Canada was the better team, in every way. Sid will always be golden, especially here in Pittsburgh.

Fuck Trump, Fuck Kash Patel, and fuck every single man on Team USA who made us, once again, a laughingstock on the world stage. God forbid normal Americans get 2 weeks to enjoy the Olympics in peace without that motherfucker making it all about himself, being insulting, name-calling, spreading misogyny and hate.

That game was so hard to watch that I had to go on an aggressive walk afterward. I was fuming, and that was before all the locker room bullshit. I hated that team going into this and now I’m just like “fuck hockey” in general. Heated Rivalry did all that hard carrying to get new fans tuning into NHL games, all for Tkafucks and their cohort to put a sour taste in everyone’s mouth while sucking up to “Dad.”

I’m so pissed too because I had been only on the periphery of hockey (just the Pens) for the last handful of years, then just when I allow myself to re-debut as a crazy fan again (honestly, I didn’t miss the stress that’s for sure), one of the first things I learn is how grossly MAGA so many of these men are. It just makes it really hard and honestly, it takes the fun out of it.

Canada, I’m sorry.  You deserved gold. Hockey is still your sport. Fuck Matthew Tkachuk.

That’s all I have for today. Still stewing.

I found an old journal from 2004 in my room and I started flipping through the pages, which was a real choice because I am embarrassed and infuriated in equal parts. A quick summary of the the timeline this particular journal encompasses – I was going through the mentally draining and traumatic mediation process with my former employer, I was starting classes at Pitt, I was struggling to find a job, I voted for the first time (and said “I have never cared more about an election as I do this one” – 2016 / 2020 / 2024 Erin has entered the chat), and I was mad that my friends didn’t take my “writing” seriously. Which leads me to the reason for this post –

Apparently, someone wrote about me on LiveJournal and referred to me as a “humorist” which was such a compliment! I was riding high on this when my “friend” Keri called and I excitedly told her this, to which she said, “OKAYYYYYYY. Are you sure she was talking about you?”

I rant about this for a bit, and when I get the indignance out of my system, I go on to write that someday, Henry will make me “my own website” so I can leave LJ and “grow my readership” but that I wasn’t ready yet because I didn’t want to – wait for it – PULL A DAVID CARUSO U KNOW LIKE HOW HE OVERESTIMATED HIS POPULARITY AND LEFT NYPD BLUE TOO EARLY ONLY TO HAVE A DISAPPOINTING FILM CAREER.

DAVID.

FUCKING.

CARUSO.

If I hadn’t included the explanation in my journal I’d have 100% been googling “David Caruso who” right now in the year 2026.

Also, while 2004 was apparently “too soon” for me to “jump the LiveJournal ship,” 2007 wasn’t much better because I lost pretty much 95% of my “readership” which was devastating to me in some past timeline where I still thought I wanted to “write” but is actually so fucking funny to 2026 Erin that I had to “let’s just stop, drop everything” and come here to laugh about it alone to the OHE void.

And, in case you wanted to know, here were my fave bands that I was listening to in 2004/

One more picture:

Apparently, the house on the left was on fire which prompted me to sketch this in case Future Erin was reading this and miraculously didn’t still have the save view from her window as though she escaped this street in an alternate timeline but I do want to add that THAT TREE IS NO LONGER THERE! It was cut down a few years ago and I almost had a heart attack, I was so upset about it.

Felled Trees & Competitive Vaccinations, a/k/a things that have upset me this past week.

Some things I’m thinking about today:

CARDAMOM BUNS

• Pittsburgh having no good places to get good cardamom cinnamon rolls (spoiled by Scandinavia).

THE BLACK QUEEN

• The Black Queen is touring for the 10th anniversary of Fever Daydream and I got tickets for the Cleveland date in May!

NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE

• Thanks to Chooch, I am fully obsessed with Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol now. I can’t remember that last time I was THIS STOKED on a movie, maybe not since THE PUFFY CHAIR and if you knew me in my mumblecore era, you know that I wanted to wrap myself up in that movie and take it to bed with me. Nirvanna: The Band, The Show, The Movie is doing this same thing to me. I get easily swept up in music but it takes A LOT for me to practically want to join a street team for a fucking movie. This one just really got into that sweet spot of my brain and has been suckling away on my head juices ever since. It’s so niche. It’s such an odd vibe. It is NOT going to hit for everyone. But the jokes landed for me. Even without knowing anything about these guys and their web series from back in the day – I freaking CARED and was so invested.

GO TEAM CANADA

• Olympic hockey has me so stressed out. I am dreading the mens gold medal game tomorrow. I truly dislike the USA team (the Tkachucks can get Tkafucked) and want Team Canada to win so badly because as a Pittsburgher, I’m morally obligated to root for Sidney Crosby and also I just love their team more in general. I thought I would have a hard time rooting for American athletes this time around but so many of them were speaking up and out and I loved that, it was inspirational and made me feel like maybe the rest of the world will hate us less hearing from these athletes that they love their country but not the administration. That helped me retain some semblance of patriotism for the sake of the Olympics.

KID ROCK, INEXPLICABLY

• In the wake of all the Superbowl half time hullaballoo, Chooch was sending me reels making fun of the ToiletPaperUSA redneckpalooza which inspired me to tell him one of the many FUN FACTS about me which he definitely does not consider “fun” nor anything worthy of the definition “fact.” I’m pretty sure his response was just “wow” so I will share it with my ghost friends here on OHE. But all of this KID ROCK bullshit (literally, when has Kid Rock ever been in the news this much, it’s so fucking weird) sparked a shameful memory in me and I felt like I needed to confide in Chooch who clearly did not think this was anything that major….

  It was 1998. I was 18/19 and clearly struggling to find my identity as we all are at that age, sheesh! I was hanging out with guys who honestly fit the bill of date rapists but my red flag reader was not yet fully charged so all I thought was that they were cool and they listened to bands like KORN and LIMP BIZKIT so I did too by association. I actually genuinely liked Korn for a few years, I’m not too cool for school and can be honest about this.

  That autumn, I had gone to this tattoo shop out in Butler, PA (also known as the place where DONALD TRUMP SQUIRTED KETCHUP ON HIS EAR) and befriended (albeit briefly) the tattoo artist / owner and the piercer. They had invited me to the upcoming KORN FAMILY VALUES tour at the Civic Arena but for some reason, I was busy and couldn’t go (I didn’t have a job then so god only knows what my plans were).

  Anyway, when I told Chooch this, I was like, ‘I WAS SO CLOSE TO SEEING KID ROCK BUT LUCKILY I DODGED THAT BULLET, IT DIDN’T EVEN FAKE-GRAZE MY EAR’ but then out of curiosity, I looked up the tour info to see who else was there – AND KID ROCK WAS NOT IN THE LINEUP! I was telling Henry this and he goes, “Yeah, but he was at that one festival we went to in Wisconsin a long time ago” and, panic-stricken, I cried, “WE DIDN’T ACTUALLY SEE HIM THOUGH DID WE??” Henry laughed and said no. W H E W.

That was my Kid Rock story.

Well, that’s all for me today. Back to micromanaging Henry’s bathroom painting project. One of the paint colors is Pink Pout and every time I have complained or whined about something today, Henry has muttered, “You picked the right paint color” LOL. I pouted so hard in the cemetery today that I did my signature teenage brat fast-walking/stamping back to the car while Henry continued his casual gait yards behind me. (I’m also pms’ing so please leave your HENRY IS A SAINT comments to yourself. – Management.)

VALENTINE’S EVE

OMG you will never believe this. Last month, I saw an ad for Romero & Juliet, a Yinzer zombie spin on Romeo & Juliet SET IN 1985 at the Cabaret, so I sent the ticket link to Henry said, “I want to see this” AND HE GOT US TICKETS WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING WHAT IT WAS. He literally asked me the day before, “What is this thing that we’re going to again?” Love that.

I had thought this whole time that this was going to be on Saturday, but it was actually Friday night! So that was annoying, trying to get logged off of work in time to get ready, etc. Of course, right at the end of the time, I got a call from a managing partner who was at the airport about to board a plane and needed me to walk him through engagement letter changes – luckily, he was super nice but it was still moderately stressful because I needed to GO! Then, I didn’t like what I was originally going to wear anymore, and that turned into a clothes-flinging fit of rage in the bedroom.

