Tailgate Practice

After a month of feeling just plain uninspired, I've decided to pick up blogging again.  When I'm in the habit of blogging, it seems so simple to write a few posts per week, but as soon as I get out of my groove it takes a lot to bring be back to it. 

I captured some great pictures this weekend after we hosted a party at our house, and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to return- once again- to my blog.  College football will be starting back next week, and in honor of all of the excitement, T and I held a "Tailgate Practice" party at our house.  We had every intention of making it a welcome environment for fans of all teams, but it pretty much just ended up being a Clemson themed party. 

I went pretty simple (a.k.a. inexpensive) with the decor.  I was able to use a lot of stuff we already had laying around the house, and did some simple things like filling apothecary jars with orange snacks.   I also made chocolate dipped pretzels that resembled footballs, and then George promptly ate half of them as soon as I set them out.

I also used this Pinterest tutorial to make some paper fringe, which turned out better than I thought it would.

T and I love a surprise at a party.  We surprised our wedding guests with cheeseburgers after our wedding reception, and people still mention that to me.  We figured we had to have another surprise for this party, so I booked the Tiger Cub to come and make an appearance. 

Everyone loved snapping pictures with the Cub, especially George, who was infatuated with the Cub.  I'm pretty sure he thought it was just a giant stuffed animal.

Our friend Tripp brought his giant smoker and cooked ribs for the whole crowd.   As a host, this was awesome.  Having the main course taken care of by someone else made it easier for me to enjoy myself that day.  Rather than hovering over the stove top for the duration of the party, I was able to actually walk around and have fun.  Plus, Tripp makes better ribs than I could ever dream of cooking. 

 Let the countdown to College Football begin!