58. What REALLY Happened with the Taylor Swift Concert + Team Retreat Update

Brittany : Hi, friends. Welcome to the Life with Loverly podcast. I'm Brittany, a wife, mom, and lifestyle entrepreneur here to help you discover your best daily style and encourage you to try new things When getting dressed each day, I took a tiny following on social media and turned it into a community of over 1 million amazing women, and I am so glad you're here. I'll be sharing my heart with you beyond the 15 seconds on Instagram. So we'll be diving into things like personal growth, friendships, motherhood, marriage, and of course the business of blogging. Really, this space is here to serve as your go-to resource, to building a life you adore while sprinkling some kindness to others along the way. Grab an iced coffee and let's do life together. I'm Brittany, and this is The Life with Loverly Podcast.

Brittany: Hi friends. Welcome back to the Life with Loverly podcast, Hi Nichelle!

Nichelle : Hey,

Brittany: How's it going?

Nichelle : Oh, it's good to be back.

Brittany: You guys. We've got so many stories before we get into the bulk of this episode, which I am very excited about, but wow, where do we even start?

Nichelle : It feels like a lifetime ago right now. That's, boom. I'm like, how long ago was that? So almost two weeks ago. Yeah, this all started.

Brittany: Yeah.

Nichelle : Oh, okay. I'll start it.

Brittany: Are we ready to have this conversation?

Nichelle : I'm going to start it. They're tip to around me right now. Okay, guys. So the thing that happened was, let's rewind back to the first week of May. Okay. We were invited by Elizabeth, our podcast producer, to go see Taylor Swift in Nashville of all places, her hometown. Very, very magical. And so Brittany and I, in the middle of chaos decided that we're just going to go, we're just going to do it. So you got back from Disney on Friday and then Saturday you were able to spend some time with your whole fam. And then you and I got on a plane to go to Nashville on Sunday afternoon to go see Taylor Swift, and then the next day we were going to have to turn around and then go to Florida to meet the team for our team retreat, which we'll get more into, right?

Brittany: Yes. Which we were like, logistically, this is going to be hard, but it's very doable. We were planning to fly to Florida anyway, so we were like, we'll just fly Atlanta to Nashville, Nashville back to Atlanta because they don't have a direct flight from Nashville to Florida. So we were going to do Nashville back to Atlanta, then pick back up our bags, go to Panama City and then drive over to Rosemary.

Nichelle : We put the pieces into place. Well, we were like, it's brilliant. It's going to be, yeah, it's going to be exhausting, but so fun.

Brittany: And exactly think what it came down to because I was very much a little bit on the fence when probably a lot of bit on the fence when the opportunity first came up to go and obviously love Taylor Swift. I've seen her in concert one other time when she was in Atlanta several years ago, and it was so probably one of the best concerts still that I've ever been to. So when the opportunity came up, it was like, oh my gosh, yes, that's amazing. But then we started being like, okay, but we have this, but we have this. How are we going to make this work? And that kind of felt like a lot. But then I think at the end of the day we were like, when are we going to get that opportunity again? You only live once. We've done hard things. Well just figure it out.

Nichelle : It wasn't, it was not something we were dreading at all. We were like, this is exciting. Lets do it. Let's go.

Brittany: For sure. And for me, I think once I got in that mindset that it's like, it's going to be okay, we got this because there were just so many moving parts in my personal life also at the same time. And so we were like, let's go. Yeah. Then I feel like we turned a corner and were just pumped up.

Nichelle : Yes. Yes. So we get on the flight to go to Nashville and there was some weather. We knew we were probably going to get stuck in some rain that night because we were prepared, but we were prepared, man. I had those ponchos with the clear bags. We were ready to go and we are in Nashville and we realize, well, I guess before we get to Nashville, we realize the storm has definitely hit because turbulence was insane, but turbulence was, I've never experienced that before.

Brittany: No, not like this. I mean, people were getting sick and screaming.

Nichelle : Screaming. Screaming.

Brittany: Yes. I mean, I remember I was grabbing onto the seat just trying to be calm. The lady in front of me was definitely 

screaming. We kind of dropped at one point and she was like, "ahhh". Very scared.

Nichelle : Yeah. Somebody passed out in the back close to me.

Brittany: Really? Yeah.

Nichelle : Somebody got massively sick in the bathroom back there. It was out for the count. There was just so much going on during that flight. I honestly was a little scared. Cause it's just, I've been in turbulance.

Brittany: That never happens.

