Fun
If you mention the word football around me, I’ll most likely respond with a roll of the eyes.
But it’s not because I don’t like football.
It’s football isn’t just football in my house. It’s literally a season. One that’s accompanied by 24-7 airing of Sports Center or College Football Live, incessant chatter about who caught how many balls and how many people they knocked over, what coach may have said what, and hours of virtual drafting.
That’s just me getting started. {And that’s just football season.}
So yes, I moan and I groan when I hear about football. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the game. I just prefer it in person.
Last night the husband and I ventured to Charlotte to see the Carolina Panthers.
It was the last preseason game; time to make the final cut of players.
Too bad for the 4th & 5th string Panthers that were still hoping to make the team: they were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Panthers aren’t the best team in the league, but we’re hoping they’ll be a least a little better this year.
It was still a blast to watch them play.
{You can’t tell, but that’s Cam Newton running through the fire.}
We’ve been to a couple Panthers games since I’ve lived in NC, but never a night game. It was fun! Although you could barely tell it was night.
The Panthers’ started off strong. Well, sort of strong. Not bad.
But at the start of the 4th quarter they totally lost it. Steelers fans rejoiced. {And yes, there were more Steelers’ fans than Panthers’ fans. It was like being at an Orioles Yankees game in Baltimore, where there’s blue everywhere.}
The game ended WAY past this girl’s bed time, but I made it. The 45 minute wait in the parking lot wasn’t exactly fun at that hour of the night, but at least I got fun Panthers’ game in before I got too pregnant and uncomfortable sitting in a hard plastic seat for four hours. 
Are you a football fan? Do you prefer watching games in person or on tv?
Psst if you used to be like me and were forced to watch football for hours but had no idea what was going on, check out my girl’s guide to football. Despite the title, it’s not just for girls. Also check out two of my favorite game time snacks. Ok three.
Don’t miss the latest baby posts on
tiny sneakers: the first trimester screening & the new midwife appointment.
PS The winner of the Eucerin giveaway is Annie! Send me an email to claim your prize! 
Travel
When my mom ventured south last week for our bike ride, she took a little detour to the beautiful mountain city of Asheville. Of course I went to visit. 
We spent the day walking through downtown Asheville, following the Urban Trail, a 1.7 mile tour of Asheville’s art and architecture.
It was a fun way to learn the history and explore the city.
Following squares in the sidewalk led us to each of our destinations. First up, a giant flat iron, incidentally across from the Flat Iron Building.
Next up, the Grove Arcade. A large shopping center that was never quite finished- only the bottom level was ever built.
Not a part of the tour, but of course I loved this. Eat Smart, More More, NC! {I was interning at the state department when they launched this campaign!}
The Basilica of St. Lawrence.
Typical Asheville for you: bright colors, crazy collections.
My favorite, Thomas Wolfe’s neighborhood.
A historic bell from early City Hall.
The farmer’s marketplace.
Downtown city fountains- ones you don’t get yelled at for playing in.
Piggies!
Monument and fountain in Pack Square.
Steppin’ out! I forget what this one symbolized…
The Woodfin House and a tribute to art & transportation all in one. Supposedly it makes 11 different sounds when you spin it- we didn’t hear a thing.
Bronze carving tools on Monument corner.
And there you go. The Urban Trail.
Feel like you’ve seen Asheville? {Everything but the beautiful mountains!}
Travel
Guess how much The Great Fundraising Act raised yesterday in a single day?
$26,432
Yeah, you read that right.
If you didn’t believe in the power of social media before, or you were losing faith in kindness and charitable giving, you were wrong.
$23,210 came from winning bids on auction items, and another $3,222 came from straight monetary donations. It’s so impressive it blows me away. I’m so proud to be a part of community that has both the thought and power to do something this amazing.
If you didn’t get a chance to bid, or you didn’t win an item, don’t worry- you haven’t missed your chance! Stayed tuned for “After the Act” details on how to buy items at a set price.
