Red Tour Greensboro! 9/12

In this moment now, capture it, remember it!...

The song was over and the “Red” sign dropped. After about 5 minutes the lights cut completely out. I don’t know what else to say other than I WAS FREAKING OUT. The beginning of State of Grace Started and it immediately sent chills down my arms. When Taylor’s silhouette appeared, I swore I was going to fall over. This was it. The moment I was waiting and preparing for, for more than 6 months! I reminded myself to soak in every last detail. She sang the first lines of State of Grace and I remember thinking how amazing her voice sounded life. Pure perfection. The red curtain lifted and there she was. Taylor. Swift. All 5 foot 10 inches of her. Perfect hair. Perfect face. Perfect makeup… Perfect everything.

Tears immediately fell from my eyes. I was screaming all the words at the top of my lungs and crying uncontrollably. I managed to get a few pictures and videos but I wanted to make sure I was actually experiencing this night in person; not just from behind a camera lense. (I have a bad habit of doing that!)

Of course the entire concert was flawless. I still couldn’t believe I was there.

When “22” started I prepared myself for the mob of people that would be pushing and shoving to try to get to Taylor. I decided I wanted to try to touch her, since the next night my seat would be right next to B Stage and I would have a perfect view from there. I climbed over rows of seats as soon as the intro started for “22”. I remember helping dozens of little girls climb over seats because I wanted to make sure they had a fair chance, too and I didn’t want them to fall! I helped my little friend Ainsley over the rows of seats and we stood there waiting for the crowd surf. The whole 30 seconds of Taylor being literally 5 feet from me was a blur. I was too star struck. I just remember grabbing Ainsley and telling her to stand on top of a chair and I would hold her up. Security was telling us to stop but I told her to ignore them… They didn’t understand! So it ended up that Ainsley got to touch Taylor’s hand! :D I was so happy for her!

B STAGE!... Deeper Meaning.

I enjoyed the rest of the concert and sang along to every song. The surprise songs were “Begin Again” and “Long live”. I loved hearing Long Live that night. When she got to the part where she sings, “Somebody else gets what you wanted, AGAIN” I couldn’t help but be reminded of the fact that the concert was more than half way over and there was no sign of club red for me. I tried not to dwell on that thought for too long. I have been known to let small things like that worry me and ruin the entire night. I was not going to let that happen tonight! So I took a moment to say a little prayer and ask God to clear my mind and reminded myself that God was in control and it was His will, not mine, that would be done. (May sound silly praying at a Taylor Swift concert, but this meant a lot to me. I absolutely LOVE Taylor!)

I spent the remainder of the concert totally freaking out and crying. I sand every word to every song and was really captivated by the entire performance. I took in every detail up until the last two songs. Treacherous was so amazing. Taylor was so graceful and perfect. It was so beautiful. Then it was time for We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. That was my favorite set on the Red Tour. It was the set I got my costume idea from! Confetti fell to the ground and that marked the end of the first night for me!

                       

On my way out of the arena, a lot of people stopped and asked for pictures again. I agreed. They all asked the same question: “Did you get in?” I was sad to say no. They all said I totally deserved it and I thanked them. When I got to my car I started freaking out. I don’t think it hit me how close I was and how amazing it was until I pulled out my camera to look at the pictures and videos I took that night. Club Red or not, it was FLAWLESS.

Back to Gastonia!...

We drove the two hours back to Gastonia and I was exhausted. I took a shower and headed straight for bed. No time to really think or anything. Just needed sleep.

Thankfully, we got to sleep in a little the next morning. We weren’t in such a big hurry this time. We packed all of our things back into the car and headed for Raleigh! Another 3 hour drive! We were staying in a hotel that night instead of driving all the way back. Thank goodness.

During the 3 hour drive, I was trying to get excited, and I was; but I was still so exhausted! I over did it the night before. So I was losing my voice and was woken up multiple times with muscle aches and Charley horses! Haha. A lot of people waved to me as they passed our car on the interstate. They were reading my windows and laughing. Then one little girl and her mom honked at us. I looked over and they were waving and showing me their Red Tour bracelets. They were on their way too! That was so sweet, so I did the hand heart to her and she did it back. It was so awesome!  

Drop Everything MEOW: Red Tour Experience Continued!

Drop Everything MEOW….

When I got to my seat I couldn’t believe what I was seeing… I was in section A row 13 on the floor. I couldn’t believe how close the main stage was. I started to tear up a little. And almost dropped everything that I was holding. I was in shock. While I was freaking out about how close I was, the girls sitting around me asked if they could take a picture with me. I said, “of course!”

We decided we wanted to take it up by the stage. So we walked up there and had a mini photo shoot. I also took a few pictures of just me in front of the stage and also one of my hand touching the stage. Security was giggling at me so I told them how excited I was and I said, “OMG, Taylor Swift walks on this stage!” At least they were super nice!

I went back to my seat with my new Swiftie friends and also was surprised to see that some of the other girls that I was hanging out with at the back entrance were sitting right in front of me. So that was awesome! We talked and talked about how excited we were and how we couldn’t believe how close our seats were. We started cracking glow sticks together and planning out the whole show. I was telling them about how Taylor goes through the crowed during “22” to get to the B Stage and we were trying to decide if we wanted to go to the aisle and try to touch her hand, or if we wanted to dart back to the B Stage during the beginning of “22” so that we would have front row.  

It was almost 7 when a guy, his wife, and his two adorable daughters came to sit next to me. They were so cute and reminded me of my kids at work! They were about 4 or 5 years old and they were talking my ear off! They asked a lot of questions and I answered every single one of them willingly. They were so excited for their first ever concert, so I wanted to make sure it was a good experience. I spoke with their parents and they asked if I had ever seen Taylor in concert before and I said of course. I had been to all of her tours and the red tour once before so they asked about the show. I kept saying I didn’t want to spoil it for them, but they insisted! I let them know that Taylor was going to be going down their aisle and they should try to touch Taylor’s hand. They were like “no way!” and asked to know more. Then I told them about how she flies back to main stage during Sparks Fly and things like that.

ED!

Ed came on stage and he was pretty awesome. I don’t know any of his songs except for one. Good thing he said “If you don’t know the words, just make them up” because that’s exactly what I did. I had a blast though. Ed was amazing. We held up our glow sticks and cheered for him. After Ed was done I was getting super anxious! I was shaking because I was so excited. I sat back and thought to myself how long I had been waiting for this day, and now it was finally here. It was unbelievable to me. The magic song came on: American Woman. I started freaking out and screaming. Everyone tapped on my shoulder and asked what was going on. I explained to them that Taylor came on after this song and also that Mama Swift would be make her way to the sound booth!

Hello, Greensboro! Night #1!

Hello, Greensboro!

We got into Greensboro at about 10 a.m. and we were welcomed with swarms of red Taylor Swift trucks. When I saw them it really start to hit me. I had managed to stay pretty calm throughout this trip up until that point. When I saw Taylor’s face on the side of those trucks I literally started tearing up! We drove around the arena a few times to scope the place out since we had never been there. We were informed that we would not be allowed to park until 12 noon, so we decided to go get something to snack on and walk around a store.

FINALLY, we were allowed to go park. We parked the Swiftie-mobile and jumped out.

Swifties! We’re REaDy for Club Red!

We made our way to the arena to see where the front entrance was when we ran into a couple of Swifties by the back entrance- obviously die-hard, since we were literally the first ones there. I immediately ran to them and greeted them with a hug. Complete strangers, is that weird? Oh well! We ended up striking small talk and having a total fangirling session.

A few more Swifties joined us in the next couple of hours. While we were sitting out there, my amazing boyfriend was talking to security and getting on their good side. He found out a lot of good insider information for the night and also the next night (Raleigh). He ended up finding out that Taylor wasn’t at the arena yet and that she would be arriving at around 4:30. I spread the news to a select few and we all decided that we were going to hang out and wait for Taylor to arrive so that we could greet her and hopefully get noticed. Hours went by and we were getting so amped up! We talked and talked about how excited we were and how we would DIE if we met Taylor. Some of us exchanged information and seating information so we could keep in touch. It started to rain for a little bit but we didn’t move! Luckily, it came and went. It was actually quite refreshing because it was getting REALLY hot!

When the clock hit 4 p.m. we started getting really anxious. The group I was with decided we were going to move to the other side of the street, away from everyone else, so that we would be one of the first people to see when Taylor’s car pulled in. 4:30 came and went and still no Taylor. We were getting bummed and wondering if the security was lying to us. But a few minutes later, a security guard came over to our group to let my boyfriend know the details. He said Taylor was just now getting to the airport and they were going to be on their way. The airport was only about 10 minutes away from the arena so that meant she would be there really soon!

