One of the nicest and best ways to allow myself to float into endless streams for thought is to sit outside in the front yard and let my mind wander, free from all the imminent stress and hard times that will surely come. I have to say I think the most stress I’ll have will be about school, there maybe some relationship stress but I know when the days and weeks come where Erin and I will talk hardly at all its nothing to take personally she’ll be busy and I’ll be busy… I’ve done everything I can do to take up all the times she’s told me she misses me and she loves me, for now its stored in my I wonder if she thinks about me bank.
I feel that I need to recap the summer in some interesting way, but I’m not sure if I can even put into words how different and important this summer has been for me. Dramatic changes have occurred in the way I think and the way I learn. It also been great seeing that same sort of change (in a way) happen to all my family and friends… I decided that I will pay homage to my most hated season with a fond farewell, this time you were good to me.
Summertime started off with a bang. Finals were over and I went on my traditional Tony’s celebration! MUN was a success, I made new friends and definitely strengthened the friendships I made. Although, the end of the semester also mean’t that most of the cool people I met throughout my two years at CSUN would also move on because they were graduating.
This summer was the first summer in over 5 years that I actually made plans to travel and enjoy myself more. The first event was Single Guys Night Out filled with Thai food, Tonga Hut, and the drunken adventures getting Mexican food.
That night Jerry walked away from that bar a happy man, since he was the only one to successfully acquire a phone number… but I did get the wingman of the night award. It was a great night that was definitely needed to kick start the summer into something special. Also, I must admit that my story about my “girlfriend” leaving to go to study at NYU was a pretty creepy thing to do, for that I’m sorry! Anyway, I never forget how that night ended, right when I got home I got a text from you know who which started an hour long texting conversation about why we were up so late and people we liked (in her case) and my indecisiveness. It was a great start to what would become a drunk tradition for me… late night text conversations with Erin.
The very next night was the Wes Anderson Movie Extravaganza. I originally thought this was going to be a super big party with lots of people who liked Wes Anderson. I was quite surprised when I saw that there were only two people there, and I swore I had been tricked into a double date… however I was pretty nervous none the less as seen in the picture, I even bought a new shirt for this event….
Anyway, we watched the Fantastic Mr. Fox and Rushmore and it was just a fun night… although there was a stick in the mud attending that didn’t dampen our spirits. That night I stayed until about 1 or 2am talking to her and eventually her brother as well. If I recall correctly she had her hair braided and she was wearing a grey v neck shirt and cuffed blue jeans… if there ever was a way into my heart. Anyway, I carried on most of the conversation, as she probably set it up that way, and I saw her and felt strangely comfortable to be sitting there and talking to her. And what probably surprised me most was that she looked interested in what I was saying. The night ended super awkward with us walking side by side into the street and me smiling and moving in for a hug and her rushing off in the other direction. HAHA OH YEAH!!! Then just before I get on the freeway I get this text “Eric just left. Did Arby have a conclusion about Eric for me?”. Wow!
Some time after that night we met up again at the Stove Piper Bar, where we had another surprisingly interesting and fun time. We established that going to NYU was one of her goals (by this point I was interested, just very hesitant and her moving away was a definite check mark on the don’t date her list). We picked on each other (i guess we were flirting) and went to get a bite to eat at Izzy’s Deli. There I brought up the text and she defended herself with some lame bullshit excuse but I took it and told myself its better that she likes someone else anyway. Why am I posting this? Well because they’re only small details I was still going through a hell of time trying to decide what I wanted to do, I was very relaxed with the idea of my stated plans up at the beginning of this blog and having nothing or no one to tie me down. Anyway, having been pushed into a corner by my questions things got awkward and she was obviously taken out of her comfort zone, then suddenly without warning she strikes back with terrible jokes about my past and basically tore me a new asshole… impressive (check on the pro side of why I should probably date her). That night ended again with me getting out of the car and chatting a bit more and her rushing off as fast as she could. We had another night where we went to the Tonga Hut and was basically torn apart by her and her friend (the man-eaters, check on the con side) and I just don’t want to get into that conversation. I think that night ended perfect… we sat in my car until 5am talking and this time she actually opened up a bit and I learned a lot about her and was amazed how complex and simple she was, I definitely liked how mysterious she was too. I wish I could go back to that night and have my camera. (check on the pro side) More to come I assure you.
