Hey, It's Okay

I got this idea from Glamour magazine. You can link up any day of the week. All you have to do is make a list of what you're okay about. Simple! Please do not link up a post that has nothing to do with Hey, It's Okay. It's rude and I'll delete the link.

HEY, IT'S OKAY....

.....to be proud of Natalie for driving all the way to Austin on her own to see Billie Eilish in concert. I wrote about her ordeal here.

.....to also be proud of Tommy for acting in a short film over the weekend. He keeps busy! He's either in production on movies, or in them. They're usually done by students and many are impressive. 

......to have almost finished Yellowjackets. I started watched the show last month, got addicted, and am now almost done. I hope the final season is out soon. If you haven't seen it yet, you must! It's on Paramount + It's about a bunch of high school students who are on a plane, it crashes, they are stranded in the wilderness and well, gross things start to happen. Also, one of the girls has been sleeping with her best friend's boyfriend and discovers she's pregnant. Oops. 

.....to be going to Popeye's this week to check out the Five Night's At Freddy's meal. Natalie might not be able to make it to the restaurant before they sell out, so I promised I'd get her a box at least for her collection. 

......to have gone to HorrorCon with Natalie and we saw so many fabulous characters, Pennywise, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Five Nights At Freddy's characters...it was a spooktacular time. 

But Would She Even See Billie Eilish?

So okay, my daughter has loved Billie Eilish since she was 10. The story goes that she discovered her music on Roblox. Then she was like, who is THIS? She figured out it was someone named Billie Eilish. She went over to Musically (that later turned into TikTok) and discovered even MORE songs and she learned more about Billie's personality and well, she became a fan. 

I've lost count of how much Billie merch we have. There's clothes, perfumes, keychains, posters, SHOES...the list goes on and on. 

Billie has gone on several concert tours, but Natalie was never able to make it. Her dream has always been to see her in the flesh. 

Then Billie announced her Hit Me Hard And Soft tour and Austin was on the list. Billie hasn't been in Texas since 2021 because she's not a fan of our laws. I do not blame her. They suck. Trust me, Billie, we want to roll Abbott right on off. We're trying. 

Natalie freaked out. Austin is about 2 hours from us. Longer with traffic. She struggled with Ticketmaster when tickets were announced and the cheapest one she could find was $300. Out of her budget. Of of MY budget. So she wasn't able to secure tickets. 

Fast forward to Friday. 

It was Billie's final date in Austin.

Natalie was determined. She had seen stories on TikTok where people waited at the Box Office line and secured cheap tickets. 

So she was like, "I'm going!" She found her original Blosh necklace that is missing two stones because it has been well loved, put that on for luck, and was on her way.

It was kind of like the end of Sleepless in Seattle when Meg Ryan was with that other guy and she saw a sign and was like, I gotta go and then she runs to Tom Hanks.

In this case, Natalie was running (well, driving) to Billie Eilish. 

She got ready quickly and headed to Austin, because on a Friday, traffic would be horrendous. Texas folks know.

It took her three hours to get there. 

Oh, and tip, if you're ever seeing a concert at the Moody Center in Austin, park at the Bullock Museum. It's only $15 and about a 10 minute walk. 

Natalie called as soon as she got there, because by then it was dark, and I have seen too many episodes of 20/20 where college students wind up deceased. The walk to the Moody Center was easy, and the line to the Box Office was long. 

And not moving.

Natalie waited for TWO HOURS. The concert started. She could hear the cheers. She was like, ack, BILLIE! I'm trying to get to you!

The line still did not move.

Still, she waited. Several people gave up and got out of line.

Natalie did not.

She pictured her younger self, clad in her Billie gear, and remained. 

But. But. At 845, the announcement was made.

Tickets were Sold Out. 

Natalie checked StubHub and found a cheap ticket available wayyyy in the back. Like back back, as far as one could possibly go in the stadium.

But she'd be inside. She'd see Billie in the flesh. Yes, she'd be a speck to the naked eye, but it was something.

So she purchased the ticket, it was thankfully NOT A SCAM, she scanned in, and I was on the phone with her when she first opened the doors. I could hear Billie singing.

"I HEAR HER!" Natalie screeched, and I could hear the tears in her voice. After all these years of being a fan, she had made it. 

"Go enjoy," I said, and we hung up. 

