A Birthday Tailgate

We officially kicked off football season on Saturday in beautiful Clemson, South Carolina. (Technically, my Tigers had already played their first game the previous week, but since we weren't there, it hardly counts, right?) The weather was perfect, the Tigers won, and the tailgate was pretty fantastic, too, if I do say so myself.

Clint's birthday is this week, so instead of our usual orange-and-Tiger-paw-covered-everything, I went with a fun and festive birthday theme. After all, he may or may not be ringing in his last year as a 30-something, and that calls for a celebration.

I let the birthday boy choose his own menu for the day, which included a Bloody Mary bar (complete with all kinds of pickled vegetables, sauces, spices, and Slim Jims), baked ham and Swiss tailgate sandwiches, Chick-fil-A nuggets, mozzarella dip, boozy gummy bears, and a dozen very festive cupcakes in honor of the occasion. You may already know that I am a firm believer that more is more, so I topped that off with plenty of confetti, balloons, party hats, streamers, blow outs, and signs to make sure every passerby knew there was a birthday in progress.

I had a multi-colored seersucker tablecloth left from my 30th birthday party--which is to say, it's practically new (wink)--that I reused on the tables, and our "Happy Birthday" banner has been through every birthday we've had since we've been married. Needless to say, it's been witness to dozens of wishes, celebrations, and gift exchanges. To top it off, I wrapped a couple of pretend "gifts" and used them, along with the cupcakes, as our centerpiece. My friend Doug told me he would vote for me for World's Best Tailgate; I'm not sure there is such an award, and I'm quite certain if there were, it would go to something much more elaborate than my set up, but flattery will take you a long way with me.

In case you hadn't noticed, the party is here!

Clint's birthday tailgate

The guest of honor got plenty of well wishes throughout the day, and we all enjoyed the good food, good friends, and good times that tailgating always offers. After the game, we spent some time at the Esso Club dancing and enjoying the band. Once we managed to work up an appetite again, we packed up all the birthday decor and headed to Peppino's for some very delicious pizza as our late dinner. We capped off our night with a little quality time at Tiger Town Tavern before calling it a day. It wasn't even my birthday, and I had quite a day of celebrating! It's always nice when you can enjoy all the fringe benefits without the burden of turning a year older.

We still have plenty of birthday partying left to do, but I think we got off to a great start. In the meantime, if you see the slightly older, tad more grown-up version of this guy, be sure to wish him a Happy Birthday and many more to come.

Happy Birthday, Clint!