Whirlwind.

Warning: it's going to be difficult to cram this weekend into one post, so here goes...

First of all, I will start by saying that I was hyped about this weekend. For so many reasons – utterly hyped. You see, this time last year I was homesick beyond belief after having learned that one of my closest friends had just gotten engaged and that all of my friends would be celebrating this joyous occasion on arguably one of the most fun weekends of the year in Dallas. It was this time last year that I decided once and for all to enjoy my time in New York, but that Texas was calling me home. That, my friends, happens to be TX v. ou weekend. Every year it seems like the build up for this enormous game gets more and more exciting and this year was no exception.

This weekend came complete with two separate Evite invitations for various festivities and I was more than eager to reply my “can’t wait!” sentiment onto each invite. First up, a family-friendly Cajun soiree on Friday night at the Mothershead household. Adrianne’s parents hosted each of us as we sat fireside and caught up on the happenings of our various lives. As we caught up, we realized that we are all just making it rain out there. Houston, Dallas, Austin...we just keep trucking along. Some of us have moved and come back, and yet, we still manage to meet up again - truly one of the best things about the weekend. We moved on to our second location for the night, along with every other 20-something in the state of Texas. We drove around practically begging various valet tenants to let us park in their specific lot, only to decided that it’s next-to-impossible to navigate this weekend when you mix trolley cars, high heels, college co-eds and Dallas residents – and just like that, let the weekend had begun. We made our way into a fantastic karaoke bar which just so happened to be the ultimate in people watching. I tried to convince the girls to sing “All I Have to Give” by the Backstreet Boys, only to get denied. You know, I’m still not even sure if they called my name or not? Anyway, we put Friday night to bed at the ripe hour of 4:30 am, only to set our alarm for for a 7 am wake up call (read: us still trying to live like college students). No rest for the weary, my friends. We had been invited to a joint tailgate on the fairgrounds for Saturday and had decided that it would be the perfect mix of game day and fair festivities – basically a blend of good old fashioned Texas fun. Bailey, Alyssa and I got a slow start to the day on Saturday only to leave our house just before 10 am, park, share a cab with strangers, and still manage to show up to the State Fair of Texas in time for the 11 am kickoff. Talent, pure talent. We pulled up some (borrowed) fold out chairs, munched on various tailgate grub and enjoyed the game from a flat screen in the back of a Tahoe. I know what it sounds like, and no...we were not filming an Alan Jackson video, just simply enjoying the game with other droopy-eyed spectators. After a failed ticket attempt, my roommate Megan joined us both for the tailgate and a day’s worth of Fair fun. We successfully rode the Ferris wheel, ate a week’s-worth of calories in fried goods (see the menu below) and shared the perfect Texas day together. Oh and...the Horns won (!!). So really, God’s country shone a little brighter this weekend...

Up next, the Mavs pre-season game against the Cavaliers! It seems pretty aggressive to spend a day at the fair, nap for almost two hours, freshen and then head to the American Airlines center for a basketball game, but what can I say? We’re just your average sports enthusiasts. The convenience of games are just too good to pass up. You get there and realize that you can sit mindlessly for a few hours and be entertained and over-stimulated on so many fronts. Sure, there’s the actual game but then there is also a plethora of crowd movement that just keeps things interesting. At one point we all realized that each of our eyes were burning and that the condition could have been attributed to several sources:

a. fatigue/exhaustion
b. the flashing lights at the basketball game
c. the smoke from the tailgate/fairgrounds
d. all of the above.

More than likely we were all suffering from pure exhaustion that culminated in a halftime show performed by a Frisbee-chasing collie dog wearing tiny tennis shoes. I kid you not, tears were rolling down our faces as we watched this animal handler in his flag tee run this dog ragged doing figure eight maneuvers on the court. I only wish that I had captured the essence of this talented dog, but unfortunately, this is one memory that will have to remain in my delirious arsenal of random weekend stories. Sorry, friends. We made a group decision to continue our day's worth of culinary mistakes on a late-night Whataburger dinner followed by a midnight viewing of The Proposal under a down blanket...see, we can always find a way to come full circle and return to being women. For the sake of brevity I will say that Sunday was spent going to church, taking Alaina and Alyssa’s puppy to the Dallas Farmer’s Market, choosing a perfect pumpkin (see below for my sweet loner shot!), a matinee movie and the Miley Cyrus Concert – you know, just your average day!

Please see below for an abundance of pics* from the weekend!

*massive apologies for my formatting issues, apparently blogger hates me...

Saturday: The State Fair of Texas

Menu:
4 - Fletcher's Corn Dogs
2 - orders of fried butter (so good!)
1 - fried s'more
1 - funnel cake
1 - fried pb&j