) without the struggle of trying to fight your way out of the parking lot. We had to actually drive there from a hotel near the airport when we saw Seventeen because all the close hotels were sold out and I will tell you that it was very annoying.

I ended up having way more NCT freebies than I did for the Taemin concert and it took me so much longer to pass these out which quickly drained my social battery!

Here’s a small selection of what they looked like ^^^

It was fun though hearing people squeal when they saw which member they got! And the lady behind me in line traded me two Haechan pocas after I gave her a pin! She was there with her husband/boyfriend and I did notice that there were guys there than usual. It was funny because I would always tentatively hand a pin to the guys while asking, “Do you want one too?” and they ALWAYS said yes with a quickness except for one dad who was there with his daughter, lol.

I’m dying, imagining going to this kind of a concert with my dad back when I was a teenager.

It was one of the speediest concert entrances I’ve ever experienced since getting into Kpop. Doors opened on time and the lines moved efficiently. No hold ups whatsoever. We had a good hour to kill though once we got inside so we walked around, Henry got a beer, I tried to decide which shirt I wanted – all the merch lines were crazy long but Henry said he would get in line during one of the VCRs.

Anyway, this was the first time I noticed that Robert Smith is on this wall! He caught my eye when we were walking past and I had to circle back against foot traffic to get a picture.

Also, I needed a picture of Henry’s beer for Untappd. It was OK. I didn’t love it so much that I desired a full can for myself. A few sips of his was fine.

First, we went to find Henry’s seat and I was cracking up because he purposely bought a ticket for the very last row of the upper section and even lucked out with an aisle seat. I was all the way down below, three rows back from the floor to the left of the extended stage, similar to where I was for NCT Dream too – same section but I was first row for that one :(

Henry said he actually STOOD UP at some points! He NEVER stands at concerts but I guess there were some songs that he really wanted to see not just hear for NCT127. I’m shook.

This was my view, not too bad at all. I was surround by super unobtrusive and inoffensive NCTzens. I had no trouble seeing even when the rows in front of me filled up and everyone stood. No one was being an asshole. Levels of screaming were normal. Small talk was friendly. There was a single girl to my left and she loved my Haechan shirt and had me take picture of her before the show started. The girl to my right gave me this funny picture of Haechan:

Then the girl was RIGHT next to me was there with her mom and was also very chill. It was just a great experience overall, crowd-wise!

And then the concert started and let me just tell you, I guess enough time had passed between NCT127 concerts because I fucking forget how much they bring the noise for real. They MIGHT be the loudest groups I have ever seen, between the chaos of their music and choreo and the guttural roars of the crowd – there were legit times when I couldn’t tell what song was starting because the droning cacophony of the fans around me were drowning it out. It gets THAT loud for NCT127! I will never forget the first time Chooch and I saw them at KCON 2017 – it sounded like the roof of the Prudential Center was going to collapse from the intensity of the bass during Cherry Bomb. Chooch was just like, “GOOD LORD” and talked about it for days.

I almost didn’t get tickets for this show. Usually I’m waiting on Ticketmaster for the moment tickets go on sale but for NCT127, I tried to reason that I just saw them in 2022, it would mean going back to Chicago two weeks after seeing Taemin, and Taeyong and Jaehyun (my 127 bias!) are in the military.

But you know what, I realized that last bit was exactly WHY I needed to go, because between military enlistments and one member allegedly being a rapist (hasn’t been officially charged yet but it does seem pretty damning), the remaining members need our support. What kind of fair-weathered NCTzen would I be if I skipped this?

Plus, it is very hard for me to rationalize passing the opportunity to see my ult NCT bias, Haechan. I just REALLY adore him!! His voice is so unique and I love watching him dance.

You don’t care but: Johnny, Haechan, Mark, Yuta, Jungwoo, Doyoung.

