​My heart was pounding and my palms were sweating.  It felt like I had enough adrenaline to run a marathon.  The clock said 1:58pm and my eye started twitching.  I only had 2 more minutes to go...

You might be wondering what had me feeling so frantic.  Was I in a dangerous situation?  Was I counting down to a disaster?  

Nope.

I'm anxiously waiting to buy my ticket for Taylor Swift's next concert.  

Maybe it seems like an over-exagerration, but in that moment I felt extremely nervous and excited.  Part of my excitement was because of the 3 months of hard work and preparation that lead up to this moment.  

Back in August, Taylor Swift announced that she had a new album coming out on November 10.   It was also announced that in order to qualify for her concert pre-sale, you would have the chance earn boosts through the Ticketmaster Verified Fan program.  You were given the chance to watch videos and buy albums or merchandise to earn as many boosts as possible.  Basically, the more time and energy you put in ahead of time, the further up you'd be in line once her concert tickets went on sale.

Personally, I liked the idea of this because it made the whole situation feel like I would have some control over my place in line.  The main investment I made in the Verified Fan program was my time.  I knew I wanted a good seat for the concert, so I made it a point to watch as many videos per day as I could.  By the end of the 3 months, I had 2400 boosts!  

Thankfully, I figured out early on that I could plug in my headphones but not put them in my ears, so I didn't have to listen to the songs hundreds of times over and over.  Don't get me wrong, I like her music, but not THAT much.  I was also able to play the videos on my iPad, which I would set up next to my work computer.  All I had to do at that point was press play.

Once the boosts were completed, each person was sent a time slot when they would receive their code to go on the website and buy their tickets.  Based on my boosts, I ended up being in front of 99% of the people who wanted tickets in Denver.  When they sent me my time slot, I ended up being in the very first group to buy tickets.  So, of the 75,000+ people who will fit into the stadium for her concert, I literally had my pick of every seat.

This takes me to the moment I described at the beginning of this post, where my heart is pounding and my palms are sweating.  I knew my code would show up at any moment, but I didn't know how many other people would be buying tickets at the same time as me.  I also didn't know how much VIP tickets would cost, so I was nervous that they would be way outside my budget.

It ended up that my nervousness was justified, because the front row ticket I had been hoping for ended up costing $1,500.  Needless to say, I wasn't prepared to spend THAT much money on a 2-hour show, so I went to Plan B.  I knew a lot of other fans were hoping to get a spot in the center pit, which is right in front of the stage.  I wasn't completely sure that I would want to be standing in a big crowd for the whole show, even if it was an amazing experience.

But because of the high price for floor tickets, I did end up getting a spot in the center pit.  Even that was still more than I had expected to spend, but I knew that I wanted an incredible experience and it literally doesn't get any better than that section.

Here's a look at the stadium seating.  I'll be in the yellow circle right in front of the stage.  Crazy, right?

Last night I went to Taylor Swift's 1989 concert and it was amazing!  I bought my ticket last November and wrote this post about it, so follow the link if you're interested in reading the full story of how I decided on which ticket to buy.  

In order to get a really good seat I decided to go for the VIP 2 package, which included early entry, a pre-party, and a seat within the first 25 rows.  I got lucky and ended up with a seat 12 rows back from the stage and 8 seats away from the catwalk.  

Here's a look at the seating chart so you can see section AAA, which is where my seat was: 

I knew my seat was going to be good, but I was amazed when I got to it and realized just how close to the stage I would be.  You'll see in the pictures I post below just how close I was to Taylor and how good of a view I had of the whole show.  

To give you perspective, here are a couple of pictures from the top of the 100 section looking down on where my seat was.  My seat was close to where the person in the red shirt is standing.

Before I get into the pictures of the actual show, I'd like to go back to the beginning of the day and walk you through everything leading up to Taylor's performance.  

First, I decided that it would be easier to take the train to the Pepsi Center instead of trying to drive there and then fight traffic after the show.  My confirmation email had said that the VIP group would be allowed to enter at 4:45pm, so I got to the train station at about 3pm and arrived at the auditorium at 3:30.  

There wasn't much of crowd, so I found a mother and daughter who were also wearing the VIP lanyards and asked them if they were waiting for the pre-party.  They were really nice and we stood and talked until the doors opened.  When they let us in at 4:45 I was the fifth person through the door.  Out of 15,000 people, I think that's pretty darn good!!!  