So then I was like I AM NOT GOING but then stomped downstairs in a back-up outfit and said FINE I WILL GO and then we got downtown and parked and I noticed Henry looking like, you know, Henry, even though this was supposed to be a nice evening out so I took out my own insecurities on him and yelled, “WHY COULDN’T YOU HAVE AT LEAST WORN A SWEATER” and he was like, “I AM wearing a sweater” and I cried. “THAT IS A HENLEY!!!”

Anyway, tl;dr but in the end I was like, “Jesus Christ, can you at least take off your hat??” so he did and then we went inside and it was fine because you know these types of things – some people dress nicely and some wear literal stocking caps like one old man sitting at the drink rail.

Once we got to our table and I had a glass of wine in my paws, I was OK. I think this is mostly just my day job stress making me vomit vitriol at everyone around me and that’s not great. But then I started noticing that everyone seated around us were either there together, like one giant family, or just randomly knew each. Until it started to get really ridiculous as more and more people arrived, exclaiming, “OH HI MARY! HEY CLIFF!” And there were children too, all milling about, greeting people. At first it was annoying because I was still moderately on edge and everything was annoying – like when the parking garage elevator door shut on me because of course it did when there other people getting on the elevator and some lady was like OMG ARE YOU OK instead of just ignoring it like I hoped everyone would, and this also right when I was on the verge on starting a fight with Henry re: the aforementioned fashion fail.

As more and more people filed in to the uproarious salutations from those around us, I started to consider the fact that we were getting punked. Were we accidentally crashing a family reunion at the good ol’ rootin’ tootin’ Cabaret? It got even more stupid when our seat mates in the banquette arrived –  two men who ALSO KNEW THOSE PEOPLE. So now, we were boxed into our banquette by a horde of – not zombies – but strangers who were genuinely amped to see the guys sharing our little booth.

When I finally had the chance to interrupt, I leaned over Henry’s lumbering non-sweatered form and asked the guys in our booth, “Do you guys all work together or something?”

They both chuckled amicably and confirmed, so I laughed too and said, “I was going to say, I feel like an outlier!”

One of the guys goes, “Don’t worry, we’re the outcasts there so you’re sitting at the right table!”

I never found out where they worked, but the guys sitting with us are from Murrysville, which is about 30-40 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. One of them (plus one of the ladies who seemed to be the organizer of the event for their company) has a farm with cows.  They told me it was their first time coming to the city in 12 years. “We never do anything like this!”

Bruh, we live like 5 minutes outside of downtown and also never do anything like this – together, anyway!

“I didn’t even know what to wear,” one of them said, and Henry looked so smug. Fuck off, Henry-in-the-Henley.

I was so intrigued. I should have switched seats with Henry so I could have continued the conversation easily. Somehow Henry picked up that they were brothers. There was a couple in the next banquette down who were all over each other before the thing even started that I am positive there was finger-banging action, and they actually never returned after intermission so my guess is that they either busted fucking in the bathroom or they left to get a room. I mean, everyone knows how Romeo and Juliet ends, regardless of zombies, lol.

Anyway, I just wanted to include all of that because I wound up thinking that whole group was super cute and it made me wish our department did stuff like that. They were nearly as entertaining to observe as the actual show! Especially their co-worker who wore a giant suit because he didn’t what else to wear, and the guys at our booth were making fun of him to his face which made me know for certain that I would easily fit in at this place.

Henry got this East End IPA and I genuinely liked it but was trying to stick to just a glass of wine (I kept stealing sips though ugh).

We weren’t fighting anymore, btw lol. I started laughing in the parking garage stairwell on the way back down to the cabaret after making him take his hat off and he was like, “You are seriously so lucky.” Lucky that what, I’m so freaking adorable and consistently get away with being a shitty little cunt??

Because that’s true.

I kept taking pictures of Henry to send to Chooch, who was thrilled to receive them, I’ll bet.

Henry’s head is so dumb.

Anyway! The show! It was adorable, clever, funny, Yinzer-y, high key political (there was a scene with zombie hunting gestapo-types with machine guns and I whispered, “UGH, ICE!!!!” – felt very relevant, if you know what I mean). My favorite character was the zombie Punx who Juliet was supposed to be beholden to. I knew from the opening number, before he even had a speaking part (I loooved the zombie speak btw) that he was going to be my favorite. I even pointed him out to Henry and drunkenly whisper-slurred, “He’s my favorite; that’s my new Vladimir right there.”

And then he had a solo number and I fucking died. It was hilarious. Incredible. #Obsessed.

Also, Dana from The Pitt should shadow the guy who played Romero’s dad because his Pittsburgh accent was legit.

Ew:

• Henry’s face
• the fact that I recently updated my stupid phone and now my camera is all jacked up
• some city street attendant guy was in the lobby and insisted on taking a picture for us and made us pose this way which was a choice. Appreciated his volunteering though!

So, it ended up being a really nice night and I feel shitty about nearly sabotaging it. I did apologize to Henry, DON’T WORRY, HENRY STANS. Step off!

ACTUAL VALENTINE’S DAY

Penelope cuddles, first and foremost!

Then Henry gifted me with a box of Misaky, the Japanese gem candy! I’ve been wanting to try these.

They were interesting and mostly good but I would never purchase them again, lol.

It was in the 50s that day!!! So we went to Pink Box for some Asian buns and then ate them while strolling through the cemetery, where I spent a large portion of the time getting spammed with texts from Chooch, who went to see Wuthering Heights the night before and HAD THOUGHTS lol. I can’t remember if I mentioned this, but I bought him the AMC A-list membership and he has been getting way more than my money’s worth. He was really glad that he didn’t have to pay to see this one, but admitted that the soundtrack was amazing and was excited to tell me that I would probably cry. He said it ended with a black screen and he could hear people around him sniffling and crying and thought, “Yeah, that would be her.” Lol.

He mentioned that he was going to see Project Hail Mary when it comes out and asked me if I had read it since all I do is read. I actually have NOT – it’s been on my TBR for years but I haven’t actually gotten it from the library yet. He suddenly decided that he needed to read it THAT DAY but was mad because none of the local libraries had copies available. I told him to just go to the nearest book store and we’d put money in his account to buy it, because:

• Valentine’s Day
• OMG HE WANTS TO READ A BOOK

Henry was like, “*FROWN*” because that’s all we do is give him money but I was not backing down on this one. So, he walked to the book store, bought it, finished it today and ACTUALLY REVIEWED IT ON GOODREADS. He said it’s automatically one of his favorite books and he is going to see the movie in IMAX, lol. He cares about things like Dolby and IMAX where I’m just like, “Eh, see if we can just watch it at home…”

But speaking of!

Later that night, Henry and I went to the Hollywood to see Best In Show, as part of the Catherine O’Hara retrospective they’re hosting.

It was in the small basement theater, and it was our first time down there since the theater reopened. In its old state, the basement was a large empty space with bathrooms. Now it’s a whole VIBE.

This is the hallway to the theater room and the bar which has not officially opened yet.

And the small, intimate screening room.

It was nearly sold out and that’s great for the theater but bad for my EARS – the close-range popcorn mastication, the louder-than-they-needed-to-be conversations being spat at the back of my head, the women behind me who kept kicking my seat like we were on a fucking airplane, the lady who laughed SO THEATRICALLY at every other line, sometimes even when the scene was changing and nothing was happening yet, she’d still be LAUGHING, every last note of her raucous guffaws lingering in the air before floating under my skin. I mean it was to the point where I was wondering if she was a plant.

Henry usually doesn’t get bothered by People Being People In Public like I do, but even he was like, “JFC” about The Laugh and the Seat Kickers.

“Oh, they were kicking your seat too? I was like HOW LONG ARE THEIR LEGS??” Henry exclaimed on the walk home.

LOL.

Otherwise, great night though. Great movie.

