We survived TomorrowWorld 2014!

Shane found out about the TomorrowWorld electronic music festival in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia, a few years ago and was immediately OBSESSED. The original Tomorrowland festival has been going strong in Belgium since 2005, and when they came to the US in 2013 he tried his hardest to convince me that we should go. With budget constraints and a host of other concerns, we decided it was best to stay home. 

He brought it up again at the beginning of this year when tickets were about to go on sale and asked could we please please please go this time? I was skeptical for several reasons: 

Neither of us had ever been to a music festival before. TW was billed to be a full three days (five days if you camp in DreamVille) of absolute madness. That's a lot to wrap your head around. 

I hate camping. Port-a-potties are a certain fate, as is the fact that showers would be few and far between (my hatred of camping stems from my hatred of being dirty).

Considering the show is at the end of September in Georgia, the weather could be freezing, absolutely scorching, or a mix of the two.

Tickets are expensive. To get the full experience, you really need to camp in DreamVille rather than stay at a hotel. DreamVille isn't terrible price-wise, but you have to bring all your own camping gear, and we don't own any. We looked into the DreamVille Easy Tent upgrade package which comes with a souvenir tent, air mattress, sleeping bags, and a lantern, all set up in a special Easy Tent area, but it was a good bit more expensive than the regular DreamVille.

Against my better judgment, I gave my thumbs-up and we pressed the "BUY NOW" button on that fateful February morning...

...THEN WE HAD THE BEST TIME OF OUR LIVES!!!

Saturday at the Main Stage
Shane is still washing pink powder out of his hair!

I'll admit, most all of my fears came true, but it didn't spoil the experience in the least.

1. We'd never been to a festival before: We met a lot of people who were shocked we chose such a large festival (in 2013 they reported nearly 130,000 in attendance and 30,000 camped in DreamVille) as our first, as it can be pretty overwhelming for most people, especially newbies. Thankfully neither of us are bothered by crowds, because boy were there crowds! People drove across continents (we heard one group drove from Brazil!) and flew around the world just to be there. The whole place had the best vibe of being one big, happy, global community...and we were all there to party!

Thursday / Night 1: DreamVille Gathering

We were also really lucky too because the whole time we were there, no one messed with our stuff. Our Easy Tent came with a lock but we made sure not to leave valuables in there anyways. Our festival bracelets had RFID chips in them which you could load with festival tokens, the currency of the realm, so we were able to leave our wallets, car keys, and cell phones in the $60 5-day festival locker we purchased. We only carried one phone between the two of us for pictures and left the other in the locker to charge. That's not to say there wasn't theft at the event (for example, one girl had a fanny pack but was wearing it turned around on her back...so it was a bright red target and got unzipped while in the middle of the crowd).

2. Port-a-potties, showers, and general cleanliness: Being dirty makes me unhappy, so you can see where this might have been my downfall. We knew the Easy Tent package we splurged on had a separate bathroom area, we didn't know that it would have portable, air conditioned bathroom trailers that were cleaned constantly. While we were at the festival grounds, I was so happy to find some port-a-potties that even flushed! Even the few rare times I had to use a standard portable, you could tell they were cleaned as often as possible. I NEVER went into any toilet that didn't have toilet paper, which is a miracle unto itself. I'm not saying you could eat off the port-a-potty floor or anything, but the bathroom attendants did a fantastic job and I was always pleasantly surprised by the facilities. BONUS: The longest I ever waited to get into a toilet was 1-2 minutes, another miracle!

Freshen Up stations + short hair = clean hair 

The Easy Tent area also had it's own FREE showers (regular DreamVille had to pay 2 tokens / $4.44 per shower). The line for the showers was understandably really long during peak hours, but later in the evening you could walk right in. I'll let you in on a little secret though...the whole time we were there, I didn't shower! And I lived! Even though I hate being dirty, I'm also not very patient when it comes to waiting in line, so I did just fine by washing my newly-short hair (thanks Hannah!) in the sink at the Freshen Up station and using the giant pack of baby wipes I brought to scrub the dirt off my appendages several times daily.

Bandanas are a must, breathing dust is no fun! 

