Perfect Spontaneity

A couple months ago, it was announced that one of my favorite artists was going to have a world tour. Club President and I both enjoy her music and movies so we decided to go together if either one of us could find tickets for $100 or cheaper. I tried getting some right when they went on sale, but I was the ~22,000 person in line for a venue that only sits ~15,000 people. So, although I couldn’t grab any tickets, we still thought we should hang out that same day to commemorate ‘what could’ve been’.

Fast forward to the day of, at first, I was a little scared. Throughout the months, we kept sending each other Instagram reels of cool places to want to go to or eat, but we never set a direct itinerary of the day and what we’re going to do. When I texted Club President about it, she simply stated, “Be here by 10. Dress cute.” Oo I like me my assertive women ;) -rawr-. Boy, I love getting ready. The process is so relaxing. It takes me 30 minutes to shower, 30 minutes to do my skincare, and an hour to put on my makeup. Since the days have become overwhelmingly hot, the water temperature for my showers is ice cold. The feeling of icy pellets of water shooting at my bare body and perking up my skin with goosebumps is a regular occurrence, but is also something I can never get used to. I love the slippery silky feeling of conditioner washing out of my hair and running down my back. When I’m dry and out of the shower, the warmth of my hands through massaging the serums and lotions into my skin helps bring back the heated temperature to my face. Every swipe of my eyeshadow brings out a little more confidence. And with the finishing touches, I’m left with a prettier and happier version of me.

When I got to her house up north, she was still getting ready and about to start putting on her makeup. We saw we were each other’s complete opposite. She wore a cute white dress with a white jacket on top, while I had on a black top and black skirt with a pink cardigan. We giggled together and while she was doing her makeup, I sat on the other side of her room thinking of where to go and what to do. There were two options: go up north and find a secluded beach, or go south and find a secluded beach. North was closer, but the south was closer to major cities with cuter spots for lunch. Although for this outing I wanted to drive her around, the south is uncharted territory I’ve never been to, so I reluctantly asked if she could do it instead. Being the wonderful angel she is, she agreed and off on the road we go!

As we were driving down, I got the curious itch to check the ticket prices ‘just cause’, and saw that 2 were on sale for $125 each! Normally, these tickets would be anywhere from $250-$400. I’ve been habitually checking on the prices to see if they’ve dropped and this was the lowest in a while! A quick glance between me and her and WE WERE GOING TO THE CONCERT!! For the rest of the ride I kept snickering to myself like a madwoman because I couldn’t believe we were going. I’ve liked this artist ever since I was in middle school and now I could actually see them face-to-face.

The first location we were going to was a cute brunch cafe I saw on Instagram. Some of my other friends had went and took really pretty photos. The cafe is pink on all sides. The ceiling has hot pink fake wisteria flowers drooping down and crystal chandeliers hanging at every inch. I did see there were people eating in there and having a good time, so that’s a good sign. The menu was a bit pricey and being honest, I don’t think the cafe was that great. I had an eggs Benedict brunch and although that was my first time trying it, I don’t think this place made them so well. The biscuit underneath was excessively soggy and overall tasted bland. The cafe was made for nice aesthetic Instagram photos to be taken, but the food itself was subpar. Definitely more gimmicky and somewhere I would not recommend to spend your hard earned money. I felt a little bad because this was a place I picked out to try and I’m sad Club President also wasn’t a big fan of my recommendation. She, too, had to waste her pennies on not very good food.

Afterwards, we headed for the beach! It was a sunny day that wasn’t too hot. Recently, the temperature has been rising to unsettling highs but, luckily, that day was just perfect. On the car ride over, I kept repeating it too. The weather was nice, the sun was shining, and the skies were as blue as the ocean. Driving in the city makes me a bit freaked from all the traffic. A tiny rural town never really has that stuff. I give major props to Club President for being able to navigate the streets all on her own. I wasn’t even behind the wheel, yet my anxiety was more spiked than hers.

We parked in a nice area and as we stepped out, we were both thinking the same thing…HOLY SHIT ITS SO WINDY. For a fat bitch like me, even I was getting thrown around by those mammoth gusts so I can’t even begin to imagine how Club President was holding up. The car doors didn’t need to be pushed close at all. The wind slammed them shut for us. The puffs of wind eventually died down when we got closer and closer to the beach, but that didn’t stop the both of us from having multiple ‘Marilyn Monroe moments’ with our dress/skirt on the way there. There was a vertical hill down to the beach and although going down is easy and nice (as if we were marching down to the waters), leaving the sea to go back up had me breaking out in sweats and heavy breathing. The actual beach was really calming. The water wasn’t cold at all, more cooling than cold. Walking along the shore, we even spotted some seals poking their heads out! Although our initial plan was to draw by the beach, the winds were still too strong for our papers to not fly off. Instead, we both walked into the water while holding up the ends of our skirts and splashed for a pleasant 2 hours. After snapping a couple of Polaroid photos for keepsake, we determined to start heading to the concert venue early. It was a long drive to the arena and it’ll be even longer since most people’s 9-5 just ended. Also, we wanted an ample amount of time to get in line for merch before getting to our seats.