VALENTINE SUNDAY

Sunday was pretty gloomy – the sky was Pittsburgh Gray and damp. But! It was still a great day because I had brunch with Sandy and Nate at Margeaux! I hadn’t seen Sandy since over the summer because I had to bail on the last brunch last fall due to me having a panic attack that morning, what else is new.

I want to state for the record that the people behind the counter made me feel so welcome and also kind of popular when I arrived because I was being TOTALLY ERIN by whirling up to the counter in a wind tunnel of nervous energy, and asking, “I HAVE TWO OTHER PEOPLE COMING IS IT OK TO SIT AT THAT TABLE?” The barista was like, “OMG yes, please!” and I felt like she giving psychic head pats with her soothing tone. Immediately calmer!

(But seriously, none of us had ever been there before and some places are assholes when it comes to taking a table before your full party arrives, looking at you PAMELA’S.)

I did order a latte though so the optics were better. I wanted to maple cinnamon latte but she was like, “Oh we actually don’t have that one now – we have *jhsdkjjdalsfj;lf*” Literally, a commotion bomb went off at the exact moment she said what the special was and I had ordering anxiety so I just said, “That’s fine, with oatmilk please.”

“I’ll bring it out to you – I know where you’re sitting!” she said super jovially like I WAS A REGULAR and I was super big-headed over this. I told Nate this when he arrived and he goes, “Well, to be fair, it’s not really that big in here.”

UGH!

Then another barista brought the latte over to me and said, “Pecan spice latte” as she set it down.

“Oh good, now I know what I ordered!” I said to Nate.

Once Sandy arrived, we all went back up to order our food. I will say this: not a place to go when you’re really hungry / meeting friends for brunch and plan to stay awhile because the portions are SMALL. The plates are TINY. We were done eating within minutes. Nate got a breakfast sandwich and it was child-sized.

My avocado toast was great but I was still hungry after it. Sandy was also still hungry. “I was going to order something in addition to the toast but she told me one item would be enough!” Sandy said incredulously. Sorry, we’re GenX and we want real meals!

So, Nate went back up and ordered two plates of the liege waffles for us to share and that was actually the move because not only were they delectable, but after eating one, my hunger was fully sated and I was quickly entering “stuffed” territory.

But we all agreed that it was a nice place, just now we know to order two things in order to build a full meal, lol.

Oh and don’t worry, in case you thought I was off my Dana’s Accent shit, Sandy and I commiserated in our mutual annoyance.

“Yeah and then we just found out in the lash episode that she’s from Bloomfield, so not even a transplant!” Sandy cried, before launching in her disbelief that not only has one character been stressing over the deposition she has to give that day (THE FOURTH OF JULY?!), never would there be a 4th of July parade in MILLVALE involving motorcycle stunts.

C’mon, The Pitt. Do better. N’at. (Ugh I would never actually say that, btw.)

That was pretty much the main thing that happened on Sunday. The rest of the day was for relaxing, book-reading, and then Henry and I watched “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You” which was…interesting. I actually don’t know if I liked it or not, but Rose Byrne gave me big anxiety with her performance so that’s something.

Buhbye!

My God-tier Pittsburgh brewery posted on their IG story a few weeks ago about an event they were hosting with Self-Reliant Seitan (a woman-owned purveyor of vegan deli meats). Basically, a small bites pairing with small pours of Lolev beers. I immediately showed Henry and said, “We’re going.” Not a question. Not seeking permission. Tickets purchased straight away.

So, that’s where we were this past Thursday and it was the best time. (Ignore Henry’s blank face here; he was probably still mad because my new thing when he tries to sass me is to say, “Calm down, Pam Bondi.” I was going to say ‘if the shoe fits’ but hers are probably custom-made for her devil hooves.)

The spread! Do you know how hard it was to sit with this in front of me, waiting for the first pour to arrive? It was extremely hard for me but apparently the lady next to us had even less will power because she devoured the whole plate before it even started. But my resistance paid off because it was really fun and interesting to taste how complementary each beer was with the bite it was paired with. I guess this is how all of the normal people felt all those years ago at the Bigelow Grille vegetarian dinner with East End Brewery beers while I was dramatically gagging and acting like my palate was being dissolved by acid.

LOOK HOW FAR BABY HAS COME.

Aside from Henry and me, there were 7 other people there, so it was a nice, small group and allowed us ample time to talk to Emily of Self-Reliant Seitan, and the host, Amani who I recognized from the other times we’ve gone to Lolev and it was so nice chatting with her! Not to brag but I feel like she came over to our table more than the others AND she gave us two extra pours at the end of the night; I felt like teacher’s pet!

And Emily was very sweet and informative – the seitan really sells itself once you taste it, but she me even more inspired to buy some before we left. She doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar store yet but sells at various farmers markets and pop-ups so I told her that we will for sure be seeking her out while Chooch is home for spring break because I know he would also love this and I would like to send him back to Philly with some food anyway so why not super delicious locally-made seitan by a woman-and-queer-owned business?! Love to support ventures like this.

LOL. He mumbled “thanks” when he glanced over and saw that I’m including this picture. Cry about it, P-Bondi.

OK, now let’s get into the beer and bites! I am going to tell you right now that I can’t choose a favorite bite – I was obsessed with all of them. But there was a clear winner with the beer.

First up, we had Edo – a Japanese rice lager, paired with a chicken cordon bleu bite. Bro, I could have done with a chicken cordon bleu plate-sized serving, but am grateful for the bite. It was freaking delicious – I asked the resident meat-eater here and he said that taste-wise, he could barely tell it wasn’t real, except for the texture. For me, having not eaten meat since 1996, I was actually nervous that I was eating real meat.

(Henry just said, “Obviously I liked her products, or I wouldn’t have bought any!” This is true – he was pretty gung-ho to buy some that night!)

Also, Henry was laughing because we got there early so we each got a half-pour to nurse while waiting and I was like, “UGH what if I ending up getting one of the 4 that are going to be served later?” and of course the beer I chose was literally the first one on the list for the night, lol. Good thing I liked it!

Kara and Chris ended up not being able to make it, so I zoomed in on their plates, sitting sadly on a counter. :( We missed them!

Next, Kamo II and a sausage & mustard cream pastry. I swapped out one of my halves for one on Henry’s plate that was bigger LOL. You know when you’re left wanting more, it’s freaking good. Henry said this one definitely tasted real to him.

THIS WAS MY FAVORITE BEER! Zeus, a sweet IPA thing. I liked every beer that night (because, Lolev) but this one seriously sent me. It’s what I want in an IPA. And this salami and cheese cracker thing made me want to have a get-together in the worst way because I’d love to wait for my friends to start chewing and then scream IT’S ALL VEGAN, BITCHES!

I’m a light-weight.

OK this was the show-stopper. The ultimate pairing – a wrapped stuffed date and Demeter, a maple bourbon-y barely wine that had me feeling like I could breathe fire. Strong AF and not something I could drink on its own on a normal day, but it legitimately was perfecto with this wrapped date. Such a smart duo!

Henry has referenced this wrapped date bite numerous times since then so I think it’s safe to say we know who he’s thinking about as I write this on this Valentine’s Day, lol.

Of course, we had to take a picture to send to Chooch who was like, “wow you’re so cool” lol.

Amani told us that she’s organizing a local Mexican chocolate and beer pairing next month so I will be on the lookout for that one too!

Also! When I was in the bathroom, there was a CALL TO ACTION poster in the stall because Iroh, the MATCHA LAGER, is no longer in production and there was a QR code to scan to help bring it back. I didn’t have my phone in there with me, so when I came back to the table, I asked Amani about it and she said she was the one who made that poster because she’s adamant about getting the brewers to bring it back! When we were there in October, the bartender said that it was seasonal and usually comes back around St. Patrick’s Day since it’s green, so I was really anticipating that happening this year since that beer seriously had me considering changing my name to Iroh, startin an Iroh cult, writing an Iroh manifesto. I was obsessed. Anyway, I will actually cry if it doesn’t come back, but Amani said she thinks she’s making progress and that hopefully it will be back in action for the chocolate event. PRAY FOR US, EVERYONE.

