This post is sponsored by Moroch Partners. All thoughts and opinions are our own!
Super Bowl weekend is here!!! We are so excited to be able to take part in a lot of the fun Super Bowl festivities this weekend and having it all in our backyard makes it that much better!
I was lucky enough to go to my first Super Bowl a few years ago in San Fransisco and then again in Houston. There is something special about being in the heart of these cities and being surrounded by all of the excitement. Seeing the city we love and the one we call home be able to host the big event is something I'm thrilled to be able to be a part of.
Buildings are wrapped, hotels are packed and Centennial Olympic Park has been transformed into Super Bowl Live.
There are people everywhere and it is completely free to enter! It is filled with different exhibits, performers, athletes and and sculptures.
We checked out the Deion Sanders sculpture by New York artist, Michael Murphy. He was commissioned to design the piece that represents the amazing Deion Sanders from two different perspectives. Depending on how you look at it you can see the football player from one angle and the baseball player from another angle.
I grew up cheering for the Braves and the Falcons and watching athletes like Deion Sanders. I find his story of playing both sports professionally so impressive. ESPN has introduced their new 30 for 30 film, “Deion’s Double Play.” The film takes viewers back to October of 1992 when Sanders attempted to play a pro football game and a baseball game in the same day. In different cities. I mean, I am in charge of transportation of athletes in our household and I know how tricky those logistics can be. Can you even imagine getting someone from one city to a completely different one for professional sports?!? You can learn more about the film HERE.
Be sure to check back next week and I’ll be sharing all about the Super Bowl fun!
A few weeks ago I mentioned Mr. Cute and I went on a date to see the Atlanta United play. Those of you not familiar, Atlanta United is our city's professional soccer team. I had so much fun that I thought the experience deserved to be documented with it's own post. If I wasn't a fan before, I am now. And I'm about to get you excited to be one too!
First, we are a soccer loving family. I grew up playing soccer, and now The Cutes play too. But you don't need to have one iota of soccer experience to enjoy the Atlanta United games. Mr. Cute was clueless about professional soccer, but a few months ago he brought Cute to a match because he knows how much he loves it. Mr. Cute came home and declared it was one of the most fun sporting events he's ever been too.
Now he's hooked.
When he asked if I wanted to go to a game I immediately said, "Yes!". The Atlanta United's popularity has quickly grown, and I had heard the games were so much fun. I couldn't wait to see one for myself!
We arrived and parked in "The Gulch" parking lot. This is where all the tailgating goes down. We've experienced it for Falcons games, for the SEC Championship, and the National Championship. Not to mention we've been to some fabulous tailgates all over the country. All those experiences have nothing on Atlanta United tailgating. Soccer fans apparently really know how to bring the party.
I'm talking about full on drum lines (multiples of them), DJs, large kitchen set ups with out of this world food (Why haven't I ever thought fajitas as a tailgate food?? Because it's like the best tailgate food ever!), chanting, dancing, louder chanting, coordinated marches (with chanting) all the way into the stadium...
I bow to you Atlanta United tailgate kings.
Now I was so entertained by the tailgating experience, I nearly forgot about the actual match was the main event. Almost.
We arrived in Mercedes Benz after inviting ourselves to march with one of the fun drumline/chanting/dancing/flag waving groups walking in. We split off at the security check in, and headed towards our seats and in search of some food.
All that chanting and dancing requires frequent refueling and rehydrating.
Now, we understand our tickets caused us to be a bit spoiled in our experience, but if you get a chance to have this opportunity too - take it!
Our tickets came with access to The SunTrust Club. The club features unlimited food and drinks, and the most amazing dessert bar you will ever see. I'm pretty sure I embarrassed Mr. Cute taking photos of it, but a dessert bar like this deserves documenting.
I did my journalistic part, and taste tested a little bit of everything. It was delicious. All of it. And for the record Funnel Cake Fries should be a thing. Like everywhere.
Also, thank you to the kind SunTrust employee who saw that I was rather parched from all that chanting on my way in, and saw to bringing me not one, but four servings of Sauvignon Blanc. Your kindness was much appreciated.
When you have access to The SunTrust Club you can view the game from field level if you like, but we chose to watch the game from our seats.
We sat down about ten minutes before the game, and I was shocked at how calm everything was. I mean everyone was so hyped up outside, but it was relatively calm right before the game. Little did I know...
The players were announced. The anthems were sung. And then it was the last time we sat down quietly through the entire 90+ minutes of the match.
The fans had arrived and I would love to see their post game iWatch activity stats because they do. not. stop. The entire game they do this...
The energy I saw outside has nothing on the inside. And it's infectious. All 75,000 plus people in attendance get into it. It's loud, and it's so much fun.
Let's not forget about the game itself.
The games are fun to watch. The Atlanta United is such a good team, and soccer is so fast paced that it keeps your attention. There are never any boring moments, and the talent of some of our players is exciting. Several are the top players in the league right now and one is the top scorer.
So getting to interact with those players is a treat. Again, I realize our SunTrust experience isn't open to everyone, but if you have access you also get to be up close to the players at certain times. They walk right through The SunTrust Club to get to their locker room. So anytime players come on and off the field you get to see them up close to cheer them on, hi-five them, etc.
