The City of Hilary

One of my favorite bloggers, "City of Dionne," (http://notesfromdionne.blogspot.com/), recently told her readers what the actual "city" of Dionne would be like if it existed. She asked us all to comment and tell her what our OWN personal cities would be like. So, it really got me thinking... What would happen in the "City of Hilary"?

The City of Hilary would always stay within a perfect 55-75 degree temperature range. Residents would ride bicycles everywhere that had baskets filled with pretty flowers and puppies! I, the mayor, would get to spend my days performing musical-theater and writing reviews for chick-flicks and other fun-filled movies.

All of the city's food would be delicious and calorie-free. There would be no crime in the city and everyone would have an impeccably unique sense of fashion. There would be an abundance of holidays and themed-parties and lots of fun neon-painted roller-coasters. OH, I almost forgot...the beach would be right outside my bedroom window :)

In the spirit and thanks of the lovely Dionne, what would YOUR city look like!?

How To Get Free Peaches

I took a trip to Chinatown today w/ my friend, Van-Lou, to buy camera supplies for our photography class... $350 later, the both of us spotted a cute farmer's market down the road. After squealing with excitement, we ran over to see what the area's local farmers had to offer...

The market smelled fantastic... Fruit, vegetables, flowers, buffalo, CHEESE, bread, pastries and soap ALL filled the air :) ... Van-Lou and I both bought some killer cheese, (after taking 10+ free samples), and then decided to browse through the fruit stands.

Then, I saw them... giant, ENORMOUS yellow peaches that were calling out to me. I started to salivate and subtly leaned closer to the peaches so I could catch a gust of their sugary scent. I was in love, I NEEDED those mammoth peaches!

WELL... It was then that a slightly psychotic female farmer came up to me and started raving about my shirt. It was a shirt from Thailand that Brian gave me, (ok... I kind of stole it from Brian), so it's very special to me and is OH so comfortable :)

The slightly psychotic farmer said that she HAD to have my shirt. Things got creepy when she offered me a free crate of peaches if I gave her the shirt off my back... OK: 1) That's effing creepy... 2) No way, this way Brian's shirt!... 3) I couldn't just walk around in my bra, could I?... 4) Those peaches smelled SOOOOOO good!

I told the farmer that I couldn't give her my shirt. I think she took that as a challenge because she upped her price. She offered me TWO crates of juicy, delicious peaches if I gave her Brian's shirt! (This was probably about 50-100 fruits)...

I thought about Brian, I thought about the shirt- about how comfortable it was and how special I felt in it... I thought about all these things while the smell of peaches flooded my thoughts... It was torture!

BUT: in the end... I realized that nothing was going to separate me from Brian's amazing Thailand top... the peaches FAILED, and I proudly walked away with no one staring at my bra...

THE END

New England Adventures: (TCNJ, LBI & Yale)

I had a handful of very adventurous days last week...

I jumped on a train at Union Station Wednesday morning and headed to New Jersey to help my cousin move into her freshman dorm at TCNJ. I also visited the Jersey shore to catch-up with my childhood bestie and drove up to Connecticut to move THE Andrew G. Leister, (aka: brohan), into his new apartment at Yale. Here are some of the trip's highlights...

1) My grandparents, who can't pronounce anything, made some stellar grammatical mistakes in their conversation... Papa pronounced Pinot Grigio as "Peeno Gringo" and Thai food as "Thigh food"... Then, Grandma pronounced Activia yogurt as "ACTiva" yogurt... as a journalism major, I was incredibly entertained.

2) Driving home from the Jersey shore with my cousin, Will, on Friday afternoon, I checked my phone and realized that I had about 8 missed calls and 6 voicemails. I listened to the first one... "Hilary, it's your gradmother. You and William are OUT of the will! You NEVER called me when you reached the island! Call me back darling or the police will hunt you down. Thank you!"... Freaking-out about losing my inheritance, I quickly called back and apologized for not calling earlier, although I had never promised to do so. Grandma then informed me... "Alright, you are both reinstated. But I'm gonna beat the shit out of you when you get home!"

