At long last, my dreams have come true.

Onward State has truly been a blessing in my life, and I’ve been granted so many amazing opportunities because of the blog. But this week, my biggest blog dream came to fruition.

On Tuesday, I rode around campus in a giant peanut. And let me tell you: After a long, stressful weekend, I really needed a good post-THON nut!

Two weeks ago, I wrote a heartfelt letter to Mr. Peanut asking him to come to Happy Valley. Luckily, Mr. Peanut is on Twitter, so he heard my plea loud and clear.

Heard you. All fair points Grace. I'll see what I can do about this.

— Mr. Peanut (@MrPeanut) February 10, 2021

I was already over the moon when Mr. Peanut shouted me out on Twitter. Little did I know, this was only the beginning of a beautiful love story.

Flash forward two weeks, and I’m riding shotgun in a giant nut, listening to 2000s hits, and chillaxin’ with my new BFFs: Almond Ally and Ty the Nut Drivin’ Guy.

But let me start at the beginning.

Our tour started at the HUB. Ally and Ty, our drivers, picked me and three other staffers up. As if we weren’t already excited enough, none other than Mr. Peanut himself came along for the ride, too.

Once we got situated in the nut, Almond Ally told us that there are two rules when riding in the NUTmobile: You must wear your seatbelt, and you are required to wave at everyone out the window.

Almond Ally gave me the power to use the megaphone — I abused this power tremendously. I was shelling out nut puns like an absolute maniac (pun intended).

But don’t worry, I also used my power for good by shouting out compliments to every passerby.

Pay it forward, baby!

We stopped at all the iconic places on campus. First up: Beaver Stadium.

Then, we made our way to the Lion Shrine.

Throughout the joyride, I learned a lot about Almond Ally. She recently graduated from Syracuse University as an advertising major. She’s been to some pretty cool places all across the country, and her favorite part of the job is getting to see people act like little kids again when they see the NUTmobile cruisin’ around town. New dream job: unlocked.

We ended our tour back at the HUB, where we were gifted with some NUTmobile swag. Ty the Nut Drivin’ Guy pulled some peanuts and stickers out of his nutsack (I swear that’s what it’s called), and Almond Ally gave us some snazzy Christmas tree ornaments.

Mr. Peanut even bid us farewell by dancing to “Cupid Shuffle.” That nut has moves!

Go off @MrPeanut pic.twitter.com/iW1B32aLmf

— Grace Cunningham (@gecunningham7) February 24, 2021

Almond Ally, if you’re reading this: I miss you (and Ty the Nut Drivin’ Guy and Mr. Peanut, too). Between you and me, we enjoyed our time in the NUTmobile more than the Weinermobile we rode last year. Shhh!

Overall, this was the best day of my life. It’s not every day that you get to ride a giant nut with wheels!