The Moment I Knew…

Every car that pulled in was getting a stare down from us. But finally, it happened! A Black GMC and a Silver Chevy SUV pulled in and we looked over at the guards. They nodded so we knew it was her! We started freaking out and screaming. We held up all of our signs and gifts for Taylor and continued to scream. They passed by us rather quickly. Then I saw her… MAMA SWIFT was in the front seat of the silver SUV and she SAW ME and WAVED. I started freaking out. I was so happy that she saw me and saw the gift I had for her and Taylor. The security quickly closed the gates as soon as they drove in so we all ran up to the gates and stuck our faces against them; desperate to see even a glance of Tay.

This Wait is Treacherous…

After all of that excitement, it was about 5:00. The doors for the arena opened at 5:30 so it was time to get in line. I got my ticket ready and anxiously found a place in line. I was getting so excited that I started to feel kind of sick. I tried to get myself to take a few deep breaths, but it was no use. I was about to see Taylor! A few people asked if they could take pictures of me and I said of course. I struck conversations with a lot of people in line and they told me they loved my outfit and said it must have taken me forever to finish. I jokingly said, “Ah you know, only 180 days!” (I literally had been planning for this day for ½ a year.)

Why would you want to break a perfectly good heart?...

After what seemed like forever, the doors finally opened! Good thing too. I was carrying a lot of things and it was all starting to get really heavy. I had my huge concert bag and two signs that I was carrying all by myself! I walked up to the door and as a security guard was looking through my bag she took one look at my poster and said, “you’re not going to be able to bring that in if you have floor seats!” I was like you have got to be kidding me… ) This is what happened to be at the previous Red Tour in Columbia. Except that time, we didn’t even have floor seats. Instead of freaking out I started brain storming ways to get it through the ticket check. I was wearing it around my neck so it shouldn’t be an issue with having floor seats; but they never listen! I took the signs from around my neck and placed the smaller one in my bag and came up with this genius plan to wear the other one on my shoulder like a handbag BEHIND my huge Taylor bag. When they went to go scan my ticket, I would hide it with my bag and sneak it in. I worked really hard on these posters; I at least wanted people to see them!

IT WORKED! Thank you, Jesus! I would have been HEARTBROKEN if they got taken away. They checked my tickets and I walked through the double doors. I was so nervous for some reason.

All you are is MEAN…

I walked around checking out everyone’s cool signs and outfits. I got dozens of dirty looks and whispers. This night I decided I was going to go straight to find my seat so I could familiarize myself with the stage and how everything was laid out. I was hoping to make some friends that were sitting next to me too since I was all alone.

My Red Tour Experience:

My Red Tour Experience: 9/12/13

REaDY or not, Taylor, Here We Come!

            I celebrated my 22^nd birthday a day early on the 10^th of September, so that we could leave a day early for the concert. We were getting ready to get on the road in the late afternoon and I could barely contain my excitement! We got all of literally 10 bags of mine, mostly filled with concert stuff, others with clothes and gifts for Taylor, into the car. I painted the windows with red window paint. I wrote “RED Tour Taylor Swift 2013” on the back window and “Swiftie on Board!” with and arrow pointing to the passenger side window. On the driver’s side window it said, “Happy 22^nd Birthday!” I loved it! I was getting super excited. At the last minute I decided I was going to wear my “lucky t-shirt”! So I took my very first Taylor Swift t-shirt my dad bought me in 2007 and wore it. This was no ordinary t-shirt; this was the shirt that Taylor herself signed for me after I spend hours waiting in line just to meet her- I was star struck way back then so I remember thinking to myself, “I can only imagine how star struck I would be now; that was before she was majorly famous!” I wore the autographed shirt, jeans, white sandals and my brown Taylor Swift “Love Love Love” bracelet. Now everyone knew I was a crazy Swiftie!

It was a 3 hour drive from where I lived to where we were staying in Gastonia. It was going to be a LONG ride with how nervous and excited I was! To cut the boring part short, we got to Gastonia and it was exit 22! I remember thinking to myself, “That’s totally a good sign…” We got settled in and tried to get some rest. Surprisingly, I fell asleep rather quickly and got a good long nights rest. Thank goodness I did. I knew I was going to need it!

Take 1… Let’s Go!