3) Walking through Walmart in the classy town of New Haven, Connecticut, a little girl ran up to me and said... "Hi, I really, REALLY like your shirt. You look like Miley Cyrus!"... Not sure whether to laugh, throw up or start cursing, I painfully smiled and managed a sarcastic, "THHHAAANNNKKKSSS!"... (I think it's time to go shopping)

I also got sunburned, (I think it's sun poisoning), and was up till 3:30 AM last night itching and scratching the redness. It got so unbearable that I started driving to the hospital, but turned around in the ER parking lot when the Caladryl finally started to kick-in. If any of you loyal readers have advice on how to nurse itchy sunburn, PLEASE let me know... Also, the picture above is what Grandma placed on her TV after catching Papa watching porn a few years back... good times!

The Frosh Invasion!

I just drove to the AU gym to get in a quick Saturday-workout when I saw them: Minivans, scared teens, loud parental-units and more Tupperware drawers than on the shelves at The Container Store...

Yes, my friends, it's FRESHMAN MOVE-IN DAY at AU! OH how I remember the joy of waving goodbye to Moomsical and Faji, knowing that I was finally flying away from the nest and embarking upon an unforgettable journey... (Of course, knowing that there was a giant keg at the frat-house down the street had NOTHING to do with my happiness :)

SO... Driving into campus today, I quickly put on a bad-ass smirk and my hot neon-green sunglasses. I one-handedly turned my wheel with pride knowing that these poor frightened souls probably saw me, a SENIOR, as the wise & experienced university goddess that I am! (HAHA)

Then it hit me... I'm a SENIOR! Oh-my-GAWD... I only have one more year till I'll be the one paying my monthly lease, buying groceries, filing taxes, PAYING UTILITIES! As scary as it may sound... I can't WAIT to get into the real world. Sure, I'll probably miss being able to create my own schedule and those fabulous cookie/cocoa breaks during finals. But I know deep-down that I'll somehow be motivated to join the M-F 9-5 work force with smiley enthusiasm...

PostSecret Facebook Crisis!!

Attention friends and loyal readers: I need help!

As most of you know, I have an internship at PostSecret, (a kick-ass organization where people from around the world mail in secrets on postcards to my boss, Frank Warren, who then publishes the best secrets on his weekly blog or in his best-selling novels)...

SO... My recent assignment is to help Frank send messages to all 14,357 of his facebook friend requests, telling them that he's reached his 5,000 friend limit and apologizes for not being able to add them at this time... PROBLEM: facebook will only display 200 friend requests at a time, (the 200 most recent friend requests), meaning that I can't complete the assignment he's given me!

I've talked to him about this & told him that I'd explore the issue and try to find a solution. I've tried calling the facebook headquarters, searching the site's "help center" and googling for possible answers.

Do any of you know how to view more than 200 friend requests on facebook? If so, PLEASE HELP ME! I would love you forever and would send you a very, VERY special token of appreciation in the mail... Thank you all :)

Yertle, Crush & Franklin: Ode to the Turtles!

I LOVE animals... they are so beautiful, innocent, precious and often times soft and fluffy :)

My favorite animal is the turtle. When I was little, I used to collect little turtle figurines. They are currently tucked away in 2 decorated shoe-boxes at my parents' house...

NOW: The reason I love turtles so much is because of a story someone VERY special told me one year at summer camp. Mary Laurel Burt, the best counselor EVER, told me how she went on a boat as a little girl and watched in wonder as hundred of turtles crawled onto the beach of the Galapagos islands, laid their eggs and gracefully swam back into the ocean. (I actually ended up writing a college essay about this...)

Turtles aren't soft and fluffy, but they are wise, graceful and cute in their own special way. Each turtle is so unique, from the design on their shell to their fluid motions through the water.

Turtles are funny, too! Especially when they stretch their long necks in an attempt to eat...


And who ever said that turtles didn't know how to have fun...


Whether they're real or just cartoons... turtles are radical dudes who will always watch your back... or your shell...

"Color Me Katie" Blog-Crush!

One of my recent blog-crushes is "Color Me Katie" http://colormekatie.blogspot.com/

This girl is crazy... but SO unbelievably & impressively creative. Check out this picture she posted when she was cleaning her fridge... Is she impersonating a giant turkey!?


Or how about this one when she made miniature stickers of herself and randomly pasted them around her neighborhood...


My favorite thing about Katie: Her cat is named MOO! Like a cow! HAHAHA