The Saga Of Taylor Swift

First and foremost, no one is more boggled at me pulling this off than I am.  No one.  I got four tickets to the Taylor Swift Eras tour.  Straight up miracle.  Let me tell you the tale.

Back in November I heard about the process someone had to go through to get tickets.  It seemed ridiculous and beyond unlikely.  But I thought, I can try.  If it doesn't work out it will just not have worked out like I suspected it wouldn't.  No harm, no foul.  

You had to register as a Super Fan.  You had to select your preferred dates.  You had to wait and hope you would be selected for the lottery for one of your dates.  You had to get online at a specific time and wait for another lottery placement.  A butt-tonn of stuff had to go your way.

I registered as a Super-Fan.  I selected my dates and locations: Santa Clara in July (one and two) Vegas in March (three).  I waited.  Shocker of shocks, I got selected for the Vegas lottery!?  The Tuesday donned.  I had a coaching call with a group program I was in.  My coach told us she was going to have to jump off for a second because she was in ling for Taylor Swift tickets.  I said me too!  BUT when the time came for the west coast to go live...the Ticketmaster site crashed.  So we had to wait until 3:00 pm...when I would be taking Adell to therapy.

I got on and waited.  You couldn't let your computer fall asleep or time out or you'd get kicked out.  I had to take Adell so I brought my computer into Will (who was on a work call) and begged him to keep the screen live.

When I got back...my computer was asleep and I had been booted out of the lottery.  I swore out loud (while Will was still on a call) and scooped up my computer.

I got back in but by then all of the affordable seats had been sold.  I tried several times reducing the number of tickets and feeling sick as the price per ticket went up and up and up.  Each time I got rejected.  Finally, I was in the nearly one thousand dollar seat section and shakily selected two seats (it would be Clare's birthday weekend so she would be the lucky gal).  Again, I got rejected: another fan already bought those tickets.  BUT to my total shock, I got put back in the lottery and another batch of tickets was released.  THIS TIME there were total nosebleeds available.  I quickly scooped up four $40 seats with an obstructed view.  Said it was good enough and hit buy.  My purchase went through!  It worked!  Somehow, I got tickets to the hottest show of the year...and I got enough tickets to take all three of my super fans.  

Christmas morning was a delight watching the girls open the present at the same time.  They couldn't believe it either.  So exciting! 

The day off was a bit of a trick.  We flew in the day of the concert.  Lorien had to come up from San Diego and we had to go over from Oakland.  Lorien's flight got diverted around and around as high winds blew.  The longer Adell, Clare and I waited the more anxious Adell got.  She doesn't like crowds and moving places.  The airport is hard.  

Finally Lorien landed and we made our way to the Paris Hotel on the strip.

The anxiety had maxed out Adell and she had a melt down.  We had dinner reservations but I was able to swap them for a restaurant in our hotel.  Lorien and Clare were able to support Adell and we were all able to make it to dinner before the show.  We looked super cute.

Traffic was a nightmare and between that and the melt down our plans for an early arrival were out the window.  We missed the opening act and barely had time to get some merch t-shirts, climb the mountain of the arena, find our seats (at the tippy-tippy-top) and sit down before the show started.

I lost it first.  Bursting into tears as the lights went down.  I couldn't believe we did it.  That I got tickets, we made it to Vegas, we had a melt down, and still...still made it to the concert.  All four of us!

We all took turns bursting into tears throughout the concert.  It was an amazing show.  It was so fun to watch each of the girls who had their love of Taylor Swift throughout her Eras.  Amazing.

 

 

 

Taylor puts on a fabulous show.  We watched the lights dance around the stadium.  We sang out at the top of our lungs with every song we knew.  We cried at our favorite songs.  We hugged and danced and laughed and got tired.

At the end we had a hell of a time getting back to our hotel.  Taxis, Ubers, and the shuttle, were impossible to get.  We walked and walked.  Finally calling an Uber way off location and tipping him $20 for doing an illegal U-turn to pick us up.  Our feet hurt but our hearts were full of the magic of the night.

The next day was Clare's actual birthday, March 25th.  We celebrated with brunch at Chica.  Lorien had her own melt down after a night of no sleep and sleeping in through brunch.  She felt like she was missing out on too much fun and couldn't rally to come meet us.

Our brunch was lovely and eventually Lorien did get ready and meet us for shopping and photo shoots around town.

 

I got to live two little dreams I've always had.  First, at checkin I gave the clerk a $20 tip and she upgraded our room to a tower/strip view.  It was a trick I read about online and it worked perfectly.  We were all delighted to see the tower and the fountains right outside out window.  It just added to the magic.

Little dream number two was taking my girls on an expensive shopping spree.  We went to Aritzia and H&M and walked, and walked, and walked.  I've always wanted to try on loads of clothes with my girls and buy more than I should.  It was my favorite part.  We all got super cute stuff and had the best time.  We got snacks and watched SNL in the hotel room until we crashed asleep for the night.  

