Holiday Art Show ...

Gallery 222 in downtown Leesburg is pleased to present its annual Holiday Art Show featuring original paintings. The gallery is located on 222 King Street and the show and sale continues until January 18, 2008.

Snow Day

Ok guys sounds like our area might be gearing up for the year's first snow!!
Everyone get your snow gears out.
And don't forget kitty litter for your tires (helps with traction control).

SANTA CLAUS MANAGEMENT TIPS

This week, as we go into the Christmas Holidays, we try and juggle so much in work and family. We may have some "wisdom" from the man in red to help us along:Management speak can be hilarious when it’s applied to non-management situations. Tech guru Jim Carroll — a futurist, innovation expert and author (How to Innovate When Faster is the New Fast; What I Learned From Frogs in Texas) — has posted a witty analysis of the success of Santa Claus’s business model on his website.[Santa’s] operational insight is pure genius (He's organized. He's got a list. He checks it twice. Operational excellence is his middle name.)He’s a fanatic on customer oriented innovation (He knows exactly what the customer wants. There's no other individual or organization who has such deep insight into the customer. And he's had this core focus for hundreds of years.)He is mindful of work life balance (Some people take a few weeks off for a holiday. Some might take off a month. Santa takes off entire seasons.)He’s not afraid of those who are different (Rudolph. Red Nosed. Reindeer. Enough said. Santa has got this diversity thing down to a science.)These are funny, but I’m not sure whether I’m laughing at Santa Claus or the cult of management trying to create a language that can be applied to creations as fanciful as Santa.I mean, can you imagine a management consultant suggesting a CEO use Santa Claus as a role model? And yet Carroll’s list makes more sense than management philosophies based on driving out sentiment from business decisions and that real leaders must be SOBs.There’s more wisdom here than just humour

Turkey is in the Air

Thanksgiving 2007 is just around the corner! This year it's a tad early on November 22. Don't forget to make room in your freezers cause it's time to shop for turkey!
Countdown to Turkey Day is 15...
Have fun!!

Daylight Saving Time

Spelling and grammar

The official spelling is Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight SavingS Time.
Saving is used here as a verbal adjective (a participle). It modifies time and tells us more about its nature; namely, that it is characterized by the activity of saving daylight. It is a saving daylight kind of time. Because of this, it would be more accurate to refer to DST as daylight-saving time. Similar examples would be a mind-expanding book or a man-eating tiger. Saving is used in the same way as saving a ball game, rather than as a savings account.
Nevertheless, many people feel the word savings (with an 's') flows more mellifluously off the tongue. Daylight Savings Time is also in common usage, and can be found in dictionaries.
Adding to the confusion is that the phrase Daylight Saving Time is inaccurate, since no daylight is actually saved. Daylight Shifting Time would be better, but it is not as politically desirable.

Pink Ribbon

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We are almost at the end of the month but there is still time for us to show our support in the research and cure for breast cancer. For more information in getting involved or learning about the disease that has affected millions of women in our country and in the world please visit http://www.nbcam.com/

Halloween History & Fun

It was believed that spirits rose from the dead and mingled with the living on this day. The Celts left food at their doors to encourage good spirits and wore masks to scare off the bad ones!

Have you visited your local Pumpkin Patch yet?! They have fun for all ages and usually include hay rides, pony rides and petting zoos for the kids, big, fast slides to go down (with your kids!) and of course pick your own pumpkins! Some great ones in the area are: Burke Nursery & Garden Centre, Cox Farms in Centreville, Heather Hill Gardens in Fairfax Station, Mount Vernon, Leesburg Animal Park and Great Country Farms in Bluemont, VA

HOW DID THE BOSS GET A DAY?

HOLIDAY HISTORY: Began in 1958 when Patricia Bays Haroski, then an employee at the State Farm Insurance Company in Deerfield, Ill., registered the holiday with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Ms. Haroski chose October 16th, her fathers birthday, as the date for National Boss Day because she felt he was an exemplary boss.

National Boss Day has become an internationl celebration in recent years and now is observed in countries such as England, Australia and South Africa.

DID YOU KNOW? Boss Day is always celebrated on October 16th?

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, more than 14 million individuals are employed in management occupations, and about 37% of them are women?

Workplace surveys confirm that one of the most important elements of job satisfaction is a positive relationship between a supervisor and employee.

