Football is coming. It's getting a degree or so cooler day by day. Fall will here before we know it (FINALLY). Stores are overflowing with red and black gear to create the perfect tailgate. The official SEC hype video has been released, and the excitement of Christmas pales in the face of a Dawg ready to be back in Sanford Stadium. But... what are you going to wear?

"This is Athens - ", I told myself the week before last year's first home game,"finding a black dress is going to be a piece of cake". I have never been so wrong in all my life. 

I hate to tell you this, but it's important to the story: I was raised an Auburn fan. Don't question my loyalty; I bleed red and black now. What this means, however, is that prior to my freshman year at UGA, the only black things in my entire wardrobe were one long-sleeved t-shirt, and a dress I might die of a heat stroke in if I were to wear it in August. Both of those were obviously a no-go for game day. Not to mention, I owned absolutely no red aside from a tube of lipstick. 

That being said, I knew I desperately needed to go shopping, but didn't even think to do so while I had also been shopping for recruitment. Because I assumed it would be beyond easy to find something to wear to the game at a shop downtown, I waited until the day before the game to go look. All I needed was a black dress and a chunky red necklace (basic, I know). 

Once I arrived downtown after class, I poked around a few shops. I quickly realized, however, that everyone else must have had the same idea as I did, only they managed to get there a little earlier. Everything left over was either way too big or way too small, strangely cut, too hot, or completely impossible to wear. I found tops and not bottoms, then bottoms and not tops, and I couldn't find a single red necklace to Save. My. Life. I was dumbfounded. I didn't know what to do, and I certainly didn't have the time to head somewhere far away in hopes of finding a dress. It was looking like I'd have to show up in Norts and a tshirt  ...not in a million years. 

At long last, after venturing to every single store at least twice, I was finally able to compile a suitable combination of red and black things from various shops. It was exhausting, and definitely isn't something I plan to do again. Marathon shopping in Georgia heat is the WORST. 

This is your warning: Don't make the mistake I did. You're prepared for recruitment. You're prepared for school. You're probably about to move into your new apartment or house (Me too! Yay!), for which I certainly hope you're prepared. I do advise you, however, to find something to wear to the Clemson game (like, right now) so you can look your best when that first Saturday in Athens (that we're all so eager to welcome) finally arrives.

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