The Team of Destiny (and the trip of a lifetime!)

This football season what one that will forever go down in the books. The little team that couldn't eventually turned into the little team that COULD! As our wins started to stack up, it was evident that our team would be going to a bowl game. Who in a million years thought that it would be THE bowl game!  I will never forget the eve of December 7th when the stars aligned for our Auburn Tigers! My very generous and selfless husband told me on that very night that he would be sending JUST ME to California to cheer on our Tigers along with my girlfriends. I was very hesitant to leave my game day partner of 12 years, but I was very appreciative of the wonderful vacation and time away.

I got to spend precious time in Beverly Hills with the girls who made my time at Auburn so very special.  I arrived with the Spear girls late Saturday night, and our first stop was a delicious Italian dinner at Cecconi's.  It was one of the best meals I have ever had, and it was very cozy on the inside. You can tell by the picture that I am basically having to hold my eyelids open from exhaustion. Luckily, my body did adjust ;)

Those Spear girls are drill sergeants when it comes to exercise so they had my butt up at 7:00 the next morning for our first of three visits to SoulCycle. I will have to say that it was an amazing experience! I definitely left tears, sweat, and everything else you can imagine in what I like to call the sweat-chamber!

We stayed at the best little boutique hotel called Petit Ermitage. It was located in West Hollywood. It had a fabulous rooftop bar where we enjoyed many cocktails and glasses of wine. 

Before hitting Rodeo Drive on Sunday, we had a wonderful brunch at Villa Blanca. This restaurant is owned by Lisa Vanderpump, which is one of the Housewives of Beverly Hills. The food and atmosphere were amazing. 

We spent the afternoon walking up and down Rodeo Drive, and then it was time to meet up with the rest of our favorite Auburn girls! Blazer was big girl and drove a minivan all the way from the San Diego airport to Beverly Hills.  She picked us up along with the Decker girls and we headed to The Ivy on Robertson for some snacks and drinks. And in case you are wondering , the Gimlet is definitely no joke!

Thanks to Anna Kate's mad negotiating skills, AND  her run-in with Ken Vanderpump, she scored us an awesome table at Sur for that evenings dinner.  Let's just say that those people on the West Coast love a good Southern accent! All of the famous bartenders and waitresses were definitely in the house and were taking pictures left and right. We even saw Lisa tucked away in a quiet corner with definitely a spot saved for Jiggy ;)

We couldn't turn in too early since it was our last big night before THE GAME, so we headed over to the Chateau Marmot for a few drinks. We were hoping to see some celebs, but the staff reminded us that it was a Sunday night ;)

It was finally GAME DAY, and everyone definitely had the jitters. We just had to have ONE last meal in Beverly Hills before heading out to Pasadena. We met our favorite family, the Decker's, at Portia Via and had a wonderful lunch and pre-game cocktails.

It was FINALLY time to head out to Pasadena for the game! And let me tell you...there is only one way to show up to  The Rose Bowl, and that would be IN STYLE. We ordered our drinks from the rooftop bar and met our fabulous driver out front so he could drop us off at the stadium.

The Rose Bowl is definitely everything I imagined it would be. It is beautiful and the scenery is amazing. However, it does lack the essentials. Restrooms, concessions, tailgating, and all the stuff that is necessary for college football is missing! We definitely had to make-do, and let's not talk about how we had to negotiate our way onto the team bus to use the restrooms. But once, we got into the stadium, everything was gorgeous. Especially the Orange and Blue ;)

Unfortunately, things did not go our way in the end. Our beloved Tigers fell just a few points and a few seconds short. It definitely hurt for a few days, but now I am able to talk about it again. That's what makes Auburn people so special, we love our team no matter what.  It was definitely a moral victory for us Auburn fans.  Our little team that couldn't, now can! Hopefully, there will be many more special games shared between me and my Auburn Family. A huge thanks to the Spear girls for taking care of me. A  huge thanks to the Sloan's for finding me a ticket. And a huge thanks to my hubs for taking wonderful care of my babies while I was away. We will definitely forget the score a few years from now, but we will NEVER for the trip!!