The difference maker event of the trip. One of the most challenging parts of my summer was a two day hike in San Bernardino. Mt. San Gorgonio is southern California’s tallest mountain and sits in the middle of a beautiful forest that reminded me more of the Sierra Nevada rather than the San Gabriel mountains. I must admit I wasn’t in the best shape and with Doron leading the way at a blistering pace I’m surprised I made it to the first day camp site. After having the most amazing hotdogs and watching the sun begin to set I went to sleep quite early after an exhausting day. The night was pretty tough especially since Doron’s snoring sounded more like a black bear huffing around our campsite. The next day was more challenging because a tough section was made tougher beside of snow, who would have thought in June there would still be so much snow? The trail we were on was covered in some areas with up to three feet of snow, crossing snow mounds on the shady side of the mountain was probably the scariest part of the whole hike… if you slipped you wouldn’t necessarily die but you could definitely break both your legs and fracture your skull. After making it more than 97% of the way to the top the snow was just too high at the last stretch to make it to the top of Gorgonio, so we decided to at least make it to Jepson peak. It was a good lesson that pushing yourself past your limits is always a hard thing to do, but there’s a point when its just stupid to assume you can continue to do that and not get hurt. We didn’t achieve our goal but it was a hike that I’ll always remember and it definitely makes me want to hike some more.
When I came back from the hiking trip I spent an afternoon with Erin and she showed me Tico’s Tacos. A surprisingly awesome experience, after that point I could trust her food decisions (check pro for why I should date her). That’s the day I meet her mom also. She said she would let me borrow scrubs and I could come in and get the DVDs with her… as soon as I walked in I saw her mom and the first thing that came into my head was the famous quote from Return of the Jedi “ITS A TRAP!”(check con for surprise mom meeting with no heads up). Her mum turned out to be awesome (check pro for why I should date her while being sure to cross out the previous check for con). We talked for what seemed to be 10 mins but it really was more like an hour, just by talking to her mum I could see where Erin got some of her humor(check for pro). Two days later I invited her to Red’s BBQ to let her meet my friends and I could observe how she would act around them. It was an awesome night and she was just so comfortable around them I really blew my mind (check for pro). After dinner we went to Home Goods and playful flirting began between the two of us, she would bump into my hips and I would run into her (check for pro). While I was holding a pair of awesome pillows that I bought she would run and bump into me, it was fun and it made me feel pretty youthful (another one for pro)! After check out she went in for the Kamikaze attack and almost run me through the front window(con, careless about other peoples safety)! After that we went to Brett and Leyla’s house and they baked us some delicious apple pie as they always do and we played Apples to Apples. Over all it was an amazing night that proved she was just awesome. If you haven’t already guess it is pretty obvious that Erin was and is a big part of my summer, she’s comparable to the shark in Jaws during the first hour of the film… in the background but makes a big impression. I think by that time I knew I liked Erin a lot but I just wasn’t sure what exactly to do. Betty’s conversation really helped me out though (Betty is my friend and Ron’s girlfriend).
Two days later the boys (Jerry, Will, Brett) and I were off to San Diego. This one night tour de force was filled with good laughs and a terribly disgusting refrigerator. At Stouts, the Irish pub in downtown San Diego, we drank a lot, met the awesome owner of the pub and had good laughs and I decided that I would tell Erin how I felt. We decided we would watch the world cup game at that pub and try the food. After the pub we went to a diner where I really don’t remember much, but I do remember the food being good diner food. I think I had a coke too. The next day we eat and drank like kings as we watched the Italy Paraguay game at Stouts, the food was pretty awesome and the beer that accompanied it filled us to the point of throwing up. After the game we drove to a hotel where the top floor was open to the public and you could get pretty much a 360 view of San Diego and the harbor, it was beautiful and I was impressed by the lovely climate. We ended our day at Hoodad’s Burgers, which were tasty, but after all the food we filled ourselves on we probably should have just gone to a nice little ice cream shop. Overall I think that trip was a good bonding experience for the guys and its something that helped to take me out of my element a bit and make sure I was having fun. I was sad to go and sad that we didn’t get to do more. But I shall go back one day and paint the town red.
When I got back from San Diego I promised my Tia Chichi that I would take her and my mom out to see a little bit of LA. It was a great chance to be able to catch up with her and talk about my future a bit. She has always been good about checking up on me and asking me questions in a way that makes me think about my future goals without really realizing that I’m doing that, probably because it’ll all done in spanish! Spanish definitely makes a lot of things sound better. We went to the La Brea Tar Pits, which she thoroughly enjoyed and never expected LA to have anything like that. After that I treated them to a lunch at the Fairfax Farmers Market. That farmers market is very enchanting, walking through the stands and stalls make you feel like you’re outside of Los Angeles, maybe that’s why I love it so much there. The day was awesome and I couldn’t have asked for a better day to spend with my Tia!
