Every now and then, I rely on complete delusion to make things happen.
And this is one of those stories!
For years, and I mean years, I have been pining away (pun intended) for a trip to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. I mean, look at her.
Stunning.
And I wasn’t after just any trip to the park, I wanted to go during the holiday season, when they deck the park out in thousands of lights for their Canyon Lights extravaganza. Specifically, I wanted to go for a little birthday trip.
There was just one problem – flights from Minneapolis to Vancouver are insane.
Now, I personally believe that as a good Minnesotan neighbor, I shouldn’t have to pay an absurd amount of money to visit my Canadian pals – at least, I don’t want to pay more than I would have to pay to cross the ocean to simply go upstairs, so to speak. However, every year when I check flights, we’re looking at over a thousand dollars. No way. Can’t justify it.
Now, let’s take ourselves all the way back to the year 2022. Yours truly signed up for the Eras Tour Verified Fan Program, and was able to choose a few locations to throw my hat into the metaphorical ring for. I chose Minneapolis and Vancouver, thinking this could be a great excuse to finally make my Vancouver trip possible, as Taylor would be ending the Eras Tour in Vancouver in December 2024.
I was approved for Minneapolis, and was able to see the show there! It was PHENOMENAL. I went in blind, having avoided any videos of the tour prior to going, and was able to experience it completely organically, and it was completely mind-blowing. An incredible show.
Enter the Tortured Poets Department. This album has become one of my all-time favorite Taylor albums, and while she was on break for the tour, I was crossing my fingers and praying that she wouldn’t add it to the Eras Tour set, because I wanted a specific Tortured Poets Department tour. However, she ended up adding it to the show, and I felt like I had to see the new iteration of the tour so I could see my favorite songs live (specifically Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?).
I’d been telling everyone that I was manifesting going back to the Eras Tour, and I had no idea how it was going to happen, but I was just moving forward in a blissful confidence that it was going to somehow happen. Delusional land.
Let’s back track a bit.
After I purchased my Minneapolis tickets, I received an email telling me that I was on the waitlist for the Vancouver shows. I actually laughed when I got the email, thinking there was no way that anyone on the waitlist would ever get tickets – the people who made it into the original queue were going to sell out the show for sure, and there would never be a need for a waitlist.
However. When Taylor returned to the United States for the last leg of her tour, she started doing something different. Every Wednesday leading up to the weekend’s shows, she’d drop new tickets for those shows, that only folks on the waitlist were able to get. And they were able to purchase them at face value.
That’s right! After two years of scalpers selling nosebleed seats for thousands of dollars, you could get floor seats for just a few hundred dollars. Crazy.
I remembered that I was on the Vancouver waitlist, and wondered if it would be insane to book a whole trip on the pure chance of getting tickets to the show, as I wouldn’t know until the Wednesday before if I could get tickets for that Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
I debated it, knowing it was an opportunity for me to at the bare minimum see the Capilano Suspension Bridge that I’d dreamed of visiting for years, and also an opportunity to be in a fun environment where all the Swifties would be excited to see the final set of shows, even if I couldn’t go myself.
Enter Rebecca Yarros.
Rebecca, one of my favorite authors, announced that she was doing a book signing event in Vancouver the same weekend as the Eras Tour. I knew this wasn’t a coincidence, because she’s a major Swifty herself. However, I wasn’t sure if I could get tickets to the signing. She’d launched a set of tour dates for her book, Onyx Storm, none of which even included a signing – they were simply events where you could listen to her be interviewed about the book. Those events sold out in seconds. So an actual book signing event? The odds of snagging tickets were virtually impossible.
But I decided that it was going to happen! Rebecca Yarros, Eras Tour, and Capilano Suspension Bridge all in one weekend? That would be pure magic.
And it was.
The day Rebecca’s tickets went on sale, I was ready, waiting to purchase. Against all odds, I grabbed a set of tickets, and decided then and there that it was a sign that I was going to get tickets to the Eras Tour, too.
So I planned an entire trip to Vancouver, knowing I was going to have an amazing time no matter what, but manifesting The Eras Tour would complete the holy trinity of activities. And somehow, I got a flight for just a few hundred bucks, which was WAY better than the thousand plus dollar tickets I’d historically seen. Deal. It did come with a multi-hour layover in Toronto, but you win some you lose some.
And the Wednesday before – not only did I get tickets to the Eras Tour, I got tickets to the last. night. of. the. tour.
Great seats, too.
I was shook.
I was so shook that I made a TikTok that made it on Good Morning America somehow! Haha
And just a day later, I hopped on a plane to Vancouver, where I had the best weekend of my life.
I’ll dig more into the details of Vancouver itself in future blogposts, as the city was magical and wonderful. I swore before the trip that I would never return to Vancouver, because flight costs and layovers are so ridiculous. However, after visiting the city, I cannot tell you that it was the last time I’ll meet Vancouver.
More to come on the city and all it offered, but here are some highlights from The Eras Tour, if you’ll allow me to be nostalgic for a moment.
Taycouver
Let’s start with Taycouver.
The city was covered with little Taylor-themed events and photo opps, which were super cute!
At the Vancouver Public Library, they had a little machine that if you cranked it, would start playing Lover.
Shout out to the mother-daughter duo who snapped this pic for me!
There were a variety of other spots to stop at, very similar to this one. They also had the folklore cabin!
So cool that the entire city got fully into the festivities!
In addition to all the little photo opps, our hotel had a cardboard cutout setup! So cute!
