Game Time!

The coolest thing we did, by far, in San Francisco was take my cousin Annie's advice/stumble upon Musee Mecanique. Mr. Perfect told me Annie had suggested visiting an arcade down by Fisherman's Wharf, but I was skeptical. How cool could an arcade be? I see them as training ground for casinos, unless they have skee ball. Then I love them.

I was blown away by the awesomeness that was Musee Mecanique. It was like stepping back in time. The machines were from the turn of the century, and there were hundreds of them.

Shell immediately stepped up to the Kiss-o-Meter as Mr. Perfect ran to the ATM, then change machine. I'm pretty sure he got $20 worth of quarters.
And used them all.

Woo-hoo! Shell is HOT STUFF! I was confident that I too would have positive Kiss-O-Meter results.

Damn machine said I was mild!

And then of course, this happened:

Blast him!

I did what any little sister would do and quickly shoved GDSean out of the way so I could take advantage of his reading...

Mr. Perfect returned with his 80 quarters and tested his Kiss.

HARMLESS!?!??!

WTF? Why are Mr. Perfect and I the worst?!

He was determined to get a better reading on the sex appeal o-meter or whatever. And I guess he did...

Man.

Hands down, the most hilarious thing that happened that day was when GDSean stepped up to the machine that would tell you what your future career was destined to be. We all waited anxiously, GDSean seemed eager to finally know.

The lights seemed prepared to stop at either Moocher or Rich Widow (niiiice!!), ideal occupations for GDSean.

But suddenly, it happened.

Nothing.

No future career.

GDSean has no career in his future.

It clearly scared the bejeebies out of him.

While GDSean and I laughed at his (lack of) future career for a while, Mr. Perfect ran away and started playing as many games as possible. This was a cool baseball game that allowed you to swing at pitches pinball-style. I spotted this beaut while trying to decide which fortune telling machine I wanted to use (they didn't have Zoltar). I fell in love immediately because:

1) It says No Electricity, even though you can see the cord plugged in
2) It's just creepy - a vibrating chair that relieves fatigue?

Naturally, I sat down and popped in a quarter. It was the loudest, most awkward thing ever. It wasn't comfortable and didn't relieve anything. I ran from the tell-tale buzzing.

There were plenty of machines that you could imagine coming to life and killing you. They were super creepy and awesome. Shell couldn't stand Susie, but I thought the red lights really made her quite special.

Oh Cheesus. GDSean and the arm wrestling machine.

I read the instructions out loud that warned you to start with a low level. Naturally, he refused.

And naturally, he got his ass kicked by a machine with a luchador mask.

Mr. Perfect stepped right up. Re-read what happened above, insert Mr. Perfect for GDSean.

Lesson: Don't mess with a dude, even if he's a machine (especially?) in a luchador mask!

Shell and I left the boys for a bit to play skee ball. I love skee ball.

Anywho, when we were out of quarters, we found the guys completely engrossed in a peep show. Not gonna lie, the peep shows were kinda awesome. They were so innocent and funny. On some of them you would make the person dance by turning a crank to advance the photos. This one flipped through different pictures. I saw Mr. Perfect eye the boxing game and knew I had to play. I totally knocked him out.

Lucky for me, to knock someone out they have to be charging you. I never moved. Laziness pays off.

What's a stop at an old fashioned arcade without some photo booth fun?

The Musee Mecanique is a must-see and do if you are in San Francisco.

In Which LOLCats Define Me

On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 12:24 PM, Mr. Perfect wrote:
Erin showing her patience

Erin at home during the week

Erin hair inspiration

On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 12:27 PM, Erin wrote:
once again, I'm sadly summed up as a person by lolz

On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 12:28 PM, Mr. Perfect wrote:
why is that sad??

On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 12:32PM, Erin wrote:
because it's accurate

Come Fly With Me

I just booked a flight from DC to Houston by way of Dallas (dang), then the next day to Abilene by way of Dallas (again, dang it!), and then from Dallas to DC* (finally direct).

I see a lot of driving around Texas in my future....





*Due to some new contract-type work, woohoo!

Photo Overload

I've been looking through all 300 plus photos I took during our trip to California and, woah. I love them.

It's going to be quite a process to figure out which ones to share and which ones to spare. It's looking like the rule may be if the bride is in it, share (she is gorgeous - I didn't get one bad shot of her) - if Shell and I are both in it and it's after 10 p.m., spare (even if they are some of the most hilarious shots).

For now, I'll share a picture that sums up a bit of the family-filled weekend, and my parents. Their 39th wedding anniversary was 7/11, the date of the wedding. While attempting to take a family photo with Shell, Mom and Dad, this happened. It is maybe the best picture ever and could win a top prize at AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com (don't miss Shell's expression, far left)

While I love and am extremely grateful that my parents have an affectionate relationship - something I didn't realize until I was an adult that other couples rarely sustain - as their child, I'm obliged to squeal out a massive, "EWW!"

