After leaving Peles Castle, we found a restaurant called Le Cerdac off the beaten path in Busteni. It felt like a fancy restaurant from the 80s in a way that I can’t explain but I loved the aesthetic. Being a weekday at lunch time, we were the only diners there which made it even better!

We sat by the window – I don’t know, man, some people hate dreary weather but I was really vibing with this view. Look at that fog over the mountains!

OH COME ON. Should I print and frame this? I think I need to print and frame this. As soon as Henry builds me a floating wall.

This is Henry’s crazed, “We’re in ROMANIA, BABY” look.

I was really so much less of a bitch by this point of the day, you’ll be so thrilled to know. You know how sometimes you’re just trying to do the most and then you get overwhelmed and then your period is about to start and you’re so fucking hungry and then on top of all of that you’re with HENRY who can often be completely unaware of the plight we go through? Yeah, it was that kind of day. But then we got to this cozy and quiet restaurant, and I was able to just tune out all of that noise and really be in the moment….

…and shove my face into a plate of hot mamaliga and mushrooms. This lunch was, to a vegetarian like myself, such a soothing comfort meal on a drizzly autumn day in the Carpathian Mountains (or, if you’re on my level with them, the Carpathies). I was so happy!

Henry went to the bathroom and left the door to the dining area open long enough for this cutie to slip in, LOL. He was so friendly and kept climbing into my lap, I loved him so much but of course every cat encounter I had there made me miss Penelope so much! Leaving pets behind is the ONLY downside of travel, in my opinion. My mom was here with her but I have a feeling she was here as often as she said she was, so that paranoia is always traveling with me like an emotional carry-on.

You guys, Henry took pictures of his food SEVERAL TIMES during our travels through Romania. What in the actual hell.

LOL I was flipping through my vacation journal to make sure I wasn’t leaving out any pertinent tidbits and realized that I forgot to add in the Sighisoara dinner post that there was elderly couple seated at a table across from us, who were also clearly on vacation, and I said, “That could be us one day. Except if I’m that old, then it would be your urn sitting next to me.”

“Yeah, or your new boyfriend,” Henry added. LOLOLOL.

Anyway, that concludes our lunch in Busteni! Our server was kind of neutral with us until the end when Henry tipped her, and then she suddenly had personality and asked us to review the place on Google, which I did because I’m a sucker but that was really a very nice and cozy place with delectable mamaliga and a sweet cat, and I’m glad we stopped there!

LOL you thought the Sighisoara lovefest was over. Too bad for you, we had some time the next morning to take some early morning photos before the hotel breakfast started.

I was so happy here. <3

I just got this one printed! Is it weird to frame photos of yourself? I DON’T CARE. I loved Sighisoara and I loved this guest house and I loved how I felt as I was loving it. Step off.

The hotel concierge guy arrived right after we finished taking these and I was so happy he didn’t see because I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE WATCH ME GET MY PICTURE TAKEN.

One last look at our room door. :(

Breakfast was OK. I didn’t eat much. And I didn’t know how to use the coffee maker, lol. A few other guests filed in while we were there and they all appeared to be English-speakers – one couple sounded Australian maybe? I didn’t recognize any of them from our multiple laps around the town the day before.

In my vacation journal, I reviewed breakfast as such:

Breakfast was lots of meats but also pretty delicious mini pancakes. I wanted to get apple juice but I didn’t know how to open the mini fridge and then after I figured it out, some guy was blocking the glasses, so I panicked and just grabbed a yogurt but I didn’t actually want it. Our hotel friend was scurrying all about refilling trays, etc. I miss him terribly already.

What I extracted from this is that I am clearly an alien put on the Earth 46 years ago never to acclimate, and also I have alarming attachment issues.

Leaving :(

Goodbye, Sighisoara :(

I wasn’t sad for too long though because the drive to Peles Castle in Sinaia was like looking at a live oil painting of the purest autumnal landscape.

Dude, come on.

Maybe it was my extreme sadness manifesting into emotions that didn’t match the situation, or maybe it was PMS (surprise! my period came on full-blast later that day and it was almost a disaster of “I’m in middle school and haven’t learned out to deal with menstruation emergencies yet!” proportions (or see also: I’m an alien put on the Earth 46 years ago, and so on and so forth), but I had turned into a mega-bitch by the time we arrived in Sinaia. Everything Henry did was wrong. It was drizzling. He parked in a weird place and I wasn’t sure if it was where we needed to be so I freaked out. He asked a parking attendant a question and it EMBARRASSED ME for no reason other than he was giving AMERICAN.

The walk there wasn’t far at all but I felt totally lost for some reason? Even though we were literally walking with flocks of other tourists also Peles Castle-bound.

I sort of brightened up a little once the Castle showed itself to us.

This was built for King Carol I in 1873 and most people will tell you that this is THE premiere castle to see in Romania. I will tell you that even on a Wednesday morning in October, there was a decent line to get in. Since I was IN A MOOD, I declared that I didn’t want to deal with the crowds and we just poked around the grounds. I was just not in the mood to be pushed through a Castle in a shuffling horde of tourists. (One might also deduce that HANGER could be added to my list of mood-altering catalysts.)

Honestly though, the grounds were so gorgeous. I actually loved that it was a dreary, foggy day because LOOK AT THAT AMBIANCE. What a fucking vibe.

Ew.

I’m literally casting spells on Henry in this moment, I remember it so vividly.

Then I got mad at Henry because I wanted him to buy some bird whistle thing that some Romani man was shilling outside the castle because I wanted to give it to Chooch to goad him for not being able to whistle on his own but then Henry was like IT WAS EXPENSIVE and I honestly find that hard to believe?? Like, either the guy was trying to rip Henry off or Henry just MISHEARD the man which is actually more likely because he has major Grandpa Ears.

Anyway, joke’s on me anyway because when Chooch was on the train coming home from Philly on Saturday, this text exchange happened:

Ugh he’s so annoying. I always took so much glee in the fact that I could whistle and he couldn’t, because he loves to rub it in my face that he can snap his fingers and I can’t, AND NOW HE CAN DO BOTH.

FML.

Anyway, after storming off and walking way ahead of Henry back to the car, I calmed down long enough to buy some magnets from some vendors in a parking lot.

But brother, I was HUNGRY by this point so we headed away from the Castle in search of somewhere to eat lunch – or a scenic cut in the Carpathians to break up. I guess you’ll have to wait for the next Romania post to find out which, wow, the suspense.

1. You guys the weirdest thing happened. Ok not the weirdest but oddly coincidental.

Last Saturday, Henry and I were at Sly Fox downtown and Portishead’s “Glory Box” came on. I haven’t really listened to Portishead since the late 90s / early 00s and honestly that was probably the last time I heard that song. I even commented to Henry that I hadn’t heard it in forever and it was sort of unexpected.

