Southern Grub and Wine Wazoo!

As of this weekend, I am officially done with work trips for 2015! No more planes, no more delays or cancellations, crying babies sitting next to me, uncomfortable hotel sheets, damp rooms, travel expense reports... I'M DONE, FOOLS!

The last two work trips I had in 2015 were actually quite fun. The week after Thanksgiving I flew to Nashville, TN with several Chefs and F&B Directors to eat and drink our way around the city. #HardKnockLife... The southern food was AMAZING! (Fried chicken skins, pork belly poptarts, pimento cheese beignets.... #YUM!)

The next week, I flew to Houston, TX to taste all of the potential wines for our next beverage program. Over the course of two days, we tasted 425+ wines. It was QUITE an experience... #TooMuchWine... Unfortunately, all of the sugar in the wines hurt the enamel on my teeth. Dentist, here I come!

And now, it's Christmas season. Our tree is decked, our stockings are hung, the shopping is done... Let the baking begin!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, loyal readers! Actually, Thanksgiving was yesterday. I'm a day late in this post since yesterday was jam-packed full of food, family and more food.

Mr. Handsome and I started the holiday with our traditional Thanksgiving Tofurkey Trot! We ran 13.1 miles to prepare for two dinners. That's right... TWO DINNERS! (Next year, I've been promised only one dinner... so I can sleep in and watch the parade, WOO!)

What else has been happening lately? Well, LOTS of traveling for work! I've been to Sea Island, GA, Columbia, MD, and am heading to Nashville, TN and Houston, TX in December. #PrayForMyFlights

I also had the pleasure earlier this month of being the maid of honor in my cousin's wedding! She looked beautiful. Everyone danced. The wine was flowing. Her dress only broke once. There was only one midnight fire alarm. It was a grand celebration!

In other exciting news... We're getting a REAL Christmas tree this year! And by real... I mean fake. But it's 4 1/2 feet tall and can hold real-life ornaments. We're such adults. It's kind of a big deal.

As we start the holiday season, I hope you all have a safe and wonderful time buying presents, baking cookies, and sipping lots and lots of wine! #Merry #Merry

"Now watch me sip, my chardonnay-nay"... Cheers!

Planes, Tutus, Condos & Pumpkins

Hello, Loyal Readers! It's been a very, very busy couple of weeks here in Hilary-ville. Since last blogging, I've taken four big trips, moved to a new home, ran a half marathon, hosted a Bridal Shower, and consumed a great deal of wine in the process...

Trip #1: Kentucky! One of my beverage partners at work invited me down to Louisville, KY to "hike" the bourbon trail. I visited the factories of Jim Beam, ABM and Makers Mark and got to taste and take home some amazing bourbons!

Trip #2: Charleston! Mr. Handsome and I flew down to Charleston, SC for the wedding of his childhood friend and his lovely new wife. It was a sunrise wedding, so we had the pleasure of waking up at 3:30am on a Saturday! #AfternoonNap... We also got to dine at some GREAT Charleston restaurants and drank some tasty brews at Holy City Brewing.

Trip #3: Chicago! Work asked me to take a quick trip to Chicago to help with the photo shoot for our next big food promotion... Skillet Cookies! If my fall allergies weren't so bad, I may have been able to smell all of the delicious baked goods. I love Chicago. It reminds me of a miniature NYC, but with more wind and unhealthier food. #NOM

Trip #4: Me, my mother, and my aunt Amie packed the car hillbilly style w/ pumpkins and mums to drive to NJ and host a "Fall in Love" themed bridal shower for my cousin, Kitty. I'm the maid of honor in her wedding November 7th in Redbank, NJ. (Expect a fun little blog post about my MOH speech in a few weeks)... The shower was a success. Everyone loved their baby pumpkin favors!

1/2 Marathon: I ran the Diva's Half Marathon at Tarara Winery a couple weeks ago out in Leesburg, VA. Despite being exhausted and slightly out of shape, I busted out a PR of 1:49:22! Average mile pace was 8:22. I credit the sugary illy coffee I drank before the race. And I would like to thank the race coordinators for the sweet tiara, tiara-shaped medal, pink tutu, and pink boa.

New Home: Mr. Handsome and I finally bought a place! We moved from Arlington (Courthouse) to Arlington (Shirlington). So far, we LOVE the place! We painted the walls different shades of gray, bought some amazing new rugs, and are loving the hardwood floor situation. #HomeOwners

May October be slightly less busy, but just as adventurous! This afternoon, I'm headed to a rocking and rolling beer festival in Shirlington Village. PROST!

