matt-petracca

[matt-petracca]

Matt is not an artist. In high school art and gym were the only thing standing between him and a perfect GPA. Unfortunately, cookie decorating was proving that he hadn’t improved since then. He looked down at the sugar cookie, which looked more like a pile of icing and sprinkles, then looked over at the child across the table, who managed to draw a little heart in the middle and was arranging candy pieces neatly around it. He frowned, turning to look at Harmony. “I think my cookie might be criminally bad. Do you think bad cookie decorating would put me on the naughty list with Santa?”

@theharmonyjones

[matt-petracca]

@michicks

Matt decided to go to the Winter Market on a whim. He thought he would be working the late shift so he didn’t actually make any plans to go. However, when his work schedule changed at the last minute, he decided to pop in to see all the festivities. He was walking through the market, peeking at all the local vendors when he saw Mic nearby, and immediately went up to him, not wanting to be alone in the crowds of people. “Mic!” he exclaimed. “Wanna go decorate some cookies?” he asked with a mischievous grin.

[matt-petracca]

Matt was roaming the aisles of the convenience store aimlessly. He was supposed to meet a friend at the coffee shop down the street but they had canceled at the last minute, leaving him alone in town, not wanting to go home. He popped into the convenience store to kill some time while he decided what he was actually going to do with his now free afternoon. He passed through the makeup section when a voice stopped him asking for his opinion on the lipstick color. “I mean, it looks fine to me, but I’m definitely not the authority on that sadly.”

WHERE: Blush Boutique WITH: @bridgeporthqstarters​

“You know, I was always more of a classic holiday outfit kind of person. You know, sparkles, sequins, anything sparkly as New York hosts a ton of parties that require you to dress up. I’ve always preferred fancy dresses, but this year I thought I might go for a nice sweater. Something holiday feels that I can wear all winter long, but this is the first thing I picked up.” she laughed. “And I think the saddest part of it all is that I don’t even hate it.” she added. “Good thing it’s pretty festive. What do you think. Are you a tacky Christmas sweater person?” 

[matt-petracca]

boonetate​:

Asher nodded his head looking at the guy, “yeah I honestly don’t understand why or how we do it” he said laughing. “Cause I know I’m not eating all this chocolate” he said laughing, nodding his head toward the guy. “Yeah honestly they are all 25 to 50% off and they are good decorations” he said thinking to all the decorations through the years. “I’ve never thought about that, but I will look into it throughout the year, cause I could use more Christmas decorations” he said admittedly. “Oh yeah one of my close friends is a barista, so I know I’m always getting the good drinks” he said laughing. 

Matt looked down at the large bag of candy in his cart. “I don’t know man, speak for yourself because I’m definitely going to be polishing this off myself,’ he said with a laugh. He unfortunately had a massive sweet tooth and was known to always have some sugar on him, whether it be tucked away in a cupboard or in his work bag, he could always get you a sugar fix. “Do you think that friend could be my friend too, because I still don’t have my coffee hookup in town and I need one before the peppermint lattes comeback,” he joked. 

[matt-petracca]

thelucaricci​:

“It’s one of those things that can be hard to wrap your head around. Different things are hard for different people.” Luca replied as he’d always been good at that sort of thing, but there were other concepts in school that through him for a loop. “Exactly, because then people would know not only the local businesses, but also who they need to go to if they need help with something.” He added as it seemed like a win-win idea to him.  “I can imagine that would be hard in a place like this.”

“Yeah, it was definitely a doozy,” he laughed, taking a sip of his coffee. “Exactly,” he agreed, “Navigating this town when I first moved here was next to impossible. Thankfully I figured it out because I’m perfect and have no flaws, but it was like trying to navigate a foreign country with how everyone was intertwined,” he joked. 

[matt-petracca]

nianadal​:

“Ah, true. Yeah, that makes sense. But, the thought was cool while it lasted.” she shrugged, laughing a little. Nia wasn’t one that usually kept facts like this one stored in her brain, so she always was intrigued by the facts told to her by other people. “Honestly, I’d love to hear them. Any fact or pointless shit you’ve got, I’m all ears.” 

“In your defense, science is trying to bring them back, even though there is an entire book and movie franchise to tell us why that’s a horrible idea,” he said with a small smirk perched on his lips. He leaned forward, propping himself up on his elbows on the table. “I have this theory that NASA isn’t looking for life on other planets, but for a planet that is hospitable when we destroy the planet. Otherwise, why would they be looking for planets with similar conditions to earth and planets with water?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “Based on just basic evolution, an organism could evolve to need helium or whatever instead of water.”

