Erica & Lacey relive our emo days.

AFI!! All of the pictures on this blog post are of AFI since I really didn't care for the two opening bands.

Back in 2004, my best friend, Lacey, and I bonded over emo music and dreamed of dating guys who wore eyeliner. We weren't exactly part of the emo crowd--we weren't edgy enough--but, oh, how we loved to watch from the sidelines. I've gotten less and less edgy in my old age but Lacey is still hip enough to keep up with the music scene. So when she found out that the band, AFI (one of our favorites a decade ago), was coming to town and invited me to go with her, I said, "Sure, why not?" As soon as we got to the concert venue, I discovered exactly why not... I am old. LOL Very, very, old.

AFI at 10:10...can you believe that?!? Who even stays up that late anymore? Apparently the young'ens do. 

At age 32, Lacey & I were among the oldest in attendance. Do you remember hearing those "you know you're old if..." jokes as a kid? Well, they are actually pretty true. Here are a few you can make fun of us for...
     * Our first concern was that AFI wasn't starting their set until 10:10pm! That is entirely past my bedtime. And if they didn't start until that late, lord only knows what time we'll actually make it home! We were genuinely worried that we might fall asleep before we could watch the band we came to see. It wasn't looking good as I started yawning around 9:30pm. The band must have somehow sensed our concern and actually came on stage a little early (at 10pm). Thank goodness!
     * The style of dress from the early 1990s is making a comeback and we actually remembered dressing that way as a kid. Remember wearing long t-shirts with short denim shorts and choker necklaces? That's a thing again. We realized that instead of having "flashback 1980s day" for school fundraisers, the young'ens nowadays are having "flashback 1990s-dress day".
     * We actually found ourselves complaining about the noise (do the speakers need to be that loud?...we couldn't hear each other talk.), strobe lights (too blinding) and temperature (too hot, too many sweaty bodies, yuck) of the concert venue.
     * But we did fully appreciate the cleanness of the public restrooms.

How did Davey Havok manage wear a jacket in this stuffy room?

Besides those few chuckle worthy complaints, the concert overall was rather enjoyable. I can say that I still like angsty rock music after I initially fell in love with it almost fifteen years ago. The first opening band was Citizen (from Ohio... that's how they kept referring to themselves as, "We're Citizen from Ohio"... there must be a lot of bands named Citizen from various states). After every song, they would stop and thank us for listening to them. It was a nice gesture at first, but then it felt overly appreciative and almost desperate. Lacey suggested that maybe they get booed off stage a lot so they were very happy that we were still a captive audience. Another thing that happens when you get old... you turn into a cynical curmudgeon. Hahaha!

During the set change, the concert venue played a compilation of Outkast's greatest hits over the loudspeaker. We enjoyed the throwback tracks but wondered if anyone else in attendance ever even heard of Outkast. I seemed to be the only one singing along to Hey Ya! 

Trying out our best "we're badass emo girl" faces. Please note our back shirts and eye make up. We are so hard core!

The second band to play was Circa Survive. They were a crowd favorite but Lacey & I had never heard of them *insert "you know you're old if joke" here* I thought the lead singer's use of auto-tune made him sound like Ozzy Osbourne sucking from a helium balloon. It was during their performance that we started to complain about the lighting. The strobe lights were very impressive but maybe overly so. I turned to Lacey and told her I couldn't look at that stage because the lights were blinding me. Maybe I needed to bring in my sunglasses.

                     I would have gotten pictures of the entire band but only the lead singer was up close and personal. 

Lastly, was AFI... the awesome emo rockers that we stayed up so late to see. They did not disappoint! At first we were worried that we wouldn't recognize their songs because they have released a lot of new music since we first listened to them. But, they played mostly their old songs from the Sing the Sorrow and December Underground albums (the ones that Lacey & I knew by heart). Besides playing our favorite songs, the best thing about their performance was that each member of the band stood on a riser so us short kids could view them, too. (^_^) Although I was tired and my legs ached from standing all night, I jumped up & down and scream-sung the songs along with the rest of the crowd. We left our old lady complaining behind and felt young again for an hour. I think that's the great thing about music; its something you can just immerse yourself in and forget about your worries for a while. But then my ears rang the entire way home. Ugh... old age. LOL

Last AFI picture.

