On the morning of October 19, my mother, sister and I packed up our family SUV and eagerly drove three and a half hours to Raleigh, North Carolina to watch Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet concert. My sister and I grew up with Sabrina Carpenter, so going to this concert was a bittersweet conclusion to our childhoods. We watched Girl Meets World often growing up, where Maya Hart, played by Carpenter, was our favorite character. Now, she is my sister’s favorite singer and one of my favorite artists.

     When we got to the hotel, we were so excited about the show that we could have sprinted to our room if it weren’t for the weight of the millions of bags we brought with us. After we took a ton of mirror selfies and after I applied an absurd amount of glitter to my eyelids, my sister and I walked out of the room to get to the arena with the idea that we would have two hours before Sabrina was supposed to take the stage.

     Tragically, we were wrong. Google Maps said the distance from the hotel to the arena was fifteen minutes. They were wrong, too.

     Thanks to the concert traffic and the North Carolina State Fair (which shared the same route), our fifteen-minute drive became an hour and a half. Frustrated, overwhelmed and already exhausted, we rushed into the arena with two goals for the night: Get to the merch stand, then see the five-foot blonde sing on stage.

     After purchasing merch for the three of us, we took our seats right before the opening act, Griff, took the stage. While my sister sat patiently beside me, I was fidgeting in my seat. I kept checking my watch and counting down the minutes.

     8:00…8:15…8:30. Nothing.

     Since I purposefully avoided any spoilers for this concert and was going into it clueless, I asked my sister when Sabrina was going to get on stage. She said Sabrina typically came on at 8:30. It was 8:37. Around 8:45, the lights cut out and the arena burst into excited screams and applause while the concert screen displayed a cute intro video. After the introduction, Sabrina Carpenter ran out in a costume-like towel and unveiled her first costume choice. She almost immediately began singing her first song of the night, the third single from her album Short n’ Sweet, called “Taste”.

     Sometime after the concert, it was confirmed that her tardiness was caused by the traffic entering the arena. She apparently wanted to ensure everyone had the opportunity to get into the arena and settle before she began the show. Any sort of delay caused by the traffic was made up through her interactions with the crowd and her effort to make everyone feel included and welcomed throughout the concert.

     My mom, sister, and I sang and took several photos and videos for an hour and a half straight. At the end of the concert, Sabrina sang “Espresso” as loads of confetti sprinkled the crowd. The three of us walked out of the arena with tired feet, hoarse voices, absolutely no storage in our phones, t-shirts and hoodies, and a memorable experience we will sweetly look back on forever.