[matt-petracca]

thelucaricci​:

“That is fair enough, I understand economics isn’t for everyone.” Luca replied as he’d more or less just been thinking out loud anyway. He was interested in figuring out if it an ideal people would like. “I think supporting local is just so important.  It would be cool to like include a list of locally owned businesses with the packets of money maybe.” He added with a small nod. “Maybe they need to come in some sort of welcome package for people just moving here.”

“Oh yeah and it’s definitely not for me. Econ was the only C I ever got in college, it was super embarrassing,” he admitted with a a chuckle, leaning back in the seat and getting comfortable. “Ooh that would be a good idea! With like a little blurb about who runs the place! Get people aquatinted with the town and everyone in it,” he suggested. “I feel like I was so lost when I moved here because it felt like everyone already knew everyone.”

[matt-petracca]

“I’m going to be 100% honest, I know nothing about economics, so I’m not the authority on the effectiveness of this plan,” he joked. “But it sounds like a fun idea. Honestly just getting people involved in local business or going to places they wouldn’t have gone otherwise. Especially people who are newer to down like me. That would have been awesome when I moved here just to get the names of local businesses in my head.”

Open Starter: @bridgeporthqstarters​

“I am thinking of putting on a promotion. Where any consultation with my business comes with a free coupon of some sort. Which got me thinking, it might be interesting to see how many local businesses could get on board with the idea of having some sort of local currency.” Luca replied as he’s heard that sort of thing had worked out in other places. “Sort of like Bridgeport Dollars. You spend them in town at locally owned businesses, and then the businesses can exchange them for cash at town hall. It seems like a good way to keep the economy flowing.” 

[matt-petracca]

“Oh I totally agree. I went to Costco and brought a bunch of $1 candy and now I’m here because their chocolate selection was lacking, it was sad,” he joked, picking out a mixed back of Hershey’s candy. He probably got way too much, but he figured he could at least share it with friends or coworkers. “The decorations thing is smart though. I’ll have to do try that. I’ve also had luck on facebook market place in the middle of the year. People moving and just trying to unload everything. That’s also how I got my Christmas decorations,” he said, looking at the bin of candy contemplating taking another bag. “I dated a barista in medical school,” Matt mused, “and the best perk was the holiday drinks.”

Where: Grocery store  Who: Open : @bridgeporthqstarters​

“You know, I love Halloween, but I love the day after Halloween better” he said holding up a bag of candy. “All the half of candy you could possibly want.” He said laughing as he put two bags in his cart, rummaging through the bin of candy to see if there was anything else. “I also buy all my Halloween decorations now, so I don’t have to do it next year and pay hundred dollars for something I can get for fifty” he said spotting the half of decorations and costumes in the corner. “Also the coffee places all come out with their holiday drinks, and I feel as though we’ve hit the jackpot.” He said laughing. 

[matt-petracca]

Oh, look! It’s [MATTHEW “MATT” PETRACCA]! I heard they’re [33], a [MALE], and use [HE/HIM] pronouns, have been in town for [ONE YEAR] and are actually from [FLORIDA]. They are currently working as a [PEDIATRICIAN] and living in [DOWNTOWN BRIDGEPORT]. You know I personally think they look like [GRANT GUSTIN], but that’s crazy, right?

TW: Divorce, Cancer

Matt grew up in Florida with his younger sister. His mom was a dental hygienist and his father worked a standard office job. He has a pretty standard childhood. He was close with his sister, who he was always over protective of. His mom was a dental hygienist and his father worked a boring office job and they fought constantly, but didn’t get a divorce until their kids were grown and out of college. 

Matt was a smart kid, too smart for his own good. From a young age, he was bored and started acting out in class just to entertain himself. He was constantly getting in trouble in elementary school for trying to crack jokes and disrupting the class. He was labeled a problem child until the third grade when a teacher even considered that he wasn’t a dumb kid, he was just bored and couldn’t sit still. He ended up getting tested and being diagnosed with ADHD. After that, he was still the class clown, but at least he was able to sit still. 

He excelled in high school, when he was finally able to take classes that challenged him enough to keep his brain occupied. And it was in his sophomore year honors english class that he met his first girlfriend. Despite Matt being the class clown that was friends with everyone, he was still awkward as hell when it came to girls. He asked her to go to the homecoming game with him, which was awkward and uncomfortable, considering neither of them knew anything about football, nor did they care about it. Thankfully, neither of them knew how to admit they didn’t want a second date, so they went on another one. This time it was to a bookstore, a place they were both comfortable in. What was only supposed to be an hour, turned into hours of them browsing the aisles of the bookstore, laughing and talking. 