#Nickary Wedding Preview

Happy Sunday, loyal readers! As you know, Mr. Handsome and I got engaged back in May. Since making it official, we've been super busy planning for the big day. We've booked almost all of our vendors, I bought a wedding dress, we've selected our cake flavors, and we had an amazing engagement photo shoot session at Old 690 Brewing with our photographer!

Instead of a cake, we're going to offer our guests cupcakes and cookies. We decided on the following flavors of cupcakes: (Red Velvet, Carrot Cake, Key Lime, and Strawberry), and the following cookies: (Chocolate Chip, Italian Wedding, White Chocolate Macadamia w/ Cranberries, and Snickerdoodle).

The brewery-themed engagement photo shoot was a huge success! Our photographer over at Traci J. Brooks Studios did an incredible job. Here are a few highlights from the shoot...

6.4.16 :)

Outer Banks (OBX) 2015

I just finished spending 7 days in the Outer Banks! I hadn't been down there since I was 15 years-old, and hadn't spent a full week at any beach in WAY too long.

It was a very relaxing vacation. Mr. Handsome and I spent the week with his sister, his sister's boyfriend, and a handful of their friends from Richmond in a cozy house right on the beach! We played lots of corn-hole, drank lots of booze, spent time in the hot-tub, did LOTS of reading, and ate lots of great seafood.

We ate crabs and shrimp and scallops... and plenty of Duck Donuts! We also saw a big-ass shark get pulled up onto the dock next to our house. Surprisingly, I still went out and swam in the ocean afterward. (I'm crazy yo, CRAZY!)

Until next time, loyal readers... Enjoy your summer!

#NYC... #AtlanticCity... #Kitchie

Loyal readers, it's been a CRAZY month! Work has been busy as usual, I've taken several fun trips up north, we're making headway on our wedding plans, and Mr. Handsome and I have been looking for a condo to buy... (CUE the sleepless nights and need for LOTS of coffee / wine!)

The first fun trip I took was to NYC to see the new apartment of Mr. Handsome's parents. It's on the Upper West Side, overlooking the Hudson, (perfect + breathtaking view!) We got to hang out with a bunch of friends, see a few of my company's hotels, visit several flea markets / food festivals in Brooklyn, walk the entire High Line, and stuff our faces with bagels :)

 

I also had the pleasure of traveling to Atlantic City to throw a Bachelorette Party for my cousin, Kitty! (I'm the maid of honor in her wedding this November). It was a HUGE success! We ate lots of delicious food and spent time dancing all up in da clubs. I planned lots of fun games and made some matching shirts to commemorate the weekend.

Other exciting events in the near future: Taking our engagement photos TOMORROW, visiting the Outer Banks for a week in August, Traveling the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky this September, and heading to Charleston again for a buddy's wedding. Lots of fun adventures to come!

Happy 4th of July!

Hello, loyal readers! It's been a little while since my last blog post. Since our engagement and our trip to New Orleans, Mr. Handsome and I have been SUPER busy. Since my last post, I've had a couple of pretty awesome adventures...

1) In early June, I was invited to attend a special dinner in DC with the founders of Flying Dog Brewery and Samuel Adams Brewing Company! It was an 8 course dinner, and exclusive beers were paired with each course. I was STUFFED and it was DELICIOUS and I was SO HAPPY!

2) We also had the pleasure of attending the wedding of our good pals, Jess & Bryce! The wedding was at Whitehall Manor in Bluemont, VA. The weather was perfect, the food was delicious and joy and merriment were had by all.

3) Mr. Handsome and I took a trip to Richmond a few weeks ago to visit his sister. We asked her to be a bridesmaid in our wedding, went to a block party at Ardent Ales, and came close to getting Diabetes by inhaling colorful donuts at Sugar Shack!

4) Last weekend, we took a drive to Rehoboth Beach, DE to visit my dad's family and frolic in the ocean. We ended up having a little engagement party fully equipped with champagne and FACE CAKE! My 4 year-old cousin proceeded to demand Mr. Handsome's face on the cake and made him watch her eat it... (Kids are CREEPY!)

5) We celebrated July 4th a little early by doing our 2nd Annual "Baby You're A Firework" Half-Marathon on July 3rd. Per tradition, we made customized race bibs and bought enormous bagels as our race medals. We then went and visited several breweries and wineries with our friends in the afternoon! We visited Corcoran Brewing, The Barns at Hamilton Station & Adroit Theory Brewing.

Happy 4th of July!