short update!

To my family who checks this religiously...sorry I haven't updated recently! I promise to try and update more often!

Here are pictures of some things I have been up to since my darling mother went back to USA:

Caglar (pronounced Cha-lar) and I at the fenerbahce futbol game! This is one of the most famous teams in Turkey, they won 4-2! Caglar is with Fenerbahce sports running 100 meter and hurdles, he gave me my own jersey for the game! :)

Before "cinema" as the turks call it...my hair is getting long! :)

Adem Killici (amazing boxer with fenerbahce) teaching my good friend Bre and I how to box! :P

This is Bre. She is awesome, and my best friend here. Here's the sad part: she just went back to America :(

Making pancakes with Bre for our Turkish friends!

Turkish Delights! Mom's visit to Istanbul, Turkey!

My mom and I said goodbye to Greece and flew back to beautiful Istanbul! I took her to Taksim first- the Times Square of Istanbul! We wandered down the famous street called "Istiklal," window shopping, as well as doing some actual shopping; mom couldn't get enough scarfs!

2 things were important to me at this moment: that my mom try 2 of my favorite things! First, we grabbed some Kumpir (like a baked potato...only Turkish. And loaded with a million things) then we went to a cafe called Mado, and split a waffle; yes a waffle. The waffles come loaded with your choice of toppings- my favorite is a white chocolate spread, fruit, and fruity turkish ice creams on top...DELISH!

After our 2 delectable, unhealthy snacks, we were full. As we were leaving, we stopped into another shop and bought an assortment of homemade, fresh baklava's to give to a family taking us out to dinner that night. (I teach their 6 year old twins on friday and saturday)

We meandored our way into Ortakoy, and passed a breast cancer run- boy were those people filled with joy! It was incredible to pass through the crowds in their pink attire, the bands, and the over all stopped traffic for this event. My favorite place in Ortakoy looks like a tiny market by the bosphorus, with many people selling hand crafted jewelry, scarves, knick knacks, and more stands with Kumpir, borek, stuffed mussels, and other things....of course we made some room in our tummies to split some stuffed mussels, another favorite of mine.

Sunny day back in Istanbul! :)

The next day, we ventured to the Egyptian Spice Market, and the Grand Bazaar. Now take into account, my mom in NOT a big shopper whatsoever, so I had a lot planned for this day, which we did NOT get too. In 3 months a person can change a lot; we spent practically our entire day at these two covered markets!

Mom buying Turkish saffron!

Getting my Louis Vuitton watch fitted!

The next day we did a lot more-

First we met my friend Bre a the Tuesday market, which is pretty close to our house. This market sells literally EVERYTHING; from underwear, to kitchen appliances, to fake chanel bags, to fresh veggies and baked goods, and you name it whatever else! After the market we headed to The Haghia Sofia and the Sultan Ahmet Mosque (blue mosque) and stopped to have coffee at a cafe.

me and Bre outside the "blue Mosque"

Can you believe after that we decided to head back to the grand bazaar?! We were planning on going to a traditional Turkish dance show at night in the Sultan Ahmet area, so we didn't wanna go too far away just to come back.
Turkish carpet store in the grand bazaar- Anne Hathaway was there!
The Turkish dance show at night was honestly incredible; the dancers were great! At intermission we enjoyed complimentary red and white wine...Bre, having 4 glasses, enjoyed it the most though! :P

The next day I took my mom to the beautiful Dolmabahci Palace! They don't let you take photos inside, but the following were taken on the palace grounds:

After our long tour through the palace, we went around back to go through the glass palace, and then we went to Bebek! Bebek is a beautiful area right by the Bosphorus (only 5 minutes from where I live!) We went to a great restaurant I love to have lunch!

Seafood margarita, beef carpaccio, and turkish style nachos....YUMMY!

As we were walking through Bebek, we found the best starbucks in the world...I only say this because it has the best location in the world...check it out:
Enjoy your signiature Starbucks beverage overlooked the Bosphorus, no big deal! ;)

That was *sadly* my mom's last day, but we had an enjoyable, relaxing ending day to her trip. We went to Vogue, a famous sushi restaurant located on the top floor of a nice building overlooking the bosphorus. This is home of the best sushi in Istanbul, fresh imports daily! I must say it reminds me of my favorite sushi restaurant "MF Buckhead" back home in Atlanta!

To say it was a successful week highly underestimates just how great it was. I can't begin to explain how happy I was to have my mom (in the flesh) in my life again for the first time in 3 months. Although I was very sad too have her leave so soon, I am very grateful she made the time to make the long trip over to see me! :) I love you mommy!

