Life in High Fidelity

Do you really want to know where I was April 29?

I’ll jump straight to the answer: I was at the Taylor Swift concert!

Back in November when her tour dates my friend Victoria asked if I wanted to come down to Atlanta and stay with her and go to the concert together. Now, we’ve been friends for a little over seven years, but we’d never actually met in person. We’ve recorded podcasts, talked on the phone and FaceTimed one or twice, exchanged Christmas cards, and things like that.

She was a verified fan through TicketMaster, and so November 15, 2022 found me waiting in a digital line at work. My coworkers and bosses were *very* understanding that day. And despite the horror stories that have come out about the absolute mess that was the ticket release, we scored tickets:

It also meant that for the first time in many years I would be taking an actual vacation from work – even if only for a few days.

I soon developed a vibe for my concert outfit. Evermore is probably my favorite Taylor Swift album, but I knew wearing flannel in Atlanta at the start of summer would be a bad idea. So I went for a Folklore feel; I really do like the cottagecore aesthetic.

Krystal was amazing at finding pieces online for a good price and soon I had the top of the outfit assembled:

Christmas came and with it came a makeup box and palettes and brushes and lipstick and the admonition to “figure it out” because Krystal wouldn’t be going on the trip. It was all in good fun, seriously!

Four months – and many YouTube videos – later found me making my way to Georgia:

I arrived safely on Friday and we enjoyed beef and rice (mine was paired with a nice lager) and after dinner drinks and conversation on the patio. Bourbon for me, please.

Then Saturday came. I started the day right with philosophy and a blueberry-lemon muffin:

It was an exciting morning of finalizing outfits followed by a lunch of tikka masala and then doing our makeup. I tell you my heart was full and thrilled when Victoria said

My bathroom is big enough; if you want, we can do our makeup together.

And of course, we had to get a picture together:

Then our Uber arrived and the adventure became real! Here are some photos from the night:

It was over all to soon. When we left it was raining and it took some time to get a ride back and then collapsing into bed before getting up the next morning and driving home. Victoria made sure to send me on my way with a sack lunch: turkey and cheese sandwich, chips, apple slices, and a coke.

The memories made this past weekend will last a long time.