Hello again my friends in Excitable nation! Shall we kick off a new week with another 311 fan spotlight? I think so. Let’s meet Christina Abatie!
Back in the day Christina was listening to anything and everything. She found she loved almost all music, everything from Pantera to Depeche Mode. “I’m a 1996 High School graduate and 311 was in their prime as far as radio play with ‘Down’ and ‘All Mixed Up’ pretty much playing on a loop. It would have been impossible to NOT fall in love with their music and inevitably who they are as a band.”
Being a super positive person herself, Christina said it was easy to be drawn to 311. “I am engrained to make light of everything and can’t help myself but to make jokes at unusual and inappropriate times to try and keep good vibes flowing anywhere and everywhere I go. 311’s message was/is so uplifting that it had a gravitational pull to my spirit. I felt that they had that same attitude toward life and their interactions with people. All people.”
Show count is unknown for Christina because she said she is far too ADHD to even begin to try and figure out the number. She believes it’s at least 30 and that doesn’t include six of the cruises she and her hubby went on. “I saw my first show (that I can recall vividly) in August, 2002 at the Madison Theater in Peoria, Illinois. It was a GLORIOUS venue that gave everyone an intimate experience. Nick Hexum even did a ‘stage dive’ from one of the balconies. He flew! I sent him a couple pictures of it on Twitter a few years ago and he replied that he hadn’t seen the pics before, so it was pretty cool to reminisce about the show that sealed the deal for me as a lifelong fan! I’ll attach the pics to this email for you. Fun fact: My husband was also at that show, before I even knew he existed and would become my husband 10 years later. His love for 311 was/is parallel to mine and it was meant to be.”
Favorite event for Christina, well she narrowed it down to a specific moment from the second cruise during the beach show. “DURING Rub a Dub. Close your eyes and picture this with me for a moment. You’re in one of the most beautiful places you can imagine, in warm salty water, sun beating down, a nice breeze, surrounded by some of the most amazing people you will EVER meet, jumping and splashing, sipping on a whisky bladder that we found randomly floating by on a wave, while 311 is rocking ‘Rub a Dub’ on the beach… are you kidding?!!!! Core memory.”
While there are many songs that mean a lot to Christina, the first one that really came to mind is “Jupiter.” “It just goes along with my whole outlook on life. It can always be worse. And sometimes the things you aren’t given are the things that save you or propel you to the things that are meant for you. I recently had to close down my restaurant. It was my baby and when it closed I couldn’t see what my life would be like without it. But now, a few months later, I see all the things I was missing. I’m LIVING life again, not just existing in it. I’m not working myself to death and away from my family around the clock. I can confidently walk forward with positivity. The 311 Cruise back in March was the springboard to what my life without my business can be again. Music has been my therapy.” So naturally her favorite lyric comes from the song as well, “Stay positive and love your life.”
Christina is a midwestern girl, born and raised in the heart of Illinois. She was raised to always stay true to herself and to be creative, as well as to always do what she loved. “I was an athlete and artist in high school and beyond. So it was interesting trying to figure out where I fit in. I ran track and played soccer, but ultimately, the artistic side won.” Currently she lives in Pekin with her husband and their four children. “Yes, Illinois is full of cornfields and flatlands and people passing through may call it boring, but my family has fun everywhere we go. Literally. Doing the most random things. For example, we just went to the zoo with my 9 and 6 year olds and then spent the afternoon walking around a cemetery looking for old tombstones, taking pictures, and trying to imagine what the people who were buried there were like. I’m not kidding, we had a blast. I’ve lived here my whole life and love the small town community feel, and it’s nice, because we are only a couple hours away from Chicago and St Louis, so when 311 rolls through, we go to both of those shows each year.”
