My ex husband is exhausting - He demanded 50/50 custody, but doesn’t pick them up sick or do school transport, doesn’t pay for clothes, haircuts, school fees, or insurance. He provides nothing emotionally while I carry it all. I’m so thankful for @matty.wtf who shows up for us in every way always.

Had a truly stupid day at work, but days like this remind me how lucky I am to have @matty.wtf. Even when he’s away for work, he somehow makes a bad day fade. I spent most of my life not knowing there was a love whose very presence just fixes you - steady, safe, and magic, always exactly what I need

Welcome to Riot Fest, when you go to take a photo of the band and end up with a photo of a guy dressed up as the pope.

Big riffs and big bites at Riot Fest

What Jeremy said

Ok, well this little shop at Riot is rad - look at this fucking cat toy 😍😍

Day 2 - Riot Fest sucks @riotfest.bsky.social

“So be it. Fuck the FCC”

Time for Riot Fest with my favorite person, @matty.wtf

Drumstick says hey

Funny what counts as an accomplishment some days. Yesterday all I really did was send follow-up emails on projects that are stuck. Basically just pointing out the ball isn’t in my court. Feels a little sad, but also, that’s half my job job sometimes.

youtu.be/20TDd19oA1Q?... It’s Riot Fest weekend! Been keeping the official playlist going for ages, it’s always a good way to find new favorites. High on my list: Lambrini Girls!

I am still stupidly proud of my response to this meme from 3 years ago, and I love that my photo memories thing reminds me of it annually.

Just me and this praying mantis hanging out while I wash dishes.

Then there was that time I got an idea in my head suddenly …

That time when you picked up your husband for lunch on a day when you’re not at the house and you’re both wearing shirts for the same band unknowingly …

Had a Bloody Mary for the first time in years today out at lunch with @matty.wtf

A photo of all of my surviving siblings at my brother’s wake today. We were to wear bright colors or Hawaiian shirts- his favorites. Almost all my clothes are black, so I want all the points for following the directions the most lol. Also it’s my Letters To Cleo shirt @kayhanley.bsky.social

Proof that I did the Top Golf thing.

Well I have officially swung an actual golf club now - it only took me 46 years lol. (We took all five of the teenagers to Top Golf)

You guys, I think we’re getting serious.

It’s Caturday. Please enjoy this shot of Charlie after she experienced one too many kisses on the head lol

When one of your techs gives you the perfect sticker for work…

We said goodbye to Nugget today and rehomed him, but here are the rest of the flock eating out of @stefinitely.cool’s hands

Marry the second-chance guy you meet in your 40s who gets onFaceTime with your kid at college to show her how to use command strips after he helped her move into her dorm - The guy who shows up for her & for you every time (Even when you used to think you didn’t want to get married again).

The NIN show was fucking rad as hell and high school me was thrilled. Absolute visual and audio perfection on two stages. (That screen is a sheer curtain around the main stage showing what’s happening on the small stage)

Out for some baseball with @stefinitely.cool and all the kids!

Observe, if you will, the teenage male in his natural habitat. Note the identical haircuts, the instinctive clustering in groups, and the ritual use of smartphones even in the presence of live sport. A rare sighting in the wilds of the Chicago burbs

I’m very off brand tonight (and out of place) at this Goo Goo Dolls concert my teenagers made me bring them to haha. I am dressed entirely in black with a flannel around my waist.

I love that the only elegant photo of me that has ever existed involves me carrying a rooster around at my wedding. I nearly said our wedding but then it sounds a bit like I married the rooster and not @matty.wtf. Bonus points: @gimpy.bsky.social who helped fund my amazing goth pinup girl tattoo.

C’mon… @matty.wtf is interested in Cure themed Lovecats tattoos. And if you know Matty it’s saying something that it was his idea to get tattoos involving a cat.

@matty.wtf and I met up with my nibling @arlohoward.bsky.social last night while they were in town. They live in London so I don’t get to see them very often. We had tacos at a super cool CTA themed taco place called Chicago Taco Authority - which set us up for this fabulous phone booth photo!

Well, Wendy’s understands their market lol. I came for a Diet Cherry Coke. I left with the Wednesday meal. Chicken nuggets in a casket shaped box and a frosty with a skull & raven on the spoon - yes please.

One of my favorite reception moments: my uncle’s longtime girlfriend sang “My Heart Will Go On” at karaoke. He stood there beaming, filming the whole thing. It was his second chance at love. Such a weird song, but they’re still so happy after all these year

Sending my eighteen-year-old to urgent care alone. Feels weird, but she’s going to college in a few weeks and needs to know how to do these things alone. Parenting is always interesting.

It’s not Caturday, but it is a very Mondayish Monday - so enjoy this photo of Charlie on my bed.

Tonight’s spin was a gift from all the kids for our wedding. The Cure’s Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me - featuring Just Like Heaven. Two of the kids learned it and played it for me as I walked down the aisle last Saturday.

Time for a reintroduction. I’m Stef, newly married to @matty.wtf, my second chance that we got right. I’m a mom of teens & suburban goth at heart. I lift & I live for 90s alt & post-punk and tattoos. I hate raw tomatoes, bad policies, and the damn patriarchy.

If we’re seriously talking about bringing back the Presidential Fitness Test, then Trump and Kennedy should have to do it first. On live TV. No edits, no excuses.

Loved everything about this, and especially loved having @jpaulreed.com be part of our day!

Saturday was the best day! Mostly because I got to marry @matty.wtf, but also because everything came together to make the day truly magical.

Such a great wedding eve! The cherry on top was definitely meeting Kay Hanley after the show. And now today is the big day :)

Got the license today - wedding tomorrow!

On Saturday I get to marry my best friend @matty.wtf -the person who made me believe in love again, and I cannot wait.

Exactly. Everyone else can wear white haha.

Wedding prep - making the simple syrup for our signature drink, an old fashioned. Thought I’d fancy it up a little by steeping the finished syrup with some orange rind.

Kick ass Winona Fighter show last night!

@matty.wtf and I in a nutshell - I refuse to look at the weather and he checks it on all the apps.

I choose to believe it will not rain. I also won’t look at the weather so what do I know 😂

My boss is mad that I didn’t get something taken care of - something that went down before I started here last fall. I just can’t 🤦🏻‍♀️