Guess where I'm going!

Don't hate me but I'm going away for a few days. Again.

To another country. Again.

Not today though, neither tomorrow but soon.

I can still do this now, so I'll take any chance I get. Love this very awesome fact of living in Europe and I will miss it while I'm away. So, I decided to go for it now...because if not I'll regret it. I know you would have done the same. 

So anyways...wanna know where I'm headed?! Of course you do, what a silly question. 

No clue where this is?!
Think Europe.
Think Italy!

And yes, imagine a town next to a lake, with little alleys, old buildings, narrow streets, and sunshine. Can you see the beauty?! I can. Well, I think I can...and then also please imagine ice cream, pizza, pasta, espresso, wine, colorful fruits, and visible love all around. Can you?! I hope so.

I'm not going far, but far enough for me to get excited.

click on pictures for source
Believe me, I wish I could have all of you with me there celebrating and having fun. What am I celebrating? Life of course. What more is there to celebrate, really!!

Hope you're having a fabulous Thursday, and an even perfect weekend ahead of you.

I have so much to do tomorrow...and then the rather boring weekend starts *minus the royal wedding in Monaco on Saturday*. Ya know, weekends for me are boring. I don't go out, I stay in. Unwanted isolation. To some of you this may seem ideal, not for me. I don't need to party 24/7 but I would love to do something and be at least productive. Staying home, watching movies, reading books and contemplating on life may be okay for one weekend but not every single one. Then again, I should not be complaining. Last weekend was terrific...so this one can be mellow now.

Besides, my lil' trip is coming up...just a few days, but bella Italia is going to inspire me I'm sure!!

Happy Thursday!!!

Oh Pinterest...

...seriously, I'm having a huge crush on you. Seriously, I love that site. I remember the night I signed up for it, and was put on hold and waited in line, and then the next day I was in. Felt like going to a major club or something.

Today I'm again joining Michelle and her weekly fun of Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday, and sharing with you which pictures I repinned or pinned because they simply inspired me this past week. Sometimes pictures say a lot more than words! We all know that saying, don't we?
Enjoy!!

I so want this dress, and walk barefoot through the sand.

And since Monday and its annual 4th of July mania crawls onto all of us...

...here is a shake I would love to have, and more...

But really, where has the time gone? Really.
I love this picture. Time is beautiful, time is precious and so very magical. 

click on each photo for source

Hope your Wednesday is better than mine.
Hardly gotten any sleep last night, woke up early to welcome the cable guys to fix some things in the house, and then it also started raining. No fun. At least it's not scorching hot anymore. That was bad. I felt like a walking toaster!!!

And if you're not on Pinterest, let me just tell you...wise choice. ;) Hahaha!!!

Old and soooo beautiful

If only I had the funds I'd be buying these and making sure they are taken care of in an organized, appropriate, and wonderful way. I love old buildings. Rotten or not they have a story to tell. And I think it's just so incredibly and ridiculously sad to let such beauties wither. If you were wondering whether or not they will be torn down at some point the answer is NO. They practically wait till the building collapses and then they build a modern, gigantic monster in that same spot again. Of course it ruins the whole view. What else.
So my favorite thing to do in Istanbul (besides the obvious: eating, drinking, taking in everything and anything culture-related and family-related) is finding such buildings in every possible corner.

Almost two years ago I wrote how I felt about such buildings, the history of Istanbul, and everything else...and today it is not any different. I also shared that my family owned such an old building, or lets say house. I also mentioned it was rotten and pretty much in bad shape due to vandalism and a fire. You should have seen my face and heart lighten up when I learned that finally after so many years someone decent and respectable was found who takes care of this magnificent structure and rebuilds it the way it once was. It may take years but they already started working on it. I of course had to walk by every day and see how it looked. Obviously you can't see anything, but I was just curious like a little kid. Cannot wait to go back next year and see the outcome (if any!).

The picture above is my favorite building in our area. I took this last time I was in Istanbul because this year there were too many trees in front of it blocking my view. I still love it today. However, I am not sure if there are still people in there. If so it is mostly offices, and I think this building belongs to someone powerful and all but I just want to have it and call it my own. Is that bad or what?!