And enjoy she did. She was at the spot called Sky Deck. Standing room only, way in the back, already super crowded, but she squeezed in and immediately became friends with two other college girls, who were against the railing and kindly switched off with Natalie so she could have a better view. I think they could hear the passion in her voice as she sang along to all the songs. 

Here was her view. Not the best, but again, she was just happy to be in Billie's presence:

Natalie did miss 4 songs waiting in the Box Office line. But she didn't care. She made it. She was there!

She called when it was over and her face was lit up with joy.

"Oh my God," she breathed. "That was the best!" 

She told me all about the songs she heard, the friends she made, the confetti she was able to get off the floor....

She stayed on the line as she walked back to her car. 

Luckily traffic wasn't as bad coming home so she returned in a little under 2 hours. 

"I am still in disbelief that it even happened!" she screeched walking through the door. "I saw BILLIE with my OWN EYES!"

Maybe one day she'll be able to see the entire concert. This tour is nearly over. Billie will be in Phoenix and San Francisco and then will be on a well deserved break. 

I am proud of Natalie for making the drive and figuring it all out on her own. Driving to Austin scares even the most experienced drivers and she did it, IN THE DARK. She had only been there once before with friends, and she hadn't been the one driving. So the fact that she made the trip is pretty impressive.

I know she'll be thinking about the concert for years to come:

Natalie says if you can make it to Phoenix or San Francisco to go see Billie. It's worth it. 

Is ThriftCon Worth It?

So I'm a big fan of vintage. The clothes, the toys, everything. I'll just go back to my childhood when I see original My Little Pony's or PeeWee Playhouse figures. 

My daughter loves vintage too. She comes up with incredible outfits with pieces she's found at thrift stores. 

For example, this dress and scarf were both found at Goodwill. I believe the entire look is under $10. 

This dress was given to her, and she paired it with accessories she found at a thrift store:

Natalie was the one who told me about ThriftCon, which is a convention that has a bunch of booths filled with vintage goodies. We decided we would check it out.

Now, the website did warn that products wouldn't be priced as they might be at a garage sale. So we were warned.

It cost $17 for tickets if you purchased early online.  ($20 if you waited.)

And it was pretty neat to see all the booths. There were racks and racks of clothes. 

But were they affordable clothes? Eh, not really. There were some t-shirts that were marked at $100. I was like, what, is this laced with GOLD? I get that it might be from the 90s, but damn. 

We did manage to find some t-shirts on clearance racks, and that's where we mostly looked. 

Natalie did love this dress, but it was $190. For a USED DRESS. I mean, did someone famous wear it? 

(Oh, and the outfit Natalie wore was thrifted.)

Anyhow, there were cassette tapes that weren't too expensive. We love Davie Bowie:

There were vinyls, and some were affordable, but others were pricey. 

I was looking forward to checking out the toys. There weren't as many as I had hoped, but I was thrilled to find Steve Urkel. I used to watch Family Matters on TGIF. 

I was on the search for the game DreamPhone. I used to love as growing up, and I'd love to own it again. But alas, no DreamPhone. ("I know who likes you, but I'm not telling, HA HA.")

Was it worth it? Well, tickets were $17, as I mentioned, and parking was $15. There were a lot of overly expensive items. I wish more booths had affordable options. I mean, hello, in THIS economy asking for a $100 t-shirt? 

I probably wouldn't return, but Natalie said she would. It seemed like she was the demographic targeted, because all the young ones would jump in and go through racks as though they were professionals. Meanwhile, us older folks started to get cranky when people constantly bumped into us and we'd be the ones shouting, "FIFTY DOLLARS FOR A USED SKIRT?" 

I did like stumbling upon these Girls Next Door bobbleheads. I used to watch the show and I even watched it again with Natalie. She became a huge fan of Holly, so she squealed when I showed her the dolls. I didn't even check the price. I am sure they were out of my price range judging but how everything else was marked. 

So maybe I would attend again, but with the knowledge that I wouldn't be purchasing many items.

ThriftCon is headed to Orlando next, so if you're in the area and have the extra funds, pop on in. (And let me know if you find any vintage Panic at the Disco t-shirts. That's what my daughter was after. Alas, we had no luck, but she did find a 2014 Fallout Boy shirt, so it wasn't a total loss.)