🎂 December: Were you standing in the hallway with a big cake?
Happy Birthday Taylor Swift!
Dear Reader,
Welcome to this first preview of the Dear Reader Newsletter! I’m so excited you’re here and I can’t wait to share Swiftie inspo with you - in this issue and future ones to come.
Today is a special day to send out a first newsletter, because it’s Taylor Swift’s 34th Birthday! Are you doing anything to celebrate? 🥳
If you’re in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland, today is also the day The Eras Tour Movie Extended Version becomes available for rental! Let me know if you’re celebrating Taylor Swift’s Birthday by watching.
According to Taylor Nation, The Eras Tour Movie Extended Version becomes available on:
Dec 13 - for the US, Canada, UK and Ireland
Dec 14 - for Australia and New Zealand
Dec 21 - for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Mexico and Brazil
…with additional countries to be announced soon!
I’m holding out to watch it with my sister, so in the meantime I’m just blasting The Eras Tour Movie Extended Version setlist playlist on repeat - that playlist is linked below, along with some other fun Swiftie playlists, in case you missed them.
In this newsletter you’ll find:
Some important Swiftie December Dates - I know the month is almost halfway through, but there’s still a number of dates you still might want to make note of.
A number of Swiftie Playlists that I’ve shared this month - including themed playlists for December and Christmas, and The Eras Tour Movie Extended Version Setlist.
My Featured Mashup for the month - I have some more mashups in the works, but this one is just perfect for December.
My Featured Recipe for the month, Taylor Swift’s Chai Sugar Cookies - just in time for your holiday baking! I veganized the recipe as well, so the blog link includes both versions.
Plus some final Birthday Wishes for Taylor, and Holiday Swiftie Gift Ideas!
Swiftie December Dates:
This month is the first time I started adding Chiefs games to these monthly calendars, and Taylor has shown up to both Chiefs games in December so far! The Chiefs may have lost both games, but Taylor was looking great, and I’m especially loving the post-game photos 🥹
The other date I want to highlight is Dec 30th, when the Reputation Stadium Tour is leaving Netflix. Make sure you get in a final viewing if you want to!
Swiftie December Playlists:
One of my favorite things to curate is my monthly Swiftie-themed playlist. I adore how December’s turned out! It’s certainly not the happiest compilation of songs - there’s a lot of heartache and breakdown. But there’s also the hope of new beginnings. I hope it gives you all the feels while you’re listening - you can listen to the playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.
This month I also shared a Christmas Swiftie playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. Plus I created playlists of The Eras Tour Movie Extended Version setlist on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. It’s a good month for Taylor Swift music, happy listening!
Click here for links to all of my playlists for December (plus older ones too)!
Featured Mashup:
I still haven’t recovered from watching Taylor (over a grainy livestream feed) perform Is It Over Now? mashed up with Out of The Woods as a surprise song in Buenos Aires (N2) - have you?! I immediately got to work on a full version mashup that very night, and this is the result. These two songs feel like they were meant to be put together - if you haven’t heard the mashup yet (or want to listen again), here’s the link:
Is It Over Now? x Out Of The Woods Mashup on SoundCloud
Featured Recipe: Taylor Swift’s Chai Cookies
Back in 2014, for a 1989 ‘Secret Session’, Taylor Swift baked these Chai Sugar Cookies - and then shared the recipe on her Tumblr. Every year, especially around this time of year, I’ve been meaning to try my hand at her recipe. This year I finally did! Coming off of the 1989 TV Era, it just feels right to make these cookies. Plus they’re full of all those seasonal spices, perfect for this time of year!
I’m plant-based, so I just swapped in vegan options for the dairy ingredients, and it worked a treat. You can find the recipe (for both Taylor’s version and my vegan version) here on my blog.
Birthday Wishes and Gift Ideas
As I said at the start of this newsletter, it’s super special to share the first issue on Taylor’s Birthday! For the occasion I put together this graphic, to share how Taylor Swift and her music has impacted my life over the years. I actually jotted these down on my Notes App ages ago, and just recently came back across them. So I thought I’d share, in case any of these thoughts might resonate with you too.
I shared a blank template over on my Instagram stories, so you can add your own Taylor Swift journey and experience and re-share it in your own Stories, if you’d like. If you do end up sharing it, I’d love to see! Tag me @bitesbybekah.
While we’re on the topic of celebrations, if you’re needing some gift ideas for the holiday season, I’ll leave you with a link to my Swiftie Gift Guide - just in case you’re looking for extra inspo for the Swifties in your life (and/or yourself 😋).
Well, that’s a wrap on my December edition of Dear Reader - hopefully it gives you a good preview of what to expect in future monthly Dear Reader Newsletters. Look out for the next one on January 1st (New Year’s Day)!
Wishing you sweet dreams of holly and ribbon (and a very Merry Christmas),
Bekah