While we were in Vegas, Will brought Colter along with him on another work trip to New York.  Colter got to see all of the sights and do a ton of walking (in too small shoes).  Colter got to hang out with the wife and daughter of one of Will's work mates.  They are British and Colter had fun learning lingo like:

watch a movie = put on a film

French fries = chips

and other language differences.  He was full of pizza and stores by the time the trip was over.  I am so glad he got to go with Will

 

 

February 2023

I flew out to Utah in February to spend several days with Wyatt, Emma, and Oliver (WEO from now on).  My goal was to be helpful and get a million baby snuggles.

I did fifty million loads of laundry and had a sleep over with the baby.  So missions accomplished.  He is growing up and just the cutest thing you have every snuggled in your life.  

 

I still don't feel very grandmotherly but I do LOVE babies and Olive is no exception.  Babies are amazing.

WEO continue to find their way in the world.  They are figuring it out. Wyatt is still working at the Pepperidge Farms factory making Goldfish.  Emma started back at work cleaning hotel rooms and is enjoying the time out of the house.  

After several days with WEO I went down south to have a sisters weekend with Jenn, and my two sisters-in-law, Shellie and Annette.  We had loads of talk time and laugh time.  We painted our nails and went shopping.  We stayed up late asking each other embarrassing questions and did a fashion show at a store that was 100% intended for teenagers.  Don't tell them I posted this picture...

Every minute was food for the soul.  I know it sounds like a cliché girls weekend...but those are the best ones.  I am so glad I have sisters.  

Later in month in a mini break from the rain we got out an enjoyed a gorgeous hike in the green hills.  We have been getting record rains that include flooding creeks.  The hills are stunning and we are in love with the views when the sun shines.  

For a bit of the hike Will was on a work call.  He combined companies with Solaria in October and he has been working like a dog to get the company public through a SPAC.  Stressful and laborious are the only words to describe what is happening professionally for Will.  He keeps pushing that boulder up the hill.  

In February Will, Andres, and the new CFO (Brian W.) went out to NYC to tour the NASDAQ and be wooed by them to use the NASDAQ as the public platform (instead of the New York Stock Exchange).  The wooing worked.  

 

RIP Barry Blue Bird

 Oh the heart break we feel loosing a pet family member.  For a few weeks Barry Blue Bird has been acting strange.  Not tweeting out as much, labored breathing, and moving very slowly, sometimes falling or not using his legs when he climbed the ladder.  We knew something was wrong but hoped a trip to the vet would fix him up.

Will took Adell and Barry to the vet Friday afternoon (as Clare and I were driving down to Santa Clara for her first dance competition weekend).  They got the worst news.  Barry was sick and there wasn't anything to do but end his life humanely.  Adell was so sad.  It was heartbreaking.  

Clare and I cried on the phone with Adell as she told us the news on the drive down.  So sad.  Poor Barry Blue...poor Adell!

The vet gave Adell a white box to keep Barry in and a plant because they don't like to have people come in with something living and not leave with something living too.  It was very kind of them.  She loves plants.  

Adell dragged her feet on a memorial service.  We all wanted to do one but she did not.  We didn't understand until she explained that a service would make Barry's passing final and she wasn't ready.  Poor kid.  

Adell painted the top of Barry's box with a beautiful painting of Barry flying free and prepared to have a service for BBB.  She asked that we all wear something blue and share a memory of Barry.  Lorien and Wyatt joined the service over zoom.

 

We buried Barry in a safe place in the front yard.  It was a lovely ceremony...even with a mild coffin drop.  Ask Will about it some time.  

For posterity, here is a picture of Clare at her first dance competition in years due to Covid and a hurt knee.

Skiing and meeting Oliver

What a week of snow, skiing, and baby time!  

Will's trip to the family this year was a ski week in Utah at Powder Mountain and a visit to Wyatt, Emma, and Oliver.  

We arrived at Powder Mountain in the evening and sent Will, Lorien, Clare, Adell, and Colter out for a ski.  Unfortunately, Lorien tweaked her knee on her second run and was out of skiing commission for the rest of the trip.

The next day we packed up and drove down the mountain to Logan to meet Oliver for the first time.  Everyone was beside themselves with his cuteness.  No one got enough turns holding him.  He was loved to the MAX.  Wyatt and Emma seem to be settling into parenting life and their own apartment pretty well.  

 

 

The rest of the trip was spent on the mountain nonstop skiing for the kids and Will.  Colter was the most enthusiastic skier.  He couldn't get enough.  Adell and Clare also spent significant time on the mountain.  Lorien stayed with me in the cabin.  I updated my google photos drive and coached some of my clients.  It was a lovely way to spend a snowed in time.

At night we would meet for dinner and games with Will's family.  Will's mom and several siblings going skiing up at Powder Mountain every year.  This was the first time we joined them.  

 

 

 

In the airport on the way home we ran into our old friends the Wrights!  It was so fun!  Lorien and their kids were best friends growing up.  Sabrina is Colter's favorite babysitter.  We sat with each other on the flight home and got caught up.