Exactly one week later, we were at this bar / restaurant in Chicago called Fat Cat’s and it came on there too??!! I texted Chooch and even he was like “wow weird.”

THEN!! This morning before leaving Chicago, we stopped in this store called Wolfbait (my new favorite store btw) and IT CAME ON AGAIN. Actually, that was the only place of the three where that song didn’t feel out of context. But it still caught me off guard!

2. I like Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga but for some reason I never really paid attention to Die With a Smile and I’m 100% positive that I never listened to it in its entirety because I don’t listen to KISS FM anymore now that I’m not driving Chooch to school. But that song is super popular in Romania apparently so that was actually my first time really hearing it, many times.

Anyway – just the other day, DK and Seungkwan from Seventeen released a cover of it and it is my favorite thing currently. I love that Seungkwan is holding a lollipop instead of a cigarette!

Well, that’s all. We only just got home around 10pm and I am ready to crash out. These road trips, man. Henry was like, “yay! This is the last one we have planned!” Watch what you say, sir. There are any number of kpop groups that could announce a US tour at any moment lol. (Hopefully Wonho’s cancelled tour gets rescheduled soon but I’m super stoked that he was at least still here promoting and making the media rounds!)

Henry and I are en route to Chicago and I just got an IG ad for plasma donation.

“You should sell your plasma so I can pay off my G-Dragon debt,” I cried, lightbulbs popping off in my head. “You can get up to $750 and you can do it several times a week!”

Henry asked if there was an age limit so I had to go to the FAQs where my eyes accidentally grazed upon the section that talks about the actual process and I started violently gagging and tenderly rubbing my arms which were phantomically (it’s a word now) going through the procedure. (Barb told me once that she thought I was an empath because of how I feel things like this and then I referenced it once later and she was like, “YOU? An EMPATH?? I never said that.” LOL wow!)

Anyway, once I told him the process takes 1.5-3 hours, his interest piqued. “That’s like a dream day for you,” I said. “Just sitting there scrolling through IG reels and sleeping….”

“And not being bothered by you. That sounds amazing, actually,” Henry finished. You guys, I still owe over $3000 in GD debt so he better get started.

This reminded me of how Christina used to sell her plasma back in the day to afford Greyhound tickets to visit me in Pittsburgh from Cinci. This was no secret, I used to talk about it at the job I had back then and then one day someone brought it up because they were asking about the process and another co-worker goes, “oh THAT plasma?? I was going to say, how does your friend continuously have so many TVs to sell?!”

That’s all. 22 minutes away from Chicago! Seeing Key from SHINee tonight!

OK I have to tell you something that has been bugging me for the past year or so, and you know it’s going to be a MAJOR THING (and not something that is just over-exaggerated inside my own head – why, I’d never!) since that’s all I do on here is drop heavy truths from the Honestly Heavens, so brace yourself.

The local theater down the street from us was SOLD TO SOMEONE WHO OWNS ANOTHER LOCAL THEATER and you would think, “But that’s great though, right?” and literally everyone else around here was like “Fuck yeah, let’s gooo” but I am internally a 95-year-old bitty fighting against gentrification even though I only half-understand what that means and in my desiccated apple core of a brain, all I could think about was how the OTHER THEATER is in a super trendy area of Pittsburgh and attracts CLIENTELE OF A CERTAIN SOCIAL ESCHELON that I don’t want carousing around my area.

OK really, I have no idea the types of people that go to this other theater and they do play some awesome indie and foreign horror there which is obviously all I care about and my old theater did the same and I loved it because I could go there and watch a movie and be one of like maybe 10 other patrons. Which, you know, is great for me but not so great for the theater, LOL. (Can you tell I’m purposely not using actual theater names because I am so tired of my blog turning up in Google searches and then actual business owners being like WTF MORE LIKE OH HONESTLY, KAREN.)

Every time I would get an update on Instagram, I’d scoff, “Maybe they put in a moustache waxing station or a cooler for HOP SELTZER.” Am I old enough to be this curmudgeonly?? GO FETCH MY SHAWL!

THEN THEY PAINTED THE OUTSIDE A REALLY HORRID COLOR, THE SHADE OF GREEN TYPICALLY RESERVED FOR THE CONTENTS OF A BABY’S DIAPER. I texted a picture to Chooch and he was like, “You are overreacting, it’s not even that bad.” UGH that’s because he’s under the age of LOOKING FOR A BONE TO PICK.

Then the new Cure concert film was announced and it’s one of the locations showing it, during their soft-opening, and I might have principles (far-reaching though they may be) but I am also lazy and enjoy the convenience of having a local theater within walking distance so I bit the bullet and bought tickets. I just REALLY didn’t feel like driving to other parts of the city to see this on a SCHOOL NIGHT.

You guys, it was fine. My sacred balcony seats are still intact and the new owner gave a little speech prior to the show and I AM A BIG ENOUGH PERSON to admit that I was being ridiculous. I am fully in support of this new era of a beloved local institution and already plan on going back while Chooch is in town for Christmas (unbeknownst to him at the time of this writing).

And yo, The Cure. Goddamn. This was a recording of a special concert they did last year in a small theater in London. I was about to say I’d love to see them in a venue that small and intimate and then realized that is exactly how it was the first time I saw them in 2000 at the Royal Theatre in Canberra!

It was a much better experience than when we saw them in 2023 in Cleveland, surrounded by a bunch of loud and drunk middle-aged losers who were only there to hear the handful of songs that brought them back to their alleged glory days of frat life. Honestly, you would think that going to concerts attended by old people would be a good experience but you would be WRONG. One of the worst crowds I have ever had to endure.

And I even had a beer that I GENUINELY ENJOYED! (Breckenridge Winter Warmer, in case you care!) I drink slow so it lasted me almost the entire show (3+ hours! Henry stayed awake for all of it and even did some weird hand movements during some of the songs! His favorite Cure song is The Forest, in case you care part 2.)

Afterward, some lady stopped me and asked if I was PAM and I said NO and she said OH YOU LOOKED LIKE SOMEONE I MET AT THE CONCERT. And then as she mumbled, “Good movie though,” as she turned a corner, never to be seen again.

(At least by us. Hopefully someone has seen her since then. UNLESS SHE’S A GHOST.)

In other LOCAL CHANGES, this is one that I have been stoked about since it went into motion:

THAT FUCKING UPPITY RESTAURANT CLOGGING BROOKLINE’S ARTERIES WITH PRETENTIOUS SMASH BURGERS AND “SANDOS” IS DONEZO!!! They did a dramatic “slow-closing” earlier this year, where they were “giving their loyal fans” an extended amount of “LAST CHANCE” opportunities to stop by and slop up their hoity-toity food. Apparently, the owner decided he wants to “focus on his music career” or something and I’m sure that will be music I will not ever check out. I just thought he was such an ass. His IG posts were so obnoxious, all in caps.