When it was time to go to college, Matt got into the University of Pennsylvania, with the plan to go premed. His girlfriend went to school in New York, and despite the fact that most high school couples didn’t make it past Thanksgiving break, the pair managed to make it work. It wasn’t uncommon for them to find the cheapest bus they could and see each other every few weekends, even if they spent the majority of the weekend studying together. 

In college, Matt was a social butterfly, joining clubs and going out on weekends. He made friends everywhere he went, something that is still true today. 

After graduating with honors, Matt took a year off to apply to medical school, and to focus on getting married to his high school sweetheart. They had a small wedding, promising each other they would have a bigger wedding to renew their vows once they both finished their schooling and had some money. Unfortunately their marriage didn’t last. Matt went to medical school in Massachusetts, and his wife wanted to stay in New York for grad school. They weren’t in a place where they could put their relationship first, unfortunately. And despite how much they loved each other, it wasn’t enough and they filed for divorce before their first anniversary. 

Heartbroken from his divorce, he made his way through his first year of medical school. He was experiencing health issues, but he assumed it was stress from school and divorce, and told himself it would all clear up once his break rolled around. Unfortunately it didn’t and his sister forced him to go to a doctor to get checked out. After a whole slew of tests, he was diagnosed with lymphoma. As a result, he took a year off of medical school to undergo treatment and recover. Thankfully, he has been in remission ever since. 

Once he was in remission, he was able to go back to medical school and graduate. He was matched to a residency program that brought him to Bridgeport, ME at Bridgeport Memorial in pediatrics. 

Matt has found his home in Bridgeport and he hopes to stay once his residency is complete. Thanks to his outgoing and friendly personality, he was able to make tons of friends, even though his job doesn’t always allow him to see them. And although he isn’t always the most present friend, he is the most loyal. He will drop everything for those he cares about, and do anything for them. And he’s sorry he didn’t respond to your text three days ago, he wasn’t ignoring you, he just forgot. When he has free time he is usually exploring the city, making conversation with anyone who is willing, and befriending the few people in town he hasn’t already. 

[matt-petracca]

Matt walked away from the snack line with only a candy bar and the largest soda available. He wasn’t mad at the poor teen who probably didn’t break the machine, and if he did, he probably didn’t do it on purpose. But at the same time, what kind of movie theater didn’t have popcorn? He was walking away when he heard someone loudly curse and it stopped him in his tracks. He instinctively looked at the person, thinking they hurt themselves. “You alright there?” he asked, realizing it was probably just brainfreeze when he saw the large slushie.

location: Scarefest! At Big Al’s Drive-In  status: open @bridgeporthqstarters

It was nice to live in a town with traditions. It felt safe to look forward to things. And every October, Fiona looked forward to watching scary movies with a big bucket of popcorn. So when the teen at the snack stand informed her the popcorn machine was broken, Fiona felt the familiar pang of disappointment. "Broken?" She repeated, her brow wrinkled with frustration. Quickly, the teen offered to upgrade her slushie drink to a bigger size. "Thanks," Fiona said softly, walking away with her Cherry Blast slushie and longingly staring at the bucket of popcorn she passed by. As she sipped her slushie too fast, a sharp pain splintered her head, stopping her dead in her tracks. "Holy shit balls," She exclaimed loudly, rubbing her forehead before smiling weakly at the person staring at her.

[matt-petracca]

“Are you worried about getting scared?” he asked, turning to Mic with a raised eyebrow. He wasn’t sure what to actually expect, and he was more worried about getting lost than anything. But with Matt’s poor sense of direction, he could get lost going in a straight line. “Am I going to need to hold your hand? Because I can absolutely do that for you if you get too scared,” he teased, a cheeky grin plastered on his face.

closed | @matt-petracca​ location | Corn Maze, Pumpkin Patch & Fall Fun at Rhodes Family Farm

Mic looked over  at the other male, before looking back up at the entry sign for the maze. “You  sure you  are ready for this?” He asked him with a small grin. “I mean, I just don’t want you to be so scared or something that you  won’t be able to sleep tonight.” He grinned teasingly. Mic personally hated being  scared, so he wasn’t looking forward to it as he figured it would live  up to its reputation. Then again it might just have  been something his sibling had told him so he wouldn’t do it, only to give them a reason to tease him for it. 

