OMG I’VE ACTUALLY NEVER WRITTEN THIS OUT!
I met Taylor Swift on December the 11th 2013 during the RED Era.
I had entered a ‘25 words or less’ competition ran by Frontier Touring on Facebook. I entered because I believe you gotta be in it to win it! But the chances of winning were very low since there was only 1 winner per Australian state that she had a show in!
As soon as presale was open I bought the cheapest tickets to her RED tour in Perth, Western Australia. At the time I had no friends who shared my love for Taylor Swift (way before I met my soul mate @child-of-swift ) so I was planning on just going by myself. Classic me lol.
On the 20th of May 2013, I got a phone call from an unknown number. I answered and a lady greeted me. She asked me how I was and asked me if I was sitting down. I said “I’m good thank you! And sure I can sit down”. As soon as I sat down, my heart started beating so incredibly fast and I knew It was either going to be something really bad (probably like a parking fine) or really good. She asked me if I remembered entering a Frontier Competition on Facebook and I laughed and said “Yeah, of course, I enter them all!”. She laughed with me and then straight up said “Well I just wanted to call you and let you know that you’ve won a double pass to her RED show in Perth and also you have won a meet and greet to meet Taylor Swift before the show!”. I literally cried and lost my breath at the same time. I remember saying over and over “Thank you thank you thank you-you don’t know how much this means to me!”. At this point I was now laying on the floor in absolute tears. We hung out and I called my mum and I cried even more.
The Perth show was on the 11th of December 2013, and I remember it so clearly to this day. I had my lyrics written up my arm, a homemade t-shirt and bright red lips. We had been contacted a week prior to the show via email and told where to meet before the show. Standing in line to get into the room, I was shaking and on the verge of crying, but I was smiling so much. I remember I saw Mama Swift walk past with a group people and I nearly died. She was doing a pre-show tour of the grounds with some fans. Everything started to hit me.
There was about 30 of us in the line to meet her. We were told to leave all our bags and belongings on this table outside the room and to enter the room quietly. I walked in and realised straight away that it was the Club Red room! It had a little bar, a photo booth and lots of photos on the wall. It was so gorgeous. There was a small curtained off area and a photographer standing in front of it. As the curtain opened to let the people in front of me in, I saw Taylor and AGAIN I NEARLY FUCKING DIED. I’ve never so smiled so much in my life, I was borderline hysterical and so excited.
It was finally my time to go in and have my turn. One of the staff members opened the curtain, Taylor turned to me with a huge smile and said “Hii!”. I literally ran straight into her arms and gave her the biggest hug ever. Still, the best hug of my life and I wanted to never let go. I was literally lost for words and in absolute shock that I was meeting the women who had been in my life since I was 11 and inspired me every day. Taylor asked me how I was and we had a small chat, which to be honest was just me trying to get words out because i was an absolute mess. I told her “I’m working really hard with my photography because my goal is to be your photographer one day!”, she gave me another big smile and told me “Keep working hard ok, you’ll get there.” Then we got ushered into a photo by the professional. I told her “Thank you so much!” and she said, “No thank you!”. I was given two signed posters, and a business card that had my code to get my meet and greet photo and I was guided out of the room.
As soon as I got out, I burst into tears. Like smiling ear to ear and crying my eyes out. I never thought that something this important to me would ever actually happened to me. As we were walking down the ramp I saw her guitarist, Paul Sidoti standing near a tent eating some ice cream out of a plastic bowl. I literally nearly fell over and let out a small “omg” under my breath. Through my tears, I smiled at him and he walked over to me *cue me dying again* and said hello to me. We had a quick chat, I told him I had just met Taylor and he said “Isn’t she great!” before getting a quick photo together.
I walked over the merch van and started lining up so that I could get a shirt before the show. I called my Mum, and told her everything through a lot of tears. When I finished speaking to my Mum, someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was a mother and her probably 8-year-old daughter. They were so lovely and the little girl was so shy but her mum said that it was so lovely hearing me speak to my mum on the phone. I realised I had these two signed posters and obviously I only needed 1 so I bent down and offered the 2nd poster to the little girl and she just smiled ear to ear at me and thanked me. She was so cute.
So yeah that was the story of me meeting Taylor. I was so unprepared and choked up a lot and I feel like I forgot to tell her so so many things because I was basically in a state of shock! But I am so grateful to have met her, had the chance to thank her and to tell her my dream.
and hey @taylorswift if you need still need a photographer for the reputation tour I’M READY FOR IT!