Krista Lauren

I grew up with Taylor Swift. I think that’s part of the reason I love her so much; we go through many of the same things at the same time. One of my best friends in high school, Alex, gave me the first CD for my birthday and I was hooked. Taylor knew what it was like to have a crush on a friend and how weird high school could be. She articulated being a fifteen-year-old girl so well that it felt like she knew me.

One reason I think Taylor is so popular is because she captures feelings and moments so perfectly. Many of her songs make me think of my own life. I thought I would write a short post on some of my favorite lines and why I love them.

Cornelia Street
“Windows flung right open, autumn air, jacket around my shoulders is yours.”

This takes me back to when I met Robert in the fall of 2016. He drove us all over in his Ford F-150, letting me wear his black fleece. I eventually stole this jacket, and I haven’t stopped taking his clothes since.

All Too Well
“We’re dancin’ ’round the kitchen in the refrigerator light.”

For a while I felt like this was a sad song, but now it’s one of my favorites. The ten-minute version is an absolute masterpiece — one that cannot be torn up. When I hear this song, I think of dancing quietly in our townhouse the night before our wedding. We put Brad Paisley’s Then on our iPhone and had a sweet moment in front of our pup, Jax. I remember tearing up, wishing I could record that moment and save how warm and secure my heart felt. It was one of the sweetest moments, and I am tearing up thinking back to it now. I still cry some when we slow dance (which is not often!), just thinking about everything we have gone through together and all the sweet moments that we have shared.

Cruel Summer
“I’m drunk in the back of the car…”

This one is a little funny. If you know the song, you know this is the fun part where Taylor gets really into singing and sounds like being drunk in the back of the car was one of her funnest nights. This makes me think of a cute memory we have — but instead, it was drunk in Punta Cana with the orange helicopter circling around above us and taking a dip in the ice-cold pool we had out of our window. It was spilling my entire drink on the ground and stealing Robert’s mojito.

Lover
“…You’ll save all your dirtiest jokes for me, and at every table, I’ll save you a seat.”

Lover is just the sweetest song. It’s the sweetest album, actually, but I hold on to every word in this track. One thing I love about our relationship is all of the little sides of each other that no one else gets to see. I think it’s cool that when you find your soulmate, you get to learn even more about them than they might know about themselves. I am about to go on a little bit of a tangent now, but I don’t think I ever shared the story about picking out my engagement ring with you all.

Somehow, it came up that I should look at engagement rings. I went to the mall to check out different types, but I went in thinking that I should look at cushion cut diamonds with a halo. I had seen them on Instagram before (Specifically, Ashley Tisdale’s ring) and thought that was perfect for me, too.

I asked the jeweler to show me some Neil Lane settings, as that must be a good brand since the people on The Bachelor choose to use his rings — and because I had no idea what I was doing. So, I picked a double halo cushion cut. When Robert heard about what I liked, he was very surprised, but didn’t say anything. After all, he just wanted me to be happy, but that was apparently not even close to what he would have picked out on his own.

Long story short, my diamond didn’t get there in time for the proposal (which happened in my favorite place in New York City at the top of Rockefeller Center — Robert knew me very well when planning this out), so I wore the placeholder ring for a few days. We went to pick up the diamond together and he casually mentioned that he had a very different ring in mind for me when he was planning everything. I asked him to show me, and he pointed to a white gold solitaire setting with a round diamond. It could not be more different than the ring I had picked, but it was gorgeous.

I asked the jeweler timidly if I could try it on. I felt uneasy, because if I liked it better, I don’t know how I would change anything at this point. I felt my face drop when I put it on. It was perfect. I didn’t know how I was going to tell Robert that I changed my mind and wanted to go with the ring that he had initially picked out. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful or give back the first ring, but he was right. It was so much more “me.” He could tell what I was thinking, but I still told him I wanted to make the switch.

Almost six years later, I still smile when I think about this. There are so many times when I know what he wants, and he knows what I do — before we even know it ourselves. I think that’s a really freaking special thing. It makes me laugh, thinking about how much time I worried about guys who didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. I think about how much I have written about them, which would pale in comparison to what I have shared on here. True love is worth waiting for, but I am so lucky to have someone to miss when we’re apart from each other, compete against (hard) at game nights, love on, and to just do everyday life with. After all, love is what makes life so, so special.