It's all Greek to me!

My mom arrived in Istanbul on Thursday, Oct. 7th and I was SO happy to see her!! We took the scenic route by the Bosphorus home to show her everything, and once we got home Hulya, my mom, and I enjoyed some Turkish appetizers and lemoncellos! We went to a nice Turkish restaurant that evening with Hulya and Can right on the bosphorus and we had a nice time and my mom got to try Turkish desserts at the end...she loved the baklava!

Early Friday morning we hopped in a taxi to the airport and were on our way to: ATHENS, GREECE! :D When we got to the airport we decided to try and figure out the metro system to get to our hotel...this was a mild failure at first, but in the end success! After dropping our things off at the Grand Polis Hotel, we walked around for a while and found part of the ancient Agora ...and a black cat!

We started walking up, up, and more UP to the Acropolis finding cool things to take pictures of along the way... I loved this "greek Island" looking houses all white, bunched together, and tiny stairs connecting everything:

Looking up to part of the acropolis...we were almost there and then my shoe broke!!!

The evil Taxi man:

After my shoe broke we hopped in a taxi and asked him to take us the the shops, just go down closer to the town for us so I could buy shoes. Evil Taxi man tells us that On friday after 3 (it was after 3) and all day saturdays, Taxi's were 7 euro a km! SEVEN EURO! So he said he would drop us off at a metro stop and it will be cheaper for us...we get to the metro and the fair says 25 euro....so I hand him a 50 and literally a second later there is a 10 in his hands and he says, "no, its 25." ...Me and my mom look at each other confused...I KNOW I only brought a 50 and a 20, with me in case we got mugged. I end up being an idiot and handing over my 20 and getting 5 in change back. Basically, we paid 65 euro for a 2 minute taxi ride. PS- there is not 7 euro a km fair fridays or saturdays or ever. LEARNED OUR LESSON!

We finished off the day shopping, and eating. Eating alot! Greek food is great but it is SO similar to Turkish food....basically they eat most of the same foods but they claim it's their's and "the other country copied us!" At ngiht time we went up to the roof top bar and had drinks and an appetizer plate together with a magnificent view of the acropolis! We called it an early night because we were so tired. Day 1 was a success....minus the taxi man!

On saturday, we woke up and had breakfast across the street at a cute bakery, then headed up to the acropolis!

Then we had a lovely walk down from the acropolis a few hours later..

And stopped along the way to have lunch at a cafe next to the ancient agora!

We split a greek salad and mom had a frappe while I had a frappe with Bailey's. I win.

We saw cool street dancers! They were amazinggg!!!!

We found the meat district...it was disgusting but cool...they all wanted to take pictures with us!

Mom and her olives... :P

Ok, maybe I'm a little mean... :P

View of the Acropolis from our hotel! Beautiful!

We had an awesome time in Greece! :)

Pancakes!!!

As some of you know, that was the name of my darling, beloved Bunny Rabbit I used to have...Oh how I loveeeeed Pancakes! While we're on the subject of past animals I've adored...we can't forget about Snickers! Snickers was SUCH a good dog, and I miss her so much!

Here's the 2 of them together, the best way to remember them:

Anyways, this post isn't actually about my bunny Pancakes, don't be too disappointed. :P

This post is about Pancakes. Light, fluffy, delicious, American pancakes! Believe it or not, Turkish people go crazy for pancakes! I've made Pancakes on request several times, have written down the magical recipe for my host mom's twin sister, and every weekend Pancakes are on the menu for breakfast...and sometimes dessert after lunch like yesterday!

Lucky you, because in this post I will share my oh so magical recipe that has people going crazy!

1. Combine a little less than 2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 cup sugar, and 1 tbsp baking powder in large mixing bowl and mix together

2. melt 1/2 cup butter

3. add melted butter to 1/2 cups milk and 2 eggs and beat all together

4. add milk mixture to dry ingredients

5. Blend all together

6. time to cook! Let sit until they start to bubble, then flip. Take off when both sides are a light golden brown!

7. Enjoy yummy, fully, american pancakes!

PS- fresh strawberries are an excellent topping...as is Vermont Maple Syrup!

Now, get to your kitchen and get to work!

