father of mine tell me where have you been 🖤

In Amber's humble opinion, she looked extremely cute today. She was wearing the very same pastel yellow sundress her bestie had picked out for her and had her hair in a very cute half-up, half-down style. She should have been having more fun - maybe finding a cute guy to win her a stuffed animal. Instead, she was currently staring wistfully up at the Ferris wheel as it made its rounds. She let out a dramatic sigh, throwing some more cotton candy into her mouth. "Ferris wheels are, like, so ruined for me now," she lamented. "Now they just make me feel sad and super single. Like, don't get me wrong, they're already inherently romantic, but being a girl that's actually gotten to experience a kiss at the top of one before? So much worse."

Julia had been making a slow lap around the carnival, more interested in fried food and seeing who was around than trying to cram as many rides and games into one afternoon as possible. Spotting her sister nearby, she was about to speak up and say hello, but Amber beat her to the punch without even realizing she was there. Julia blinked once, eyebrows raised as she looked at her sister. “Hold on,” she interrupted, one hand on her hip. “When exactly did you kiss a guy at the top of a Ferris wheel?”

So, it should come as no surprise that I've been experimenting with my menu. Well...that turned into a dessert sammy lineup for the carnival. We've got peanut butter & marshmallow fluff, s'mores, and strawberry cheesecake. Problem is...people keep asking if I'm bringing them back after the weekend, and I honestly hadn't thought that far ahead.

Listen, I'm not saying that you have to take my vote to heart or anything, but if you don't at least keep the s'mores option for the fall, then that's just a crime against humanity. Oh, actually do you think you could also finagle that strawberry cheesecake into a pumpkin cheesecake and then also maybe do something with apple? Asking for a friend.

Yea, she's only 15 months so if it's fluffy and cute and interacts with her she loves it. Wow that's really cool! Yea exactly. So far I have a series out, and I'm currently writing a new stand-alone book. Oh goosebumps were so good, but my parents didn't like me reading them so I had to read them at school and leave them in my desk drawers. I needed something with benefits and stable hours and pay for my daughter, but I still do write and publish books!

Yeah, that sounds about right. Your parents didn't let you read Goosebumps? Did they just think it was too much for you or are they anti-spooky or something?

I do like cats a bit more than dogs. I'm not sure if Beth has any preference yet, as long as they're friendly and play with her she's happy. A snake? That's so cool! I always wondered what it would be like to own a snake or a cool pet like that. Yea, I write childrens books. Mostly chapter books for older kids. It was my main job until I moved here and got a job at the library. Now it's just a side gig. Oh god, I remember some of the parties I went to my senior year. Those were good times.

Depending on her age, I'm going to assume she might just see any fluffy animal and get excited. And yeah, it's a python. Oh okay, so kind of like those Babysitter Club ones or Charlotte's Web, something like that? Or Goosebumps, that's one of the few books I read by choice as a kid. What made you decide to make that switch to work in a library?

I love that so much! I've been thinking about getting a pet recently and if I get a cat I would totally get them that cat wine so we can drink together on our nights alone. Oh absolutely, but that's when I usually try to work on my book or do some much needed cleaning and self-care. I don't stay up too late either, so I watch occasionally but not as much as I'd like. Yea he has really stepped up and is an amazing father.

Cats are definitely my top pick for a pet, I rescued both of mine from the shelter here in town. Though my best friend has a snake and that's pretty cool, too. Oh you write books? What kind? Not that I read, really. I've tried and I just can't stick with it, I don't have the attention span for it. I work at a bar so staying up late is ingrained in my system, especially after being into parties back in the day once in awhile.

I like to think that pets count, they can be great company and if you have company you're not alone right? You're lucky, it's become a luxury to be able to watch a show like Law and Order or anything that isn't a childrens cartoon or Disney movie. Right now it's kind of all over the place, we're still working out a set schedule, but he gets her at least two days a week right now. We also spend a lot of time together the three of us.

Exactly. I've even gotten them that wine for cats, it's really just like catnip tea basically, and then I don't even have to drink alone. I'll be honest, I don't know much about kids. but isn't there at least some time when she's sleeping that you can watch your shows then? That sounds nice, it's good that she has a dad that's there for her and that you have someone else that you can also rely on with raising her.

