I am just getting around to seeing these pics, and I wanted to give a shout out to the organizers of the Little Black Dress Affair!  It was such a great event, and I'm glad I got to emcee the fashion show!

Ann Marie Martin from Reve and Lisa Barry from Barry Chic helped put it together to raise money for Gilda's Club in Madison.  Gilda's Club helps people impacted by cancer.  And... it doesn't take long for us to realize we are ALL impacted by cancer somehow.

The idea of the event was to show off a store's interpretation of the little black dress!  What many showed off were the 'must-haves' or the go-tos.  Clearly, it wasn't just clothing for the ladies...

I feel like I always have to start out with saying --

1.  I'm not a big drinker.
2.  I'm allergic to most beer.

However, most of the time when I drink beer, I just get a little stuffy.  It still didn't stop me from sharing a beer flight with my husband recently at the Ale Asylum.  

I've heard a lot of people say they've wanted to try out the place.  I can say... it was a very nice experience!  It's open seating, but we didn't have a problem finding a place to park it.

I would highly suggest ordering a beer flight:

We ordered six little beers for $15.  And, truthfully, it was plenty of beer between two people.  The alcohol content, as many of you know, is a little more potent in these kinds of brews.

We wanted to pick some of the brewery's favorites:  Madtown Nutbrown, Happy Ending, Hopalicious... to name a few.

My fave?  Nutbrown.  Jim's fave?  Hopalicious.

If you're trying to piece the pictures together, the darker beer on the very right is the first one on the yellow sheet... and then the beer goes from R to L. 

We thought we'd do it up light and order salads.  I will tell you, the side salad is great because it has cheese curds!  Jim liked his steak salad a lot because the meat had a coffee rub.  Good stuff!

Want to kick up your office game?  Bring in a can of sterno and share the love of s'mores.  We had it at work today to celebrate fall!

A while back, I experienced my first fish fry in Madison... and wouldn't you know it, some North Carolinians are the ones who took me there!

These are my friends Neal and Melissa Richardson.  Neal and I met in Wilmington, North Carolina, a few years ago when he asked me to emcee the Cape Fear Shrimp Festival.  For the record, Neal throws some really incredible parties!  Check out the Epicurean Evening in Wilmington - it is one of the most popular events in town, and it raises money for great causes, like human trafficking and children living in foster care.

Neal's career brought him to Madison, and so far, he's been a great resource for all-things Wisconsin.  Funny how that works!  He also used to run a tour business in Wilmington, so I suppose it makes sense that he'd sniff out the good stuff.

We went to Kavanaugh's Esquire Club, where I really loved the family style setting.  It was also named one of Madison Magazine's best picks for a fish fry!  Can't wait for my next one... always taking suggestions!

I love this.  Two little sisters get a Disneyland surprise... again... and the little sister thinks her big sis is being a drama queen... again.  

Watch around 1:40.

It's actually really endearing.  Thanks to @NikkiBussey for sharing!

Someone's in the doghouse, guilty as charged!

I normally wouldn't subject my 90 pound puppies to a game of dress-up, but I can't resist a good Halloween costume.

We went to the pet store for dog food and walked out with a pair of outfits for my girls.  My oldest, Minnie, gets to play cop... and my baby Piper gets to be the bad guy.  Sounds about right.

Piper is just now 2, and she's very submissive to Miss Minnie.  As herding dogs, Minnie takes the lead and is always trying to keep Piper in line.  Poor Piper!  

I feel bad though because we got these EXTRA LARGE costumes, and they're still too small.  I couldn't even get Minnie's legs through the sleeves!

Every now and then I need a guilty pleasure to read at the beach.  Oh shoot.  I no longer live at the beach.  

Well sometimes I just need it, okay!  Who doesn't want to see celebrities going grocery shopping?  Anyway, there's a great deal on US Weekly that I just had to share.  Deal ends on 9/20.  It's a quick one!

Discount Mags is partnering with The Krazy Coupon Lady to bring us a good deal on magazines.  Truthfully, I don't want to admit that I like reading these every now and then... but let's just be honest.  Every now and then it's nice to see what the Royal family is up to! 

It's very easy.  Go online and use KRAZY as a coupon code.  I just did it!  Let me know if it works for you.  I got two years, but you can get 1, 2, or 3 years.  You can also renew or give as a gift.

We just camped out for a free Keurig. So many people are talking about this right now in Madison.  If you want a free Keurig, you have to turn in your old coffee maker, and then you'll get the exchange!  

Keurig has been posting where they're going to be... and then you trade in your old coffee maker for a brand new Keurig!  And, just like everything, the early bird gets the worm.  Ask News 3's Dannika Lewis... sometimes it's just too early.

The day we went it was raining, and the Keurig folks were not going to set up in the rain and lightning.  So, after camping out for an hour or so, we got free vouchers!  I preferred this because we started camping out around 7 a.m. for a 10 a.m. giveaway. Since the event got called off, we were given vouchers by 8:45 am.!

Other than being wet, it was a great trade-off!  I went home and took a nap!

There is still one more Keurig "Trade up" event this Sunday!  My intuition tells me that you need to get there early.  The first person in line for our event got there around 4 or 5 a.m.  I can't remember now because I was so tired when she told me.  But yay for her!

TIPS:

1.  Bring a lawnchair
2.  Bring a snack  (Krystal made us homemade Chex Mix and Dannika brought donuts)
3.  Bring an old coffee maker (for the trade-up)
4.  Bring some friends
5.  And be prepared for weather

I love talking about social media.  It's so funny to hear what college students are using out there!  Snapchat is the hottest thing... which I am not completely sold on yet.

But, I digress.  I loved talking to a social media class at Utah State, taught by KSL's Natalie Wardel.  It was a treat!  It's so cool how technology can bring us all together.

@nataliewardel, @USUAggies, #jcomsocial

So here I am, sitting at my desk writing a story for work... when I get a message from my birth mother.  It is the first time she's ever messaged me over Facebook.

I thought... how in the world do I respond back to her?  I am still not exactly sure what she said.  I can read Korean, but aside from being able to sound out syllables, it takes me a long time to figure out the word meanings.  Google Translate came up with this - 

Hmmm.  Okay, so I'm guessing she's asking how I'm doing, how my husband is doing, and hoping that my parents are doing well.

My response looked like this:

Which translated to this, according to Google:  

That is not really what I wrote to be translated.  But, I do think that Google Translate is a pretty neat tool, as long as you're not asking for directions or telling someone something deathly important.  

On this day, it was a nice surprise.

What I think is funny - is that the next line from her was something about her not knowing how to use her internet, which sounds pretty familiar if you have a mother ANYWHERE ON THE PLANET.  My mom Sharon and I go through this quite often... so clearly, this is universal!  

Just another small thing that makes a day unique!  And feeling very blessed to have my mom and birthmom in my life.