Thrifting/Secondhand Finds Part 1: Plato's Closet

    Recently I've gotten really into thrifting, and for mainly clothing, although I do like to check out the home decor as well. In the past I would barely go to a thrift store to thrift clothes, unless I really needed a last minute item of clothing for something. Thrift stores I thought mostly carried outdated clothes for older women. That is not the case. At least the last couple of years. I've found so many cool, brand-name, in fashion clothing pieces over the last couple of months, and the hunt for such treasures has been thrilling. I'm not the kind of person who has ever cared about the brand of clothing that a piece of clothing in, moreso liking pieces of clothing I personally like. This is still true, but it's also really cool seeing major brand clothing companies on certain pieces of clothing that are expensive for super cheap, usually 70%+ off their regular price for items that look relatively new. Thrifting has also taught me how sizing can be really unreliable, and to look up a few sizes or down. I'm usually a Medium but I have found some pieces I really like in XL or L as well, or even S. Secondhand clothing is also a lot more sustainable. A lot of clothing gets sent into landfills so it also help cut down

on that. You can also try out certain styles of clothing you may not want to pay full price for. For this post I'm going to go into some of my recent finds and where I got them from, and about how much it cost me if I remember, and what a piece of clothing like this can go for. I'll only post the size if it different from my normal size.

  Plato's Closet

   I have gotten so many wonderful, cute pieces from Plato's Closet, and I love shopping there. Plato's is a little more expensive for secondhand clothes since it is specifically newer, trendy clothing items. The prices are considerably cheaper than buying these items new from their original source. 

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This dress is from the clothing brand Blue Blush. It cost around $14 at Plato's and looks so flattering and gorgeous on. You can't tell from the picture but it is also sparkly. It is definitely one of my favorite pieces I have ever bought secondhand. 

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    This is a fun piece that came as a matching set with shorts. It was too cute to pass up especially since it came as a set. I think altogether the set was around $12 and didn't have a brand tag. 

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    I bought this piece back in 2021 so I'm not sure how much it cost, but I did end up wearing it in a photoshoot. The ruffles of the dress are so fun with the added flower details. It is definitely another favorite find. It's a size Small, and came without a brand tag. 

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Plato's Closet had this sweater posted on their Instagram for sale around Christmas time in 2022 and I went out to the store a few hours after seeing it on their page. It felt like the best Christmas sweater to me. The red Coca Cola logo with the classic Coca-Cola polar bear. It's an X-Large and was made by the Coca Cola company. It's a little more loose fitting on me but doesn't over engulf me. I actually found a matching one to this one at the Goodwill bins in a size Large and plan on giving the larger one to my mom so we can match for Christmas. 

 

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I found this dress around Valentine's Day in 2022. It's a red dress with little white hearts. It has ruffle sleeves, and a tie knot in the front. It's actually an X-Large dress from the brand Shein, but fits me well. If I wear it around Valentine's Day, I will wear a white long-sleeve shirt underneath. 

Other pieces I have gotten from Plato's Closet that'll I'll post without as much of a caption. 

-Black Square Neck Floral Dress from American Eagle.

- Black and Pink Button-Up Floral Shirt by the brand Wild Fable. 

           

- Black Fringe Heeled Ankle Boots. I wear these a lot for dressier outfits.

 - These fun patchwork patterned pants from the brand Kinsie. 

 -Two-Piece Cream and Blue Floral Matching Set. This is a super cute set with ruffles and little flower details. I wore it to a wedding last year. It was another piece that was pictured on Plato's Closet's Instagram that I went to go find, so were the pants above actually. This is a Size Large from the brand Shein. 

- White, Blue, and Pink Cropped Striped Sweater from the company Blue Rain. 

