Summer Bucket List: Outside Music, AKA Philharmonic in the Park

When I was a kid, my mom used to take us to concerts at Lincoln Center on Saturday afternoons. They were called the Young People's Concerts (although my sister Sarah resolutely insisted on called them the Dumb People's Concerts) and they were meant to introduce kids to classical music at young age so that they would grow up with an appreciation for it.

Sorry you can't see the whole skirt, but it was a crazy mob scene and there was nowhere else for me to move in order to get a fuller picts. You get the idea-- it's a maxi skirt, the print goes down to the ground. 

It's hard to say whether the concerts did their job or not, but I certainly find that there are days when I prefer classical music, so I guess they were at least somewhat successful. In honor of my appreciation of such things, and in my desire to keep on keeping on with the summer bucket list, I joined my parents for Philharmonic in the park on Wednesday night.

See, crazy mob scene.

Philharmonic in the Park is an old New York tradition, and this year, in honor of its 50th anniversary, they're doing five concerts (one in each of the boroughs other than Staten Island, and two in Manhattan. Sorry Staten Island.) They tend to play old favorites that the crowd will recognize, and people bring picnics and it's great fun all around. Unfortunately, this year, it rained on and off, so they ended up cutting a lot of the set, including Gershwin, which is one of my favorites, and Appalachian Spring, which is my dad's all time favorite. So it was sort of a bust for the music, although the suite from West Side Story was great. And it's nice to just sit outside and listen to music. Even when you end up looking like this:

Yup, that's my dad. He finally appears on the blog!
In honor of Father's Day. 

And at the end-- fireworks!

 When dressing for something like Philharmonic in the Park, it's important to remember that it gets colder at night. It was already a little cool out on Wednesday, so I made sure to dress in layers, including a jacket and a scarf. I also went with a maxi skirt, which kept my legs covered and warm, and also is (in my opinion) more comfortable for things like ground sitting than jeans, because it's less constricting. Sorry there's not a better picture of the skirt, but you can see the whole thing here. The summer fun continues!

What I'm wearing: Papermoon maxi skirt via Stitch Fix (similar here), Tahari 3/4 sleeve shirt (similar here), GAP Factory jean jacket (similar here), Naot sandals