Previously, Henry’s bias was Yuta but after this concert, he has officially added MARK to the list of not just NCT127 biases, but TOP 5 BIASES ACROSS ALL GROUPS! He really put a lot of thought into it too:

1. G-Dragon
2. Mark
3. Yuta
4. Hoshi
5. Taemin

COMING OUT CASKET FRESH.

My favorite moments of the night were finally seeing Walk, the inclusion of a recording and video of Jaehyun during Lemonade and Touch, WHIPLASH!!!!!!!!!!, and the fucking powerhouse vocals during No Longer. I was screaming, literally – my throat was HURT.

And Chain!!!!

I am so glad that we went to the Chicago stop because it’s Johnny’s hometown and that just made it feel more special, like when we saw NCT Dream in Long Island and Mark had actually spent a good portion of his childhood living there.

I felt that the ending ments were very emotional, particularly Mark, Haechan, and Johnny. Haechan seemed to be alluding to the fact that he or maybe others might be performing with injuries or their bodies just not in the best condition, Mark seemed to be hard on himself and worried that his voice didn’t sound good, and Johnny – who is now 30 years old and I can’t accept this – was very sentimental and focused on time passing so quickly and the panic about remembering the important moments. It was….so relatable. The fact that this group was less than a year into their debut when I first saw them in 2017 – Jungwoo wasn’t even a member yet – and now two of them are in the military…it makes me feel old too.

Time is so scary. Mortality is depressing.

But, as long as I have music in my life, and concerts to look forward to, and comebacks adding fanatical excitement to my days, I will stay young at heart. People say they don’t understand this and I feel sorry for those people. It doesn’t have to be Kpop, it could be classic rock, it could be metal, it could be Broadway shows or sports or beer. As long as we have that one thing that inspires joy, who needs the validation of people who don’t understand it.

SETLIST

1. Gas
2. Faster
3. Bring the Noize
4. 2 Baddiess
5. Skyscraperr
6. Chain
7. Designerr
8. Orange Seoull
9. TOUCHH
10. No Cluee
11. Pricey
12. Regular (English version)
13. Sticker
14. Whiplash
15. Lemonade
16. Rain Drop
17. Can’t Help Myself
18. Gold Dust
19. No Longer
20. Far
21. Kick It
22. Fact Check

Encore:

1. Intro: Wall to Wall
2. Walk
3. Meaning of Love
4. Dreams Come True
5. Promise You

As always, I’m so grateful that I was able to go to this, that Henry is also a fan so that we could dish about it the entire drive home the next day, and that moments of happiness like this still exist in a world that is in flames.

I have nothing left to give today so Henry suggested, “Hey SWEETIE why don’t you let me do a guest post today? I could tell your imaginary friends about my five favorite songs that NCT127 performed last Friday since you have been too lazy to do your own concert review.”

In so many words.

I’ll try to include live performances where possible if I can find decent quality, whether it’s from the Chicago show or not, who cares.

So I guess he will dictate the rest of this post to me. Bye.

1. GAS

Why, Henry? “Because I like the song.”

God OK, Henry, calm down.

2. Bring the Noize

Why, Henry? “All of my reasons are going to be I like the song, I don’t know.”

Great. I also like this song so much but it was sad without Jaehyun (he’s in the military).

3. 2 Baddies

Do you have anything to add, Henry? “I just like the song. It’s better live.”

4. Regular

Anything to add about Regular? “Um, not really. No.”

5. Kick It & Walk (tied)

Kick It is Henry’s favorite NCT127 song of all time yet when we were at the DDP in Korea last year and they had the video for it playing on a huge screen with no audio, he DID NOT KNOW WHAT IT WAS. I was actually sickened. The choreo for Kick It is super distinguishable!?

I’m not asking him any more questions because his non-answers are pissing me off.

What an absolute waste of time, but there you have it – Henry’s top 5/6 favorite songs from last week’s NCT127 concert where apparently, he added Mark as his co-bias with Yuta??!? He just told me this the other night! I was like, “Wow OK, Mark coming in out of nowhere.”

