Voodoo Fest

Shawn and I were blessed to have my mama keep our sweet babies on Friday, affording
us the opportunity to venture out to the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans.  Voodoo
is by far our favorite rock music festival for several reasons: it's held on Halloween
weekend every year and the weather is always perfect, there's a wide array of bands and
you get to sample so many different musical styles, and it's held in City Park which gives it
a cool, woodland vibe that never feels overcrowded.  We were extremely nervous and
anxious to leave Brees for the night for the first time, so much so that I didn't even book
our hotel until about 10 minutes before we left our house.  We gave the girls both a
million kisses, packed every single belonging they could have possibly needed for the 24
hours we would be away, gave my mom a ridiculously detailed list that she probably
never even looked at, and headed out.  We spent the 2 and 1/2 hour drive down to the
Big Easy catching up, laughing, and listening to our favorite songs.  By the time we saw
the city skyline ahead of us, we were both excited and ready to enjoy our time
together, knowing that the girls were safe and sound.

We got to Voodoo as soon as the gates opened, our day mapped out with a long list of
bands we were longing to see.  We walked the grounds hand in hand, meeting several
artists and checking out the booths filled with hand made wares, sculptures, and
eclectic characters.  For two people who work full time and spend every waking moment
with their babies, having the opportunity to spend a day walking around aimlessly is
the biggest indulgence.  

Friday's Voodoo Fest crowd was an interesting mix: My Chemical Romance played at
the main stage at 7pm and then Soundgarden played at 9.  This meant that half the fans
were teens-early 20's while the other half of us were 90's grunge 30-40 year olds.
The difference in these concert goers provided Shawn and I with endless amounts of
giggling.  We are self-proclaimed concert experts, having gone to more shows than we
could probably ever count over the course of our 32 years.  We are smart enough to
know that a festival like this requires practical sneakers, a picnic blanket for well
needed breaks, smuggling in bottled water to avoid the overpriced concert prices, toilet
paper in your backpack to survive the porta-pots, and earplugs to make it through the
really heavy bands.  Yes, we wear earplugs to drown out the feedback.  Call us old
fogies, we're confident enough in our coolness.  The mama in my couldn't help but
be concerned for those young girls in high heels, no jacket, drunk by noon.
Lord, they must have had a long day...  

There were some pretty epic moments throughout this day, like being front row
for Ani DiFranco.  

 I've been crushing on Band of Horses for quite some time and seeing them under the
cool, misty Louisiana sky affirmed it: they are incredible.

Then of course there was Soundgarden, a band we have jammed to for almost 20 years.
As each song super sonic rocked our faces off, I kept thinking back to driving around with
my girlfriends after Friday night football games, smoking cigarettes with my brother out
my bedroom window, flannel shirts and my green vinyl Doc Marten's.  Hearing "The Day
I Tried to Live" live, in my favorite city, the love of my life with his arms wrapped
around me: truly an epic moment.

We walked out after the final encore exhausted but blissfully happy.  Spending a whole
day with Shawn, laughing and talking and doing our own thing was a blessing I am
so completely grateful for.  He is absolutely the best friend I could ever ask for and I am
so thankful to have a husband and partner I have so much in common with, so many
similar interests.  We woke up super early the next morning, enjoyed a pancake
breakfast, and raced home to our babies: refreshed, rejuvenated, in love.