Taylor Swift in Toronto

Last year, when tickets went on sale for Taylor Swift in Toronto, we of course tried to get tickets. I have already been twice, but I was really hoping to take Bentley since she's become such a big fan. It's absolutely crazy how popular Taylor Swift has become! You had to apply for a code and if you got the code you could try to get tickets after that. We were not lucky enough to even get a code, but Tamara did get some great tickets, as well as our friend Lena. I thought nothing of us going, but was considering buying second hand tickets that cost thousands of dollars. In the end, I decided it was too expensive. That's when Lena called me one day and offered us 2 of her 4 tickets for the normal price. I couldn't believe it, but was so excited to join her and Lucy and knew it would be an epic trip! We told the girls in the summer of 2024 by showing them what we said was just a Youtube Taylor Swift video. We started watching some other videos and then said something like, "Oh I saw a new Taylor Swift video that we should show you." Little did they know it was one that we had created for them with writing telling them they'd be going to the concert! They were definitely surprised and so excited!! Lena printed out some fake tickets and we took some photos. The next few months we would be planning our outfits, buying our flights and hotel, and planning our trip! Jeff and I decided that we needed to pay for most everything else besides the concert tickets, because Lena could've sold them for a lot of money, so that made me feel a little better. We decided to stay 3 nights and make a fun trip out of it!

The fun started at the airport with our matching Red themed outfits and Swiftie Era hoodies. We took videos the entire trip so we could make reels and put things together. The girls also loved to "cheers" with Starbucks and all their drinks this trip. The flight went smoothly, we rented a car, and made it to our hotel with no issues. We stayed at the Hilton in Mississauga, which is a half hour from Toronto, but quite close to the airport. It was late when we arrived, but somehow the excitement of everything kept us up past 1am and we sang Taylor songs with Bentley's karaoke microphone we brought. 

The next day we found a Cora's breakfast place nearby to eat, and then headed to Niagara Falls for the day! None of us had been there, so we were excited to check it out. It was about an hour drive, but once we got there and parked, we started with the SkyWheel. I should also mention it was a cold and rainy day unfortunately, but a lot warmer than Calgary was! There was at least no snow. We had boots, coats, and some umbrellas that made it not too bad. The SkyWheel is like a Ferris Wheel with a view of the Falls. It was a fun way to start the day and see it from afar. After that, we walked closer to Niagara Falls and took lots of pictures. There is a nice path next to it, and it was gorgeous! Lena and Lucy decided to take the boat to get closer, but Bentley and I opted to get hot chocolate instead. They were very brave, but it was too cold for us! Bentley and I walked the fun street called Clifton Hill and went in a haunted house. After they were done, we met up at the Selfie Studio to take some fun pics. We also met Tamara and Dakota there, who were also going to the concert, but staying at a different hotel. There were lots of fun backgrounds at the selfie studio and we had a good time, until we realized we were gonna be late for our dinner reservation at the Skylon Tower. We ran over there and made it just in time! Tamara and Dakota (along with 2 of their friends), also ate there just a few tables down from us. It was a revolving restaurant with an amazing view of the Falls. It had fancy dining and reminded me of the Calgary tower, but with a better view. We came early enough that it was still light outside when we sat down, but as we ate it got dark and we got to see the cool light show they do on the Falls. We all had a delicious and fun dinner and the girls were intrigued with the butter balls. Dakota sent a note around the edge where it was moving for us to find when it got to our table, which was really funny. Afterwards, we were planning on seeing the fireworks, but decided to drive home and swim in the pool at the hotel instead. I think that was a great decision! We were chilled from the day and the hot tub felt great. They also had some waterslides for the girls and we had a lot of fun. 

