The Month of October...

...in pictures

The whole month was kind of a blur and I'm sad I didn't have time to a better job documenting. We had people in and out of town, a bye week, concerts and comedy shows...and a Panthers win! Woo hoo!

My sister was in town for the bye weekend and so was Chelsea Handler! JJ and I watch Chelsea Lately most nights while going to bed, so we were pretty excited to see her live. Heather McDonald opened for her, and she was hilarious. I think I might add her book to my list of things to read. Great seats thanks to a good friend and his many connections!

Chelsea Chelsea, Bang Bang

Mid October my whole family was out to visit and see a game. We got to celebrate my dad's birthday, carve pumpkins, take Barney for long walks and just enjoy each other's company. I hadn't seen my parents since May (but my sister is out here all the time so I get my share of family time, haha). I was quite impressed with my dad's freehanded Panther pumpkin. All the trick or treaters commented on it!

Our beautiful Jack-o-lantern creations

Carrie Underwood was in town (with Billy Currington and Sons of Silvia) on the 30th. The guys were out of town for an away game, so a few wives on the team (and a few daughters) made it a Girls Night Out downtown. We had AMAZING seats (again, thanks to a well connected friend) and the concert was incredible. If you ever have the chance to see her perform, take it!

Carrie at her Play On tour

Halloween was fun! We celebrated in two parts. Our good friends had their annual party on Friday night at the Breakfast Club, an 80's themed club downtown. This was the first year that I hadn't made my own costume, but I still thought we were pretty creative (it was no Dwight and Angela, but still good). Then on the 31st I was home for the first half of the night passing out candy to all the precious little trick-or-treaters. When JJ got home we joined our neighbors on their hayride around the neighborhood. It was so much fun. We rode around and stopped every few blocks to let the kids out to go door to door and the adults stayed on the trailer and talked. My kind of party.

Is it obvious how much we like beer?

Well I think that covers all of the major highlights from October. Hopefully I will be better in November about staying up to date...wouldn't want to disappoint the fam.

Halloween: Part 2

One of JJ's teammates threw a Halloween party for the team at a bowling alley downtown and we had so much fun. I was really impressed with the costumes the everyone came up with! My favorites included Dog the Bounty Hunter and wife Beth, Captain Jack Sparrow (seriously, he looked exactly like Johnny Depp, eye liner and all), and a cheesy American tourist (complete with a Hawaiian shirt, visor, huge camera, and socks with sandals). Loved it!

JJ and I went as Dwight and Angela from The Office. Unfortunately, a lot of the guys on the team don't watch the show because we were asked if we were A) Mormons, B) Nerds, or C) Jehovah's Witnesses. The correct answer was D) None of the Above. Maybe next year we will pick something more widely known!

Halloween: Part 1

Our Halloween celebrations started off with a bang. On Friday night we went to a costume party hosted by one of the Panthers video guys and his wife. The party was at an awesome 80's bar called The Breakfast Club and both the music and decor were authentic.

As for costumes...JJ went as Dwight Schrute from the NBC show The Office. For anyone who watches the show, you will appreciate how funny this is. Originally I was going to go as Angela, Dwight's on again off again girlfriend, but had a last minute change of heart while shopping at TJ Maxx for the costumes. I found my inspiration in a synthetic fabric, low cut, leopard print dress. The second I saw it I knew I had to use it. The cougar costume was born. For those who don't know, a cougar is an older woman (typically a divorcee), who dresses up to the nines to go clubbing with the intent of landing a younger man.

I think my favorite part of the night was JJ introducing me to all of the guys who work for the Panthers. He introduced me as, "This is my wife, Laura. She's a cougar." I explained to him that no one else was introducing their date by their costumes, so maybe he should stop so people don't get the wrong idea about me.

I think I will retire the leopard dress for now.