We had a few hours to kill before the NCT127 concert so like true homebodies we went to a nearby beer store and got some IPAs to drink in our hotel room while eating HMart snacks and I walked back and forth forever to get steps after sitting in the car all day.

What extravagant lives we lead.

In all honesty though, I still get pre-concert gut gurgles even at this old and wizened age. You’d think I was the one going on stage.

If Henry is sitting with me, there’s much less anxiety but we typically DON’T sit anywhere near each other at Kpop concerts because I like to get the best seat as possible within reason and it’s just too much $$$ for us to get two tickets together. So, Henry will usually wait until the day-of and get the cheapest seat he can find which always puts him way in the back row of the upper level. He’s fine with that but I always have to get myself pumped up knowing that I’m going to be sitting alone and may need to make small talk with those around me.

This is part of the exorbitant price I pay to see my Kpop faves though. Worth it.

Anyway, we stayed at an Extended Stay near the Allstate Arena and it was OK. The room was outdated but clean. I hated the people in the room next to us who kept banging into the wall but Henry, in my interpretation of his non-action, was like YOU ARE OVERREACTING. OK, cool, whatever. I did feel guilty for a second because what if it was other NCTzens next door, but the thumping was still going strong when we came back that night too so I don’t think they were there for the concert.

Also, the fact that I am sitting here a week later, at 7:56am, typing furiously about a faint and sporadic thumping that bothered me really illustrates how neurotic and unreasonable I am.

Ugh. Moving on, here’s what I wore to NCT127: The Movement!

1. I am so happy that my Neobong has gotten so much use over the years! I know lightsticks can seem like a ridiculous splurge and my collection is growing to an embarrassing size, but it really is such a huge part of the concert culture! Shout out to my king, G-Dragon, for starting the trend.
2. I decided to go Haechan-biased this time. For NCT Dream, I lean toward Renjun, but Haechan is my overall bias across the whole NCT universe. I was so stoked to see him again that night! Twice in 2024 with Dream, and now this year with 127? Fuck yeah.
3. Also, this was the 4th NCT concert I got to wear my DIY NCT shoes to! And THE FIRST TIME someone complimented them, thank you for noticing, person in line to get into the arena!
4. Henry is getting better at taking pictures of me ever since I sent him a tutorial on Instagram where some young photographer was like, “Watch me teach my dad how to take photos of me.” I sent it to Henry and now he remembers to take the appropriate steps so that I don’t look like a mongoloid.
5. I wore my homemade Haechan pendant which is super outdated (look at baby Haechan!!) but I love it still. The other NCT necklace was made by my friend Danielle from The Idol Collective and it is the perfect neo-accessory.
6. The shirt features Haechan from the “Favorite” comeback special “The Vampire House” and this one of my favorite comeback cycles.

I’m sure I have posted so many versions of this in the past but this is one of my top NCT songs ever and it reminds me of fall 2021 which was a really nice time in my life as opposed to now which feels like life is flipped on its head but that’s ok, we’ll get through it one Kpop concert at a time, haha.

When we went to Chicago (specifically the Rosemont area, which is near the airport, F-Y-to-the-I) for the NCT Dream concert in 2023, we ate an early dinner at this vegan Korean place called Amitabul and when I say I still dream of this place…from the peaceful “om”s wafting down from the speakers, to the amicable Korean owner, and most importantly THE FRESH VEGGIE-LADEN FOOD. I was excited to stop by again before the NCT127 concert on Friday.

Dude, there are so many things to choose from, but I really don’t think you can go wrong. I got this delectable noodle dish and joined the Clean Plate Club – maybe a bit too fast, though. We both inhaled our food and ended up so stuffed, but not in a sickeningly way because this food is so healthy!

The only downside to this place is that since there is no music playing – just the “om”ing, and it was between lunch and dinner so aside from lone diner in the back and several people come in for take-out, it is QUIET.