I swear I’m not even being a brat because they got rid of the BEST VEGGIE BURGER I EVER HAD IN THIS STUPID CITY and opted to fill their menu with all of the super hipster foodie meats. Oh, and they had REALLY GOOD BISCUITS but then they decided to rebrand as a “supper club” (get the fuck out of Brookline, honestly) and when their adoring fans asked, “but the biscuits!!” they snidely said, “We already mastered those and won’t be revisiting.” What a bunch of actual kitchen pricks.

ANYWAY!!! For a while, Hipster Supreme was using the empty restaurant as his BAND PRACTICE SPACE (OK, Drive By Fuckers) but then recently I noticed legit activity by way of DINING ROOM FURNITURE BEING REMOVED! And then I walked by another time and saw several Asian people inside behind the counter – BROOKINE, ARE WE GETTING ANOTHER ASIAN RESTAURANT??? PLEASE? I did hear bits of talking one time when I strolled by and think maybe Chinese? The windows have been taped up while renovations are underway, but they recently painted the facade red!

This is a change I’m here for. I hated hated hated that other place so much. Just shitty vibes all around. Stay-tuned I guess!!

When Chooch was home for Thanksgiving, we made him go to lunch with at Chimera Brewing and he was so annoyed because I only wanted to go there to get a stamp for my Pgh Brewery passport thingie and he didn’t want to be part of that. But then football was on the TVs there so he was happy. Because Chooch, son of Erin and Henry, somehow became a football fan on his own time.

I can’t remember what number stamp this was – 8, I think?? I’m already so over this but I can’t quit until I win. I definitely need something else to fixate on in 2026.

I watched the annual MAMA Awards which was really somber in light of the Hong Kong apartment fire tragedy. :( It was annoying because a lot of people were calling for MAMA to cancel entirely, but then when they opted to go for a somber, toned-down ceremony, people complained that it wasn’t exciting enough. Jesus.

Henry got Trudy all decked out in her Christmas best Friday night after Thanksgiving.

Kevin came over for the first time on Saturday so she had to be dressed for the occasion, lol. We were dying because moments after our company arrived, the doorbell rang AGAIN and we thought it was a glitch until later when Henry reviewed the security footage and we saw  that we were legit Ding Dong Ditched LOL. I was just bummed that our DDDitcher didn’t hang around long enough to enjoy the mesmerizing doorbell jam.

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We had pizza and played the 80s & 90s Song Humming game in the attic – Henry opted out, lol.

The next day, we went to Hazel Grove Brewing for another stamp (#10 – #9 was actually a “cheat” because I sent Henry to a place we’ve already been to – Strange Roots- and he bought a bottle of something called the Plague that was just OK). Anyway, I was excited about this place because they had some Belgians there but I am starting to come to the conclusion that I don’t like American versions of Belgian beers. I have been impressed by NONE so far and keep going back to my imports from Duffy’s. Clearly, I need to just go to Belgium. (And admit that I just don’t really LIKE any other kinds of beer.)

All of my Buddys are totally beefed up for winter. I don’t know how this one doesn’t get stuck in HNC’s roof!!

Last Saturday, Henry and I took the T to the North Shore and had, ugh, a “day date” I guess. BUT ONLY BECAUSE I WANTED MORE STAMPS!!! Right away in Dormont we encountered an aggressively chatty Elder Yinzer but then he liked my shoes (just dark purple Vans) so then I was like, “OK you can stay.” He was in a big hurry to get home and watch the game, whatever game that was.

We went to Southern Tier and had a nice lunchtime beer. Mine was Cherry Pie and it was actually OK but it got kind of cloying after a while. Our server was so nice and that made me like it there even more.

After getting my 11th stamp (yay!), we walked over the bridge to downtown and saw this which is so gross but obviously I had to take a picture because: agreed.

Once we were downtown, we walked around the Christmas Market and look–why do I even bother? I KNOW it’s not for me. And it still is not for me! But we did get a pretzel and cherry strudel to share, so there’s that. I’ll tell you what though, seeing Santa’s Workshop made me so sad though because YOU KNOW how much I looked forward to dragging my work friends over there for our annual group photo with Santa. :(

Here’s the last one we took, back in 2019. MEMMMMMMMMMMMMMries.

Santa always looked forward to our appearances. :( HE TOLD ME SO.

Anyway. Then we walked down to Sly Fox for our second beer and more importantly, ANOTHER STAMP. I got some winter ale thing that was pretty good but the best part was that it was so chill in there (it was also chill the last time we were there after the No Kings protest in June) and they had a bangin’ playlist! PORTISHEAD? BRING ME THE HORIZON? BALANCE AND COMPOSURE? BRAND NEW? It was so good that I had to give the two women behind the bar snaps and they were like, “YESSSSSS.” Being complimented on your music taste is the best, I’ll tell ya. I could have a parade of people going by and telling me I have a nice ass or I’m so smart or whatever, but one person tells me “sick playlist, man” and I am eating out of their hand.

Just like that.

Now you know.

(I miss the old days when people would ask me to make them a mix tape!)

Also, look at Henry smiling because he enjoys my company so much.

On the way back, we saw the Elder Yinzer again! He got on and back again in Beechview. Then on the walk back home, we stopped at Le’s Cafe in Dormont for sticky mango rice (and Henry got a pistachio latte but I learned the hard way that it’s one or the other for me – a sweet drink or a sweet treat from Le’s, I can’t do both or I crash so hard). It was such a nice day! Well, I mean, Pgh weather-wise, it was cold and gray. But it was nice getting out of the house for fun things.

I also learned that flights aren’t great for me. If I get a flight, I feel like I’m drinking less but I always end up feeling so drunk and sick for the rest of the day?! So now I am sticking to one beer. I think I was OK with two on Saturday because there was more than an hour in between the beers since we had to walk from the North Side to downtown for the second place. THIS WAS BY DESIGN. I PLANNED IT THAT WAY. God forbid I should just relax like a normal person. Everything has to have hidden exercise involved.

The rest of the weekend was full of cuddling with Peenlop and rewatching Stranger Things from the beginning. We binge-watched season 5 while Chooch was home but holy shit, did I forget A LOT, even after watching a 35 minute refresher video on YouTube before starting season 5!! I’m not ready for this show to end. Umbrella Academy was hard enough to say goodbye to! Those two shows go hand-in-hand for me and Chooch. I have the nicest memories of finishing a Jillian Michaels workout (don’t worry, I’m done with her) with Chooch and then sitting down to watch Umbrella Academy or Stranger Things. Also, Drew was around for that too.

Super sentimental about everything, I can’t help it.

