Lisa Jeffries Nobling – Raleigh, NC

Tag: NC State Fair

  • What I’ve Been Up To: October Edition

    October flew by because it was packed with things to do, places to be, and people to see. My favorite ways to fill up a busy schedule!

    Johnnie Bud and I spent the first weekend of October visiting my little sister Mandy and her other half Joe up in Delaware are their first house. We got a special tour of Dover Air Force Base where my sister is a veterinarian and the officer in charge at the Dover Air Force Base Veterinary Treatment Facility – check out this great Veteran’s Day article on her and the patients she sees daily: Base vet supports mission, your pets. It’s a long 6+ hour drive (about 2 hours north of D.C.), but always worth it to spend some quality downtime with family.

    Johnnie’s brother got married the next weekend on a Sunday – congrats Christopher and Nikki! – and the very next morning was the WRAL TechWire Executive Exchange: Fiber Transforms the Triangle half-day conference held at SAS that I spent no less than three months working on. Every detail, from venue, down to nametags, was painstakingly planned for by my incredible team at WRAL.com and this high-caliber event went off without a hitch. It’s nice to occasionally have a nice, long planning and marketing timeline and a moderate budget to work with!

    Just four short days after the Fiber event, Johnnie Bud and I hoped on a plane bound for Louisville and not only traveled to see NCSU play at Louisville (notice I didn’t say “win”… bummer), but we spent a few days checking out a “new to both of us” city and toured and tasted as many of the stops on the Urban Bourbon Trail as possible. Louisville’s got a great food and beverage culture, but their downtown foot traffic is surprisingly slow on the weekends compared to somewhere like Raleigh. I would love to visit again in 5-10 years to see if that has changed.

    We wrapped up the month with more places to be at the UConn vs. ECU game in Greenville (thanks for the hospitality, Cory and Alison!), another lovely night of fundraising for the Rex Foundation at the Rex Gala, and as with every October, a quick visit to the NC State Fair!

    Business-wise, I’m thrilled to say that several projects were completed for Raleighwood Media Group clients and I even had the opportunity to develop three proposals for new business (social media management and email marketing projects) which are all coming to fruition now that we’re in November… also known at #Movember. So #LetItGrowRDU and I’ll check in next month. Thanks for reading, y’all!

  • 2010 NC State Fair in Review

    Went a total of four times this year – all four were fantastic, per the usual.


    http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncsulilwolf/sets/72157625109184059/

    Tuesday: The boys wanted to go for dinner. Saw a cow utterly object (nice play on words, right?) to practicing in the show circle any longer by hopping over the fence and running out of the building… with about 10 folks chasing her. Classic! Kicking myself for being too engaged in watching the action to take a video or get a picture of this.

    Thursday: We went again for dinner, dragged Little Sister along for the fun, too. It was Can Day, but we forgot to help out this great cause and just paid at the gate. (Darn it!)

    Saturday: Saw Hoooootie! (Aka: Darius Rucker). One of the best country shows I’ve seen in quite some time. Included Darius songs, a Toby Keith song (“God Love Her”), a few classic country hits, and three Hootie hits. Perfection!

    Sunday: Breakfast and lunch with the family – NC State fair style! Did the Turkey Shoot. I missed the entire paper target, naturally.

    Got a little education in under my belt, too – courtesy of this Deep Fried (NC State Fair) blog post:

    NC is ranked 2nd in egg production in the U.S.
    NC produces about 25% of the nation’s Christmas Trees
    NC grows 45% of the nation’s sweet potatoes…    Also, I found the following items to be newly-vegetarian approved at this year’s State Fair (in no particular order):Mt. Olive pickles, peanuts, fried pickles, fried Oreos, fried honey buns, Al’s French Fries, candy apples, egg biscuits, hush puppies, veggie plate at the Amran Shriners tent, etc.
    PS – I also just read that the NC State Fair had 1,000,000 visitors this year… a NC State Fair First!

  • I Hate the Cold

    Never fails, when the fair makes it to town… it’ll get cold! (Usually, it’s warm in the the day and cold at night – meaning you have to drag a coat around all day to avoid evening freezing, but it’s downright cold in the day already. BOO!)

    Just FYI, I heart the NC State Fair. Nick and I will be going at least twice. NEB, Grubey, Mom, Mandy, and I started off the 2009 State Fair last Thursday with Jason Michael Carroll. He had a great opening act – Patrick Davis (@pdmusic).

    Friday NEB, Adrianne, and Adrianne’s YM (reference: Yankee Manfriend), and I left for Charlotte. We stayed with Bri and Drew (can’t wait for them to move to Raleigh!) and Cole and Lindsey met us on Saturday afternoon.

    The race would’ve been great, if I wasn’t FUH-REEEEZING. Seriously, I had LOTS o’ layers on and was too cold to drink more than 1 Beergarita. Lame.

    Here’s hoping for warmer weather for Eric Church’s show!

  • Zac Brown Band Coming to Cary

    It’s a little messed up that they backed out of the State Fair, but I guess I won’t hold a grudge… and will still put their next local show on my calendar.

    Via ZBB email today:

    The Breaking Southern Ground Tour 2009
    Kicking off September 24th in Cary, NC.

    Tickets on sale August 14th, 2009
    (Thanks for the advance notice guys… *insert sarcastic look here*.)