Nichelle : No. And so we realize that we get to Nashville and the pilot finally comes on. You kind of feel like we're kind of circling. We're turning and turning, and we're like, okay, I'm thinking we're just waiting for a spot. Because sometimes that happens if you get stuck in storms and stuff. And he finally comes on and he's like, look guys, they're not letting anybody into Nashville right now because things are so bad. We're just trying to circle and wait it out. And so this happens for what a good 35 minutes or so. And finally he's like, we're going to have to go to Chattanooga and refill because we need gas.

Brittany: Which is another thing I didn't think about.

Nichelle : I didn't either.

Brittany: They only put this amount of gas.

Nichelle : It was an hour flight. So we were like, yeah. But yeah, I took that for granted too. And so this huge series of events starts to unfold and we go to Chattanooga and at this point we're like, okay, we're going to get gas. We're going to wait out the storm and we're going to head out. And this is at three o'clock in the afternoon

Brittany: And the show starts at 6:30. She usually doesn't go on until closer to eight. No big deal. We were not worried. I mean, and people were getting off the plane once we landed in Chattanooga. Cause they were like, whatever, we'll just take an Uber because it's just a two hour drive from Chattanooga to Nashville. However, we couldn't get off because our bags, we checked our bags because we were flying that stuff down to the beach. And that second leg was also a really important, our whole team was meeting us. This was months in the working.

Nichelle : There were things for work in there mean we had work we had to get done when we got down there. And so we couldn't just leave it.

Brittany: We couldn't just abandon our bags.

Nichelle : Trust me, if it was just a couple outfits, I'd be like, "bye."

Brittany: Right, right.

Nichelle : We would've been like bye. But there was so much more to the story than people I guess knew. They were like, "why didn't you drive?" "Why didn't you do this?" "Why didn't you do that?" Well, trust me.

Brittany: We thought of all, and not to mention, we're also having to critically think and problem solve quickly. Yes. It was like, okay, I think this is a plan. We had Chris on the phone, he's looking up if there's even any rental car options. They're saying, we can't take any bags off, but they will meet you in Nashville whenever the plane actually gets to Nashville. So we were like, do we risk it? Then we have to get back.

Nichelle : But nobody could answer when it was going to Nashville. It was just a cluster of just thing, after thing, after thing. So just to put a very long story short, we were in the airport until, was it almost 1:00 AM?

Brittany: Yeah. Because remember I think we left at 12:35 because he had to be back in the air by one o'clock before his shift ended.

Nichelle : Yes before he clocked out.

Brittany: He wouldn't have been able to take off, thank God. I mean, I was a little nervous that he was going to just be sorry, wait it out. But thankfully he was like, "let's just go". Yeah. But even then there was just, it was a whole thing. So we are still sort of thinking we could drop our bags because it was a rain delay there and the storm and the weather. She didn't go on until 10:30. So we're landing in Nashville and it's like one o'clock. Yeah. And we're so based off data from other shows. She still had an hour left. The airport is very close to downtown, Our hotel. We were literally going to drop our bags and go try to catch the last few songs.

Nichelle : Something.

Brittany: And then we get stuck on the runway for an hour waiting because every flight got grounded or couldn't land in Nashville. So then when it was safe to land, there were no gates available. So then it was like they were waiting for things to leave. It just could was one thing on top of the next, on top of the next. And because of all the delays and the grounding that changed our flights for the next morning. So we finally get our bags. It's like 2:30. We get an Uber, we get to a hotel, and then we see that our flights that are supposed to leave at 8:30 to come back to Atlanta are canceled. So we're like, what are we going to do?

Nichelle : I remember us sitting, we switched off washing our faces and we're like, we're quiet. We're so quiet. The whole time we're like "uhhh." I get back in there and I'm like, yeah, my flight is definitely canceled. Because you kept going, "no, it's not. It just got changed. No, it's not. It just got changed." And I'm like, no, it got canceled...

Brittany: I know. And I was looking at the wrong thing. So that was on me...

Nichelle : Well, no, but I was just like, I'm like, I'm going to wash my face and I'm going to figure this out. And I look down and I'm like, yeah, it got canceled. And so we sit down and we just literally are like, what in the world do we do?

Brittany: Because there weren't other flights getting back to Atlanta that would leave in time for us to then get on our flight to Florida. Cause that was the other problem.

Nichelle : They were just all gone. All of these flights, this storm had just put, I mean so many flights in a delayed canceled slash whatever pattern that just luck of the draw. We get back on online and the next thing is out the next night I think, yeah, it was like 8:00 PM or whatever,

Brittany: Which just wouldn't have worked. And so we were, I guess our next best thing.