Also, not a spoiler but Chooch and I were very much against the use of Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” in Stranger Things. We both screamed, “They can’t do that!!!” because UMBRELLA ACADEMY DID IT FIRST. Maybe they could have used DEBBIE GIBSON INSTEAD, JUST A THOUGHT.

Oh, also Henry went to Aslin on Sunday and got a 6-pack which will probably live in our fridge for mths, untouched, just so I could get MY 13TH STAMP!! 7 more by 12/31, can I do it??? We’ll be in Chicago this weekend so I’ll have to really strategize, ugh. All of this for some stupid glass.

It’s crazy looking back on this day because we truly just strolled around almost the whole time. Shopped. Ate. Poked around in alleys and explored little trails. But in my head, it felt like we did so much. For such a small town, I wasn’t bored at all! It was really all about the vibes.

After gorging on pie, we definitely needed to walk more. I had to take a picture of these two buildings for future paint palette inspo.

Hail Vlad, the national hero of Romania.

We were sitting on a nearby bench watching some girl making her IG Husband undertake a full photoshoot of her posing in this spot. I had just wanted a quick picture but they were taking so long that we actually left and came back. This is me “monkey see monkey do”ing, lol.

Henry is sort of getting better at taking pictures.

You guys, seriously. The colors.

In the late afternoon, we made our way back down the hill into the non-Old Town portion of Sighisoara.

It’s not too much more modern down there though!

We stopped at Atelier for a coffee break.

It was very cozy there and I was happy to sit for a while and write in my vacation journal.

Târnava Mare River with the Holy Trinity Church in the background.

We stopped in this bar called Murphy’s Law. I opted out of a beer though because I was holding out for more of the local stuff we had at the cherry pie cafe.

It was a nice vibe in there though!

After that, we walked back up the hill and stopped at our guest house for a bit of a rest before heading out again in search of papanasi. The lights were on now! I can’t express deeply enough how enchanted I was by this place.

Here’s Henry chatting with the hotel concierge guy who made me coffee!

We walked around looking for somewhere to have papanasi. I don’t think either of us were particularly hungry for a full dinner, but we definitely had room for dessert! Since the Vlad Restaurant was closed, we chose this place – Casa cu Cerb – because they also had Trepte beer! I was such a fan of that beer.

I brought this can home with us! It’s slightly dented but that’s OK. It’s on our buffet and I smile every time I look at it. I love that it has the Scholar’s Stairs on it!!

We did end up ordering real food too – I got this vegetable plate which doesn’t sound like much but that was the best zucchini I have ever had in my life. I still think about it! It was the perfect dinner for me.

Henry got some kind of soup.

We were cracking up because the complete opposite happened from the time we ate dinner in Cluj and were the oldest people in there – this time, even HENRY was younger than everyone else. There must have been a group tour there that day and all the elderly people had converged upon this place, but the even funnier part was that it was actually quite late – nearly 9PM – and all these Elders just kept filing in for dinner.

Papanasi! I definitely preferred this version over the boiled one we had in Sibiu but Henry was still a staunch supporter of those boiled balls. I’ll tell you, papanasi is really good but that it is maybe THE ONE THING that I might have overhyped in my head prior to this trip. Because I will tell you with absolute authority and certainty that the sour cherry pie we had earlier that day was far excelsior to papanasi.

Sighisoara was eerily quiet after we left the restaurant. Of course I wanted to take a digestive stroll which was fine by Henry because he wanted to go back down into the main part of town to get some drinks at the store down there.

LOL I had to take this for Chooch. “LOOK WHAT YOUR DAD FOUND.”

Henry was like “MMMMFFFFFFFfffff” when I suggested, “HEY LET’S WALK UP THE SCHOLAR’S STAIRS AT NIGHT!”

There was a man playing guitar at the top so that provided some chill ambiance for us.

It was well after 10PM by this time and Henry was like, “CAN WE PLEASE GO BACK NOW.” Sorry, I’m just always trying to get the most out of these things! WE MIGHT NEVER BE BACK.

I kind of regret not getting food at our actual guest house restaurant because look at how romantic this courtyard dining area is! Although, I would have had to find better company, LOL.

This was the view from our loft window before we went to bed. I am so in love with Sighisoara. :(

P.S. Here’s the video recap of the day! Notes:

• the city in the beginning is Targu Mures, our first taste of “city life” after being in the Maramures
• coming down the Scholar’s Stairs behind the COOL GIRLS after school let out
• you can see the lady hard-massaging her companion at lunch
• also the Instagram couple who were hogging the corner photo spot along the wall in Sighisoara
• it ends with some military transport convoy thing that I didn’t even notice until Henry was totally tweaking out over it. YOU KNOW I TEXTED CHOOCH IMMEDIATELY. According to my texts to Chooch, Henry whispered, “There were rocket launchers on top.” WOW.

It’s been a minute since I went to a concert alone (not counting the kpop concerts we go to where we sit floors apart) but when I saw that PVRIS was bringing their 10th anniversary White Noise tour to Pittsburgh I didn’t even bother asking Henry if he wanted to go because I knew he’d say no. So I signed up for the presale and bought one ticket just for me – cheap and easy!

The White Noise album technically came out 11 years ago and it was on constant rotation in our house for a long time back then! From the moment I saw the video for St Patrick, I was subbed.

I’ve seen them a whole bunch of times since then – mostly at Warped Tour and as the opener for other bands – but coincidentally every time I have seen them headline, I’ve been alone (this was the third time!).

Henry dropped me off at the Roxian 30 minutes before doors and I was kind of shocked at how short the line was. Granted, it was a cold night but that usually doesn’t stop die hards. The Roxian opened sometime after I had become totally immersed in Kpop so I actually had never been here before this night since I wasn’t going to non-Kpop concerts for a big chunk of there.

While I was standing there, I saw a man get out of a parked car down the street and start walking over to the line. I squinted and was like, “OMG HENRY CAME BACK! HE BOUGHT A TICKET AND CAME BACK FOR ME!” because the man was of Henry’s age, same glasses, same beard…but the closer he came the more groomed he was and also his beard was more solid white and manscaped well. So, not Henry. But that man was definitely attending the concert though because at one point during the night I turned around and saw him standing up in the balcony.

Anyway! Doors opened right at 7PM. As my purse was getting casually inspected (have fun sifting through my collection of YOU NEVER KNOW tampons, Male Security, one of the lady staff standing nearby said she liked my purse.

“And your shoes, too!” she added and I did my signature cringey Shirley Temple hand-under-chin smile thing that I do which totally sends Chooch. Good thing he wasn’t there but I was sure to text him about it.

(My purse and shoes were both Vans! 99.9% of my shoe collection is Vans. I stay consistent. The only non-Vans I have ever coveted are the G-Dragon Para-noise Nikes which have been unattainable for me over these last 6 years.)