We also waited in line for hours trying to get merch, only for it to nearly all be sold out both times! They were not restocking their supply during the last set of shows! Haha
Even though there wasn’t much left, I was able to pick up a t-shirt, AND we made so many nice friends while waiting in line!
And, we saw this very enthusiastic employee wearing this cool shirt!
A great day to sell a t-shirt, indeed.
Rebecca Yarros
Our first wonderful manifestation-turned-reality was getting to meet the one and only Rebecca Yarros. I genuinely cannot say enough good things about her – she was so, so incredibly kind and personable. She signed 3 books for 400 people that day, and we were by no means the first group of people to see her, so the fact that she was able to bring the same energy to all of us was incredible.
She complimented my shirt, and I was able to give her a set of friendship bracelets I’d made for her, including a glow-in-the-dark one that spelled “Shadow Daddy.” Haha she loved that one and told me she’d put it in her office, and she’d remember me every time she finished writing and turned the lights off in her office for the day. So, so kind. After I picked up my books, another woman came up to me and asked me about the bracelets. I found out later that it was the produced of the upcoming Fourth Wing TV show. I’m simply deceased. It was magic. They say don’t meet your idols, but this was literally the perfect meet-and-greet experience. I was so deeply happy that we booked this trip, for this experience alone.
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
I’ll have another post coming up that gets a little more into the details of the park, but I wanted to show you the ways they were celebrating The Eras Tour, as well!
When you arrived, you received a card detailing the different Taylor-themed moments sprinkled throughout the park, one for each Era.
They also played exclusively Taylor Swift music on strings, which was so beautiful.
The first station we came across was the sleigh from the Christmas Tree Farm!
This station included stuffed animal cats that had the names of Taylor’s cats on their collars. Excellent details, Capilano, excellent details!
They also had friendship bracelets sprinkled throughout the park.
Of course, the coolest friendship bracelet was the one they strung up along the suspension bridge, appropriately spelling out “Fearless.”
So. Cool.
Throughout the park, they had plaques with Taylor Swift lyrics that corresponded with the special lights they’d set up. I had a few favorites!
The park was absolutely bejeweled.
I mean come on, they were so spot on with the lyric selection! These beautiful lights were so lovely along the lake, and it matched up so perfectly with Tim McGraw.
I can’t go without mentioning this particular lyric from folklore – so good.
This set was from their treetops section, which they renamed “Taytops” Adventure for the weekend.
They also renamed their Cliffwalk to “Swiftwalk.”
This is how you do marketing, folks!
And finally, when you left the park, you had the sweetest lyric ushering you out.
10/10 no notes for Capilano.
The Eras Tour
Let’s talk about the tour itself.
Incredible.
I’m sorry to my neighbors for singing loudly to every song.
But I’m also not at all sorry.
Before we enter the venue, let’s talk about the decor outside.
First, the friendship bracelets made it to Vancouver. In New Orleans, they created a special set of friendship bracelets for the Eras Tour outside their stadium, and when the tour moved on, the next venue took to social media, thanking New Orleans for trading friendship bracelets with them, and posting a photo of the bracelets on their stadium. The bracelets then traveled to the next stadium, and the next, and finally made their way to Vancouver. So cute that the various stadiums were willing to share this piece of the tour, all on their own accord. I had to snap a photo of it.
They also had this fun banner with a quote from Long Live. Foreshadowing!
Now, for a series of my favorite photos from the concert. First, the last appearance of the Lover house, ever.
I didn’t see this during the Minneapolis concert, probably because I was so amazed and trying to take in everything happening on stage, but I noticed that during lover, the bracelets in the stadium lit up hearts across the crowd.
Obligatory shot of the FINAL heart hands from the tour. Emotional all over again.
Was living to see Taylor, her band, and her dancers smiling and taking in the sights of the last tour.
Throughout the concert, they had crew coming around with microphones, recording the crowd singing, and videographers recording the crowd. I was THRILLED when they walked past us and recorded us not once, but twice. Once as they panned up the crowd, and second as they recorded the family in front of us. If I show up in a Taylor Swift documentary, I’m gonna freak.
This shot of her standing alone on stage was one of my favorites from the concert, had to share it. The drama of the spotlights is everything!
During the show, Mama Swift walked by and chatted with a crowd of fans!
Almost as iconic as I Can Do It With a Broken Heart. The dramatic intro to this song, coupled with the theatrics throughout the performance and the vintage vibe – absolute chef’s kiss.
The final acoustic set of the entire tour – we were blessed to get A Place in This World matched with New Romantics on guitar. And for the piano, it was the dream mashup, truly. We got Long Live, which I was hoping for, plus New Year’s Day and The Manscript. I cried.
And then, it was the final set.
I couldn’t believe it was almost over. I will never forget the energy of that stadium.
I can’t imagine being one of the dancers or members of the band, spending so much time on this tour and looking out over the crowd during your last performance ever. What a wild ride to be part of.
And with that, she waved her final goodbye on her beloved Eras Tour.
I’d hoped for a reputation release or Easter Egg of some kind, and waited for a few moments for her to pop out on stage with a surprise, but in hindsight, I’m glad she gave us the tour as it was. It didn’t overshadow the end of a true era for her career and pop culture, and it gave us something else to look forward to. I am curious, however, what she’s going to do with the footage from that final set of shows. I can’t wait to find out – this year or three years from now!
And with the end of the show, the prophecy was complete! Our three magical manifestations of the trip had been done – an incredible book signing with Rebecca Yarros, a visit to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, and a magical night at the Eras Tour.
What to manifest for the year ahead?
As always, stay tuned for more adventures.
Let’s Connect:
