Happy Wednesday. Today is a great day to have a great day. There is a lot to catch up on from 4th of July and more. If you live in Philly and beyond you know that there was a shooting at the Wawa Welcome America Concert. However although I will talk about it-I will not let it damper the event in whole.
Weekend of Friends- Wednesday Roundup
This past weekend was about friendships. I spent Friday at my girl, Akira’s Birthday. She turned a beautiful 34 years. She brought out the city. That was the joke of the weekend. The birthday was at the Moshulu and specifically at the Deck. This is an open boat that stays docked. To say it was a beautiful time is an understatement. I loved every bit of it. The DJ played a Rihanna vs Beyonce all night long.
On Saturday it was all about my girl Elle and her bachelorette weekend. We started at Evil Genius for the Evil Genius collaboration with Royal Hollandia Cheese. For every beer you bought and drank you were given cheese to pair with it. They also had their regular menu available as well. It was a great time. We went to Slice Pizza for some pre-dinner eating.
Speaking of eating we dined at Radicchio Cafe. It’s an Italian restaurant that serves authentic food. It’s hands down amazing in all of the ways. I loved it and honestly considering going there for my anniversary. From the great eats to the Teneral Cellars wine that I brought with us to enjoy, it was too good.
I ended Sunday Funday with my bestie, Kyla. We went to District Taco as well as grab drinks as Wegmans. When I saw fun all weekend long with friends- I mean it. It felt good to connect and decompress.
Wawa Welcome America Concert
Wawa along with Visit Philly and Kimmel Center has been 16 days of free events in just about every neighborhood in Philadelphia. It has been so much to do. Like for instance the kids and I enjoyed a 3.5 mile walk at the John Heinz Animal Refuge. It was a lot of phone, hot, but well worth it. During the Wawa America Concert it featured Ava Max, Tori Kelly and Jason Derulo. I was able to feature this concert in addition to covering it for my first time. I have a few suggestions to prepare for any outside Summer concert. Here are some pre-concert activities that I did to prepare:
- Rest well I knew the concert started at 7pm but since I was with media we were asked to be there starting at 5:30 which would make it a little over 5 hours on our feet
- Drink plenty of water. I know it was the 4th of July but I didn’t have any alcohol. I treated this like a job and made sure I was sharp and alert. My goal was to have a cocktail when I got home.
- Pack sunblock, wear sneakers to help with being on my feet, wear cool and comfortable clothing
- I brought my Coldest water cup. It keeps ice and water cold for over a day. The longest it has kept my ice intake has been 36 hours
- Enjoy the concert. Don’t overtake pictures or video to the point you are on your phone. Enjoy the singing and dance a little
Wawa Welcome America Concert Fun Wednesday Round Up
The concert was jam packed from start to finish. From the singing of each artist to the element of just happy to be outside. The staff and who were involved did wonderful job of making sure that we were safe. We all regardless of why you were there went through metal detectors, as well as they even with a small group tried to get into areas they shouldn’t have created calm. There were places to eat and drink and if you were there you were there to have a great time.
Tori Kelly
I love her. She can really sing. She did a great job of singing her songs as well as covering some old school songs like Michael Jacksons’ Pretty Young Thing (PYT) which is my favorite. Talk about her ability to do it all whether singing or playing the guitar she didn’t miss a beat. She opened up the concert and set the tone that it was going to be a great time.
Ava Max
Her energy is undeniable. She sang the songs we all came to hear like “Sweet but Psycho” and “Alone.” Either way she had the song rocking out with her. I have to admit my kids made me go through Ava Max boot camp. They told me I wasn’t allowed to embarrass them. I hope I didn’t but on the low, I knew all of the words.
Jason Derulo
He is an amazing artist. His set was a full hour. I loved every bit. As a media personnel I was honored to go to the front of the stage. Although I could have stayed longer, I wanted to be able to again enjoy the show. I didn’t bring my ear piece so that it would provide a buffer between the speakers and me. However, Jason is amazing at what he does. You can see he really gives his all in is performance. From the live band and background dancers he gets an A+ on artistry.
Wednesday Talk
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, the shooting that took place outside of the Wawa Welcome America. It didn’t happen inside of the venue. It was someone outside of it. After it let out, during the fireworks someone shot into the crowd hitting two police officers. Since the shooting both officers are home and recovering. It was a chaotic scene. Since I was at the media riser, I definitely waited a little longer to allow the crowd to disperse. When I thought it was clear, I went to a few police officers and asked them where to exit.
The Chaos and Aftermath
Several officers walked me to the field. As we approached, 30 more officers ran from behind to where the shooting was. To my right, there were several families unaware of what was happening. They were still enjoying the show when the shooting continued they got up and took off running. Between that crowd running I ran to what I thought was safe and near other officers. One officer grabbed me and told me not to run. I hid by his police car. Another shooting happened and the officers said to get flat on the ground and cover the kids.
When it was clear they told us to run to the right. I ran to a parking deck, dropped a location pin and waited for my husband to come. Again it was traumatic. I knew for sure we were all going to be shot. After my husband found me and we got home, I didn’t eat and just went to sleep crying. This is the fist blog since then. I took a day to regroup, rest and gather my thoughts.
I have no idea what the solution is. Guns, people, or not we were running in fear. The morale around Philadelphia who is already experienced a heightened gun violence in over a year, has elevated everyone. I hope that we get a resolution soon. We can’t continue to have the city be overtaken by shootings. The events both private and public is hurting not to mention the many lives of the young people who are hurting. There’s too many innocent lives being cut short and we need answers to save the people of Philadelphia.
I wished I had gotten the police officer who grabbed me and helped me. Not only did he do all he can to keep me safe but he tried to keep me calm. In addition to that, he told me where to go as well as the parents with kids and when to get to safety and when to stand still.
Wednesday Self Care
- Rest
- Drink plenty of fluids
- Eat healthy
- Move something
- Read books
- Call and check on friends
I will be back for the rest of the week with fresh blogs. For those who need a new salon I will have a blog ready on Saturday for Nbeauty Inc. I needed a few days to get my mind and thoughts together. Thank you to Cashman and Associates for having me at the concert. The hospitality shown was amazing. Also keep in mind they called and made sure I was okay after the shooting too. I was appreciative of that. Happy Wednesday and may the rest of the week be amazing.