Nichelle : Do we sleep? Are we able to sleep? What are we going to do? And we're in our pajamas. And finally I think we were just text Chris that we need to rental a car and that we're going to try to sleep and that he needs to figure it out when he wakes up.

Brittany: He didn't really figure it out when No. We still had to figure it out was like this. That's not like the plan isn't going to work. And so then we're like, yes it is. Yeah, we figured it out. But even if we would've driven to Atlanta, but we still wouldn't have made it from Nashville to Atlanta to make our flight.

Nichelle : Because we were like, if we can get in the car on time, if we can get on the road, if we don't get stuck in morning traffic in Atlanta, there were so many obstacles that kept presenting itself. We finally were just, I literally was just like, "Brittany, I'll drive". I'm going to drive the whole way. Just please let's get there. I just want to get there. I want to be in control of something at this point.

Brittany: So we literally got back up to the airport three hours later. We slept literally for two hours. I think we were just so delirious. We were too. But I did feel good about having a Me too. I felt like we could sleep because we were like, okay, this is how we're going to get out of here. And so we've rented a car and we started driving. Thankfully Rosemary is literally just a pencil line straight from Nashville.

Nichelle : That was a straight drive. Yeah. I mean it's so easy.

Brittany: I will say when I started driving, it felt like we were going not straight anymore

Nichelle : Because we were on those back roads. What was Alabama I think at that point?

Brittany: Yeah. I was like, we aren't going.

Nichelle : I know. I got the easy leg... Sorry.

Brittany: It's okay. You drove longer than I did. But we made it down. We turned in our rental car, got our Bronco that we rented and it was so fabulous.

Nichelle : That was so fun.

Brittany: We used the Turro app, which we've used several times and have really loved, and this Bronco was the pick me up that we needed to get us to the house, get set in, go to dinner, and then we crashed. I mean it was just funny at that point, I think we were just so, this is insane. How?

Nichelle : How many things could have happened in this situation and go wrong? I mean at the end of everybody was like, oh, but you are safe. And I'm like, no, I get that guys.

Brittany: Right. We get that.

Nichelle : We're not trying to dismiss that. And no, I wasn't upset with the pilot or anything like that. It just being in the middle of that situation was just like, "are you serious?"

Are you serious? Is this for life right now? Is this really happening to us?

Literally every little thing that happened, I got lucky because my luck kept continuing through on the week, but throughout the week, but we'll get into that later

Brittany: So we ended up having a great retreat.

Nichelle : So fun guys.

Brittany: We had brought our team, a majority of them. I feel like there was a few that weren't there. Our beloved Ellen, who's on the other side of the camera. Anyway, a majority of us were down there and it was so great because we brought Jen Boughey down with us and she did kind of an intensive all day just workshop with our team. And we had some pre-work that we did and did these 360 reviews. And it was just a really great opportunity for our team to have real raw conversations and give feedback and talk about what they wanted to see and brainstorm. But to have a professional who has been alongside my business for several years, be there to inspire us to think differently and to just encourage and enlighten and just open up conversation for a full day. And it was so much fun.

Nichelle : It really was!

Brittany: Just great that we were able to pour into the people who choose to work at Loverly Grey. And I mean, I said this on my Instagram stories, but I don't take it for granted that people show up here for me every day. And while it looks on Instagram, I'm just one person. I wouldn't be able to do my job without the team behind me. And if they're not set up for success, then I'm not going to be successful. So this was just a really great time to just open up the floor and everybody had I think a really great time.

Nichelle : It was so fun to see everybody interact outside of the office walls and really get to know each other on a personal level. It's always so fun.

Brittany: And you always leave, or if you've worked in a corporate environment and you go to a work conference or you go away and you get poured into, then you come back and you're like, feel like you're on fire to Yeah, let's like, "oh, I'm going to bring that back". And it's, that's kind of where we are and I think that's really cool. We also played a game one night that I feel like was so funny because the game was just a card game, but every time somebody would read the card, all five of us would go around and tell us story.

Nichelle : It was like story time. Oh, was it 'Never Have I Ever', Is that what it was? Girls night edition or whatever.

Brittany: Yeah. So it was so fun. But then each card prompted, yeah. "Oh my gosh. One time. Okay." And then that would spawn somebody to tell a story.

Nichelle : It's because who we are, we're like, "these rules stink. We're not doing that." So yeah, it was really fun.

