Y’all. What a weekend! We saw Taylor Swift in concert, and I don’t really have the words to describe just how amazing it was. It was a night I’ll never forget, that’s for sure! Let’s get to the recap!
Monday, April 24
Monday morning, Brian’s cousin and his wife were still at our house since they’d stayed with us Sunday evening, but they wanted to hit the road fairly early, so they were up in time to tell the kiddos goodbye before I got them off to school.
By the time I got home from dropping the kids off, our guests were enjoying their cups of coffee, and Brian and I chatted with them for another hour or so before they hit the road.
After they left, Brian headed to work, and I went to Walmart to grab groceries, and then I headed back home to squeeze in some work before I had to be at my therapist appointment at 11:15.
When I got back home, I had just enough time to eat a quick lunch and squeak out my blog post for Tuesday, and then I had to pick up the kids from school. I didn’t get more than half of the stuff done that I had wanted to do, but such is life sometimes.
After school, we dropped Olivia at dance, and then Jacob and I headed to piano lessons for him. He tackled a couple of new songs, and he did really great with both of them.
After his lesson was over, we headed home and I started doing all the things – putting up groceries from Walmart, tidying up, prepping for Tuesday, cooking dinner, and catching up on some of the things I hadn’t done earlier in the day. I was so frazzled from being so far behind on everything that I completely forgot about the Publix groceries in the back of the car. Face palm.
I finally realized it after they’d been out there for about an hour and 20 minutes, and all of it was cold stuff – deli meats, cheeses, and ice cream. Sigh. I didn’t throw anything out yet, but I am going to be sure to keep an eye on all of it. It wasn’t hot in the car when I got the groceries out, but it wasn’t cold outside on Monday either, so I don’t know what to do. The thought of throwing it all out makes me sick to my stomach, though. What do y’all think? Keep or toss??
By the time Brian and Olivia got home, it was time to eat dinner. I’d made vodka sausage pasta, steamed broccoli, and Cheesecake Factory bread for dinner, and it was so yummy.
After dinner, Olivia wanted to try on her recital costumes. Four of them had been sent home with her on Monday, and she was SOOOO excited. It’s always like Christmas day when she gets them every year!
Tuesday, I had nothing on the calendar during the day while the kids were at school, so I settled in for a long day of blog work. After being ahead for so long, sadly, I’m right back to publishing posts the day before they go live, and I don’t like it. Haha. I do have several done for summer break already, though, so that’s good!
At 3, I grabbed the kiddos from school and then we headed home so they could get homework done before Olivia had to be at dance.
My best friend’s birthday was Tuesday and she wanted to do a couple’s trivia night for it, so I dropped Jacob at my parents’ house on the way to drop Olivia at dance, and then I headed downtown to meet Jeannine and Khristina and their husbands + Brian for a triple date.
He played soooo much stuff that I love, and we ended up nailing that round, only missing one of the answers. I was hoping we’d win the round, but another team beat us, getting every single answer right. I’m still skeptical and wondering if they cheated. Lol.
Wednesday morning, I ran to Target to return a few things, to UPS to return some Amazon items, and then I headed home to work on blog stuff the rest of the day.
At 3, I grabbed the kids, and then we headed home to hang for the rest of the afternoon and evening. They worked on homework and played outside while I cooked rosemary wine chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and blueberry muffins for dinner, and then we all ate together when Brian got home.
After dinner, we took a family walk to the neighborhood playground, and the kids played for a long time. I split off from them about halfway through their playground time so I could get in a walk of my own, and I ended up running pretty much the whole way through the three miles.
After the kids were tucked in the bed, I got showered and ready for bed, and then after my meditation and quiet time, B and I watched some more of American Idol.
Thursday morning, I headed straight home to work on blog stuff, and I also did some shopping for Teacher Appreciation gifts. I also did a lot of research on primary care physicians here in town, because for the second year in a row, mine left and is no longer practicing here in town. Waaaahhhh.
