Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Penn State vs Rutgers {Week Three}

How happy I was to be back in Happy Valley for the weekend and our first tailgate of the season.  The weather was picture perfect for tailgating - maybe even a little too warm.  We had some friends in town for their first Penn State experience and they had a blast as did we.  The "kids" car headed down to tailgate around 4:00 and the "parents" car headed down a little bit later after taking care of the dogs - we had our game day breakfast and some pre-tailgating snacks at home before heading down along with a trip downtown for a drink or two.



One half of our tailgate; we used the extra parking spot to hide from the sun until the second car containing the rest of the tables and supplies got there.


The tailgate crew for this game.



Each year I try to look back at past photos to remember what was on the menu so from now on I plan to document it in an effort to help remember. We snacked on "tailgate dip," ranch dip (from wegman's - the best!) and chips, a mexican platter, hummus, pepperoni bites, sausage squares and then a little bit later dug into the main course of pulled pork sandwiches with tortellini skewers and coleslaw.  Not forgetting dessert we got our traditional cookie cake and my game day pretzels.



The four of us stayed back to finish sipping, snacking and cleaning up while my parents headed in for kickoff.  It's of course more exciting to see the intros from inside the stadium but this was the first time in a while I heard them and saw the fireworks from outside and listening to it all from a far was pretty exciting as well.



Once a year Penn State does a "white out" and everyone wears white.  It was already set for another game and since this game ended up being a night game they decided to go for a "stripe out" for the first time which was pretty cool to see.  We were in a white section.


We'd been tracking the weather all day and it looked like the rain was going to hold off until overnight. It was of course a little shocking when the downpour came all of a sudden.  We kept saying it was "exciting" and didn't quite care because we were having so much fun.  Don't mind the wet mess below.



And then there were these two.  They went to week two's game in the pouring rain with my aunt and uncle in ponchos and held out until half time but couldn't take it any longer.  Mom decided late in the day Saturday that she might stay home with the dogs and we all talked her into coming.  When I felt the rain drops hit I could barely turn to look at her - I knew she wouldn't be a happy camper after the week before.  She got Steve's hat and Derek's jersey and how precious does she look in the rain?! Rain looks good on her.  And Steve.  Much better than us kids.


Other happenings of the weekend… 

Like I said Friday, I headed up early with my parents because I love helping with the tailgate prep.  We did some shopping downtown and grabbed an early dinner at The Deli before town got crowded before heading home to grocery shop and tailgate prep.  

Derek and our other friends rolled in late at night and Steve, Nash and I were up early for a walk on the trail near the house.  

Two little pups weren't quite sure why they didn't get to come to the tailgate.  Stella had escaped her "cheerleading" uniform at this point but I'll have a picture next week of that.


Game day breakfast is one of my favorites! We always have Penn State's traditional "grilled stickies" and recently we've been enjoying quiches with it.  No breakfast is complete without a bloody mary/mimosa bar.  No game day breakfast is complete without swapping out the fall placemats for team ones.


And lastly, a family photo before heading off to tailgate.  Stella will be looking next week :)


We won 28-3 and the first tailgate of the season was a huge success.  The countdown is already on (three more days) until we're back in State College and add it again.

28 comments:

  1. Looks like a fabulous first game of the season. I love the tailgate sign and the food spread looks delicious. I'm glad you didn't let the rain ruin the game or bum you out, it's all about attitude right?

    Your family picture with Stella is way too cute!

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  2. Your tailgate looks like so much fun! You guys do such a great job with everything, the food looks amazing! Love the cake! And your hair looks amazing!
    <3, Pamela
    Sequins & Sea Breezes

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  3. Your tailgates are pretty amazing girl - you guys have quite the set-up!! Woo hoo for college football! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  4. Looks like a really fun time! Love your Penn State family spirit photo! :)

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  5. Looks like a blast! You guys do it up right and the good looks amazing! I need to come to your tailgates. Ha ha!

