You gotta love the idea of a magazine made for the man in your life!  Especially when the magazine holds a full-on hecathlon that includes playing beer pong, inhaling a cupcake and a hitting a bullseye.  The winner of the inaugural Men, Ink. Hecathlon is Jason Gonzales--hence, the helmet!

The magazine is the brainchild of five guys.  It grew from the magazine Cape Fear Dads... because why limit yourself just to the papas in the Port City?  For now, the magazine will hit stands quarterly, ranging from feel-good stories to health, to fatherhood.  I caught my hubby getting into a story about a 36-year-old man who survived a heart attack.  The first cover story is about a guy who teaches orphaned girls in India how to surf.  Pretty amazing stuff.

So, start practicing your beer pong skills now!  I have a hunch that this Hecathlon thing will soon be one of those not-to-miss events!

I don't know about you guys, but I love taking my dog to the beach.  Since she was born in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest, she's not used to the sand and sun yet.  And, she most certainly does not "get" the water.  BUT, she loves seeing people and other pups at the beach!

We recently took her to Wrightsville Beach, and she did the darndest thing.  She tried to catch a kite.

It was the funniest thing at the time.  She kept jumping up and trying to catch it!  I recorded it... but then stupidly, I deleted it.  Don't tell my husband because he was really looking forward to it being on Minnie the Rottweiler's YouTube channel.  Whoops.

[UPLOAD YOUR CUTE PET PICS]

Anyway... I guess we won't be going to Wrightsville together for a few more months now that it's about to be closed off to canines for the busy season.  You'll just have to catch us at another beach that accepts dogs year round!   It's been fun!

I love the American Red Cross Gala.  It was the very first event I attended after I moved to Wilmington in 2010.  Lots of good people, great fun and a wonderful cause.

The American Red Cross does such amazing things for the community and beyond.  In Missouri, it seemed as if I'd work with the Red Cross every spring and summer during tornado season.  But, more often, you'll find workers and volunteers helping with fires, flooding and connecting military families all across the country.

I love going to events that make a difference.  Madonna Nash sang us two beautiful songs!  Also, Frances Weller did an impressive job softening up and yet commanding the crowd--just ask Jonathan Weiss from The City Club how much he'd pay for a glass of wine!  The live auction is always fun to watch.

We had such a great afternoon at The 16th Annual Budweiser Wing Fling in Carolina Beach!  I think the festival has finally found its home at the Carolina Beach Boardwalk.  Lots of great music, fun and of course... wings! 

Oh, did I mention that my co-anchor, Jon Evans, thought he signed us up for wing judging?  He apparently committed me to a wing EATING contest!  I wanted to dress up as the competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi... but instead I just came dressed in Jason Wu!

Jim and Bryan from 103.7 FM The Bone were there to razz us... as we sucked down as many wings as possible.  Bryan even joined the eating competition!  But, at the end of the day... the winner was... JON EVANS!  That guy can really put away a few wings!  

What a great event!  Money raised goes to UNCW and area charities.

What an awesome pajama jam!   The United Way put on another successful event at Bluewater Grill. Proceeds help fight chronic homelessness.  The money goes to the Cape Fear Homeless Medical Respite Project. 

The event was so fun!  The models wore cute sleepware from local boutiques... Special thanks to Rochelle from La Bella Forma and Elisha Wendte and Steven Crutchfield from Blush!  What a fun event and an even better cause.

Plus, it was kind of fun to see city and county leaders in their PJs.  Shhh!

Everyone is talking about Harris Teeter's big savings this week.  Couponers about lost their rockers over triple coupons... the store will basically triple most coupons.  It's triple the fun, but it's also triple the headache.  Do you know how many coupons a couponer has?!

[Read the breakdown and see a list of my favorite bloggers]

I ended up taking two trips to the store and using 20 coupons each trip.  I got a few things for free, including:  Panko bread crumbs, tofu, Mentos gum... and then several items for cheap.  In all, I spent about $29 for $105 worth of groceries and other products.

Another luncheon, another tearjerker.

The Pinwheels and Promises Luncheon always makes me tear up.  Proceeds go to the North Carolina Children's Hospital and helps 2.1 million children, regardless of a family's ability to pay.

We heard from Mary Garner and Jan Oden of Wilmington.  Mary Garner was a burn victim in the first grade but had an amazing healing experience at the Children's Hospital.  She said she felt so much love and care from all the staff there-- and even joked she wished she had gotten burned after the new hospital was built! To them, the time at the hospital was special, even though it was a very scary situation and long recovery.

We also heard from English Clemmons.  She and her brother were both born with Cystic Fibrosis.  She said she had some of her best and worst memories there, and now that she's an adult (and engaged), she wished she could still go back to the Children's Hospital for her treatment.  She goes back to visit her younger brother there, though.

Everyone who spoke had such touching things to share.  I was really moved by it!  Incredible people are doing incredible things!

Who doesn't love a good pajama jam?! 

Mark your calendars for the PJ Party at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 23rd at Bluewater.  Money raised goes to the United Way in conjunction with the Cape Fear Homeless Medical Respite Project.  The end goal is to help provide a safe environment for sick or injured homeless people.  

La Bella Forma will own the runway!  Owner Rochelle Myers says the models will be dressed conservatively, so don't get any ideas! 

Join me!  Details are below:

If you watch the news in Wilmington, you've probably noticed that we've really tried to help you save money.  I hear from a lot of people who say they want to start couponing but 1) don't know where to start or 2) think it's too hard.

Let me tell you.  Those misconceptions will wreck your wallet.  You will have bumps in the road in the beginning, but if you just stick to it for a couple of weeks, it will start making sense... and then it will start making you lots of cents.

The way I see it, if you follow us, we can help.  We talk with some of the best couponers out there who have the time to shop for great deals... we highlight what they do and we share the info with you.  And, I find good deals, too, but I can in no way compete with our awesome bloggers.

On another note - my boss recently came up with an idea to give away a gift card next time I went shopping.  If you want to win, just follow Fox Wilmington on Facebook to see where I am... if you spot me, come up to me and I'll give you the giftcard!  (I also give a hint early on my FB page)Today was our first try at it, and it was so much fun!  Congrats to Robert!  He was so cute... he saw it on his phone and was near the area.  He walked right up to me!  

No matter where you live in the country,  there's a pretty good chance you can snag one of these deals!

In all, there were quite a few freebies, including Dean's dip, Thermacare, Zyrtec, Snickers bars and hot sauce to name a few.  If my math is correct, I spent $56.98 on $183.89 worth of products! 

If you want the breakdown, I've posted it on Fox Wilmington's website - it's just quicker for me to post the slideshow here.  We'll talk about it on the news tonight, too!  Hope you can join us.