The next morning I popped up out of bed by 6 a.m. with no trouble. (If only I could wake up that easily every other day!) I got up and got my concert outfit on; face paint and all! We were going to IHop for breakfast before we got on the road to Greensboro. I was going to look like a psycho but I didn’t care. I was going to see Taylor Swift…

I was right. I got a lot of dirty looks. It was really funny. Our waitress was like, “OK, I have to ask… what’s all this about?” I told her I was going to the Taylor Swift concert that day and the next. Then she was like, “Oh, so you’re skipping school?” I said, “Well, actually I’m 22 years old.” and laughed. She was shocked and said, “OMG I thought you were like 12, maybe 15!” I’m totally used to it. I get that all the time and I was wearing a crazy outfit. It kind of hurt my feelings but I didn’t let it get to me. I knew I was going to get a lot of looks and comments, good and bad, when I chose to wear the costume.

We left breakfast and got on the road to Greensboro. It was another 2 hour drive… UGH! This driving thing was treacherous!

2 Days!

Two More Days! <13

So, there are two more days until we leave for the Red Tour! I am totally fangirling right now; I'm SO excited! Tomorrow is my bestfriend's birthday and I'm having my birthday dinner with family (and hopefully her; we usually celebrate together) at my favorite restaurant, Olive Garden (yumm.) So I started packing and getting my things together today. 

(Pumpkin hanging out with me, helping me pack.)

Packing!...

(Shirt that Taylor singed for me in 2007.)

 I decided that I'm going to bring out my lucky shirt, that Taylor signed for me wayyy back in 2007. I haven't worn it, EVER since she signed it. Hopefully it will bring me some good luck! ;)

(Goodies for road trip & pre-concert.)

A few days ago I raided the grocery store for some goodies! I got lots of candy and sugary stuff. Hoping to get some kind of energy boost so I'm prepared for dancing, screaming and singing all night long for two nights! P.S: The Zzzz Quil is because I KNOW I will be entirely too excited to get any sleep! Haha. All of my hope is in these...

(What better choice for the RED tour than Red Bull RED edition!?)

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I thought this was a cute picture of my suit case. Starting to pack and have alllll my Taylor Swift shirts ready!<13

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& here we are! Everything (almost everything) all together and ready for Wednesday afternoon! I am beyond excited!!!!!!<13 <13 <13

 PLEASE check out my YouTube!

youtube.com/jessisfearless

What's in my bag? Red Tour Edition:

http://youtu.be/pz0f9GzqnOE

My Red Tour Experience:

http://youtu.be/VX-L3n7R7jM

I'll be RED next week!

It's hard to believe that NEXT WEEK we will be leaving for the Red tour! I am beyond excited. I just... I can't. There are no words! Haha. SO since it is less than 10 days away (7 dayssss!) I have started to make sure everything that I am wearing and bringing with me to the actual concert is all together and packed. I don't want to forget anything! I'm paranoid that I'm going to forget the most important thing... THE TICKETS. Ha That would be horrible!

Organizing!...



I got everything I'm bringing with me organized and put into my Taylor bag. Glow sticks, extra lights, batteries, sharpies, etc...

My kitten, Pumpkin, had a balst rummaging through piles and piles of the things I am bringing with me! (: As she styles a gorgeous red beaded necklace!



This is what you get when you cross boarderline OCD with extremely dedicated Swifties. Everything is in separate zip lock bags, and all the bags are label! We have:

-Glow Sticks 'for the night' (Divided for both separate nights.)

-Sharpies (for autographs, arm lyrics, etc...)

-CD covers (mine and my dad's.)

-Braceletes and Necklaces

-Glow Stick connectors

-New Batteries

-& old batteries....

-And also a bag for my ID, money and everything else...

<13

Let's Pack!...

Starting to get packed. I have my concert outfit and my posters wrapped in garbage bags so that glitter doesn't get EVERYWHERE... (:

That's about it for now!!

Please check out my new YouTube video!...

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-----------> http://youtu.be/IqFLMHarJz8 <----------

Back to the RED Tour...

(i can't believe it's already september!)

So back to the Red tour... there's about 8 days until the first concert. We are leaving for North Carolina on the 11th- my 22nd birthday! The first concert is in Greensboro, NC on the 12th, and the second concert is in Raleigh, NC on the 13th!

It seems like just yesterday I had 180+ days until the day, so it's crazy to think that it's next week!! :D

What Have I Been up To?...