3. This is Georgia in September. How do you pack for that?: The weather was pretty much perfect the whole time we were there. It was overcast most of the time, and I was fine in shorts and a tank top for daytime + being in the crowd at a stage (it gets HOT when you get close to the front) and a light jacket + sweatpants for early morning / night. I saw a lot of people wearing long pants and long sleeves during the day who were absolutely roasting.

Thursday / Night 1: DreamVille Gathering
Also, our whole pack of glowsticks broke on the way in.

4. Tickets are expensive, especially if you go for DreamVille + upgrades: Okay, so the tickets were expensive, but seriously those fancy bathrooms were more than worth it. I really do feel like we got the best experience possible by choosing the Easy Tents. We could've done day passes + hotel, but then you don't get to make friends with your tent neighbors, plus once you arrive at the show you're stuck there for the day, there was no same day re-entry for those who weren't camping. Regular DreamVille had to lug all their camping gear for a mile or more to grab a first-come, first-serve, tightly packed camping spot, then set up all your gear. Our Easy Tent was already set up with the others into labeled, easy to navigate rows. We were able to enter and exit the festival as many times as we wanted, which meant we could come back to our tent to sit down, nap, grab a snack or meal from the food we'd brought, etc., then go back for more of the madness at our leisure.

Me with two of our tent neighbors. 

The tents were small, but we managed. 

DreamVille Easy Tents...just part of them.

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Can you believe I've written this much and haven't even made it to the MUSIC yet?!

Between the seven, yes, SEVEN, different amazing stages, they had pretty much every type of electronic music you can imagine played by hundreds of DJs. Each stage had it's own awesome vibe. These stages are extremely elaborate too, each with a different theme.

Our favorite stage, the It's A Trap! stage

Mythical Frames stage

The MASSIVE Main Stage. See that white awning towards the middle?
That's the DJ booth.
Oh, and the stage is a volcano that shoots flames and smoke at every set change. 

We learned really quickly on the first day that it's easy to get caught up in in the environment and want to run around to every stage for hours and hours and hours and see every DJ whose name you might've heard before and dance and dance and dance and then go to the next stage, rinse, repeat. You get REALLY worn out this way though, and at the end of the first night, we were ready for bed, bodies aching at 10:00. We sat down on a hill and tried to hold out as long as we could, which was 10 minutes into that night's headliner, and then trudged back to our tent. After that, we made sure to sit down every chance we got, for as long as possible, and to go back to our tent several times a day to relax. And yeah, you're probably going to miss some good DJs this way, because they're all good, but then the ones you see, you'll actually have energy and will be able to enjoy it more.

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Yesterday is history. Today is a gift. Tomorrow is mystery.
Might as well enjoy it while you can!!

All in all, we had an absolutely fantastic time. I am so glad Shane convinced me to go. We met some really cool people, saw some crazy costumes and outfits, ate some tasty festival food, and heard some awesome electronic music. We didn't take a ton of pictures or videos because we were too busy having fun, but I did manage to put together a short video to share a little bit of our experience. Enjoy! And if you want to join us at TomorrowWorld 2015, we'd be happy to carpool! 



#39: Countdown to TomorrowWorld!

Only about five and a half months or so until Shane and I are headed down to the Chattahooche Hills in Georgia for TomorrowWorld! We will be spending five nights and four days (the first day is meet and greet for campers, the next three are the music festival) camping under the stars and enjoying a LOT of people watching. 

While I am really excited, I am also incredibly nervous about the situation. I'll let you in on a little secret...I suck at camping. I hate being dirty and being around bugs and dirt and all of that mess. The one time I went to summer camp (for one week) in the fourth grade, we had to sleep under a tarp in the woods after a bonfire one night. I gave myself a pep talk and managed to power through until I woke up in the middle of the night to find my stuffed dog sitting in a giant pile of leaves. I lost it. 

