I love saying that a few days before New Years.  Thanks to everyone who checks in here every now and then.  I know I need to update more but it’s been sidelined by my addiction to social networking (follow me on twitter @maradavis !!).  We have plans to go to a fun New Year’s house party tonight.  It will be great but I’m never one to shy away from staying home.  Is it bad to say my greatest joy in life these days is getting into bed before 10 and sleeping 8 hours?  Heaven!!  Ok, I’m officially getting old (or I’m already old?).  No, no, really, my greatest joy is my family.  I couldn’t live without them.

This was taken yesterday at the Cake circle of friends (thanks Liz Bradley). I feel pretty lucky that his first concert was in a lounge of a fancy hotel.  Can’t you tell he looks thrilled?  He did enjoy it—especially coming on the mic to thank everyone.  He LOVES being on stage (wonder where he gets that from?).

Have a great 2012 and again, thanks for reading!!  Talk to you next year!!

It’s not everyday you get asked to the Washington DC version of the Academy Awards.

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When my brother Ian called to say he had an extra ticket I jumped at the chance.

Just being in the Kennedy Center is breathtaking.  Besides the tons of A list celebrities in attendance there were Senators, members of Congress and CEO’s in the house. We instantly recognized Thomas Friedman from the New York Times followed by Alan Greenspan who I accidentally knocked down.  Seriously.  He is kinda small and frail and I’m well, you know.

We then went to find our seats and learned we had a better view than Madeline Albright.

Some people were snapping pics left and right I was trying to play it cool (yeah, OK).

Once everyone was in their seats a voice piped in and said “ladies and gentelmen the President Of The United States”.  The photographers were going crazy as they walked in.  The Obamas sat in a box next to honorees Meryl Streep, Sonny Rollins, Yo Yo Ma, Barbara Cook and Neil Diamond.

I took a deep breath and soaked it all in. Being in the Kennedy Center and in the same room as the President and First Lady?  I don’t care how you roll with politics—this was pure magic.

The first honoree was Meryl Streep.  Tracy Ullman came out and it was so great to see her (where has she been??).  She gave a hilarious speech about Meryl and then they showed a montage of her movies produced by Mike Nichols.  Then they did this play/song and dance thing with Stanley Tucci, Kevin Kline, Emily Blunt and the extremely talented Anne Hathaway.  She sang and did a split at the same time.  No joke!

After that it was a tribute to legendary sax player Sonny Rollins.  Bill Cosby came out and gave a hilarious and surprisingly brief (for Bill Cosby) monologue.  Herbie Hancock and many jazz legends played an incredible set of music afterwards. Just when the show couldn’t get any better out comes Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick to honor Broadway legend Barbara Cook.  They had several unbelievable Broadway/Opera singers but the only ones I was familiar with were Patti Lupone (incredible) and Glenn Close (fantastic).  The power of these women singing together just electrified the atomosphere.

After a short intermission John Lithgow was next to induct Neil Diamond.  I’m not sure what the connection is between these two but he was entertaining.  They did a medley of songs with starting with Rapheal Saadiq.  Then Jennifer Nettles came out and was amazing (more on her later).  Just when you thought it couldn’t get better Lionel Richie comes out and blows everyone away.  After that Smokey Robinson sang and I’m sorry to say he was just OK.  The interesting thing is that we thought the Neil Diamond part was going to be the highlight and it turned out to be just alright.

Finally it was Yo Yo Ma’s turned to be honored.  Stephen Colbert came out and did the most hilarious speech.  This made up for the fact that Elmo (??) gave him a big speech as well.  Then they had a few different styles of music to represent him including classical, world music and bluegrass.  This completely trumped the Neil Diamond Part.

After the main event was over they had a big dinner with a full orchestra, 3 course meal and dancing.  The only star I had the nerve to go up to was Jennifer Nettles because I kind of know her.

She recognized me instantly and was super nice.  She introduced me to her husband, I asked for this picture and then people started coming up to her left and right. At first I felt kind of bad but people were doing that to the stars all night.  At the table next to us I watched a lady in her 90′s completely wear down Lionel Richie.

A 17 year girl at our table couldn’t sit still because she got a picture with Anne Hathaway.  Stephen Colbert walked by but I totally chickened out.  Plus I had to play it cool since we were sitting with all kinds of fancy people.

When I got home it was as if my glass slipper came off.  I’m trying to stay on Ian’s good side so I can go again next year.

