Treat Yo Self

Unfortunate as this is, my weekends are rarely themed. This weekend, however, one theme triumphantly ruled my life, and that theme was:

I didn't make this, I found it on Google images, please don't take it from me, Internet gods.

Parks and Recreation holds a slightly smaller place in my heart than its Tina Fey sitcom counterpart, 30 Rock, but I have always connected with the Tom Haverford and Donna Meagle-inspired concept of Treating Yo' Self. Sometimes, you need to buy and do things for yourself just as a reminder that you're awesome enough to deserve them - and this weekend was one of those times. 

Tom and Donna (Tomma?) have their ways of treating they-selves, and I respect them. But clothes, massages, mimosas, and fine leather goods weren't gonna cut it for my weekend of treating me-self. Like Tom and Donna, I love four things in this world, and those things are food, cabs, Celtic Woman, and being a relentless basic. Let me tell you about them. 

On Friday, a series of events led my roommate and I to opt for a glorious girls' night. She caked several ounces of silver products onto my eyes, we drank several glasses of juice and frozen fruit mixed with...things, we obviously threw on a Say Yes to the Dress marathon, and by 11 PM, we realized there was no way on earth we were leaving our apartment that night. Instead of hitting Da Club as we had earnestly intended, we hit Da Web and ordered ourselves 20 euro worth of takeout junk food. I'm not going to lie: this was an appalling amount of food. We got a not-exactly-small pepperoni pizza, a side order of chicken dippers, and a fairly enormous order of cheese fries. And a Coke for her and a Fanta for me. I must say, it was actually pretty great value. Some people would say that eating all of this junk food is disgusting and really, really bad for you, and they would ordinarily be right. But I say, TREAT. YO. SELF. 

And then came Saturday. I woke up to a text from my boss asking if I knew anyone who would be interested in tickets to the Celtic Woman concert at the 3 Arena that night.

Um............yes?

Few of you reading this probably know this about me - though if you know me at all it shouldn't be a surprise - but I. Adore. Celtic Woman. This show was the first of their 10th Anniversary World Tour, so I would place the start of my Celtic Woman obsession somewhere in the spring of 2005. It feels like I have known them forever.

If you, for some insane reason, aren't familiar with Celtic Woman, allow me to explain. Celtic Woman is a magical group of 3-5 pretty Irish women who prance around in beautiful ball gowns singing angelic, lilting, head-voice-y classical music for audiences of generally elderly folk and/or at-home viewers of PBS. I have been told from far too young an age by my relatives that I have the perfect voice for Celtic Woman and could easily be a member of their group, a truth that I now firmly believe against all odds and reason. Celtic Woman are my everything.

I was over the moon at the prospect of these tickets. The problem, however, was that I had to be at a mass that started at 7 PM, and the concert began at 8. The church and the arena were a twenty minutes' drive apart. I would have to be horribly late, right?

WRONG. Our priest, knowing we had tickets, sped through the mass, and we clocked in at a cool 37 minutes. (A compelling motivation to join our parish if there ever were one.) We jumped into a cab and made unbelievable time getting to the arena, pulling up at precisely 7:59. We came in, were shown to our seats in the dead center of the ninth row, and got ourselves situated. As soon as we were settled, the show began. :-O

I'd talk about the show for you, but how can one even begin to describe the happiest night of one's life? It was incredible. When the lights came up on their famous fiddle-pixie Mairead, I almost fainted. You know that thing where brides and grooms see each other for the first time on their wedding day and they're all joy and hands-at-the-face and harps playing and dreams coming true? That is exactly what I looked and felt like for the duration of the evening. Early in the night, they performed "Si Do Mhaimeo I'." Most people wouldn't have any particular associations with this fact. But most people have not sung "Si Do Mhaimeo I'" on stage at this very arena. As it happens...

Hey. 

I have. I may have punched my roommate in the face during this song out of sheer excitement at my so few degrees of separation from Celtic Woman. I honestly couldn't tell you. Pure excitement was bottled and injected into my veins for this song. 

At intermission, we continued the weekend theme of treating ourselves with a trip to the concessions and merchandise booths. My roommate bought us drinks, I bought us an 8 euro box of popcorn, and, because it's Treat Yo Self weekend and I do what I want, I went ahead and bought myself a t-shirt, too. If I were capable of feeling embarrassment, this would be the most embarrassing clothing item that I own. Like. I. Even. Care. 

Oh, and what was my drink, you (didn't) ask? It was a rose-pink wine cooler that tasted like a Starburst. I loved every second of it. 

I continued living just on the edge of total hysterics for the rest of the evening, and screamed my lungs out like a complete maniac throughout the standing ovation that everyone gave. Celtic Woman are my everything, and I have now seen them live in their hometown. 

But don't you start thinking Treat Yo Self ended there. No, no, my friends. I woke up this morning rather chilly and tired, and I did not feel like walking to the bus stop to get to work. So I ordered myself a cab. 

I had plenty of food I could have made myself at home for lunch after work, but you know what I decided would be better? A fancy brunch date with my favorite person: me. 

AND IT WAS DELICIOUS.

On the way home from brunch, I walked by the cupcake shop I pass on my block every day, looked at the flourless chocolate cupcake sitting in the window, and what did I say? 

Readers, I do not have the money to keep buying myself cabs because I'm too lazy to get out of bed, or to spend 6 euro on a Vogue double edition ever again just to have some light reading to accompany my solo brunch. But it's not a new beach house. I can afford my modest little Treat Yo Self weekend now and again, and if you've got a few extra bucks lying around for a Donna Meagle mimosa or a Sarah Cahalan Celtic-Woman-merch impulse buy, go for it. Treat yo self. 

......Or treat me. Start here. Six weeks to my birthday, so with international shipping times, you'd better get to work.