A Weekend in Pictures: the Eras Edition

THURSDAY

I still can’t believe I got to experience Taylor Swift in all of her glory. She is a legend, you guys. An absolute legend. I went to the concert with Bri and two of her friends from college. I had briefly met both but didn’t know them very well and was worried I would feel like the odd person out, but they were so friendly and easy to talk to! We decided to get to the stadium as early as possible, “Taylor-gate” until showtime, and then enjoy the show. We had heard there were going to be 3-4 hour delays getting to the stadium later in the day and we didn’t feel like dealing with that!

We got to the stadium right around 2 and we were thrilled to find out that the parking pass Bri had gotten was right in front of the stadium! This would come to bite us in the ass when we were leaving, but at this point, we were stoked. We got out the tent, struggled mightily putting it up (so very thankful to the family that was parked next to us who helped us with our tent issues), and then had a lovely few hours of snacking (Bri bought so many snacks!), chatting, and playing games. It was perfect! The weather was nice and having the tent to protect us from the sun was clutch.

Around 6pm, we packed up and headed over to the stadium. None of us cared too much about seeing the opening acts (I had no idea who they were!). We were all completely shocked when we found out that the tickets Bri bought gave us access to the Hyundai Club at Raymond James Stadium, which allowed us to chill in the air conditioning for a bit. Plus, the bathrooms were better, there were so many food options, and the seats outside were cushioned! Amazing.

Now, let’s talk about Taylor. She was everything. She went for 3 hours, gave us 44 songs, and didn’t stop moving for a single minute. (The only times she wasn’t on stage, she was doing outfit changes.) I thought I might cry during the concert, but mostly, I was just so captivated by her presence on stage and so damn happy to be there. It was everything I could have wanted. I got to hear some of my favorite songs (including Treacherous, which was one of the surprise songs she sang for us!) and dance my little heart away. I cheered and sang so loudly that I was sure I was going to lose my voice the next day. There was just so much happiness and love and excitement in the crowd. We were all so happy to be there, to experience Taylor, and Taylor herself went above and beyond every expectation I had. She put on such a good show. I honestly don’t know how she does it!

We were all super high on adrenaline as we left the stadium… and then we sat in the parking lot for a full hour, no cars moving at all. Ahh… so the prime parking location came to bite us in the ass, like I said. There was nobody out there directing traffic, and it was just a clusterfuck to the fullest extent. We finally started moving a little before 1am and got home to Bri’s at 2am. Good thing Taylor had put everyone in such a great mood, though! Even with the horrific parking situation, it was pretty chill in the parking lot. Nobody was beeping or being assholes, so that’s something. Taylor for president, maybe? Heh.

FRIDAY

I thought I would be very sleepy on Friday, as I didn’t get to bed until after 3am, but somehow I woke up naturally around 9:30am. I had taken Thursday and Friday off work for the concert, which was a very good decision on my end!

I was very productive on Friday morning! I spent the first hour of my day reading on the couch and then I left to run some errands: Target to return a few items, the library to pick up a few books that came off hold, and the car wash to give my car a deep cleaning. She really needed to be washed and I really needed to give the inside of Gladys (that’s my car’s name, if you’re curious) some attention. It felt good to get stuff done!

After all that, I treated myself to a pedicure before heading over to my dermatologist for my annual skin check. I was hoping this would be an easy appointment, but nothing is ever easy with this skin of mine. My dermatologist was concerned about two moles that had grown a bit in size since last year, so she decided to take samples for a biopsy. I honestly cannot remember if I’ve ever had a skin check that didn’t end with a mole being biopsied. Last year, the mole they biopsied came back with precancerous markers so I had to go back in for a full removal, but that’s why I do these skin checks. I would much rather have to deal with the inconvenience of a mole biopsy than skin cancer! I’ll find out in a week or so if these moles will need to be fully removed, so fingers crossed they don’t.

After my skin check, I was so happy to go home and take a nap! The rest of Friday was spent reading, watching this week’s episode of Survivor and the season finale of Love Is Blind, and coloring. Nice and easy!

