To Taylor Swift on your 25th birthday, here are your 25 best moments from 2014
Taylor Swift had a great year. Even beyond the huge release of 1989 and the first two singles off the album —”Shake It Off” and “Blank Space” that are all over the radio all the time— the 24-year-old had a great year. But now, our self proclaimed cat-lady pop star is turning 25. Considering all that she accomplished in the past 364 days, what could she possibly do next?
She’s slowly entering into the territory of a woman who needs no further introduction, so without further ado, here is nothing short of a little opus to Taylor Swift. In honor of finally feeling 25, here are her 25 best moments of 2014.
1. The introduction of Olivia Benson
Any true Swiftie knows all about Taylor’s cat, Meredith. But 2014 brought the addition of another cat into her life: Olivia Benson. Named after the character on Law & Order: SVU, and played by Mariska Hargitay, OB is the cutest.
2. Taylor was totally in on our Tumblr jokes
You’ve seen the “no, it’s Becky” post probably a million times on your dashboard by now. In 2014, it finally made its way to Taylor, who in response wore a “no, it’s Becky” shirt out in public. You win this round, Taylor.
3. And also, Taylor joined Tumblr!
The first thing we learned when Taylor joined Tumblr is that she doesn’t really understand Tumblr. It’s totally adorable, though. Tay, if you need any help, we’re all here for you. One of her first questions was, “how do I get GIFs?” Awww, BB.
4. The 1989 Secret Sessions
Where were you when you first learned that Taylor was personally inviting fans over to her place to listen to 1989 before anyone else? Oh, and that she was probably going to bake you cookies, take poloraid pictures with you, and let you meet Olivia Benson? Oh, and hold her Grammys, because why not? I assume the invitations to the Secret Sessions were kind of like a Hogwarts acceptance letter.
5. Trying to describe how she found her fans for the Secret Sessions
While on the BBC’s Graham Norton Show, Taylor was grilled by Norton (and other guests John Cleese and cricket player Kevin Pietersen) about how she found all these fans to invite over to her house for the listening parties. Taylor does her best to defend how she “would watch them for months and months” and “cyber stalk them” which doesn’t sound all that creepy when it’s coming from Taylor.
6. The all cat robe
Accompanying caption: “This is a good example of what I typically wear on planes, in front of lots of other people who all have eyes.” Yes, girl. YOU DO YOU.
7. Once again, killer dance moves
If there’s one person on the planet who actually dances like no one is watching, it’s Taylor. She is a staple at music awards, and rightly so, but she is always in just the perfect spot to be caught on camera dancing the night away. This year was no exception, from MTV Music Video Awards (that’s above) or the American Music Awards (that’s below).
8. Taylor’s epic swoon-worthy 4th of July party
Even though my invitation totally got lost in the mail, it was like I was there with Taylor and the gang in spirit all weekend long. She invited all of her best friends (and their significant others) down to her house in Rhode Island where they had some good American 4th of July fun, like apple pie, boat rides, and sparklers. The group included the likes of Lena Dunham, Emma Stone (and BF Andrew Garfield), Jamie King and Ingrid Michaelson just to name a few.
9. Her involvement with The Giver
For those of us who read the book as a child, and saw the movie this past summer, you’ll remember that Taylor had a small role as Rosemary, one of the Receivers in the dystipian society. Just acting opposite Jeff Bridges, no big deal.
10. “EW!” on Jimmy Fallon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JltEXpbGM8s
In a very memorable edition of “EW” on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Taylor showed up as Natalie with a million different scrunchies and hair clips. Taylor busts out some killer dance moves here, too.
11. Her Keds collection
Know what’s a really comfortable pair of shoes? Keds. They’re also ridiculously versatile and go with anything from jeans to skirts, and Taylor has her own line. The 2014 collection is ridiculously adorable and sprinkled galore with polka dots and floral prints.
12. “All Too Well” performed at the Grammys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BidCMrrJXA
If you’ve ever been to one of Taylor’s concerts, then you know that she is a phenomenal performer. But strip away all the dancing, tikertapes, and flying over the audience stuff, and just give the girl a piano and she still manages to make the crowd go wild. She got a standing ovation, obvs. Her parents cried. We cried, too.