That should be a good plan, right? WRONG! We get in her car and an emergency message pops up on her screen. Her bottom left tire has low air pressure. To some (possibly many) of you, you guys wouldn’t worry. It’s an easy fix. Just go to any gas station and put some air in. WELL EASY FOR YOU TO SAY. Club President and I were FREAKING. I’m technically the older one, so she kept asking me what to do. LIKE HELL I KNOW WHAT TO DO. All I know is ‘drive and don’t hit anything’. I don’t even know how to get an oil change. Every time I parallel park, I DON’T. Unless it’s pulling up to a curb, I have never parallel parked in between two cars. If I ever need to, I always just get out and ask a nearby man if he could park my car for me. From the back of my head, I could recall my mom teaching me that gas stations should have air machines. Do all gas stations have one? I don’t know, but this is all I have in my head now, so to the nearest gas station we go. When we arrive, Club President doesn’t know how much air to pump in. From what I could recall, the tires themselves should have the air pressure written on there so I tried looking there while Club President was looking at the side of the car door. She found 2 numbers, '41 PSI' and '35 recommended'. That got us wondering, “Why are there 2 numbers? Should we do 35 or 41 or a number in between? In the summer, the air should be filled a little less, right? How much less?” Luckily the gas station attendant saw us wigging out and helped us. She pumped some air in and when Club President turned her car back on, the message disappeared, so we took that as a green light. We said our thanks and goodbyes and hit the road.

At first, we were scared parking lot was going to be full. Luckily there were many spaces left. Club President was smart and parked next to the entrance/exit points so leaving the venue later would be easier/faster. When we first arrived, we had to pay money for parking. No worries, we both have our credit cards. “Do any of you have cash?” With a blank stare at each other and sheepish head shakes of refusal, the guy just let us in. HAHAHA WE FINESSED THE SYSTEM! Genuinely we would be more than willing to use our cards, but I think the 19 year old parking attendant was too tired to care. Poor man had been standing in the sun since the morning and just wanted to leave. Well, happy for us. We just saved $40.

When we got in, we both wanted to buy some of the artist’s merchandise. We arivved an hour early and decided that was enough time. NOPE! Just barely 3 more people in front of us, but the clock was reading 7:25pm. Fuck it, we can buy the merchandise on eBay. With 5 minutes left, we sprinted to the entrance on the other side of the arena. The security guard let us through quickly since all we had on us were our phones and car keys. After the guards, there was a run up a steep hill to the opening doors. Callback to our walk to the beach. It’s as if life was training us for this perfect moment, and the hill was a breeze. Others were standing by the railing catching their breath, but we flew past them like dust in the air. Because this was a last minute ticket purchase on a sketchy website, I was anxious if we got sold fake tickets but in we go! By then, it was 7:32pm but our seats were so far from the entrance that we had to run and weave through all the people. We could hear music playing and people cheering from outside of the auditorium but we didn’t want to waste any more time. Like in a scene from an anime or K-drama, Club President grabbed my hand and we ran the whole way with her leading in the front and me trailing along behind. By then, the sun hadn’t set but was beginning to lower to the horizon. A bright ray had shot its way through the arena’s windows and blinded us in our pursuit. We both laughed at the silly cinematic-like scene. Eventually we made it there and I was able to lead us the rest of our way to the seats. We got there just in time because when we sat down and had an extra minute to settle in, that’s when the artist actually came out with her first performance.

The concert was more than what we thought it would be. Our view of the stage wasn’t very good. Since the tickets were so cheap, we were sat all the way on the very end of the side where the big screens aren’t even visible. Legit, I was the last person seated for that row. Most of the performance, we got the side view of the artist, but compared to another friend of mine that bought his ticket for $350, I’m very content with what I got. The both of us screamed till our hearts content and sang out each lyric. I think this may have been the best concert I’ve been to (including all my raves and festivals), and Club President thought so too. I’m glad I experienced this with her. All of our favorite songs were sang and even older unexpected ones, too. It seemed like a concert that never ended because although the artist kept saying it was her ‘last song’ she’d still be on stage for another hour. This was definitely a concert worth every penny (although I cannot promise the same if you were one of the sorry blokes that had to pay $300+ ehehheheh).

Even though, in the beginning, neither Club President nor I had a clear idea of what the day was going to reveal, I’m very glad I spent it with her. Even if I went to this concert with another friend, I don’t think I would’ve had as much fun. I wish I can have more happy days like this with her.

TLDR: What should I do today? I don’t know, but it will be fun!