My Epic Weekend In Pictures: Another Giants Game, Why Not?

Well this largely unplanned Weekend ended up turning into quite an Epic Weekend In Pictures. I knew my Friday night plans but the rest of the weekend was a blank canvas. I planned to tidy up things around my place, and stay relatively low key despite the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. I went into the weekend with that goal / game plan, and ended up with dramatically different results.

We'll start with Friday. It's always fun starting off my Epic Weekend In Pictures by giving free lunch to listener friends who win our Friday Office Lunch Party with Quarry Grill on 23 in Franklin. I can't ever pick favorites, but Sussex County Education Service Commission, WOW!!! I had such a great time meeting them and joking about my Pets Of The Week like the hiding kitten from the previous day. My friends at Sussex County Education Service Commission brought their A Game! They all wore fun Christmas sweaters and even made signs / props for our picture! Talk about a fun group! I would've hung out longer if I could have but I didn't want their food to get cold. They were psyched with the haul they won from Quarry Grill. Success! It's always a fun, great way to start your weekend when you're making people happy. You can't go wrong with free food, right? Promotions Assistant Brendan was my driver per usual. We laughed at how similar the paths have been for our Friday Office Lunch Party drop offs. I even went back to Quarry Grill after and enjoyed one of their delicious coffee frappes.

Friday night my game plan was to hang with besties Jasen and Brendan, I hadn't seen them since before Thanksgiving. That's one of the challenges I don't like during the holiday season so many friends and family are all over the place. Christmas landing on a Sunday probably won't make it much easier to see friends either. Normally I try to go back to New England for a mid December weekend to see some friends. This year it won't work out that way. All good. This Saturday I get to attend a pet food and supply drive at Industry in Sparta.

Friday night I swung by The Irish Cottage Inn for a quick beer and say hi to some friends. My friends Artie and Roy were teasing me because they were going to the Giants game Sunday in the cold elements and bad weather. I laughed and said I wanted to stay inside and watch the game at home comfortably. Artie busting on me said "Steve how come you're backing out on us? We always have so much fun!" I replied immediately with "I'm NOT backing out, I was never IN in the first place!!!!" We laughed. I enjoyed the joking back and forth and then made my way to Frosty Catina at Minerals to see Jasen and Brendan. My besties Steve and JG were upstairs at Kite's, I was psyched to get to hang out with all of them for my Friday night. The weekend got off to a fun start.

Saturday morning I was able to run some errands while successfully calling Madre for my weekly Saturday morning phone call with her. I was successful with laundry drop off and dry cleaning too. I then went to TJ Maxx in Butler on 23. They didn't have anything that really jumped out at me, especially with a very long line at the checkout. All good. I feel TJ and Marshall's you go there twice and nothing jumps out, but the third time then you score great deals.

Then my bestie Carrie reached out to me asking what I was up to. I told her I was leaving TJ and then a free agent after that. I swung by Jimmy Geez North to have some waffle french fries dipping into their killer Spicy Garlic sauce. I was able to see my friend Sam there and she knew what I was looking for immediately. Their Spicy Garlic sauce is the best hot sauce I have had here in Jersey. Facts!

I then went to The Cottage to watch the college football Army - Navy game. It's such a fun, historical rivalry that nonstop reminds you how there are matters in life more important than football. I got to The Cottage in Franklin and could tell they were packed. I was surprised. I was expecting a fun atmosphere for the Army Navy game, but not necessarily a huge crowd. I walked in and saw all new faces, not friends who I usually run into. Turns out they were all there for the FIFA World Cup! Whoops. I didn't even know that the game was on. I asked if it started at 3 when I got there, and was informed that it had already started and was in halftime. Whoops!

Even though I'm not into watching soccer, it is much more fun and intense when you're watching with friends who are passionately into it. Once soccer was over they switched televisions to the Army Navy game. What an exciting double overtime game that was! I had a great time hanging with Carrie. My dear friends Teresa and Ed also showed up. Artie and Roy ended up showing up to our table. Artie and Roy kept busting on me asking why I wasn't going to the game with them. All of the sudden, Artie gets a call from his friend Steve explaining that a couple of extra tickets just opened up. Artie said "come on Steve will you go?" I immediately chirped back with "FINE I'LL GO!" LOL. I'm very lucky to have a life where sometimes fun opportunities on a whim can happen like that. Artie's friends all welcomed me as if I had grown up with them. They even overlook that I'm a diehard Patriots fan. All of the sudden I met a new friend named Mike who asked me where I grew up. I told him Boston, then he asked where specifically what town. When I told him Mansfield, he lit up and yelled back to me "Easton!" He grew up probably 20 minutes away from me. He graduated Bridgewater State University in '99, I graduated from Bridgewater State University in '04. We talked about how many awesome pizza places we have up there, including of course Cape Cod Cafe. Artie said "oh great, the M@$$holes unite!" LOL.

It was definitely a much smaller tailgating crowd than normal due to the weather. It was pretty cold. I held out as long as I could before putting on my big coat. Everyone could tell I was cold, so I put it on to help them feel better. We had a great time hanging out and laughing with each other tailgating. I had fun running into besties Brad and Sarah, who were also attending the game. Lots of Philly fans at this one.

It was surreal, because every single play resulted in cheering, either Philly for their team or the Giants fans for their team. If you were distracted and not paying attention it was tough to tell by the roar of the crowd who was doing better. Well spoiler alert, the Giants got crushed by Philly. The Philadelphia Eagles are impressive on tape and even more impressive in person. Ugh. Philly. I hate Philly. I had a great time with Artie, Steve and Roy in their usual section. I even ran into friends I just met last week at the game. We had a great time despite the weather. Once I was in Metlife the weather wasn't as cold, maybe it was the body heat of 80,000 people that helped.

We had a great time. Thank you for taking the time to read my Epic Weekend In Pictures. Time to start planning next week: I know I'll be at Industry for our big pet food drive Saturday afternoon, and I know I have an ugly sweater party Saturday night. Let's go!!!