Once I got inside, I made a beeline for the barricade. It’s my go-to when I’m at shows alone. Usually far-right barricade. It seemed like the people at the barricade to my left were also there alone, and we all just kind of leaned against it, mindlessly scrolling through our phones, until the opener – Dua Saleh – came on. That was fine with me because small talk is exhausting to me, especially after a full day of work that also included therapy. I was happy to stand there alone in silence until the show started.

I went in blind to Dua Saleh and was blown away. First of all, they came out on crutches, foot in a boot, and still managed to work the stage.

I was blown away – I think all of us there who didn’t have prior exposure to them left that night as a fan. Their singing was soulful and mystical, honestly hypnotic to the point where I began to forget where I was.

Afterward, we were entertained by watching the stage crew go through the tedious process of attaching furniture to the stage lighting trusses (I made Henry look up the technical name for me because I was just calling the “stage light things” lol). Meanwhile, not one but two Fergie songs played which had me dying because we were talking about the meme of her singing horribly on GMA (I think?) and doing back flips across the stage. I honestly can’t remember the last time I actually heard a Fergie song out in the wild, but they had an early 00s playlist pumping so it made sense but still!

The final result!

Oh, before I get into the rest, I want to give a shout out to the security at the front of the stage – there were three of them and they were so chill. I had fun watching them fuck around with each other in between sets and taking selfies to send to their security friends in the balcony. My first impression of the Roxian was really solid!

And finally….PVRIS. I knew I was going to cry but I didn’t expect to cry AS SOON as they came out on stage. (OK that’s a lie, lol.) But damn, it’s been too long since I last saw them live and that’s totally on me. (I think the last time was actually when I saw them in Royal Oak, Michigan?? That may have been in 2018.)

They tore through the entire White Noise album – no breaks, no banter in between songs. That did feel kind of sterile but also added a layer of mystery and seriousness, if you know what I mean. Like, this is such a special album and a special night honoring it, so it made sense that all the banter was saved up until the special set proceeding White Noise because it kept us all in the zone.

But Lynn is such a light-hearted banterer so it was definitely refreshing to hear her speaking voice after White Noise was finished. It brought us back down to earth, in a way, anchored us after that wildly emotional ride!

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You and I is one of my favorites and I screamed my throat raw during this one (not my video!!):

I don’t really know what else to say other than it was a great crowd, a great show, and an overall great night even though I was alone! I feel like the last two times I went to one of their headlining shows, the crowd was annoying, but the crowd was so cool and considerate at this show. When the person who was originally next to me gave up their spot to the young girl behind us who was SUPER STOKED TO BE THERE, she turned to me at one point and asked, “You can still see, right??” Her flailing arm was blocking my view a lot of the time but I just smiled and told her she was fine because go off, queen! She was living her best night and I’m not going to stand there and be a tight-lipped Karen because she has her arm in the air. (If it would have been her phone, that’s a different story!) But she was so cute and I was jumping and flailing about too so who cares. Just a really great crowd.

My voice was cooked after that though because I just screamed my face off most of the night (most of my video clips are just my big mouth lol). I felt so GOOD after that and was blabbering my head off to Henry on the way home.

PVRIS 4EVER.

SETLIST

1. SMOKE
2. ST PATRICK
3. MY HOUSE
4. HOLY
5. WHITE NOISE
6. FIRE
7. EYELIDS*
8. MIRRORS
9. GHOSTS
10. LET THEM IN
11. YOU & I
12. BURN THE WITCH
13. SNAKES
14. GOOD ENEMY
15. ANIMAL
16. DEAD WEIGHT
17. LOVE IS A….
18. I DON’T WANNA DO THIS ANYMORE**
19. HALLUCINATIONS
20. GODDESS

*Ugh, Christina and I liked this song together
**What I say approx. 87x an hour during my typical work day

UGH, I love PVRIS so much.

I am obligated to end this with a picture of Chooch and Lynn Gunn from Warped Tour 2015! The line was actually cut off for their meet and greet and were like “:(” but then Lynn saw Chooch in his Emarosa tank and she called out to us, “I designed that shirt!” (she’s also an artist!) and then waved us over to their merch table and took a picture with Chooch. She was so gracious and sweet and it’s something that stands out in my mind every time I think of PVRIS. <3

Remember how I said I found THE THING in the gift shop inside Casa Vlad Dracul? I finally went back later that day to buy it. The lady at the gift shop assured me that this, along with the wooden crucifix I also bought, were made in Romania.

“100%!” she added for good measure, and you know, I believed her. She was very mysterious and cool.

I always like to make sure I’m getting actual wares made by local artisans, and in a Taiwan factory. No offense to the Taiwan factories! But I want real Romanian shit that could potentially be crafted from wood from a haunted Transylvanian forest.

Anyway, Henry was very *deep sigh* when I saw the wall of masks and did that thing I do where I stop dramatically and clutch my chest. When you know, you know. And I knew. One of those masks was coming home with me.

After a few minutes of deliberation, this is the one I chose and never looked back! I can’t remember how much it cost but that and the cross were well under $100. I texted this picture to Chooch and he said he wanted it! Can you believe I bought something that’s Chooch-approved?? I told him I’ll put it in my Will.

Here it is on my wall now! Getting it home was a pain in the ass, I will admit to that. We carried it through 4 airports and stowed it under the seat in 3 planes in a black bag that looked like a small garbage bag and I kept forgetting about it until I would notice people giving us furtive double-takes. That’s when I noticed that a tuft of its hair was peering out of an opening in the bag, lol.

My first therapy appointment back was telehealth. My therapist asked if there was anything I brought back that I could show her and I was like, “Actually…..*thrusts the mask into the screen*” She visibly recoiled and said, “Oh!” But then she did say it was cool, lol.

And here’s the crucifix! If you’ve been to my house, you might know that my bathroom is religious-themed and this will be going in there soon.

There was another shop selling these beautiful painted spoons and plaques that we saw immediately upon entering the citadel that day. We still had our luggage with us, en route to check in, so Henry was like NOT RIGHT NOW. Thankfully, Sighisoara is small so we walked past it numerous times that day and I finally ran in and bought the above plaque and the two spoons pictured below:

I love my Sighisoara haul!

For lunch, we chose this place right at the bottom of the Scholar’s Stairs called Pensiunea Restaurant Bastion – La Strada. At least I think that’s what it was called! Other things say it’s “Crama Restaurant.” It was part of the Pensiunea Bastion. (I was really excited that Romania calls their guest houses “pensiunea” and Korea calls their “pensions.” FUN FACT FOR NO ONE.)

I ordered an Ursus IPA to start. Ursus is one of the biggest Romanian beers, I would say. The IPA was very refreshing! Usually, I drop off halfway through a full pour, but I finished this one easily.

God only knows what he’s mansplaining here.

