Taylor Toronto’s Version & Homemade Gifts

Oh My God.

Taylor Swift Eras Tour Toronto N5.

That sentence is now part of my make up. Hello, my name is Kristin Maier, I’m 5 foot 2, weigh 122 pounds, have hazel eyes, and I was part of Taylor Swift Eras Tour Toronto Night 5.

But first, I had to get there. Way back when my cousin won the lottery to purchase TS tickets back in spring of 2023 lol it seemed like a long ways away. It WAS a long ways away! We waited until November and gave the tickets to SBean for her 11th birthday. She turns 12 tomorrow lol. I left the logistics up to Ninja, we had to get a hotel room right away because hotel rooms prices were going through the roof! Also, because I’ve never been to Toronto. We would be meeting my Cousin and her Son there and share a hotel room to help with expenses. Perfect! This is going to be great!

And then all of a sudden, we’re no longer months away, or even weeks but days! And my anxiety kicked in! What am I thinking? I haven’t been out of bed for a full day since before my infusion. Let’s be honest, before my Covid and flu shot… or even before that before I got my stomach flu in July. The panic set in! I haven’t travelled or really been without Ninja’s help since my diagnosis. I wanted to make sure that my fears didn’t ruin this experience for SBean and I so together, we went to my counsellor for a session. It was the best thing we could’ve done for both of us! We laughed a lot, and SBean said she had a lot of fun. We talked about the things we are scared of and we practised scenarios. I would’ve never thought of things like, what if Mom’s legs don’t work after the plane? SBean felt very confident that if that happened she could ask for help, and she could find a wheelchair. When asked, “are you worried that your Mom won’t be able to keep up?“ SBean scoffed and had complete trust that I could do it and everything was going o be fine. That trust bolstered my confidence. SBean also likes to be prepared for all scenarios so having these tools in her back pocket is comforting to her.

I also tricked my brain lol. Anytime I got too excited or had anxiety. I told myself it wasn’t for 2 more weeks. You should’ve seen how surprised I was when it was time to leave for my Sis’s! Bahahahaha We stayed the night at My Sis’s place as our flight left early and we had to be there at 5am. Which meant a restless sleep for me in anticipation of waking up at 4am.

The concert was mind blowing! It reminded me of Beatles Love in Las Vegas! A complete show! There was always something to look at, the choreography was phenomenal, the dancers were fantastic, every Era had new costumes, new sets, new interesting visuals and new activities for all of the dancers and backup singers. The live instrumentation was something I was absolutely not expecting! Sitting in a room with over 50,000 people, all singing together was exactly what my heart needed! Everybody keeps saying that the world is broken, Canada is broken, looking around at the joy exuding from people from all the country, all over North America, actually all of the world, was EXACTLY what I needed! We talked to so many people that were from all different places and we all came together and had the most fantastic joyful evening, full of music, love and gratitude! It was SO wonderful!

With that being said, it was very very very difficult on me. I really tried to keep what I was feeling to myself, so that SBean had the bestest time, but I was going through it. My ear goes numb and it throws off my equilibrium and now I know, that and planes… Isn’t good lol. Our Thursday travel day had a lot of walking. My stomach was upset so I didn’t eat anything. SBean was awesome, super helpful and so excited! By the time we got through the airport, got a taxi, and got to our hotel… I was done. Usually when we travel, after a long day, Ninja does Ninja things lol and takes the Kids to the pool. However, this time I was the only one there. So I hauled my cookies down to the pool. I even brought a bathing suit to go in with her so she had someone to play with. I tried on that bathing suit and as soon as I pulled it up, I heard that noise, you know the one that elastic makes when it is completely stretched out lol. I looked down and my ass and my crotch were fully exposed! So no pool for me lol. Bean wanted the full hotel experience. She wanted the pool, the exercise room, the vending machine, and DoorDash lol. She really wanted steak and mashed potatoes so that’s what we ordered with a side of fries for me because my stomach still wasn’t feeling well. It showed up on time and she was so excited! Unfortunately, they forgot my fries Lol. A short while later, my cousin and her amazing son arrived and we had a catch up until after midnight! Just another perk of this trip!

I didn’t sleep well. My body was in a lot of pain and SBean was a leech, a leech that exuded heat lol. I woke up early, like really early considering I was in eastern time which is 3 hours ahead of my normal morning. I woke up vomiting. My body was trembling, and I kept dry heaving and retching up invisible food that I didn’t eat the day before. When I am in extreme pain, I throw up. I went downstairs and bought a muffin and a coffee because I had an excruciating headache from not having coffee the day before, stupid caffeine, and called ninja. Just hearing his voice reassures me and calms me down. We talked it out and made a plan of how I was going to handle the day, and I marched back upstairs to get ready for Taylor!

