I was definitely feeling anxious thinking about how many people would be there, but then I decided to look at it as just another challenge. I knew that once I got there I would most likely be fine plus Rommel made sure I knew that we could leave whenever I wanted to, which always makes it easier for me.
Just as I thought, I was a lot less anxious once we got to the venue. I was just so excited about what we were going to see. I did have a scary moment in the middle of the day when no bands were playing, it was getting really crowded, it was hot and uncomfortable, and I just wanted to get away. We found a little shade behind a booth to cool down and before we knew it they had opened the gates to the larger stage and I had calmed down.
The walk up to the amphitheater was actually insanely long. This was before the main stage opened and the whole place became unbelievably crowded.
This is a glimpse of the side stage where the first few bands played. It was standing only and completely in the afternoon sun. Instead of dying in the crowd, Rommel and I found a shady spot to listen to Young the Giant, Foster the People, Airborne Toxic Event, and Neon Trees.
We had seats around the middle of the amphitheater which were actually pretty awesome.
Face to Face
Cage the Elephant was one of the bands I was looking forward to the most. They were so good and they were big on getting the audience involved which always makes a show better.
Bad Religion! One of my favorite parts of live shows is when the whole crowd joins together to sing and that was what their whole set was like. It was amazing!
My absolute favorite set of the night was the Strokes. They were so, so, so good! I sincerely hope I have the opportunity to see them again in the future.
The last two sets of the night were Rise Against and Lincoln Park, but I agreed to leave early. Rommel honestly could care less who most of the bands were and only went because I wanted to. Plus we had been there for seven hours (this is after I spent half a day at work) and I was ridiculously sun burnt. The awful part was that we missed the surprise guest - the Foo Fighters! I don't think I will ever leave anything early again.
On Sunday we headed to a local arts and crafts festival that I local forward to every year. Rommel gives me a budget and I try my best to stick to it, but I always have a hard time limiting myself at flea markets, etc. Although the festival rocked again this year, I did not leave with much.
I bought a couple of steel butterflies for our front yard. I bought a few pieces from the same couple a year or two ago and I love the way the weather and rust.
I also found a gift for my dad for father's day, a hand sculpted piggy bank that is a pig dressed as a pirate.
I was a little disappointed that I was not finding much that I was really excited about when I walked by the very last booth before walking to our car. I noticed that the vendor had lilac candles which I had to stop and smell. The neighborhood in Illinois where I grew up had lilacs everywhere. I miss that lovely scent and am always looking for real smelling lilac candles. It turns out that the woman running the booth also grew up in Illinois and had created certain scents with the state in mind, which were lilac, honeysuckle, and citrus and tomato leaf. It just so happens that I hate tomatoes but love the smell of tomato plants. I ended up spending the rest of my budget on lemon, lilac, and citrus and tomato leaf candles. Even better is that they are soy candles which burn a lot longer than wax candles.
To finish the weekend off we decided to see that Pirates movie, which was not great but there was something even better about the movie - I did not experience any anxiety about going to the movie theater! I mentioned it before, but I had not been to the movies in several years because the experience caused me to have panic attacks. We have gone to two other movies so far this year and I had some anxiety each time. Plus I was only comfortable sitting in the very back corner of the theater. This time I felt pretty comfortable and we actually sat at the end of a row in the middle of the theater. It may sound insignificant to other people, but I am extremely proud of being able to do this anxiety-free.
Such a fantastic weekend!
I have so much more to share with you guys. I have a lot going on and several projects in the works around the house.
Hope you are having an excellent week!
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2 comments:
I was wondering how closely you would associate your panic attacks with symptoms of depression?
I was reading in this article that the instance of occurrence of depression in arthritis suffers is very high.
http://www.dailyrx.com/news-article/depression-makes-pain-worse-12297.html
I was looking for information that might be more specific to people who are OCD or GAD diagnosed and how one acts as a trigger for the other. Morgan I think it is great you got out to the theater and confronted your anxiety by the way, positive steps!
I do tend to have more panic attacks when depressed or at least feel more vulnerable to panic. I have also had bouts of depression due to my health issues, mostly when I feel overwhelmed by my RA and everything involved.
Sometimes it feels like a vicious cycle where the panic causes my RA to flare and the RA causes me to panic. But I keep reminding my self to take small steps and not take on too much. Every little bit is an improvement, no matter how small!
Thanks for your comment and support.
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