Our young waiter seemed perplexed that all I ordered was a cheese plate and two vegetable dips. I’m telling you, not eating meat is a daily challenge and it was especially difficult at times in Romania – thankful for restaurants that post their menu outside the door so we can peruse and move on if needed! But when I saw that this place had a fresh, local cheese plate, the traditional roasted eggplant spread (Salata De Vinete) and roasted red pepper spread (Zacusca), that was all I needed to know! I had been dying to try the eggplant spread because it was referenced in so many travel videos.

This was the perfect lunch for me. Our waiter brought me a basket of bread for the spreads and I was so content.

Henry got the traditional bean ciorba (soup) that comes in a carb top hat. It smelled so good but I know it was loaded with MEATS even though it was billed as a bean soup.

OMG there were several adorable kittens cruising through the patio the whole time we were there – good food and free kitten pats?? Yes.

Also, school kids descending the Scholar’s Stairs in the background!

I thoroughly our view from the table. I loved that the weather was mild enough to eat outside comfortably. It was just and these two ladies at another table. The one lady stood up at one point and was fully massaging the other lady’s shoulders for a solid 15 minutes it seemed like. Like, aggressively rubbing them with the hands of a trained masseuse (or assassin). It was very entertaining to watch and I even have it in the background of a video that I was taking of the kittens so look forward to my Sighisoara video at the end of the final recap, I guess.

After lunch (loved it!), we continued on our stroll through the cobblestone streets where my predilection of walking with my head down came in handy – no tripping on uneven terrain for me! I’m a trained walker.

There were a lot of old people milling about. I assume they were tourists? I do think that people live in the old town but it felt like there were some small tour groups there as well. All I know is that it wasn’t crowded at all and I loved it.

To the right is Casa Vlad Dracul again and in case I didn’t mention this in my last post, it’s the oldest building in town dating back to the mid 1300s.

The Clock Tower was such a true beauty. According to Wiki, “its purpose was to defend the main gate of the citadel back in the medieval times. It also served as the town hall until 1656. It is now considered one of the most important clock towers in the whole of Transylvania.”

Papanasi is the national dessert of Romania! We were considering getting some from this window but held off and waited for the evening. This was the only time I saw a chocolate version though and kind of have belated regertz now that I’m looking at this!

I’m sorry, can you tell I was smitten with the clock tower? Am I annoying you?

There was random art displayed on this wall at the base of my boyfriend the clock tower and I really wanted to know if this clown painting for sale but Henry was like KEEP IT MOVING.

Heading out of the old town.  Yes, Henry wore his Canada hat every day. Do not associate us with Trump, thank you.

LOOK THERE I AM WITH THE CLOCK TOWER.

Dear Sighisoara, I miss you.

To the right you can see the Vlad Restaurant. We were going to go there later that night for papanasi but it was closed!

Sighisoara’s color palette is so pleasing.

Sorry, no marching bands allowed up here.

I watched some travel vloggers eat a cherry pie at this place called Casa Cositorarului and I had to have it. We weren’t purposely looking for it at this moment but when we stumbled upon it, I was like, “I MEAN, THERE’S ALWAYS ROOM FOR PIE, AMIRITE” and Henry was like, “Let’s gooooo” except with way less enthusiasm because it’s Henry and he only runs on one setting. I mean, Romania might have been MAGICAL but it wasn’t performing MIRACLES.

Immediately after walking in, we were met with UTTER CONTEMPT from the guy working there. We walked in and said hi and he was legit like, “OK and???” So, I said, “Can we order pie?” and he was like, “WHAT DO YOU WANT???” while brusquely gesturing toward the dessert case. I chose the sour cheery pie of course and Henry went with a traditional Romanian cake (after deigning to ask the guy what it was) and then I was like, “Can we sit in here?” and he was like, “*gestures toward the dining area*”

We found a table in another room and I started to crack the fuck up. “That guy HATES us!” I wheezed. The best way I can describe him is imagine Michael Ian Black portraying a disgruntled Transylvanian cafe server. This tends to be the general demeanor, though, and you have to just not let it get to you. And a lot of times, the wall breaks down and then suddenly they are nice to you. But you have to coax them to that point!

I did look up some reviews recently and a lot of people were like, “THE SERVER WAS SO RUDE!” which made me laugh hysterically all over again because why did I actually admire his zero tolerance for us?! I referenced him so many times during our trip after that and at 0ne point considered him a “trip highlight.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Henry mumbled.

This place is also a guest house. MAYBE I WILL STAY THERE IF I EVER RETURN.

No. Stop it. WTF EVEN WAS THIS. Like God hired the best angel baker in Heaven to make the most delectable dessert for Jesus’s birthday and this is what they came up with. Fucking Biblical. Literally–they should print the recipe in the back of the Bible. It was like a pie and cake hybrid – instead of a crust filled with the sour cherries like a regular pie, the sour cherries were baked into whatever dough they used so it was like a dense and buttery cake, topped with something akin to streusel and a scoop of toffee ice cream with CRUNCHIES on top just like I love to get on soft serve!

Good Lord, the way I dream of this cake. Dare I say it blew papanasi out of the water? This is the Romanian dessert of my dreams. And prayers. Please someone learn how to bake this for me. Maybe that’s the theme of the next pie party? RECREATE THE FAMOUS SIGHISOARA SOUR CHERRY PIE TO WIN ERIN’S HEART???

Henry got this local beer from 176 Trepte brewery and it was nice! I peeled the label off with a deftness and saved it.

Then Henry had to go to the bathroom and I watched him walk past it so I was yelling, “HENRY HENRY!” but Gramps didn’t hear so he walked all the way back to where Transylvanian Michael Ian Black was glowering behind the counter and ASKED HIM WHERE THE BATHROOM WAS. That guy was probably like, “You stupid American fuck, you walked right past it on your way here to bother me.”

While Henry was in the bathroom, TMIB came into the room to collect our plates. I told him, in my BEST Pollyanna Goes to the Medieval Town intonation, that I LOVED the pie.

He paused and then monotoned. “Thank you. I am happy you like it.” I could tell that pained him. I was so giddy by the time Henry returned and I was like “I TALKED TO HIM!!!”

The bathroom was in the basement, down these very steep and narrow steps! I didn’t even have to pee but I needed to see what it looked like down there LOL.

Yeah, I definitely think I need to come back and stay there.

These are pictures from our walk to the nearby ATM after Henry tried to pay and TMIB was like, “CASH ONLY.”

This VLAD BUST was in the lobby of the hotel down the street where we had to go to use the ATM.

Henry doing the walk of shame back to the place to pay, LOL.

Back in the cafe to pay our debts.  I wish that kitty had sat in the room with us while we were there! Anyway, Henry paid and also tipped the guy which suddenly made his surly facade crack the teeniest bit.

