Hidden on a typical residential street is a huge secret vegetable garden! Out back is an elderly…read moreman selling his vegetables only to those few who know about it! Organic, real, local and fresh! Check it out!

A cute little park in downtown Vienna. My dog loves being outdoors and parks but we like to avoid…read moreanywhere crowded as he gets excited very easily. We stopped by at this park today because our usual one was too full. This one was nice and empty for him. It had just enough room for him to explore and have fun. Lots of trash cans available for doggie #2 too. Parking was easy right on the street. They had a little free library as well. They had bathrooms that were pretty clean and even a doggie water fountain (and a water fountain specifically to refill your water bottle). It was a nice surprise that this little park had so many amenities. I'll definitely be back as my dog really enjoyed himself!!

There was a summer several years ago where I stumbled upon the CW sitcom "Hart of Dixie" on Netflix…read moreand binge-watched the entire series within a few days. There was something so magical about the community of Bluebell, Alabama and all of the traditions and activities they had that was very compelling to watch. I believe the Town of Vienna is the closest to Bluebell situation we have going here in Northern Virginia and I have definitely been taking advantage of all the family-friendly activities that they offer. The Vienna Town Green is home to a lot of them (including a free summer concert series). A few friends and I packed up a picnic and watched a show while our kiddos ran around with new friends catching fireflies and blowing bubbles. I honestly can't think of a better way to spend a random Wednesday night!

The flowers from I Can Buy Myself Flowers are unique and always stunningly beautiful. Lisa takes…read moreextra care to choose a container, sometimes a vase and sometimes a special teapot or antique piece. Each arrangement tailored for you. I love her subscriptions where you get a fresh bouquet each month. She uses very fresh flowers which last longer than any store bought ones. If you love beautiful flowers, this is the business to get them from

I love the arrangements Lisa puts together! She has an intuition for what bouquets will brighten…read moreour family's home!!!!! I love these arrangements she makes with a little less flowers because it allows the flowers to really breath and for us to really take in all their unique qualities! Thanks Lisa :)

This gym is amazing! It's all in one and you get so much. Cardio machines, free weights, squat…read moreracks, tons of machines, a pool, sauna, class that includes yoga, hot Pilates, Pilates, cycling, boxing, and circuit classes. WOW! So impressive. The gym is so clean and modern. They even have a med spa and recovery room. This event was so fun! The class was challenging but the instructor kept motivating us, had great music, she was great! Really loved this event! Really love events that promote wellness!

So I TOTALLY made an amateur mistake and went to the wrong location for this event (so…read moreembarrassing). But I have to say, everything worked out so wonderfully in the end. I put the directions to the Arlington Club Studio (which opened about a month ago) and as soon as I got there, I realized it was the wrong location. I called and they were kind enough to still let me try my reformer class. Because I got there early I was able to squeeze in a tour and avoid a cancellation/no show fee. It worked out because there was only one seat left for the reformer class workout. I had such a positive experience overall. The gym appears to be such a positive community and you definitely see all age groups attending. The cleanliness and how kind everyone is to each other is encouraging for anyone who has been challenged on a wellness/fitness journey. Would definitely consider joining this gym after my experience!

exceptional family fun every year - great food, authentic Arabic sweets, Arabic music and dancing,…read moreopen air seating, Kid Zone that keeps the family happy all day!

23rd Annual Middle Eastern Food Festival was a great event. I missed 22 other years but I will be…read morecoming again. The staff is incredibly organized, it feels more like an organized Japanese, not Middle East Festival. Everything is presented nicely in different and multiple formats (plates, hand brochure or large food panel with pictures) so it is really hard not to know what is available. Hosts are welcoming and asking how they can assist. The only improvement would be to place a schedule of events on the website so people can gauge what event they want to attend (dance, or roasted lamb dinner or whatever else). There are many ethnic drinks offered and they complement great food. I had a Kibbeh Platter and it was so good that I wanted to meet the lady cook. This is really easy festival to remember because it always during the Labor day weekend. There is a lot of stuff for the kids (free pony rides for example) in the large backyard or you can have a church tour. The assembly hall is large and Arabic music entertained us entire time. The Sweets table is a LONG table with any baklava that you may think off (walnuts, cashews, pistachios, hazelnuts, ...) Sweets that I tried were all very tasty. I leave this place with a satisfied belly and notion that everything was perfect and I credit the great hosts for that.

I received multiple emails about the Fit Foodie 5K race Weekend a while back and then saw our CM…read morewas giving away tickets to both Sunday activities and jumped on a chance to enter to win them. Thanks Gretchen! It was awesome! I signed up for the Sunrise Celebrity Yoga class with Kristin McGee (love her) and had a blast! It was a challenging power flow yoga session-just as I expected. Kristin is a very skillful instructor and the staff from Spark Yoga walked around to provide hands on modification, which I thought was a nice touch. I actually wish the boot-camp session had not been at the same time, because I would have loved to do both. Maybe next year? The brunch tables were being set up as we did our practice (which I found to be a little distracting, but I guess that is what happens with outdoor yoga) and looked lovely. After the hour session we were encouraged to stop by the vendor booth to get samples (magazines, snacks, seed packets, water), meet Kristin and the staff from Spark Yoga. I hope to participate in this event again next year.

