Taylor Swift Eras Tour 2023

Peyton has been asking for awhile to go to a concert. She's my music kid. Not like playing an instrument music kid but ask her who sings any song and she knows it. She's our "sound hound."

So when Taylor Swift announced that she was going on tour to highlight all of her albums and "eras" of music, Peyton saw this as a great opportunity to attend her first concert. 

Our "Eras" Outfits

I did everything right in trying to secure a code so I could buy tickets when she came to Chicago, however, as many of us know, the site crashed and not many people could get tickets. Heck, I didn't even get a code to try to buy tickets. Anyway, fast forward and I see that the Hinsdale Humane Society has a pair of tickets to the T. Swift tour and I jump on those and win them in their silent auction. They aren't floor seats (they are side view) but I'm just happy I got tickets and we are inside the stadium to see this epic concert. 

For months, Peyton listens to all the T. Swift songs and makes me listen to them too. We must know all the words, she says! We must also (at her insistence) be dressed in theme of one of her eras. I hate dressing up in any theme (Halloween is not my favorite holiday) so I resist this a bit until I find something that looks like normal clothes I would wear again. We make bracelets for trading and buy clear purses for stadium admittance. I book lunch and parking in the city. This is a big thing and I am looking forward to it and dreading all the waiting and crowds at the same time. 

But on the last day of school, the wait is finally over. We leave about 1pm from home and drive downtown listening to our T. Swift playlist on the way. We notice a bunch of other Swifties heading down early and we throw on our heart shades (Peyton) and flash our bracelet clad wrists in solidarity as we drive and wave to each other. 

We park and have lunch on the river. Peyton has blisters already from her shoes and I tell her we still have a lot of walking left to do. She sucks it up and says she'll be fine. The pain numbed by her adrenaline to see Taylor. She's adamant about getting to Solider Field by 4:30pm so she can get the "merch" she wants. We arrive at 4:25pm and wait a bit til the line starts moving and then we are in rather quickly after the security checkpoint. We get in line for merchandise (it's moving but still rather long). The lady in line in front of us gets a call from her SIL who is in another merchandise line that's much shorter so we make friends with her and follow her to another line where we cross our fingers that the blue crewneck she wants doesn't sell out before we get there. We make small talk with our new friends and trade bracelets. We get to the front of the line and are able to secure all the merch Peyton wants. We get some waters and head to our seats in the shade to check our email and wait until the opening acts come on in 1 1/2 hours. We see Owenn (one of her back up dancers and now artist) as well as Girl in Red (who swore a lot). 

Then finally, there's a countdown and T. Swift comes on for 3 hours and 20 minutes! We stand almost the entire time and sing our hearts our (or rather Peyton does because she knows all the words!). I take it all in and am amazed at the sheer production value of this tour and what Taylor Swift can do. She's amazing. But I also revel in this time with my first born daughter and know that we'll both remember this time together forever. I will remember how happy she is in this moment and how excited she was and how for months she couldn't stop talking about this Tour. And, that makes me happy. Happy that we could provide this experience for her because she's a great kid (straight As fourth quarter of 7th grade) and happy that I was the one who got to experience it with her. 

We walk back to the car trying not to get hit by all the rickshaws and arrive home at 12:40am exhausted but elated for the time together and this experience. Blessed. 

Lunch @ South Branch Tavern on the river

Our bracelets we made for the tour

Our view