What a nice evening! Of course, I was just drunk enough to trauma-dump on Henry the whole way home but he’s used to it. I have a few drinks and start ranting about my family. Who doesn’t!?

Everything sucks but carving out time to do things like this is worth it. Otherwise, we’d have been sitting at home, fuming over Pam Bondi, the Epstein Files, ICE, and that fucking piece of rotten shit jackhammering our country to hell. Sorry, it’s just always heavy on my mind.

Anyway – if you live in or near Pittsburgh:

• go to Lolev and knock back a Zeus
• buy Self-Reliant Seitan, make a sandwich, and eat it while reading my blog lol

My friend Kristy invited me to this cool Black History Month Beer Release at Burghers last night and I think an Erin from another time would have found a reason to flake because it was one day notice and on a work night and honestly what goes on up there in my head, the mental gymnastics I perform sometimes to make stupid excuses to not do things.

But I haven’t seen Kristy in years and our last plans were legitimately postponed because it was the day after I had that stomach bug  two weeks ago and I genuinely still felt like shit plus, was I contagious?? Maybe! And also, I had to do a presentation yesterday at work for a semi-large group of people and I knew that having something to look forward to later (that involved alcohol, which I would definitely be wanting) would help me get through it. I’m just no good with these types of things (don’t worry – I had therapy an hour afterward and my therapist was prepared to talk me off a ledge lol).

God, it was so nice to sit with an old friend and drink a beer that I ACTUALLY REALLY ENJOYED! It was a Black IPA called Roots & Resilience, and it was dedicated to all the impactful Black Pittsburghers. I also got to meet Kristy’s friend Marcus who is the first Black licensed brewer in the city!

Kristy writes for Pittsburgh Magazine and asked me some questions about my road to beer-liking for an article she’s writing, and that was so exciting for me! It also made me realize that the narcissistic Leo in me could do a presentation at work with NO WORRIES OR STRESS at all if the subject matter was ME. How pathetic am I.

Anyway, we talked about EVERYTHING bugging us and hoo boy, was it cathartic while also still being really fun. It has always been easy to talk to her, no walls, and it didn’t feel like it had been 10 years (??!!) since we last saw each other. I have to be better.

I came home feeling so happy and like a giant weight was lifted – I guess I didn’t realize how much I really needed deep, soul-baring conversation and I hope it helped her too.

P.S. she made me this adorable little Jeeter from Kennywood holding a beer!

P.P.S. the second beer I had last night was an Italian thing that Kristy recommended and it was totally refreshing. I think now that I have been here twice, I’m putting Burghers in my top 3 local brewery!

P.P.P.S. we were talking about the first time we met in person and it’s worth sharing on here again because it was so random and sums up our friendship perfectly, LOL.

How to Die in the Event of a Rape

I just realized after my last book recap that I didn’t share my top books of 2025! I think I usually do 10 but I honestly don’t know if there were 10 clear picks for this past year.

As I probably mentioned before, I generally do not purchase books because I have TOO MUCH STUFF. But one day I hope to have enough space for a big ol’ bookshelf. That being said, one of the criteria for me giving a book 5 stars is: if I had a bookshelf, would I purchase this book? These are all big ass YESES. Other criteria:

• did the writing style itself blow me away while simultaneously making me jealous that I didn’t write it?
• did it have unforgettable characters?
• would I recommend this to anyone?
• did I completely crumble emotionally?

In no particular order, these all met that criteria:

1. Things Don’t Break on Their Own by Sarah Easter Collins

Big thanks to my friend Lindsey for recommending this one to me, it was fantastic. I love thrillers but very rarely do I find any 5 stars in that genre, but give it a literary fiction bent and now we’re talking. I thought this was beautifully written, with a dual timeline that kept me guessing.

2. The Wedding People by Alison Espach

I felt like I was INSIDE of this book the entire time I was reading it, found myself sneaking chapters when I was working, literally HEARING these characters speaking in my head. I never wanted it to end. It was authentically funny but also made me sob.

3. I See You’ve Called in Dead by John Kenney

I remember having no idea really what this book was about but the audiobook was available and I needed something to listen to on my walks. This book was so FUNNY and engaging right off the bat that I probably could have walked all day into the night until it was finished. Quirky, original, but also very heartbreaking and real. I laughed out loud while crying at the same time. That is talented writing.

4. My Friends by Fredrik Backman

I mean, it’s Fredrik Backman. If you don’t already know then you better teach yourself.

5. Heart the Lover by Lily King

So…Lily King. Her writing makes me feel so fanatical that I start getting really crazy thoughts, like, “I SHOULD GET THIS BOOK COVER TATTOOED ON MY RIBS” – these are the unhinged I NEED TO DO THE MOST type of ideas I generally reserve for bands of which I AM THE #1 FAN, NOTICE ME. I finished this book, was sobbing, and felt so frantic like I needed to send smoke signals or shoot flares into the sky to announce my having finished an incredible book AND I JUST GAVE IT 5 STARS, PITTSBUGH PEOPLE WONDERING WHY THERE ARE GAS STATION PARKING LOT-PURCHASED FIRECRACKERS EXPLODING ON PIONEER AVE.  I mean, I was practically PANTING AND RIPPING THE NECKLINE OF MY SHIRT, my need to wail about this book akin to a full moon for a lycanthrope. It is so – FUCK. It is just so good.

Anyway, those are my top 5 books from 2025. Let me know which ones had you howling at the moon last year!

I hate winter.

1. The Psychopath Next Door by Mark Edwards

Pleasantly surprised with this one! Dual POVs, kept me turning the pages, and I of course loved the Cure references (the dad owns a record shop!). Sometimes it feels like “you read one psychological thriller, you read ’em all” but the plot of this one was fresh and the end was pretty awesome, ngl. I gotta check out more of his books now to see if this guy is a one-trick pony or what.

2. Middle Spoon by Alejandro Varela

I listened to this epistolary book on audio and it held my interest for about 1/3, maybe even a 1/2, but it became insufferable. I appreciated the polyamory rep, but it was hard to relate to and care about the main character, who we’re following from his POV through emails he’s writing but not sending to his ex-boyfriend. He was EXTREMELY whiny and difficult to root for – fuck it, I was rooting for his husband to leave his ass, honestly. Not the worst book but it does become pretty grating.

3. A New New Me by Helen Oyeyemi

This might have been my least favorite Oyeyemi book :( I still adore her brain and her ability to churn out the most original and bizarre stories but this one was almost a chore to read. Each chapter was a different day  and a different personality of the main character, Kinga. Hard to explain, but each new day starts with the next Kinga trying to figure out what predicament the previous Kinga put them in, except make it SUPER LITERARY. This author bends my brain in ways not even MATH does. Nothing but love for her but god help me if anyone ever asks me to recap any of her books because all I will be able to tell you is how each one made me feel while reading it.

Wow, did I sell this or what.

4. The Story That Cannot Be Told by J. Kasper Kramer

Margie asked me what this was about when I was reading it and I said, “Well, it’s a middle grade book about a young girl in Bucharest during the Communist regime in 1989 and her parents send her away to rural Romania to live with her grandparents because her Uncle published stories criticizing the govt and now the whole family is being surveilled.”

Margie was like, “Oh.”

I read such uplifting fluff!

But yeah, for a middle grade book, this was heavy.

5. An Evil Premise by T. Marie Vandelly

Do not recommend the audio book for this one and honestly it ruined my experience to the point where I truly don’t know if I would have liked the story if I had read a physical copy of it. I loved her other book so much but this one was fell flat for me and seemed really long, too. I think my expectations were too high because her book Theme Music blew me away. This is also horror but it didn’t get under my skin at all (except for that narrator!!!) and I also had a had time following along at times because it’s about a woman who is trying to finish her sister’s horror book while her sister is in the hospital, and there were times when I was like, “Wait, is this the book, or this really happening?” and then I realized that I didn’t really care.