I like to think I'm not a high maintenance person. I mean, I hardly ever wear makeup. My hair is barely dry when I leave the house in the mornings. You'd never be stuck waiting hours for me to get ready to go somewhere. But just try to get me dirty, that's when my attitude really screams "DIVA". I have a tough time working in the garden because what happens when your gloves get dirty and your face gets itchy? I actually looked at a listing for one of those tough mudder type 5ks and said to myself, "Oh, that looks fun, maybe it wouldn't be so bad?" until I clicked through and saw a girl crawling under barbed wire and up to her neck in mud. That's my version of hell right there, y'all. 

I also hate being sweaty for extended periods of time (more than thirty seconds), but the exercising has helped me a lot with that. You are going to be really sweaty, and you can either deal with it or be out of shape. Maybe I should try a similar approach to the dirt thing, gradually expose myself to it and just learn to deal. Then who knows, you may find me rolling around in the backyard mud patch right alongside Charlie. Yeah, right, haha. 

I am really nervous about the packing situation too. I had a dream about it last night and I obsessed all day over what I could possibly need. I feel like I should open up the suitcases in the spare bedroom and start massing supplies. I'm a notorious over-packer (I bring like six outfit options for a two day trip home) but I still feel like we're going to get there and say, "dang it, why didn't we think of _______!" Two must-haves on my list so far are: 1) two small tarps in case the tent leaks and we also need to put one under the air mattresses, 2) lots of baby wipes (see above dirt-ophobia). Also snacks, lots and lots of non-perishable snacks, which we will probably eat through on the first day when we realize a hamburger costs like $20 or something. 

Regardless, I still think it is going to be an amazing experience for Shane and myself. It will definitely be an adventure that we won't soon forget. As long as I haven't annoyed him to death and he hasn't murdered me by the end of the trip, it will be a success. 

#37: Shane's home!

Shane spent the last week up in Minnesota getting some training on an exciting new opportunity with work! I don't want to give away too many details, but it looks like he might have the chance to move from commercial kitchen ventilation into industrial ventilation sales. It has happened pretty suddenly and it would be an amazing opportunity for him. 

This was one of the jobs they visited. 

I'm very proud of him and I know that he will be amazing in this new field. He got a week of training and site visits, and they also got to visit their manufacturing facility in Iowa, which I'm sure he enjoyed very much. 

He actually really enjoyed Minnesota and wants us to go back on vacation sometime. He didn't get to do much sightseeing but he did get to go to the Mall of America and took some fun pictures. He didn't get to really shop around because he was with a bunch of other guys and they were headed to dinner. 

4 stories of shopping madness! He didn't see a single empty store either.

They have room in this place for a whole Nickelodeon theme park!

Lego! 

A former 30,000 sq. ft. Bloomingdale's has been turned into the Barbie Dreamhouse Experience, a life-size mega Barbie mansion. And out front they have my dream car!

Can't you see me driving that? Just take off all the Barbie stuff and it's ready to go. 

Shane, being the wonderful sweet husband he is, brought me some presents to make up for making me stay by myself for a week and having a heart attack every time I heard a weird noise or the dogs started barking in the middle of the night. 

A Chicago pig from the airport to go with my collection. 

It says "Dear Dorothy: Hated Oz, took
the shoes, find your own way home. -Toto"

The shot glass came from his stop over in Kansas City, Missouri. I asked him "Why Wizard of Oz in Missouri?" Apparently every souvenir there was Oz related, I guess they think as long as they have Kansas in there somewhere, it's all the same difference. 

He also brought me a neon yellow shirt that says "Minnesota" but it's in the washer as I wore it on this morning's run. 

I am so glad to have him back home, and I'm thrilled about this new possible opportunity and can't wait to see how it turns out! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Paris and Nice: Part 4

After the craziness of Paris (see here, here, and here) it was time to pack our bags and head to Nice (pronounced like "niece") in southern France. We were exhausted from the first four days of the trip, and really looking forward to some relaxation by the Mediterranean! 

Day 5: Friday, June 1, 2012

Today was an early day. Our wake-up call was at 5:15 a.m. and we had to be in the hotel lobby dressed and ready with our bags packed at 7 a.m. to catch the train from Paris to Nice. 

Shane enjoying some "Bolognese" flavored
chips on the train.

