I'm 25!

Ah - I'm officially 25, I can't believe it! (As if you can't tell from the title of this post and the image above) I'm normally not one to care about birthdays but this one was extremely special. It was by far one of the best birthdays I've had in a while and spent it with some amazing people. 

It started on Friday morning when I went to go get my hair done while I waited for my cousin to arrive from Charlotte. I was SO, SO excited that she came to spend my birthday with me! We spent the day just hanging out until the night hit when we went to dinner and World of Beer. We didn't want to do too much since Saturday was going to be a packed day.

Saturday morning and yay, it's my birthday! Saturday we spent the day at The Winery at Bull Run. One of my best friends got married there earlier this year and it really is such a nice space so I knew this was a great choice. Also, the fact that it wasn't ridiculously far from the city (like most wineries are) was a big factor so that a lot of my friends could make it out. For the evening we went out to dinner and had a night on the town - aka: partying in Arlington.

Sunday was just spent as a nice and relaxing day, unwinding from the hustle and bustle of Friday and Saturday night. Everyone knows I'm not the out all weekend type of girl, so Sunday was just perfect for me. Actually, the whole weekend was.

I am seriously so happy that so many of my friends made it out throughout the weekend to spend time with me on my birthday. I am hoping for an awesome 25th year, especially since I'm officially at the "I feel like I'm going to open my eyes and be 30" age.

Thank you for reading about my wonderful weekend and I hope everyone can have the same awesome feeling I had these past couple days during their birthday celebration, week, month!

Greek Orzo Pasta Salad

Hi All -

I was recently going through my Pinterest recipes, looking for something somewhat specific but yet not. I knew I wanted something Mediterranean so I went through using different words to find something that would catch my eye. I came across Joy the Baker's "It's Not Summer Yet Greek Pasta Salad." I liked the idea but knew I would want to change it up. So here's my take on it:

For the Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1 1/2 lemons, juiced

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

For the Pasta Salad:

5 cups cooked (cooled) orzo pasta

3 chopped Persian cucumbers 

2 cups halved cherry tomatoes

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/2 cup chopped heart of palm

1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved

sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large bowl toss together orzo pasta, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta cheese, onion, heart of palm and olives.  Add olive oil, lemon juice and garlic powder. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste. You can serve immediately or chill and then serve. Personally, I like it a bit chilled once all the ingredients have been mixed together. 

I would like to say that every time I make this, I base it off of taste. Some days I go with more lemon, some days more olives, more garlic (so I’ll add fresh crushed garlic on those days), or whatever else I might be craving. Being Middle Eastern, it’s REALLY hard for me to stick to any sort of recipe. 98% of the time I ask my mom or one of my aunts for directions on how to cook something, they never use measurements so that's also become a habit for me. I do recommend that you do that also every once in a while and listen to your taste buds when they're craving!

I hope you enjoy this recipe! And thank you to Joy the Baker for inspiring me. :) Enjoy and talk to you soon!

I Ran My First 5K!

Hi Everyone!

Guess what.. I'm back! I don't want to sit here any promise that I'm going to get better at posting, I'll let my actual posts do the talking. So let's dive in!

I've crossed thing the first thing off my 30 Before 30 bucket list for 2014. I ran The Color Run DC! It was a great first 5K for a few different reasons. First, it was fun! The colors made each kilometer go by faster. Second, it's great for beginners. It's not timed so there's no worry about crossing that finish line as fast as you can. Third, it's something that everyone can participate in. There were people of all ages, people running alone, in partners, in families. My favorite were the moms with their running strollers.

I will admit, I took the longest shower of my life after this race. It wasn't easy to wash everything off. There was definitely scrubbing involved. It was totally worth it though! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the race:

Now that I've gotten my first race out of the way, I'm definitely going to do another. Except for the next one, I'll actually train beforehand. 

I definitely recommend that everyone do at least one 5k at some point. Even if you're not a runner, there are 5ks that are for walkers. They're a great way to go outside and be active with friends. Any bit of exercise you do is better than none! :)

Talk to you all soon!