Oh I did watch some of my own shows, and I spent one night having a nice hot bubble bath with some wine. I took full advantage of having a completely empty house for a weekend if you know what I mean. I didn't fret at all honestly. I was worried a bit at first, but I trust Nick and he's a good dad.

Sounds like you definitely had a good weekend. Yeah, I kind of have a whole house to myself always, perks of living solo and being child-free. Unless you count my cats, which I like to think they count but also I don't have to be careful what I watch around them, so totally get what it's like to have a completely empty house. Sounds like you've got a pretty good co-parent, there. Do you just do the every other weekend thing with him?

So Beth is with her dad this weekend. This will be the longest she's even been away from me since she was born and I'm so excited! What should I do first? Sleep in? Watch my own shows? Take a long, hot bath? God the options are endless! I can do whatever I want for the next two and a half days! I feel like dancing for joy!

I'd say sleep in and definitely binge whatever shows you can't usually watch with a kid around, but the weekend is now over so I'm just going to say that if you didn't do all of that, those should be top priority next time. Either way, hope you took advantage and weren't like one of those parents that ends up fretting over the kid the whole time they're gone like I've seen in shows and movies.

This is why cursed objects keep finding new hosts. They don't even have to manipulate anyone anymore. They just wait for one person to go, "Actually, I'd like to fill out the adoption paperwork." I do appreciate that we've apparently reached the line where both of us agree. Haunted doll? Debatable. Ouija board? Absolutely not. That's the one item where even my curiosity packs up its bags and says, "You know what?

Well there's not only that, but also the fact that some people are so oblivious to the vibes a haunted object is so obviously giving off. But yeah, glad to agree on Ouija boards. I also think it was absolutely insane that they took the Annabelle doll on tour TO actually haunted places. Like I'm all for visiting places that are known to be haunted, but don't take something that's going to level up the haunt with you, bad things will happen. Bad things did happen and I wasn't one bit surprised.

I'm not big on any holidays, they all kinda just feel weird to me. So I find holidays starting earlier and earlier to be wild, in it's own way.

Oh well, yeah I guess that would do it, I do think Christmas has started to push through earlier more and more, Halloween stuff going out around July has been happening I think the past few years now. And then they started marketing summerween which isn't so much starting it early, more just catering other seasons to the people that love spooky season so much. They've even started that with Christmas decor and other holidays too, really.

Julia, I would like the record to show that I did not put a haunted doll in the closet. I placed a tiny judgmental woman into temporary storage because she was making the living room emotionally hostile. Those are very different things.

Okay, sure. Totally, whatever you need to tell yourself to feel better about it. And hey, I'm just a very big fan of horror and Halloween, so anything and all things spooky are welcome in my book. Except Ouija boards, I won't fuck with those. Even I'm not that stupid, that's crossing over too far into FAFO territory. But hey, if that doll does ever like randomly turn up, let me know and I'll take her off your hands. Who knows, maybe she was tossed into a donation box while you were possibly in a hurry to declutter the closet even? Either way, if she does turn up, hope she doesn't jump scare you too bad. Probably would be like "surprise bitch, bet you thought you'd seen the last of me" lmao.

Oh, I am absolutely losing it at the image of you getting jump-scared by your own decoration on a nightly basis. Because that's the thing nobody talks about. Halloween decorations spend maybe 20% of their existence scaring other people and 80% scaring the person who bought them. You paid money to own that spider and somehow it still won.

Honestly, I think your mistake was putting her in the closet. That's exactly how you end up with a haunted doll. You can't just lock away a tiny judgmental woman and expect there not to be consequences. She sounds kind of badass, though. If a doll looked judgmental enough to make me laugh in the store, I'd probably have brought her home too. Though I do have to admit, there is something funny about buying a decoration because you think it's hilarious and then immediately spending three days being psychologically terrorized by it. Now I need to know what happened to her. Is she still sitting in the closet plotting her revenge, or did you eventually set her free?

That's fucking wild. I'm not against Halloween but it's not really my thing, so the idea that Halloween is apparently starting in August.

Yeah, I can understand not everyone is as crazy about the holiday as me, kind of like how some people go just as insane over Christmas. But I don't know, I wouldn't say it's that wild. I mean, the past few years stores have started putting out Halloween right after the 4th of July anyway.