Turkey, Part III: Şirince

My bags are all packed and my cab will be here to take me to the airport for my flight to Kenya in an hour and a half, but there’s one thing I’ve left to do, and that is get my last post about Turkey up! In a week I’ll be bogged down with another large batch of photos so I thought I should at least get to this chunk of photos that has so far gone untouched!

As I mentioned in the last Turkey post, we had a few days to fill in Selçuk and one of those days was spent in Şirince, an old (originally) Greek village of 600 inhabitants, 8km east of Selçuk. Some reviews that we had read online said that it was completely overrun with tourists, but they seemed to be mostly from summertime visitors. While the village was a bit touristy, we found it charming nonetheless and a pleasant way to spend the better part of a day.

There were plenty of handicrafts and homemade goodies to look at (and taste!).

There was natural beauty literally surrounding this village nestled into the hills.

We had lunch in an old building that used to be a school-house.

We visited an old Orthodox church . . .

. . . tasted the local wine . . .

. . . and found charming little gems hidden around every corner.

And with that, it’s off to Kenya I go!

Self Portraits in April

For some reason I haven’t been able to find the time to take a lot of self portraits this month. Each Monday when the theme of the week is announced, I think of how fun it is going to be to experiment with different types of shots, and then before I know it the week flies by and I am rushing to get one shot done. I guess some months are just like that.

The prompts this month were: morning, color, music, and “big world, tiny you.”

13/52

14/52

15/52

16/52

Cambie Dress

I finished my Cambie a few weeks ago and I’ve been waiting for some warm weather to give it a test run. This week the rain finally let up so I was able to wear it to work.

This is probably the first thing that I have made that I really don’t have any complaints about. I truly love everything about it. (On the first wear it was feeling a bit big, but I’ve since washed it and it shrunk up perfectly. Phew!)

I was determined to make this dress look as good on the inside as it does on the outside. It took a little longer to finish but it was totally worth it.

Here’s a look at the inside . . .

Here’s a look at the invisible zipper in back. The waist band isn’t quite perfect but somehow it doesn’t bother me.

The bit of gape in the neck line and extra room at the waist is all gone now that I’ve washed it.

I love this dress.

If you live in Beirut and you want to make this dress (or any other for that matter), check out The Old Fashioned Way sewing workshops and Layla will get you sorted.

I leave you with a shot I took for my 52 of You self-portrait project.

Turkey, Part II: Ephesus and Other Ruins

With just a short amount of time in Turkey, we really only had time to visit one place other than Istanbul. We had debated between Cappadocia and Ephesus, but in the end decided on Ephesus since it seemed the weather would be a bit nicer. That, and one of us hadn’t seen too many Roman ruins, so it sounded pretty interesting.

Without thinking it through too much, we planned for three whole days in Selçuk (just near Ephesus) so we had time to see more than we had originally thought. We ended up spending a day at Ephesus with the evening in Kuşadası, a day visiting the village of Sirince, and a day taking a road trip (we rented a car, yay!) visiting various ruins along the way and ending at the coastal town of Güllük.

Ephesus

Arcadian Way

Library of Celsus

The Library of Celsus peeking through the archway with bonus Cypress trees.

A sleepy cat at the amphitheater

What some people wear to visit ancient ruins. (Actually, it was my second choice of footwear, but I went with my first choice of tennis shoes instead.)

Gorgeous mosaic floor

Details

Road Trip Highlights

Pausing on the long stairway up to Priene

Ionic columns at Priene

Roadside juice stand

Spring in Priene

Miletus amphitheater

Corinthian capitals at Miletus

Final destination: Güllük

Perfect end to a lovely day . . .

Cold beer at sunset overlooking the water. What more could you want?

Spring Break in Turkey

It’s been over two weeks since I got back from Turkey and I’m still sorting through and editing pictures. (I took 560.) While I’ve been slowly taking my time, wading through the pictures, the days and weeks until spring break #2 (I know, I know) are quickly slipping away. In the interest of not falling completely behind, I’m posting my favorites so far. (Maybe some day I’ll get around to the rest.)

Today’s post is dedicated to the Istanbul portion of the trip; I’ll do a separate one of the Ephesus part.

Istanbul from the Bosphorus.

Natural and artificial light in the Blue Mosque.

Push cart vendor

Lovely tea for sale in the spice market.

The Basilica Cistern, deep below the streets of Istanbul.

Ah, the cats of Istanbul, even cuter when paired with beautiful tile. (And if you’ve been following my travels, you know how much I love tile.

The view from the Galeta Tower. The best of Europe.

The nostalgic tram.

Busy street in Istanbul with very few tourists, yet only blocks away from the major sites.

Shopkeeper in what appeared to be textile row.

Lovely view from the Bosphorus.

Inside the walls of the Hagia Sofia.

Bowls, bowls, bowls! I wanted them all!