SATURDAY

Saturday was a busy day! I started off the day by heading over to my mom’s house so that the three of us and the dogs could attend the SPCA Pet Walk, an annual event that we love going to. There are all sorts of vendors and cute dogs to see, and, of course, there’s a short 3K pet walk that you can walk with your dogs. It’s really fun! Chip and Lucy did pretty well at the event. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this here but Chip is currently doing one-on-one training. He’s a very good boy (of course!), but has some behavioral issues that my mom would like to nip in the bud (barking at every person he sees, pulling on his leash, climbing on the counter/table, etc.). They’ve only done a few lessons so far, but he has taken to training so well. He learns all the commands quickly and I have high hopes for him when they finish with training. He hasn’t been around tons of people/dogs since training started, so my mom got to practice some of the commands with him during the pet event (especially the leash pulling while walking). He’s getting there!

Mikaela and her girls came to the event with us, which was fun! It’s so funny to see the way Olive (age 3) acts around Chip while my younger nephew (age 8) is scared to death of him. Chip even barked (lightly) at Olive once and she just laughed at him!

After we parted ways with Mikaela and fam, we stopped at a restaurant for an early lunch. The pet event was downtown and we had to park far away, so this ended up being a good halfway point between the event and our car. Unfortunately, Chip did not do so well when it came to behaving at lunch. We were sitting outside, so Chip barked at anyone who walked by. We tried our best to keep him content and he did slightly better than the last time we took him to a restaurant, but man, he doesn’t make it all that fun to eat out with him. (Still love you, buddy!) Lucy, on the other hand, is an angel baby who doesn’t bark at anyone. She did go nuts when a bird was hopping around one of the tables but that was the extent of her barking. Otherwise, she sat under the table and preened whenever someone commented on how cute she was. (She totally is.)

We got back to my mom’s place around noon and I stayed for a little while before going home. I desperately wanted a nap, but there was no rest for the weary today as I had plans to meet Mikaela at 2 for a writing date. I scrolled through Instagram for a bit and then changed my clothes, got my stuff together, and headed out.

The writing date went well! I mainly worked on my blog recategorization project and read/commented on some blogs. It was a productive time for me.

I left the writing date and went straight to Publix to do my weekly grocery shop. I really didn’t want to go, but I knew I would feel better about getting it done. It was quick, easy, and painless and soon enough, I was home. I took a very relaxing bubble bath and then sat on the couch for the rest of the evening. I watched a few episodes of Brooklyn 99 and colored.

SUNDAY

Sunday was another early day for me, but I was willing to do it because I knew a long afternoon nap would be my reward. I started the day with a breakfast date. We had both been to the Taylor Swift concert this weekend and wanted to rehash everything we experienced. Unfortunately, the breakfast place didn’t have the best food/coffee so that was a bummer, but at least the conversation was good!

And, we chose this place since it was where Silent Book Club was having its April meeting! We thought it would be easiest to get there an hour early and scope out the coffee shop to make sure we could commandeer a large table for our group. Which we were able to do – hooray!

I was very glad that this would be my final social event of the weekend, and most of it would be spent silently reading my book. I was feeling very spent from having such a busy weekend, and this upcoming week is going to be another busy one – both at work and in my personal life. It’s hard for me to be so busy all the time, and I’m craving a day at home where I don’t have to do anything or see anyone.

Anyway, Silent Book Club was wonderful! We chit-chatted as everyone arrived (well, other people chit-chatted and I mainly inserted a one-word answer here and there, lol) and then, from 11:30am – 12:30pm, we sat silently and read our books. I got through 100 pages of The Golden Couple, which I’m loving so far! Afterward, we had a book exchange. We do these every month: you bring a wrapped book (used or bought new) and write a few things the book is about on the wrapping paper without giving away the title. Then, we do a White Elephant-style exchange. So people can steal the book you chose and you can steal other people’s books! I ended up with a book I’ve been dying to read (The Housemaid by Freida McFadden), so I’m stoked about that.

After SBC, I went home, ate a quick lunch, took off my pants and bra, and snuggled into bed for a nap. I ended up sleeping for 3ish hours and it was so great. Much needed! When I woke up, I took a bubble bath and then settled on the couch for another night of TV and coloring. The recharge I needed!

How was your weekend?