Taylor Swift

I have always been a HUGE fan of Taylor Swift!!! I saw her live in Sydney, Australia in 2010 & as soon as tickets for her concerts in NZ were announced I made sure I got tickets to EVERY show :) It was my dream to meet her so I entered every competition I could, including the Covergirl/Warehouse competition where you had to buy two Covergirl products. I only entered once, but that entry was what made my dreams come true. Out of all the people in New Zealand who entered, I WON!!!!!!! :D And not only did I win to MEET my idol, Taylor Swift, but I got to take three friends with me, we got Covergirl makeovers before the concert & I received a year’s supply of Covergirl products! From 5pm on January 9th, when I found out I had won, I was counting down the days; much to the annoyance of all my friends on Facebook. Eventually the number of days grew smaller, and the weekend was upon me!


Thursday 15th March: I went to the airport to try & see Taylor fly in. I was there with a bunch of other Swifties, who are massive fans of Taylor Swift just like me :) We didn’t manage to meet Taylor, but we did manage to meet all the boys of Hot Chelle Rae, Taylor’s backup singer Liz Huett, one of her dancers Shannon Beach, her lead guitarist Grant Mickelson, bassist Amos Heller and percussionist Daniel Sadownick, who were all EXTREMELY nice & happy to take photos with us all & sign stuff!


Friday 16th March: I lined up with a few friends I had made at the airport & It was extremely hot sitting all day in the sun, but it was worth it. My brother, Scott, was going to the concert with me & we had tickets for general admission. Once we finally got in to the arena we made our way to the front & waited for the concert to start. As usual, when the lights went down, the crowd went crazy! Hot Chelle Rae came out & played a few songs from their album. They are amazing live
& are apparently coming back in Spring, so I recommend going to see them! Eventually American Girl started playing & I knew it was time for Taylor to come out. Her opening video began playing & the curtains opened to reveal The Agency (her band) & smoke was rising out
of the stage. Taylor rose from the ground in her signature gold, sparkly dress & said “Drop everything now” :) The view I had of her during this concert was amazing. My brother & I were one person back from the barrier & I danced the whole concert. Tonight she sang Sparks
Fly, Mine, The Story of Us, Our Song, Mean, Back To December/Apologise/You’re Not Sorry, Better Than Revenge, Speak Now, Ours, Last Kiss, You Belong With Me, Dear John, Enchanted, Haunted, Long Live, Safe & Sound, Fifteen & Love Story. Everyone screamed the
entire concert & sang along to every word. We definitely impressed Taylor, as she later tweeted “New Zealand. I adore you.”


Saturday 17th March: Today was the day I was going to meet Taylor Swift! :D I had chosen to take my mum, Adrienne, my sister, Kimberley, and my brother, Scott, with me to meet her, as they are the closest people to me who also love Taylor & who went with me to see her in
Australia! I got ready at my mum’s house, where my mum, sister & I all got our Covergirl makeovers :) Once we got to the arena, I was freaking out. I couldn’t believe that my dream was about to come true. While waiting outside I also got my photo taken by Elizabeth Arden reps who were going to send my photo to New York! And they sent me a free 100ml bottle of Wonderstruck! :D Once we were inside we gathered with the rest of the people who were going to the meet & greet & eventually got led backstage. Along the walls were cabinets with some of Taylor’s dresses, shoes, & accessories in them which she wore on the Fearless tour & then we came to a curtain.. HER T-PARTY CURTAIN! :D Inside was beautiful & I couldn’t believe I was actually in Taylor Swift’s T-Party Room :) We were in the front of the line to meet Taylor and I started getting really nervous.. We walked in & she had her arms out to hug me. She said “Hello!” & to be honest, as I said hi back & hugged her, I started crying. After we hugged she told me that she loved my outfit & complimented me on my purple Wonderstruck necklace, which I got made by Planet RAWR. She also hugged my sister, brother & Mum. I gave her this scrapbook I made her & the first thing she said was “There’s so much glitter!!” :) To my surprise & excitement she started looking through the pages, saying “This must have taken you so much time and effort, thank you”. She got to a photo of her freaking out when she won a Grammy this year, & said “I always do that!” it was so cute! Haha. She then took a photo with us & I told her that I saw her the night before & was coming back to see her on Sunday. She said that was
so cool & that she would try & change up the show for me :) I hugged her again & told her I loved her so much & she said “I love you too!” We hugged for the last time, said goodbye & that it was so nice to meet each other. As we left we got signed pictures of her & I walked out feeling completely overwhelmed & wonderstruck. I had actually just met my idol, the woman I look up to & whose music has helped me through so much. My one true dream had just come true!!! I couldn’t, & can’t, believe how absolutely flawless, beautiful & genuinely nice she is in person! Seeing my idol perform on stage, just after I had met her, felt unreal & I had the biggest smile on my face the entire concert! She played the same set list as the night before, but replaced Ours with Fearless/I’m Yours/Hey Soul Sister & surprised us all with the first performance of her new single from the Hunger Games soundtrack, Eyes Open.






Sunday 18th March: I went to Taylor’s last, and 111th, concert of her Speak Now World Tour, with one of my flatmates, Nikki, and it was absolutely amazing! With it being the last concert that meant it was prank night. During Hot Chelle Rae’s set Taylor’s bassist, Amos, was
walking across the stage, shirtless, talking on the phone & drinking, & while they were singing Forever Unstoppable some of Taylor’s band & back up dancers came on stage and danced with HCR! During Taylor’s set Hot Chelle Rae also made an appearance, sitting in the pews during Speak Now & dancing with everyone on stage. Taylor even stopped to give all the boys a hug before she ran in to the audience :) When the curtains opened for Taylor’s encore, the crowd went wild! Taylor was sitting on the couch in her usual amazing dress, but wearing an All Blacks jersey on top of it! While she sang Safe & Sound she picked up the fern on the jersey & was lifting it up and down to get reactions from the crowd, which she definitely got! She played the same set she played on the Friday night, but this concert was still so much fun, & also emotional! While Taylor was singing Last Kiss at the tree at the back of the arena & during Dear John you could even see tears in her eyes. She finished the concert with some of the backstage crew, her band, backup dancers, and Hot Chelle Rae on stage and I really did not want to see those curtains close!!


I had the most amazing weekend and it is DEFINITELY one I will never, ever forget. My dream of meeting Taylor Swift, came true. I got to meet the one person who is such an inspiration to me and who I absolutely love! I especially want to thank Covergirl NZ & The Warehouse for having the Meet & Greet Competition, my family who shared the experience with me & who were all so happy for me, my flatmates who had to put up with my craziness & all the glitter everywhere, my boyfriend Shane for always being there for me when I was up late making the scrapbook, for helping me & not getting sick of all the Taylor Swift-ness I surround him with, the new friends I made that weekend, and Taylor Swift, for being such an amazing singer-songwriter, musician, person & idol :)