My Way Home.

I remember growing up as a little Polish kid in the suburbs.

My family was small, but very close.  We did everything together.

And Sundays were my absolute favourite family day of the week.


Every Sunday, we would wake up late, eat Mama's home-made apple bran muffins for breakfast, get dressed in our fancy clothes and go to church for the late mass.

By the time church was done and we got home, it was early afternoon (Polacks LOVED their long masses after all)  and my parents would immediately start preparing a massive feast for dinner.  

It was the same almost every Sunday.  Steak (medium-rare of course), home-made french fries and Mama's special vinaigrette salad.

I remember those days vividly.  

The food, the smells, the clothes.......but most of all, the music.


A Sunday never passed without music filling every square listening space of our home.

Whether it was Elvis Presley, Harry Belafonte, Polish waltzes, or The Righteous Brothers, my dad always made sure that music was a huge part of our lives.

Songs like "Doggie in the Window", "Are you lonesome tonight?" or "Jump in the line" will forever have me remembering the times when my dad would suddenly pull my mom away from making dinner just to steal a kiss or pull her close for a dance.....just for a brief moment :)

Even though I'm sure I was totally grossed out in the moment as a kid by my parent's outward and way too obvious expression of love......now I look back on those days wishing I could go back and witness it again..... just for a second.


But even though that loving moment is now just a memory, my passion and love of music is anything but.  

Those songs, the lyrics, the voices, everything about the music that my dad played every week, had slowly been imprinting itself into my DNA.  

And from then on,  my love of music was born.

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Fast forward a few years later to a super cool, and super stylish 15-year old me :)

Let's just picture for a second what I may have possibly been wearing during those early 90's.   

Definitely acid wash jeans (with safety pins going up each of the legs, obviously!), Tretorn running shoes (which I still attest are the COOLEST shoes to have ever been designed) and of course, my Use Your Illusion Guns N Roses t-shirt (a shirt that I wore WAY too often, but could honestly not get enough of).

Oh yes, folks........Ridiculous Girl.....I mean Ridiculous TEEN,  had gone through almost a decade of 80's pop music, only to finally come across the greatest rock band to have ever been formed. 

Guns N Roses.


I mean, we could PROBABLY end the blog right here.....but let's keep going, shall we??

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My love of GNR had sparked a whole new world of music for me, and since that age, I have been completely obsessed with rock.

Over the past couple of decades though, this love has transformed slightly to a more specific genre.....mostly because I HAD to move on because Axl and Slash became very selfish and stopped creating new music because they couldn't get along, and thus created incredible frustration and dissatisfaction amongst their biggest fans who literally lived for their music and thrived with every new song they made.

But I'm not bitter.  >:(

Anyway, being forced to move on (in such an unnecessary way), I had stumbled upon a type of music called alternative rock.  And soon bands like The Killers, Arcade Fire, Future Islands, Alt-J and July Talk had begun blowing my mind.


Knowing this, it should come as no surprise to you that for the last 2 years, I have attended the WAYHOME music festival - which lucky for me is held every year only 20 mins from my home :)


Year 1, I bought tickets the day they came on sale.


Year 2, I became slightly spoiled, and waited until just a few weeks before purchasing my wristband.


This year......well......let's just say that I sort of messed everything up! And not only did I get the weekend of the festival completely wrong but I also waited until there was almost no chance of getting any wristbands at a decent price whatsoever.

When my cousin brought to my attention that a local radio station in my area was giving away tickets to the festival for free, I delicately asked my daughters if they would like to wait with mommy in the pouring rain for an hour to get tickets to a "show that was REALLY, REALLY COOL and played REALLY AWESOME MUSIC!!?"

Molly laughed a mean laugh and said "No way Mommy!!  I'm not dettin' WET fo TITETS!!!  Dat's lite....da WORST!!!!"

Lola chimed in, "Yeah Mommy....sorry!  But that sounds, like, HORRIBLE!"

I sighed as I kept on thinking how I could possibly attend this incredible musical event.


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3 days before Wayhome #3


Time was ticking.  

The music event of the year was slowly approaching.

I still had no tickets.

One by one my cousins reached out asking if I was going, letting me know that they had all received their wristbands.  And I started to panic, ever so slightly.

But I would not give up.

And I knew, deep in my heart, then when I wanted something bad enough, the universe would ALWAYS figure out a way to make it happen.

Especially when it came to my love of music.

And I knew that if I wished for something badly enough, just like when I wished for Guns N Roses tickets after both shows had completely sold out, SOMEBODY would come forth and grant me my wish.

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The day before the event, I got a random call from my beloved friend Marina, who I hadn't seen in months.  

Marina was a fabulous chick, and a fellow alternative rock lover like myself.  That alone made her fabulous!

She asked me if I needed a ticket to Wayhome as she had an extra one and was looking to get rid of it before the event.




After I finished screaming, she laughed and said she'd leave it for me on my front porch tomorrow.  And then she ended the call with .....


"Enjoy the show DARLING!! xo"



The next day, and the day of the festival, I came home to my front porch to find this hanging from Mama's palm plant....... 

I squealed,  grabbed the wristband, got dressed, and raced to WAYHOME!


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Once I got there, I texted the person who was meeting me at the gates.  

A certain someone who I had met at this festival 3 years ago.  

He texted back immediately saying that he was already there waiting.


To say that I was excited for this moment was an under-statement.  


I checked how I looked one more time, and then quickly made my way to the main entrance.

I suddenly saw him.

One look in my direction, and he smiled that delicious smile that I remembered so well.


I proudly scanned my Wayhome wristband, and when the security guard gave me the nod of approval to go on through, I couldn't wait any longer.  


And I finally ran and jumped into Handsome Guy's arms.  


"Mmmmm, I missed you", he rumbled.



We didn't dare move from our spot.  

We were glued to each other.....and we kissed as a lineup of people continuously scanned their wristbands behind us to get into Wayhome.


As the scanner beeped every few seconds behind us, I realized how excited everyone must be to attend this amazing event.


But I don't think ANYBODY was as excited as us.


For it was Handsome Guy and I who truly found our way home that day.



;)





Stay tuned for more on Ridiculous Girl and Handsome Guy xo