Since Ben and I didn’t have tickets to the opening game of the Iowa Hawkeyes’ football season yesterday, we brought the game, and the ultimate home tailgate, to us!
Instead of huddling in a tiny tent somewhere in Iowa City while it was poured nearly the entire game, we setup shop in our cozy, dry garage. (Yes, we were those neighbors for the day! ;) )
I laid out food and drinks galore, while Ben setup a tv to watch our boys take on Tennessee Tech. This is the way to do it!!!
We masterminded the whole indoor tailgate party on Friday night circa 9pm, a couple Skinny Girl Margaritas (her) and Hoptoberfests (him) deep, which didn’t leave us a lot of time to cook much of anything. Instead I opted for buying the most basic, crowd-pleasing food options for the wide variety of people we had invited to stop by.
A plethora of munchies,
including Parmesan Garlic Popchips (YUM!),
freshly sliced peaches dusted with powdered sugar,
assorted veggies & dips,
smoked baby back ribs,
and White Chocolate Covered Popcorn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, this stuff is like crack. I don’t even know if I’ll ever be able to make it again because my hand was in the bowl ALL. DAY. LONG. It was AMAZING (the popcorn, not the fact that I ate about 16 cups of it!) FYI – I used puffcorn instead of popcorn. UNBELIEVABLE!
Our guests, including my parents, started trickling in about 10:30am for an 11am kickoff.
We grabbed a drink and got ready for another great season of college football!
Our boys played relatively well, and won, considering the fact that it rained the entire game. The fans looked like they were having a great time regardless, but you know I have an irrational hatred for getting rained on. I was so glad to be home!
Friends and more family trickled in and out throughout the game and the day.
And at one point the rain stopped long enough for Ben to get an impromptu haircut!
In the driveway.
Please don’t judge us! ;)
Oh boys, no, do it this way!
Oh, tailgate shenanigans!
Back to business. :)
Aaron, our barber, cut Ben’s super long hair into a mohawk to rock for the day.
But the resulting rat tale was just too much for anyone to look at longer than a few seconds.
All cleaned up!
The festivities lasted all through the afternoon, evening AND night, and Ben and I didn’t hit the hay until nearly 12 hours after we started.
Party animals! Who are we?!
We woke up feeling surprisingly good, and are off on a loooong, LOOOOONG, walk to burn off some of those extra calories. Gah – I forgot what an ish-show tailgating can be! Oh well, no regrets!
See ya!
~~~~~
What’s your favorite tailgate treat?
omg that is too funny!! i have never thought of moving a tailgate into the garage. we have had a few outdoor parties planned and when it has rained i end up with everyone IN my house! will have to try the garage next time!
Love it! Any plans for Ames next weekend? My friends and I tailgate in B3 if you need a spot to land (you’d be proud of me, I made a huge bowl of fresh cut fruit for yesterday’s soggy ISU-UNI festivities!). My favorite pic is IG’s Mom Eat’s and her Miller Chill. :) Tell her hello for me!
I very much appreciate Ben’s shirt. GO CLONES! Hope you’re ready for next weekend ;) Ill be in Ames, and ready to FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT for Iowa State!
I also was happy to be indoors watching the game. Go Hawks :)
What a fun day! I won’t judge you for Ben’s driveway haircut, I cut my husband’s hair in the yard. I don’t know what that says about me LOL. Its just easier to not get all the mess in the house, I say!
TOO FUN! I couldn’t be up at the Notre Dame game yesterday either so we watched and drank and munched inside. I think my fav tailgate treat (besides beer) is cowboy caviar dip. I eat the whole bowl!
I got excited when I saw Ben in the trashbag- I thought he was trying to feel our sympathy in Iowa City! … trashbags are not as good as ponchos, but we’re were not going to to leave! Let’s hope the next game provides us with better weather! On Iowa!
Favorite tailgate food = chicken wings. They’re not exactly super portable, but they are so darn good.
LOVE that Ben got a haircut in the front yard! I also tail-gated pretty hard yesterday…gotta love the greasy food and beer ;-)!
that’s my kinda day…I grew up not missing a single Carolina football game with my parents who would close they’re clothing store during the game every saturday..I always looked forward to my mom’s homemade pimento cheese and fried chicken we ate at our seats..we’d beat a trail back to open up right after the game..and now kristin I’m headed to the store to get the fixins for that popcorn…oh and tell Ben his haircut looks great! thats
a cute pic of guys
Looks like you had a lot of fun! I love dips of any kind at a tailgate. :) Especially if they are cheesy and creamy!
What a superfun day! And getting rained on is awful. I don’t care who says they don’t mind. Hating it is 100% rational.
Congrats on the win! :) And YAY for football season!!
Looks like a ton of fun!