The Eras Tour in Nashville

Dearest reader, this weekend was a dream.

After talking about it and planning it for months, PJ and I and Matt and Beau finally went to Nashville to see Taylor Swift. And it was the greatest concert PJ and I have ever been to. Matt stayed on TicketMaster for two days straight to get these tickets, and Beau booked a cute Airbnb for all of us within walking distance to the stadium, since he knew parking and driving would be insane. Everything was planned so perfectly and we had the time of our lives.

What would the world be without great friends like that?

We got to Nashville around 3ish, checked into the Airbnb, and showered. We had some time before the concert, so we walked to a bar and had a few drinks.

I will be honest, it felt weird to be responsible for absolutely no one for a day. We took the kids to my mom’s and PJ’s mom’s houses for the night, which they were so excited about. They love spending the night with their grandmas, who are much more relaxed than we are (part of what makes grandma’s so great!) and it’s a nice little break for everyone when they go.

After the bar, we walked over to this food truck serving gyros and each split one. They were SO good, though we probably could have each gotten our own and would have been just fine (they were that good).

From there we walked across the bridge to Nissan Stadium. The bridge had a great view of the city, but was PACKED with thousands of people all going towards the same place. It was madness, but in the coolest way. There was definitely a connection between all the Swifties there that you could just feel.

Once we made it to the stadium, we got a few refills on our drinks and headed to find our seats, and we were all pleasantly surprised by how good they were! They were on the cheaper side of Taylor Swift tickets, but they still felt pretty close to the stage and we could see everything the entire night.

Way to go, Matt!!

It was a surreal feeling being around that many people who were all there for the same reason. Everyone knew all the words and knew every move and every song. It was exhilarating hearing the crowd sing and scream the words you know by heart and have sang yourself over and over again.

Also, side note: please notice the girls behind us in every picture, haha. They kept making funny faces that I didn’t realize until the next day when I was going through the photos. They actually saw our video on TikTok a few days later and reached out! Small world.

The concert itself was incredible. It felt like a Broadway show but with the intimacy of talking to a best friend on her couch. Also, her stamina!!!! I have no idea how she preformed for 3 and a half hours. By the end of it, all of us were hurting and had to sit down because we were so exhausted. She is truly such an amazing performer and I am so happy we got to see her talent live.

A big highlight of the night, not that I could pick just one, was Taylor announcing her next re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)!!! When she started her monologue, the crowd went wild, and when she said that instead of speaking about it, she would rather just show us what she was talking about, the crowd absolutely lost it. We weren’t picking up what she was putting down, though, and were kind of confused until the last moment when the picture below appeared on the giant screen and suddenly it all made sense.

And then we, too, lost our minds.

Speak Now has always had a special place in my heart. It came out in 2010, the year PJ and I got together, and the song “Enchanted” has always been my song for PJ, since it perfectly describers the first night we spent together. Also, the song “Mine”, with lyrics like “You are the best thing that’s ever been mine” seem to always remind me of him as well ;).

Needless to say, Speak Now is the one album that I am more excited about than any other one that she will be releasing. Can’t wait for July 7th!!!

By the end of the night, we were all exhausted and hoarse from screaming and dancing. We walked back to the Airbnb and crashed, still on a high from the last four hours. I don’t know how she lasted as long as she did, but it was absolutely incredible and to be honest, super inspiring!

Her work ethic, talent, determination, and will power to make anything she wants happen and work for her is very, very inspiring to us. She knows what she wants and she does whatever it takes to make it happen. Kinda reminds me of PJ!

The next morning, we drove to the nearest IHOP for some pancakes. It felt good to recharge and relax for a bit before making the three hour drive home.

As always, we are endlessly thankful for Matt and Beau for putting together a truly unforgettable weekend. They planned the concert and where we were staying, leaving us to just enjoy ourselves.

Don’t tell anyone, but we’re already looking at other tour dates that we could possibly do. She was that good. We started this week coming down from the high that was her concert, and almost felt a little blue because of it? Weird, I know. So we watched Miss Americana on Netflix to cheer ourselves up.

Oh! And it’s official: PJ is a Swiftie now. We’ve been listening to every album of hers nonstop since we got back, which is something I do all the time, but now PJ’s joining in.

And our kids are already on board, of course. When we got home, I told them how she performed so many of her songs and asked them which one is their favorite because I recorded little parts all of them and I could show them. Allan, our oldest, said “Gold Rush” was his favorite and asked to listen to that. Sadly, I told him she didn’t do that song, but what was another one that he loved? He asked for “Invisible String” and again…I told him for some reason she didn’t sing that song, either.

So I brought up “Blank Space” because she did do that one! And he was happy to watch her perform it on my phone, because it’s one of their favorites. Anna always calls it “the horsey song”, referring to the music video. How cute is that?

So there you have it!! The best concert of our lives and one that we will never forget. If you haven’t been to her Era’s Tour yet, dear friend, I hope you are able to make it in the future!!!