Relay For Life

This past weekend was probably the biggest weekend of my school year! Friday night from 7 pm-7 am we had Relay For Life's overnight capstone fundraiser at the IM fields. I serve on the board as Athletic Recruitment Chair, so I made a student-athlete campsite with a photo booth as our fundraiser. We had props from every sport including jerseys, balls, rackets, clubs, and signs, hats, boas, and masks! People could pay $2 to play around in the photo booth and tons of student-athletes came along with President Morehead! Check out some of the photos below:

Sony Michel, Nick Chubb, and Quincy Mauger cheered on the survivors as they entered Relay For Life from the Survivor Banquet 

Several of the student-athletes with President Morehead

We have several speakers throughout the night, and this year my aunt, Jaime Kaplan, was the one who kick started the night! She played tennis at UGA from 1979-1981 then went on to play professionally in all four majors. Jaime was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2010 and stayed 70 days at the Hope Lodge in Atlanta. She shared her story of her bone marrow donor and encouraged everyone to go to a drive because her donor was from a fraternity event a few years prior so you never know if you will be able to save someone's life. Here is a picture of Aunt Jaime and me:

My friend, Emily, and me at Relay

Olivia, Amanda, and Elle who helped me with the student-athlete campsite! The student athletes raised over $3,400, which was more than double what they raised last year and I couldn't be more proud of them! 

Here is a picture of our exec board at the end of the night! Serving on the board with them this past year has been the most amazing and humbling experience. 

UGA MBB banquet

Last night I went to the UGA Men's Basketball Banquet with some friends I intern with at the UGA Athletic Association. It was at Tate Grand Hall, and was truly a great event! I've always been a fan of college basketball since I played in high school so coming to a school with a great team like this and then getting to work for the team was really something special!

We arrived around 6:30, checked in, mingled, and then sat down to listen to the speaker, watch a highlight video, and presentation of awards. Kenny Gaines gave the senior speech on behalf of him and Charles Mann who couldn't make it due to family matters. Attendees included AD Greg McGarity, Bulldog Club President Mark Slonaker, Director of Athletics John Bateman, Assistant Director of Athletics Kevin Welch, and many others! It really was cool seeing how much this program has grown, like we just had the best 4-year run in the history of the school!

Here are some photos from last night:

The table setting: 

 2 of my co-workers, Molly and Jenna

My boss, Kevin Welch, and Director of Marketing for Athletics, John Bateman 

These two guys are inspirations to me! They have been two of my biggest mentors in my four years here at UGA. 

Kevin wanted to honor us because of the role we play in marketing and ticket sales for this team. It was really special to be able to go to this event! 

Europe

This summer my friends and I are trying to go to Europe for a couple weeks after graduation! We don't really know where to start though. We have started researching cities, things to do, reading travel blogs, and making lists of places friends and family recommend to go. We have heard to spend at least 2 nights in each city we go to to make sure we aren't always feeling like we are on the move, but we have heard varying opinions on what cities to go to.

Some of the cities/countries we are looking into are:

• Dublin
• Copenhagen
• Berlin
• Prague
• Munich
• Innsbruck
• Italy
• Greece
• France
• Barcelona
• Ibiza

We all agreed that if we go to Italy we want to spend at least a week there just because there is so much to do and see, it could be its own trip. My top places are Italy, France, Barcelona, and Ibiza. I mean look at these places!

Rome, Italy

Venice, Italy

Paris, France

Barcelona, Spain

Ibiza, Spain

I really want to see Greece too but am kind of nervous. Planning a Eurotrip is hard because everyone has different opinions and different places they want to see. It is especially hard right now because none of us really have time to plan this trip because we are all so busy with school, clubs, and organizations right now too but we need to plan this out because it is not really something you can just throw together at the last minute.

Next week we all kind of have a less hectic week so we are going to sit down and go through everything step by step and lay out a loose itinerary then hopefully we can book flights, trains, hostels, etc! 

If any of you have any tips or recommendations please comment! Anything from places you recommend to go, travel groups to go through, restaurants, tourist attractions, anything really! We would love to hear your thoughts! 

Spring Break

This year for spring break my friends and I went to the Bahamas! We had a great time, but it was a lot of false advertising. I learned the way marketers can get around some things and while I understand why they did some of it, it made me realize the kind of marketer I don't want to be. We made the most of it though and had a great time!