In other news...summer has decided to come back in full force with temps in the 90s. Yay. 

However, even with daily sunscreen and an SPF of 40+ and all (and I wasn't pale before, let's just be clear here) I got sunburned on Sunday. Granted I was outside, and yes partially the sun was on me, but I was sitting in a cafe drinking apple juice and water and under a huge umbrella providing lots of shade (hence the "partially"!). Nonetheless I got burned. No blisters but enough to be mad at the sun and at myself for not having worn long sleeves. Okay, with 90 degrees it's not fun to wear long sleeves...needless to say I'm slightly red. My friend M. called me Sunday evening and asked how I was doing and when I will be back in awesome Los Angeles, and all I said was "you're talking to a Lobster Lady"! She thought it was funny, and yes somehow it was but I've been taking good care of my skin and I'm sensitive about such subjects and now this. So, anyways...what I wanted to say was take good care of your skin and go read Danielle's blog post if you haven't already!!!

That's all.
Happy Tuesday everyone!!!

Semi-Wordless Man Candy Monday

Clearly I had a fantastic weekend.
Wow, that's a first, right? I think I never said that before. 

So yes, I did.
*Even with sunscreen and lots of shade I got burned. Booooo!!!*

And today Monday, well...I just can't ignore the hot man candy to start this equally hot week.

I'm again joining Leeann over at her fabulous blog Join The Gossip for some fun. 

Are you, too?!

Enjoy!!

 click on picture for pinterest source

Hannah, this one's for you! ;)

And if you don't know his name google Gerard Butler. Enough said. Hehe!

Before you leave this post or look at more drool worthy men please head on over to the amazing Christianna and her fun blog called The Girl With The Blue Bow. Check out her weekly interview series "Any Friend Of Mine". I'm featured this week.

Have a terrific Monday!!

Yes!

A whole Saturday filled with awesome live music, food, drinks, fireworks, singing, dancing, and laughter...and yes, it will never happen again. June 25, 2011 happens only once, no?! I'll definitely remember it forever!!

Minus those drunk teenagers sitting near the water and not moving because they literally are so wasted they can't even see straight, and wearing heels isn't helping either, and those half naked dudes thinking their awesome by going into the lake and taking a swim among dirt, glass, and plastic bottles floating around. Bizarre.

Today it won't be any different. It's hot, and it's sunny, and I'm about to go to a BBQ. Not that there is any BBQ sauce available, or a fruit plate (I wonder why!)...but it'll be fun. My meat and veggies are ready!

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend!

I clearly love Istanbul!!!

As promised, here are more pictures of my recent trip to fabulous and gigantic Istanbul. I could bore you with facts about this city like that it links two continents (Europe and Asia), had two other names before it was eventually named Istanbul and so forth but I won't. I know you want to look at pictures and get lost and all...I know I want to. 

My birthday cake, and midnight snack! iPhone pictures sometimes don't turn out right. :(

At midnight our door bell rang, and really I don't open the door that late. Though my cousin insisted, and so I opened and ta-da!! Cake and champagne were both grinning at me. Yay. Although I don't like chocolate I ate tons of this cake, just because it was that good. Lucky me, lots of cherries were inside so I could enjoy it more.

Random shots with views, and funny dogs going for a swim!
It's the small things in life that make me smile!

Instead of taking a taxi we decided to walk down to the ferry station, which can be a walk, but Europeans love to walk so we didn't really mind! Although it was a hot day, and we were tired since we only slept like four hours that previous night. But the view was just gorgeous!

Took the two pictures above from the ferry, hence the visible reflection. The Maiden's Tower is one of my favorites in Istanbul, but the Haydarpaşa Terminal is my absolute favorite of all. Last year in November my friend posted real pictures she took while the roof had a visit by the flame doctor...haha. It hurt to see such a magnificent building burn.

Now this is something you may think what in the world was Selma thinking to even take this picture?! I wonder, too. However, I wanted to capture the beauty of this city with all there is to it, and such "holes" are everywhere. Even in the better areas. Believe it or not, I know for a fact that this exact "hole" has been there just like that since 2007. Maybe longer. 

