What to wear to the Governor's Ball Music Festival if you're not from New York

Governor's Ball Music Festival
June 6-8, 2014
Randall's Island, New York City, NY

I have wanted to go to a music fest for a very, very long time, and living where I do, options for music festivals are few and far between. I could drive to Bonnaroo and deal with tents and hippies and mud and no showers and sitting in a car for ages just to get in and out, or I could fly elsewhere and throw down a lot of money for a hotel, a ticket, and travel.

welllllllllll

This year, Outkast reunited. It's kind of a big deal. And while coachella got the first big OMG WE HAVE OUTKAST announcement, the group also announced on their website that they would be headlining at the 2014 Governor's Ball Music Festival. This was a new fest that I hadn't heard of before, and with somewhat good reason--it's only been around for four years. So I started doing research. The fest was three days, on Randall's Island, plum between Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx. It also took place on my birthday weekend, June 6th through 8th. Whoa. Did stars just align? And then they announced the lineup, which included Jack White, Vampire Weekend, Janelle Monae, Outkast (obv) and about a billion other bands that would be ridiculous for me to list but let me tell you I was stoked just reading the list.

It seemed like mostly a pipe dream, because Gov Ball took place at the same time as the start of summer reading at work, but I was APPROVED for time off for the fest and I sprung into action, grabbing a 3 day ticket and emailing my friend E., who lives with her husband in Park Slope, & who was deeply kind to offer to let me stay with them for free while I was in the city. It came together! I got a ticket for the shuttle, planned my flight so I'd have one free day before the fest to do with what I pleased, and started saving money. I had to buy some shorts because most of my shorts are officially barn shorts now, but here's what I wore on all three days. (I was probably the least hip person there. I don't care.)

Day 1 (June 6)



Top: J. Crew | Shorts: Walmart | Shoes: Toms
Bands: Outkast, TV on the Radio, Phoenix, La Roux, Bastille, Janelle Monae, Little Daylight
Food: mac and cheese (Beecher's), cheesesteak (Carl's)

Day 2 (June 7)



Top: Boden | Shorts: Boden | Shoes: Toms
Bands: Jack White, Sleigh Bells, The Strokes, Broken Bells, Fitz and the Tantrums, Classixx
Food: risotto ball (Arancini Bros), chopped beef sandwich (Mile End Deli)

Day 3 (June 8)



Top: Target | Shorts: Boden | Shoes: Toms
Bands: Vampire Weekend, Foster the People, The Kills, The Head and the Heart, Tyler the Creator, Frank Turner
Food: lobster roll (Luke's Lobster)

I have spared you all a shot of the aggressive Toms tan that I received while at the festival. But here's a look at what my poor Toms look like now that they've been through the ringer:



Gross.

Gov Ball was wild. I will say that going alone probably wasn't AS good as going with someone, simply because I didn't want to make friends with groups of people, but it also allowed me to do whatever the hell I wanted, which was awesome. That's one of my favourite parts of traveling alone--you do you the whole time. It's pretty fantastic. One day I brought a book with me to help pass time between bands, and I found myself more than once by someone else reading a book. It's like a secret handshake for bookworms...except it's blatantly obvious. Whatever, you get the point.

I took my trusty green Jansport bookbag with me, and that thing more than paid its dues (I also used it when I was driving across America, so it's been all over). I was able to haul my camera (which stayed home after day one because security deemed it "professional camera equipment" which isn't allowed), a towel, sunblock, a book, my phone, my charger, a bottle of water, and anything else I wanted to lug with me.

I had a really awesome time at Gov Ball. I might go back someday. I have many tiny stories that I can tell--about charging my phone, about the people I met, the food I ate, and the bands I saw--but they're not interesting when they're all rolled into one. They might leak out bit by bit. But at least there's this post with all my clothes so I can remember it! (I will be writing an additional post about my free day in Manhattan, which...will be much different.) But for now...I'm glad to be home!

Hit the brakes

Sweater: J.Crew Outlet | Shorts: Gap Outlet | Wedges: Target

Can you tell by the extremely wrinkled, totally lived in look that I've been wearing these shorts pretty much 24/7 this summer? I used to despise shorts (I'm fat and cellulite blahblah), but two summers into my life in Cardiganland was the hottest summer on record in SC and I finally caved and bought some $5 shorts from Walmart. And were they ever worth it. Now I basically live in shorts outside of work, and I even wear them to the store and stuff. I love these shorts in particular because they fit--is it me or is it even harder to find shorts for extreme curves than it is to find jeans?--and because look at this colour, you guys. Ballin. I'm so gonna stop traffic in the Walmart parking lot tonight.

