A 15-year-old girl TODAY

I love Taylor Swift and I'm not afraid to admit it! She is beautiful, talented and a very gracious/humble celebrity. I really respect that she writes her own music and I confess that Mr. T and I have had many-a-dancy party in our living room listening to Swifty herself. So when I heard that she was coming to the TODAY show, I immediately started scheming! They advertised fan passes that enable people to see the concert in the front row, and I sent them a super-sappy letter about my love for Taylor and desire to see the concert. Two days later I had a fan pass in hand and was counting down the days until I could go see her perform! Hooray.

I spoke with a few friends and said, "I know I'm like a 15-year-old girl, but do you want to see Taylor Swift with me?" A friend named Catherine got back to me and said, "I'm pretty much a 14-year-old so you are one step ahead of me!" With that...we planned our trip. The line for fan passes was seated at 6 am, so we decided to be there at 5 to be safe. Little did we know that real 14- and 15-year-olds had camped in line (some spent days in line) to be front row! We ended up being in the middle of the crowd, but we could still see Taylor and we could still hear her fab voice. It wasn't the front row seat I had hoped for, but hello...I was at a Taylor Swift concert for free. I was definitely not complaining!

My camera is obviously not perfect (the first pic is courtesy of the Wall Street Journal!), but as you can see we still had a great view of Taylor. She changed outfits in between numbers (and looked adorable in both) and sang the songs from her new album. I loved her giddy laugh when Ann Curry read the reviews her new album has received, and I love how she is as smitten with her fans as they are with her. I was nervous that I would be disappointed after the concert because I really respected her as a musician and person, but I can honestly say that she exceeded all my expectations. It was incredible.

After the show we were walking to the subway and we ran into Taylor's band. And yes, I knew it was her band. And yes, I know their names. And yes, I semi-freaked out. They were just as sweet and gracious as she was, and took a picture with me (well, half of them...the other half were being mobbed by 15-year-olds!) I was thrilled. The whole experience was so fun and exciting and I feel so blessed to live in a place where these events are possible.

OK--girly rant over! I will now happily step back into reality, back into responsibility and back into being 25! But every once in a while, it's fun to be 15 again!