SBean and I took our hotel shuttle back to the airport to the train station where we caught the UP train to downtown Toronto. In our our car carried Swifties from Kansas, North Carolina, Edmonton, London, and Nova Scotia! Everyone traded friendship bracelets and shared stories! It was awesome. SBean and I walked past the CN Tower on our way to Taylgate Toronto’s Version! It was so cool! There was a silent disco in old subway cars, a phone booth where you heard a message from Taylor and got to send one back to her, Taylor trivia, Taylor workshops on songwriting, arcades with the claw hand coming down to get bags of candy, a MAC beauty bar, tons of vendors, a double-decker bus to take a photos on, plus numerous photo op stations, a bracelet making area, a trading area, and offbrand merch sales lol we took full advantage of that as we were not standing in Exclusive merch lines at the concert for 3 hours! We had the best time! Then we made our way over to the concert!

We were at the top. We had a fantastic view and I loved our seats, but we were at the top lol. I had to walk up 5 ramps to get to the top. The insides of my body felt like they were neutrons or protons or whatever they are lol slamming into each other. It felt like the worst hangover ever when your stomach is rolling and everything is spinning and you have a headache and you’re shaking, and you just want it to end. I was thankful that we were there early and were able to sit in our seats so that I was able to do some breathing and prepare for the show! While we were waiting, we watched the big screen which had all of Taylor‘s videos and then the behind-the-scenes documentaries about them. It was awesome. We also saw Gracie Abrams and she was terrific. I have never seen an opener have that many people in the audience! She was so gracious and such a fantastic speaker. I loved how she interacted with the crowd. Such a seasoned vet already! What can I say about Taylor? She is unbelievable. The performance was out of this world. She was funny and gracious and complementary to all of her people. She was gorgeous, and sexy, and athletic. Damn, I couldn’t even STAND for 3 1/2 an hour hours let alone do what she did while singing! Amazing!

Getting back to the hotel was… Interesting. Union Station was packed, we did a little bit of extra walking because we didn’t quite know where to go and the line to get on the train was ridiculous. So we called an Uber! We got back to the hotel after 1 and I was in full flare. Vomiting, shaking, and basically numb and pain. But I was the only parent there and we needed to pack so we didn’t crawl into bed till after 2. My alarm went off at 7. I got up quietly, got cleaned up and packed up without waking my cousin or her son and then got Bean up. We snuck out and caught the shuttle back to the airport. SBean got red velvet cake for breakfast out of a vending machine lol while I ran my ass down to the bathroom to, you guessed it, throw up lol. I was so tired, but still had to endure a 5 hour flight to Vancouver, an hour flight to Kelowna, and an hour drive home. As soon as we took off, my stomach did not enjoy the water I had just sipped on. I filled up a half a bag full of bile and water. I have never been so embarrassed in my life. Afterwards, I looked at the woman’s next to me and promised her that I was not sick, I was just having a flare. She was very kind!

And just like that lol, we were home! They refused to let me put my carry-on on the plane because they needed 15 bags to go underneath and mine got chosen lol so Ninja waited for my bag while SPBean and I went to the truck. And then I had to get out of the truck to vomit the 2 sips of water I had just had. SBean said I puked 17 times but it was closer to just 7 lol. Ninja put the stool in the shower for me and I washed myself down, got into pajamas, and laid down on top of the bed and fell asleep at 3:30 in the afternoon lol I woke up briefly twice, but basically slept for 13 hours straight. I woke up still feeling nauseous, but feeling a lot better. I managed to eat something, and keep water down all day! In our daily lives Ninja does all the small things so that I can do the big things, like walking lol I didn’t realize how hard it would be on me to be the one that does ALL the stuff. Like Ninja usually sets his alarm in the morning, so he’s the one waking up every hour to make sure that he didn’t miss it lol. And getting sleep is so important for me, a bad sleep equals a bad next day. I learned a lot on this trip and I had a great time and I’m so happy that I got to experience this magical experience with SBean. She will remember this forever. I wish that I was more fun. I wish that I could go all night like I used to. I wish that I was able to smile more instead of grimace with pain. I tried so hard to not let her know how I was feeling but…

Anyways, I am so grateful. Grateful to my cousin for sharing her tickets with me. I know there are so many people she could’ve sold those 2 tickets to, but she chose us. Thank you. I am grateful that I got to spend some time with her son, he is an amazing kid, and he is definitely going places. I can’t wait to see what his future holds! I am grateful for the opportunity to travel with SBean and see our favourite singer on the same night as our Prime Minister! So cool! I am also grateful for Ninja. For how much he gives to me and our family , for being the BEST Dad in the whole wide world and for allowing me to go on this journey knowing everything back home was OK and I didn’t;t have to worry about anything. I am ALSO grateful to him for stress cleaning all weekend so that I came home to a spotless house and fresh sheets LOL! Now that we are home, we can focus on what’s next, birthdays, concerts, musicals, and Christmas! OMG lol