Once on board the TGV, our trip took about 5 hours. (I later realized that this 5-hour train trip was more hours of relaxation than I'd had of sleep the previous night. Ridiculousness.) I slept a little bit then woke up to eat some of the ham sandwich I picked up at the train station. My mom had also packed a bunch of snacks, which was nice. I spent the rest of the trip putting together the first of my travel videos on the iPad. Shane played poker with the other boys on the trip (and I think ended up winning most of the money, although they weren't playing for keeps). Everyone enjoyed the scenery flying past the window. And if felt good to sit for that long :)

After the TGV we went to our hotel, the Best Western Hotel New-York. After a quick stop to drop off the bags, Angélique took us on a walk through Vieux (old) Nice to get some of the best ice cream I've ever had from Fenocchio. It actually won the silver medal for best ice cream in the region! They had some rather adventurous flavor options, but we opted for some of the safer looking options. I had a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of Nutella. Yum! Shane had passion fruit and cherry. 

Yes, that is cactus-flavored ice cream, and it's apparently pretty popular by the looks of it!

Next we went up to the top of the hill (by elevator, thank goodness) to see the ruins of a castle and a panoramic view of the city and the sea. It was absolutely gorgeous. There was also a manmade waterfall at the top, making it just that much more picturesque.

View from the top!

We walked down the hill and went on our way to the Confiserie Florian candy factory. They specialize in local favorites such as candies and jams made from flowers (violet, verbena, jasmine, you name it) and candied whole fruits (tangerines, pears, etc.). We learned about the candy making process, which is very intense -- the tangerines are soaked in sugar syrup for 45 days, for instance -- and then went upstairs to the shop to sample the bounty and buy souvenirs to bring home. Shane loved  the jasmine jelly and bought some for his mom. I was glad that we got to taste the candied tangerines, but I honestly did not care for the taste. They were oozing with thick, sticky, sugary syrup and did not taste like I thought they would. I preferred the candied orange and lemon peels, so we got a bag of each to bring home. 

Candied tangerines

Later we did some walking around town and down to the beach. We even saw the castle where an old film version of Beauty and the Beast was set. The beach was different than the beaches we're used to because it is made up of rocks instead of sand. We walked into the water a bit even though it was freezing (!) because you can't go to the Mediterranean and not dip your toes in. Some more adventurous vacationing teenagers had chosen a big rock and gone diving. Yikes!

Despite the beach made of rocks, there were still plenty of sunbathers.
 I can't imagine it's comfy to lay on those,
 but I guess if it gets hot enough, free hot stone massage!

We had a little bit of time before dinner so we looked at some of the little shops near the beach. We picked out a postcard to send to Shane's mom, her special souvenir request. Dinner was at a little restaurant overlooking the beach, and Shane and I got to sit at the adult table. Of course when you're in Nice, you're going to have salade niçoise. We also had a nice beef roast and little chocolate cakes for dessert. 

Happy birthday Stewart! What a fun way to spend it!

After dinner we went to the square near the beach to go shopping in the market they had set up. They had all sorts of interesting booths there, selling things like jewelry, purses, artwork, and souvenirs made out of the beach rocks. There was even one man at a clay wheel turning tiny clay pots and vases and giving them out to passerby. Shane bought a teensy clay owl for his collection at home.

It was finally time to come back to the hotel. It has been a long day, especially with all the travel, but I am really looking forward to the slower, relaxing pace in Nice.


As usual, there are way too many photos of the day to fit into one blog post, so check out my corresponding YouTube video below! 

La nourriture parisienne (Parisian food)!

Food, glorious food! The French are known worldwide for their fabulous cuisine, and I got to taste plenty of it on my trip. Of course, I don't want you to feel left out, so here's a rundown of the amazing things we ate during our three days in Paris. 

If you're one of those people who just hates food pictures, then skip this post and come back tomorrow for more travel photos :)

Tuesday, May 29

Airplane breakfast 

boring

Airport breakfast

Pain au chocolat, which is basically a croissant with chocolate filling. My favorite kind of breakfast.

Lunch at Le Bourbon

This was the lunch that took forever!

