The "Cocktail Party"

These last few days have been big for us. 

First, the GA/FL game. 

For those of you who aren't familiar with the tradition, the UGA vs. UF ballgame is always held on the last Saturday in October on neutral ground in Jacksonville. UGA used to consider it our Fall Holiday and let us out of classes a day or two before the weekend so that we could all make our way down to St. Simon's, where all the fraternities would rent out hotel rooms on the beach for a multi-day, multi-night beach bash full of beer bongs and sorority t-shirts. Then, at 6am on Saturday morning, we would all pile on chartered buses to head down to Jacksonville for the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party--a moniker so infamous that it itself was banned. We would tailgate for hours and have so much fun at the game that sometimes we forgot who even won. 

Things are a little different now as a 30 year old with two kids, and then another huge change for me was going to the game as a Jacksonville resident, versus a visitor. 

I was pumped to go to the game this year, but Alex's schedule didn't work out for him to join me. I made arrangements for my parents to watch the kids, and I was thrilled that my BFF jumped at the chance to be my date instead. She's been my best friend since childhood, and I'm not really sure that the term BFF is truly accurate. Your Starbucks barista can be your BFF these days. This gal is my Ride-or-Die. You know. The friend who can literally finish your sentences and you can talk to for hours about nothing and everything with absolutely not one iota of judgement. Every girl should have one. And I'm lucky to have one of the best. 

So I was excited when we decided to go together and tailgate with some of my fun new neighbors, even though that meant sitting with some unfortunate Florida fans. But I did my part to keep civility in check ;)

Seriously, take a second and read this scoreboard.
All this was going down while people were having a dance-off to Lil' Jon in the background.

I haven't been to a UGA game in a couple of years, and I'm pretty sure I haven't been to a GA/FL game since 2007, so you could say it's been a while. It's funny how some things change and then other things never do. The styles have changed quite a bit from even when I was in college. We would wear sundresses and dressy tops with lots of jewelry and heels. Nowadays, girls don't wear such dressy clothing as much. At one point, I literally did a double take to check out a girl wearing a jean skirt and a nude colored bra. 

"Was that a bra???" I asked my friend.

"Pretty sure that was a bra," she confirmed.

"Well, great horned spoon."

 (I'm trying to curse less, and I picked up that little gem in an antique book I recently stumbled upon. Great horned spoon. It's the equivalent of "well I'll be damned," or something of that nature, but it's so much more unexpected. )

About as unexpected as passing out next to a drunk opossum clutching a fifth of Mr. Boston.

Therefore, the tailgate ended up being tons of fun. It was great to get to know my neighbors a little better and spend time with, ahem, certain fans I might not otherwise spend a Fall Saturday afternoon with. But the best part was spending a hazy Fall Saturday afternoon with my best friend--sort of as a real adult, but still with some of the same twenty year old tendencies. I like to think that there are parts of me that will never grow up. 

And the best part was lying around in our pajamas afterward eating homemade mac-and-cheese and giggling until well past midnight. Sometimes you need those times, those girl times that make you feel like a human again. The times that make you feel like a real person instead of just a maid/caretaker/wife/mama/bullshit-blaster. I think it's so important to take a certain amount of time to be with your spouse and still date each other, but sometimes I forget how important it is to take the time to have a frienaissance. 

And Gators still wear jean shorts.