Taylor Swift + snow

Hi friends! How are you?? I hope you’re having a lovely morning so far. I’m back here in Tucson with a still-froggy voice from 3 hours of screaming at the Taylor Swift concert. I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to! I figured for today’s blog post, I’d throw it back to the blog days of yore and share a recap from the weekend. It was packed with fun adventures and while I need a weekend to recover from the weekend, it was a great one.

We left for the Taylor Swift concert Friday afternoon and after multiple delays and crazy traffic, we made it! We missed Gayle, but got to hear Paramore sing some of the songs we’ve loved over the years. (“Misery Business” and “Ain’t It Fun” were SO GOOD.) I’m always interested to see how artists sound in person, and Hayley Williams sounded even better live. She crushed it and had super high energy.

Before we knew it, it was time for the main event, and it was mind-blowing to hear the echo of almost 70k people screaming and cheering.

I’m not even the hugest Taylor Fan – I like a lot of her songs and think she’s super talented, but not in my personal top 10 – but the concert was AMAZING. Liv is a hardcore Swiftie and knew all of the songs. P danced and clapped, and fell asleep around the 2-hour mark. The Pilot was a good sport and I think he enjoyed it, too.

I had no clue what to expect with this concert but was blown away by how many songs she performed (44?!), the costumes, the dancers, the special effects/sets/lighting, and how great she sounded.

Also, I have this weird thing where I feel extremely proud of people I don’t know after they perform. I get choked up at the end of every Broadway show and concert because I appreciate the effort and training to create a production. I felt the same way with this one and definitely felt a little teary when she performed “Tim McGraw.” Like LOOK HOW FAR YOU’VE COME. So proud for a total stranger haha.

One of my favorite things about the concert was the LED bracelets we received when we checked in. They changed colors for each song and matched the beats of the music. Also, different portions of the audience would be illuminated at different times. I’ve never seen this effect live before and it was wiiiiiild.

We were originally planning to stay the night in Phoenix, but in the end, I’m glad we didn’t because the closest hotels with availability were over 45 minuets away (and like 5x the cost they usually are because it was Taylor Swift weekend). The Pilot drove us home while the girls and I snoozed, we were back by 3am, and then Liv and I were up bright and early for her dance dress rehearsal. WHEW.

She practiced her dances, and then we drove up to Mount Lemmon for a little friend sleepover party in the snow! We stayed at a cute cabin with gorgeous views,

and after we checked in and got settled, we took the crew sledding. We didn’t know if there would be snow on Mt. Lemmon because it’s been so warm in Tucson lately, but there was still quite a bit and the perfect amount for sledding.

The kids lived their best lives, and we stayed out until everyone was cold and muddy.

(Yes, Mustache March is here)

We headed back to the cabin so the kids could defrost and chill, and we got dinner together. My friend Diana and I tag-teamed it and everything was amazing!

We had cheesy enchiladas (I made a couple of trays and froze them before the trip), the best scalloped potatoes, steak tacos, salad, margaritas, chips, and salsa. For dessert, they brought one of the famous Costo chocolate peanut butter pies – it lives up to the hype!! – and the kids roasted s’mores.

A huge treat: while the kids were playing downstairs after dinner, the adults drank wine and enjoyed a movie. We watched Glass Onion (definitely check it out if you haven’t seen it), and it’s been a very, very long time since I’ve watched an entire movie while the kids were still awake.

The next morning, we had avocado toast, eggs, and bacon before packing up, making a stop at the Cookie Cabin,

and the quick trip back to Tucson. When we got into town, we drove straight to a birthday pool party.

Oh Tucson. Where you can see snow and play in the pool in the same day. 😉

We’re back home and back in the swing of life, even though there’s a lot of travel coming up. It’s a season where we’ll be living out of a lot of suitcases, but dance competition season is my favorite season.

What did you do this weekend? Any friends out there who saw Taylor Swift or are going to her concert? I looooved seeing all of the amazing concert outfits! So much fringe and sequins; it was fabulous.

xo

Gina