We ordered off the lunch special menu,

which meant I got all this for 12€:

Baguette

Salade jardinère/garden salad

Poulet rôti frites/roast chicken with fries

Crêpe au chocolat/crêpe with chocolate filling

Ice cream at Berthillon

Une boule de chocolat blanc/one scoop of white chocolate

Café when Lauren got caught trying to sneak into the bathroom

Shane: unknown sort of French beer recommended by bartender

Dinner at Chez Papa

Baguette

Salad with bread and cheese

Duck thigh with potatoes

Profiteroles a.k.a. cream puffs with chocolate sauce. 

Not my photo, just wanted you to see how delicious these things are. 

LaDurée

Macarons! These things come in the most amazing flavors, and the most gorgeous colors. I had a chocolate one and a "fruits rouges"/red fruit one. This was my first time trying a macaron and I am hooked.

Wednesday, May 30

Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Montparnasse

This hotel had a really nice Continental breakfast

Orange

scrambled eggs

 croissant with strawberry jelly

pain au chocolat

and apple juice!

Lunch at Pommes de Pain and McDonalds/McDo

Me: veggie lasagna at Pommes de Pain

french fries at McDo (couldn't help myself)

Shane and Mom: sandwiches

Hannah: Le Royal Cheese/quarter pounder 

with a medium fry and medium drink. 

Look how small those portions are! 

Mom also had a piece of chocolate cake at McDo. 

Can you imagine getting something that fancy looking here in the US?

Wasting time at an Irish café

Me: hard cider

Shane: Kronenbourg 1664 (best-selling French beer)

Mom and Hannah: 7€ ($8.50!) bottles of Coke and Coca-Light/Diet Coke

Dinner at Pépone's

Usually on these trips, dinner is planned out and everyone eats the same thing. This time, several nights we were given vouchers called "Tickets-restaurant" worth 17€ each and allowed to order whatever we wanted at any restaurant that accepts them. I tried to look these things up online and as far as I can tell, if you work somewhere without a cafeteria, your employer gives you one of these vouchers for each day you work (but not necessarily worth that much, they're usually around 10€). Interesting.

Tomato and mozzarella salad

Me: Pâte quatre fromages/four cheese pasta

Mom: some sort of lasagna (bottom photo)

Shane: pizza Bolognese

Hannah: cheese pizza

Snack at the Eiffel Tower

Crêpe with Nutella! Yum!

Thursday, May 31

Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Montparnasse

same as Wednesday

Lunch at McDo Versailles

I know, I know, I do a post about wonderful French food and here we are at McDonalds for the second day in a row. Just call me a hypocrite and blasphemer and get it over with.

Me: Le Royal Cheese/quarter pounder with wrong-tasting fries and tiny Coke. 

Shane: McBaguette, which is a baguette with hamburger patties, lettuce, Emmental cheese and strong mustard.

Dessert at Darras Versailles bakery

Shane: raspberry éclair

Mom: raspberry tartelette

Me: Trianon! Raspberry macaron with vanilla cream filling and fresh raspberries

Dinner at Chez Clement

Baguette

Potato (?) quiche

Chicken with some sort of red sauce andmashed potatoes

Crème brûlée

Shane: 3 glasses of red wine

With all this food, it's a wonder we didn't each gain 10 pounds by the end of the trip! I guess we have the zillion miles we walked to thank for that :)

Paris and Nice: Part 3

Continuing with my France trip...don't forget to check out Part 1 and Part 2! 

Day 4: Thursday, May 31st

(written at 12:14 a.m., technically already Friday!)

Today was our last day in Paris! We did a lot of awesome stuff, but I think I'm going to have to catch you up on it in the morning on the train. Oh wait, Shane is trying to FaceTime with his mom, so I'll just go for it now. 

On top of the Eiffel Tower!

This morning we got up early to be (almost) first in line to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower! It was a wonderful idea for Angélique to take us so early because by the time it closed opened (sorry, late, tired!), the line was ridiculously long. In fact, one kid with our group accepted 50€ from a family to let them cut line and stand with him. They even took pictures together in case the someone questioned it. Madame was not pleased when she found out. Going to the top was a teensy bit scary but Shane was there so that made it better, plus the view was absolutely beautiful. A bit hazy, but still great. 

