Hog 'til I die...

...but this season might kill me.  My hopes for the piggies crashed with Bobby Petrino's motorcycle in April, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a glimmer before this season started.  That all came to a screeching halt when we lost to ULM last weekend, but the Holloways and Lowes still love those Hogs, so we set up our first tailgate of the year in the rain for Alabama.

We had a pretty great tailgate despite the rain, and Ryan's friend Jake who recently moved to California showed up!  Check out the fashion statement --

All in all, great food, good friends, and a terrible game.

But today is Sunday, and it's a new day.  Go Cowboys!!

Weekend Recap

I know I usually do an amazing job of taking pictures for the blog, but for some reason, this weekend I was so excited to spend time with my family, I didn't even take any!  So bad.  But I can give you a quick recap of the wonderful weekend we Lowes had.

Friday night Alli spent the night with the neighbors, and Ryan and I went for a quick dinner at Grub's.  Are you seeing a trend?  We get so addicted to the same restaurants!  All I've been in the mood for lately is a big juicy burger, and few do it better than Grub's.  After that, my mom, dad, brother, and grandmother arrived at our house.

The next day, we watched Ryan in his summer league ultimate frisbee final (they lost both games, sadly) and then went to do a little tailgate shopping.  It's almost that time, so we have to start stocking up.  New this year:  a triple crock pot and a new fan.  More to come, I'm sure.

We ate dinner that night at another restaurant off the Square that Ryan and I have been frequenting called Cafe Fresco.  It's locally owned and almost everything is made with fresh and organic ingredients.  I absolutely love the Center Street flatbread pizza.  We also grabbed some cupcakes from Bliss.  Overwhelmingly delicious!!

We spent that night playing Uno a lot - Alli happens to be very good (and very sassy) at it, so it's pretty fun unless you're on the side of her that falls victim to her skips, draw twos, and wild draw fours.  Later Ryan went that night with John to see The Dark Knight Rises, and Alli and I snuggled into bed.

A word of advice:  if your kid never sleeps with you, don't think it's a good idea for one night.  I got terrible sleep Saturday night, and I don't think I ever recovered on Sunday.  Mom, Nini, Lindsey and I got up early and headed to Common Grounds for breakfast, then we all did a little more tailgate shopping (the boys are obsessed...).

After that, the family hit the road, and we Lowes cleaned up around the house and headed to the barn for our first riding lessons in over a month.  Alli and Sprinkles went first and had a great lesson back.  Susan (our instructor) kept commenting how big Alli had gotten and how much better she sat on Sprinkles.  Then it was my turn - I felt a little sloppy and like I was having trouble with my distances, but Susan said Freedom and I looked good.  I hope next week is a little better for me, but any time at the barn is time well spent in my book!!

I'm going to try to catch up a little more on the sleep Alli stole from me by sleeping sideways in my bed.  Good night!!  

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Football season, girlfriend!!   Did you think I'd linked you up to a Christmas post?  Aw heck naw.  You're reading a blog by a real live Southerner, so you know I'm talking about football!  Yesterday was the season opener for our Razorbacks, and the Holloway-Lowe tailgate was out in full force.  

Merry Football Season and Go Hogs, y'all!

A "Must Have" Item for Every Home

Remember when I told you here and here about our beefed up tailgating for Razorback games?  Well, we have a few new additions.  But there's one in particular that I consider not only the greatest addition to the tailgate, but also a perfect, applicable, practical thing to have around the house.

New Samsung LCD TV?  We did get one to replace the plasma in our bedroom that died, and we made sure that its replacement was tailgate-worthy.  But not the "must have" in question.

Mobile satellite DirectTV dish?  Though the DTV is fine, we have perfectly acceptable cable.  While neccessary for a tailgate, not applicable to my everyday life.  So no.

Honda Generator?  While we have survived some ice storms and snow storms up here recently and been without power for longer than I care to remember, not even this addition is as practical and useful as....

Margaritaville Key West  Frozen Concoction Maker

This little baby has been at my house for 72 hours, and I have to tell you, I do not know how I got along without it.  I believe in the short 3 days it has been here, I have had twice that many margaritas.  And that's a conservative guess so you don't get too worried about me.