The next day came and it was finally the day to see Taylor Swift! Ah!! We started it out by going to get donuts at a fun bakery in Oakville. I had preordered ones that were Taylor Swift themed and they were very cute! I can't say it was the best donut I've ever tasted, but definitely worth it for the photos and exploring a fun street in Oakville. Afterwards, we did a few little errands and ate real food at Tim Hortons. Then it was time to get ready for the concert!! Bentley decided to go with a Lover theme and got a cute dress in the right colors and drew a glitter heart around her eye. She looked great! I found a pink sparkly dress that I liked, Lena found a purple sparkly one, and Lucy went with a midnights theme and wore a navy sparkly dress with a fur coat. We actually all had fur coats, but mine was SO big. I almost didn't bring it, but then decided I would have no other use for it, so I brought it just in case. I couldn't handle how huge it was though, so I ended up leaving it there instead of packing it to take back home and never did wear it! It did bring a lot of laughs though. We all loaded up our arms with bracelets, painted our nails, and got our clear backpacks ready. Driving to the concert was slightly busy, but really not too bad! We had reserved a parkade space, which was kind of hard to find, but we did it eventually. It wasn't too far of a walk, and there was no rain that night so it really wasn't bad getting there! We did pick a restaurant we wanted to go to beforehand, but it was full, so we ended up eating at A&W. Then we walked to the Rogers Centre and tried to find the big bracelet sign that says "Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour." It was so hard to get a picture with such a big crowd around, but we did it and then stuck together as best we could to find our seats inside. We were in the first upper section, which meant if we walked down the stairs, we could be on the floor for a photo (with a fence in between). The seats were great! After we took photos and got settled, I went in the merch line to try to get Bentley a hoody. There were no sizes left in any hoodies but an XL! Bentley said she didn't care and just wanted memories from the concert, so we bought it and she rocked that huge thing. I ended up getting the tortured poets department long sleeve t-shirt since they had it in a good size, and actually ended up loving it!

Gracie Abrams started the show and we love her music too so it was a lot of fun to hear her live! When it was time for Taylor to come out, I had to take a video of Bentley and I'm so glad I did. She started to cry, which then made me cry, and it was an awesome moment! Our dreams came true and I'm so glad we got to experience it together. Bentley was made for late night concerts. She stood up and danced almost the entire time! I told her to sit down during "folkmore" but she didn't even want to. She sung the words, did the actions, held my phone light for marjorie, and had the best time. We were excited to get "Sparks Fly" as a surprise song! It was mixed with "Message in a Bottle," with the piano song being "You're Losing Me/How Did it End." Those were 2 of my absolute favorite songs so I was very happy about that. We also loved seeing the new set of "The Tortured Poet's Department," since it was created after her movie was made. It was so good! We commented on all her outfits and were happy we got the original Lover bodysuit. 

We were so sad when it was over! Laura Dunford and her girls were also there, so we met up with them for a bit and took some pictures. We watched the cleaners start to clean up the concert and double checked that there was no merch in our sizes. Then we walked back to the car and decided to go for a 2am McDonald's run for some McFlurry's. Bentley was hyped, as she always is such a night owl, but Lucy fell asleep in the car. We woke her up to ask her if she wanted something, to which she responded yes, but didn't remember a thing about it the next day. The 3 of us giggled away about how we were the only ones at the drive through but they still took forever, and how we wanted to get the combo that would give us a Taylor Swift bracelet, but we didn't want to pay for all that food. Lena was craving onion rings, but was never able to get any. It was a great night! 

The next day, we had lots of time to sleep in and check out before our flight. We ate at the restaurant in our hotel, which was really nice. The girls ordered their last fancy drinks, and we all really enjoyed the food! We had a bit of time before we needed to be at the airport so we tried to find a mall, but ended up at a weird shopping area with very few stores. We went into Winners and the girls decided they needed neck pillows for the flight. The line was huge, and we debated if we had time for it, but we decided to do it and still made it to the airport in good time. We were a bit worried though! Everything went well on the way home and the trip was a huge success!! I could never thank Lena enough for inviting us to come with them and make these amazing memories together. It is definitely a core memory for Bentley and one that I know she'll never forget. She constantly thanks me for taking her and talks about the fun that we had. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience!