Bob Marruffo - bobdoeswork

10/11/2026

Leah and myself went to our first NAMI Sauk Area event last night and we're very excited to start volunteering and participating!

10/11/2026

Lost a bet.. soooo yeah

09/30/2026

💙💙💙

09/28/2026

In 2016, Kerri Soukup, who lost her father to su***de, was riding the train in Chicago when she saw a poster for the Out of the Darkness Chicagoland Walk. The next day, she attended the Walk with her husband and found a supportive community of people who understood her loss.

"When you walk around, there's just an unspoken connection and shared energy," she says. "The hope you feel is really beautiful."

Now in her 8th year leading a team for the Out of the Darkness Chicagoland Walk, Kerri recently spoke with WGN TV reporter Jewell Hillery on WGN Morning News about what attendees can expect at the Walk and how the funds raised support su***de prevention efforts across Illinois.

💙 Watch the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odBYjz5vtYs
💜 Register for the Chicagoland Walk: afsp.org/Chicago

09/27/2026

2026 has been one hell of a year for live music.

Between Lollapalooza, Riot Fest, and a bunch of shows throughout the year, we’ve had the chance to see an absolutely ridiculous number of bands and artists live.

Florence + The Machine
Spiritbox
Evanescence
Julia Wolf
Steve’s In The Band
Mother Mother
The Bends
Dylan Conrique
Scott Lucas (Local H)
One For The Ditch (Dermot Mulroney)
Sincere Engineer
Evening Elephants
YUNGBLUD
Porch Light
wetleg
Empire of the Sun
Lorde
Vi**ra Boys
Ecca Vandal
The Smashing Pumpkins
Cold War Kids
Young the Giant
The All-American Rejects
Rise Against
Angine de Poitrine
Thrice
Social Distortion
Morrissey
TOOL
Taking Back Sunday
Alanis Morissette
Magdalena Bay
The Hayley Williams Experience

And somehow, I’m probably still forgetting someone.

With that many shows, I figured it was time to hand out some completely unofficial 2026 Live Music Awards:

🏆 Favorite Show: Ecca Vandal - Bottom Lounge

🤯 Show That Surprised Me The Most: Vi**ra Boys - Lollapalooza

🔥 Most Anticipated Show: twenty one pilots - Riot Fest

🎟️ The “How The Hell Did We Get Backstage?” Award: Angine De Poitrine - Riot Fest

🫵 The “We Somehow Made It To The Front” Award: Cold War Kids & Young The Giant - Northerly Island

⁉️ The Biggest Surprise Award: Evening Elephants - The Lounge & Evanescence - Credit1 Amphitheater

One thing that really stood out to me this year was just how many incredible women artists we got to see live.

Florence + The Machine, Spiritbox, Evanescence, Julia Wolf, Dylan Conrique, wetleg, Lorde, Sincere Engineer, Ecca Vandal, Alanis Morissette, Magdalena Bay, The Hayley Williams Experience and more.

Different genres, completely different styles, but every one of them brought something unique to the stage. It’s been pretty damn cool to see so much incredible female talent represented in the live shows we caught this year.

And honestly, that's one of the coolest things about going to so many festivals and shows — you inevitably end up discovering artists you might never have given a chance otherwise.

2026 isn't over yet, but it's already been one hell of a soundtrack.

What a year. 🎸

Video from The Hayley Williams Experience!

09/26/2026

I am adding these events to my calendar and I hope you do too!

09/25/2026

This was too good not to steal from my homie Kyle - will post my roast in the comments! If you're a ChatGPT user - post yours!

09/23/2026

Get the word put! Share and tag your friends! Who knows, you may see Leah and myself at these events! 😁😁😁

💚 You are allowed to make time for yourself.

Not just when everything else is done.
Not just when everyone else is taken care of.
Not just when you finally have nothing left on your list.

You deserve time to breathe.
You deserve time to connect.
You deserve time to do something you enjoy.

Even an hour can make a difference.

That's why we created WellRounded.

Free community activities for adults...that make it a little easier to step away from the everyday routine and make space for your mental, emotional and social well-being.

Come for the activity.
Stay for the people.
Leave feeling a little more connected.

You are allowed to make time for yourself. 💚 Help us get the word out, share and tag friends!

Full WellRounded schedule and info here:
https://namisaukarea.org/get.../nami-sauk-area-wellrounded/

Keep watching for what's coming up next!

09/23/2026

Tonight we took a little trip to Prophetstown to try something new.

Leah has had her eye on Omamori Hibachi for a while, so we finally decided to check it out. I joked that it was going to take us 45 minutes to get there. GPS had other ideas — about 20 minutes.

What made this especially interesting is that we had just spent the weekend in Chicago. Our first night we had ramen at Kyuramen, and our last night we had some seriously elite rice bowls. So I was already on a Japanese food kick.

I didn't even look at the Omamori menu beforehand. I just went in knowing Leah wanted to try it.

The atmosphere was really nice, and the food was seriously incredible.

I wanted ramen since we're heading into fall, but unfortunately it wasn't ready yet this week. So I went with a hibachi combination with rice and noodles, and we added some gyoza dumplings.

The dumplings were fried perfectly, and my dinner was absolutely fantastic. The meat, vegetables, rice and noodles were all on point.

Needless to say, Omamori just gave us another reason to make the drive to Prophetstown.

And I'll definitely be back for that ramen.

If you're in the area, check out Omamori Hibachi & Boba Tea and give them a try. Their menu has hibachi, ramen, noodles, fried rice, dumplings, boba and more.

20 minutes from home. Definitely worth the drive.

Check out their page
https://www.facebook.com/share/1D7LAdjwJA/
and go give them some love.

09/21/2026

Only 361 days until Riot Fest 2027.