Here are pictures of the beach we went to:

On Wednesday we took a boat ride around the island! It was from 5:00-7:00 so we got to see the sun set and they had some great appetizers, like a vegetable plate and wings! It was absolutely beautiful and they played great music as we cruised around. There were about 40 people on the boat ride so we made some friends as well! Here are some pictures from the boat ride:

The only bummer about the trip was the false advertising. They described it as an "all inclusive" resort, but it was really only two meals and six drinks a day and only at certain times. And the two meals were off of a 5-option set menu of ham and cheese sandwich, burger, hot dog, tuna sandwich, or BLT all with fries. The meals would get old quickly because these were the only options for five days straight so if you are a picky eater like me you are kind of out of luck! The first day was kind of a let down just because it was a long travel day, then each person had to put down a $100 deposit for the room totaling $400, then a $10 deposit for a towel, then the ferry was down so you couldn't get to Port Lucaya where everyone wanted to go at night, it was kind of just one thing after another but after all that we made the best of it and had a great time! I couldn't complain because I was in the Bahamas with great company, but I can see why people were frustrated with the false advertising. I think from here on I will just really look into every detail and pay more attention to the reviews. It was an amazing time though! Towards the end of a trip I am always kind of ready to be home, but now I am definitely wishing I was back on the beach in the Bahamas! 

UGAAA Hawks Night

This past Sunday my UGA Athletic Association Marketing and Sales team went to lunch then the Hawks game! I intern as a Marketing & Group Sales intern where I am responsible for incoming and outbound ticket sales for Mens and Womens basketball, baseball, gymnastics, and football and assist in game-day events. Our boss, Kevin Welch, organized this event for us!

We met at the front of Butts Mehre at 11:30 and took a campus bus to Savage Pizza! We couldn't believe we were really taking a campus bus on the interstate, we didn't even know they went that fast! The way down to Atlanta was fun because we were all getting to know each other better and played Heads Up! If you have never played you definitely should- it is like Catch Phrase but it is an app for your phone so you can play in car rides! It is really entertaining and makes the ride go a lot faster.

We pulled up to Savage Pizza, a local pizza shop in Little Five Points, around 1 pm. We had a huge table out on the patio because it was so nice outside! They are known for their specialty pizzas, which include anything and everything. I order the same pizza every time- barbecue chicken, but some of my friends ordered something a little more interesting that I had never seen on a pizza- like the chicken cordon bleu pizza and the Mexican pizza! 

Chicken Cordon Bleu is large pizza on the far side- Roasted chicken, prosciutto ham, red onion, roasted red peppers, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses

 Pizza Buttafueco- Italian sausage, seasoned ground beef, Canadian bacon, pepperoni, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses

 My favorite- BBQ chicken! Roasted chicken, yellow onions, green peppers, applewood smoked bacon, and Monterey jack cheese

 Here is a picture of our group on the patio! 

After lunch we headed to Philips Arena for the game! The Hawks started out strong in the first quarter, then let the Hornets catch up a little, but the Hawks stayed strong and won 87-76. Bazemore and Horford had a really good game! 

Everyone was really tired on the way back so a lot of people slept most the way. This was such a great bonding experience to get to know everyone because not everyone is in the office at the same time every week. I really enjoyed it, my only complaint is that I wish we did this earlier in the year like maybe last semester so we could have been better friends all year! 

Nashville

This past weekend was so so fun because my friends and I and our moms all took a girls trip to Nashville! We always have so much fun whenever our moms come to visit for parents weekend the past three years in Athens, so we decided to take it outside of Athens this time. About 10 people stayed at an Air B&B, another 10 stayed in a hotel, and my mom and I stayed at my cousins house. Her brother lives about 10 minutes south of downtown Nashville. We drove up on Friday afternoon. I had late classes so my mom and I didn't get there until about 7 so we went straight to dinner to meet everyone! We ate at The Southern, a steak and oyster restaurant located in the heart of downtown Nashville. I ordered the double cut  smoked pork chop that was served with spiced butternut squash risotto covered in a kale and apple-pomegranate sauce. It was delicious! The Southern was the perfect way to kick start the weekend! We even had our own private room! I attached the menu to to see what you guys would get! What would you order? Everything was delicious! Check out or dinner Friday night below!

