The founder of the animal rescue I volunteer for texted me on Saturday, apropos of nothing, asking if I was a Swiftie. I replied in the affirmative. She then offered me two free tickets to The Taylor Party: A Taylor Swift Night at local venue The Theater of Living Arts that night. Apparently, she bought 16 tickets to this event and was seemingly inviting everyone she knows. I am not the best at spontaneity and usually like to have my nights out planned in advance so I can mentally prepare for them. But after going back and forth on it for a while, I decided it was such a kind offer and I should take advantage of the opportunity. Plus, the venue isn’t far from my house, and my girlfriend, Brena, was willing to go with me.

I shook myself out of cozy-night-in mode and prepared to face the Swiftie mob. Arriving at the venue, women in glittery dresses swarmed the streets. One thing about Swifties is they will treat any Taylor Swift-related event as a costume party. Some people were clearly in outfits they wore to the Eras Tour, while others were dressed more casually. I wore my “Taylor Swift is my wife. I will never get a divorce!” shirt, wanting to be on theme but not fully committed to treating a DJ set as the Eras Tour.

TLA sells an extremely overpriced but extremely delicious strawberry lemonade cocktail Brena and I couldn’t resist ordering. Drinks in hand, we ended up dancing, and the night was really fun! Brena is not a Swiftie, but as any Swiftie knows, there is a lot of enthusiasm around the bridges of Swift’s songs. Her terrified looks when the Swiftie hive-mind reached a fever pitch were hilarious to see.

Brena and I left before the party was fully over, but it had been a few hours of dancing, and I was ready to be horizontal. The night was such a nice gift, and I was definitely glad I convinced myself to go. There is no sadness screaming the bridge of “All Too Well” with a crowd of people can’t cure.

— Hannah Gruen, advertising & events coordinator