13. Defending her post-gym look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz7bVApuItc
Usually going to the gym means throwing on an old t-shirt and some gym shorts from high school, but for Taylor, it’s basically a fashion show. You might have seen these pictures before of her post gym look — whenever Taylor leaves the gym, she is absolutely flawless. As she explains on Late Night with Seth Meyers, everyone looks that way when they leave the gym! Or, at least that’s how Taylor sees the world. She finally confessed that New York is a city worth dressing up for, and we’ve got to agree with her.
14. “Swiftamine”
So Taylor isn’t exactly in this SNL sketch, but the sketch is all about her. The vertigo might have hit you before while listening to her music, when your mind says, Taylor is “always wearing like, a 1950s bathing suit.” Then your ears say, “Shut up. This is a perfect song.” Ears win.
15. Taylor loves to needlepoint!
Taylor and Ed Sheeran are best friends (it should also be noted that Taylor has a lot of best friends). During Ed’s MTV special, Nine Days and Nights of Ed Sheeran, he casually pointed to one of his walls, where he had a framed needlepoint from Taylor. Embroidered on it is: “Started from the bottom now we here.” The internet freaked out about this, and rightfully so. All the hype confused Taylor, and she asked, “but I thought everyone does this?”
16. When she started replying to her fans through Instagram
With the influx of social media over the past few years, it’s incredibly easy for artists to connect with their fans. But, it’s not every day that an artist takes time out of their day to actually respond back to those special fans. Can you even IMAGINE waking up to a new notification from Taylor? Has it happened to any of you? Can you tell us all about it?
17. Taylor thanked Lena for helping her understand feminism
New BFFs, Taylor and Lena Dunham, spent a lot of time together this summer (and Lena’s boyfriend, fun. and Bleacher’s Jack Antonoff, co-wrote “Out of the Woods” with Tay, but you probably already knew that). In an interview with The Guardian, Taylor explained, “Becoming friends with Lena —without her preaching to me, but just seeing why she believes what she believes, why she says what she says, why she stands for what she stands for— has made me realize that I’ve been taking a feminist stance without actually saying so.”
18. #Taylurking
If you’re one of Taylor’s 48.3 million follows, then you probably saw a lot of pictures of excited fans excitedly holding newly released copies of 1989. She’s simply doing what she calls “Taylurking” which is when she casually stalks her 48.3 million followers.
19. She doesn’t mind photobombs
At the Golden Globes, Jennifer Lawrence photo-bombed Taylor in an epic J-Law fashion. In Jennifer’s defense, she had no idea the cameras were live. Taylor thinks it’s one of the funniest things that’s ever happened, and wishes that Jennifer would “win everything all the time.”
20. Taylor beat all of us at Halloween
Pegasus + Unicorn = Pegacon = what we’re all going as for Halloween next year. That costume looks seriously comfortable.
21. She managed to make history with both “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space.”
When “Black Space” was released, “Shake It Off” was still #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. “Blank Space” immediately shot up to #1, and when that happened, Taylor became “the first woman in the Hot 100’s 56-year history to succeed herself at the top spot.” If that’s not enough, she’s the only artist to have two number one hits on the chart this year.
22. She skipped an award show, and saw her brother in a play instead
Instead of attending the MTV Europe Music Awards, Taylor went to Notre Dame University where her younger brother, Austin, was performing in Six Characters in Search of an Author. Is that not absolutely adorable?
23. Taylor invited herself into a casual photoshoot
While out for a run, Taylor came across a young fan who happened to be in the middle of a photo session. She naturally invited herself into the pictures and posed with the fan, ignoring the fact that she was in her running attire. Clearly Taylor can make a fashion shoot out of whatever she’s got to work with.
24. . Taylor Swift Covered “Riptide”
Along with the constant replay of “Blank Space,” I bet you hear a good share of Vance Joy’s “Riptide” on the airwaves as well. How about Taylor covering “Riptide”? It starts off as a beautiful acoustic piano cover, and Taylor SLAYS IT. Putting this on my iPod immediately.
25. Her op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal
Okay, so maybe she was talking about the music industry, file sharing and piracy in her essay, but she’s also got some brilliant little nuggets about life in there as well (for all of us without record contracts). She writes, “My hope for the future, not just in the music industry, but in every young girl I meet. . .is that they all realize their worth and ask for it.” Well said, Taylor. Just one of the many reasons we love you so much! Happy birthday, girl!
Images via here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