“Thanks for trusting us to come back!” Henry said in this really cringey UPBEAT tone that he adopts from time to time when he is trying to fake a personality. I swear I almost saw TMIB smirk a little. Come on, bro. YOU LIKED US, YOU REALLY LIKED US.

I wish I had bought a whole pie to go.

Spotify Unwrapped tells me my age is 21 while I’m sitting here on the couch hours after falling on black ice starting to wonder if I have internal bleeding. Honestly, the fall was very graceful if I do say so myself! My right leg shot out in front and I slowly slid forward and gently -somehow-came to a rest on my left knee like I was frozen in a Senior portrait softball slide pose. I was holding a library book and three mailers of my Etsy greeting cards to be mailed and dropped none of it! Then, after saying “oh god” I popped back up like it didn’t happen and felt so empowered, like, “this is what they mean when they say strength training is good for women in their 40s! I nailed that fall! Nice try, black ice!” But then as the day went on, my body slowly started alerting me to new aches and pains.

This was also the morning after I went to a solo concert last night like old times and felt totally free & youthful, screaming and jumping at the barricade. That sidewalk this morning was like, “LOL u thought.”

Anyway, here are my Unwrapped highlights which cracked me up because #1 artist is so out of place but also – not surprising, I guess? The only thing that surprises me is that Stray Kids is my #3 because I don’t feel like I listened to them that much this year but Spotify knows all I guess.

I love how these alternate lol.

This was not a surprise.

Seriously though, I know we went to see Stary Kids in June but I don’t remember listening to them that much outside of that!?

This cracked me up.

Yep, makes sense. On Monday while I was working, Chooch walked through the door, glanced at the TV*, and said drolly, “I can’t wait for you to get your Spotify Unwrapped and retrowave is your top genre.” HA! NICE TRY! Sure, synthwave is close enough but it’s #5!

*(I usually play Spotify on Roku or put on YouTube playlists. In case you needed that for your case study.)

This was a weird year for me, musically.

After we checked into our guest house, I was like LET’S GO, BRUH! I could not WAIT to go full tourist lookie-loo on this place. Just going through these pictures is bringing me so much joy.

Sighisoara is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in case you care about that stuff.

For instance, what you see in front of you here is the actual house that Vlad Tepes lived in as a child! It’s now a gift shop, restaurant, and HAUNTED HOUSE (well, kind of) but that part of it is sadly closed on Tuesdays. As soon as I walked into the gift shop though, I spotted THE THING. You know, that ONE THING that you find on vacation that completely speaks to your soul? The one thing that you were holding out for without even knowing yet what it was, and then convince yourself that it costs $$$$ but YOU WILL SPARE NO EXPENSE?

Yeah, I found that thing here and Henry was all, “NOT RIGHT NOW, I’M CARRYING THAT AROUND. WE’LL COME BACK” and I was like, “Hooooo, you listen, motherfucker – if we come back and it’s GONE*, I will channel Vlad himself and go full vamp on your ass.”

*(OK, there was a wall of THE THING but there was one in particular that had called to me, so apologies Henry if I was frantic about purchasing THIS THING. We’ll talk about that later!)

It’s actually embarrassing how many times I went into this gift shop. The girl running it was exhausted by me after a point, I think.

It was completely uncrowded in Sighisoara when we were there. The hotel guy told Henry that it is super crowded in the summer and I can only imagine. This was also the scene of public executions back in the medieval times. Things were much less barbaric when we were there (well, until it was Henry’s feeding time).

The Clock Tower being a pretty princess in the background. More on that later!

The colors of the buildings, ugh.

The first “tourist” thing we did was walk up the famous Scholar’s Steps. I knew that these were built way back in the day (1642 if you’re a history dork) for the kids to get to the school at the top of the hill.

OMG are we scholars now.

That’s the toy camera I used to take these pictures, by the way!

At the top!

The Scholar’s Stairs is one of the oldest covered wooden steps in the world!

In addition to the church and school, the Sighisoara Saxon Cemetery is also located at the top of the hill. The story is that when the Pied Piper lead the kids out of Germany, he brought them to Romania and they are now buried here, I guess? This is a pretty interesting read.

It was so quiet and tranquil here. A few people were walking around here and there, but it definitely did not feel like a tourist attraction.

When Henry says, “Do something.” My instinct is to pretend my bones have melted. Limp Vogue, I think is what they call it in the ballroom scene.

Romania, you guys.

My feet on Romanian ground!

As we made our way back to the Scholar’s Stairs to find a spot for lunch, an actual school was letting out for the day and we got to walk down the steps with REAL LIFE SIGHISOARAN HIGH SCHOOL KIDS!!! I was so giddy about this, especially when we happened to be behind these three girls who I just KNOW are the popular girls, it was so obvious. I have a short video that I recorded on the way down, which made Henry shake his head in disappointment.

I don’t think I had one bad moment in Sighisoara, if I’m being honest. I might not have even yelled at Henry at all??

OOTD (lol) selfie before leaving the Casa Alba guest house in Beclean on foggy Tuesday morning, which would eventually clear up. Autumn weather in Romania was consistently cycling throughout the days we were there. I have to say, I woke up super giddy because we were traveling to my most-anticipated town on the road trip: Sighisoara (pronounced Sig-e-SHARW-a). This is the historical, medieval birthplace of THE VLAD TEPES, everyone. Vlad the Impaler. VLAD DRACUL. Even aside from that hugely important piece of history, I just felt like this was going to be my place.

But first, we had something like a 2 hour drive ahead of us.

In my vacation journal, I wrote at 10:14am: “Just a reminder that Henry is annoying. Even just going to a gas station with him is frustrating.”

Anyway, this beautiful place is Galatii Bistritei.

We kept seeing these giant bird nests on top of telephone poles and finally learned that they were OSTRICH NESTS! We didn’t see any ostriches though because I think they had already migrated, I don’t know, I’m not exactly known for my ornithology knowledge.

Apparently, we had already left the Maramures before making it to Beclean, so we had already started the day back in Transylvania. Henry was at odds with Google maps and Waze all morning to the point where I was seriously concerned we weren’t going to make it to Sighisoara.

Eventually, we made it out of the rural areas that were fucking with Henry’s GPS and suddenly found ourselves in a city with traffic lights and actual….traffic. It ended up being a city called Targu Mures and they even had a zoo! Henry was calling other drivers assholes and dumbasses but I can only imagine what they were calling him.

These next few pictures are from when we were driving through a commune called Teaca. It’s composed of six villages this was apparently Ville Tecii.

It was hard to take pictures as Henry was impatiently attempting to pass other drivers and generally driving like a crazed American on the lam, but I really wanted to include these here despite the shitty quality because I loved the way the houses looked!

I just loved how we would be driving through these towns/villages and then suddenly, we’re back in the mountains, or we’re back in farmland. I was sad when we were in Targu Mares because I wasn’t ready to be back in fast-paced civilization but then we turned a corner and suddenly we were winding up the side of a mountain again. It was magical.

