Meet Me On Monday: A Sweet Surprise Revealed

Meet Me On Monday:

This Monday, and random Mondays here after, my blog will reveal something about me.

All Meet Me On Monday blogs will be clearly labeled.

Warning:  A Taylor Swift fan & country girl at heart lingers here.

I love surprises!  My husband is aware of this, but it's difficult for him to pull one off.  I must read too many mystery novels, because I piece things together without trying.  However, my husband had this surprise in the works for a long time and I didn't see it coming until a couple of weeks before the big event.  C set up the sitter (my Mom), hunted for good concert tickets on Ebay (as the show sold out in 45 minutes), and worked out all of the little details.  After all the thought and time he put into it, I feel incredibly special.

Friday afternoon, I was getting ready to go out with my husband to see Gloriana, Kellie Pickler, & Taylor Swift!  I wore a black & white dress that my husband bought for me this past Summer, a blue-green cardigan, and an old pair of blue-green earrings with a matching necklace.  When C arrived home, he told me that the last part of my surprise fell through.  I had been eyeing a pair of boots since late Summer and he planned to get them for me to wear that evening.  When he arrived at the store, they were no longer on the shelf and he was told that they would not be restocking them.  I told him not to worry, I'd wear the black pair that I already owned.  If he feels the need to get me a different pair that I have my eyes on later, he won't hear any objections from me.

After kissing & hugging our 2 boys, I donned my long pink peacoat and headed out the door with my husband.  We were driving to a restaurant for dinner, but while traveling we changed our mind on our original destination.  I requested that we alter our plans and go to Big Boy in downtown Grand Rapids because it was closer to the concert location.  Once we arrived, we were seated right away and our food came quickly.  C enjoyed a grilled chicken salad and I devoured 3 large warm and delicious hotcakes.  We didn't stick around long after dinner, because we were anxious to get a parking space and get inside the arena. 

My husband located the parking garage he wanted to use and we made a quick phone call to our boys to say good night.  M asked that we bring him something special from Taylor Swift and O was just anxious to watch an episode of Star Wars The Clone Wars.  They were happy with Grandma.  We hung up the phone and then it was time to take our short walk to the Van Andel Arena. 

The day had been full of rainy cool weather, but the rain and mist had stopped earlier in the evening.  Unfortunately, it started back up again shortly after we were walking to the arena.  Luckily it wasn't a downpour, but we walked briskly anyway.  I let my husband lead the way, even though I pointed to the staircase I thought we should take.  We took the other staircase and ended up coming out onto the street with a little less direction than anticipated.  Let's just say that our short walk to the Van Andel was a little longer than it should have been, and we enjoyed some of the artwork displayed downtown.  You could say we meant to take the scenic route.

Upon arrival, we stopped at the first merchandise booth that we found and purchased a Taylor Swift Fearless Tour book.  I was certain that M would find it to be the best souvenir.  My excitement started to build when we got to the entrance for those with floor seats.  We flashed our tickets and were allowed to pass through the burgundy curtained gates.  Once inside, we showed our tickets again before being escorted closer and closer to the stage.  I didn't expect to have such fantastic seats, but we did!  Three small girls and their moms sat behind us, while in front stood a couple and a set of girls who were friends (one was extremely tall).  The stage jutted out in a T shape, and we were 3 or 4 rows away from the tip of the T in seats 7 & 8.    Overall, our view was incredible.

    

We caught the end of the performance by Gloriana, a new group on tour with T. Swift.  Gloriana played with 3/4 of their normal group, as the 4th member was sick.  Not only did they still play good music, but I saw some fabulous boots on that stage.  Kellie Pickler was up next.  Let me just say that I am partial to petite blonde females with a healthy attitude, and her show sparkled as much as her pumps, which I requested a good photo of by the way.  I got teary when photos of Miss Pickler with service men & women played on the big screen behind her and sang loud & proud with Rocks Instead of Rice, my favorite KP song!  At the end of her show, we were disappointed that she had to go, but thrilled that Taylor Swift was up next!!!

During the breaks between performers, the big screens showed messages that had been texted in by audience members.  Three marriage proposals were seen and more texts than I can count that contained any version of the following comments; Go Green!, Go State, MSU, UofM, Go Blue, Hail to the Victors!  All of those comments brought cheers & jeers every time.

    

As videos began playing, we knew Taylor would soon be appearing on the stage.  Friends of Miss Swift gave us their description of fearless, as the tour was called Fearless (the name of her song & new album).  We enjoyed various videos throughout the concert, and I must say that we love her sense of humor.  When Taylor Swift came out, the crowd got LOUD!  She was looking like a beautiful band geek for the intro to You Belong With Me, but that changed mid song when some of her dancers removed the band wear to reveal her sparkly fringe dress underneath.  We moved on to Our Song, Tell Me Why, Teardrops on My Guitar, & Fearless before Taylor Swift disappeared and we were entertained by a new video.  Let's just say that guys shouldn't do bad things if they want to stay on Taylor's good side and not end up being forever captured in a song.  As a portion of the stage raised up, Miss Swift wore a beautiful red sequin dress and sang Forever and Always for the crowd.  If you attend her concert in the future, beware of flying chairs.  Taylor appeared in a different dress in the stands amongst the fans to perform a few more songs for us, before moving to a small stage in the back center of the arena.  She then headed back to the stage to continue the show.  During her movements amongst the audience, she paused to give hugs and whisper kind words to her fans.  For 19 years old, she really seems to appreciate everything that has happened to her.  After singing Love Story, she handed her headband tiara  to a young girl by the stage.  I saw that girl after the show and she was still glowing.  Many songs later, Kellie Pickler and Gloriana joined Miss Swift on stage to sing I'm Only Me When I'm With You, while red, white, & purple tissue paper hearts rained down on us.  I'm not sure how the cleaning crew felt, but M couldn't be happier to have received some hearts straight from Taylor Swift (and my scrapbook loves them).  I loved seeing her share the stage with her friends and opening acts.  We were treated to a few encore songs and the final one was, Should've Said No.  What a performance!  As she completed her finale, she was showered with water that held the words "No" as it poured down.  She made her signature heart with her hands as the curtains fell.  Now that I've seen Taylor Swift in concert, I have to tell you that I'd be blown away if she didn't win Entertainer Of The Year!

  

My husband knows how much I love music, so this was the perfect night for me.  As we exited the Van Andel Arena, I was one happy girl.  My smile got even bigger when we were handed 2 free posters of Taylor Swift to add to the great items we already had for M.  O has a thing for Selena Gomez & Demi Lovato, so it wasn't as important to him.  I love the fact that we could experience the night and bring a few special things home for my boys.

Now I have to be honest, I don't think I took 1 photo all night!  My husband, C, pulled out some spare photography talent he had lying around and put it in his back pocket for the evening.  I planned to post some of my favorites in a collage or slide show below, but I've been having some technical difficulties with my program today.  However, I hope you enjoy the few photos that I selected to place within the blog!