A Phish Show 15 Years in the Making

Fifteen years ago, when I was 14 and my sister, Allison, was 18, both of us were in love with Phish.  Actually, correction: she was in love with Phish, I had one or two of their albums, but wasn't quite at her level.  Regardless, when she asked if I wanted to road trip with her six hours to Noblesville, Indiana, to see them play, the answer was yes.  I have this memory of not really caring if I went or not but of feeling honored that my big-sister had even asked me to join her.  

It was a last-minute invite (as in late the night before). Allison had just seen the band play in the Chicago-area and called home with news that the friend she traveling with was sick.  Essentially she wanted to go to another show, had no one to join her, and wanted to bring me a replacement.  And to quote my journal which I dug up just for this post, "Of course, I said yes!"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            I remember the morning we were leaving the uneasy feeling my parents had about us going.  It was storming at the time, so early it was still dark outside and they worried the roads would be bad.  Nonetheless, we were allowed to go and we hit the road in the family's Chevy Cavalier, with the goal of catching Phish that night.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     To make a long story short, we never actually saw Phish.  We had headed to Deer Creek without tickets.  Allison made a sign that read something along the line of it being my first Phish show, that we needed tickets.  We stood near the venue, holding the sign, trying our luck, but had such a small amount of money on us we never would have been able to afford two, or even one, ticket.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               My big memories?  Despite what my journal says, "There were a lot of hot guys everywhere.  People were doing drugs, smoking, and drinking.  I bet Al and I were the only sober people."  They are actually all related to spending time with a big sister who had just hit the age where she started to enjoy my company, rather than despise it.  Allison lent me clothes to wear on our trip (she didn't want me to look like a teeny-bopper in a Sugar shirt), she inspected food we bought off street vendors (trying to protect me from scary drugs that could be hidden inside), made me promise I wouldn't tell mom if she did anything rebellious (at the time I was so innocent that I had no idea she was likely referring to smoking pot), and insisted that even if we could only afford one ticket to the show we needed to buy it, so I could go inside and experience Phish.

Allison trying to get us tickets.

My other memories involve my being a cranky 14-year-old with little tolerance for discomfort.  I was hungry, so sick of eating the Chex mix and plain bagels Allison brought.  During the show, as we sat outside listening, I was cold, tired, still hungry.  Really, I was so miserable at times.  Seriously, look at my face the morning after the show right before we headed back home:

Since that show I've seen Phish twice, in 2003 and 2004.  In both cases, I was with friends, not with my sister.  Which brings me to this past weekend.  They played at Northerly Island in Chicago.  Allison, her husband and eight-month-old daughter, my boyfriend, and two of my good friends (who I actually saw Phish with ten years ago) all together to jam out.  As Allison said as we drove to the venue, the five of us (minus Maddie and Ryan) squeezed into her Scion, this really was a "Phish show 15 years in the making." 

Allison, Walker, Johanna, Ryan, Maddie, me, and Spencer.

Lawn seats. 

The newest Phish Phan in our family.

Another Friend Getting Married, Another Awesome Celebration

I'm 29-years-old, as are most of my friends, so perhaps no surprise that over the last three summers everyone has gotten married.   In the last year alone I will have gone to 8 weddings, and three more are in the next two months. The downside: It's burned a hole in my wallet.  Between traveling to the celebration and bachelorette parties, buying gifts, boarding the pup every time, and of course, figuring out what I'm going to wear:  we have spent thousands.

  But the upside (and it's a major upside): So many excuses to see old friends and celebrate!

DIY glittered champagne bottles and a cake shipped in from
NYC courtesy of Abby, Millie's sister and maid-of-honor.

...This weekend was one of them as a number of my best college friends came together in Chicago for Millie's bachelorette party.  The wedding is in Michigan this September.  We're all bridesmaids, along with Millie's sister, cousin, and best friend from high school.  So a celebration.  It involved staying in a beautiful downtown condo that belongs to one of the bridesmaids family members, hand glittered champagne bottles courtesy of Millie's sister, some State Street shopping (the stores downtown have changed so much!), and the opportunity to test out dozens of different scented oils and create our own blend of perfume.

Personalized perfumes created!  Mine is entitled "To Harriette, With Love,"
and is a blend of pink sugar, white tea, and citron oils.

At Aroma Workshop creating our custom scents.

This is a beet margarita.  Sounds icky, it's amazing.  Millie's sister, Abby, is the executive chef at a Grand Rapids restaurant which serves these.  She squeezed the lemons and limes right in front of us to come up with this awesome concoction. 

The view from the condo where we stayed. Ridiculous, right?

Enjoying the view on Saturday morning.

Met the first day in the dorms and still, love these girls so much.