Fun Kenosha Places to Check Out

 Hold My Beer

   Hold my beer has a wall of self-pour craft beers to choose from. People also go there to do axe-throwing, but you don't have to, to try the craft beers. I haven't gone myself, but think it's somewhere dad might like to try. (Located in downtown). 

https://holdmybeerkenosha.com/

Scoops IceCream

   This is Kenosha's go to place for icecream. There are tons of flavors to choose from for a cone or dish. You can also get a pint of ice cream to take home. (Located downtown) 

https://scoopskenosha.com/

LuLuBirds 

   LuLu birds has refurbished furniture, antiques, and other unique house items. (Located downtown)

https://www.facebook.com/LuluBirdskenosha/

Frank's Diner 

Famous breakfast spot, but you have to get their early because there's usually a line to get in. (Located downtown) 

https://www.franksdinerkenosha.com/

Vintage Underground

Probably the best antique spot in Kenosha. (Located downtown) 

https://www.vintageundergroundkenosha.com/

Indoor HarborMarket and Kenosha Public Market located at the Kemper Center during the winter months. 

2024 Overview

   This year I mostly stayed within the southeastern part of Wisconsin only leaving to go to Green Lake, Hayward, and Chicago. It was a minimal travel year after 2023 had been full of traveling all over. A few highlights include moving into an apartment with my friend Rebecca from church, seeing Phantom Planet twice in concert, one of those in which I was able to talk to them in person. I saw Green Day perform American Idiot in full and I adopted a puppy. I would visit my parent's each weekend during the summer in order to see Astro. Throughout 2024 I also went to church most Sundays, attended the young adults group through church, went to homegroup most Tuesdays, and volunteered in kids work at church once a month. I started out volunteering in the 4th/5th grade classroom then got switched to the 2nd/3rd grade classroom. In this post I will go more in depth about which occurred each month in 2024. Thank you God for the experiences this year and to all the friends that were apart of it.

January

- On the first day of January we went over to my parent's neighbors house to play board games throughout the afternoon, into the evening.

-Saw the movie "Wonka" with Mary and Megan in theatres.

- Had a movie night at my friend Sarah's house and watched "School of Rock"

February

- Ate lunch with friends after church at El Camino     

-Toured different apartment buildings with Rebecca

- Celebrated my 28th birthday and went to Chen's Buffet

March

- Attended the Alliance Banquet which raises money to provide free medical services to women in the community.

- Hung out with friends after church to celebrate my birthday. We hung out at the Kenosha lakefront, got boba, and went to Eastview Coffee Company.

- Saw Faille's art at an art fair

-Got lunch with Mary and Megan at Anna's

- Moved into my new apartment with Rebecca

- Rebecca visited Slinger

April

- Saw iDKHOW in Milwaukee

- Fostered a dog named Yoshi (Shiba Inu) for a week. (I bought him, but he had bad separation from his former owners, and they hadn't been 100% about wanting to sell him in the first place, so I sold him back to them.)

- I adopted Bruno (German Shepherd/Corgi Mix).

-Celebrated Rebecca's birthday

- Went to my friend Alex's bridal shower

May

- My church had their annual Songwriting Showcase and this year it was 80s themed.

-Went to Chipotle on Cinco de Mayo after church with some friends

-Dominated at Cinco De Mayo themed jeopardy for some reason at Young Adults group. My team ended up winning, and I knew a lot of the answers???

- My friend Alex's Wedding. Got lunch before the reception at Slip 56.

- Church Memorial Day Hangout at my friend Justina's

-My homegroup went to a Brewer's Game

- I had to take Bruno back to the Humane Society

June

- Went to my friend Faille's 30th birthday party which was funeral themed to say goodbye to her 20's. :) 

-Bruno had to be put to sleep. (Bruno was a sweet/silly dog that started becoming aggressive 3 weeks after adopting him especially towards other dogs. Bruno would also lunge towards my neighbors while we were walking outside and bark at them. He attacked my parent's dog over Mother's Day weekend, and my dad said he probably would have killed Drake if he hadn't been able to get them apart. I had a lot of guilt with the decision to give him back to the Humane Society, and even more when they told me he would have to be put down. But I am at peace with the decision now.) 