Which means only one thing…

Henry’s mastication is amplified.

I tried to get a video to send to Chooch, who was born with the same aural affliction as me (actually, his was dormant until he learned about this on an episode of How I Met Your Mother and now he’s even worse than me about it) but Henry refused to chew until I put my phone down.

Jesus Christ, though – when he went back to eating it sounded like he was cutting down a forest with his molars.

The downside of eating such a filling meal was that we had NO ROOM for samples when we went to HMart afterward :( We did grab some snacks and samgak kimbap for later though.

And some hodu-gwaja! These are little cake-like balls filled with red bean and walnuts and made me so nostalgic for Korea. I mean, I always am anyway, but I was transported back as soon as I opened the bag. They were good but not as good as the ones I bought from a stand in the subway station by our hotel last year. Ugh and I got to order them in Korean too! I feel dumb doing that in America.

The next morning, we got up way early for some reason and went to Lost Larson before making our way home. Lost Larson is a Swedish-inspired cafe that has been on my list since our coaster vacation and played an integral part in why our August trip to Chicago for ATEEZ was so terrible because we didn’t get in to town in enough time to make it there and then drove out of the way to my back-up cafe where I had a legit emotional breakdown afterward and actually considered going to a hospital but then was worried about the bill.

All of that to say, we made it there this time! It was….cold and underwhelming. The vibe was not vibing. The coffee (I had it black) was mid. The pastries did not make me feel like I was back in Sweden and, for being pre-8AM, tasted day old.

Not impressed even a little bit. I know this is an entirely different country (but the pastries in all of Scandinavia and Finland just really hit), but the pastry we got FROM A GAS STATION IN NORWAY was a billion times better than whatever stale shit they plated for us – with absolute ambivalence, might I add – at Lost Larson.

Hate to be this person twice in one blog post (“I was in <x country> and it was better there” – you know that person lol) but I feel like even if I had no basis of comparison, I would have left this place feeling completely unsatisfied.

Which we both were.

My search for comparable Swedish pastries continues.

Luckily, our last memory of this trip to Chicago was a good one because DARK MATTER was a few blocks away!

Yooooo. You guys. I first had Dark Matter coffee in 2014 at Riot Fest. They had a booth set up there and I am ALWAYS CRAVING COFFEE but whoever goes to a concert or music festival where coffee is actually available?! Man, I loved it from the very first sip. The next year, they were set up again and I told them, like an eager puppy, that I’m from Pgh and that their coffee was one of my favorite things about Riot Fest, so they gave me a free t-shirt!

Honestly, great coffee and great people. You can’t beat that.

Hi, I’m channeling my dad again. God, I am such an old dad!!

Anyway, would you believe that of all the times we have gone to Chicago, this was our first time actually going to one of their storefronts?! I have even ordered bags from them online but have never set foot in a brick-and-mortar location. Well, that all has been rectified because not only did I get a bussin’ cup of coffee to go, but I also stocked up on some bags for home and got a can of their super potent cold coffee. Henry a/k/a Mr. Dunkin’ got nothing because he was a’scared. Poor little coffee poser.

As expected, the people working there were super chill and didn’t make me feel like I was wasting their time which, I’m sorry, you know that happens at some cafes!

My coffee was actually free since I bought two bags so that made me even happier. And then when I got back to the car and took my first sip, I basically screamed in caffeinated ecstasy, “IT TASTES LIKE RIOT FEST!”

I can’t explain it, but it brought back the stench of the muddy field, the joy-inducing blue sky, and the perfectly cozy chill in the air, and the clashing cacophony of multiple bands playing simultaneously on various stages. Ugh, Riot Fest used to be such a good time.

After that, we made our way out of town and started our drive home. Henry stopped at the very first rest area and got himself a big ol’ cup of sugary cold brew at Dunkin’ and was so smug about it too.