My first full week back, and I wasted no time drafting up a ridiculous looking to-do list. I baked a special birthday cake, made my date truffles and hosted a potluck Arabic Breakfast (which actually took place around brunch time), among many other adventures.

First thing’s first. Upon my return from travel, one of the first things I did, was head to my absolute favorite grocery store, Wegman’s . I was so excited when I saw this tomato dispenser. There’s a real sense of excitement when you have the ability to dispense multi-colored cherry tomatoes.

I love it when my dad decides he wants to make something for dinner, but then doesn’t actually know what he’s doing. He brought home this tuna steak and wanted to have it for dinner. My mom, dad and I spent a good 15 minutes discussing and researching how to crust, sear and cut tuna steak- YouTube video tutorials and all. It was a success! Thank you YouTube for being one of the best platforms for how-to’s.

This week I made a very special cake for a very special birthday boy. Truth be told, he’s my friend’s son and I couldn’t wait to make something special for him. We celebrated at our weekly movie night, and he was just over the moon with excitement. I’m going to guess it’s because he had a 4-layer triple chocolate cake with oreo frosting to enjoy to himself! I will say though, the baking, frosting and assembly were easy compared to the anxiety and work I put into transporting the cake. Note to self, never go into cake delivery.

Does anyone else go to Costco with the intention of buying 2-3 items and leave spending at least $200? I went into Costco intending to pick up bread, coffee cups and eggs. I left with beach chairs (it’s March in DC, by the way), a 100-pack of razors and tank tops – among many other things I did not have on my list. Oh yea, and I lunched on the samples.

We’re still snacking on the delicious almond biscotti I brought back from Rome. It goes perfectly with my coffee and hazelnut creamer.

Finally getting around to testing some of the olive oils from Rome. I bought olive oil made from black olives. It’s has a thicker, creamier taste, but goes perfectly with Italian Pane bread.

I decided to join my mom for yoga on the weekends, starting this last week. The yoga classes are part of the gym we’re both members of. I woke up and with only half a cup of coffee in, I made my way to class thinking it would be great to have a relaxed class. Surprise! I walked into “broga.” As the instructor explained, it’s yoga developed by “bros” and involves more active participation. So basically, I was doing pushups and burpees in yoga class!

I posted my first Instagram story video tutorial for my date truffles. I’m not great with video, and I definitely did not primp ahead of time, because I had my “home bun” as I like to call it. The date truffles are really easy and really fun to make. One day, when I have my YouTube channel all set up and I start recording and editing recipe videos, you all will be the first to know about it.

Sunday I invited over some friends for a potluck brunch. The potluck brunch turned into an Arabic Breakfast and it was amazing. We had fool (فول) fattet hummus (فتة حمص), falafel (فلافل), manaeesh (مناقيش), cheese assortment, egg station, labaneh, quiche, hash brown casserole. We even had fig walnut bread. It was fabulous.

Until next week …. follow along on Instagram