My Epic Weekend In Pictures: It's The Holiday Season

The holidays can be so tough for many. This was our first Christmas without my sister / best friend Suzanne / Zannie. My heart goes out to families going through loss this time of year. Christmas Day marked 11 months since she was unexpectedly taken from us. Every single day is a level of pain and heartbreak I honestly can't even explain in words for me, my family, and our friends who all love her so much too. My description of these past two weekends are going to be much shorter than usual. I hope the captions on my Instagram posts can help give a fun enough description.

Last weekend, Girlfriend Brooks and I were able to visit her family up in Syracuse. We had a wonderful time. I had a great time getting to watch Brooks' nephews and nieces in action at their kid sports games basketball and soccer. I had such a fantastic time with Brooks and her parents all weekend long. They made sure I was able to get great pictures in front of the big Christmas Tree in downtown Syracuse, which is a beautiful replica of Rockefeller Center in New York City. On top of that, they made sure I ate like a KING! They took me to a fun Irish Pub named Coleman's on Saturday night, and they were right on the money with everything. Being the Saturday before Christmas and a fun place to be, they were buzzing. Despite their heavy volume of many having fun, they were still terrific.

Sunday I feel like we should be playing a drumroll for this event. They took me to world famous Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse! The meal I had was out of this planet! I had their Hello Buffalo Wings, Ribs, Pulled Pork, and Brisket. Brooks keeps cracking up saying that is easily the most she's ever seen me eat. How could I let delicious barbecue food go to waste? I could not! This is my usual reminder that barbecue is a type of food, NOT a cookout like many say. Hot dogs and burgers on a grill (which I do love,) means it's a cookout, NOT a barbecue. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Thanks to Girlfriend Brooks family, I had an outstanding time in Syracuse, even despite the cold at times weather. It shows what a great time I had when this Boston (New England) boy says he can't wait to go back to upstate New York. (Yes I know, folks in Syracuse refer to themselves as Central New York sometimes. Trust me, to most outside or south Syracuse they view it as upstate New York.)

I'll try to focus on the positives during our Christmas weekend real quick. Girlfriend Brooks and I made our trek up Christmas Eve morning from Vernon, New Jersey on our way to Mansfield, Massachusetts. We stopped by a Buffalo Wild Wings in Waterbury, Connecticut right off of 84 that I have been to a few times with great success. I nailed our timing. We were there in time to save a few dollars on a lunch special, were able to relax with wings and a beer, quick restroom break, and on our way back on the road. Brooks looked at me and said "You're like a well oiled machine. This is so much better than a rest stop detour. Now I totally get why you have your systems." After 12 years of my trips back and forth from New Jersey to New England, I've learned a couple of minor hacks to help the drive.

Christmas Eve I was able to give Padre and my Uncle JDawg / Jeff a gift my sister Zannie and I had been trying to get them for over a year. I got them a Whiskey Smoker Kit. We enjoy our Smoke & Embers drinks at Industry Kitchen & Bar in Sparta so much, I really wanted to give them the gift to enjoy this at home too. They better not think this gives them an excuse to not visit me in Jersey though! They loved it. We had so much fun with the kit I took a screenshot of below. It didn't come with butane fluid for the torches, but did contain glasses, a special ice tray to make those cool, big, round ice cubes you get in fancy whiskey / bourbon drinks, and 6 different flavored wood chips. I spotted right away the fine print that butane wasn't included and found it at ShopRite in Sparta. Padre and Uncle JDawg were both impressed that I not only noticed that it wasn't included, but also found the cherry on top of our whiskey sundae product at a nearby grocery store.

We also had delicious amazing food including pizza, and of course seafood. My parents, Uncle JDawg, Aunty Soup and I were able to all go out Saturday for an Early Bird special at Fresh Catch in Mansfield, Massachusetts. We all had amazing seafood meals. Brooks was very happy to get her New England White Clam Chowdah, Stuffed Crab with Lobstah and more. I was more than happy to get my Connecticut Style Lobstah Roll and it was tremendous!

We had some delicious meals these past couple of weeks thanks to our wonderful families.

On Christmas Day, Madre, Padre, Brooks, and I went together to my sister Zannie's grave. It will never feel right or seem real no matter how many times I type those nightmare words. We put fresh flowers on her grave. Right after we get in the car, Padre turned the radio back on for us. We all heard and said it at the same exact time. "Kenny." At that same exact time we went back in the car, Zannie's favorite artist ever, Kenny Chesney came on the radio. While I'll be the first to admit after my 22 years both on and behind the scenes of radio stations, these songs are often scheduled through many computers a few days in advance. I'll also admit that it's not exactly a Christmas Miracle when you hear Kenny Chesney, one of the biggest Country artists of all time on the radio.

Knowing all of that even after my 22 years in radio, it honestly did really feel like a sign from my sister to all of us.