6. That’s Not How It Happened by Craig Thomas

OK but speaking of audio books – THIS ONE WAS EVERYTHING. The book and the narration – 5 fucking stars. First of all, it’s written by the co-creator of How I Met Your Mother and Colbie Smulders and Josh Radnor are two of the narrators. EXCEPTIONAL. The book is about a woman who writes a book about being the mother of a son with Down syndrome, and years later it’s getting turned into a movie. Hilarity and frustration ensue. You get chapters from the mom, dad, brother, and sister and they are all very real, flawed characters that I latched on to so hard. It is so funny but also had me crying. 100% recommended (audio if you’re into it!).

7. Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane

Dang son, two 5-star books in a row. I don’t normally give super high ratings to rom-com but Mhairi McFarlane is the exception. This is my third McFarlane and she is immaculate vibes all around. She writes such real characters, the dialogue is snappy, and the romance is not cloying or forced. I cried. A lot.

8. Feast While You Can by Mikaella Clements

I did not enjoy this at all and don’t feel like writing anything about it. The colors of the cover are so good though.

9. Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley

Oh, I had such high hopes for this! It was somehow a Goodreads Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Horror but it was cheesy and had no horror vibes as far as I’m concerned.

10. The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison

And then this book landed in my lap and made up for the two previous duds! Our main character is on some hit TV series, is pretty blah about her life, and books an impromptu flight to a little village in Ireland where she was supposed to go to college but ended up staying in Florida for school. Once she arrives there, she gets to see what her life would have been like if she had chosen differently and it was such so warm and pure, a perfect read during the frigid winter season. I really liked this more than I thought I would.

11. Thirteens (Thirteens, #1) by Kate Alice Marshall

This was cute and fun – made me wish I knew a kid that I could buy this series for! I don’t think I’ll continue on past this one but it was a fun read while I was waiting for other books to land in my library.

12. The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1) by Freida McFadden

OK I caved. The audio was on Hoopla and I was in between reads so I dove in, completely expecting to hate it. Look – I’m not saying this was some literary wonder, but it was actually entertaining! It kept my interest held and I finished it in about a day. Nothing groundbreaking here but if you hate men like I do, it was satisfying. I can see why this is so popular but I don’t think I will continue on.

13. Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston

Mid.

14. The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

I started out really enjoying this but then I got a stomach virus in the middle of it so now when I think about it I just feel really gross and sick. So by the end, I just wanted it to be over. It’s pretty repetitive because the whole point is that this dude keeps getting sent back in time to make sure this lady-knight does what she needs to do.

15. It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan

Nothing too groundbreaking here, just a cute hate-to-love romance. I enjoyed it for what it is.

16. Morsels by Abe Moss

1 star so stupid, one of the worst books I’ve ever read.

17. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

No surprise here, this book was the 2025 darling and it’s no wonder why. Five stars, couldn’t put it down but also didn’t want to turn the page at  times because I knew my heart would break. The animal and climate change parts broke me as I knew they would (I read this author’s book “Migrations” and it was similarly environmental and too heavy for this bleeding heart lib) but also the people in this book. Oh,  the Salt family. Rowan. I will never forget them. This book is so quiet and mysterious, I don’t know what else to say about it other than it left me crying out loud on Saturday while Henry was at the store and I was suddenly so aware of my loneliness. Oh, this could end up being one of my top books of the year and we’re only one month in.

That’s all. Three 5 stars in one month is not too bad though!

I am going absolutely stir crazy in this house. I typically go for at least 2 walks a day (like a dog) but there are still large swathes of sidewalks out here that haven’t been shoveled, and I don’t feel like climbing over snowbanks with my fragile bones that I feel could snap at any given moment. #ageing

We spent most of the weekend…well, it feels like we did nothing. Henry primed the bathroom walls. We watched the Michelle Obama documentary to get it back into Netflix’s Top 10 (it was #6 last time I checked, fuck you Melania), and also Weapons which I had wanted to see for a while yet somehow had absolutely no idea what it was actually about so that was cute. I finally finished recapping our Romania trip to the applause and accolades of no one (not even myself lol). I read a lot and exercised even more.

Have I mentioned that I absolutely hate winter?

Luckily, I have actual plans lined up for the next several weeks and I’m thankful for the excuse to leave the house and the chance to see some of my friends.

Relatedly, Henry and I never do anything for Valentine’s Day because:

1. we’re not that couple
2. we’re apathetic AF

But this year, we have not one BUT TWO Valentine plans! I’m pretty excited. One of them is on 2/12 and it’s a beer and seitan pairing at my favorite local brewery, Lolev. Then on actual Valentine’s Day, we’re going to the Cabaret for Romero & Juliet, a zombie spin of Romeo & Juliet obvz.

No Kpop concerts on the horizon (yet, fingers crossed!) so sadly people won’t get the chance to remind me on here that they don’t like Kpop. But I have been throwing some regular old concert suggestions at Henry, trying to see what will stick. So far, we just have The Midnight in April but there are some others I’ve been slobbering on about, so we’ll see what will happen. I’m bored AF.

This is one of the shows I want to go to! It’s at a venue that Henry likes because he sit comfortably at the bar so I think I might have him sold on this one at least.

I read 17 books in January! I think my record was 20 but I still had no idea I read so much last month. That’s not saying too much though because a lot of them were trash. Recap forthcoming!

I miss Chooch and Drew every day. My brain (heart?) still hasn’t accepted that one doesn’t live here anymore and the other is never coming back. It’s a very sad and strange state of limbo. I can’t read old blog posts about Drew still, have to scroll by super quick, but my favorite “I need to take a 5 minute break from my job before I flip my desk” past time is reading old stuff about Chooch. This one from 2016 made me laugh:

People Feature #4: That Riley Kid

This also made me want to bring back my People Feature series except that I would have to talk to people.

You know that I really truly love my son with my whole entire heart because when the Seahawks won their last game thing, I was so genuinely happy because that is Chooch’s favorite football team. I don’t like football at all but he does and I will never diminish that joy and even happily bought him a Seahawks Superbowl jersey (Henry was Daddy Frownsalot when he saw how much I paid and said, “Glad he knows to come to you for these things” LOL)  I love that he has not just grown into his own person but has ALWAYS been his own person because Henry and I have always given him space to like his own things and not just robotically go along liking all the things I like, because who needs a Mini Erin in this world?? Plus, he likes Bad Bunny a lot too (or at least used to) so I will happily be doing the Superbowl this year in solidarity with Chooch’s interests and also to support Bad Bunny and the ANTIFA agenda, obviously. (And Green Day, who I have admittedly never been a fan of but LOVE their outspoken politicalness, so let’s gooooo!!)

Plus, fuck that other team and their Trump-sucking owner.

Mostly my life lately has been centered around hating MAGA, having heart palpitations over all the ICE brutality, feeling like my rage is going to cause an earthquake. I will never forgive nor forget anyone who voted for this whether they have changed their stance or not. This was not a surprise. We told you this would happen. Fuck you.

That’s all I’ve got for now. My blogging compulsion made me log on and type words for the sake of typing words.

Now that we’re into FEBRUARY, and this trip was in OCTOBER, I think it’s time to just blast through the rest of this or else my sentimental tendencies will just keep prolonging the inevitable.

I was finally feeling like mostly myself again so I was stoked when we accidentally walked by a famous bakery that I’ve been following on Instragram for years! We were actually starting to walk the opposite direction but there was YET ANOTHER “Fast Car” cover playing near the entrance and when I walked closer to Shazam it for Chooch (we hate “Fast Car,” all versions), I was like, “OH WAIT, it’s the bakery!”

Honestly, I wanted everything. But we specifically needed to get Prajitura cu Prune, which is like a cake-y dumpling thing with a whole plum inside. That’s what they’re famous for and there was ONLY ONE LEFT AND WE GOT IT. We were the only people in there at first, but as we were ordering, it started to fill up FAST and then a tour group came in too and I heard the guide telling them about the prune things and that sadly they were all out! I felt bad but also, we bought one, not dozens so not our fault!

We also got two pies – one was apple and one was cherry (I think??). I thought I was way more ready to pig out but once we took everything back to the room, I could only tolerate a small bite of each.