[matt-petracca]

beathethompson​:

Beathe felt relived to know she hadn’t been off any kind of inconvenience for him. She was used to New Yorkers, and they tended to get grumpy if one took too long to order. “Oh, sorry –” Bea said with  a soft chuckle. “I was just making sure in case I was keeping you from anything by  being slow to decide.” She excused herself further before pushing some strands behind her ear as her hues glanced back up at the board. She looked back over at him as she spoke before carefully shaking her head while her cheeks turned slightly pink. “I can’t say I do..” She said, “You  can always just.. Order a small one maybe?”

“Oh, no you’re not keeping me at all. I’m the world’s most indecisive person when it comes to things like this, so don’t even worry about it,” he assured her, awkwardly getting out of the way of a patron trying to get around them. This person clearly didn’t have time for their dilly dallying in line trying to figure out what to get. “You’re right, maybe I will get a small… I feel like they should make the coffee equivalent of a middle cone for situations like this. Or when you just don’t want to commit to a full cup of coffee, you know?”

[matt-petracca]

theharperphillips​:

“I mean that isn’t the same situation thought.” Harper replied with a small shrug. “While it has been replaced over time, as no point was it not a ship.” She added as she felt that he was really comparing apples to oranges at this point. “Dinosaurs were once a real creature that were roaming the earth and doing things. Plastic dinosaurs were never alive in the same sense that full size actual dinosaurs were.”

“That’s true,” he agreed, picking up the straw wrapper and fiddling with it in his fingers. “But, the components of them that were real dinosaurs were alive and roaming the earth. So, at what point would they stop being real if they once held life?” He asked, not sure if he was even making sense to himself anymore. 

[matt-petracca]

nianadal​:​

“You know, I think you may be onto something.” Nia nodded, honestly have never thought about it before. “I - yeah, I think you’re right. With that thought in mind I think it does make them real dinosaurs. But an even better question is if that’s the case does that mean that dinosaurs aren’t actually extinct? And that all of these plastic dinosaurs bring us out of extinction or is that too much of a stretch?” the thought passed through Nia’s mind and the second she asked it she laughed. “I like the way you think. What other random facts or theories do you have floating around in that brain?”

Matt paused and leaned back in his chair to think about what she was saying. “I wouldn’t go so far to say they aren’t extinct,” he said after a moment. “Because that would imply that they’re living. A skeleton would still be a real dinosaur, but I think in order for them to not be extinct, they would have to actually be alive, Jurassic Park style, you know?” He offered, taking a sip out of his coffee. “Do you really want to open that rabbit hole? Because there’s a lot of dumb shit floating around in my brain,” he joked. 

[matt-petracca]

Matt had lost track of how long he was looking at the board overhead with the seasonal drinks. He lost his train of thought and ended up just staring into the empty space in front of the board. Maybe staying up and binging She Hulk was a bad idea. He was brought out of his trance when a female voice apologized to him. “Oh, no you’re totally fine. I’m sorry I’m not paying attention,” he assured her. “I haven’t decided either. I feel like the safest option would be the pumpkin spiced latte, but I don’t know if I want that much out of a cup of coffee right now, you know what I mean?”

closed | @matt-petracca​

Bea looked over at the stranger standing next to her in the queue in the café. “Oh, sorry –” She excused herself, taking a small step backwards. “You can go ahead. I am still trying to decide on which one of the season specials to test  out first.” She added with a small smile, “I am pretty sure I will land on a pumpkin spiced latte, but I do have  to admit the hazel nut once doesn’t sound too shabby either.”

[matt-petracca]

thelucaricci​:​

I mean, you’ve got a point there.” Luca replied as he was trying to humor the man. It was interesting to hear about Matt’s opinion on this. He had never really thought about it that way himself. But in a way plastic dinosaurs were the closest thing to real dinosaurs that they were likely going to see in their lifetimes. “To be fair, I am sure that at some point someone is going to bring dinosaurs back. Which I think we have enough movies to prove it’s a bad idea, but it’s still going to happen.” Luca added as he was sure that if someone thought that it was going to make money that someone would do it.  

Matt was about to mention how there were both book and movies about how that would be a terrible idea when Lucas mentioned that. “I mean, it definitely is going to happen,” he agreed. “And quite frankly, I can’t say I wouldn’t go see them if they were brought back,” he admitted, taking a sip of his coffee. “I would be the idiot who is there on opening day of Jurassic Park, which is dumb, but I also, who wouldn’t want to see a dinosaur in person?” he asked. “And plus, it would probably be okay if they just tried to bring the sea creatures back, right? Just put them all in an aquarium. I feel like there would be much less escaping of animals.”