Courtlin Risks Frostbite for Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey played a concert in Tinley Park, Illinois over the weekend, and I'm pretty sure I make some poor choices.

One of my good friends had a spare ticket for Lana Del Rey's Endless Summer Tour on Saturday, so she asked me if I wanted to go. It was free AND I would get to see one of my favorite artists of all time?! Count me in! The only downside was that I would have to drive 3 hours to get to my friend's house in Illinois, and then another hour to get to the venue. But, once again, Lana AND a free ticket, so of course I was willing to go the distance. Little did I know that the distance would create a pretty big problem.

When I left Cedar Rapids Saturday morning, it was cloudy and 65. I looked at the weather forecast, and yes, rain was expected later in the day, but it was still supposed to be decently warm out. I packed my long sleeve, Stevie Nicks inspired dress and headed out (because who doesn't get dressed up for a Lana Del Rey show?!). By the time I made it to Illinois it was raining, but it wasn't cold out, so I put the dress on and we made our way to the venue. That's where things got interesting. When we got out of the car in the parking lot, it was POURING rain, super windy, and it was about 55 degrees outside. I was wearing long sleeves, but I had ZERO jacket and ZERO pants on. We stood outside in the rain for a half hour, waiting for the gates to open, which is when I decided to run back to the car and grab my friend's blanket that just happened to be in the backseat. That blanket basically SAVED OUR LIVES, because as the night went on, it got colder and colder and it NEVER stopped raining. I had zero feelings in my feet and ankles and I couldn't even bend my fingers. I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it until Lana's set began at 9. Luckily, I pushed through it with the help of Lana's goddess-like face and I was able to make it back to the car, broken sandal and all. The temperature when we finally made it back was 45 DEGREES. It was unreal that I lasted 4.5 hours in that awful weather.

Moral of the story: if you're going to an outdoor event, bring a jacket even if you think you won't need it. Don't be a Courtlin!