Thank you for coming out to the charity shows on Wednesday & Thursday with WQMX! Three words to describe them - A. MA.ZING.!!!! We raised a lot of money for both Bosom Buddies and NEOPAT. As always, this money stays local here in NorthEast Ohio! Beyond that, the shows the artists put on were A+!

Wednesday with Hannah Ellis at the beautiful setting of 1875 Winery was such fun! It got chilly after the sun went down, but who cares?! The music was great, and I hear the food and drinks were top notch as well.

Then on Thursday at the Dusty Armadillo, Frank Ray and Michael Ray blew the roof off the house! Frank was fantastic, and Michael put on a show that was one of the best I have seen in a long time.

It was great seeing everyone at both events, thank you so much fo helping charity, and I hope you enjoyed the shows as much as I did! See you at Bosom Buddies Oct 18th. Get your tickets now!!!

I finally went and got a haircut this afternoon. I wanted to get it done before the two charity shows we have going on this week so I would look at least halfway decent in pictures.

Of course I don't remember exactly how long it's been since my last haircut. I just know that my hair was getting long enough to start to annoy me. I feel so much better now. The trick is to keep myself on a schedule to get my haircut at regular intervals so I don't feel scraggly - YEAH, I'm not gonna hold my breath on that...lol

October 4th will be a very special day for Darius Rucker and some other music icons. Darius is among the group who will be inducted this year to the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville. Kind of like a mini Hollywood Walk of Fame, this sits across the street from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Bridgestone Arena in Downtown Nashville.

Ever since he made the transition from Hootie & The Blowfish to a solo country career, Darius Rucker has had huge success in both genres. Congratulations to him, well deserved!

Think back to your childhood. What did you call your grandparents? Did your maternal and paternal set have different names? the same? A new survey looked at the most popular names for grandparents across the country and by each state.

Here in Ohio, apparently they are "Mamaw" and "Papaw". The most common overall in the country are "Nana" and "Papa". I think can definitely be a regional thing too - like the soda/pop argument.

Am I the weird one? On both sides, I called my grandparents "Grandma" and "Grandpa". When I needed to, I added the last name. Read the article about the study in the Plain Dealer here.

I am a believer in letting everything have its time to shine in the spotlight. It seems as though that idea has been lost as seen with Pumpkin Spice showing up in August this year, even before Labor Day! I feel the same way with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas - let each of those holidays have their own stand alone time where we don't mention the next one yet.

Take right now for example. We are exactly THREE DAYS after Labor Day, and I am seeing Halloween decorations up all over the place. I get it, it's warm and you want to get those up while it's still nice to do so. But at the same time...it's only September 7th! More than a month and a half away from Halloween. I just feel it's too early until October 1st. Then we can start with the bird on November 1st, and the jolly guy in the red suit (and the seasonal music) on November 24th.

I know not everyone feels this way, but that is what I think. If you feel differently, you do you. I don't actually spend time thinking about this seriously. I thought it would be a fun topic to write about since I'm seeing a lot of Halloween decorations going up. Since that's the case, I guess it's not too soon to say: Happy Holidays ;). LOL

I was saddened to hear on my first day of vacation that Bob Barker had died at the age of 99. Like so many of us, growing up I would always spend those days home from school either sick or because of a school holiday with the TV on CBS at 11AM to catch Bob and Rod Roddy on The Price is Right. It was also a staple during Summer vacation, and of course when I went off to college!! I was sad when Bob decided to finally retire in 2007 after 35 years, but I knew he deserved it. 

I am also so happy with all of the tireless work he put into animal rights and activism. I love how he always closed out the show with his message about doing your part to help control animal populations. He knew where he stood and he wouldn't budge - he even quit hosting the Miss USA Pageant when they refused to no longer award fur coats. 

Based on how he hosted The Price is Right and how he interacted with the contestants, I would place him as the #1 game show host in television history. There will never be another like him. RIP.

I have returned from my nearly week long adventure down to the Smokies of East Tennessee. Spent about 4 days at my family's vacation house with my mom and we did a few fun things, as well as some housekeeping items as well.

We spent a day at Dollywood (a must on a trip to East Tennessee), went to the Ripley's Aquarium, played a few rounds of mini golf (both indoor and outdoor), went to the Alcatraz East Crime Museum, and the Knoxville Zoo. We also had to go furniture shopping and stopped at a big box store to get a new TV up and running in a bedroom at the house.

On our way home we stopped for a couple nights in Cincinnati. We spent this past Saturday at the Cincinnati Zoo (to see Fiona of course ;)), and then on Sunday we went to the Newport Aquarium across the Ohio River from Downtown Cincinnati. After the afternoon there, we drove home Sunday evening.

The Newport Aquarium was the only attraction I had not been to before. It'd been several years since I had been to the Cincy Zoo, but I always enjoy my time in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. 

Glad to be back home.

This will be my view for the next week. I am taking next week off and going to my house in the Tennessee Smokies. I love it - it feels like home to me...a second home. I plan to stop by Dollywood, hit all of my favorite restaurants in the area (why cook?! I'm on vacation and the food there is delicious). Also plan to stop by the Aquarium of The Smokies, the Knoxville Zoo, Tennessee History Museum and more. I want to be sure to get some mini golf in as well - one of the best areas for a diverse selection of courses.

Have a wonderful week and a great Labor Day weekend! I'll talk to you in September!

You could get free admission to the Akron Zoo in September! The zoo will have a limited number of free tickets available per day. This is part of their Community Days promotion that has been celebrated since 2001.

If you live in Summit County and would like more information about how to reserve your tickets and other information, click here.

This Wednesday, many in the Country Music industry will gather at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville for the ACM Honors. Being honored tomorrow night are Clint Black, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and K.T. Oslin. Also, Kane Brown will receive the ACM International Award and Tim McGraw will take home the ACM Icon Award.

So many artists will be there to pesent awards and perform. Chris Janson, Jordan Davis, Lady A, Keith Urban, Trisha Yearwood, Priscilla Block, Lee Brice, Hailey Whitters, and Brett Young will all be there. Carly Pearce is in charge of hosting duties for the evening.

While the event is tomorrow, you can catch it broadcast on Fox the evening of September 18th.