- Went to Taste of Randolph in Chicago to see Phantom Planet with Rebecca, we also visited VooDoo doughnuts and took a walk along Michigan Avenue near the riverwalk that evening. 

- Went to Tacos El Norte after church with Rebecca and Liz

- Went up north to Hayward with my parents for vacation for a week. We rented a cabin near Lake Nelson and relaxed and went fishing throughout the week. 

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July 

- Went to the Kenosha Lakefront for the 4th of July Fireworks with Rebecca and Dimone.

- Got switched to doing 4th/5th grade kid's work with Xav. 

- Adopted Astro (My parent's went to the Washington County Humane Society after I saw that puppies were being transported there from Louisiana. We decided rescuing a puppy would be the best move after losing Bruno. That way the dog wouldn't have experienced as much trauma or any, and would be easier to train. There they visited Astro after seeing his ears and facetimed me, and picked him up two days later. Astro ran up to me right away when I visited him the day my parent's picked him up. Astro is such an amazing dog, and was very easy to train, I couldn't be happier with the decision to get him.) My parent's had Astro at their house until early September when I took him home to live in Kenosha. 

- Went to the Lake Andrea Biergarten with Rick and Kaila and parents with Astro. 

- Liz had a movie night to watch Parent Trap 

-Went to the movie theatre to see Twisters. We were originally going to go to Ravinia Fest but it was raining. 

- We had a Christmas in July themed homegroup (Ro had Christmas music playing and we did a white elephant gift exchange but we were encouraged to wear beach themed clothing.) 

August

- Movie night with Mary, Megan, Rebecca and Sarah. We watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". 

- Went to Green Lake for our church conference

- Had brunch after church at Rooster Cafe with a group of ladies after church.

- Saw Green Day with my parents. Green Day played all of American Idiot in full which is my all time favorite album. 

- Went to Simmon's Island Beach with friends as a final get together to say goodbye to my friend Alex before her and her husband moved to Nashville for a new church plant. We also went to their house that evening after the beach to hang out. 

September

-Visited Lion's Den Gorge with Astro

-Went to the Hubertus Flea Market with my parents and Astro

- Brought Astro home to live in Kenosha 

- Young Adult's Bonfire Get Together at my friend Justina's 

October

-Got put into a new homegroup ( a lot of people got moved around due to homegroup leaders moving out of town to other church plants, etc.) 

-Got lunch after church at Anna's on the Lake with Mary. 

- Got highlights done in my hair.

- Went to Chicago to see Phantom Planet and talk with them in person. (I bought the VIP package where we got to watch them do an acoustic show of a few requested song, got to take pictures and talk with them, and were sent home with a goodie bag before the show. I put together a little gift bag for each member as well.) 

- Picked hickory nuts with Mom and then went to see a performance of "The Thorn" in Milwaukee with our family friend, Maggie. The Thorn was a musical based on the Gospel of John with a lot of emphasis on dance, sound, and special effects. 

- Had a movie night at mine and Rebecca's apartment with Sarah, Mary, and Megan and watched "Phantom of the Opera". 

- Went for a walk along the Kenosha lakefront with Rebecca, Mary, and Astro before getting drinks at Anna's on the Lake and hanging out in front. The next day we went back to Anna's to get lunch after church with Megan. 

- Visited my parent's and saw a hypnotist perform along with our family friends Rob and Maggie and my aunt Bonnie and Uncle Bruce. 

-Voted early on Halloween

November

- Visited the Wndr Museum with Friends from church in Chicago and got dinner at a restaurant nearby 

- Took Astro to get pictures with Santa 

-Went to see Wicked with friends on opening night. Beforehand we got dinner at Chick Fil A 

- Went to a cultural Friendsgiving celebration at my friend Dimone's and people from church. (it was cultural because Dimone encouraged us to bring something from our culture. I brought German cupcakes.) 

