I’ve never been a huge sports fan, so unless I’m with football fans, I typically skip the Super Bowl in favor of doing nearly anything else possible. However, when I first learned that Super Bowl 50 was being held in my backyard {aka Santa Clara, California} way back in 2014, I decided that come Super Bowl weekend 2016 I would have to go to Levi’s Stadium to see what the most popular football game of the year is like. So, that Sunday, we made our way up to the Niner’s home {in the name of research} to see the Super Bowl experience truly was. While I knew I didn’t want to actually see the game, it was quite the experience to see the excitement that surrounded America’s favorite Sunday by driving to Levi’s Stadium on game day. And even without watching any of the actual game on TV or in real life {I’ve only to make it to two baseball games and two basketball games – because I danced during both halftime shows – in my entire life}, it was still one of the coolest experiences ever. I loved seeing the decor and lights, hearing the fans cheer, and experiencing what I’ve only ever seen on TV, in real life.

Last year, the game came back to our backyard – this time in sunny southern California – but I decided to stay in the second time around and watch the game {aka, the ads + halftime show} because I had already experienced the perfect, in-person Super Bowl six years earlier. This Sunday, I’m not sure where I’ll be or if football will even be a part of my day. But what I do know is that I will always remember that fun Super Bowl Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in 2016. After all, it was the perfect day with sunshine and a brisk breeze, surprisingly zero traffic, and plenty of military tanks and planes for security. I’m so excited to share a snapshot of our first “live” Super Bowl, in photographs, and I hope you enjoy whatever you do this Sunday, whether it is watching the Super Bowl, Puppy Bowl, or something else entirely.

x Paris

For the longest time, I believed that a solo dinner required a book, magazine, and/ or my cell phone to keep me company since I’d be sans date. At least, that was so, until several summers ago. I was working from home a lot that summer {pre-quarantine, so before WFH became our new normal}, and on a rather muggy day, I decided that the last thing I wanted to do was whip up a meal over a hot stove. I went out for lunch at a new restaurant I had been wanting to try, grabbing a book and my latest magazine to catch up on. As I ate the mushroom and bleu cheese burger, with a side of water since it was only noon, I found myself more interested in enjoying the flavor of the food, the atmosphere of the restaurant, and meeting new people who were seated next to me. I ended up reading the first two lines of my book, before closing it to spend my lunch hour enjoying my meal instead.

While every month, and especially February, can at times feel like everything needs to be done with your plus one, sometimes it’s nice to remember that there’s also something pretty special about getting a table for one. That one meal inspired me to begin finding my independence. Today, I will travel somewhere solo because no one else wants to go with me. I’ll attend an event alone, if that is something I want to see. Whether I take myself out on the dinner date at the restaurant only I am craving or travel halfway across the world to embark on the adventure no one else wants to go on just yet, I always love knowing that I am capable of being my own date. And I’ve since enjoyed many meals on my own, be it a sushi dinner when no one else is craving Japanese, or enjoying a cup of tea and a cookie at my favorite cafe in the afternoon.

While I still prefer date night dinners and Sunday brunches with friends over a solo meal, I love knowing that whether anyone is free or interested in doing something, if it’s something I want to do, I am more than capable of doing it on my own. And while there are days when I enjoy reading a book with my dinner or catching up on emails for a work lunch, on those days I want some me time, I prefer grabbing a seat at the bar and enjoying a meal I’m craving, sans any of my “solo meal safety nets”.

I’d love to know, what do you like to do on your own?

x Paris