My First Tennessee Game & Other Weekend Happenings

Oh does it feel so good to be back!

After a whirlwind few weeks we will finally have a break from the traveling/guests and be able to settle into fall here in NYC.

This past weekend M. & I had a wonderful time in North Carolina and Tennessee. Sure our flight was delayed on Thursday evening by about two hours, but we tried to not let it bother us! We met my mom and sister (who is home for "reading days" - remember those?!) at the airport around 12:30am and finally made it home at around 1:30am. Needless to say, it was a long day for M. and me AND for my mom and sister who decided to spend the day shopping until meeting us...looks like they had a VERYYYYY long shopping day!

When we finally arrived home I wolfed down a plate of my mom's apple crisp (the BEST fall treat ever!) and then headed upstairs to bed. Boy did it feel great to sleep in a king sized bed. Truth be told, it's one of my favorite parts of being home. It's no secret that the Mr. and I do not sleep in a king size bed in our huge-luxurious-spacious New York City apartment. :)

Friday morning we slept in a little bit, but M. had to be up to "work from home" so he logged on to his work email and blackberry first thing. Luckily he wasn't sent too much during the day which meant he spent more time hanging out with me then he did answering emails. My mom and sister agreed that it would be fun to take a day trip to Blowing Rock since we had to meet M.'s mom halfway to Tennessee anyway. When I was younger my family had a home in Blowing Rock (actually Boone, but it's extremely close) and we would go up there almost every other weekend. I spent many days riding bikes, swimming, "hiking", and playing at our mountain house and going to Blowing Rock for the day was always a treat since there were fun shops and of course a few treats along the way too. Well, Blowing Rock hasn't changed much - the town is still really fun and filled with many cute shops. Before reaching the main town though, we made a few stops along the parkway for some photos. The fall colors are really starting to come through up there and it is BEAUTIFUL! Plus, we had the most amazing weather ever that day which certainly added to the amazingness.

After parking the car we walked through the park where my brother, sister and I used to play. Everything seemed so much smaller than I remembered. We headed in to a couple of the shops - my favorites being one shop which was all decked out with all things Christmas and the other being this cute little spot, Celeste's where my mom picked up a fun, new scarf. The Christmas store was super fun - M. and I plan on having a real Christmas tree this year (technically our first!) so I loved seeing all of the decorating ideas. I also picked up two little candles, one in a "Candy Cane" scent and the other in the "Winter Wonderland" scent - I cannot wait for it to get just a littttleeee bit colder and then I'll be swapping out my current candle, Pumpkin Brulee for those new puppies!

The last stop on our Blowing Rock afternoon was to Kilwins, the ice cream/fudge store that has been in that spot for literally as long as I can remember. We ALWAYS had to go to Kilwins to get some ice cream or a special chocolate treat at least once every trip we made to the mountains. When I was younger I would always get "Blue Moon" which although my mom swore it was "just Vanilla with blue food coloring", I knew different. When we walked in the door I headed straight to the back where the ice cream was and, right away, I spotted the Blue Moon flavor. I inquired about it, just to make sure I didn't ruin my ice cream eating chance with "plain Vanilla". The lady working behind the counter told me that the flavor was actually "Citrus Mystery"...whatever that means! HA! I ordered up a cone and it was as delicious as I remembered. I must say though, a grown-up eating blue ice cream looks pretty funny. My sister took this shot of me with my special treat.

Before we knew it, it was time to meet M.'s mom to make the drive to Tennessee. We made the car swap and we said goodbye to my mom and sister. Luckily, I wasn't too sad since I knew I'd be seeing them the next evening and all day Sunday. After a quick bite to eat and an always entertaining drive into Tennessee, we arrived at M.'s parents house around 9:45pm. M.'s mom had prepared a special treat - homemade carrot cake - and my slice was positively delicious! Definitely the perfect way to end a fun day, I for sure had my fill of sweets! Because of our late night on Thursday, I was still feeling pretty tired and hit the bed soon after unpacking my bags in the room.

We were up and ready to go by 9:30 the next morning. The big Tennessee v. LSU game was waiting! We hopped in the car (luckily, we had the chance to drive our car which we had to leave behind when we moved to NYC) and followed M.'s parents all the way to Knoxville where we parked the car, walked up a big hill and then officially "arrived" in a sea of orange and white. Luckily I got my hands on the perfect orange pashmina, since for the most part, my wardrobe doesn't actually consist of all that much orange. After weaving and dodging crowds of fans, we met up with friends of ours, Andrew & Laurie. Andrew went to law school with M. and it's been great getting to know his awesome wife. It's always fun to see them!

I was still getting used to all of the craziness around me when it was time for us to head to the "Vol Walk" a fun tradition where the players, coach, and mascot head down the hill to Neyland Stadium before the game. The band came down the hill playing "Rocky Top" and the crowd cheered. After a few cheers from the cheerleading team, the players made their way down the street...but first down the hill was the school mascot, Smoky and Coach Dooley in his crazy-bright orange pants.

We stopped for a quick lunch in the student center (I think that was it!), Chick-fil-A before the game - and then headed into the stadium. Tickets to my Universities football games are easy to come by and rarely "packed", but at Tennessee it is quite different! I had never experienced a college football game like this and it was SO MUCH FUN! The crowd was awesome - seriously SO MANY people, and even though the team lost, the fans are very dedicated. It was a great experience and I look forward to many more TN football games in our future...I know the Mr. is happy about that! :)

After the game we headed back to North Carolina. About a five hour drive later we were pulling back into the driveway at my parents house. We watched the end of Saturday Night Live and hit the sack. It sounds like we did a lot of sleeping this weekend, but actually is was the opposite! I felt like we were going, going, going the whole time! Luckily though, Sunday morning was slow and easy...we slept in until about 10 and then when we went downstairs only to find my mom had baked up some homemade cinnamon rolls...mmmm. We sat at the kitchen table for about an hour just munching on the delicious breakfast. After, we packed up our bags and got ready for the rest of our day we drove around town for a bit, ate a light lunch and then headed off to the airport with my mom.

We killed time before our flight at the mall nearby (mom had a few returns to make anyway), ate an early dinner since we weren't going to be getting back home until late and then proceeded to sit in the airport and on the plane for way too long since we were again delayed. I'm going to do my best to avoid Newark airport from now on!

Overall, a wonderful weekend with our fabulous families. Looking forward to heading back home again at the beginning of November for my half marathon!