After talking to several friends and doing lots of research, I finally settled on one only to find out that… she’s not accepting new patients. WOMP WOMP. One of my friends mentioned to me that she just got back from maternity leave, so she’s still catching up from being gone, and that she should be accepting new patients again soon, so I’m going to hold out and try again soon!
At 3, I grabbed the kids from school, and we headed to voice lessons. Olivia mentioned to her voice teacher that she wasn’t sure if she wants to do the recital after all, but her teacher told me she is going to keep her on the schedule, and we’ll see what happens. My girl just cannot decide what she wants to do! She has no qualms about dancing on stage in front of 2,000-ish people, but she is super nervous to sing on stage in front of 50-ish. I guess we’ll see what happens!
After voice lessons, we headed home, and I made a new recipe for dinner that was just okay. It was some kind of Taco Pasta, and I served it with broccoli so we could get in a veggie. The kids did like it, though, so that was a win!
It had rained all day Thursday, but miraculously, the rain stopped by dinnertime, so I was able to go for a run afterward. I ended up getting in just over three miles before I called it quits, and then B and the kids and I all watched an episode of Weird But True when I got home.
Friday was Field Day at the kids’ school, so I dropped them off, swung by Walmart to return something, and then I went straight back to the school to volunteer.
It was chilly and misty for the first couple of hours, so it wasn’t ideal, but thankfully, the weather cleared up mid-morning, and it turned out to be a beautiful day!
Now that Jacob’s in middle school, his class doesn’t do the Field Day activity circuit on the football field, and instead, they played a big game of kickball. They also played Cornhole and a few other yard games, so I never even laid eyes on him all day.
Olivia’s class, on the other hand, came out to do all of the activities on the football field, and they had a blast. The school also had the shaved ice truck there all day so the kids could get treats.
Olivia had been sneezing a bunch and had a little bit of a runny nose since Thursday morning, so I was dreading that she was coming down with something. My parents were scheduled to keep her on Sunday while Brian and I went to the Taylor Swift concert, and I was absolutely beside myself thinking, “WHAT IF SHE HAS COVID AND NO ONE WILL WATCH HER FOR TAYLOR SWIFT?!”
Both of our kiddos have very mild cases of Covid that present as runny noses and not much else, so I knew we needed to test her just to be super safe before leaving her with my parents. My Mama Cass spends time with them, too, so we’re always trying to be super safe to protect her. So, B got Olivia to do a Covid swab, and thankfully, it came back negative. WHEW.
After that, I headed to the plant nursery down the street to pick up some ferns and herbs and flowers for my pots, and I came back with all kinds of good stuff. ‘Tis the season!
I spent a little bit of time in my office after that so I could wrap up some things, and then, the kids and I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening outside because it was so beautiful. I ended up reading on the back porch for a long time, and it was just the most wonderful, laid-back afternoon.
We had considered going downtown again for the outdoor concert, but we’ve been on the go for so long now that we all decided that it would just be nice to stay home and take a break. Brian picked up Five Guys for dinner, and then the kids got showered, and we ended up watching half of Back to the Future before sending the kids to bed.
B and I then watched our backlog of A Million Little Things, and I cried all the way through the second to last episode. The series finale is this week, and I’m dreading finding out what’s going to happen. Guess I’ll be bringing the tissues for that one, too!
Saturday morning, we had homemade waffles for breakfast, and then I read for a bit while I enjoyed my cup of hot tea. After that, it was time to do all the things! Brian dropped Jacob off at a birthday party for one of his best friends at the local arcade, and Olivia and I stayed home to work out and then plant all of my new plant babies.
Brian was in the middle of mowing when it was time to get Jacob, so
Olivia and I paused our planting to go grab him. They weren’t quite done yet when we arrived,
so we ended up hanging out for about 30 minutes, and then we headed back home
to have a light lunch.
