welcome, 2014!

things have been wild in my world since 2014 rolled around! i've been slacking on the ol' blog but 2014 has been quite amazing so far.

my college gang + some hilarious dudes from tennessee rang in the new year at red's ice house in mount pleasant, sc. after being sick for 5 days, i wasn't sure i was going to make it. but since i already bought a ticket, and didn't want to leave my girl ammie in the dust (we're the only single ladies), i made a day trip to charleston. i am so glad i did - we had such an awesome night! we stayed in Charleston to watch the gamecocks whip up on wisconsin before heading on back to charlotte.

that weekend we had leigh's baby shower: see here. we had all sorts of friends and family in town this weekend so it was jam packed. we had dinner at BLT at the ritz that evening followed by a night out uptown which does not happen often!

the next weekend (last weekend), i headed back to charleston for a couples shower for my sweet laura! katt & i got in around 8:30pm on friday & we stayed in for a girls night. saturday morning we woke up and met laura for lunch at ammie's fave place, taco boy. frozen screwdriver? yes please! we drove to the beach to put our toes in the sand before getting ready for the shower.

laura's sisters & her bff, meredith, did such a great job! there was delicious food, adorable décor & fun games. after the shower we stayed out in summerville at this bar called montreux. bar games, cheap beer, and an awesome live band - it was like college all over again!

{laura & her bridesmaids}

 

sunday morning katt & i woke up at the bum of dawn to head back to charlotte so i could make it to the panthers game. i was so lucky to be able to go to the game & even though it was a bummer of a loss, we had an amazing season! i am proud of what they've done this year & can't wait for next year!

 

 

tomorrow i'm off to "mountain weekend" in boone with my college gang. looking forward to relaxing {aka drinking} with my pals in a cabin for a long weekend! cheers!

 

monday night football.

this past monday, the panthers took on the patriots on monday night football! it was also my parents' best friend's birthday, so they did it up big at their usual tailgate spot. we had the second string heroes providing us with tunes, the string bean providing us with yummy food, and keg full of olde meck brewery's dunkel. it was so fun to see all their friends and a few random friends of mine even showed up!

 

 

so my mother made this thing called a "shot-ski." she bought a pair of skis off ebay, painted  one panther colors & one gamecock colors, and glued 3 shot glasses to it. see below for how it is used. she was the official shot pourer of the tailgate - she makes me so proud.

 

{court, brad & i breaking in the shotski}

 

we finally headed into the game around 8:15pm. what a game! we didn't sit in our normal PSLs, so it was fun to meet all the people around us. i spent the last 3 minutes unable to watch because i was so nervous. after we scored, the guys behind me were convinced it was good luck for me not to watch, so they gave me a play by play down to the last second of the game with the questionable call. i have never heard the panthers stadium so loud before - the atmosphere was awesome! we are 7-3 for the first time since 2005 - feels good!

 

 

 

{thanks for the nice pour, mr. bartender}

 

after the big win, we walked to all american pub for some food and a beer before walking on home. it's great to live close to the stadium on nights like this! go panthers!

panthers primetime letdown.

this past thursday, the panthers played in the thursday night prime time spot for the first time since 2008. if i had to explain the game in one word, i would pick tragic. it was a painfully rough loss to the giants with a final score of 36-7. it was embarrassing.

however, prior to the game, momma scooped me up and we headed to meet her friends to tailgate. this was the mac daddy of all tailgates and i was in heaven. mom and i had a great time and made some new friends before i headed into the game.

{direcTV}

{jello shots}

{the spread}

{charlotte}

 the congestion to get into the game was worse than i have ever seen it. i found a group of friends to tag along with because i was alone going into the game. they were super nice & got me in safely before i had to walk to the entire other side of the stadium - it was a hike! i met court, derrick, and court's friend debbie at our seats. even though the game was pretty terrible, we still had a great time! and guess who was sitting 3 rows behind us....

{emily maynard & jef holm!}

football. and more football.

after a crazy friday, i woke up early on saturday to head to cola for the game. i got there around 11:30am and we packed up the truck, grabbed lunch, and had our beers cracked open by 1pm. kick off was at 7pm - our first night game of the season! there is something magical about football games on cool(ish) evenings in the south - there is nothing quite like it. throw in a few fireworks and a lot of touchdowns, and you've got yourself a mighty fine evening.

{me & the crocker girls}

{sweet pals}

{williams brice sunset - and the JUMBOtron}

{firework show at halftime}

sunday i woke up really early & headed back to charlotte for the panthers  vs. saints game! our parents accidentally booked a vacation without checking the panthers schedule & are missing the first two home games which means we have scored their tickets. i changed quick & headed over to court's condo. upon arrival, we learned that our sweet/always late brother-in-law missed his flight, so we had 2 extra tickets. i called my roomies & told them to hurry up & come on. amanda had never been to  a game so it was fun to be able to take her to her first one. it was an awesome game - the panthers got a much needed win, 35-27. other than some rain, it was a perfect first home game of the season. can't wait to do it again on thursday night!

{panthers vs. saints}

 

{awesome surprise of chairmen of the board playing at halftime!}

{tired seester took a much need half time nap - sorry for posting this court but i had to.}