Race Review: 50 Shades of Cray and the Baltimore Color Run

On May 11, my friends, sisters, and I ran the Baltimore Color Run. Our team consisted of the same crew that did the Lozilu Mud Run last year. I had never done a color run before so it looked pretty interesting. By the way, I use the word "run"quite loosely because this race is more for the fun aspect with it not being timed. I jokingly called it the "Color Frolic," but for those who don't typically run, this event just might be the gateway into more serious races, so I'm all for it. :)

Here's a before shot of our team, "50 Shades of Cray!" So fresh and so clean!

Here's a shot of the Beltrano sisters and our colorful socks! We all wore fun colorful knee high socks which was a nice touch!

N.J. made me a special shirt because it was my birthday. It says, "It's my birthday today! Wish me a colorful day." What made this a funny shirt was that a lot of people wished me a happy birthday while I was running the course and I didn't realize they were talking to me, LOL!

When the race was about to begin, there were a ton of people at the starting line, waiting to get the show on the road. Unfortunately, they were doing a wave start so it was taking FOREVER for to get started. Unlike the Nike Women's Half that I did a few weeks ago (where I wished there was more of a wave start), for a race of this nature, I didn't feel that it was necessary to make people wait to start running. After about thirty minutes of waiting, my teammates and I went "rouge" and broke through the barricades and started on the course, and many people followed suit.

 

After we got started, we made our way through the course, which was between Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. 

One important thing to note is that in order to get really colorful, you have to run kind of slow through the color stations. That way, the volunteers can pelt you with powder, thus saturating you with color! Also, the sunglasses, while cute, also were functional as they protected our eyes from the colored powder!

 

The atmosphere was friendly and the crowds we're energized. I would also like to note that there was adequate water stations and port-o-potties on the short 5k course because I had used both within the first mile of the race! 

Thanks N.J. and T.H. for the all the cool photos!

Luckily, the rain stayed away for much of the race while we were running. Toward the end of the race, it did start sprinkling a little harder; however, we made it back to the car just in time. Although the beginning of the race got off to a rough start due to what I thought was an unnecessary wave start, it was a fun way to get my birthday started off right!

Weekend Review: I'm Feelin' 22

Hi Everyone! A few weeks ago, I celebrated my 32nd Birthday with a fun, event filled weekend. To kick off the festivities Justin and I dined at Rasika West End. Justin had never had Indian food before, but promised me that he would take me out for an Indian dinner for my birthday.  We figured that he might as well try the best Indian restaurant in the city. I started off our meal with the signature Rasika cocktail made with sparkling wine. Cheers to me!

For starters we ordered samosa (on the left) and the famous palak chaat (flash fried spinach). Both were delicious!

For our entree, we ordered an assortment of naan to share while I ordered the chicken adraki and Justin ordered the tandoori chicken.

We also ordered the vegetable biriyani. It's neat how it is filled with rice and prepared in a bread pot.

I then helped myself to another cocktail...I forgot what the name of this one was, but it had a spicy kick to it!

For dessert, our server came out with a tiramisu type of dish...on the house! You could definitely taste the Indian flavors in the dessert!

The next day, my sisters, friends, and I ran the Color Run in Baltimore. I'm sure you all saw pictures on Facebook, but I'll probably be reviewing the race in a separate post tomorrow. :)After the Color Run, we were starving so we headed to Fells Point to "attempt" to eat at the Blue Moon Cafe.  The wait for that place was so long (due to its small size), so we ended up going to Todd Conner's on the corner.

Although being our second choice, Todd Conner's didn't disappoint. I ordered the Monte Cristo (not as good as Bennigan's!), but still tasty and filling!

I ordered a horchata cocktail that tasted like chocolate milk and was given a complementary bloody mary since my sister's told them it was my birthday. Needless to say, I was on the verge of getting a little tipsy, but luckily I had filled up on the brunchy goodness to coat my belly.

That evening we traveled to our old stomping grounds (Arlington) to do some bar hopping. In true 22 year old fashion, we started out at Ricky's to get our pregame on! This was the first of many Patron shots. Was this one the coffee one or the regular one? I have no clue, but both went down smooth...

Who took this blurry picture? Judy?

Bottoms up!

The rest of the evening consisted of us going to a total of two bars (so much for bar hopping, more like a bar hop ;), and me not remembering much afterwards. Somehow, we ended up back at Ricky's apartment, ordering Pizza Movers (the saltiest pizza ever, with fake sausage that I like to call "snausages!"), and passing out everywhere. Luckily, we woke up bright and early enough for Jill to make it to work!

These days birthdays aren't as crazy as they used to be, but they are still fun. Event though my birthday is just one day, I still like to celebrate the entire weekend with good food, drinks, and friends!