birthdays

They are the best.  I think everybody has had a few bummer birthdays – expectations set too high, or perhaps there wasn’t enough ice cream cake – but for the most part, they are that one day a year when everything you do or feel should be extra special.

I never work on my birthday.  When I was in school, it was during summer break, and since then I’ve just always made a point of taking the day off work.  This, along with lunch and shopping with my pops, are my lifelong traditions.

This year might be one of my favorites.  Highlights I didn’t capture on “film” include waking up to roses and treats from our local coffee shop (a mocha from Zoka – thank you for the suggestion, Teeny – Joe, you’ve been outed), Sculpt at CorePower to all my favorite Top 40 hits, a mani/pedi, blonder more sun-kissed hair, and a glass of rose with the honey in the yard before dinner.

Given that many in my life have learned to call July my birthday month, or at the least the first week my birthday week, I think I’ve gotten pretty good at this.  So, here are my top seven recs for having a great day:

1. Take some time to wash away any expectations of what will be.

2. Also take some time to decide what you can do for you.

3. Buy yourself something totally cray.  Like, I don’t know, a shimmering gold yoga warm-up jacket.

I don’t usually do true selfies, but the jacket just had to be showcased. 50% off at the studio, say whaaaat? It was meant to be.

istanbul, turkey – days two & three

While I could fill you in on exactly what we did at each hour on each day (because I did such a good job documenting) I will save you the time.  Here are a few highlights:

Breakfasts, of course.  I’ve been recreating in my own kitchen, but it’s not the same.

The Grand Bazaar was crowded and overwhelming, and everywhere you turn a salesman wants to “ask you a question” or “show you something very quickly”.  An experience, but I preferred the much smaller Arasta Bazaar just behind the Blue Mosque.

Grand Bazaar – spices and turkish delight for days.

We took the light rail out to the Byzantine City Walls of Constantinople, where there wasn’t much to look at.  Joe was obsessed with walking along it, under it, over it and near it.  Me on the other hand, I just wanted to get off of it.  Thank you, G, for instilling in me a deep, deep fear of heights.

Walking on the City Wall

The Hagia Sofia & Mosaic Museum were both incredible and very complimentary of each other.  I strongly recommend purchasing the three-day museum pass for the savings in money and time, and a little nudge to see a bit more.  The Hagia Sofia is a basilica turned mosque; most of the mosaics had been covered by medallions with words of the Quran.  The building is crazy big and crazy old, and it’s a trip to see the arches bending under the pressure of it all.  Scaffolding covers a good portion of the inside and has for some 20 years because they keep running out of money for restoration.  The medallions adorning the walls and ceilings are beautiful… but of course my favorite part was the mosaic fresco on the ceiling when you enter.  Did they miss this one when they were covering all the faces?

Hagia Sofia (yes, I know, I need a new camera)

Joe the tourist in front of the Hagia Sofia

The Mosaic Museum is small and contains all mosaics pulled from Palace grounds.  It is literally a collection of the sidewalks royalty walked on thousands of years ago.  Very fancy.

Mosaic Museum – look closely and you can see thousands of tiny tiles.

We did eventually make it to a typical Turkish cafeteria a la Rick Steves.  Had no idea how to order, so we definitely wound up with three entrees, but it was delicious and an experience I wouldn’t want to miss.

Chef at a typical Turkish Cafeteria

Turkish Delight in the cafeteria

As I put these posts together I realize just how much we explored and experienced the city.  Between Joe’s hunger for history and my need to stop at every Turkish towel store in town, I am so happy to say that we saw quite a bit.  It’s taking awhile to pull it all together, but I’ll work on posting the rest of the trip in the next few weeks.  It’s telling that we are still in Istanbul, which were just the first four days of a two week adventure.  Stay tuned!

 

 

 

oh monday

Had a busy, busy end to the week.  Travel to the Bay for interviews, a lovely Father’s Day celebration at my Marin fav Terrapin Crossroads, complete with the entertainment of watching the Dead Heads come together for a Phil Lesh show, finally painting over the mint green color that has consumed our downstairs since we moved in, furniture delivery, furniture buying, lawn mowing, and getting back to basics with my favorite Sunday yoga class.

My favorite Sunday yoga class… my favorite yoga class.  75 minutes with the best teacher.  There are a number of them at CorePower, but in my opinion, Sarah is top dog.  She always inserts a little education at the start and you feel like you are dancing through the flow.  She is encouraging and the class is challenging.  Such a great way to end the weekend/start the week.   My own kind of church, you could say.

Here’s to no travel in the near future, and lots and lots of yoga.

Lost of crow pose yesterday. Just wish I looked this way when I did it.

I did this. I was the other way around, but I did this.

After weeks of travel, there isn’t much a crave more than feeling strong and flexible.

turkey – a teeny tiny preview…

I’m back!  And while I have much to say about this vacation, many photos to share, and plenty of unsolicited advice to give to anybody looking at traveling to/around Turkey, because I’m super jet-lagged and craving a run around the new hood, I thought I’d share just a few of my favorite photos.  Much more to come.

Fresh off the plane we fell in love with our hotel’s rooftop deck immediately. You can see the beautiful Bosphorus in the background.

 

Inside the courtyard of the Blue Mosque with our tour guide. You can absolutely go it alone, but he was entertaining and I had so much fun negotiating with him for the sell. Blue Mosque was hands-down my favorite part of Istanbul (if you aren’t counting all the Turkish Towels)

 

What can I say? I like to live on the edge… here I am breaking into the city of Istanbul Constantinople. Were it 1000 or so years ago…

Doing what we did best… house wine, mezes and backgammon. Still high on our trip to France last summer, I would say the one of the (very few) downfalls of the trip that I absolutely should have anticipated was the lack of good wine. The coffee on the other hand…

PS. European jet-lag is the best kind. I have gotten so much done today and it’s 8:15am.  Next up, bedside tables.

sunday morning

It has been so nice to slow things down this weekend.  I yogi’d the heck out of Friday and Saturday, I puppy-sat, I paid the mortgage, I cooked, I read, I even listened to a podcast (This American Life – you’d enjoy this one).  I’m trying to really enjoy these moments and the week to come because August gets crazy starting next weekend.  Here’s to lazy Sunday mornings.

And yes, our newest family member is going to be here soon.  I’ll definitely stop with the stock kitten photos as soon as we meet him/her.