RagsReborn Gifts' origin story

One of my favorite podcasts is NPR's How I Build This. On each episode, Guy Raz interviews the creator/CEO of a successful business. He's interviewed the creator/CEO of Instagram, Southwest Airlines, Kate Spade, Zumba and countless others. Throughout the interview, he asks how the idea for the business was conceived, the high and low points of the journey and whether or not the interviewee believes in luck. Its always an interesting conversation and I've learned a lot. The best part is that at the very end, the show chooses a current entrepreneur to interview. They're always asking for idea submissions so I decided to submit for RagsReborn Gifts.

If I was selected to talk about RagsReborn, my origin story would go a little like this...
       RagsReborn Gifts was conceived in the summer of 2014 following two events. The first was my boyfriend (at the time, now husband) moving into my tiny one bedroom apartment with me. We had too many clothes and not enough closet space. We desperately needed to scale down our wardrobe! We both had articles of clothing that we didn't want to toss out but also weren't wearing much anymore. I had an idea to sew the t-shirts into decorative pillows for our couch. They turned out great and I would get compliments from our guests.
       In the following months, I began having problems with my health. I was diagnosed with severe endometriosis and rendered infertile. Also around that same time, everyone I knew was getting pregnant and gabbing about how wonderful their life has become because they would soon be parents. I felt as if my life was becoming more and more insignificant compared to those of mothers. After a short battle with depression, I decided that I too would give birth... to a creative small business that I was passionate about. That is when RagsReborn was, well, born.
      No, I absolutely do not believe in luck. No famous artist or successful entrepreneur has ever just become that way because a fortune cookie told them they would. I have never been lucky. Everything I have ever accomplished, I've had to work for. And I think that's the way it should be. You get so much more satisfaction knowing that you built this and you grew that. So if there is such a thing as good luck, then I'm glad I don't have it. I would rather pour my blood, sweat and tears into a project I truly believe in to make it happen.

Erica goes to a Luminess Airess makeup party.

I've been to an Arbonne party and I've been to a Mary Kay party and now I've also been to a Luminess Airess party... the Luminess Airess party was by far the most fun of all of the makeup parties! My friend Melanie is a Luminess Airess consultant (https://luminessairess.com/melanie). She joined the business in April and in two months, has already become an airbrush makeup professional! Luminess Airess has natural, mineral- and water-based products that are affordable and easy to use. Their cosmetics are hypoallergenic, paraben- and fragrance-free, and completely filler- and oil-free.

The reason why I enjoyed the Luminess Airess party so much was because there was no presentation; no pressure to purchase a makeup kit and no pressure to join the direct sales business. It was just friends, snacks and makeovers, and the cosmetics spoke for themselves. I did end up purchasing a lip gloss and some makeup remover wipes but Melanie never once asked if I was going to purchase anything or tried to shove a catalog in my purse. She was super laid back and just wanted to show us gals how amazing the products are. Everyone in attendance could choose to receive a free airbrush makeover.

Alan (aka fiance of the year) went first. Although I do not know many men who wear makeup, I would recommend brow and root tint. She used it to cover the grey in his beard. The color blended into his natural beard color and you couldn't tell that the tint was being used. I told Alan he looked ten years younger! LOL I also told him that he could color in his beard for their wedding photos. "Great idea, Erica", we all agreed :)

I made Alan a fantastic pipe-cleaner tiara. 

Not long after Alan's makeover, it was my turn. Melanie expertly blended shades #3 & #4 (I think they were #3 & #4 at least) and went to work. The Luminess Airess system is an airbrush device. The hand device looks like an artist's airbrush. It hooks up to this power supply box. The makeup is liquid and is poured into the hand device, then you turn on the power to the desired speed and spray the liquid makeup onto your face. Sorry if the description is confusing; I should have gotten a picture of it. When the makeup is sprayed onto your face, it feels like a cool mist. It felt a little awkward at first (because it wasn't used to it) but then it became relaxing. Think of it like having a mini fan on your face on a hot day. Melanie started with a liquid primer, then the foundation, eye shadow and blush. Last was their famous lip stain. I chose the color "Fancy". The lip stain totally worked! I was drinking wine at the time and none of it came off onto my glass.

Alan & I were transformed into pretty princesses! I hadn't put on the lip stain at the time of the picture. 

I was impressed with the makeup; it felt light and didn't smudge. And my entire makeover only took about 15 minutes! I would say that it lands in the professional makeup spectrum. I did not purchase the airbrush kit because I do not wear that much makeup (I actually wear as little makeup as possible and just enough to look like a living female instead of a half-dead zombie). I thought I looked glamorous with the makeover. It would be perfect for a special event or a night out on the town. I would totally recommend the Luminess Airess airbrush system for anyone who lives a fierce and fashionable lifestyle.

My closeup! Sorry about the resting bitch face. LOL