Key learnings and tailgating

It's that time again, the weekend is over and as I sit here with a cup of cocoa and soft lighting, I'll share with you some of the things I learned this weekend.

Sit back and enjoy the sharing.

Key Learnings:

• When you put your wallet in your desk drawer and say out loud, "hey I have to remember to put this back in my purse so I don't leave it at the office tonight," actually do that. CVS isn't happy (neither are you) when you realize that you didn't follow through with that piece of advice
• It's okay to break your rule of "not drinking before noon" on college game day (Blood Mary's at 9 a.m. will do that)
• Going to a home game and supporting the visiting team in the stands leads to a lot of teasing and taunting
• Guys that "chew" are automatically unattractive
• Spending eight hours in the car in one day can make you and your carmates crabby
• Continuously eating food and walking can keep you awake
• Shrimp on the grill is delicious
• French onion dip with potato chips is like a slice of heaven
• I should not own a dog
• When you shower on a daily basis and then skip a day, it makes you very heightened to your temporary new smell
• Port-O-Johns are never enjoyable to use
• Finding your favorite college, non-Boones, beverage at a bar can totally make your day
• It's always good to get out of the city for a day or two and enjoy the country scenery. There's something soothing about looking out at a farm field with the wide open sky and fall colors

As I mentioned on Friday, I went to Iowa for the Iowa vs. Wisconsin NCAA football game this weekend. And if you follow college sports, you will know how that game turned out. So that was definitely not a high point of my whirlwind 24 hours, but I do have to tell you about some amazing tailgating.

My family members are not big tailgaters. We're more of the "let's go pay for someone to cook and wait on us rather than cook it ourselves" kind of people and we don't like to carry all the stuff to the game and store it. So I was forewarned about the amazing tailgating that I would be a part of before the game on Saturday. And my warning was correct because it was AWESOME (said in a sing-songy voice).

I was reminded how much I love french onion dip with salty potato chips and homemade mac and cheese. This on top of an amazing spread of chips/salsa, cheese squares (also a solid choice), grilled shrimp with butter and garlic salt, homemade trail mix with pretzels, Chex Mix, pecans and corn puffs all mixed with caramel. O-M-G it was amazing.  So I thought that was great but then the pork chops, homemade mac and cheese, baked beans and potato salad came out, of course followed by two dessert trays. Seriously, I did not think it was possible to eat that much and not keel over. That's what Bloody Mary's will do for you :)

The food was amazing, which will now become amazing leftovers this week. Even better! We were able to tailgate on someone's front lawn near the Iowa football stadium, which was perfect to get into the game on time, but our restroom facilities consisted of a Port-O-John in the backyard, which the men used more as a leaning device while urinating in the bushes. Gosh I love college football.

So that is the story of my key learnings for this week and my awesome tailgating story. How was everyone else's weekend?

Reader Note: Thanks everyone for your comments on my personal. I appreciate the offers to date me too! Very sweet. Believe it or not, I'm not that picky when it comes to guys, but I'm really glad you all enjoyed it!