taylor. swift.
as soon as taylor's tour dates were announced back in the fall of 2014 and raleigh was on the list for june, a flurry of groups texts began among many of susanna's friends' moms -- who wanted to go? who would be in town? how much did we want to spend? who was an amex cardholder to take advantage of the pre-sale date? how could we turn it into an even bigger event? truth be told, i think we were all more excited than our girls to see her. (susanna didn't really even know many of her songs before i gave her the 1989 album and t-shirt as a way to reveal to her the plan as a christmas present -- but i sure did.)
much of this planning went out the window when the day came to actually purchase the tickets; after four hours total of trying to get through, it wound up being one of the mom's brothers who was able to buy them. and apparently he was not advised of the upper limit we had agreed to spend, since what it wound up costing was more than double what we had planned. but hey -- no worries. can you really put a price tag on such an experience? again, two words: taylor. swift.
so there wound up six girls and their moms and we did turn it into an even bigger event. we gathered at a house to pre-party a few hours beforehand, and then surprised the girls by renting a party bus with a driver. (i mean, this thing was decked out with a sound system, flashing neon lights, an aisle that the girls turned into a catwalk, and a disco ball hanging from the ceiling.) susanna had her official taylor t-shirt, but the rest of the group had matching ones made, and we got to the arena in plenty of time to tailgate with the rest of raleigh in the parking lot before making our way inside.
L to R: addison, lindsey, susanna, lily, kinsley, anna
i have to say ... the pre-partying with red solo cups made me feel like i was back in college. (the nine-year old girl by my side, notsomuch)
notice all the limos and other party buses in the background ... swifties know how to do it up right. (also notice that several of the girls are almost as tall as their moms. meanwhile, i had to lean down just to be in the same vicinity as susanna)
susanna and i found our seats and did what every other pre-teen girl and momma did: took a few selfies, chattered excitedly as the stands filled up and the opening act sang the one song of his we knew ... and then went sort of bananas when the lights went dark and taylor finally took the stage. we waved the glowing lightsticks that actually pulsed to the beat of each song, and belted out the words along with the other million people in the audience. i felt like i was at my very first concert right along with susanna, wide-eyed and in awe. (wait -- i just remembered -- my very first concert was john denver with my whole family sitting on blankets in a park. if memory serves, he did not have glowing lightsticks that pulsed to the beat of "leaving on a jet plane".)
the lights were still blazing for a selfie ... and then ...
... magic.
eight months later, and still, each time a new taylor swift song hits the radio in the car, i glance at susanna in the rearview mirror. we trade smiles, both remembering what it was like to hear it live. what a memory we'll both share.
yes, i love, love, love having a daughter.
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