My dear daddy bought this for our tailgate and it arrived just in time to come up for the Bama game this past weekend.  Friday night we anxiously opened and assembled it.  To be honest, I was cautious.  I occasionally enjoy a good margarita, and no at-home blender has ever done this blissful drink justice.  [And by occasionally, I mean every other day, twice on the weekends.]

Nonetheless, we assembled it and combined up the tequila and mix.  We poured that into the blender portion and then filled the ice reservoir with ice.  Then we hit one button and stood in awe as this little contraption shaved and blended the ice to perfection.  I did the honor of the first drink, and I was IN LOVE.  Smooth.  Perfectly mixed.  I'm not talking La Huerta good, I'm talking La Hacienda good.  Well, ok.  I will remain loyal to my beloved La Hac, but just know:  I'm willing to go there.

(Un)fortunately, my parents decided to entrust this fine piece of machinery to the hubs and I for safekeeping.  So at the very least, until late October, this bad boy is mine all mine.  I've been wondering if Ryan would let me throw out the toaster and the coffee pot so we can keep it out on the counter full time.  Dangerous, friends.  You need one.  I will never be caught without one of these again.

Razorback Football Season

Just wanted to update all of you - I know you may not be aware, but football season has begun.  And my family follows the Razorbacks to the ends of the earth (literally, we've actually followed them to Oxford, MS) for the entire fall.  Between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, I will NOT see the Razorbacks play in person four times.  Last year I saw them play 10 of their 13 games.  It's big time around here.

So as I mentioned here, we are really trying to get our tailgate off the ground.  We got tents, chairs, tables, a little grill that's about to be replaced by a bigger collapsible grill, and someone snuck some Razorback ice chests into the shopping cart.  Yesterday was the season opener - it was a gorgeous day and we had a great time.

I dropped Ryan off about 8 hours before kickoff to start setting up in the field behind our designated parking lot.  I went home and got the family, and we got back out there about 6 hours before kickoff.  Yes, Ryan sat out by himself in the peace and quiet for two hours with a stocked ice chest and very little else.  We got there, quickly fired up the grill, and got to tailgating.  All in all, a wonderful time.  Baggo, burgers, beer, and a Hog victory!  I don't think I could have asked for more, other than Houston Nutt losing to a scrub.  Oh wait...perfect day!

Me and the Bree hanging out

My mom and brother

Ol' RLowe and yours truly loving the weather!

Dear Ryan, I promise we will get you a bigger grill

Dad enjoying the food

Tailgate Tentgate

If you know my other half, RLowe, at all, you know he is a guy who loves to tailgate.  For years, and I mean years, my man has been hounding me for a 10x10 tent to aide in his beer-drinking, Baggo-playing pre-Razorback game festivities.  I have looked, in season and out, to find a good deal on a Razorback tent for him to no avail. 

A few weeks ago, while on a trip to Wal-Mart intended to be focused solely on kindergarten shopping for the kiddo, Ryan and my dad happened upon a large section of Razorback tailgating paraphernalia.  The previously $200+ dollar tents were down to just $120.  Being the mean wife I am, I said no way dude.  It's kindergarten time.  And who needs a tent to play Baggo and drink beer??

Then yesterday, on a jaunt to Wal-Mart again, we came across this:

No really.  Ryan found the tent for $75.  Now is the time to tell you that Ryan is the best in the world at talking people into saving him money.  He could talk someone out of their last dime.  This week he talked AT&T into giving us 1/3 off of our bill.  I don't know how, I don't ask.  But he can do it.  Of course the day he walked into Wal-Mart tents were almost 40% off!

 I couldn't say no to $75 of tailgating tenthood.  That's like under $10 per game we will be going to this year.  But of course, a tent is not enough.  Not when there are Razorback folding chairs that are half-price.  So 4 Razorback folding chairs, one tent, and two packages of Goldfish (why we were there in the first place) later, I had this look on my face:

 

You should know, I went back to Wal-Mart today to get 2 more chairs, and the lady told me that they are no longer $9.  She said it was a mistake.  Further proof that Ryan is good at getting random deals.   I'm sending him to Wal-Mart without me to go get them to let him buy them for $9 anyway.  I'll let you know how he does.  And now that we have a tent - come tailgate with us!!