- Celebrated Thanksgiving at  my cousin Peter and Ann Maries.

December

- Went to Festival of Trees with my parents at Washington County Humane Society. (Maggie, and Mary Alice also came.) 

- Astro had to be taken to the Emergency Vet for getting into my medication while I was at work. I had accidentally left my bedroom door open. 

- My church did a Christmas performance with songs about the birth of Jesus and scripture relating to that. 

- Christmas Party with my old homegroup as a way to hang out with the Marvin's one last time before they move. 

- The next night I had a Christmas party with my new homegroup 

- Watched a hallmark Christmas movie at Sarah's with Mary and Megan

- Celebrated Christmas with my dads sisters and my mom's family at the end of the month. 

- Celebrated Christmas Eve by playing Bingo at my parent's house and talking with family friends

 Maggie and Rob. 

Phantom Planet Show 10.7.2024

   On October 7th I took off work to go see Phantom
Planet in Chicago. Technically I probably could have just left work early, but I'd rather not have been overwhelmed getting to the concert after work. Having the day off also meant I had time to do other things beforehand so I decided to get my hair highlighted. I got my hair done at the local beauty school, as it was quite a bit cheaper. My hair still turned out really nice though. The student shared different things she had learned at the school with me while doing my hair.  The girl was kind enough to even style my hair afterwards, straightening it and adding little waves. I guess at the beauty school your not expected to tip, but of course I did. Phantom Planet is currently on tour with Hanson but also doing a 20th anniversary tour for their self-titled album. My particular show was a Hanson show. 

    After getting my hair done I ate lunch before taking a nap. I also took my dog on a walk before heading down to Chicago where Phantom Planet would be playing. I decided to leave at 3pm with the Phantom Planet meet n greet being at 4:45. As expected there was some traffic near Chicago. A drive that was only supposed to take an hour and 12ish minutes took a little over an hour and a half. While driving down I shuffled Phantom Planet's discography via Spotify. Phantom Planet would be opening for Hanson at the House of Blues. I arrived at the parking garage I had reserved parking for around 4:35. Luckily the parking garage was basically across the street from the venue. When I first arrived at the venue I was unsure of where to go. There was a line of fans lined up by a side door, so I went towards the front of that line to see if I could figure out where to go from there. A Hanson friend asked me if I was looking for a friend that was closer to the front. I explained, and she told me Phantom Planet's tour manager had been out looking for VIP members but it had been a bit ago. They told me I could probably go over to the main entrance of the building on the other side and pointed out the way. It seemed weird that stray Hanson fans wouldn't try to go through the front door, but they didn't. When I explained to security why I was there the first security guard said they had sent the first group upstairs already. (She must have been confused, it turns out only the band had gone upstairs into the main area, but because she said that I was paranoid I was missing out on part of the VIP experience, even when around other VIP fans, especially when they didn't start leading us into the main area until 5:45ish.) When it was almost time to go up Phantom Planet began sound checking their songs. For the VIP experience I had gone to in 2023 they let the VIP's listen in on soundcheck, which made me a little more paranoid. The thoughts of paranoia stopped when we walked up the stairs and only the band was on stage with no one else in the room. I stood next to the barricade with a few other fans. Around 15 of us total maybe 20. They performed two songs electronically and then asked us if we'd prefer for them to keep playing on the stage or do a little acoustic show. I said acoustic, and since I was in the front they heard me, and were like yeah of course. 

    They grabbed two acoustic guitars and came down from the stage and sat in the middle of the floor as everyone else sat in a semi circle around them. I had a straight on view and they were only like 5 ft. in front of me. They asked for song requests, and someone even asked for one that they hadn't played in many years. Alex (the lead singer), stopped in the middle of the song because he had forgotten the lyrics to his own song so the fan sang the lines to him. At one point Darren (guitarist) told Alex they should switch guitars because he wanted Alex to have the nicer sounding one. I said "it's a trick." to which Darren replied "it's not, I promise." I was able to capture a nice picture of them playing the acoustic set together. (My phone usually doesn't take good pictures, so I leave it up to the others at the show.) 