After lunch, I resumed my planting while the kids tidied up and did laundry, and then after I finished planting, I tried on all of the new boots I'd had delivered for the concert, and then I sat outside and read some more before it was time to get ready for church.
After they finished the movie, B and I watched some more of American Idol and Shark Tank and then we went to bed, too.
Sunday, April 30
Sunday was Taylor Swift day!!!! We slept in, had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and then I started getting ready for the concert. We were worried about the traffic and parking situation (even though we had a prepaid parking spot) because of all of the hype surrounding this whole tour, so we wanted to hit the road early to ensure we had plenty of time in case we ran into any issues.
We dropped the kids off at my parents’ house right after lunch, and then Brian and I headed to Atlanta. Atlanta traffic is pretty much always bumper to bumper, but other than the standard typical Atlanta traffic issues, everything went smoothly, and we made excellent time.
It was beautiful and sunny on Sunday, but it was THE WINDIEST EVERRRR and the wind made it absolutely miserable. I mean, the wind was so strong that at one point, it literally almost knocked me over. I despise wind as it is, so it was not the most ideal situation being stuck outside in 50 mph winds nonstop for two hours. My hair looked horrible by the time we finally got into the building, and I didn’t have a brush since I had my little bag.
The line to get in the stadium had already formed by the time we arrived, so we just decided that since we were going to have to wait outside, we might as well wait in line. It was a good thing we did, because the line to get inside was a mile long. The line started at the gates for Mercedes Benz stadium and went around the entire perimeter of the Georgia World Congress Center all the way past the CNN Center by the time it started moving. It was crazy. (If you are familiar with that area, then you know just how crazy long that is!) Thankfully, we were somewhere in the middle of the line and not all the way at the back.
While we waited, we people watched, and y’all, let me tell you – the outfits were one of the very best things about the whole experience. There were people wearing evening gowns, swimsuits, costumes, handmade t-shirts, feather boas, crazy makeup, light-up cowgirl hats, glitter boots…you could literally wear anything to a Taylor Swift concert and nobody would blink an eye. It was WILD. And there were way more people dressed up wearing sequins and sparkles than there were people who were not. It was amazing. We even saw someone dressed as a refrigerator. Not exactly sure why, but I’m assuming because of the “dancing around in the refrigerator light” lyric in the song All Too Well??
When the gates finally opened, the line moved quickly, thankfully, and we were in the building within 15-ish minutes. The first thing we went in search of was BEER!!!! And then we went in search of food. I wanted to make sure we were totally done eating dinner before the show started so I didn’t have to worry about it once everything got going.
We ended up getting burgers, and we found a nice little table with a view where we could eat.
After we were done eating, we made a bathroom run and then we headed to find our seats. We hung out there for a bit and watched the second opener, Muna. Gayle had opened first (she sings that song A-B-C-D-E-F-U which was huge last summer), but we missed her while we were eating.
Once Muna was done, we headed to grab another round of beers, and then I wanted to make one more bathroom run so I wouldn’t have to go during the show. Taylor plays 44 songs over the span of 3.5 hours on this tour, and she takes zero breaks, and I didn’t want to miss a single second.
Okay.
Y’all.
I’ve been to well over 100 concerts (I have a spreadsheet to track them, so I know this for a fact and I’m not exaggerating. LOL.) and this was probably the best concert I’ve ever been to. EVER.
It was phenomenal.
Taylor Swift is a true athlete to bounce/dance/run up and down that massive stage/catwalk IN HEELS for 3.5 hours every night. Not to mention she does that while singing, playing piano, playing guitar, and remembering all of the places she needs to be and when she needs to be there while the stage moves/changes/fireworks go off/fire burns. It’s mind boggling.
Like I said, she played 44 songs – FORTY-FOUR, Y’ALL – and takes no breaks. I mean, there are brief periods where she’s off-stage doing outfit changes, but you blink and there she is again right back on the stage performing again. She is just so talented.