The Kennedy Center Honors airs December 27th on CBS, see if you can find me

This is just typical.  You plan a trip for months to have the most magical time EVER at Disney World and what happens?  Your kid gets strep throat and Scarlet Fever.  I know it sounds like 1955 but seriously, I cannot make this up.  Charlie had been complaining of a sore throat a few days earlier and I kept saying “no you don’t, you’re fine!  We are going to Disney!!”.  While refusing to believe Charlie was sick we did manage to get one day at the Magic Kingdom while he was heavily medicated on ibuprofen.

The deal was sealed the following day when he had high fever and a rash. The magic was over and we decided it was time to hit it.  Thankfully Disney can extend your passes for 25 (!) years so now we HAVE to go back.

We ended up going to my mom’s early.  She lives in Boca Raton, the only place where you can buy a high chair for a DOG.

We had a nice low key Thanksgiving while waiting for Charlie’s sickness to improve.  Arlene couldn’t have been happier to have us so it all worked out.

I’m excited to get back to work this week as we have lots coming up.  The “dave-fm Holiday Road Show” is back, I’ll be broadcasting from a different mall every day starting December 5th with Toys For Tots.  And check this out—I am going to the Kennedy Center Honors!!  My brother goes every year for work and this year he’s invited me to be his date.  They are inducting Meryl Streep, Neil Diamond, Yo Yo Ma and Sonny Rollins.  Total once in a lifetime opportunity and I can’t wait to post pictures and stuff.  Stay tuned!

Hope you had a great holiday week.

Sometimes I forget to post some of the fun interviews I’ve done recently because they’re all on dave.fm.  If you care check out our conversations with actress Debi Mazar, figure skater Johnny Weir, Mike Mills from REM and this fun video with Top Chef Master and judge, Hugh Acheson.  He was such a nice guy and I love his restaurants.

Halloween weekend has been all over the place. First we started with Charlie’s 6th (!!) birthday with his fantasy gift, Super Mario Wii.  In some ways Mike is as excited for this as Charlie is.

We also had a slumber party with 3 of his friends which was a riot.  There was minimal drama and a great time was had by all.

When it was bedtime (10?) I was able to slip out to “Disco-ween” over at Paris On Ponce (what a great venue!  LOVE that place). This was a a benefit for Canine Companions and the costume theme was 70′s disco.  The theme didn’t matter to my pal Jake who dressed up as “Born This Way” Lady Gaga.

He had to leave early to go to “3 other parties” (natch) otherwise he would have totally won. I know you’re wondering what I’m dressed as–and the answer is nothing.  I know, fail.

Saturday I was invited to moderate a fan panel of AMC’s Walking Dead at the Cobb Energy Center (the CDC on the show!) They had a whole scene set up with zombie dummies, the real trailer from the show and more.  We had dave-fm listeners who were invited along with the 20 winners and guests from around the country.  They had several of the stars on site and I will link the photo gallery and videos on dave.fm from it later.  Until then, here are some iphone zombie pics.

Thumbs up!  I’m alive.

These are some of the extras from the Casting Couch from Extras Casting Atlanta!  They are “walkers” from the show.

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a sign inside the Walking Dead trailer on the show

The national winners were treated to tickets to the sold out Jay Z/Kanye West show at Phillips Arena after the event.  There was an extra pair of tickets and the AMC people gave them to us. Since I’m around V103 so often I surprisingly knew most of the songs.  I really kinda loved it and it was a totally different experience than a rock show.  We had incredible seats which made it even better.  I’m not sure I’d pay to see these guys again ($250 a ticket!) but I’m glad I can check these hip hop gods of my concert bucket list.

Actually my favorite part of the show was the fashion!  Bags, shoes, glitter, tight Herve Leger bandage dresses, hair, make up, I could go on.  I wish I had pictures of some of the looks but that would have been totally weird.  ”Hey!  Can I take your picture you look fabulous!”  Actually, they may have liked that.  Oh well.

Next weekend you’re going to hear me on the radio urging you to donate to Children’s Healthcare Of Atlanta.  This is a cause near and dear to the radio station and pretty much everyone in Georgia.  If you have a kid or you know someone who does–you know how lucky we are to have this here.  Learn more about our radiothon at dave.fm—but starting Thursday you’ll hear a lot more from me about it

Last weekend we went to the amazing Field Of Greens Festival in Covington.  I was helping out my pal chef Ron Eyester at Rosebud who is super involved in supporting local farms.  There were tons of great restaurants there so try and plan on being there next year.  I had a blast hosting the F’N Chef competition which was their version of Iron Chef.  I write about this because Ron sent me this gorgeous flower arrangement as a thank you for hosting.