(Tia ChiChi left, Mom right)
Later on that night I decided to tag along on a stupid Cupcake Bingo night with Erin. Why was it stupid? Because I wouldn’t normally do something like that. But at that point I knew I wanted to date her and for a change I was going to participate in something she was passionate about… thankfully its cupcakes and not baseball! When she came and knocked on the door my mom recalls wondering who the hell and why the hell would a pretty girl be asking for Eric, he doesn’t have or want a girlfriend (I really don’t talk to my parents about that sort of thing). My mom said that Erin gave a big smile and said hello and walked into the door! My mom said that she knew that Erin had good character, which is amazing because my mom is pretty hard to impress. So at least at that point we both met each others’ mums. When we left we talked and she was just so excited, which was really awesome to see. Its around that time the butterflies kicked in. I knew tonight was the night. When we got there I saw how into the bingo game she got and was very bouncy and just happy. It was like me trying a new food place for the first time! I understood why she loved cupcakes and I was impressed that they were tasty. By the end of the night I had beaten her twice and was just happy that she had a great time and I was surprised that I had a great time. On the car ride home we rode for a small stretch in silence, mainly because I was nervous, and she came up with the brilliant idea of saying something that would make her mad. I knew she was going to leave in a couple of weeks so I though, what better time to make her mad then to tell her how I feel. So I took a deep swallow and just said it “I like you. I really like you a lot.”, she kind of looked a me for a second and I thought it worked. I really don’t remember what happened or what she said because my blood was rushing. I never really told anyone how I felt, so it was a new sensation. I went into a really stupid story about an epiphany I had with a cute bank teller and realized that I didn’t want to flirt or get her number I just wanted Erin, that’s how the story should have gone I probably ruined it. We went back and forth a bit and I remember her saying “you know I’m leaving in a month.” So what better way to break up a tense confession of feelings than to watch Casino Royale, we laid on my bed and watched occasionally looking at each other as we talked our way through the movie, that was the first movie we watched that we didn’t really watch. We ended hanging that night in limbo, I did’t really know what to say or how to make anything official and I didn’t know what she wanted to do. I walked her to her car but before I could give her a hug and kiss she walked away and slammed the door of her car and started it, then she turned it off, opened the door and clumsily walked to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek, CLASSY! We met the next day for coffee and I still didn’t know what she wanted or how to go about asking what she wanted to do. Later on that night we were talking on the phone and really talking about nothing until she finally put her foot down and told me what she wanted to do, she basically gave me an ultimatum “I like you, do you want to date me or not?!”. I said yes, so 3 month to the day that she made the same Irish Car Bomb cupcakes that made me notice her Erin and I became a couple. Probably one of the hardest and most indecisive times of my life ended happy and not able to sleep because I felt excited and amazed that I could put my whole past behind me and give Erin an honest effort and a good chance, NO BAGGAGE! Its probably the best decision of my adult career and has paid off in so many ways. I love you Erin, seriously it was a hell of a ride though! =)
A couple of days later we made out for the first time (totally awesome) and a week later we were able to comfortably say we loved each other. Before then I thought I almost sent her off the edge when I told her I thought I was falling in love with her. Thankfully we were on the same page. That day is shown in the picture below.
I can honestly say that I’ve never been with someone that’s made me feel so comfortable to be myself. When I’m with her I don’t have to be funny, I don’t have to be serious, I don’t have to be anything other than me. When we talk I’m interested in what she has to say and when we don’t its just nice to be with her comfortable in the silence and just looking at each other.
After dating for about a week we started the process of meeting each other’s friends and parents. The whole process was really too easy for both of us. All my friends and family loved Erin, she was just so comfortable and open and very warm. If there’s anything that impressed me more about her its how relaxed she is when meeting new people. I just hope I was good enough when I met Lindsay. Meeting her parents was a lot of fun, her dad Mr. Couture was very friendly and I think we hit it off pretty well, he’s a relaxed guy that has a good taste in sports, music and recently has taken a liking to wine. Her mom was pleasant and fun as usual. Some people might think that that process of meeting parents may have been rushed but we did only have 6 weeks together, with a two week test run being apart in preparation for New York. Either way, I had a lot of fun meeting the people in her life that were important to her and I know she had fun meeting all the people that are important to me.
This is the end of part one.