The energy in that stadium was unmatched Sunday night. I’ve been to some really fun concerts, but I’m not sure anything will ever compare to this one. All of the people in that stadium were on their feet the entire 3.5 hours dancing and singing at the tops of their lungs. There were times when the crowd almost drowned out Taylor because everyone was singing their hearts out. It was just so much fun. So much fun.
Also, upon entering the stadium every single person received a bracelet that lights up during the show, and those things are a whole VIBE, y’all. They are programmed to dance to the music, and they change colors and flashing patterns depending on what’s going on during the show. They even have some kind of location services turned on inside them because various ones would light up to make patterns in the crowd. During the song Lover, specific bracelets lit up to make giant pink hearts in the crowd. Then during You Need to Calm Down, the bracelets lit up in different colors around the whole arena to make giant rainbows. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It was just so cool.
She had those same bracelets for her Reputation tour, too, and I was SO excited to see that she brought them back for this tour, too. They add so much to the show.
The 3.5 hours honestly went by in a blink. I sang my heart out, I cheered, and I teared up several times… especially when she played the 10-minute version of All Too Well. All 70,000 people in there sang along for pretty much every song, but they were particularly loud for that one, and it was just a beautiful thing.
I want to go again.
Haha.
Anyhoo, the show ended sometime after 11, and then B and I made the long walk back to the car. Traffic was pretty rough getting out of downtown, but once we hit the highway we were good to go. We made it back home sometime before 2 AM, and thankfully, my parents had the kids, so we didn’t have to wake up early on Monday to get them to school.
All in all, it was just an incredible experience, and I’m so grateful that we were able to go. I don’t know how much Brian paid for our tickets since they were a birthday gift, but I can tell you right now, those tickets were worth every. single. penny.
If I was made of money, you can bet I’d be driving to Nashville this weekend to go again!
Happy Thursday, y’all!
The T Swift experience seems incredible from everyone I have heard that went!
ReplyDeleteAbout the food items - I think Americans are crazy about refrigeration compared to other countries. If the items still felt cold to the touch I think they are fine. I have done that before. I think also because it wasn't super hot outside and they were touching each other probably and keeping each other cold!
Thank you! We did keep all of it and we've been eating it just fine so far! Fingers crossed it stays good until we can finish all of it!
DeleteI think I'd use the groceries. :) I could not go to the Taylor Swift show because I'd feel stupid that I don't know any of the lyrics! lol. My brother was there in Atlanta too, but he went on Friday night.
ReplyDeleteYour concert photos have me wishing we could go back! Y'all look adorable. In hindsight I wish I had purchased a ticket for my husband too, but he insisted he was fine not going. :)
ReplyDeleteI think you're groceries are fine but I totally get your concern. Deli meat would probably be my biggest concern.
Olivia's recital outfit is so cute. I miss those days. My girls were about her age when they switched to volleyball.
According to my foodsafe handler's class (what I can remember from it anyway) cold cuts can be at room temp. for up to like 2 hours so as long as they didn't feel warm and they look/smell okay you should be fine. I have been very unmotivated to blog lately and am back to posting on the fly; creating the post just before it's "due." I don't have a primary care giver anymore-- I have had 3 of them in a row leave and we have such a shortage of doctors in our area that so few are accepting patients and I just couldn't even face the thought of going through that whole process again. That concert sounds incredible!! I think I've been to... two concerts and never one that sounds anything at all like that.
ReplyDeleteThank you! We did keep the food and we're doing just fine with it so far! And yes, I totally feel you... finding a doctor is just so much work! I don't blame you for even bothering anymore!
DeleteI would definitely keep the food! I always go by how the food looks and tastes rather than manufacturer expiration dates or anything else. So as long as the food looks and tastes fine, I am sure It's fine to eat. You are doing the right thing by keeping an eye on it and going by the smell and taste of it. ☺
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! We kept all of it and it's all been smelling and tasting just fine! I'm so relieved I don't have to throw any of it out!
Delete