   Phantom Planet has 4 members currently but Sam (bassist) is also in Maroon 5 so he has a Las Vegas residency with them, and Jeff (drummer) lives with his wife and kids in Minneapolis so it's harder for him to actively participate in the band. Sam will be apart of Phantom Planet shows for this tour, but Jeff will not be able to make it to any shows. Filling in for them are two of Alex's and Darren's friends Chris (filling in for bass), and Andrew (filling in on drums.) All of them are very sweet people. 

   After the mini acoustic set the doors were set for the Hanson fans to start coming in. Darren and Alex lead us to a back/merch area for the meet n greet opportunity. You could buy merch while you waited in line to talk with Darren and Alex. I had made little gift bags for each member. Each bag contained a pair of space themed socks, sour patch gum (Darren and Alex's favorite), and a Cadbury chocolate bar. The one I just so happened to pick for Darren, Carmello, ended up being one of his and his mom's top favorite chocolate bars. I knew Cadbury was an excellent chocolate company, but I guess it was an even better pick than I thought. I made a gift bag for Darren, Alex, Andrew, Chris, and Sam for when he was able to join the tour. I wanted to let Chris and Andrew know that they are also appreciated even if they are just filling in. Alex and Darren;s bags were addressed from me and Astro my puppy, that Alex actually helped name. (Alex and Darren run a Phantom Planet Patreon page where fans can interact with each other and Alex and Darren. Darren is on a couple times a day, and Alex is on about once a day. There's not too many people so you can easily keep up with the chat throughout the day and not have your messages lost in the chat like with other creator chats. It's also nice how active Darren and Alex are (most creators aren't) but Darren and Alex really care about their fans.) 

  When it came time for me to talk to Alex and Darren I was much more nervous than I thought I would be and stumbled on my words. I got out how I had the gift bags and that one was for Sam. When Darren first saw me he said "Alex, right?" which was a little shocking, but goes to reiterate the point that they care about their fans. I then asked them if they were okay with hugs before hugging them, and saying something about them being on tour and good luck for their show before getting a picture. Maybe my gifts redeemed me though from that moment. After leaving the line and going into the main space to wait for Phantom Planet to perform I was shaking. I usually was able to calmly talk to people I felt inspired by, but I guess that sometimes it's okay to be humbled. :P (While taking the picture Alex must have peaked in and noticed the sour patch gum because he commented to Darren, she got the good gum) (Alex also said that he would protect Sam's gift bag with his life. ha ha.) 

    I got a spot towards the left back once I was ready. As with other small venues you could see the performer really clearly from wherever you were in the venue. Due to this the one picture I got of Phantom Planet opening makes it seem like I was closer than I actually was. The Hanson fans played along even though they weren't actually here for Phantom Planet and even danced a little bit. Phantom Planet played a little over a half hour set before going off. After Phantom Planet went off stage I ordered a slice of pizza and a rum and coke from the bar. I sat and ate as Hanson came on. I hadn't known about Hanson before this, and couldn't really get into their music, but gave it a try and stayed for half of their set. The VIP package for Phantom Planet also got you a Phantom Planet goodie bag you could claim after Phantom Planet and/or Hanson performed. It included a Phantom Planet drawstring bag, an old fashioned mix without the bourbon with 3 different recipes on a card, bar napkins with the Phantom Planet logo, and a retro style motel/hotel keychain, since the VIP experience was known as Motel Phantom. I arrived back home around 10pm with Phantom Planet going on stage around 6:30pm. and leaving Chicago around 8:30. As soon as I stepped out of the House of Blues 2 police cars pulled up to the venue and started walking inside??? Must have picked the perfect time to leave? Although I didn't hear about anything happening at the venue later on. (Shout out to Mary from Patreon who also recognized me from Patreon at the show. It was lovely meeting you.) 

