Taylor Swift Party

On Friday, October 25, this officially happened!

For those of you who didn't hear, about 2 months ago I was notified that I had won a Taylor Swift contest. (Full blog about how this all came about HERE).  As a recap, here is the picture I saw on my Facebook newsfeed one day in July.

On a whim, I decided to enter.  Here's the picture I sent them in response.

To my great astonishment, I won as a runner-up!  The prize was a slumber party package clearly meant for 13-year-old girls, but I was excited nonetheless!  It included 5 sets of Taylor Swift pjs, 5 bottles of "Taylor" perfume and a $100 gift card to order food and put together a party with my besties.  Unfortunately, all of these dear girls live in different cities now, so we weren't able to get together, but a big shout out to Abby, Whitney, Josie, Rachel, and Wendi (taking the photo) whose beautiful candid faces made this possible!

When the package arrived on my doorstep, I would be lying if I didn't say I was completely giddy! :)  I loved the look of the perfume bottle and instantly tried a spritz to test out the smell.  Normally, I'm not a big perfume girl primarily because Burke has a super sensitive nose and gets a headache when I put on even mildly flowery lotion.  I was hoping he would like the smell, but the first thing he said when he got home from work was, "Em, what is that smell?!"  Unfortunately, Mr. Hound-Nose couldn't handle the scent (although I thought it was a lovely!), so I added it to the stash of bottles for the party.  However, I did convince Burke to try on a pair of the pjs with me that night and snagged these hilarious blackmail photos!  If I needed any proof that this man of mine loves me, this would be as good as any.  He's such a good sport!

In preparation for the par-tay, I bought red decorations as a nod to the "Red" album, printed off cake toppers of T-Swizzle's face, and ordered a few fun favors from China a month ahead of time including "I Heart Taylor Swift" silicone bracelets, guitar earrings, and red heart-shaped sunglasses (Taylor wears a similar pair in one of her album artwork pictures on the Red album).  Apparently it takes a year to ship from China, however, as only the silicone bands arrived that morning!  I still have yet to see the glasses.  Lesson learned.
  

Here's how the actual night turned out.

My sister-in-laws, Catherine, Danelle, and LeeAnn came over with my mother-in-law, Marie, and nieces Sadie and Macey.  My sister Cassie and Lydia couldn't come up from St. George at the last minute and they were sorely missed!  It felt so weird to be all together without the kiddos demanding our attention.  So strange to be able to have a normal conversation and hear the punch line to every joke!  So strange, yet SO refreshing!

We started out eating dinner and making our own personal pizzas while filling out the following trivia sheets.  The funniest (most embarrassing?) thing about this trivia is I only had to look up 2 questions (numbers 9 and 10). I guess I'm a bigger fan than I realized!  Nellie was the winner with 8 out of 12 correct!  How many did you get right? (Answers at bottom of this post)

Next I made them all karaoke to a T-Swift song on Youtube.  I haven't done karaoke for years and as host, I exempted myself from the competition.  Is karaoke usually that embarrassing?!  We all commented that it makes you realize how confident professional singers must be to not feel like a goon strutting around in front of an audience.  I would include video, but I think I would be disowned from the Adams family if I did.  Believe me...it was hilarious!

Macie and Sadie getting thoroughly into their karaoke version of "I Knew You Were Trouble"

We finished up the Taylor Swift portion of the night by watching this interview of Taylor on "The View" from last year when her new album came out.  I liked this interview in particular because of what she said about not getting sucked into a self-obsessed vortex of vanity as a result of what other's say/think about you.  Obviously, this would be a million times harder for a mega-star like her, but I think it's an important message for all young teenagers (and women) to hear that your self worth shouldn't be based on what other people say about you whether on or offline.  I also LOVE that she dressed up as a Chewbacca for Halloween rather than trying to be sultry!  Those little snippets into her life are the reason I think she's so great - she definitely seems to have her head on straight and it is so refreshing to see a star who's not thoroughly self-obsessed! Plus, her outfit is the perfect blend of darling, modest and classy.  And who doesn't love polka dots?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Srr33MBYs

After distributing the jammies + perfume and chowing down a Taylor-head cupcake, the rest of the night was so chill and fun.  We played several rounds of Telestrations (probably one of my favorite party games ever invented! If you are looking for a good Christmas gift, look no further!) and laughed until we cried!

A few favorites from the night. Left = man purse. Right = muffin top.

After Marie, LeeAnn and the little girls went home, Nellie, Kristen, and Catherine spent the night, staying up until the wee hours of the morning talking - guilt free as there were no crying babies to attend to! Wahoo!  What a treat to have an excuse to get together with the ladies I love so dear!  I feel lucky to count them not only as in-laws, but among my best friends as well.

Ms. Swift's rep who has been emailing me asked for pictures from the night of, so I'm referring her to this blog.  I know it's a far shot that Taylor Swift will actually see or hear about this, but we all wanted to send out a big thank you to Taylor for providing such fun night for us and such great prizes!  I for one am already excited of album #5 and am determined that my husband will buy us tickets to her next tour...or so help me! :)  

Trivia Answers: 1-C, 2-D, 3-B, 4-D, 5-A, 6-A, 7-C, 8-B (The Lucky One), 9-A, 10-D, 11-D, 12-E