Honestly, it’s finny now being so many months on the other side of it, but those last few days there were wild for me. I can’t remember if I mentioned this, but I was having a really weird period too, where it was like, “Here I am, just kidding, no really, hello I’m here” for two days before ACTUALLY arriving in a deluge (sorry to any male / non-menstruating readers out there lol), then I got that stomach thing at the same time, so I was in some type of hell. At one point, we had passed some sketchy looking tattoo shop in an alley, so I motioned toward it and said, “Maybe I should try to add a staph infection to my growing ailments while we’re here.”

This area was so cute and quirky!

The rest of Saturday was spent shopping (I was on a mad search for something cool for Chooch) and looking for a post office / mailbox to mail the last three post cards I had. I think this was a 30,000+ step day because I was frantic to SEE EVERYTHING and NOT WASTE A SINGLE SECOND.

Henry was annoyed for the people who live here and have their windows blocked by a gigantic banner ad.

We finally stopped at an Eyfel to get some diffusers to bring home as gifts. I asked the girl working there which one is the most popular and she goes, in a VERY ANNOYED, CANNOT BE BOTHERED huff, “There is not just one.” Then she came out from behind the counter and silently pulled forward the 4 top scents and retreated without a word, LOL.

We ended up getting 4, one for both of our moms, Sue, and Margie. I instantly regretted not getting any for us. This stuff was EVERYWHERE in Romania and smelled so good. Our guest rooms had them, restaurant bathrooms, etc. Of course, then I came home and saw that you can buy it on Amazon, so….cool. Sigh.

We walked by a sidewalk flea market type thing happening and I was like, “Let’s just take a look…” It was mostly old jewelry and clothes, but there was one vendor selling KPOP PHOTO CARDS and I was so tempted to buy one (they had a bunch of Enhypen) but then I got distracted by the next vendor who had several racks of original streetwear-ish t-shirts. A Tyler the Creator shirt was in the front so that caught my eye and inspired me to start digging through the rack and that’s when I found THE GIFT for Chooch:

He loves Frank Ocean. You can’t tell, but the face is actually puffy, like it was sewn on separately. Plus, it was MADE IN ROMANIA and that was the most important thing. This picture was from a week after we came home and went to see him in Philly. <3 I would love to take Chooch to Romania someday! I’m glad that Henry and I took this trip as a duo because you know, we gotta learn to spread our wings and fly (lol) and we did have such a great time traveling together….but, I really missed Chooch.

Even though now we know he’s the catalyst, since Henry and I actually managed to get along 90% of the time in Romania. A MIRACLE.

More Bucharest facades.

View from our guest room. We stopped back to drop off our bags, eat our baked goods, and sit for a minute. I am happy to report that there was no more puking on the agenda for me.

Shared mirror in the hallway. My smile was a real smile and not a grimace for the first time in 2 days.

We went back in the evening, on the prowl for fries. Fries are a big deal in Romania and there are several really popular fast food chain options.

<3’d all the cats we saw along the way!

We settled on Cartofisserie (cartof means potato in Romanian, don’t say you didn’t learn anything from my wildly unpopular Romanian blog series) and it did not disappoint.

This is how I knew I was feeling better – I practically fought Henry to the death over the last fries in the box. I could have easily beasted the whole thing on my own, honestly. But yeah, hot and salty carbs after days of barely eating – nothing better than that.

Cartofferie also has a wide array of sauces you can add to your order and each one we chose was a hit.

I want to go back and eat these fries all over again, please and thanks. Ugh.

The famous Stavropoleos Monastery.

Super small and a tour group was filing in as we were trying to get back out so it was pretty claustrophobic. So beautiful though.

Creepy!

I loved the shape of this building.

We stopped at Vice Cream – another indication that I was feeling better! I had pistachio but then made Henry go back down and get a scoop of the rice pudding & raisin flavor to share – IT WAS SO GOOD.

There was a guy set up on the streets of Old Town taking pictures of people walking for this cute souvenir paper. Of course I was like WE HAVE TO DO THIS and were probably the only people who actually approached him rather than him trying to lure subjects over. I was like, “YES, US PLEASE, DO US NEXT” lol. I thought this was so cute!

We also went back to one of the gift shops from the day before because I was whining about the religious section that I wanted so desperately to buy something from. Henry was very “mmmmm” about this but I got my way. The hardest part was trying to choose just one to bring home, but I eventually settled on this one which is currently on display* in our religious bathroom:

*(This is a lie – after I took this picture, Henry went in and took everything off the walls in the bathroom because “we’re” painting the walls gold.)

One last look at the Parliament building while out scouting for a mailbox, lol. I am seriously so lame. Henry was just like, ‘YOU AND THESE FUCKING POSTCARDS.”

Our last Luca :( Then it was time to go back to the room so “we” could finish packing. We had to leave around 3AM the next morning and that was not great, and the whole travel day was exhausting with very little positive moments other than the most important one – making it home safely. Henry and I were not speaking at all by the time our last connecting flight happened lol.

We never did find a mailbox but our host told Henry that we could just leave the postcards on the table and they’d take them to the post office for us the following Monday – so nice! And they did it too because all of the recipients have since received their post card. :)

Aside from the health stuff & flight delays, the actual Romania portion of the trip was superb. 10/10. Renting a car was 100% the way to go. The countryside was the stuff dreams are made of. Most of the interactions we had with people were wonderful. Obsessed with the music. To be quite honest, it still doesn’t feel like we were really there and I am so grateful that Henry helped me make this happen after pining over this country for most of my life.

My favorite place was hands down Sighisoara. Wish we had more time in Cluj-Napoca. Need a Brasov do-over after getting sick! I’d love to go back and do a road trip in another region, see the Danube and the Black Sea. This was not a one-and-done for me!

Henry’s last words: “I enjoyed it immensely and would go back.” This is why we don’t have a YouTube channel, you guys. It would just be me jawing off with Henry grunting his annoyances in the background.

Here’s the last video compilation. Sigh. Thanks to anyone who followed along with these drawn-out recaps.

I think I mentioned this already but we made Chooch sign up for a student HBO account so I could watch Heated Rivalry (lol it’s so good and I would like to add that those two actors have way more palpable chemistry than Emily* has had with ANY guy they pair her up with in Paris OR Rome!!) but then Henry and I started watching The Pitt because Chooch told us to and I am always doing what he says because I so desperately want him to think I’m cool and to have things in common with him.

*(Soft swerve, but I’m officially over with Emily in Paris. It’s the same shit, different city!)

I will admit – I HATED THE FIRST EPISODE. And not just because I’m queasy and have to spend most of the time looking away when it’s a medical show, but I thought the writing was corny AF. I think I was just hypercritical from the start though because this is a Pittsburgh based show and I was ready to sit on my throne and judge. But then after the first 2 episodes, I started warming up to some of the characters and became sucked in. It just wasn’t instant. Sometimes, you gotta let these things sink in organically you know?

Anyway, in honor of Friday, here are 5 things that I had to say now that we’re caught up and into season 2:

1. JESSE

Hi, hello. This is the best character on the whole damn show. I told Chooch and he said, “WHO” because if we’re being real, Jesse is kind of an NPC but if you really watch him in the background, he is generally the only one who is giving a believable medical performance. When I googled him to find a picture to send to Chooch after his rude “WHO” response, I learned that the guy who plays Jesse is actually a real nurse, so this makes so much more sense!

2. Posh McDonalds

There is this one storyline with a patient who is trying to hide the fact that she’s unhoused and she says something about McDonald’s who cares why, and the doctor (WHO IS ON TO HER, BTW) tricks her by saying, “Wow, the McDonald’s must be really nice where you live in Shadyside, huh?” because she has Shadyside as her address and that’s like, one of THOSE areas. I whipped my head around to gape at Henry and yelled, “AS IF SHADYSIDE EVEN HAS A MCDONALD’S!” I mean, correct me if I’m wrong any local readers, but I don’t think they do!? And even if they did, it would probably still suck. Maybe I’m just being bitch eating crackers over here, but that annoyed me. (Mostly because the doctor who says this is one of my least favorite characters on the show – SHE IS SO ANNOYING GO BACK TO ACTING WITH CHUCKY.)

