Homegate Essentials

Last night a few of us met for some drinks at one of the bars in our new neighborhood. After I ordered a glass of chardonnay, CB nudged me on the shoulder and pointed up at the television, "Look! Football!" 

I know you're wondering my reaction, and yes, I teared up right there in the middle of the bar. We spent the rest of the night having a grand ole time, watching both NFL pre-season and college action. While being at a bar watching the game is wonderful, and going to the game is even better, both get very expensive. I'm not at the stage in life where I can afford to drop a grand on season tickets, so most weekends, you just have to Homegate! 

Today I thought I'd discuss my 6 Homegate -- not to be confused with deflategate -- Essentials. 

|| Item Number One || An Awesome Tee
While fashion bloggers on Instagram get annoyed when someone asks where they bought something, I get the ultimate thrill. If you ask me where I got my tshirt, I'm likely to ride that high for the rest of the day. This "Heck Yass Tennessee" shirt shown above is from my own shop, thank you for asking!


|| Item Number Two || Something Soft To Keep Your Hands Busy
If you're anything like me, and I'm pretty sure you are, you fidget the entire game. Occasionally, you throw things while screaming at a piercing volume. A volume so loud that you need to alert the neighbors that you're ok, and there's no need to call the police. Instead of holding on to, say, a football during the game, try something softer that won't shatter that flat screen television you paid a small fortune for. I suggest a foam finger or pom pom!


|| Item Number Three || Sweatpants
If we get right down to the truth, the only reason you’re not at the game is because you wanted to wear sweats instead. Sure tickets are expensive, but sitting in a tiny, scorchingly hot stadium seat in jeans for 3 hours is the real reason you didn't consider forking over a hundo to StubHub. Grab some Rotel and Velveeta, and enjoy that wonderful expanding elastic!


|| Item Number Four || Halftime Entertainment
Everyone should own a cornhole set, or be friends with someone who owns a cornhole set. CB and I bought a cheap one the very first week we moved into the new house. I hope that one day we'll upgrade it to a fancy painted set, but until then, the one we have works perfectly to get us through that Halftime lull.


|| Item Number Five || NFL Sunday Ticket
This is literally a game changer. NFL Sunday Ticket allows you to switch back and forth to every pro football game happening across the country -- and those across the pond! Plus, their commercials are the greatest ever. Remember when CB was Super Awkward Rob Lowe for Halloween last year? Maybe this year he should be Petite Randy Moss....


|| Item Number Six || A VIZIO Sound Bar
I love that the most important players on the field are now mic'd up during games. You can hear what they're saying to fire up their teammates, and guess the over/under on the number of times Peyton yells "Omaha!" Most importantly though, you can hear hits that are so hard, it makes you feel like you're sitting on the 50 yard line -- but clearly you're in sweatpants with cheese dip.

If you don't have the best audio system out there, that unique fan experience can get lost. This is where the VIZIO Sound Bar comes in. VIZIO's goal isn't just to provide consumers with an impressive product, they also focus on sound education. For example, the lower the bass, the better. Bass is measured in Hertz (Hz). The lower the hertz, the more you feel the rumble and the better the bass.

Having the right setup for your sound system when watching the game is essential. VIZIO offers a variety of solutions for all your living spaces, from compact sound stands to fully immersive 5.1 sound bar systems. Click here for their audio recommender, which finds which sound bar is the best fit for your home.

The VIZIO Sound Bar is so good you'll actually think Peyton is yelling, "OMAHA!" directly at you during the game. Now finding out what "Omaha!" actually means, that one is up to you!

What are your Homegate Essentials? 

Is there anything I missed other than the obvious, pizza delivery? 

This is a sponsored post for VIZIO, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.