FESTIVAL FAVES & COACHELLA TIPS

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So Coachella starts today and a little bit of my heart is crying right now.  I attended Coachella on the infamous CADTOOL (Coachella and Disney trip of our lives) trip back in 2011 with Rachel, Courtney and Thea. And then last year I attended again with James on our Oregon/Cali Road Trip. Both times were amazing and both times I learned more about surviving Coachella. Let me be straight up with you, Coachella is very intense. I went in thinking it was a frilly dilly hippie festival but no. You need things to survive. And here my friends is my survival gear…aka festival faves. :)

1. Asos Kimono - Ok if you're going to a festival you need some cute trendy clothing. I'd be all up on kimonos because they serve not only as a beautiful covering when the sun goes down but also has a blanket to sit on when you want to sit back and enjoy the music from a distance. 

2. Redoxon Vitamin Tablets - With being around so many people (and so many germs) it's best to be safe and pump up your vitamin c intake. 

3. Marc by Marc Jacobs Bag - FYI you do not want to be carrying around a massive bag at a music festival. First of all, it's very annoying to be squished up near the front watching your fave band perform all the while getting bashed by the person's backpack in front of you. Secondly, you can't bring food or any cameras with detachable lenses into Coachella (the music part, not the camping part) so you don't really need a massive bag. I brought this bag last year and it was just perfect.

4. Gold Birkenstocks - You do A LOT of walking around and standing around so make sure you have super comfy sandals. I didn't wear the comfiest sandals, and it sucks. So if I ever go again, I'll be sure to bring some good quality sandals. 

5. Clinique SPF 40 - It gets insanely hot in the desert so be sure to pack a good sunscreen!!

6. Cult Gaia Flower Crown - Your outfit isn't complete without a flower crown. (P.S. this one is on made sale!!!)

7. Baggu Fold Up Bag - Because it's boiling hot, you're obviously going to want to drink a lot of water. You can't bring any water bottles into the music part of the festival so you're forced to buy some (and then refill at their warm-ish water fountains). But to save money and avoid drinking the lukewarm fountain water, take advantage of the recycling program! For every 10 empty water bottles you collect you can exchange for one ICE COLD water bottle! And last year they introduced a whole lot more incentives (ferris wheel rides, posters, draws for VIP passes). It's actually super easy to collect empties because after every set people just leave their garbage everywhere. That is why a fold-up bag like this one comes in handy. Get your bag lady bottle collector on.

8. Bando Mobile Charger - Obvs you want to be tweeting, instagramming and facebooking all over Coachella. If that's the case, your battery is sure to run out at some point. They do have charging stations all over but who wants to sit around lots of sweaty people and wait for your phone to charge? Not me. Plug this bad boy into your phone and then instagram away.

9. Ray-Ban Sunnies - Self explanatory.

Extra Coachella tips-

Read the festival map VERY well and check out every exhibition. H & M has a magical tent where you get to drink water, charge your phone and freshen up at their beauty stations. I'm talking dry shampoo, wipes, sunscreen, the real deal. Also last year Fruttare had a tent where they just gave away free popsicles...ALL DAY. James and I didn't discover it until the second day, so be sure to read your map VERY WELL.

Plan your meals if you're camping! We ate amazing food because we planned out our meals and brought a camping stove. Festival food is amazing but very expensive so if you don't want to break the bank, plan some meals!

If you're camping onsite, bring a canopy with walls! The first year we went, we didn't bring a canopy and we were smoking hot by 7am. Last year James and I brought a canopy but only had mesh walls. It was better but could have been way better with solid walls. See you're VERY CLOSE to your neighbours and it can be a bit overwhelming. If you're like me and appreciate a bit of alone time then bring a canopy with solid walls or a tarp!

Ok, I could go on and on here. Coachella is incredibly fun but if you want to survive and get the most out of it, then plan well!! 

Happy Friday!!!

-s.s.♥.

P.S. Coachella is live streaming both this weekend and next!

COACHELLA MEMORIES

ptL for sunshine. i honestly can’t think of a summer where we had days on days on days of sun…i keep checking the weather network to see if it’s changed it’s mind to our usual unwanted friend, rain but nope, hasn’t happened yet…yaaaay!

speaking of sun, i totally remembered i had a few coachella goodies that i never shared with you all (fyi: i’m planning on producing a music lover sans drugs & alcohol survival guide to coachella, so look out for that sometime in the future!!)

it’s insanely hot at coachella. because we tented on site, we were already sweating/melting by 8am. there is no lake, there is no ocean, just hot, hot desert heat. the only place to cool off in the entire festival is in the air conditioned sponsor tents.

praise God for air conditioned sponsor tents.

we checked out the h&m one first. dj, mini dance floor, water, white couches, wifi, charging stations, makeup stations with face wipes, dry shampoo, sunscreen and most importantly, a gif booth.

check out our dancing gif here!

yep, the h&m tent was defs paradise. we discovered my second favourite tent sadly on the second day. this tent was air conditioned, had comfy chairs and had an endless supply of fruttare bars…i kid you not. you could take two or three at a time and go back for me…it was in.cred.i.ble.

and here are a few photos from other tents…

oh memories :)

stay gold,

s.s.♥.