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

New Love

As P put it, "we can close down the internet now, its purpose has been fulfilled"

home

finally

Trippin'

We are in San Francisco tonight, flying home tomorrow. Flying against the time zones means we have to leave our hotel around 9 a.m. and our flight lands in DC at 9 p.m.

This trip has been a crazy and chaotic super fun adventure.

We have had such a great time we already planned out about a week in San Francisco and another week in Yosemite.

For now, I am a bit more interested in sleep.

Nooooo!!!

Mr. Perfect wanted to announce we have been selected as CEOs of KidCo.

Here is a math FAIL: 6 hour flight + surrounded by 4 rows of kids = FML (and Faith's worse nightmare)

And the rows of kids are 3 across.

so far

Overheard and seen in the airport on I have never flown before day:

- A guy cramming his rolling bag into a plastic tray at security.

- A woman screeching, "Sharon!! Did YOU have to pay to check a bag??!?!?"

- A couple standing and watching as TSA removes tons of full sized bottles of liquids from their carry on.

It looks like it might be a long day &( s hours of sleep!

Just Sayin'

Cornfest 2009 is this weekend.
In Brentwood, Ca.
Which is where we (almost my entire family) will be for the wedding.

Sometimes, you just can't ignore fate.

I packed my shuckin' shirt.

Packing Madness

Today was crazy.
Everything got off by about 2 hours when I realized at 11 that I had a call at 11:30. At least I didn't remember at 12:30?

We leave at 8a.m. for California. I did as much packing as I could earlier, but there was just so much crap for me to finish tonight - getting directions to places, finding my ticket voucher and oh yeah, printing out the names and locations of where it is we are going and spending the next 5 or so nights!

This isn't a fun trip to pack for - I need some warmish stuff for San Francisco, wedding attire, lake wear, tromp around Yosemite shoes and duds, and normal every day stuff.

I don't know why, but I'm feeling totally scattered right now. I always feel this way with early morning flights.

As Mr. Perfect saws logs, I know I probably won't be able to fall asleep for a while and it's, oh, 1a.m.

Erin FAIL.

Oh well.

So, it will be quiet round here until next Thursday or so.

I'll post pics on the go at my tumblr.

Later taters!

Visitors

Yesterday Shell and her family rolled into town. I met up with them down on the Mall. We walked up to a field covered with at least a hundred geese and Caroline was immediately ready to go chase them around.

Too bad for her they weren't scared of people at all and slowly sauntered away. They couldn't be bothered to run from her, let alone fly away.

That didn't stop Maureen and Madeline from chasing them too! I can tell you there is nothing cuter than Madeline running around. She has a really cute hop-run.

After chasing birds and visiting the Lincoln Memorial, we headed back to my place for dinner with the family. Caroline was mesmerized by our arcade style video game. She played Blitz for the longest time, begging someone to show her how to tackle.

Mr. Perfect and Maureenie had a photo shoot - here are my favorite shots of my goofballs.

TV Thoughts

1) Michael Jackson's memorial service is currently setting a new standard for the awkwardness of awkward silences.

2) Jillian, way to not spend the night (have sex) with the last 4 guys. Very respectable move. I will be happy to report it to my roommates, who were shocked and disgusted when I explained that the Disney/ABC prime time show actually encourages one person to sleep with 4 others in the span of 4-6 days.

Family

I am sitting outside the Old Post Office. Any second, Shell and family should appear.

I am Jessie Spano excited up in here!!!

In Which We Find Something Even Stranger Than Dreaming About Forest Whitaker

Me: So I had this totally crazy dream last night.

Mr. Perfect: Uh-huh..

Me: That I was asked to go to the Academy Awards with a guy. Oh man, that black guy...

Mr. Perfect: Forest Whitaker?

Me: --totally freaking out-- Did I wake you up in the night and tell you that?? Did I have this dream yesterday? How did you know that? All I said was black guy!

Mr. Perfect: I didn't even hear you say black guy. You're lying. It wasn't Forest Whitaker.

Me: Isn't he the guy with the wonky eye?

Mr. Perfect: Yeah.

Me: Yeah! It was him! I'm so creeped out by your creepy mind reading!! --hit him for being creepy--

Mr. Perfect: So did you go?

Me: No. You were fine with it, and so was I, but Forest was really into me and I didn't want to hurt his feelings.

Mr. Perfect: I'm not even mad, I like him.

Me: Yeah, I do too. He was a total gent in the dream. Sent me cookies before the date and brought flowers - but that's when I had to tell him about you. He was sad. So I told him to go with my friend Tiffany.

Mr. Perfect: The singer?

Me: No! My friend.

I'm Not Even Mad

When Dave sent me an e-mail titled Worst National Anthem my initial thought was meh. Yawn. We've all heard people croak it out. But this is ... special.