These lovely holes though did not hinder me from wearing my new red wedges, or heels. You get easily used to these and all those ridiculously crooked streets, and once you walk on straight ground again you wonder why it's more difficult to walk; happened to me in the land of neutrality.

Not the best picture but it looks quite romantic with all the lights and all; just quite perfect...
...I know I will be back! :)

Hope you enjoyed these photos.
There's just a few more I want to share with you decided I'd wait a little and post it another time. :)

Happy Friday, and happy weekend everyone!!!

Have a Pinteresting Day!

I didn't post anything summer inspired yesterday, but today I thought I'd join *for the first time that is!* Michelle from The Vintage Apple and her idea of Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesdays with some summer pictures that clearly inspired me this week. Theme? Duh, summer!!!
And yes, all pictures shown are from my Pinterest!

I promise more Istanbul pictures are ahead some time soon but today some fun summer pics are a must. It's so gray outside it's not fair! But the sun came out for a short time, and oh boy was she hot. ;) Ha! Okay, here are my summer pictures!

I want to have such a view. Every day during summer!

Love simple outfits that show some class. ;)

No matter how old I get I will always feel this way, and eat cotton candy!

Hope you're having a fabulous Wednesday.

Going to see a former co-worker of mine for dinner, cannot wait.
Girls' night out are always fun, and the chitchatting too.... haha! :)

Random Tuesday!

Thank you all for the good, positive vibes sent my way. Keep them coming. Positivity is what we all need. No?!

Well, Monday was quite an interesting day...not just busy but also quite sunny. Summer finally returned, but this afternoon it's supposed to be raining like crazy again, so let's hope I make it home dry and not wet again! :) Just in case, I do have my purple umbrella in my waterproof bag (yes, I learned my lesson).

I'm also slowly catching up on blog reading and came across a great post by a wonderful person. I'm sharing this with you because I believe this not only happens to her there, it happens everywhere. Even in your small town somewhere in Idaho, or in beautiful England, or tiny Switzerland, Japan, or magnificent Australia. It happens. We may not be aware of this, we may not even notice. Though it happens. Her post reminded me of an encounter I had years ago and I can truly and fully understand the anger, the rage that's kept inside. Been there, big time. So I felt like sharing her post with you because I think it's beautifully written and tells it all. Hugs to you Sara, and I know hugs don't make it better!

In other news, I'm obsessed with the following song. Sorry.



More Istanbul pictures will be posted soon.
I have just been a bit overwhelmed with life and future plans and all.
Things will hopefully get back to normal. Somehow!

Yummy Monday Man Candy

Good morning Monday!

I hope it's a good day. I have so much to work on today it is going to be insane. I have to print out tons, make an important call, organize a few more things, and then kind of hope to enjoy the rest of the day. Sounds like an easy task but it isn't. It is much more complicated than that. Life changing if you want. So, please keep your fingers crossed for me! I will tell you later on why, but your thoughts, prayers and positive vibes are needed. 

Don't worry, I'm not sick, and no one else is either but major changes are ahead if I'm truly going through with what I'm about to do this week and all and I really need positivity and strength. 

My Friday post was rather dreadful and wet, and just so freakin' me when stress and pressure and everything else knock on my door at the same time. I'm not proud of my little outburst and all but I also believe that such moments need to happen. They don't make us weaker but definitely stronger!!! So again, your thoughts, prayers and super-power vibes are greatly appreciated for the next, let's say four weeks?! Thank you.

Though, since today is Monday I cannot just leave this post like this, can I?!
You know what Monday means to me...it is either wordless (so not gonna happen today) or sort of yummy. Yes, Man Candy Monday, Leeann's fun idea to start a new week is about to happen on this blog again...so join the fun if you want...I know I will.

So, without further ado...here's my hunk for today.
Just saw him like four times last week and knew he was going to be my Man Candy today. Have fun! ;)

 all pictures via google

I'm drooling, are you?!

Oh yeah, his name is Victor Webster. 

Hope your weekend was fun (I did not celebrate Father's Day - have my reasons!), and I hope that your Monday is going to be a fantastic one...no hectic moments, no stress, no fights, lots of quiet minutes, and sunshine!!!! Wish it was that easy!