3. EDGEFest

The first episode of the second season of The Pitt opens to a song by a local Pgh band called THE CLARKS. As far as local bands go, it could be worse. But they’re actually not too bad and have been around for—at least the 90s? In 1997, I was working at Olan Mills as a telemarketer and the morning shift manager always had our classic rock station playing so to this day, if I hear The Clarks’ “Penny on the Floor,” I immediately hear Linda singing it with robust bravado.

But The Clarks story I want to tell here today – it isn’t that great because I told a work friend on Teams the other day and she was like OK – is about the time in the early 00s when Henry and I went to Buffalo, NY for a music festival called Edgefest. (Their alt radio station was/is The Edge. Come on, guys, try to keep up.) I had gone several times and I want to say the big draw for me this particular year was The Tea Party. I had never seen them before and they alone were worth the drive. The Clarks were also in the lineup for that year’s Edgefest, so good for them! Always nice to see a local band getting some out-of-town love.

I bought an Edgefest t-shirt and had gotten some of other bands there to sign it (sadly, I’m not even sure I still have this shirt…), so I had it in my arms when Henry and I were walking up a hill only to run smack into Scott, The Clarks frontman. I wouldn’t really call myself a fan by any means but I felt compelled to show him some hometown love so as he about to pass by, I stopped him and said we were from Pittsburgh. I remember him being very nice and offering to sign my shirt because he misunderstood me and thought that we had come to Edgefest JUST for The Clarks. I didn’t have the heart to correct him though – he such a nice guy!

Before I close the loop on #3, I want to go back to that Season 2 opener because in addition to being soundtracked by The Clarks, the scene also has Noah Wyle riding a motorcycle to work behind a pick-up truck with American flags billowing in the breeze. UGH. “Great now everyone thinks Pittsburgh is MAGA,” I cried to Henry. We do have the distinction of being about an hour away from the site of the fabricated assassination attempt, though.

Anyway, this was the song that played in The Pitt:

4. Excuse me, what accent now?

The head nurse lady, Dana, is another one of my favorite characters and I think the actor that plays her is so great in this role. But….well. She has this accent, right? It was really bothering me all during season 1, and I would say out loud, “WHAT ACCENT IS THAT??” I eventually settled on fishing town in Maine. But then last night, I was like, “No, this is ridiculous, I need to know” because she doesn’t talk like that in real life. So I Googled “Dana The Pitt accent” thinking maybe her character’s backstory has her moving to Pittsburgh for college from Boston, I don’t fucking know, you know how they usually have backstories online somewhere. But instead, a Reddit thread came up and you guys.

Hold on, I have to compose myself.

You guys. According to the comments….

….it’s supposed to be….

…a Pgh accent. Like, a Yinzer dialect.

Um. As someone who was born and raised here, that is NOT that. Like, not even close. Henry sent me a video from her on the Today Show where she was talking about her struggle to learn it (I don’t doubt that it’s a struggle because as I mentioned, I was born and raised here but JUST FAR OUT ENOUGH IN THE ‘BURBS that I managed to avoid picking up one for myself and I cannot for the life of me imitate it) and whoever the fuck was interviewing her said, “Well, you nailed it.”

No, I’m sorry, no offense to this actor and her skills but she didn’t nail anything because whatever accent she came up with does not send chills down my spine like a true Yinzer accent does.

5. ADDITIONAL SUNDRY

• Guy who has a table tennis tournament in South Park doesn’t say South Park like how someone here would say South Park.
• A guy chokes on broccoli at PAMELA’S DINER which is one of my favorite places to have breakfast with Jeannie and Wendy. Really, they had to drag Pamela’s like that??
• DR. LANGDON
• I feel like they reference New Castle more than is necessary.
• Annoying Primanti’s shout out.
• I’m pretty sure they refer to the T as “the train” at one point too and we do not do that here. Trolley? Sure. Train or subway? Never.

OK, you’re dismissed. If anyone needs a Pgh expert to advise on Pgh projects, you know where to find me. (Unless it involves questions about the Steelers, the Pirates, the Steel Industry, the rivers, directions…)

Slowly getting to through the camera photos from our Romania trip. I simultaneously am so relieved to almost be wrapping up these recaps but also – so sad. It really was one of the best times of my life and I will never forget it! (How can I with a vacation journal, 1000 pictures, and approximately 75 blog posts about it? Yes, I know – I’m exhausting. Try being me!!)

Anyway, these are the only pictures from Sighisoara we took with the camera, mostly just of the cemetery and the cafe where I got the best pie of my freaking life!

<3 you, Sighisoara!

We were just watching some travel YouTuber’s video the other night of the best/cheapest places to travel in Europe in 2026 and Sighisoara was on his list. I was happy but also like bro, don’t tell everyone the secret!

This was right outside the entrance to the cemetery.

The Scholar’s Steps from above! I loved those steps.

Cemeteries are basically my whole personality.

OK back to listening to the Pens game on my phone!

With no concerts on the near horizon and a whole-ass swathe of boring winter ahead of us, Henry and I have started planning out some day trips / culture days. He found out that the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg is free (the best way to get Henry out to a museum, btw) so that’s where we headed Saturday morning after a quick stop at Pigeon Bagels for a carby breakfast.

Anyway, we were the first ones there right at opening! I love being FIRST. ME FIRST.

We spent 2 whole hours there which went by super quickly. Here is a collection of my favorite paintings and moments.

This immersive exhibit was called Steel Valley Visions. It shows the rise and fall of Pittsburgh’s steel industry.

Bambi. :(

(That was Drew’s nickname.)

!!!Obviously!!!

Then there was the cabinet full of fraktur (manuscript art of the Pennsylvanian Germans) and I had to open every single drawer much to Henry’s chagrin. I think there were about 60 drawers, lol. But there was barely anyone else there even at this point so I didn’t feel rushed and wanted to slow down and look at everything, which isn’t always a luxury you’re given at the more popular, crowded museums. Those are the ones where I get museum fatigue real quick.

Anyway, I was mostly obsessed with making fun of the art on these. It was so rudimentary! The ones with the angels looked like they were “courtesy of Mrs. Bennington’s preschool class” I swear to god. They were hauntingly bad.

And this looks like it was from the Erin Practices Lettering in 3rd Grade archives.

I REALLY LIKED THIS ONE THOUGH. According to the information book, it’s called Heaven or Hell by good old G.S. Peters.

I begged him to do this pose. You’re welcome!

I just liked the wood panel walls in this room.

This was another favorite – literally a painting of a girl stitching a button but there is so much to take in. It was also a great time to remind Henry that he has to re-sew a button on one of my coats.

FUN FACT!!! Henry lived on this street before he moved in with me. He’s being exceptionally annoying right now as I write this so I WONDER IF HE CAN MOVE BACK THERE.

The overarching theme of this museum is STEEL MILL stuff and this little station lets you play records of really cringey mill worker anthems. I was only able to get through 1 and a half songs.

This exhibit of the Florida Highwaymen landscapes had JUST opened on this day! It was by far the best part of the place and now I need to read a book or two about the Highwaymen for sure.

They even had a station set up where you could sketch out your own Florida landscape by spinning a wheel three times. I got: palm tree, sunset, clouds.

You know I was all about this activity!

Henry refused to participate.

This was hands down my ult fave of the day. I love that the background is mica flakes!! Also adding this guy to my list of artists to follow.

Oblig bathroom selfie.

The last exhibit we saw before leaving was this one by Maryam Safajoo and believe me when I tell you each and every painting and its description made me cry. These are just some of them:

And then we left to the news of Alex Pretti’s murder at the hand of ICE. Another fucking Saturday in MAGA USA.

I’m so glad that my illness wore off in time to go to the Museum of Communism because this was one of the main things I was interested in seeing in Bucharest. This will mostly just be pictures.

Also, sex is life.

Blessedly, there were not many people there when we arrived, which was kind of crazy since it was a Saturday. The museum itself is upstairs from a cafe, and it’s pretty small – one hallway and three rooms. So I imagine it can be pretty claustrophobic on a crowded day.

