runlindsayrun

Afterglow

OH MY GOSH did I ever need this past weekend. Life has just been coming at me a million miles an hour lately and by the end of last week I must have been a total treat to be around... Sarcasm, my friends.

This was EXACTLY what I had been needing. Emily, Melanie, Kathy, and I met up *early* on Saturday morning (thank you, Paul!) and began our roadtrip down to Minneapolis. I seriously think we talked the entire way there, pausing only to sip some Starbucks or have a quick bathroom break.

Have I mentioned recently how much I love drama-free girls? The only drama on the way down was the nasty-looking sky. I've never been more worried about a tornado in my life, and after arriving safely in Minneapolis, we saw on the news that there had actually been a couple of touch-downs in that area just after we drove through. SHUDDER. The weather was ominous in the city and the sky was black as night in the middle of the evening, but we were troopers and headed out to Ikea anyway (hehe).

After a bit of a lazy start, Sunday was spent at the Mall of America and then at Lilith. Ah, Lilith... You did not disappoint me in any way. We took in performances by Metric, Kate Nash, Court Yard Hounds (two-thirds of the Dixie Chicks), Heart, Mary J Blige, and Sarah McLachlan. It would have been fun to see ALL the performers - there were a few more earlier in the day - but there was no way I was up to that. The ones we saw were incredible, the only exception being Kate Nash. Her voice was awesome, but honestly, her attitude was so repulsive that the music didn't even matter anymore.

I was struck by how these musicians - with the exception of Kate - were all so grateful to be there and so in love with what they were doing. They were all STRONG women, in their own totally unique ways, and sharing their incredible musical gifts in their own totally unique styles. We heard almost every kind of music, without a single bad note. It was awesome, and the little bit of feminism that resides in my heart was smiling. There was a lot of singing, a lot of dancing, and a lot of screaming. Awesomeness.

After the concert, we caught the train back out of downtown and stopped off for a late-night snack before crashing WAY TOO LATE. As a result, the morning was a little sluggish, but we were on the road in decent time and did some moderate damage at the outlets in Albertville before hitting the road for real. We were again delayed because of bizarre (and kind of dangerous) circumstances - there was a major accident that shut down the I-94 and forced us to take a pretty major detour. We eventually arrived home, tired but happy.

It was a great weekend. It reminded me how important it is to maintain my own friendships and take time out for myself every once in a while - reconnecting with the things I loved to do before I was Lindsay the Wife and Lindsay the Mom, and just be Lindsay for a bit. I forgot how much I like her. I laughed a lot this weekend.

Cheers to Kathy for braving the hotel lounge with Mel and I in yoga pants and no makeup... hehe. It meant so much to be able to spend some real time with you, my friend. You are one of the most beautiful people I've been lucky enough to know.

Cheers to Mel for helping me sing my way through most of the Glee soundtrack on the way home. Life has gotten so busy, and you are one of those friends who I don't see nearly often enough - but when we do, it feels just like always. I love that.

Cheers to Emily for being your lovely, flexible self and for an entire weekend of Lindsay + Emily time. I miss you so much when we get so busy. You're one of those friends who just loves me unconditionally exactly where I am, and that's *so* special.

And, of course, cheers to Geoff for giving me such an incredible birthday gift :)

(Photos and videos to follow.)

Labels: Concerts, Emily, Kathy, Lilith Fair, Melanie, Music, My Friends, Travel

posted by Lindsay @ 11:10 AM