     The day after the show Darren reposted the picture of him and Alex from the acoustic set that I had taken on his Instagram story. Darren thanked me again for the gifts and told me how they really enjoyed the gum and about how Carmello Cadbury chocolate bars were him and his mom's top favorite chocolate bar as stated above. Darren also shared a pic of him wearing his new socks paired with white crocs to be silly. He's chosen crocs as his tour show for comfort while traveling but not on stage. I think at this point I can at least say that they are my friends, and I can't wait for the next show.

Green Day Concert 8.24.2024

    Around Christmas time last year tickets for Green Day were going to be going on sale. I sent my mom the link as an idea for Christmas. Green Day tickets sell out fast, and then they can get resold for pretty expensive. I hadn't thought she would actually buy the tickets. Especially when over a week later she asked me if I had gotten tickets for the concert. (She was making sure I hadn't yet, so she could.) With my brother and sister-in-law being in Canada on that date, my mom bought tickets for me, herself, and dad. I had seen Green Day in 2021 at Wrigley Field for the Hella Mega Tour with Fall Out Boy and Weezer, but this concert seemed much more incredible to me. (I also had a headache for the concert in 2021 so that didn't help.) 

    One of the things that made this concert especially special was the fact that they played through all of their album "American Idiot". That album is my favorite album of all time and very sentimental to me. My brother had gotten a lot of Green Day's albums in the early 2000's on CD and burned me a copy of American Idiot and International Superhits. (I just looked up their albums today and they have 14 studio albums which is crazy to me.) (My brother had the albums Dookie, American Idiot, International Superhits, Insomniac, Warning, Nimrod, and Shenanigans. I ended up purchasing 21st Century Breakdown, Awesome as F**ck, Uno Dos & Tre, and Revolution Radio on CD later on). I remember my mom listening through both albums to make sure they would be okay for me to listen to, and approving them. (Not sure how they got approved, as I was in elementary school when American Idiot first came out.) I had a portable CD player and would listen to American Idiot and International Superhits repeatedly on the bus on the way to school, or during recess time at school. (Now to the really deep part). In elementary school from 3rd grade on I struggled a lot with anxiety, and was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder. I worried about everything even when I knew it wasn't rational it didn't matter. This lead to constant stomachaches, and made me more of a loner in a sense. My peers didn't understand why I was so afraid of everything, so I was more isolated. I cried most days, and was so plagued with fear it was hard for me to go out and hang out with friends at different places, etc. I hated it. I hated that my summer would be ruined at the end of July knowing school would start "soon" even though I still had a month left. The first day of school had always been so hard for me that I would worry far in advance. I hated that I was constantly worried that my parents might die while I was at school, or that I would catch the flu. I hated how the weekend would be ruined starting Friday night because I was so worried for school on Monday that I couldn't even enjoy my two days off. I hated that I was a child that would have an existential crisis and be filled with fear about the creation of the universe and the thought of eternity. I hated that I my brain wouldn't let me have a normal childhood, and that therapy took so long to work. But what does that have to do with American Idiot? American Idiot was the album I listened to the most while going through all of this. I didn't understand the political undertones of the album, but caught onto the catchiness of the songs. I especially caught onto the lyrics of one song in particular. "Extraordinary Girl." The lyrics are "Somedays she feels like dying, she gets so sick of crying." (Very dark for a 9 year old girl.) I was so sick of crying all of the time, and I do mean all of the time. I cried most days, because of how overwhelmed I felt. I didn't want to die necessarily but remember being comforted by the fact that life was so short. I remember my therapist back then telling me that life happens in a blink of Gods eye and being really comforted by that because it meant I wouldn't have to suffer too long. (Yikes). I also caught on to the lyrics "Nobody likes you, everyone left you, they're all out without you having fun." Which is also dark. 5th grade was probably the worst year of school for me, due to being bullied by a girl I used to consider a best friend. She was going through her parents getting divorced at the time so she was in a hard place herself. During that year she had basically turned the whole 5th grade class against me and was just really mean to me. I would come home crying because of her. She was the main reason when I entered middle school I didn't have anyone to lean on, and had to basically start over and make new friends. It was really isolating. But Green Day understood. I knew I wasn't totally hated, and that my family really loved me, but I knew because of my anxiety disorder I did miss out on a lot, and had a hard time being able to have fun in the first place due to my constant worry. So people really were out without me having fun. Both sets of lyrics made me feel sad, but they also made me feel comforted and understood in a way as well. Going through this at such a young age gave me so much empathy and understanding especially working with children now who also have a harder time in a school setting then most kids. I also have a memory of having friends sleepover in 4th or 5th grade and putting a boombox outside of my brother's room while he was still sleeping and turning the volume all the way up and playing the song "American Idiot." I remember him coming out of his room and unplugging the boombox and then going back inside his bedroom to which we just proceeded to plug the boombox back in and do it again this time standing outside his door so he couldn't unplug it. He was so angry. 