Happy travelers!

_____________________________________________________________________

N.B. I’m going to go ahead and classify this as Europe for the sake of the index seeing as we were mostly on the European side.

Self Portraits in March

This month I was a little bit unfocused in the self-portrait taking being that I was traveling for a week and then really bogged down with all of the trip photos. I did still manage to get a photo for each of the themes this month: reflection, details, work, black & white.

9/52

10/52

11/52

12/52

Here are the round ups from January and February in case you missed them.

TALKING about teaching in Beirut

Last month Alexa Hart interviewed me for her website Atlas Sliced. We talked about what it’s like living and teaching in Beirut, including how I got the job, what the benefits are, how to meet people, and of course the number one question I get “Is it safe?” For answers to all these questions and more, check out the interview here.

Atlas Sliced is a really great resource if your are thinking about living and working abroad. Alexa has almost 60 interviews (and counting) of people doing all kinds of cool things abroad and lots of other resources too.

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Mar Mikhael and a Coat Made by Me!

The coat is finally finished AND I’m finally getting around to posting about it! Actually, I would have posted about it right away but I was waiting to get some decent pictures first and to do that I needed a friend’s help. (Thanks, Imad!)

Making a coat is a huge undertaking and it’s kind of baffling, even to me, that this was pretty much the second garment I ever made. (Well, started. In the process of making it I completed quite a few others.) It goes without saying that I could not have done this all on my own as a first project, but luckily I had Layla to help me in her coat making class.

I started with an inspiration board on Pinterest and then decided on this pattern from Simplicity.

What I loved about the main image was the contrasting lines on the raglan sleeves and that it didn’t have a collar since that was one style of coat that I didn’t already own. The pattern didn’t come with a lining pattern so Layla had to help me figure that out, and I won’t lie and say it didn’t cause any trouble along the way!

I bought the fabric for the coat on October 27, so that gives you an idea of how long it took. (We worked one night per week and then I took two weeks off for Christmas break).

Apart from adding a lining, I changed several things on the coat. I changed the cuff on the sleeve and made a different type of pocket (both drafted myself), added piping where I think the pattern called for some type of sewn-on lace or rick rack), added a back stay, and added a panel behind where the eye hooks clasped. Needless to say, I learned a TON on this project!

One thing I wish I had known before I started this project was how much the fabric was going to fray over the course of making the coat because that caused me a ton of headache. By either interfacing certain parts or using a stay stitch, or even adding some length to the sleeves and coat itself, I could have made my life a lot easier. I’ll know for next time!

Here are some more pictures of the coat!

The back

The shoulders

The lining, cuffs, and eye hook panel

Saturday I took my coat out for a photo walk around Mar Mikhael and was joined by my friend Imad who took the pictures of me in the coat.

The coat in action on the streets of Beirut!

And some of the shots from my afternoon in Mar Mikhael.

If I make a coat again I’d like to try the Minoru from Sewaholic because I don’t actually have a casual jacket and I’ve seen some really cute versions of this pattern.

Have any of you sewists out there made a coat yet? I’ve been reading a lot of sewing blogs lately and it’s amazing how many accomplished sewers are afraid to make a coat. If I can do it as a total beginner (even with guidance) I think anyone with a little experience under their belt can!

good food, good friends

I’ve never been much of a late night, party gal. Sure over the years I’ve had my fair share of late nights out, but more and more I’m quite content staying in, enjoying my comfortable apartment, and cooking a good meal. Even better if good friends are involved. And wine.

So my perfect evening? Having some of my closest friends in Beirut over for a dinner party with a meal planned almost entirely from Ottolenghi’s Plenty.

As if there needed to be an excuse for a dinner party, this one happened to have one. It is Jimmy and Madeleine’s last week in Lebanon before they make their big move to Seattle.

On the menu . . .

Roasted Eggplant with buttermilk sauce and pomegranate seeds

“Suprise Tatin” with potatoes, carmelized onions, cherry tomatoes, and aged goat cheese

Sausage and Mushroom Polenta with Gruyere
(Sadly not pictured. Also from Plenty, but the sausage was my own addition.)

Roasted Date Salad from the blog Spoon Fork Bacon

And for dessert a chocolate bread pudding with Frangelico (ice cream on the side).

The evening was filled with laughs and memories of the adventures of the last year with M+J. There were even a few attempts at a group jump shot resulting in this (which Jimmy claims was successful since his feet made it off the ground):

Though Jimmy and Madeleine are the first to leave (this Wednesday!), sadly we’re all parting ways in a few short months. Jodi’s off to a new school in Buenos Aires, Wissam will stay behind in Lebanon, and even I’m off to the Chicago area. Parting is hard, but it’s the nature of life as an expat. Hopefully we’ll all meet up again stateside or in Argentina, perhaps.

Love these peeps!