Fun Fall Happenings!

Hello, fellow bloggers! Are you all having a great fall season? The leaves are changing colors, the apples are ripe for picking, and the pumpkins are all plump and ready to carve into scary jack-o-lanterns. (Not to mention, my birthday is in less than 3 weeks. JOY!)... Here are a few fun things I've been up to this season:

My friend Liz got married last Spring, (a small family wedding), and had a big party with all her friends this October to celebrate. Here's a great picture of me and my good buddy, Laura. Despite the empty wine glass, I promise... I wasn't THAT tipsy.

Me, Brian, and a few friends went on a 6-mile hike of Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland. It was a beautiful day and we were almost attacked by a 4-foot long rattle snake! I also spilled my messy lunch all over my shirt. (Note for next time: pack PB&J, not giant salad).

The DC-Vegetarian Festival a few weeks ago was super interesting. I ate a bunch of free food & got a free tote bag full of vegan snacks. The highlight was getting my picture taken with this giant carrot named "Chris P. Carrot"... (Get it? Crispy Carrot?)

What fun things have YOU been up to this season?

Bake Swap Treats!

This is just a mouth-watering sample of the awesome goodies I get to take home from my monthly Vegan Bake-Swap. (And the reason I'm an exercise addict)...

This month's goodies:
-Date Pecan Cookies (made by yours truly!)
-Raspberry Clafouti Tart
-Sweet Potato Pie
-Iced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
-Earl Grey Tea Muffins
-British Scones
-Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake
-Chocolate Cake w/ Blueberry Cream
-Currant Squares

That's right, be jealous :)

Company Picnic

Last Sunday was my company's annual picnic...

To show my co-workers that I'm not just a nerdy workaholic & weird vegan, I asked Brian to accompany me. (He's very good-looking & down-to-earth. He definitely helped fool them, muahaha!)

Good Highlights: We had some free & tasty BBQ, played some corn-hole, utilized the open bar, & I got an awesome temporary tattoo of a turtle!

Bad Highlights: There were lots of crying children & this caricature was drawn of me and Brian...

I asked the caricature artist to draw us on vacation chilling on a boat/yacht. He interpreted this as "Please draw me in a skimpy bathing suit with enormous boobs. And please draw Brian with a rectangular head, pretending to reach out to grope my fake enormous boobs. And please accentuate his Jew nose."  

Needless to say, we grabbed the portrait and high-tailed it to the car before we had to show it to any of my co-workers. The caricature is now sitting in a pile of dust behind my dresser. Quite a memorable picnic!

Singing our song, all day long at HOGGGGG-WARTS!

Happy Labor Day, my happy readers! Today I'd like to tell you about a party I went to this past Saturday evening that had THE greatest theme of all time. What was the theme, you ask? It was "Harry Potter!" Why was the party so magical and impressive? Please read on to find out...



1) The party took place on September 3rd. In number terms, 9/3. It continued on into 9/4, making the party occur on 9 3/4 .... like the platform at King's Cross Station! HOLLA!

2) Every guest was required to dress as a character from Harry Potter. There was a Harry, a Hermoine, a Snape, (dressed in an AWESOME Michael Jackson wig), a Dobby, a Winky, a Mundungus Fletcher, an Arabella Figg, a Bellatrix Lestrange, a Scabbers, a Moaning Myrtle, a Professer Trelawney, a Mad-Eye Moody, and best of all, (because it was my & Brian's costume)... a Harry's Wand and a Voldemort's Wand which together made "PRIORI INCANTATEM!"

3) The house number where the party was held was #12. They hung a sign underneath the #12 on their front door that said "Grimmauld Place!" (AKA- the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix).

4) The hosts, (which dressed as house-elves Dobby and Winky), served Sherbet Lemon candies, Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans, and my personal favorite... Butterbeer, which they concocted themselves with cream soda, real butter, butterschotch schnapps, butterscotch morsels, cream, and brown sugar. (Aka: deadly, but delicious!)



5) Half-way through the party, all activity stopped to watch "Harry Potter and the Mysterious Ticking Noise" on Youtube. If you've never seen it, here's the link... Harry Potter Puppet Show .... Please watch immediately!

All of this Harry Potter magic has helped inspire my Halloween costume for this year. (Even though I've sort of been planning it since last Nov. 1st)... I am going to be the Golden Snitch! (I promise to post pictures).