Brittany: But looking back, I remember I liked getting to know people on more of a personal level and hearing stories and then other things would happen the later in the weekend would be like, "wait, that happened?" I don't know. I think it's just a great way to connect and bond. And it felt like at the end of the trip we all left being, I feel like I know this person better. I know who they are better.

Nichelle : Yeah. I absolutely love, they got to experience some of the great things about Rosemary too.

Brittany: We went to Citizen in Alys Beach is one of our absolute favorite restaurants. If you're there, definitely go. They're oysters are amazing. Whipped feta, unbelievable. Everything. I think it was Cat, we ordered a bunch of oysters for our appetizer and we all split 'em. And then she was like, I'm going to get another dozen for my meal. I was like, "yes, you do".

Nichelle : Yes. That's how you do it.

Brittany: It's so good. And of course the good coffee shops, We did a picnic on the beach with everybody. Fresco Picnic Company. And they are amazing. We've had picnics with them several times in the past.

Nichelle : She's so fun to work with. Tia is very creative. So all of her tables, there's so many to choose from. She does it based off of your theme. So she usually keeps your brand in mind. Whenever we come, it's the colors. And she does such a good job.

Brittany: She sets up charcuterie and desserts throughout the decoration on the board. You can bring food and wine and different things. But that's a really cool thing. I think for Girls Night, or family vacation, bachelorette party would be so fun. And it was just great. So we had such a good time. And then the girls left and drove back with a bunch of the stuff that we brought down there. Nichelle and I were wrapping up finishing shooting a few reels and some sponsored content and projects that we had. And then she's like, "I'm not really feeling that good".

Nichelle : The whole morning was like, I am so nauseous, but I was tis the season, drainage, all that other stuff. I was like, I'm just going to be a champ. Eat a banana and call it a day. We're going to be fine. And I was starting to sweat just sitting there and I was like, I looked at her and I was like, I'm not going to, I'm not okay. I'm gonna be sick.

Brittany: I know. I was like, okay, well let's just stop. We wait. We don't need to do any more photos.

Nichelle : Literally, mind you, all I could think was, oh my gosh, we're not going to get this content before we go back. Because of course I'm like, we got to get this content, we got to do this, we got to do that. You know what I mean? And here I am. My insides are just like, "you're not well..."

Brittany: Yeah. I mean, yeah.

Nichelle : So we ended up going to get lunch at Fonville and got, I just got a turkey sandwich, something really easy and what I felt was light and I was like, I just need something on my stomach to make me feel a little bit better. Three minutes or three bites into it. I was like, yeah. I was like, we got to go.

Brittany: Okay. I'm right at this time. She's like, I'm not feeling well. We need to go. We're kind of packing up, and this couple walks by and is like, "oh my gosh, Loverly Grey!!"

Nichelle : And of course I'm about to stand up and I'm like, "what?"

Brittany: And she's not well. And the lady's like, "oh my gosh, we we're just talking." And then she's like, "I've got to get a picture." So she's trying to get her phone and get it all figured out and it's taking a moment. And she's like, let's just take a selfie. And then so we take a selfie and she looks over, she's like, you too! Get on in here, talking to Nichelle. And I was like, I don't know if she's going to be able to, I mean you, you rallied.

Nichelle : I blacked out though...Walking to the car all the way back to your house. It's completely blacked out.

Brittany: Well, I'm glad that you wouldn't let me drive, even though I know I will drive us. You're not Well. She's like, no, it's fine. I'm fine. You're in the scene in bridesmaids when she's like, do you want an almond? And you're like, she's like, no, I'm fine. And she's like, I don't think you're fine. She's like, this is safe. So good. Literally that was you.

Nichelle : Yep. And low and behold we get back and I literally it everywhere.

Brittany: Yeah, it was everywhere. Sorry to the cleaning crew....

Nichelle : Totally missed the toilet.

Brittany: Yeah. You're like, I need some, I'm like, what?

Nichelle : I was like, I need paper towels.

Brittany: Yeah. It was rough. And then I just felt so bad for you in the airport.

Nichelle : I had to travel that way guys.

Brittany: Yeah. We went right to the airport to get on our flight.

Nichelle : I know and don't @me. Yes. I was going to travel because I was going home because I did not feel okay.

My mom was like, I can't believe that you got on the airplane. And I was like, mom, I was not going to knock it on the airplane.

Brittany: Yeah.

Nichelle : I was like, I kept my head between my knees during the flight. I wasn't breathing on anybody. Thank goodness I fell asleep. But I almost passed out in that security line. Can you imagine if we were in Atlanta?