Shane enjoying a McBaguette
(don't worry, I'm planning a full post just on the food!)

After the Eiffel Tower we took the train down to Versailles for a visit. Before we went to the palace we went to a little market for lunch. We walked all around to try to find a sandwich stand so Shane could get a hot dog on a baguette but no luck. For some reason we only find them when we're in a rush and have already eaten, not when we're really looking for them. They had a bunch of cafés and a huge selection of fresh fruits and veggies and meats, but no quick little stands. In the end, we spent so much of our free time hunting down a hot dog baguette that we ran out of time and ended up at...McDo. I know, I know, it's blasphemy. But we were in a hurry, and if Madame asks, we ate a ham and cheese sandwich from the cutest little shop. Plus Hannah wasn't feeling that great from the day before and she wanted something (somewhat) familiar. At lunch, Shane had a "McBaguette", which is basically a baguette filled with several small hamburger patties, cheese, lettuce, and a special mustard sauce. French people also eat tartar sauce with their fries and the medium drink there is the size of a kid's small. Oh, and they sell really fancy pastries and coffees there too. 

It was a very raspberry day. Also, macarons are
my new favorite thing! (bottom right corner)

After lunch, Hannah snuck into a store and bought me a wrap Swatch watch that I had been looking at. She's so sweet :) (Sidenote: I collect Swatch watches, which started on my first trip to France with an Eiffel Tower souvenir swatch purchased at the Louvre. Since then, I always buy one to commemorate a trip to somewhere awesome). Then, while waiting for the rest of our group to meet up (we might've had time for a slow lunch after all), we went to the bakery for dessert. I must say that I have fallen in love with macarons on this trip, they're everywhere, even McDo! I had a Trianon (aptly named for Versailles), which was a raspberry macaron with vanilla cream inside and fresh raspberries all around. Shane went for a raspberry éclair and Mom got a raspberry tartelette. Yum!

Finally it was time to go visit the palace! This was the part of the trip I have been most excited about. I have an obsession with Marie Antoinette. We didn't get the little guided tour headphones, but don't worry, my obsession paid off. Shane, Hannah, and Mom were all joking that I should apply to be a tour guide from all the stories I was telling! It was a really nice day to visit too, didn't seem too crowded. Usually you're packed in there like sardines! We didn't have time to visit the Petit Trianon today (I swear I'll make it someday!), but I did buy a little Marie Antoinette figurine in the gift shop, so I guess that makes up for it. 

Shane's wine. Two down, one to go.

We finally all made it back to the hotel safe and sound and actually got to take an hour to rest and recuperate before dinner (Unless you've been on one of Madame's trips before, you don't realize that free time is few and far between. You learn to cherish every minute you actually get to sit/lay down). Shane regretted the nap though, he said it only made him more sleepy.

Dinner was at Chez Clement, which is a really fun restaurant because all the decor is kitchen stuff. They have copper pots hanging from the ceiling and the light fixtures are made out of silverware. It makes me think of "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast, or that someone's kitchen has exploded. They gave us red wine with dinner, but Mom, Hannah and I don't like wine. Shane drank three glasses and was giggly the whole way out of the restaurant, which was entertaining.

La Musée d'Orsay

The Musée d'Orsay came next. The museum is housed in the old Paris-Orléans train station and it is filled to the brim with impressionist artwork like Degas, Renoir, Chagall, VanGogh, etc. Shane was most excited about seeing all of the sculptures. I most enjoyed seeing that VanGogh church painting from that episode of Doctor Who.

Our last stop for the night (and for Paris!) was the Louvre. We didn't get to go inside to see the Mona Lisa or any of the other eight gazillion works of art they have, but we did get to see the amazing building itself. Did you know the Louvre was home to the kings of France before Louis XIV built Versailles? Two awesome palaces in one day. 

Finally we took the bus home (Madame insisted on the bus, since we'd already experienced the other types of Parisian public transit), which used up the last of our Métro tickets. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on the back of the bus! I will miss Paris, but I'm ready for some relaxation in Nice. 

La Musée du Louvre