PACKING FOR COACHELLA

two sleeps.

two sleeps!!!!!!!!!!!

two sleeps until we depart on our USA roadtrip. 

we’re hitting up portland, redding (bethel church), san francisco, la, coachella, san diego, & disneyland and i am soooooo excited.

coachella knows how to do things right. they launched their mobile app, and they have seriously thought of everything. my wristband has a chip in it and it’s linked to my facebook account so basically i can “check in” to shows at the event by swiping my bracelet…uh-mazing!

we’re hitting portland first & i’m planning on doing some shopping (no tax woohoo), i’m hoping to score some festival threads.

here are some pieces i’ve got my eyes on…

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

seriously, how cute is that feather head piece???

ok, now i have to start real packing….eeeeeeek.

xoxo,

s.s.♥.

COACHELLA DREAMING

Coachella 2 starts today…well camping opened up yesterday. Ah, it feels like just yesterday when we (Rachel, Thea, Courtney & I) were in the long car line up to get in. We were slightly scared but not terrified of the numerous party cars surrounding us. But once we got to our car site, all was grand. We quickly became known as the sober girls who play boardgames. (Which I’m totally ok with.)

Anyways…if I were going this year, I’d bring these gems

all items from topshop (which, btw, The Bay, downtown Vancouver sells!!)

Last weekend I caught a couple of the coachella shows online…do it up! youtube.com/coachella

I only got to see M83, Bon Iver, Florence & a bit of Snoop & Dre. But there are heaps more!

This weekend for me is crrrraaay. But amazing!

Tomorrow morning I’m speaking at a Women’s Breakfast at another Church in town, then heading off to Van to see COLDPLAY!!!!!!!!!! Then I’m excited to frolick around downtown Van with my love on Sunday…yay weekend!

stay gold,

s.s.♥.

dear diary #007

Today the sun was shining. I pulled down the top of the ol cabrio and put on my go to summer song, The Cure’s - Just Like Heaven. No other song can get me stoked for summer as that one. (A close second is Stacey Q.’s- Two of Hearts. Amazing video…I get all my dance moves from her) I can’t believe today is MARCH 28th (Happy birthday Mum!)…seriously, it’s the END of March. I can’t believe that almost three complete months of 2011 have gone by. Insane. A lot has happened in the past two months, maybe that’s a reason why it’s flying by so quickly?

So pretty much every weekend has been filled with oodles of goodness. A couple weekends ago I went over to Vancouver to visit my bestie Rachel before she moved back to VIC!!! and her roomate who happens to also be one of my closest friends, Courtney!! (She WILL be moving back very SOON…right Courtney?)

Such an amazing weekend, arrived late Thursday, slept in Friday, went for an afternoon coffee at Calhouns with Courtney who also happens to be my editor. Looove her. I conquered through some major writing block I was having (yet I need to get on my writing this week!!!!!!!!!!) I picked up a diana mini camera and am so stoked to see my pictures from my first roll, which is waiting for me at Walmart. They say your first roll sucks, hopefully mine turned out as I took a lot of pics that weekend in Van. Anyways, we did a lot of CADTOOL planning…OH MY GOSH we leave in TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and on Saturday me and Rach rented bikes and biked around Stanley Park. It was such a gorgeous day. Hopefully those pictures turned out. It was a beaut weekend. i was sad to leave Vancouver, knowing I don’t have a good place to stay any more. But I am WAAAY happier that my bff is now living in VIC! & Courtney is on her way.

I find myself battling a cold now, a well worth it cold though. This past week I spent the majority of my time with 14 teens. CITYREACH! They volunteered their spring break to grow closer to God through serving our Island! We served in many different ways including at Sanctuary youth centre, Glow Day Camp, Nanoose, at a farm that serves as a rehabilitation centre. (I legit stacked wood for 3 hours straight. I have never done that much manual labor in my entire life.) Ahhh but what an amazing time we had together. To finish the week off we went up to Nanoose to paint. That night at Nanoose we had an incredible time of worship & prayer. It’s so encouraging and amazing to hear the prayers of teens who have such a desire for God to change their schools,families,city. To finish off the night we had an epic bonfire….which also makes me sooo excited for summer bonfires! Ohhh summer, you really are just around the corner.

So yes life has been full. Full & beautiful.

still can’t believe i’ll be in california in two weeks!!!! COACHELLA!!!!!!!!!

until next time diary,

s.s.♥.