We went down at half time to be a part of this. The United was losing at this point 1-0 so the players didn't look too cheery, but it was still fun to take part in! When Cute went earlier in the season he was able to shake hands and hi-five almost every player on their way in. I think it just depends on timing and mood.
After half time the crowd doubled down their efforts, and the cheering/dancing/flag waving never faltered.
We scored and the level of noise and excitement was insane. We ended up tied 1-1 in the final of the match, but you would never have known it. Every single fan stayed in their seat until the game was over and they cheered on their hometown team.
It was one of the most fun professional sports experiences I've ever been to, and I highly recommend you checking out a game yourself. I'm hooked, I've already got my Atlanta United jersey on order (Literally we were one of five people in the entire stands not wearing one. The other four people were for the other team), and already can't wait to go back. Call me a fan for life! I say it loud, and I say it proud...
A. T. L!!!
Have you been to an Atlanta United match? I'm not crazy, am I? Isn't it the most fun?!
Jen and I are on Spring Break this week and we are enjoying a nice staycation at home, despite all of the rain and crazy storms Atlanta is experiencing. We kicked off our Spring Break last weekend with a fun, adult only evening at the brand new home of our favorite baseball team, the Atlanta Braves.
This is the first season the Braves will be playing at SunTrust Park and it is literally in our backyards. We're so excited to have this new stadium close by and last Friday night was the first game ever played in the stadium. It was an "exhibition game" and we were so excited to be there.
We got a special tour including seeing under the Chop House and we were all in awe. It took us to ground level and we were able to be right there with all of the action.
We were in the outfield on the field level and all that was separating us from the outfielders was a fence. It was kind of surreal to see everything happening right in front of us.
After some delicious food and drinks we made our way towards our suite, but stopped along with way to check out some of the attractions of the new stadium, including the Braves Monument Garden.
It was like a museum in the middle of the stadium and available for everyone to view including statues, history, and memorabilia.
When we finally arrived at our suite we were loving the view, but kept saying that we couldn't wait to bring the kids and share the brand new stadium with them!
It was the first of many games we will attend at SunTrust Park, but it was a wonderful night and we can't wait for the official opening night next week!
First up today, we wanted to say congrats to the winner of our Feathered Nest Boutique giveaway!
The winner is Gina Tabor.
You have 48 hours to email us (themagnoliamamas@gmail.com) to claim your prize.
If you have absolutely no interest in the Super Bowl I'm sorry and I've probably been boring you to death this week. Good news is, this is the last post I'll do about it this week! For those of you who have loved seeing a behind the scenes of what it is like at the Super Bowl, today will be exciting!
Sunday morning everyone was so pumped up about the game. We woke up, put on our red and black, and were very excited. The Mr. had bought some Falcon's socks the day before in honor of our little Boo-Boo who is obsessed with "pull-up socks."
We grabbed an early lunch at Moonshiners and it was the best meal we had all weekend long. The food was SO good, service was amazing and the atmosphere of the restaurant had a fun, southern vibe. We loved it and I would definitely recommend it to anyone in Houston.
Next, it was time for the official Super Bowl 51 Tailgate. There was yummy food, drinks, and lots of live music, including Lady Antebellum.
It was dark and really loud in there so I didn't really bother taking any pics. Next we were ready to check out the stadium and walk around a bit so we made our way over. There were fans everywhere and it seemed to me that the Falcons fans were outnumbering the Patriot fans. We did a little shopping for souvenirs!
Then we found our seats which were in the end zone about 15 rows back. We knew it would be hard to see anything going on at the other end of the field, but we had a good view when they were close to us.
Really, we didn't care though. We were just so excited and happy to be there!
The energy and awe of everyone in the stadium was so high. When the teams were announced it was so loud. Since the stadium has a retractable roof (more on that in a few) they were able to keep it closed since the forecast was calling for rain and that made it even louder in there.
Luke Bryan sang the national anthem and did a wonderful job.
The former President Bush and his First Lady were escorted onto the field for the coin toss. It was so sweet to see them and all of the players seemed honored to shake their hands.
Anyone who watched the game knows the first half was awesome if you are a Falcons fan. We couldn't believe how well they are doing and that we went into halftime with such a huge lead. We thought for sure we had this game in the bag.
More people asked me about the half-time show than anything else about the Super Bowl. I loved it! I have always loved Lady Gaga and feel like she is such a great performer. She puts on a good show and that is what everyone got.
As soon as halftime began the roof to the stadium started opening and I knew that Lady Gaga had mentioned in previous interviews that she wanted to do something from the roof. As they were setting up for the show everyone kept staring at the sky searching for her. Come to find out after the fact that part of the show was pre-recorded, but when she started her decent into the stadium the spotlights focused on her and everyone saw her about half-way down. I have no idea where she came from but it had to be way up high, so for all I know she did come from the roof.
Because of where our seats were we couldn't see the front of the stage, but there was still plenty for us to take in. The lights, the fireworks, the set changes...all of it. I will say though that I loved coming home and watching a video of the full performance, because it was so much better to watch on TV!
The second half of the game just started to get worse and worse. As the Patriots were inching closer and closer to catching up with us our spirits just kind of kept sinking. We couldn't believe how we could have had such a big lead and then to have lost it. It honestly didn't feel real. Going into the first overtime ever in Super Bowl history had to say something about our team though and the fact that we made it there was such an incredible accomplishment. Here's hoping next season will be as wonderful as this one was!