We did eventually make it to Sighisoara though, around 11:30am, but it took a while to actually DO ANYTHING because Henry was being an absolute foreigner about parking, etc. We were staying in the old town of Sighisoara and you can’t park there, so the hotel concierge had advised Henry to park at the bottom and walk up. We found a parking spot IMMEDIATELY but Henry had to dart around asking people how to pay, etc. He was being so embarrassing as usual. I was like COME ON I WANT TO GOOOOO! Literally felt like a kid being made to wait in the parking lot of Disneyworld, you know? SO CLOSE YET SO FAR BECAUSE DAD IS FUCKING AROUND WITH PARKING RATES.

Finally on our way up! It wasn’t that bad, maybe a 5 minute walk and yes it was uphill, but it wasn’t bad. Plus, a bunch of old women were in front of us making the same trek.

I think you’re allowed to drive up there but there is really nowhere to park, which is the issue. We did see some cars while we were there and I feel like it was people who worked up there. I personally wished there were no cars at all!

Passing through Catherine’s Gate into the city!

Immediately smitten. Sighisoara in the autumn? Vibin’.

First peek at Citadel’s Square, but first we had to go left and find our guest house.

All the little side streets looked like this! I was so happy!

Our guest house for the night! Fun fact, this was the first place we booked when planning our trip. I saw this on Booking.com and was like, “THIS ONE, THIS IS THE ONE.”

Lobby selfie!

The inner courtyard is also a restaurant! It’s an open-air ceiling but they did have a canvas covering over it since it was chilly.

We were following the concierge guy to our room so I was snapping these while walking like a dork.

After passing through the small lobby, there was this little sitting area. This was taken with my back to our room door and facing back out toward the front of the place.

Room 3 for the night!

The room was very small – as soon as you walk in, there was a very small sitting area and a bathroom. Then steps that went up to the bedroom loft, which is what I specifically requested because I thought, “Oh, that’s fun!” And you know what, once I got over the shock of how small it was, it actually was extremely fun staying there and super cozy. I think I had one of the best sleeps there.

Lowkey obsessed, tbh. I booked this room because it seemed to have the best views out of that slanted window, and it not disappoint in real life.

The Bootmakers Tower. 

When I say I leaned out the window and stared at this thing for minutes on end, I’m not lying.

View of the other, modern part of Sighisoara outside of the Citadel.

I walked so tentatively up and down these steps, LOL.

Ugh, Sighisoara. I have so much more to say but wanted to show where we stayed first. I loved it so much. I have a feeling that there were a lot of really incredible places to stay there, but I do not regret my choice. Also, the hotel guy was so friendly (in a droll Romanian way that we had come to expect from the men there, LOL) and accommodating. When I realized later that day, when we had come back  to rest for a bit, that the kettle in our room was only for tea, Henry went out to ask him if there was coffee available and he actually took Henry down into the breakfast room and made a cup speficially for me! He also asked Henry if he wanted to take a shot and Lame Ass Henry said NO?! I was really disappointed in him when he came back to the room and told me that. He could have made friends with that guy!!

This Thanksgiving was a very lowkey affair and I am not even a little bit mad about it. I was just happy that we got to have Chooch home, even though he is a big football bro now and that’s annoying.

It was just going to be the three of us (it usually is for T-giving), so I suggested to Henry that we (LOL “we”) just make a few Romanian dishes and call it a day. henry found a recipe for vegetarian sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls, but the Romanian version uses sour cabbage), mamaliga (polenta with farmers cheese and sour cream – we got Bulgarian feta from Pitaland and Ukrainian sour cream from one of the European markets), and sour cherry pie but somehow that morphed into a sour cherry cake and I was not happy about that but whatever.

I think I must not actually be Romanian because I was not a fan of this. Maybe it was just the way Henry made it, I don’t know, but I had to unwrap the cabbage and just eat the insides.

When Chooch set the table, he said “Pick a holiday.” I chose Halloween.

LOL and then when Henry brought out all the food I realized that OK, perhaps we underplanned this holiday spread. Henry also made green bean casserole and mashed potatoes but it didn’t feel like Thanksgiving.

I think that a past Erin would have pouted about this but I chose to look at it through an optimistic lens – Chooch was here and it felt normal here again. Also, the part of me that is terrified of food was glad to not be tempted to overeat. It was nice to spend the evening not feeling sick!!

See?? We actually had a decent evening anyway!

This was fine but it was supposed to be like the pie we had in Sighisoara and I was so excited because Henry said he found a recipe online that was a dupe of the exact pie we had at a cafe there, but then it ended up being a cake so I was extremely confused. It was still good but also had a pizelle-esque taste to it and I don’t like pizelles that much. I’m not sure where he went astray and I don’t bake so I guess I can’t judge him too harshly. IT WAS A DAY TO BE THANKFUL, AFTER ALL. I think I did a pretty good job not being too much of a brat – baby’s growing up.

It just took 46 years and getting back into therapy, lol.

Ugh, then we played some games even though I didn’t feel like it – especially not Scattergories because I get so competitive and then everyone accuses me of cheating but hello, maybe I’m just really good at linguistics?! The humming game is always dumb to play because I can’t hum without laughing, Henry is tone deaf, and the only time anyone ever guesses anything is when it’s Chooch’s turn and it’s always me guessing it correctly while Henry looks on in confusion.

And Scattergories – of course I killed it as usual, but there was one point where I was laughing so hard that I started to cry and Chooch was like, “I HATE PLAYING THIS WITH YOU! YOU’RE SUCH A CHEATER!!” while I was laugh-sobbing and defending my answer of “dabbing down ditches” as a hobby.

“No ‘cuz look – there is probably someone out there that enjoys jumping down into a ditch and dabbing!” I squealed in defense, wiping away tears, which Chooch and Henry started at me in disgust.

Then Chooch took over the TV for the rest of the night because FOOTBALL ugh.  I truly don’t know him anymore.

Anyway, it was a really nice day. I can’t remember the last time we all crammed onto the couch together – me frantically playing Duolingo because my friend challenge with my work pal Michelle was ending in 2 HOURS OK Duolingo, why would you do that on A HOLIDAY.

Today, Chooch was bitching about the Thanksgiving food selection and OK, I’ll claim the L on that one, it was my fault, I shouldn’t have suggested the Romanian theme! Henry worked hard in the kitchen all day and I know he felt bad about it but honestly, it was still a really nice day and I am thankful that I have a family that gets along – even when Chooch accuses me of cheating and then we start sniping back and forth at each other (“You’re annoying” “No, YOU’RE annoying!”). It’s what makes us “us” :)

(Chooch leaves Tuesday morning and I know he’ll back for Xmas but I’m still sad.)