I just had one of those perfect weekends where I got to do exactly what I wanted to do.
I was able to relax, spend time with Steven, meet up with friends, and watch my Timbers play. I got to see my favorite 90′s singer-songwriter perform (random, I know!) and I had my first (and wonderful) experience at the Oregon Brewer’s Festival.
Confession: I love my planner.
I would be lost without this little blue book. In three days, I will be at the end of my planner. August always signifies a brand new planner.
I can’t help but feel a little sad for this now useless planner. It contains all of my due dates, test times, and themed parties from UP. Now it’s filled with my never-changing work times, happy hours, and dinner ideas.
Everything is perfectly color-coded, separated into sections. My messy highlighter lines denote important events, single red slash signifies completion.
For one entire year, this planner went everywhere with me. It’s messy, coffee-stained pages document my senior year, my capstone project, my relationship with Steven, and every family event and college party.
I know that I always have a slight love affair with my every planner I have. But now it’s out with the old planner, and in with the new.
If there is one thing that Netflix has given me during our love affair, it’s the endless supply of choices in the documentary department.
I just finished the 2010 documentary “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead” which follows Australian Joe Cross’ attempt to regain his health and battle his weight. Cross decides to drink only fresh fruit and vegetable juice for 60 days to “reboot” his system. With his juicer in tow, Cross travels around the United States talking to normal everyday Americans about what they eat.
The most prominent (and unexpected) part of the documentary is the story of Phil Staples, a truck driver that Cross meets during his journey. Staples, with the guidance of Cross and his doctors, takes on the juice “reboot” challenge.
What happens is truly inspiring…
I am now putting down the Smartfood popcorn and picking up an apple.
Let me please introduce my brand-new online portfolio, which will now be featured on the menu of my blog!
You can find my work from the University of Portland Beacon, as well as articles written from my media relations internship at Roya Ghorbani Portfolio
I took a class called “Online Journalism” my last semester at UP and my wonderful professor (hi Dr. Lovejoy!) instilled in us the importance of having an online presence as a communications professional. Dr. Lovejoy required us to maintain a blog about any topic of our choice. Check my old blog about UP Theater (which I absolutely loved writing in).
Do you have any suggestions for me to create more of an online presence as a budding communications professional?
If there is one thing I know as an Iranian-American, I know that Iranians LOVE to eat.
Iran trip 2006
I grew up eating Iranian food. From shami to “Iranian salad” to kebabs & saffron rice, Iranian food is an ever-present food genre on the Ghorbani-Elizeh menu. My dad keeps his secret spices tucked away above the fridge away from prying hands. Many of his spices are hand-picked, packaged by my grandmother Mamani in Iran. Although I never realized it growing up, cooking Iranian food allowed for my dad to share just a little of his culture with us.
Yesterday my parents had some of us over for an “Iranian Thanksgiving.” My dad cooked all of his favorite dishes, each of them accompanied by a story or an anecdote. It was the first time Steven and Kian’s girlfriend Brittney had ever had Iranian food and they were definitely in for a treat!
Here’s an easy recipe to my favorite Iranian side dish. As children, we always called it “Iranian salad.”
Zalad Sheraze
"Iranian Salad" or Zalad Sheraze
1/2 cucumber – diced
1 tomato – diced
1/4 onion – diced
4 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp of olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Mix and serve chilled
Ta-Da! Welcome to the world of delicious and fresh Iranian food!
To understand my ever-so-changing life, you need to meet my supporting cast. These are the people who have changed my life/are around me constantly/will be mentioned in this blog all the time.
Sorry for the long post, tons of people to squish in!
Meet & Greet: My friends
Steven
Steven – We met a couple years ago and have been dating for over a year now. He is truly a wonderful guy and always knows how to make me laugh. Steven is a technical support guy for Apple computers.
Jamie
Jamie – My best friend and ultimate confidant. She is basically a member of my family now. I can’t even begin to describe how many adventures we have had (or how long it took me to decide on a photo for us).
Katie
Katie - Roommates sophomore year at UP, Katie has always been one of my closest friends. Now that she’s a Nurse (!!!) she will forever be taking care of me.
The Cottage
Cottage (my college house for 2 years) – Jamie, Danielle, Hillary
Karen
Karen – Best friends since high school, we lived in the dorms together our freshman year. She left me (sob) to go to Chicago for acting school. She’s going to make it big, I just know it.
'The Linn girls'
‘The Linn girls’ (high school best friends) – Elyse, Karen, Lissa.
Eric
Eric – He is my best guy friend that basically got me through every heartbreak and teenage breakdown in HS. We have gone to countless concerts together and have so many ‘friendship’ songs that I don’t even remember them all. He is now off in Switzerland to study…something in the medical field.
(I’m sorry! I promise posts won’t be this long!)
To understand my ever-so-changing life, you need to meet my supporting cast. These are the people who have changed my life/are around me constantly/will be mentioned in this blog all the time.
Meet & Greet: Ghorbani-Elizeh family
The Ghorbani-Elizeh familyTammy (mom) – She’s basically my best friend. We talk almost everyday about anything and everything. Mom is an avid reader and a book collector of sorts. Take note, she gives the best advice.
Kara (little sister) – She is 16 going on 25. Kara loves to shop and gives hilarious one-liners. She is a total teenage and has tons of friends in high school. She’s the walking definition of a social life.
Kian (little brother) – We currently live together in SW in our cute little apartment. He is basically a walking NBA announcer who knows anything and everything about basketball. He goes to PSU and is studying psychology.
Eddie (dad) – He is always active and is one of the hardest working people I know. It’s literally impossible to get him to sit down and relax. He tells hilarious “jokes,” which always involve his mistakes with the English language.
And who could forget our demonic, but adorable dog Rusty….
Rusty Ray Ghorbani-ElizehMy name is Roya: daughter, sister, best friend, girlfriend, intern, writer, music enthusiast, and now a blogger.
I always knew I would one day have a blog and now seems like the perfect time to create one. Now that graduation has come and gone (I can’t believe it’s already been two months!), I feel like blogging is just another transition into my technology-savvy adulthood.
I am not promising mood-altering, life-changing thoughts to come from this blog. It will most likely be ramblings, photos, and otherwise small snapshots into my ever-changing life.
