To Be Brand New

This weekend I had a much, much, much needed get-away with my girlfriends, Lauren and Steph. I can't even really explain why getting physically out of town was better than just driving and going shopping. But somehow it was. And it was exactly what my soul, heart, and head needed even if it was entirely simple and not that eventful. We headed out Saturday afternoon, an absolutely amazingly beautiful day to have a road trip. Our destination was Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a place none of us had been to before. We were going there for a Brand New concert. The ride seemed so much shorter than I expected (maybe because I was reading Twilight and was extremely engrossed) and after finding our hotel, we got ready and headed to dinner. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe, my first time to go. It was shaped like a pyramid, complete with sphynx's outside the entryway. After some not-so-wonderful margaritas and good food, we hit up a photobooth outside before starting out to the concert venue. 40 minutes or so and a gps and iphone later, we arrived. Our gps and Steph's iphone both failed us and lead us nowhere. When we finally asked at a McDonalds, the manager said it was half an hour north. Crap. We were already running late. I said a quick prayer that we'd made it in time for Thrice who was opening for Brand New. And sure enough we got there with minutes to spare. We got our tickets and wrist bands (not without a few teasing comments about how my ID was fake and I was NOT 22. I agreed that I was NOT 22. I was almost 24...) and headed inside one of the coolest looking venues I've ever been to. I can't really explain fully. It was just extremely...ME. Artsy, the building gave me the feeling it was originally a Chinese theatre or something, everything was painted and colorful and just...so ME. The venue also looked exactly like the venue I saw Blindside at. Except bigger. And more cool. We got drinks (my first time drinking at a concert. I know. BABY me!) and a few minutes later Thrice came on. We all really enjoyed them. Some of the songs were almost familiar. But I'm still not sure if I've really heard them before. They did a cover of The Beatle's 'Helter Skelter' that gave me chills. If you give me chills, you get brownie points. So I was happy. We watched a few people crowd surf and a few people get bloody faces from moshing and then we headed to get another drink. At some point we ran into some young Marines (can't hide that haircut) who denied they were Marines, one of which was one of the bloody faces from the mosh pit. We informed them we were married and we all had shots. I know. Random. The next few minutes were just a constant array of hilarity. It was just a funny night. During our tattoo comparisons, Lauren convinced them her tattoo read 'Dirty Jew' and we took turns guessing each others' ages and nationalities (I've never been that far off with an Asian in my life. I swear I named off every Asian nationality there is and the correct guess was the last one. Where did my magic touch go?? I just knew for sure it wasn't Thai, Japanese, Korean, or Chinese). Of course they never guessed I was the most white Asian they'd ever meet. They thought we were all 21 (me being the only one close and not even close). After some awkward moments on their part (They finally noticed our rings. We TOLD them...but oh no. Boys never listen.) and silent mockery on our part, we parted ways and Brand New started. It was a good show. Not the best in the world...in fact, I think I really liked Thrice better. But it was still very good despite the obnoxious sing-a-long-a-thons behind me. Please tell me this. WHY do you pay to go to a show if all you're going to do is sing over the music so no one can hear it (badly) or make out with your boyfriend and spend the entire night dominating him with sickening stares? Pleaaaaaasseeee.
After the show, we headed back to the hotel...and Steph discovered her debit card was gone. GONE. We searched the car, the room, everything and figured she must have dropped it on the way out of the venue. We headed back to the place expecting to not find it but I said a tiny prayer as we arrived that we WOULD find it and it would be quick. 5 steps around the building later, I picked it up off the ground and dusted it off. Amazing. Thank you, God.
The next morning we enjoyed breakfast at a pancake house (I had granola french toast. Heaven.) and then decided to just hit the road. As I said. A very simple, not all that evenful trip...but somehow it was just what I needed. We all enjoyed a LOT of laughs, a good show, and an entire road trip split three ways that only cost $63 per person. How can you beat that?
My favorite quote of the entire trip: "Sometimes I wake up and hear my fan talking to me saying 'how-are-you-how-are-you' in a robotic voice." Ahh...I love you guys.