If you know anything about me, you know I’m pretty much a dude at heart. I’d choose football on my television, beer in my belly, hoodie and comfy pants on and a fire in the fireplace to pretty much any given situation in life. I’ve been a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan since my childhood. Born in Oklahoma, my mom raised me to love the Cowboys. She’d send me down the road to my uncle’s house (who was a Steelers fan at that time) to say “GO COWBOYS!”
Going to the Super Bowl? It’s been on my life’s to-do list for as long as I can remember. What I didn’t expect was the ability to make that dream a reality before my 35th birthday.
This year, after we paid our taxes and we paid for a vacation to Disney World for the girls, Michael and I decided to pull the trigger on this dream and just do it. If you know my husband, you know how creeky his wallet is, so it wasn’t an easy “yes” for him. We decided to head for Phoenix (where we grew up and where the Super Bowl 49 was being held) after our vacation.
IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE. Here is a little photo walk through of the day!
Our view from the front of our room at the Fairmont Princess. We could see the golf course!
The Fox Sports team was here so we saw broadcasters walking all over the place!
We checked into the hotel and decided to head out on a little date night to our favorite restaurant in Arizona, Tutti Santi.
MMMMMMMM The Ravioli ala Nina will kill you it’s so good.
Saturday we went to the Phoenix Open. Michael and I LOVE golf. The crap part was that both Tiger and Phil missed the cut. We followed Rickie Fowler and that was pretty sweet. It was muddy and wet but really good to hang out at the course for the day.
Our tickets arrived. I freaked out.
Date night to another favorite restaurant in Scottsdale, Sapporo. MMMMMMM.
Flaming plates. The old teppan yaki favorite. I could go for some of that rice right about now.
The next morning???? SUPER BOWL DAY!!!! Our bus left at 10:00 am for the pre-party and game.
A police escort to the game? Don’t mind if I do. All the cars we passed on the street were looking into the charter bus like we were celebrities. It was pretty funny.
Walked in and grabbed us some swag.
Michael snuggled a little bit with Chris Pratt…NBD. He and Anna Ferris followed us in and then were whisked away in their celebrity-mobile.
We found our seats and then went outside to people watch for a bit. You pay thousands of dollars for these tickets and there are SO MANY PEOPLE.
Game’s about to start and David Arquette just walks in and sits in front of us. Coolest dude ever. I half expected him to be crazy but he was totally nice, totally normal and totally funny.
Here’s a video of the Patriots heading into the stadium. This has to be a real moment for these players, you know? It was so loud.
Our seats were bad ass. Michael did a good job tracking us down a view.
Here come’s the Seahawks:
Here’s opening kickoff:
IMG 1203 from Lindsay Teague Moreno on Vimeo.
EVERY SINGLE PLAY of this game was amazing. I screamed the entire game and I didn’t even really care who won. I rooted for the Hawks, of course, because we lived in Seattle but unless it’s the Cowboys or Cardinals I’m good with any winner as long as it’s a good game.
The halftime show was pretty badass!
As they were setting up in about 13 seconds, we weren’t sure what the heck all those people with lighted balls were doing. Since we didn’t have a view from the top I had to watch it again on TV the next day.
On TV the stage looked like it moved around but it didn’t, it was just a tarp thing that had graphics on it that moved. CRAZY to see it afterwards.
This lion thing? Yea, it was as cool in person. They put that thing together out of NOWHERE! Like magic.
Tried to zoom in on the iPhone but you know how that kind of thing goes.
Katy Perry’s all “hey, it’s me on a giant gold lion, what’s up?”
Some dude came out of nowhere with a fireman’s pole for her to slide down off of that lion and she suddenly appeared on the other stage. I swear this chick went to Hogwarts.
Katy’s going along. She was entertaining. The sound was terrible in the stadium, as you can imagine with 70,000 seats and an open roof.
Then Missy Elliott came out and was all “hey Katy, I’ll just be taking over your performance, don’t mind me” and I turned to Michael and said “IS THAT MISSY????”
…and it was MISSY! Everyone in the stadium freaked out at that little ding, ding ding, ding, ding, ding riff…you know the one.
Nobody even remembered Katy Perry was there at this point.
Katy Who?
Then Katy went flying around the stadium like My Little Pony. It was pretty cool.
Here’s a video I got of what it was like from our point of view. Sound is terrible, of course, but it was quite a show.
IMG 1232 from Lindsay Teague Moreno on Vimeo.
“The More You Know…” Anyone, anyone?
Back to some intense football!
Worst picture in the world of me and “hi, my name is David.” So sweet.
He shared is red vines with us. See? totally cool dude. We also toasted our cotton candy because COTTON CANDY.
This was just before the worst play call in the history of play calls. Every Pats fan was clinching their butt cheeks right here.
Patriots win!
Here’s Belichick getting a Gatorade bath:
There is absolutely just as much confetti in person as there is on TV. Now I know for sure.
I will never forget this. After this game, Michael and I decided that each year our business grows, we’ll go back to the Super Bowl to celebrate. San Francisco next year, who’s coming with us? Let’s go, Cowboys!
My favorite part was Katy flying around like my little pony…bahahaha! I LOVE reading about other people living out their dreams! It always reminds me of my Bucket List and keeps me working hard to check those things off!!!!!
What an awesome experience! You are an inspiration and watching your dreams come true is very motivating!!!
I loved reading this post! I love football too and I almost went to a Super Bowl several years ago and I know I will someday. What an incredible experience you two had, one that you can treasure forever. P.S. Chris Pratt is so hot!
I couldn’t even imagine going to the Super Bowl until I read this. My BHAG is the World Series Game 7!
AWESOME just AWESOME, congratulations!
What a Awesome experience you two must have had. And what gorgeous pictures and video’s. I could tell by the look on your faces, you two were having the time of your Life. Good for you!! Lindsey, you and Michael work hard for your Money, why not do things you enjoy and have Dreamed of all your Life. I too Love the Dallas Cowboys!! Emmitt Smith is THE man. I didn’t know much about Football back then, but I love Emmitt Smith, and Deon Sanders. But I’m a huge Baseball Fan. Atlanta Braves!! I have BB Cards of the 4 Best Pitchers on the Atlanta Braves Team From the 1990’s. My Grandson will get them. My Late husband was a AA Baseball Player for Boston in the 80’s, till he was injured. Chipped Bones in his elbow. He was a Catcher. We I thoughtly enjoyed you post. Thanks for sharing!!