Once we were checked in and had our tickets we were taken into the VIP party.  They had all kinds of tables set up with a big buffet and a drink station.  They also had a backdrop set up where you could get your picture taken.  Here are some pictures from the party.

A group of us that had just met at the doors all sat together, so even though I went to the concert alone I was still able to make some friends and have some people to hang out with, which was really nice!  

We ate our food and then went downstairs to look at merchandise before the doors opened at 6pm for general admission.  We timed it perfectly, with just enough time to buy our souvenirs and then we were able to go check out our seats at 6pm.  

Like I said before, I was absolutely amazed by how good my seat was.  It still didn't feel real at that point, but I had an idea that I would have an amazing view of the show.

After checking out our seats we went back up to the VIP party to wait for a raffle at 7:15pm.  None of us won anything, so we headed back to our seats for the show to start at 7:30pm.  

The opening act was Vance Joy, who did a good job.  And then we waited maybe 20-30 minutes before Taylor came onstage.  In the meanwhile, I saw her mom Andrea (aka Mama Swift) walk through the crowd.

And then it was time for Taylor to come onstage!!!

Here's the set list:

• Welcome to New York
• New Romantics
• Blank Space
• I Knew You Were Trouble
• I Wish You Would
• How You Get the Girl
• I Know Places
• All You Had to Do Was Stay
• You Are In Love (I don't remember her doing this one)
• Wonderland (or this one)
• Clean
• Fifteen (this wasn't on the list, so maybe it was an extra song)
• Love Story
• Style
• This Love
• Bad Blood
• We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
• Enchanted / Wildest Dreams
• Out of the Woods
• Shake It Off

And here are some of the 200+ pictures I took of the show...

So that was my first Taylor Swift concert experience, definitely one of my top five nights ever!  It was an amazing show and I'm so happy I decided to splurge for the VIP package.  I would definitely do it again and now I'm just counting down the days until her next tour!

Taylor Swift is by far my favorite music artist, so I am super excited that I just bought a ticket to her concert in Denver on September 5, 2015!!!  The public ticket sales started yesterday and when I checked today all of the basic tickets were sold out already.  One of the only other options I saw were the Official Premier tickets, which started at $559 and went up to $1,338!  

I knew I didn't want to spend that much, so I went into the VIP section and they had choices ranging from $203 through $483.  I read through the five different packages and decided to go for the VIP 2 package.  Here's what it includes:

- One Amazing Top Price Reserved Floor Ticket in the First Twenty-Five (25) Rows
- One Entry Into '1989' - The Official VIP Preshow Party
- Includes a Special '1989' Themed VIP Preshow Lounge 
- Preshow Party Includes a Complimentary Selection of Your Favorite Foods & Beverages
- Enjoy Games, Prizes & Giveaways - Includes Memorabilia & Limited Edition Items (Subject to Availability)
- Preshow Party Music Playing Your Favorite Taylor Swift Hits & More
- Forget the Lines! Access to Separate VIP Merchandise Booth for Shopping
- Dedicated On-Site VIP Preshow Host
- One Limited Edition Set of Taylor Swift '1989' Tour Lithographs 
- Limited Edition Set of Tour Lithographs Designed by Taylor Swift, Created Exclusively for VIPs
- This Special Set Includes Four (4) Tour Lithographs and Comes with an Official Certificate of Authenticity
- Exclusive On-Site VIP Perks
- VIP Priority Check-In (Where Available)
- Separate VIP Entrance** (Where Available)
- The Essential Taylor Swift '1989' VIP Tour Pack 
- VIP Tour Pack is Designed Exclusively for Taylor Swift VIPs!
- Includes Special '1989' Themed VIP Tour Merchandise 
- All VIP Tour Packs Also Include a Commemorative VIP Tour Laminate and Matching Lanyard

Here is a picture of the seating chart for the Pepsi Center.  I'll be in section AAA, Row 12, Seat 8.  I'm so excited that I'll have an amazing view not only of the main stage but also the catwalk that Taylor will be walking along!

It was definitely an investment to buy the VIP package, but I know that it will be completely worth it.  I've never been to a Taylor Swift concert and I will definitely have an amazing experience!  The only downside is that I have to wait 287 days until it gets here.  (Yes, I already put it into my countdown app on my phone!)