     At the concert Green Day played through all of their album "Dookie" as well as well as a few other songs and then playing through"American Idiot." It had been 30 years since they released "Dookie" and 20 years since they had released "American Idiot". They ended the show by playing through "American Idiot, and I shouted along to the lyrics as memories of me from 20 years ago appeared in my mind. Little Alex would have been so proud of where adult Alex is now and all I have overcome. While they were playing the songs from each album they had set pieces/backgrounds that featured the album art. For "Dookie" they had an explosion as the background and had a blimp flying over the crowd during one of the songs. For "American Idiot they had a giant hand holding a heart-shaped hand grenade as the background. One of the things I'm fascinated with is how they could perform 37 songs (2.5 hours) non-stop without only a few seconds every now and then for changing the background etc. I would have to take breaks to sit down, and my diaphragm started aching from shouting so much, and I'm not 50. :P Around halfway through the set the drummer, Tre sang a song while dressed in a robe and dancing around. This was probably the biggest break Billie Joe (frontman) got the whole show and it was like a minute long song. :P One of the main highlights of the show was when Billie Joe had a fan come on stage who looked to be around 6 years old. She was dressed in a black button up shirt and a red tie, which is what Billie Joe would wear during the American Idiot tour. She was not shy at all and sang along to "Know Your Enemy" with Billie Joe and started jumping around on stage. It was very wholesome. The concert ended with Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) and fireworks. At one point during the show Billie Joe reminded the audience to just be in the moment and had everyone put away their phones for a few minutes. I like to also rarely take my phone out during concerts to just enjoy the moment. (Plus I know there are many other people who will have gotten way better pictures then I could of.) (Below are some pictures I gathered from around the internet besides the selfie.) Green Day had three openers before they went on so my parents and I "tailgated" in the parking lot for the first 2 hours with the concert starting at 5:30 and us getting there around 5. There was gatorade, soda, and water for drinks, and sandwiches, taco dip, salmon dip, and rice krispie bars to eat while listening to a podcast. We also had a mini solar powered generator that ran a fan from the back of my parent's van. (My mom may have been way over-prepared but we were not going to suffer for those two hours.) When we were walking into the venue Carly Rae Jepson's song "Call Me Maybe" of all songs was playing between bands over the loud speaker. (That was not the right vibe for the concert. :P ) The openers for the show were "The Linda Lindas", "Rancid", and "The Smashing Pumpkins". I had heard of the Smashing Pumpkins and knew their song "Tonight, Tonight" but was surprised when I recognized 5 of their songs. The alternative radio station I listen to sometimes plays their songs pretty frequently.  

    I hope to be able to see Green Day again someday, and am excited for more live concert experiences in the future.