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  6. I love how you tailgate! I wish you and Derrick could go to Ole Miss and see how they tailgate. Even tho we're not fans, we've been to the Grove several times when Bama played them and you would love it! Chandeliers and everything!

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  7. It looks like yall have such a great spread at your tailgates! I have to admit, most of the time I'm only at a game early for the food, drinks, and socializing because it's always so hot in Texas! That sucks that it started pouring in the middle of the game! It's seriously the worst when the elements decide to mess with plans, but it looks like yall still had a great time!

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  8. The stripe out looks so cool!! You are definitely making me miss all the amazing tailgates of college football season! Dare I say that HS is not the same at all?! ;) just kidddddding. You are making me so hungry though!!

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  9. I don't often look at posts and think "gosh I'd love to tailgate" but your's looks like so much fun! And the FOOD! Holy cow! I'm glad you guys ended up making the most of it in the rain. I don't think I could have stuck it out for that long!!

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  10. You guys sure know how to throw the perfect tailgate! And now I'm officially hungry - all that food looks amazing :)

    Green Fashionista

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  11. Wow, you guys sure know how to tailgate! That food table looks fantastic!

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  12. Y'all really do know how to have fun! I'm still obsessing over the wine glass tumblers so I'm loving your moms. What a fun weekend! I also love that family photo at the end!

    ps: I nominated you in my blog post today! (:

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  13. You make tailgating...and football...look fun! I've never been much of a football fan but then again I have never tailgated...maybe that's the problem! Lol

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  14. Looks like so much fun!! The pics of your and your mom are my favorite- yall are so cute together =)

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  15. Looks like a great time! Fall and football tailgates really are the perfect combo.

    xo, Carly | carly blogs

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  16. Such a fun weekend!! This made me so excited for more tailgating around here this fall! And yes to all of the food :) Glad you guys had a great weekend + a victory for PSU!

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  17. The stripe out worked really well - it looks like a ton of people participated! I love that I'm not the only one who uses her blog to look back at things like food. My husband does the same, too :) What an awesome weekend!

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  18. You guys are so cute and festive! I have never tailgated for a football game before! Maybe I should this year! It seems like a good time!

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  19. Any Saturday spent at a college football game is a good one in my book... but it's an even better one when you have a fun tailgate and that cool stripey thing going on in the stadium. What an awesome football Saturday!

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  20. Y'all are die-hard Penn State fans! Love all your fun decor and the tailgate looks like a lot of fun! So glad you had a great time, even with the rain :)

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  21. Fun fun! We watched part of this game and I thought that the stripe-out looked pretty cool. Tennessee has their fans make the checkerboard sometimes and it always looks awesome (even though I hate to admit it because we don't like them. Haha.)!

    We're FINALLY heading to Athens on 10/3 for the Bama game and I could not be more excited!! There were discussions of us doing a blackout sometime soon, but hopefully they won't do it for the Alabama game... the last time we blacked out Bama we lost! Aaaahhhh!

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  22. Oh how FUN! All the food looks great and it looks like you had a great time in spite of the rain!

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  23. NOTHING better than a tailgate with all the fixings and a good crowd. Y'all are too cute in your hats and tees!

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  24. Jacqui German: Love this! We're hopefully going to PSU at some point in november :) Maybe we'll see you there! PS. I saw this and immediately thought of you lol:

    http://www.shopcoralee.com/collections/tailgate-collection/products/wooden-football-monogram

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    1. Yes!! We will be up I think the last home game in November! Those items are SO adorable - we love adding as much as we can to our tailgate supplies, ha!

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  25. How fun! All of your tailgating foods look delicious!!
    Kelsey
    www.thepeacockroost.com

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  26. Tailgating is always so fun and I love that everyone has their matching shirts! Yess to all the good food and cold bevies.

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  27. So much fun!!! That's one of my favorite lots to tailgate in! P.S....I need psu wine tumbler your mom has!!! Where is it from?!

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