I was SUPER DUPER excited when I found that I won a pair of tickets to Cooking Light & Health's…read more'The Fit Foodie 5K Race Weekend!' This annual event started back in '13 in San Diego, and had expanded to Fairfax, VA and Austin, TX for the '14 year - yahoo! The premise of this event is to encourage a healthy lifestyle - a balance of being fit with a combination of cooking and fitness demonstrations, so that you can have the pleasure of both worlds of working out hard and that you can also indulge in healthy food at the same time. This year, the event has teamed up with City of Hope, as this charity focuses on treatment and research for cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases. Checking in was a breeze; I was able to attend the Celebrity Sunrise Yoga, held at the Mosaic, presented by PlainSmart. The celebrity trainer for this event was Ms. Kristin McGee, where the attendees were able to do some balancing and strengthening yoga moves, great for all skill levels. Intense/relaxing, all at the same time! Another event that you can sign up for was the Obstacle Course Bootcamp and even a Celerity Chef Brunch that you could attend with an additional registration/cost. A great way to jump-start a 'healthy' week! I would love to check out the event next year, and look forward to having them again in NoVA! :D Thanks for the opportunity, Gretchen! :D

From here so biased. Miss residing here but am glad to visit. Is there traffic? Yes. Is housing…read moreexpensive? Yep. Yet this is the norm in the DC area. I will happily argue, that the city of Fairfax is one of the best places to live. The amount of services and parks, there's no community close by that can compete. Go to the Blenheim House, City Museum, or countless miles of hiking and biking trails. Also unlike the surrounding county, there are trees here! There are plenty of delicious restaurants here. I love its diversity, educated population, and overall small town feel compared to surrounding areas. The police and fire departments are number one. You'll enjoy a vibrant arts or recreation experience. This weekend will be the Asian festival. That is a lot of fun, along with the one for chocolate, fall festival, and the best 4th of July parade and fireworks. Absolutely love it!

Did you know it's the largest fair in the country? Did you know there are 250 types of fried food…read moreon offer? Did you know.. oh wait. That's the wrong review. Those are "Fair Facts", not "Fairfax." The predominant memory of Fairfax is the beautiful smell of trees around the George Mason campus. The new memory is that it is the only location of Sharetea on East Coast USA. This international chain rocks my bubble tea world... who am I kidding, Bubble Tea is my whole world. You must try the Whole Lemon Black Tea the Okinawa Milk Tea. I visit Fairfax more than once a year, every year. My Uncle lives in the next town over (Man Asses), and I also happened to go to University here in Fairfax for several years of my life. I did rather well, but for a lot of the time I didn't have a working car, so instead of parading around DC like a true scallywag, I was restricted to running around Fairfax, biking around Fairfax, and bussing around Fairfax, and all of the above were not so much fun. It's a posh, rich, stuffy town with way too much traffic at the best of times. The cops are brutal and are constantly pulling students over trying to get DUI busts to make $$$ for what is already one of the richest counties in America. Despite all that, I had some good times in Fairfax and met some good people, and a part of my heart will always belong to it. It's an eerie feeling going back now, which I often do. I don't really recommend any of the food places in Fairfax, but nearby Vienna has the awesome Pasty Shop, the even better Gyros of Plaka Grill (and maybe Amphora, which is 24 hrs), and best of all the amazing homemade custard at Nielsen's - which is currently heartbreakingly closed down. There's a brand new shiny H-Mart in town with good Korean. In nearby Manassas, El Rulas makes the best tortas. Even closer, in Centerville, Burger Stop makes the very best burgers in the region - by far. And inside the Fair Oaks Mall (way too busy and popular), Monster Roll makes good deep freeze rolled ice cream. DC food in general - Falafel Inc in Georgetown. In MD burbs, Sardi's (Peruvian Chicken), Max's (best Shawarma/Falafel pita anywhere, get it spicy), Silk Road Choyhona (chicken kebab), hot pretzel and banana shake at Sadieanne's inside Dutch Village Farmer's Market in Upper Marlboro. Gyros at Yia Yia and Plaka. Late night, these 3: Kabob Palace, Amsterdam Falafel, Hard Times (Alexandria - Terlingua Red). La Casita for Salvadoran. Mazadar for Afghan. Java Loco for Okinawa Milk Bubble Tea. Dessert at SnoCream in Annandale. Also District Doughnuts in Georgetown, York Castle - crazy tropical flavors. Fairfax is mostly chains and brand names, but it's far from the worst place in the world to live or visit, and it's very safe, now that the sniper is not at large. The worst thing about Fairfax absolutely horrendous traffic. The best thing is excellent ethnic diversity and some really cool places to eat including nearby Centerville and Manassas and Falls Church. Also, as I said, Fairfax has the only Sharetea location on the entire East Coast. And that is a huge highlight for me personally. But it's just too clean and stuffy and rich for me and the traffic is some of the worst I've ever been stuck in. Hence the low rating. Especially when you factor in the daylight robbers keeping our pockets empty... I mean police keeping our streets, ahem, safe. (1) Rich town is putting it mildly. (2) Awful traffic. (3) Mild winters, muggy summers, lovely smell of trees. (4) The only Sharetea location on the East Coast. There you go: Four Facts on Fairfax.

I'm not thrilled with this park. At best it's a quick way to get out of suburbia. Located next to…read more66, the road noise is prominent. That decreases the getting away part. Tis a shame but Merrifield/Mosaic is huge. Alright that's mitigated by the cool restaurants and stores. This park is part of the Fairfax County system. They have one of the best in the country, but this is one that can be skipped. Sure there's a small playground for little ones, but so many area parks have more for children of all ages. My guess is that eventually this will be changed to something else. I don't have any inside information, but rather just a hunch. Gallows Road is extremely busy and development is lightning fast.

small park with a playground, some tennis courts, a basketball court and some tables…read more There is like 20 spots for parking maybe? Good place to start if you want to bike on Washington & Old Dominion Trail nearby. There is a porta potty