{Football. Fall. Friends. Family}

Boy, what a thrill it was to hear those chants again- even if it was from the comfort of our own home and not the stadium.

September not only brings my birthday, but the celebration of Football. Fall. Friends. Family.  The best season of the year!

Bradley and I hosted a little party at our house on Saturday for the season opener of Gamecock Football (well all college football really).  We woke up Saturday morning, and I immediately sent him to the store with a list while I started cleaning and pulling out all of the items we would need.  Sadly, during my cleaning and search, I realized that I left all of my cute new Gamecock platters at my mom's house.  Our couple's Carolina Gamecock shower was last November, and I remember leaving them there so I wouldn't have to move them twice.  I must have forgotten to grab them along with the other items I brought to Charleston.  Have no fear.  I have plenty of trays and bowls that match my everyday china, and they turned out perfect!  Last minute, I even decided to create name tags for the different dishes using some of my old scrap book paper and straws.

Here are a few pictures of all our knick knacks, along with their recipes.

{pigs in a blanket- we used sausage, beef, and cheese filled}

{bean salsa (recipe courtesy of my cousin but the link is similar)}

{mississippi sin dip}

{buffalo chicken dip}

{cheeseburger sliders (for some reason I didn't get a picture of the mini patties, but I used my own recipe for this- 2 lbs. meat, ranch dressing mix packet, and 2 eggs)}

{most of the spread}

And if you look in the background, you will see I finally hung the curtains my aunt made for me.  I found a steal on curtain rods last week at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  I got 3 different rods and their attachments for $9.99 a piece!  Who could give up that great deal?!

We had a blast celebrating with a small group of our friends.  It was a double plus when the Gamecocks stepped up their game and pulled out a "W".

{the outnumbered "Charlie Sheen" Gator fan}

{dean and jess}

{my crazy hubby celebrating the WIN}

Our friends Troy, Mo and Ryan also were at the party, but I didn't get a snapshot of them.

We figured the night a success, as we didn't do a darn thing on Sunday but sit on our butts and watch TV.  We can't wait to host more get-togethers at our home, and are definitely looking forward to attending several USC games in the near future :).