I was walking past a newsstand in Chicago last week, when I saw a familiar face smirking back at me from the rack.
Neatly nestled underneath the Italian bossom of Claudia Gernini, I saw me staring back at me from the cover of the February Fra Noi magazine. Fra Noi is the premiere Italian-American glossy mag in the country, and they turned out a very nice article on Windy City LIVE, myself and my Travels. Mille Grazie!!!!
Happy New Year! its 2012… the holidays are over, and its time to make your travel plans for the year. Luckily, there’s a fantastic travel show coming to your town soon. The Adventure Travel show is coming to LA/LONG BEACH, CA this weekend, 1.14 & 15, CHICAGO 1.28 & 29, BAY AREA 2.18 & 19, and WASHINGTON DC 3.17 & 18. My pal Samantha Brown, will join me, Andrew Zimmern and Pauline Frommer on the stages. We’ll be sharing our travel stories, signing books and meeting you.
There’s also fun stuff to do right in the hall: ZIP LINE, SCUBA TANK, ROCK WALL, and hundreds of travel ideas just waiting to inspire you to get off the couch and into a lounger somewhere else.
I’ll be in my booth, Sat and Sun 10-5p signing books and giving away raffle tickets to win an 8 day, all inclusive Caribbean vacation for 2 adults and 2 kids, courtesy of Yucatan Holidays.
The trip includes ALL FOOD, DRINKS, LIQUOR, TIP, TAXES, GROUND TRANSPORTATION, AMENITIES – even spa treatments at the 5 Star Hacienda Tres Rios Resort in Playa del Carmen, MX. I’ve been several times in the last year… and its GLORIOUS! Especially if you like to eat and drink. Tequila IS included.
See you there – SOMEBODY is going to win the trip…
It’s been an honor-filled month for me in Chicago. First, hosting the Emmy Awards show – and winning my first Emmy award for Outstanding Host / Contributor for Windy City LIVE – that was fantastic.
We’ve all worked so hard to make WCL #1, and it was great to see that all our hard work and comedy blood, sweat & tears were appreciated.
And now, to be named as one of CHICAGO’s MEN of the Year? Pinch me! I don’t even know how that happened – why it seems like just yesterday, I was nominated for Kid of the Week, Guy of the Month and Dude of the Fortnight. Big thanks to Men’s Journal for this honor, and I hope to see all our WCL fans out at the event on WEDNESDAY, December 7th from 6-8pm at 900 N. Michigan Shops, Level 5.
What can possibly be next??? Martha Stewart’s personal Cabana Cook?? Stay tuned!
The lovely Martha Stewart guested in our WCL kitchen this morning and I cooked my special “Original” hamburger recipe from my book… and she had a GREAT TIME!
We were a little nervous having her in our kitchen, but judging from her big smile, she enjoyed herself… and certainly enjoyed the hamburger I made for her. Take a look:
Not a bad week to be on TV.
Sunday night, I hosted the Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards Show from the Alhambra Palace in Chicago. The room was packed with TV luminaries, fans and the TV crew shooting the show for Comcast On Demand.
After only FIVE MONTHS on the air, our show ABC’s WINDY CITY LIVE, was nominated for THREE EMMY AWARDS: One for the show as a whole, another for Contributor Nina Chantelle and one for me. When the dust settled after the 3 hour show, I found myself the proud new owner of my very first Emmy award.
Thanks to everyone who’s tweeted, Facebooked, Texted and Called over the last 24 hours. It’s been a whirlwind. I’m very proud of our show, and being able to return to my hometown and do the kind of funny pieces that can entertain people. Especially these days, nothing better than a few laughs to start your day. Big shout out to all my Windy City LIVE family…
Emmy Winner Matt Knutson, Mary Hynes, Nina Chantelle, me, Hank Mendheim, Cindy Patrasso
In Chicago and the Midwest, you can watch Windy City Live @ 9AM, Monday – Friday, Central Time. http://www.facebook.com/pages/ABC-7-Chicago/165583971161
Everywhere else, the show can be streamed live at that same time at www.windycitylive.com
Keep watching and keep laughing! Tune in Thursday, when I’ll be in the kitchen, cooking with Martha Stewart.
IT’s that time of year again, all of us are looking for great WARM vacations, and new ideas of how to frugally spend our travel dollars.
Well, there’s no better way to find a perfect getaway, tailored just for you, then by attending one of the blockbuster ADVENTURE TRAVEL EXPOS scheduled across the country. The shows begin next week in Atlanta, then move to Dallas in November, then in January hit Chicago, LA, Washington DC and the Bay area. The shows gather reps from every continent, travel broker and adventure travel agent in the US – and are filled with great, new and affordable travel ideas for singles, families and couples. I’ll be headlining all the shows, signing my book
I’ll also be performing my Culinary Comedy shows, and awarding a great ALL INCLUSIVE VACATION to a lucky winner LIVE at the show.
I do some comedic Q&A, select folks out of the audience to cook a recipe from my book with me, then award great prizes to the best chef in the house – the Grand Prize is an ALL INCLUSIVE LUXURY RESORT VACATION for 4 to Hacienda Tres Rios in Playa del Carmen, MX on the Caribbean Sea!
Come out and say hello and get your book signed…. you might just end up with a bag full of travel goodies AND a free vacation!
Here’s a link to all the shows/schedules so you can make your plans: http://www.adventureexpo.com/
When I travel to do these shows they get me up early and we go to radio stations to do promotional interviews to tell people about the show.
Often, these interviews are not particularly funny… because its 6AM. But when I was in Omaha spring, I stumbled into the radio station there only to learn that the regular DJ was on vacation, and there was a substitute host in for the day. To my delight, it was the reigning 2010 Mrs. Nebraska. AND she was hilarious. Take a look:
Q: What’s your favorite part of this Wedding Photo?
Funniest answer wins a Cancun travel coupon worth $500 off a 5 day trip from Yucatan-Holidays!
Let the merriment begin!
Couple Sees Jesus In Walmart Receipt – Greenville News Story – WYFF Greenville.
Looks more like the ”Keep on Truckin’” guy to me.
Or Manson.
Or Lucas Haas with a beard.
“the couple swears they did nothing to the receipt.”
I’ll be hosting the PRE-OLIVE SOCIAL MIXER next Friday, August 19 6pm-8pm in downtown Paso Robles at the Sculpterra Winery
I’ll be signing books and hosting the evening’s festivities… maybe even doing some Culinary Comedy. It’s a great event and it all benefits a great cause.
The world famous Olive Festival starts on Saturday, and this VIP party features food, wine… and I’m guessing, Olives.
See ya there!
Here’s a new episode of my MSN series, ROAD RAVES. In this one, we show you how to save substantial money on gas to drive farther on each tank of gas.
Watch the video here:
http://img.widgets.video.s-msn.com/fl/customplayer/current/customplayer.swf
And to REALLY SAVE on gas, check out Envirotabs fuel additives. Just one $3 tablet per tank increases mileage by 15%-20% depending on your driving habits. I personally endorse them, as they not only increase MPG but reduce harmful emissions by 75%.
Learn more and order here:
http://www.markdecarlo.com/save-money-with-envirotabs.html