Beach, Bill, & Broadway

What a fun/exciting/terrifying couple of days it's been! Here are a few Thrills of Hills to tell you about my week...

1) Rehoboth Beach: Last weekend, Brian and I went to Rehoboth beach for 3 days! We had a really nice time chilling on the beach, swimming, reading, mini-golfing, boozing, etc.... Brian beat out 8 little kids at a boardwalk game to win me an awesome stuffed animal pig! (Which we immediately dubbed "Sir Oinks-a-Lot")... I also got sun-burned despite putting on 3 layers of sun-screen and hiding under our beach umbrella w/ a shirt on. I hate tan people!

2) Earthquake: HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! Did you guys FEEL that sucker? I was at work when it happened and almost jumped out of my boss' 50 ft. high window to my doom! (Which, at the time, seemed better than getting buried in the building I thought was collapsing). My hands were shaking for about 20 minutes afterward. O-EM-GEE talk about SCARY!

3) The Lion King: I purchased tickets to see The Lion King on Broadway for my birthday this November. They came in the mail this week and I am OH so excited to go to my favorite city & celebrate my big 11/11/11 24th birthday!

4) Bill Clinton is a vegan: Although I lost respect for Bill after the whole "Monica" thing, he made-up some of his eternal douche-baggyness by announcing his veganism on CNN. Good for him! He's helping save a lot of animals, improving his health, and helping the environment.

5) Hurricane Irene: I'm currently bunkering down in my house to avoid the imminent disaster that is Hurricane Irene. But I have lots of snacks and my Harry Potter books, so don't worry about me, friends. Keep safe, booze up, & enjoy the delightful stormy weather!

Life's a Brew-sical

At work this past Friday, I won an award at our "monthly team rally" for being such a super help this summer to the beer team! (Note to readers... I work in the alcohol industry. Our beer team actually does work. They aren't bums who get drunk on 40s during their lunch break).

Anyways- After the rally was over and I received my award, the manager of the beer team came over to my desk and said, "So, Hilary, I don't know if you've heard....." Automatically, my heart rate jumped from lazy turtle to jack rabbit. Had I heard what!? That my boss had fallen and was being rushed to the hospital? (I would have had a panic attack.... and rushed to bring her a diet coke). That all the wine in the kitchen had exploded and I needed to go clean it up? That the office had all pitched in and bought me a giant basket of dachshund puppies!? What hadn't I heard!?

".... That the beer team and I actually wrote a song for you & were going to sing it when giving you your award"

Yes, those were the words that came out of the beer manager's mouth. Were you expecting that? Nope, neither did I! She then went on to sing me the song, which was to the tune of some Duran Duran song I've never heard of but pretended to know so I wouldn't look like an idiot. I was so elated and confused that I don't remember the whole song, but I know it went something like this...

Hilary writes great beer reviews.
She's great at writing and she knows her brews.
She's now an expert at unique craft ales,
IPA's, porters, she could never fail.
Stouts and wheats are much better than tea.
And Hilary always includes the ABV!

In a nutshell, it was one of the greatest moments of my life. Only once before has anyone written a song about me... and that was my crazy uncle who was drunk & trying desperately to entertain a bored 3 year-old. The most magical thing about that moment with the beer manager was realizing that my life is truly becoming a musical!

Vegan Bake-Swap!

A few months ago I joined the meetup.com group, "DC Vegans," and through that got invited to join a Google group called, "The DC Area Vegan Bake-Swap." One Saturday per month, the group leader picks a vegan cookbook and all the members select a dessert recipe from the chosen book to bake. We then meet at a cozy little cafe near U Street, stuff our faces with each others creations, & swap desserts!

The members of the group are very... "eclectic".... which makes the 2 hours we spend together each month very interesting. There are architects, lawyers, writers, military chefs, housewives, organic farmers, engineers, firemen, butchers, and hotel owners. (Note to readers- I made some of those up. Especially one in particular... guess which one!?)

For a past swap, I made these awesome lemon bars....

For the most recent swap we had, I made these chocolate peanut butter rice-krispie treats...

Another note to readers: This is NOT a recipe/cooking blog! (Just thought I should stress that again to reassure you all. Phew!)