Hello friends! how are you?? I hope you have had a lovely morning so far. I just got back here with my voice still hoarse from 3 hours of screaming at a Taylor Swift concert in Tucson. I’d love to hear what you’re up to! I figured for today’s blog post, I’d throw it back to previous blog days and share a recap from the weekend. It was full of fun adventures and while I needed a weekend to recover from the weekend, it was great.
We left for the Taylor Swift concert on Friday afternoon and after many delays and crazy traffic we made it! We missed Gayle, but we got to hear Paramore sing some of our favorite songs over the years. (“Misery Business” and “It’s Not Fun” were great.) I’m always interested to see how artists sound in person, and Hayley Williams sounded live. She crushed it and had more energy.
Before we knew it, it was time for the main event, and it was mind-blowing to hear the screams and cheers of nearly 70 thousand people.
I’m not even the biggest Taylor fan – I like a lot of her songs and think she’s very talented, but not in my personal top 10 – but the concert was amazing. Liv was hardcore Swifty and knew all 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.
I had no idea what to expect from this concert but I was blown away by how many songs she performed (44?!), the costumes, the dancers, the special effects/sets/lighting, and how good she sounded.
Also, I have this weird thing where I’m so proud of people I don’t even know after they perform. I get choked up at the end of every Broadway show and concert because I appreciate the effort and training that goes into creating a production. I felt the same with this one and definitely got a little teary when she performed “Tim McGraw”. See how far you’ve come. So proud of a complete stranger haha.
My favorite thing about the concert was the LED bracelets we got when we checked out. They changed colors for each song and matched the beats of the music. Also, different parts of the audience are illuminated at different times. I’ve never seen this effect live before and it was wiiiiild.
We were originally planning to stay the night in Phoenix, but in the end, the closest hotels with availability were 45 minutes away (and I’m glad they were usually 5x the cost since it was Taylor Swift weekend. ) The pilot took us home while the girls and I snoozed, we got back at 3am, and then Liv. And I was there bright and early for her dance dress rehearsal. WHEW.
She practiced her dances, and then we drove to Mount Lemmon for a little friend sleepover party in the snow! We stayed in a cute cabin with beautiful views,
And after we checked in and settled in, we took crew sledding. We didn’t know if it would snow on Mt Lemmon since it has been so warm in Tucson lately, but there is still quite a bit and a decent amount for sledding.
The kids lived their best lives, and we stayed out until everyone was cold and muddy.
(Yes, the Mustache March is here)
We went back to the cabin so the kids could defrost and cool off and we had dinner together. My friend Diana and I tag-teamed it and everything was great!
We had cheesy enchiladas (I made a couple trays before the trip and froze them), excellent scalloped potatoes, steak tacos, salad, margaritas, chips and salsa. For dessert, they brought out one of the famous Costo Chocolate Peanut Butter Pies – it lives up to the hype!! – and the kids fried s’mores.
A grand treat: After dinner the kids played downstairs while the adults sipped wine and enjoyed a movie. We saw Glass onion (Definitely check it out if you haven’t seen it), and it’s been a long time since I watched an entire movie while the kids were still awake.
The next morning, we stopped at Cookie Cabin before packing up avocado toast, eggs, and bacon.
And a quick trip to Tucson. When we got into town, we drove straight to a birthday pool party.
Oh Tucson. There you can see the snow and play in the pool in the same day. 😉
With lots of traveling coming up, we’re back home and back in the swing of life. It’s the season where we live out of suitcases a lot, but dance competition season is my favorite season.
What did you do this weekend? Don’t have any friends who have seen Taylor Swift or go to her concert? I’m looking at all the amazing concert outfits! Too much fringe and sequins; It was phenomenal.
xo
Gina