Pressed into action

Top: J.Crew | Shorts: Gap Outlet | Sandals: Ross

Last night, after writing this post, I realised that I was reaching a breaking point. Obviously. (And thank you for all your comments. I'll be responding to each one soon.) I texted my friend A., hoping that we would be able to work something out for August, since I'm going up to Virginia for a wedding that month, but she is going to a conference in Chicago (lucky!) so things wouldn't work. On the verge of tears I sent a long, rambling email to my friend E. and texted her asking her to read it. Pretty sure I scared her and made her think something really bad had happened. In the email I basically begged her to go to New Jersey with me (she's going to the wedding too, so we'd be in the same vicinity) because if worse came to worse, I would go alone but I would love to have a friend. And as soon as she read the email, she accepted, and I about cried my face off. I guess that's what it feels like when a man asks a woman to marry him and she says yes. We have a lot to figure out, but I'm going back. And I feel far more content than I did 36 hours ago.

Frustration nation

Cardigan: Target
Top: Anthropologie
Shorts: Target
Tights: We Love Colors
Booties: Enzo Angiolini



Here's the deal. I had yesterday off. Last night was my first entry into competitive curling, so I thought I'd get up early and do my pictures, then go back to bed and not have to deal with it in the middle of the day when it's hot out and I have to think.



Well, that sort of happened. The dew in our front field was more water than soft dew, and my Toms were soaked by the time I got from the yard to the field. I set up the tripod, then switched my shoes, then tried some pictures...



And they looked bad. So I left the field, downtrodden with wet feet, shlepped back inside, took my outfit off and crawled into bed. I looked at the pictures again on my camera, just to be sure...and then they looked better. So I pulled everything back on, went outside, and took more pictures. By the time I was done everything about my outfit made me feel hot and uncomfortable, and I just wanted to peel everything off and sleep. So I did. And then I woke up and noticed that I'm making the same dumb pose in all my pictures, but I don't care. It's over, it's done, and curling yesterday was awesome so all's well that ends well!

Short post, long night

Cardigan: JCPenney
Tank: Banana Republic
Shorts: Target
Shoes (unseen): Toms



Here are a few poorly lit pictures of today's outfit. Four to be exact. And one is even blurry!



And now, back to studying. Greaaaaaaaaaat.

Double feature

Day 20
Top: Anthro
Shorts: Boden
Flats: Target



Day 21
Top: Anthro
Shorts: Target
Wedges: Target

I feel like such a slacker but I have an excuse this time around--I was up most of Wednesday night/Thursday morning and rolling around in bed totally miserable Thursday because I was sick on the insides (don't worry the outsides are still good). I spent a lot of time not eating and wishing I could just tear my stomach out but that didn't happen so I kept calm and carried on, sort of.



So here are a couple photos I took of the outfits I've worn the last couple of days (I have been sticking to the 30 I promise). Poor decisions made during this time of no pictures include: curling while dehydrated; watching Burn Notice with a headache; listening to Kesha; and tweeting. So excuse any dumb Tweets I may have made and enjoy these pictures of zinnias that have bloomed in the backyard. I'll be back on track tomorrow!

Quick trip

Top: Target
Tank: Target
Shorts: Boden
Wedges: Target



This is what I wore yesterday. I took some liberties by wearing the tank underneath the tee but I'm not having a fit over it. I drove all day in this outfit so it had to be a) comfortable and b) easy to get around in, since we also walked all over downtown Savannah yesterday morning. I think it did the job!

Sorry for the looking down and all that but the sun was right in my eyes. Summer's kind of a jerk sometimes. And I am especially liking how my wedges look like they are a physical extension of my leg. I think no toes will be in next season. I'm so on top of the trend, you guys.

Is anyone else loving how brown and purple look together? I am. I don't know why but they're just so good together. Today's outfit will be up probably late tonight and then I'll be caught up on outfits (I hope). See you then!

That's the dipstick

Hat: Target
Top: Boden
Shorts: Boden
Wedges: Target



It's a Target Boden sandwich! Isn't it glorious? Not really. I think what we've learned from all this is that I need to size DOWN in Boden's clothing. Self-esteem boost!



Today I learned how to check my car's oil level. It is a lot easier than I thought it would be so why didn't I learn about...9 years ago when I started driving? Oh well, better late than never as I say. As has everyone else I have ever known.

I'll be in Savannah all weekend. I'm planning on taking my camera and computer, though I have no idea if I'll have time to update. If not, megaupdate on Tuesday! I'll be sticking to 30 for 30 too. Probably. Mostly.

Ok maybe.

She was a rebel

Cardigan: Target
Top: JCPenney, worn backwards
Shorts: Target
Wedges: Target
Bangle: Walmart



I honestly think this outfit looks 10 times better with my hair down (most outfits do) but my hair was still wet from swimming/showering this afternoon. So just pretend my hair's down like it was yesterday, okay? Thanks!



When I'm at work I always ask my coworkers what they're reading because I learn about books that I may not have heard of otherwise. So tell me what you're reading!



And in exchange, what I'm reading now: Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, by Marjane Satrapi. I co-run the book discussion group at work and I picked Persepolis for this month's discussion, so I wanted to reread the sequel in case anyone asks questions about it. I'm increasingly nervous that everyone will hate it because it's a graphic novel & nonfiction, or even worse, no one will show up at all. Have any of you read Persepolis? What did you think of it? (I recommend it, by the way.) Have you ever read any graphic novels?