Christina and her husband have taken their boys to a couple of 311 shows and they became instant fans. They are lucky and the band is playing about 10 minutes away from them in September. “The boys are 19 and 16 and from a previous marriage, then my husband and I married in 2012 and had two girls, ages 9 and 6, so we have quite the span of ages and variety of drama’s over here. We love spending time with family. Big on family time. My sister, her husband, and their 2 daughters relocated from New York City, in the heart of Times’ Square, to right next door. We literally share a driveway. What are the odds that could ever happen?! Their daughters are the same age as our girls, so the “cousin crew” adventure around the neighborhood like free range chickens and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Watching them explore and grow is so reminiscent of my childhood that it gives me all the feels! We love to go thrift store shopping, which is a good way to help save money for all the things 311, plus we find the coolest stuff. We also love hoping in the car and going to random towns with no plan. Again, we make anything and everything fun. It’s how I was raised. No plans, just go! I am so thankful I was raised that way. I am such a lover of people. Having our own family business was a great way for our family to serve our community. We formed very strong connections with our customers and they, like the 311 community, have become such an important part of our lives. Now that our business is closed, I am reigniting my passions. Not sure where my next paycheck will come from, but I’m on the hunt. I am also currently looking into starting a non-profit organization with another small business owner who also recently closed her business. We are on a mission to help people, help people. Encouraging people to help their friends and neighbors. We are one community and positivity is contagious. Even small gestures can go a long way.”
When asked what is something people may not know about her, Christina said she is a chronic over sharer so she isn’t sure there is anything! But she did mention that she’s had struggles with pregnancy and fertility. “When I say I’m blessed to have my four living children, I mean BLESSED. Before each of my pregnancies I suffered from one or more miscarriage, giving each of my living children the title of “rainbow babies”. We also had a stillborn son, Gabriel, before having our youngest daughter. I was actually pregnant with him during the 2015 311 Cruise and we used our photo op with the band to announce the pregnancy to our families. You know how sometimes people put a pic of their friends’ heads on a stick if they can’t attend an event, so it’s like they are there with them? We did that for our 3 kids with each of their heads on a stick and then had a blank one with a blue question mark on it, since he was a boy. They guys were all super excited for us and happy to be part of our special moment. Another reason they are so close to my heart. It was a big moment and a big memory for us. I started a blog after that big loss as a way to get all my thoughts and feelings out, rather than internalize them. It inadvertently became a community for others who had suffered the same types of loss and it was then that I discovered that I love to write. And helping others helps me, so it was the best therapy.”
Fun fact about Christina is that she is a graphic artist by trade but she absolutely loves flipping houses! “My mom and I used to flip houses before it became popular. I love the whole process of taking something that seems overwhelming or a lost cause and turning it into something beautiful. Always choose the ugly duckling. I can see the potential in anything. I can look at something (or someone) and see what it (they) can be, when sometimes others can’t. When we started our restaurant, it was a run down building on the Southside of town, in the middle of an industrial area. Nothing notable in that area. But I saw the potential and wanted to give people a reason to visit that part of town. We turned it into a gem. If you don’t water the grass everywhere, it doesn’t grow. I’m an advocate for “community” in all parts of town, even now that my restaurant has closed.”
Guilty pleasures? Christina has a few. “I’m a sucker for reality TV, because I don’t have to use my brain. I watch the Titanic EVERY time it’s on TV. My daughters and I love watching silly videos on TikTok and love being in videos, too. We catch silly moments on video all the time around here and some of our moments have gone viral on TikTok, so check it out @ThePizzaChick !”
Thanks to her teenage boys, Christina has been exposed to a ton of music and listens to many genres and artists aside from 311. “As a 45 year old woman, I get weird looks when I’m busted at a stoplight jamming out to ‘Juice Wrld’ (R.I.P.), but I don’t care. I’m also a Taylor Swift fan and not sorry about it. Have been for years. We saw her 2009 performance in Times’ Square before the VMA’s (and before the infamous Kanye moment) while visiting my sister in NYC. My husband was fangirling over it. and I’ll never forget that memory. I can’t call myself a Swiftie, because I’d have to google what that means, haha, but I love how she takes control of her life and lives unapologetically. She is a beautiful song-writer and amazing performer. My son sent me videos from the ERAS Tour where he had 5th row seats with his girlfriend, and I’ll never get over how insanely jealous that made my daughters and I.”
For her message to 311, Christina has these words: “Thank you for being a constant advocate for peace, love, unity, and respect. Forever excitable!”
Now here are her words to all the other Excitables out there:
“Some of our best friends are people we have met in this community and don’t live anywhere nearby. You can have the most beautiful friendships with people when you are bonded over the love of this band and their message. It translates through the energy and spirit of us all. I am so proud to be a lifelong fan and a part of the excitable crew. Keep being YOU!”
A huge thank you to Christina for sharing her 311 story with us all! You know the next part, my eternal gratitude to all the readers each post. Happy September and hope you all have an amazing week!
Much Love – The Runt