I have to plug the florist Adaptation Atlanta here because from now on anytime I need flowers I will use them.  Keep in mind this pic was taken almost A WEEK after Ron sent them.  I cannot believe they still look this good.  Thanks again Ron!!

If I continue to rave it would be boring so let me rant about Hank Williams Jr.  This week he got into a pickle by comparing President Obama to Hitler. ESPN banned “Are You Ready For Some Football” because of this.  As much as I think Hank is bats**t crazy it’s lame that one interview caused this kind of uproar.  Being the Dixie Chicks fan that I am I hate to see anyone banned for whatever opinion they may have—even if it’s something I strongly disagree with.

Last week I interviewed actor Austin Stowell from the delightful movie “Dolphin Tale”.  He’s barely in the movie but the studio schlepped him around on a press tour.  I take these interviews with people no one’s heard of for a variety of reasons.  1-you never know if their career will take off.  2-if you do some of the minor interviews publicists will bring you the good ones and 3-why not, it’s fun and I love to do it.  OK, so this guy comes in and he’s super attractive and sweet.  The interview was pretty much DOA because all he could muster out was boring facts about the movie.  I finally ask him about being the newest heartthrob (I mean look at him, he’s gorgeous) and how he could be the new Robert Pattinson.

Then in a lame effort to break the ice I say “do you think you could kick his ass”" in a total jokey way.  He kind of panics and so does the publicist.  Meanwhile, that wasn’t even the worst part.  I asked if his mother had seen the movie.  At first he said “no” and then he suddenly remembered she was at the premiere.  From there I am harrased to “please edit that part out about Robert Pattinson OR ELSE”!!!!!!!  Call me crazy, but if I’m the publicist the part about forgetting your mom was at the premiere was a lot worse??  Anyway, I refused to edit so we are not posting it at all.  Trust me, you’re not missing much and at some point I’ll show it to you because really, who gives a crap?  It’s too bad because he’s really, really sweet—but is in desparate need of media training.  Regardless of this experience, go see the movie with your kids.  It’s wonderful and I loved it.

In case you noticed (or cared) there was a post here about my on set experience from the movie “What To Expect When You’re Expecting”.  This is the new movie being filmed in Atlanta with Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez and others.  The picture posted was a random shot of Yvonne Monet with Matthew Morrison in the background.  The production was not happy about this post so they called my bosses and made me take it down.  Meanwhile it’s kind of flattering that they think I have that many readers here.  You weren’t missing much, trust.  This will probably be the review of the movie when it comes out.   More on the movie in this clip from our friends at Channel 11.

So I’ll probably still have to see this mess because they’ve filmed at all the Atlanta landmarks.  We watched “Life As We Know It” recently because it was filmed in our neighborhood.  We fast forwarded through the entire plot (horrible movie!) just to see Belly which was turned into “Fraiche”.  ”Hall Pass” was also filmed here and incidentally at the house owned by our friends the Fishmans.  This movie was a mess as well but it’s actually kind of funny.  DUMB and predictable–but amusing.

While we’re talking about movies last night we saw an advance screening of 50/50 with Joseph Gordon Levitt and Seth Rogen.  It’s about a 27 year old guy who gets cancer and how he deals with it.  It’s weird to say a film about cancer was hysterical, but it was.  It is also really touching and sad.  When it comes out September 30th, you’ve got to see it.  It’s SO GOOD.  Lucky for me I get to interview Seth and the writer Will Reiser this Friday who the film is based on.

In TV watching news I CANNOT wait for all of the new fall shows.  I got an advance copy of “Ringer” with Sarah Michelle Gellar and I thought it was fantastic.  I’m also excited for Pan Am, Whitney and Revenge.  And of course anything on Bravo is right up my alley. Most Eliglbe Dallas is pretty good.  Rachel Zoe Project is bananas and it’s so great that the Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills is back.  What did you think of the finale of Entourage??  I kind of liked it?  I still can’t believe they are making a movie out of this show. They need to get rid of Vince (Adrian Grenier) because he is so not believable as a big movie star.  It is exciting that Alice Eve plays his love interest though.  She came in last year to promote a movie and was lovely.  She deserves to be more famous, she is gorgeous, sweet and actually eats (I witnessed this!).