So of course It's been a while since I last posted and I have gotten a lot done. The first thing I did was redid all of my posters/signs. I originally wasn't going to show you guys anything until AFTER the concerts, but I decided it wasn't THAT big of a deal- however, I would rather you not take any of my ideas (;

Posters...

This first one is the one that I COMPLETELY redid. It's in the shape of a record so it is on black poster board with a circle cut out of the middle- so it looks like a vinyl record! It says "There's no Indie record that's Cooler than RED". [A clever take on a line from We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together; which is also my costume choice!] "hide away and find your peace of mind/with some indie record that's MUCH cooler than mine." (; 

-For "Indie" I used one strand of 30 ct white battery powered led lights- from amazon.

-For "RED" I printed out the CD cover off of google, cut it out and glued it onto the poster.

-Next, I poked the holes through to spell out the word- I used one strand of 30 ct red led lights also from amazon!

-For "cooler" I decided it would be cute if i made the O's in the word to look like the heart shaped glasses that Taylor wears in the "22" music videos.

-For the heart shaped glasses, and some of the other words, I just used glitter!

*I decided that since I am on floor, I would worry too much about people being able to read the entire sign. If I were in upper or lower levels I would have thought of an original word or short couple of words and outlined just the words.

*That being said, I decided to outline "Indie" in lights because it is a word that will capture people's attention and get them to really look at and read the sign, and of course I decided to do "RED" for obvious reasons (;

Poster #2!...

SO, this next one isn't meant to be able to be read. So I just made it into the shape of a heart so it's pretty to look at! I originally hadthe red strand of lights from my first poster on this one, but I decided the first one would look better if "red" was actually in red lights!

-This poster says "Butterflies; the Beautiful Kind" which is a quote from "Everything Has Changed"

-I used white poster board and painted over it with red acrylic paint.

-One strand of 30 ct white led lights was used for the outline of the heart!

-I got all of the lights that I used on my posters from Amazon...

Lucky 13...

So this isn't really a "poster" per se; it is actually part of my costume!

-I got white fairy wings off of amazon.

-I used glue and red glitter to decorate and outline the wings.

-I used a small white poster board to cut out the 1 and the 3.

-After I cut out the 13, I painted over it in red glitter paint.

-The 13 was then hot glued onto the wings where I then poked holes for the lights and hot glued them into place.

           

(the gift bag i decorated for Taylor.)



I finished my gift that I made for Taylor... I'm keeping THAT a surprise! I also wrote Taylor a letter and included a few pictures. I still want to write Mama Swift a little letter! After everyone finishes mobbing her and calms down, I might go try to talk to her and give her the letter I write for her & also mention that I made a gift for Taylor and ask if there's any way she can give it to her for me!

-I put the gift in a plain red gift bag, then used left over rhinestones from my costume to make the 13. (:

(here's the letter i wrote for taylor; ignore my legs!)

So, I wrote Taylor a letter to go with her gift. I tried not to make it very long. I basically just thanked her for being so amazing and being the perfect role model, and told her how i became a swiftie and a few inside jokes that my dad and i have about being swifties. I made it all pretty. <13

I oringinally was just going to wear a plain red tank top with my outfit, but I decided that I wanted to make a t shirt instead! I didn't do anything too original with my shirt. I got a plain white tshirt from walmart and tied the sides so that it would be tight. The I wrote lyrics from all of the songs on the red album all over the shirt in black sharpie. My hand was KILLING me when I finished! This is the shirt finished...

(used sharpie, glitter glue, and ribbon)

-The ribbon on the shoulder I was going to wear in my hair, I just tied it there so i wouldn't lose it, but I actually think i might keep it there; it looks cute!

Outfit: From Top to Bottom!

1. Homemade headband in hair.

2. Curled hair (maybe faux bob) with red hairspray.

3. Red lipstick and maybe face paint on face.

4. Homemade red bow earrings.

5. Homemade tshirt w/ fairy wings (light up 13)

6. White pleated tutu with 20 ct strand white lights.

7. Homemade white shorts (decorated!)

8. Nude colored tights (also, decorated with sharpie!)

9. Red sequined pointe shoes.

10. Of course, my record sign.

11. Lots and lots of glow necklaces, bracelets, etc.

12. Lots of bracelets.

13. "13" on left hand.

14. Arm lyrics on right arm.

15. I <3 ? on right hand.

16. Red painted nails.

17. Red Tour tote.

I think that's it! haha. (;