March 16, 2014

lentil soup for a lazy sunday

i had a nice birthday party! it was a combined birthday & early celebration for my 4 yrs in turkey and with doctor. we did a house party of course, my favorite, although stressful. and a full house it was, some 20+ ppl. GREAT ppl, i am really lucky to have them in my life. things worked out really well, it was one of the best parties ever. but not perfect. so, there are still things to work on. if i could just control every small particle in life...:P i will try!

the punch was popular (of course). but Melisa's finnish meatballs (her gift to me, making a huge portion of meatballs) were a close 2nd. my pasta salad and other dishes did not finish. but its understandable, ppl dont come for a dinner, they come for a party. i should learn from this. more effort to punch making (if possible) and less effort on foods.


i woke up at 12 today but went back to sleep just in case, u never know if a delayed hangover could hit u...  so then i got up at 3 feeling great. thanks to people elping us clean a bit last night, there was really not much to do, i took the trash out and i could maybe vacuum around the table but its generally really clean. i have such well behaving guests...:) :)  
i had written in the FB invitation to not bring gifts, but of course a few ppl could not show up without. somehow receiving gifts from anyone else than doctor is almost embarrassing. but i will enjoy everything, for sure, i got such thoughtful items. doctor got me a set of cosmetics (shower gel, soap etc) btw. he knows what i like :)

some of the things i received. a pink scarf and a sandalwood scented candle (which is burning on the coffee table right now :)

a tea...pot of some sort, for loose tea. there is  an infuser part between the cup and the lid. doctor drinks all kinds of tea, so i think he will be the one enjoying this. the glass tray/bowl underneath is really practical tho, we didnt have one of those. 

my wonderful girl friends (and their respective spouses) made me this card by hand...
...and then blew my mind with gift cards to MAC. i think my life is perfect now - my first world needs r fulfilled. on the side is an eyeliner that another friend gave me, she happened to know its my favorite. and ive tried a lot of eyeliners. price and quality dot not always correlate! of course sometimes i want a softer look but if i need a proper liner, this Essence liner does it. waterproof.

for the sake of clarity i took a photo now. i went to bed with my make up on after the party...eh, but this shot taken 24h after applying the liner proves my point perfectly.



earlier in the week.... i worked, cleaned, the usual part time employee, part time housewife life...  my father called me on friday. and i cannot remember the last time he did, maybe 3 yrs ago? he'd learned about FaceTime and was calling from his iPhone....  well he is coming here in 2 weeks so maybe he wanted to check in on us before hand. his coming to turkey is just as big of a surprise, but a nice one. a couple of days 'alone' with my dad, rare!

black courderoy pants. i found them in the 2nd hand shop. 

we bought doctor a new fall/spring jacket last week. but then it got colder again and he actually wore like 3 sweaters underneath when this photo was taken.  but it looks good on him.

Kuzguncuk neighborhood. i am teaching english to Mehmet's new gf, who lives there. its a quiet, cute, posh area by the seaside. 

near our home. doggies hanging out. 

finally, Erdogan said that the teenager killed by a tear gas bottle was a member of a terrorist organization. riiiight. and new leaked tapes come out every day, weve heard the PM say it all now, from corruption to paranoia to controlling the media from left and right...  its too depressing to think about. so i retreat to my own cave and enjoy whats left of my birthday week.

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