Saturday morning my mom and I went to breakfast with my Uncle Doug, Aunt Laci, and cousin, Emma! We went to Le Peep and just caught up since we didn't really get to visit on Friday. Then we went back and got ready to head to Broadway to meet up with everyone! We just walked around downtown because there is so much to see! It was pretty packed because there was a Chris Stapleton concert and the Predators had a game. I've always wanted to go to a Preds game, but we are coming back for Thanksgiving so maybe we can go to one then! We went to lunch at Rippy's, which is a BBQ  joint on lower Broadway. The best part about Nashville is pretty much every bar and restaurant has live music at all times of everyday! My mom and I both got pulled pork! If you ever go to Nashville,  I definitely recommend trying Rippy's! 

When I was in Nashville in the fall for the Georgia-Vandy game we met Dean from Motocrossed (pictured below), but unfortunately we did not see him this time. 

After lunch we headed to the Tootsie's rooftop! It was such a beautiful day out so we wanted to be outside! We toured around some more then did the Pedal Tavern at 5:30! The pedal tavern is essentially a 2 hour bar crawl on wheels. I thought it was going to be one of those typical touristy things but it was actually so fun! I highly recommend it! It fits 15 so we did two separate groups and you can control the music! They supply a cooler of ice and cups and you can bring your own drinks! 

Our tour guide, Jeremiah, told us that if we don't pedal we don't move because there is no motor. About half way through my friend thought there had to be a motor. She challenged him that it was at the front, and he warned her whatever is in the bucket she looks in she has to wear if it is not a motor and she agreed. She went to check, and it was just filled with helmets- no motor! So he made her wear a helmet the rest of the time. 

And that was our trip to the Music City! If you find yourself in Nashville some time soon, I definitely recommend the Pedal Tavern! Even my Aunt Laci who has lived in Nashville her entire life had never done it, but she said she wants to do it again with her friends because she had such a good time! 

Galentine's Day

Valentine's Day is one of the best days of the year! It is just a day to celebrate how much we love one another and I think we need more days like that throughout the year. If you watch Parks and Rec, you know Galentine's Day is even better! As Leslie says, it's only the best day of the year, and it is just a holiday that solely celebrates you and the love you have for your girlfriends. Basically, its all about spending time with your best girlfriends, or your real soul mates, and therefore they deserve a holiday to themselves too so it is celebrated February 13th. Thelma and Louise-y before Mario and Luigi right? So here is how we celebrated:

Jalapeño popper dip: Cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, jalapeño, topped with bread crumbs served with tortilla chips

Garlic knots: Pepperoni and mozzarella cheese baked in fresh dough sprinkled with garlic and butter with marinara to dip

Loaded nachos: Grilled chicken, tomatoes, scallions, red peppers, sour cream and hot sauce, 

Chocolate covered strawberries: we might have eaten a few before I even got the chance to take the picture...guilty! 

The gals

And of course we had to finish the night by watching the 2-hour NBC Special The Best of Jimmy Fallon!

My personal favorites were the lip sync battles and when he hosted Nicole Kidman and they once went on a date, but Jimmy didn't realize it was a date or that Nicole was even interested. Here is the clip: http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/jimmy-fallonblew-a-chance-to-date-nicole-kidman/2838586

Favorite lip sync battle: Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvRypx1lbR4

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Weekend! 

Super Bowl Food How-To

Since my beloved Falcons did not make it to the Super Bowl (okay...or the playoffs for that matter) I just wanted a good game to watch. But it's always more fun when you have a team to root for so I cheered on the Broncos for Peyton's sake! Not a Tennessee fan, but a big Peyton fan! And in my opinion, the food (besides Beyonce...all hail Queen B) is one of the best parts! So my roommates and I grilled out and made burgers, chips and guacamole, spinach artichoke dip, veggie plate, potato salad, black bean and corn salsa, and popcorn! Here is a picture of our spread:

Unfortunately, we didn't go with Peyton's choice of Budweiser but we did have some Creature Comforts Tropicalia! 

And, of course we had to have a Super Bowl-themed cookie cake! Check it out below!

Here are some pictures of a few spreads I found on pinterest I might just have to try out for Super Bowl 51! 

 Super the size for the Super Bowl! This one might be too hard to make...

 Football-shaped bread bowl with spinach artichoke dip!

 Maple bacon roasted peanuts

 Three different dips in the shape of a field! Cheese dip, guacamole, and salsa! Yum!

The first one might be too hard to make but I definitely need to try the others! I guess we will see next year!