On a completely different subject, my wonderful Mommy is coming to visit me in Beautiful Istanbul, and will arrive on Thursday! This is the first time I will see family in 3 months...I am SO excited, I've misse dher so so so much! She is being so kind, bringing me things from home that are hard (or too expensive) to get here. She is also bringing some silly things such as root beer (my turkish friends have never tried it before!) and vermont maple syrup (for our pancakes!) And as my friends already know my love for Victoria's Secret...she is bringing me some stuff I ordered from VS! <3

We are going to skip over to Greece for a couple days in Athens seeing the Acropolis and other things as well! I can't wait!!

~Til next time

I MOVED & Fashion Party!

I've been in Istinye, Istanbul for about 2 weeks now; love love love it here! My host family is incredible- they are so kind and fun and have taught me so many new turkish traditions already! It's pretty funny, but I technically live at the mall- our complex is literally connected to the mall and we have a special entrance :P I know my mom is thinking "DANGER ZONE" for me...hehe don't worry mom!

Can I just say that Turkish people go crazy for some good old fashioned fluffy American Pancakes? I've made them on request several times now.. :) It brings me back to 6th grade when I had chocolate chip pancakes EVERY SINGLE DAY...Howwww was I not fat?

Last week we attended the Vogue Fashion Night Out party. It was....AWESOME. I don't have enough time right now to try and explain it, but here are some pictures from it!

host brother Can
host mom Hulya

I promise to write a more substantial/interesting update in the couple days!

Vacation week at Sultan Ahmet

I decided to give myself a sort of "vacation" before moving to Istinye, Istanbul. Istinye is a very nice place more central istanbul than where I lived before, its also just a short walk to the Bosphorus!

I have been staying in the Sultan Ahmet area of what is called "The Old City." This is where alot of historical sites dating back to B.C. are! Check out the view from my hotel:
Looking out onto the Sea of Marmara

Sultan Ahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque)

And I also have a view of the Haghia Sofia! It's unbelievable that some people actually LIVE right here in Sultan Ahmet and get this view everyday!

Visiting the Haghia Sofia again...this place is incredible. Considering this is one of my favorite sites so far, I feel like I didn't really share enough information about this "church turned mosque" last time I mentioned it. In Turkey, the people call it "Aya Sofia" but it actually comes from the greek term "Ἁγία Σοφία" meaning "Holy Wisdom." Ready to hear how old this beautiful structure is? It was built between 532 and 537 (by order of the Byzantine Emperor)! It was designed by a Mathmetician as well as a physicist , and is home to several holy relics. Originally it was a catholic Cathedral under Constantine (remember him from your history book?) but in 1453 The ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople and Emperor Sultan Mehmed the second ordered the church be converted to a mosque instead of destroyed. In order to convert the church, the altar, bells, and a few other things had to be removed, and the Islamic features seen in every mosque were incorporated. The mihrab, minbar, and minarets (look like towers) were added. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey. So...now you know!

me and my au pair friend in Taksim! Taksim is known for a lot of shopping and tons of cafe's scattered through out; mostly locals come here.

This week I have allowed myself to have some nice meals at a few nice cafe's/restaurants...these often include a beautiful rooftop location with amazing views! Often I choose to have a "budget meal," which I have become pro at! Because there are so many street vendors, I can easily approach someone selling corn, fruit, simit (like a bagel), or fresh juice and each is only 1 lira (that's only 75 cents folks!) Then if I feel like having meat, I can choose among 50 kitchens along the main square here; they each have someone out front hustling you to come buy their food and showing you what they offer. This ends up in a Turkish cheeseburger for 3-4 lira ($2)

So there you have it, a meal for under $5!

One of my favorite things to eat are also sold on the streets, but mostly in Taksim. The street vendor has a MASSIVE pot filled with mussels. THe mussels have all been filled with rice and other spices; you simply eat as many as you want right there (they squeeze fresh lemons on them too) and then pay after. They are delicious and cheap, you can have 5 or 6 mussels for 2.5 lira ($1.5)!

As for the language...I am told by my Turkish friends that I am improving, although it is a very hard language! It's not easy like Spanish, which just sort of makes sense to me. There are really strange suffix's in Turkish, for instance to say you are "at school," is "okulda" School being "okul" and being at it you use the suffix "da." However if you are saying "at home," it's "Evde," Home being "ev," and being at it you must use the suffix "de." So basically, the suffix changes based on the last vowel in the word...it's SO confusing! The same rules goes for "my" (owning something) it depends on the word so it could be "um," "im," "em," and other endings to the word...for instance "o benim" means "that's mine."

That's all for your Turkish lesson today! :D

Today is my last day of vacation, so I'm off to enjoy it!

'Til next time!