When I think of summer, I think of road trips. And when I think of road trips, I think of three things: sugary iced coffee, road rage, and ludicrously long Spotify playlists. 

All three of those items were in abundance when I traveled to Atlanta over the weekend for my friend’s wedding. 

Let me tell you, Interstate 285 is not for the faint of heart; I felt like l grew hair on my chest after surviving Saturday rush hour traffic in that ring of fire. (If I had a dollar for every Nissan Altima that didn’t use their blinkers before changing lanes…)

However, it turns out that traffic was particularly heavy in the ATL this past weekend because the one and only Shakira was performing at the State Farm Arena on the 3rd. I found this out while I was shopping at Perimeter Mall’s Nordstrom for a last-minute cocktail dress. While waiting to check out, the woman in front of me was chatting with the cashier about how excited she was to see Shakira in concert on Monday. 

“Yeah, my boyfriend bought me tickets, I couldn’t believe it!,” the stylishly-dressed stranger said. “We can’t wait!”

“Well, if the relationship doesn’t last, she can at least say she got to see Shakira sing live…” I cynically thought to myself.

Love makes you do stupid things, like that random guy buying his girlfriend Shakira tickets, or me buying the third mini-dress on sale that weekend just to be sure I won’t wear the same outfit as someone else at my friend’s wedding, an incident which invariably happens to me all the damn time. (It did not happen on Sunday, but it did happen last month at a college graduation party for another friend’s younger sister. Editor’s Note to self: stop shopping at H&M, por favor).

The moral of this story is that if you truly love someone, you’ll do the utmost to see them happy, to put a smile on their face, if even for just a brief moment in time. Because the truth is: beyond the fun weddings and parties, beyond the slices of cake and champagne, life is so mundane. The whole 9-to-5 schtick and all of that, it gets old real quick. It can wear down any person, any relationship. 

It’s up to us every single day to bring fun into our lives and into the lives of our loved ones. So don’t be afraid to buy those concert tickets or book those flights with your partner to Paris or Tokyo or wherever: life is too short to do otherwise! (Another note to self: stop writing columns while drunk, you sound very sappy…)

Anyway, here’s a list of songs that were on heavy rotation for me and my friends this weekend!

Wedding weekend playlist

• Bidi Bidi Bom Bom, Selena
• Dancing Queen, ABBA
• Voulez-Vous, ABBA
• Someone to Call My Lover, Janet Jackson
• Me Rehúso, Danny Ocean
• Can we talk about Isaac?, Rachel Chinouriri 
• Billy (Yeah Yeah Yeah), Inhaler
• She Moves In Her Own Way, The Kooks
• Bluest Flame, Selena Gomez 
• Blessings, Calvin Harris & Clementine Douglas
• Getaway Car, Taylor Swift
• State of Grace (Acoustic version)(Taylor’s Version), Taylor Swift
• Assumptions, Sam Gellaitry
• Ella es Tan Bella, Rikarena
• Volví a nacer, Carlos Vives
• Inevitable, Shakira

Andrea Gutierrez is the editor of the Bryan County News.