Water Shortage in Loudoun County

We sure could use some rain!

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Tuesday adopted a resolution declaring a water shortage emergency in parts of the county.Due to the ongoing drought, the Board of Supervisors instituted mandatory water restrictions for residents in eastern Loudoun County.Voluntary restrictions were already imposed in early August, calling for residents to reduced their water usage by 10-percent. Loudoun County Sanitation Authority officials say the mandatory restrictions will ease demand, and if rainfall increases, help return the reservoirs to their pre-drought levels. Effective immediately, the county is prohibiting residents from watering their lawns and landscaping, washing vehicles except in commercial facilities, filling swimming pools and operating ornamental fountains. Also the county is asking restaurants to stop serving drinking water unless specifically requested.Authorities say violators may be fined up to $500 for each offense.

What's Cooking at the Homewood Suites?

Abdel Razick welcomes our guests with a delicious light buffet at the "Welcome Home Reception" every Monday through Thursday evenings.

Homewood Suites its expansion...

The Homewood Suites by Hilton brand continues its record pace in the development and opening of new properties. This past week, the 211th property opened in our very own state..Virginia. The Fredericksburg Homewood Suites, just off of I-95, opened this week.
Congraduations to our neighbors to the immediate South....

Local Halloween Traditions

Discover the Real Night Life of neighboring Leesburg.
This Halloween, get scared inside out at the popular (and infamous) nighttime tour of Leesburg's haunted homes and businesses.
Friday and Saturday, October 26 and 27 are the dates for this annual fun event.
Visit their web site at...www.loudounmuseum.org or simply call at 703-777-7427.

Mom's Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups pumpkin puree
Cooking Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
In a large bowl, combine eggs, egg yolk, white sugar and brown sugar. Add salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Gradually stir in milk and cream. Stir in pumpkin. Pour filling into pie shell.
Bake for ten minutes in preheated oven. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake for an additional 40 to 45 minutes, or until filling is set.

Fall Weekend Ideas

We are having some beautiful Fall weekends! Why not spend one in the picturesque Shenandoah Valley? A great upcoming event is the Hot Air Balloon & Wine Festival held at Historic Long Branch in Millwood, VA. This will be the weekend of Oct. 19-21. The Shenendoah Valley is also famous for apples and you can pick your own at many places. There are also some great Virginia wineries. Why not venture out?!

HOME BEAUTY TIPS

>To remove puffiness from the eyelids, massage a drop of very fresh castor oil on to them.
>To cool your eyes, make eye pads using thick slices of cucumber. Another option is to use cottom pads soaked in cold milk. Lie down and place them on your closed eyes and relax for a while.
>To prevent your lips from chapping, use hot water fermentation on your lips and then apply a mixture of vaseline and honey. Apply this mixture about three times a week.
>To prevent your lips from drying you can use a ground mixture of rose pettals and milk butter.
>To dealy age spots on your hands, use a piece of lemon and rub all over your hands before washing. This will delay onset of age-spots.
>To prevent hair loss you should have a biotin rich drink. Blend bananas with honey, yogurt and low fat milk. Drink this for a few weeks.
>To add extra shine and glow to your hair add 2 tablespoons of malt vinegar. Use it as a last rinse and towel dry your hair.

Great Expectations at the Homewood Suites !

Guest Service Agent Amaris Negron will soon be welcoming more than our Homewood Suites guests, as she awaits the October arrival of her first child.

Eeezy Breezy Smoothie Recipe

Have one before the summer is over!

You need:

1 cup yogurt, plain nonfat
6 medium strawberries
1 cup pineapple, crushed,
1 medium banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 -6 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth or to your liking.

And Enjoy!!!

Local Dojo well represented at the AAU Nationals in June

Our local martial arts studio, Williams Martial Arts & Fitness, sent students to compete recently in the AAU National Champoinships held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This year, once again, Willaimas Martial Arts & Fitness sent the largest contingent of competitors to this championship.
Local businessman Clint Williams owns and manages this "dojo", which is very popular with familes and adult enthusiasts in the negighborhood of our hotel.

Welcome to our Blog!

Thanks for visiting our blog! Homewood Suites by Hilton Dulles - North is located in Ashburn Virginia, north of Dulles International Airport.

Please visit our blog on a regular basis for fun facts and recent happenings at our hotel!