Cheers to the New Year

We went out with a bang in 2011 and rang in 2012 with no less!  On Friday, I got off at 3 PM and Bradley and I headed to Tampa, FL.  One of my old roommates, Collins, lives in Tampa and we decided to spend New Year's with her and then we all made the trip to Orlando for the Capitol One Bowl game.  Boy, did we have a blast everywhere we went!

Saturday afternoon, we headed to the Outback Bowl Parade in Ybor City.  Georgia and Michigan State fans crowded the streets and Collins rode on a float as the reigning Miss Tampa USA.  We even got VIP tickets for the pep rally where the they had a battle of the cheerleaders and bands of both teams.

{Hubby and I on the streets of Ybor City}

{l to r: Ashton, Aliea, Collins, Me, & Bradley}

{Michigan State Fan}

{Miss Tampa USA}

{Sparty proposes to Collins at the pep rally!}

{Friends from Charleston that we ran into! Small world!}

After the parade, we headed back to the apartment to get ready for the evening's festivities, but not before stopping at Little Caesar's to stock up on $30 worth of crazy bread, wings, and pizza!  Shocking?  We watched the ball drop at Cheap in South Tampa with a TON of other people.

{fav}

{the girls!}

{party hats}

{2012}

New Year's Day we packed up and made the journey to Orlando.  Upon arriving, we found out they were holding a pep rally for the Gamecocks and hurried over to the location.

{Gamecock band rockin' it}

{We are CAROLINA!}

{only the best mascot in college football, Cocky!}

{Coach Spurrier & the captains for the bowl game}

Monday morning we woke up bright and early to prepare for some tailgating before the 1 PM game time.  What a day it was.  We had a blast tailgating with some friends and then cheering the Gamecocks on to their first 11th win in a single season against the Nebraska Cornhuskers!

All in all, we had a blast!  2012, you have a lot of living it up to do to top 2011!