Now on to significantly less important things. Like taunting you with beach pictures.
Imagine my surprise when the temperature increased about 20 degrees on the drive home. It was actually cooler at the beach than it was in the middle of the state. Thank goodness the ridiculous heat wave hadn’t yet reached the coast, because it was certainly hot enough for me to be hiding in the shade all day, every day.
We stayed right in the middle of two beaches: Oak Island and Caswell Beach. So much in the middle that the beach was zoned as Caswell Beach and the condo was officially in Oak Island. They were a dune and a parking lot apart.
Either way it was a quiet, un-crowded beach that was so safe everyone left their awnings and beach chairs out in the sand every night. Let me tell you what a difference it makes to lug all your stuff to the beach day after day when you don’t have to carry a chair or giant tent!
I spent most of my days curled up under the awning with one of my 13 books {shame on me, I only made it through 8} and periodically running into the progressively rougher & rougher waves when I couldn’t stand the heat. Or had to pee. You know.
After the husband talking about going fishing every single day of the trip, we finally made it over to the pier for some night fishing on the last evening of our vacation. Of course we chose to stay by the pier with the NC record for largest tiger shark catch. Oh my.
It’s not as easy as it looks to tie hooks to a clear line in the windy darkness, but eventually everything was all set up.
There was a lot of sitting…and only one fish caught. I really don’t relate to the appeal of fishing for fun…
As much as I love vacation and the beach, I’m happy to be home. Technology was not my friend on the trip {my family will likely tell you this doesn’t surprise them in the least} so I have lots of catching up to do!
Posts were sparse on the trip, but here’s what you missed:
– Ready to Ride?
– Crab cakes at the Dead End Saloon
– My 7 Links of beautiful, controversial, and surprise posts…aka my rare participation in a meme. If you haven’t done 7 links yet considered yourself tagged in my post because I’m having fun reading them. 
There’s also some fun things coming up over the next week or so:
– An insanely delicious {yet messy} treat. Hint: Lesson learned- don’t attempt to make caramel during the hottest week on record.
– A HUGE bike ride. Please everyone cross your fingers that the forecasted 98 degrees for Friday and Saturday is extremely wrong. I’m thinking 70 sounds good…but I’ll take something in the 80s. 
– Some fun news that I will now make you wait in suspense for, because that’s really the only way to make it fun.
– Surely I’m forgetting something…
What exciting things do you have going on this week?
Travel
A quick detour on the way home from business travels landed me in none other than the gorgeous town of Asheville, NC. Seriously. Gorgeous.
But not today… today it was dreary and grey. I still love the little mountain town though.
I didn’t have long and had way too many things I wanted to do see and do and EAT! As much as I’d love to visit the Biltmore at Christmas, there was just no time. Twitter reminded me that Asheville’s home to the National Gingerbread Competition!
Don’t lie, I know you’ve caught glimpses of it before on the Food Network. I had to see what those beauties looked like in person.
The competition is held at The Grove Park Inn, a historic hotel wedged in the side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The architecture and stonework is amazing. Ted Mosby would approve.
One day when I’m obnoxiously rich I’m going to stay here. Preferably when it’s warmer so I can sit in the rocking chairs and stare at the view.
But then again, there’s always the giant fire pits and heated pool to keep me warm.
I didn’t have much time, so I literally ran in and ran out. Ok, fine, I slowed down to snap a few pictures. I thought I’d get to see the room full of hundreds of gingerbread houses, but sadly there were only a few on display. They were the winners in each category, so they were pretty darn awesome.
The grand champion winner:
I guess it’s pretty cool but that’s not a gingerbread house. I expected more….house.
My favorite: The house from Up!
{If you haven’t seen that movie, you need to.}
I’ve made some pretty badass gingerbread houses if I do say so myself [ha], but sheesh- these are amazing!
A message from the historic walls of the inn:
Are you a skilled gingerbread-house-builder?