Brittany: No.

Nichelle : I we were only 10 people deep. And I was like, I literally had to take a knee because I almost passed out. I was like, I'm going to pass out before we get on this flight.

Brittany: So to say. And then she was proceeded to be sick for five days after we get home. So to say that week was, there are so many things that happened.

Nichelle : Elizabeth, let's just go ahead and put an E on this one. It was a shit week. Yeah, it was a shit week.

Brittany: I would not wish that experience on anybody. Just the craziness.

Nichelle : I lost 13 pounds.

Brittany: Yeah. When you text me that, I was like..."What?"

Nichelle : Yeah, seriously. Not the way I wanted to go about that, but hey, it's a jumpstart.

Brittany: My gosh. Yeah. Anyway, we are back. We've got some exciting things coming up. I feel like even though there was so much trauma on the front and back end of our team retreat, the actual retreat itself was so much fun.

Nichelle : It was so much

Brittany: Fun. We just look back and we're like, that was the core. Haha. That's crazy. Yeah, the front and the back end.

Nichelle : It was like the ice cream sandwich. The outside's really thin. The inside's really good and fluffy. And we had a really good time. We had a really good time. So needless to say, the sickness is gone.

Brittany: Praise

Nichelle : And back in action. I had to come back for a half day yesterday just to feel some kind of normalcy. Woo. But we're back. We're feeling good. We're back to work. We're revitalized.

Brittany: I'm just so glad that you are, I was so worried texting Robert being like, okay, what's happening? Is she, I mean, I think giving Robert met us at the airport and took Nichelle home and then I drove home and I just was, good luck. I just felt so bad leaving you. And I remember I was going in for a hug. She was like, don't hug me. I mean, I probably would've been sick too. Thanks for pushing me away.

Nichelle : Literally. I know. I was like, I want to hug you so bad because we had such a great week. But don't touch me right now because literally And aren't you glad?

Brittany: Yeah.

Nichelle : I mean,

Brittany: But then it's crazy. We kind of, I mean, not joked, but we were the next day at work, we were all like, how did none of us get sick? I know, because we were all in the same house. We shared food the night before. I was just so wild.

Nichelle : Nobody in my house got sick either. Brynn had so all of that to say I had this whatever awful stomach bug that then I got strep right after this.

Brittany: Yeah. You goes to the doctor Monday.

Nichelle : I I just feel like this is just not the throwing up aspect of it, but is my throat hurting? Is it just because people are saying that it is or it's supposed to And yeah, I ended up with strep and then the doctor recognized me.

Brittany: Oh yeah, that's right. You were in urgent care.

Nichelle : Yes. I went into urgent care and I'm like sitting there with my hand between my legs and I'm shaking and I'm sweating and I don't, I haven't had makeup on him forever. This, the sunless tanner on me has just like, I don't even know. I can even tell you it was like in blotchy crack. It was disgusting. And my hair's up. I'd never go in public like that. I, I'd never go in public like that. And she's like, Nichelle as in Loverly Grey Nichelle? And I was like, I can't even respond...

Brittany: You never know when people are going to recognize you.

Nichelle : I never wanted to be seen in public like that bef. But anyway, so feeling better. Glad to be back at work. Glad to be back with my work fam. Oh my gosh. Back to business.

Brittany: We just all keep being like, this is not real life. No, but we're moving on.

Nichelle : Mercury is no longer in retrograde from what I'm hearing.

Brittany: Yes. We back, I and I feel like we have the month of May. We're halfway through, which feels so crazy. Cause I feel like it just started.

Nichelle : I mean, I spent May in my bed. Yeah,

Brittany: Yeah. Literally. But we've got some great stuff coming up for the remainder of May.

Nichelle : So excited about it. Some really

Brittany: Good episodes coming. I've got a big secret that I'm going to tell you guys, and maybe between one and three episodes from now, you will know a big secret that I am going to tell my Life with Loverly family first!

Nichelle : I'm just keeping you hanging by a thread, guys.

Brittany: Well, thanks for coming and listening to our crazy traumatic story!

Nichelle : Therapy session. 

Brittany: Yeah absolutely.

Nichelle : Thank you. Thank you guys!

Brittany: We love you guys and we will talk to you next time.

Brittany: Hi friend! If you're loving the show, will you go find that follow 

button on your podcast app? This will ensure that you won't miss a single episode. I love having you in this community. Until next time, this season of Life with Loverly is produced by Elizabeth Evans Media Productions.