The museum is very interactive – you’re encouraged to flip through pamphlets, turn on TVs, TRY ON CLOTHES (my favorite part!) so it was really nice to get to do these hands-on things without feeling like we were being pushed along.

Everything was fine until this young British couple (“young” to me since I am officially old now, but probably in their early 30s?) arrived and blew past us, skipping over the entire beginning section and then forcing us to have to change directions so we wouldn’t be behind them. The girl was fine but the guy was like a super snotty Robert Pattinson and I mean that both figuratively and literally – he was arrogant and also putting his post-nasal drip on full display to the point where it sounded like it was being aired over a loud speaker. The snorting and grossly intense sniffling and swallowing and wet coughing – OH MY LORD, GO AWAY.

The two sections of the museum featured many interesting artifacts from Communist Romania, such as military things, currency, and print advertisements.

Imagine how triggered MAGA would be if they went anywhere in a foreign country and saw that the British flag denotes English and not the ‘MURICA flag. Cry about it, fascists.

Henry really loved twiddling and diddling the dials.

These glasses were ALMOST as big as I need them to be!

The next room was set up to resemble a typical house back in Communist Romania and it was neat (I can’t believe I said “neat,” GOSH*) and made it extra fun to try on Romanian women ensembles.

*(I have noticed an uptick in grown ass adults eschewing “oh my god” for GOSH lately and I am not scared to say that it gets on my motherfucking nerves. Are you OPIE? Is this MAYBERRY?? Are you LEAVING IT TO BEAVER? I literally can’t stand it. I’m sorry, but taking the Lord’s name in vain is one of the few liberties we still have left, it feels like, so PLEASE DON’T TAKE THAT AWAY TOO. Especially at work! Why are you sending me Teams responses to my enflamed tirades that say GOSH?? I’m over here on the verge of self-immolation from all the stress and unhinged ire I feel on the daily and you’re going to hit me with a GOSH? GTFO.)

Anyway, I was happy in this moment.

I couldn’t get Henry to try anything on, but I went HAD 3 WARDROBE CHANGES. I couldn’t get enough. No one else was in this room yet so I was living my best Communist housewife life.

TENNIS.

I love this graphic design so much.

Henry was said he couldn’t diddle this one. :( Also, the museum staff at that time consisted of two college-aged guys who seemed like they couldn’t have cared less if someone touched this, although the music did turn up at one point (I think Henry jiggled something, I don’t know) and they came CRUISING over from the hallway to readjust the volume.

CONFIRMED: Henry said that yes, it was him that did this accidentally. “I wouldn’t say HE CAME RUNNING though. He was already on his way in.” Mmm. That’s exactly what someone would say when they want the readers to think it was less of a deal than it really was.

:/

As I’m writing this, ICE agents are reportedly following WHITE PEOPLE into grocery stores to see if they’re buying food for their neighbors of color and then attempting to follow them home, just saying. People never thought this shit would happen here, but sadly, we have lots of dumb ass motherfuckers who voted for it.

I did NOT want to part with these glasses.

Ending on an inspirational note.

So many important and uncomfortably close-to-home lessons to learn here.

No one asked, but I woke up feeling pretty refreshed and mostly human on Saturday morning! We got a really early start to the day since it was our last day and, well, you know how maniacal I get about SAND THROUGH THE HOURGLASS and so on and so forth.

We started off the day with a subway ride! You know I’m obsessed with subways and have to ride them in every city we go to, at least once.

Henry contemplating chucking his wedding band into a gutter for probably the 8796875th time since March 26, 2024 :) I think I was in the process of mocking him as he consulted the subway map. I love mocking him, it might even be what I was put on this earth to do.

Subway!

I didn’t take any pictures on the subway because it was pretty crowded, but it was otherwise a pleasant experience! So far, anything is better than Philly and Boston as far as I’m concerned.

And Pittsburgh, obviously. Though, I will say that ours at least isn’t too downtrodden and stinky but it definitely lacks in the convenience department because it barely goes anywhere! I have said for years that if it went to Oakland, Lawrenceville, Shadyside — I’d be getting out of the house way more often because those are all places that I hate driving to (because of parking!!!).

Arcul de Triumf! This is one of the reasons why Bucharest is called Little Paris, obviously. We saw this on our first “night” in Romania when we were driving to our hotel from the airport at approx. 3:ooAM, ugh. I remember being SO EXCITED to see it in the dark though, and thinking, “OK, we are IN ROMANIA!!”

From  there, we walked to King Michael I Park, which is also the location of a Michael Jackson tribute which you might think is odd but he actually had a very big cultural impact on Romania, as he was the first Western artist to perform in post-Communist Romania, after the revolution in 1989. It was a really big deal to Romanians and I get it! Hilariously though, Michael infamously stood on a balcony during his visit and yelled, “Hello BUDAPEST” instead of Bucharest. He wouldn’t be the first nor the last to make this mistake, and Bucharest really leaned into this and made it into a cute little campaign lol:

I had packed these jeans as back-up but they were admittedly a tight squeeze pre-trip. Happy to report that all my puking had me slipping into this pair with ease, LOL. Always looking for the bright side:) But sincerely, I went home weighing three pounds less than I did when we left Pittsburgh. Love that for me.

I felt so much better on this day!

This little plaza had 12 alarmingly giant bronze domes making up the Monument to the Founding Fathers of the European Union. Very creepy to a certain extent and I liked it.

EW. Lol.

EW. Lol.

Obsessed.

I was on squirrel watch the whole time we were there, having not seen ONE SINGLE SQUIRREL anywhere in Romania! Henry saw one in this park for a split second and by the time he told me, I could only catch the tail end of it slipping into the darkened tree boughs. :(

There was quite a bit of construction going on throughout the park during the off season; I can only imagine how nice it will be in the spring and summer! I will say our last day there was probably the warmest day of the whole trip, warm enough for Henry to be like, “YAY I’M WEARING SHORTS TODAY!” I mean, I didn’t think it was THAT warm, but OK. There were lots of people out jogging and walking their dogs (lots of leashless dog-walking in Bucharest, I observed) and there was some little kid obstacle course that was being set up too. It just looked like it was going to be a really nice day at the park.

Back to the underground!

Waiting for the subway to take us back to the Old Town area so we could find food!

December 21, 1989 was the day shit really hit the fan in Bucharest and the people fought back. Timely inspiration, if you ask me. Everywhere we went in Romania, we found nuggets of hope within their history that maybe America could fucking stand up and do the same. LET’S GO, USA. The Romanian dictator at the time – Nicolae Ceaușescu – and his wife Elena were swiftly found guilty and executed ON LIVE TV ON XMAS DAY.

DARE.

TO.

DREAM.

We found this trendy little joint called Nuba Cafe and it looked like a place that would have something wholesome and healthy for me, cautiously ready to finally eat. I can tell you how I knew I wasn’t fully 100% health reactivated – just Henry saying the words, “I’m going to get the shakshuka” made me burp up just a hint of acidic bile. JUST A DROP!

In my journal, I wrote, “Henry got shakshuka which is actually so repulsive to me right now, but cook on, Henry! Only thinking of himself!” I’m such a peach :)

Similar to the place we ate in Cluj, this was also run predominately by young men who looked very bored and disinterested in the roles they were playing, like they were just killing time before the beat drop at their popcorn DJ set later that night. They made zero eye contact with anyone, barely even looked at each other, left a table of GenZers to die at a back table (they were getting SO HUFFY, too, I was eating it up), generally acted as a Romanian Service Industry stereotype.

I think this was an iced chai??

Also, what the hell was going on outside the window behind me that had Henry peering so intently,  like he’s about to buy binoculars on Amazon and have them drop-shipped to his lap?

THIS WAS PERFECT. I ate it so slowly and savored every last scrape of honey that I could finagle. NOURISHMENT. In case you were wondering, they call berries “forest fruit” in Romania and I love that lots.

Another cool-ass building.

I’m getting really sad like I’m living this last day all over again even though it was 3 mths ago at this point. Over 3 mths ago. This is absurd. This will teach me to never again leave my laptop at home while traveling.

Next on the agenda was the Communism Museum! I took a lot of pictures in there so stop by another day and we will go through those together. Aw.