In other news we’ve had a lot of family time lately.  We took Charlie to the Dragon Con parade which is always awesome.

We also went to Uncle Shuck’s Corn Maze this weekend in an attempt at family fun.  After driving an hour to this all we heard from Charlie and his cousin Frederick was “I’m hungry, I’m hot, I’m bored, this isn’t fun”.  What the hell was I thinking trying to provide lasting memories for these brats??  Or maybe we just went up there a month too soon??  Anyway, I went so now we never have to go again.  Here are the children of the corn:

We just got back from my moms in Boca Raton.  It was great because Charlie got to hang with his cousins Casey and Logan.  It’s also nice to catch up with my beloved Daisy who is slowing down quite a bit.  She’s not as feisty as she used to be but she’s still the bitch I rescued and still love.  The interaction between her and my mom is hilarious.

It was also great to see my brother Ian and my sister in law Nada.  I’m only bummed my oldest brother Eric couldn’t be there to join us (THANKSGIVING ERIC!!).

Now we’re back and I’m spending vacation days getting dental work (I need a root canal, UGH), cleaning out closets and running errands.  I had an overage of days off to use or I’d lose them.  I know you think I’m off work all the time (Will and Elizabeth). BUT when you’ve been with the company a gazillion years like me you get a bunch of time to burn.  And why am I defending myself?   Guilt!!

So, last night was Jeffrey Fashion Cares which is always so fun.  There were a few Real Housewives there.  Nene was sitting a few seats away from us but I didn’t talk to her.  Instead I was introduced to Cynthia and her husband Peter.

She was really sweet and personable.  The new season is going to start in November. Designer  Jason Wu (best known for making the FLOTUS inauguration dress)  was the guest of honor.   The after party was at Opera and they did such a fantastic job (CATHLEEN!!).  It was a Polynesian theme with fire breathers, hula dancers and more.  Jason was surrounded by beautiful men from Swinging Richards (really) and us.  Here’s Marketing Director of Dave-FM Will Davis Jason and me after one to many tropical tequilla drinks.

The fashion show itself was fantastic.  We felt so fancy being right in the front row (Thank you Don and Tom!!).  You cannot beat this view!!  And the clothes, omg the clothes. Amazing.

Tomorrow night I’m hosting an event called the VOX spelling bee which is a spelling bee for adults.  This sounds like it’s going to be so fun—here’s more info on it.

For those of you who care I will be back to work on Thursday!  I’m already thinking about RFL ideas, Dragon Con, Labor Day, etc etc.  but I really should just go back to cleaning out closets

Thanks for reading!!

Sometimes my job is really too good to be true and this weekend proves that. The South Walton tourism board sent us on a 3 day trip over the weekend.  This area is really one of my favorite places to go.  The beaches are gorgeous, there are great restaurants and even though parts of 30A (the main drag there) can be a little touristy—for the most part the area is pretty close to perfect.  We stayed in Grayton Beach which is kinda like the hippy part of the beach communities.  We had a group of 6 including Sully, Elizabeth, Will (marketing director for dave fm), Michael (sales guy) and Steven (camera guy).  We did a live broadcast Friday to encourage people to visit this part of Florida.

I didn’t want to tell them that I already KNEW how fabulous this area is because I’ve been going there every year for our annual “girls weekend” (or as Elizabeth calls it “old woman’s weekend”).  They wined, dined, schmoozed and showered us with fun and activities. There were jocks from all over the Southeast and in general it was super fun. You’ll be hearing me yak about it on air the next few weeks.  In the meantime you can check out all of the photos and videos here at the dave.fm webpage.

Tomorrow is Charlie’s first day of school and I think I have more anxiety about it than he does!  You will never believe what happened regarding his first day of school.  We live on a line of two public schools in our area.  For the longest time we thought he’d be going to this one school.  They confirmed with us, had us to the school for open houses, the whole nine. Well on FRIDAY I get a call from this school saying “ooops, turns out he’s going to the other school”.  Meanwhile I’m dying inside because I’m away and want to go there and chew someone’s head off and couldn’t (Mike took care of it).  In the end it all worked out because the new school he’s going to is just as good and maybe even better.  I just can’t believe they could screw up this close to the first day of school!  The good news is that Charlie is so well adjusted and is totally into the new school.  I just can’t believe the time has flown by so fast.  I remember like it was yesterday when he was a baby.  Crazy!!!