    Thank goodness it’s a Thursday concert and doesn’t interfere with weddings (Nikki and Randy’s that weekend) and wait for it… college football (NCSU vs. Pittsburgh)!

  • Thrilled!

    This fall is going to be one heck of a concert season, all in one NC State Fair’s span, too!

    If you don’t want to watch the whole video, here’s the country-heavy (and very much Lisa approved) lineup:

    Thursday 10/15 – Jason Michael Carroll($5)

    Friday 10/16 – Third Day ($15)

    Saturday 10/17 – Kellie Pickler ($10)

    Sunday 10/18 – Nat and Alex ($10)

    Monday 10/19 – Jamey Johnson ($5)

    Tuesday 10/20 – The Temptations ($10)

    Wednesday 10/21 – Julianne Hough ($5)

    Friday 10/23 – Jeremy Camp w/ 10th Avenue North ($10)

    Saturday 10/24 – Blake Shelton ($10)

    Sunday 10/25 – Eric Church ($5)


    Tickets go on sale Aug. 3rd at 10am. You will also need admission tickets to the fair to get into any show.

    Seriously though, DO NOT MISS your chance to see JMC, Jamey, Blake, and Eric for $25. Might as well get Julianne, Kellie, and Temptation tickets, too since you’ll be saving so much 😉

    PS – Thursday, Oct. 22 is intentionally blank because the artist has backed out of their contract. The State Fair is working on a replacement.

  • Recognize that Little Curly-Haired Girl?

    Readers of the NC State Fair’s blog may have recognized a familiar face yesterday!

    http://2008ncstatefair.blogspot.com/2008/09/fair-fan-lisa-jeffries.html

    (Note: Fall 1987 was just before the first appearance of my younger sister, Mandy.)

    Check out some of our family’s fair pictures from the 22+ years we’ve been going together (18 since my sister was born) in the following slideshow.

    The NC State Fair – definitely one of my favorite family pastimes!

  • Halloween in Wolfpack Country

    I loooooove Halloween – and all that it entails: decorating, parties, costumes, and other devilishly fun stuff.

    This is must-have for any Wolfpack household. ESPECIALLY the house divided so that the significant other never forgets which team is really tops. 😉


    (FootballFanatics.com)    Thanks to CottonCandy from the NC State Fair blog for sharing this great pumpkin carving tool!

  • Facebook vs. MySpace

    Dear facebook,

    You are SO much better than MySpace.
    Just wanted to make sure you are aware of that.

    Love,
    Lisa

    While yes, I do have MySpace (it’s necessary in the marketing/social media/bar industries unfortunately), I hate it. It’s so abused and full of crap, spam, and people who don’t know how to write literate messages thanks to text messaging that it’s nearly impossible to use without frustration every time you log on. UGH.

    Clearly, everyone else is starting to see things the way I do. Even the venues and associations are starting to take notice and respond accordingly!

    Proof? Previously referenced events (many times over): Beer, Bourbon & BBQ on facebook and NC State Fair on facebook with a profile and concert events.

    Yay!

  • Country Music Junkie

    …and proud of it!

    I was really excited to see the line-up for the State Fair – especially Lady A and Heidi (I’m in love with “Johnny & June”):

    Rites of fall: NC State Fair
    Feel that nip in the air? The 2008 NC State Fair gets underway in a mere 92 days, and the concert lineup (which is, as usual, heavy on the country) has been released. Online ticket sales start Aug. 1 , and the lineup is below. Scope the details here.

    Oct. 16 — Josh Turner
    Oct. 17 — Jason Aldean
    Oct. 18 — Toby Mac
    Oct. 19 — Lady Antebellum and Heidi Newfield
    Oct. 20 — Bobby Flay
    Oct. 21 — Bucky Covington
    Oct. 22 — TBA
    Oct. 23 — Mario
    Oct. 24 — Leeland
    Oct. 25 — Joe Nichols
    Oct. 26 — Montgomery Gentry

    Looks like I’ll be attending the fair nearly every evening!

    Oooh… and we can take Mom and Dad to Bobby Flay… wonder if he’ll do a local showdown while he’s here?

  • State Fair Adding An Extra Day!!!

    Yay!! Looks like we’re getting an extra evening of deliciously-not-good-for-you food, rides, and fireworks, according to today’s TBJ article, State Fair to Open a Day Early:

    The State Fair will open a day earlier than scheduled this year for a Thursday “preview,” organizers say.

    The fair, originally scheduled to open Oct. 17, will instead open its doors to the public at 3 p.m. Oct. 16.

    “Last year, the State Fair set records for daily and total attendance, with more than 858,000 people coming out to have fun,” Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in a statement. “Adding a day gives visitors even more time to have a great time learning about agriculture and experiencing the exhibits, rides, games and food.”

    The Agriculture Department says it’s the first time in 22 years that state officials have added days to the fair.

    Admission to the fair Oct. 16 will be $5 for adults and $1 for children ages 6 to 12, with seniors and kids under 6 getting in for free. That compares to a regular $7 admission charge, though it’s expected that only 85 percent of the fair’s midway rides will be operational in time for the early start.

    Organizers say concession stands, exhibit halls and grounds entertainment will be ready by Oct. 16.

    The fair will run until Oct. 26 at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.