Back in the homeland...

Well, it's day 1 in Istanbul...I made it!! The bad news is, my luggage did not. Hopefully it'll get here by tonight or tomorrow. Otherwise I might not be making the best first impression at the office...unless I get a new wardrobe tomorrow which would be so fun but rather expensive I'm sure.

But back to my trip.

The flight over was pretty uneventful. I enjoyed the free champagne as soon as I boarded the plan in Detroit. It's possibly my favorite part of flying business class...plus the fact that your seat actually reclines and your food tastes so much better...ok, so there are lots of reasons.

We flew to Amsterdam where we hung out for about an hour and then boarded the plan to Istanbul. The flight was very empty and the flight attendants were really nice. I got some decent pictures from the plane as we flew over Turkey. The first one is of the Mediterranean Sea. The second is Istanbul as we descend.
I also took a picture of some mountains about an hour into our flight. I'm not really sure what country we were flying over at the time. But I grew up in the Midwest so seeing mountains is always exciting.
We're staying at the Marriott on the Asian side of Istanbul. It's a relatively new hotel (less then two years old) and I have to say that so far I love it. I'm on the 14th floor so the view is pretty good (once you look past the rooftop parking lot).

I also saw that there is what looks like an Olympic size swimming pool. It's outside and the weather here is beautiful but I'm not sure if it's THAT warm. I am happy to be out of the snow for a while though. My room is nice but I find one thing very curious. There is a sliding door between the shower and the main part of the room. When you slide the door over, you can see straight into the shower (through a pane of glass). I couldn't really figure out what this was for until I took a shower. I'm pretty sure it's so that I can still watch TV while I'm in the shower. Not a bad idea. I've already managed to find the music channel and I'm pretty sure this is the only channel I'll be watching while I'm here. There is also a phone next to the toilet. I probably won't use it, but I like that it's there. So now I'm just hanging out in my hotel room. I showered but I didn't wash my hair because even though the hotel provides me with a hair dryer, I have no hair brush. I also have no makeup, no change of clothes, and none of the other things I found essential enough to pack into my suitcase. The good news is that I have my laptop and 12 episodes of 24. Watching Jack Bauer really makes my situation seem less dire.

Bowling, boots, and jury duty

Well, I leave for Turkey in just a few short days. Have I packed? Nope. Have I done laundry? Nope. Have I even made list of things to take? Nope.

Awesome.

Here is what I have done.

I bowled 111 on Friday night on my bowling league (that's right, I'm on a bowling league). Not only is that the first time I broke 100 all season, it's actually about 50 pins above my average.

We got 9 inches of snow on Saturday. Yup. 9 inches in one day. The snow is so high that when our dog goes outside, we can just see him every once in a while when he pops up. It's almost like he's swimming out there.
I got a new pair of boots which I'm going to call my "sightseeing" boots. I'm hoping they arrive before my trip or I might have to come up with a new name for them.

I watched the movie In Bruges. I can't say that I would recommend it to anyone. Maybe if you're on a plane, and it's one of options, you could watch it. It's not like there are tons of other things to do on a plane. I would however recommend Boondock Saints. I don't know why I've been watching all these movies with Irish men in them. I just watch what Blockbuster sends me from my queue.

I'll be staying at the Mariott in Istanbul, Turkey on my trip. I don't think I've ever stayed in a hotel there before since we always stay with family. I started thinking that at least they'll greet me in Turkish unlike in Brazil when they greeted me in Portuguese, Spanish, and any other language they could think of. But then I thought about it again and said maybe not because last time I went to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, all the salesmen spoke to me in Spanish.

The Dow Corning Tennis Classic is a tennis tournament that is held every year at the tennis center here. I didn't really have any idea how big it was until this year. Apparently Sharipova and Kournikova both played here. When the guys found this out, they were pretty excited. I think the plan this year is to attend the classic and meet some Russians. It's a shame I'm going to miss it. I would have liked to see that.

Our dryer caught on fire while I was in California. Thankfully, one of my roommates saw it from the beginning and was able to call for help before it got too bad (but not before the basement filled with smoke and it came pouring out the chimney). Over the weekend, a new dryer was purchased. It's possibly the biggest dryer I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure good things are going to be happening when I finally get some clothes in there. Good work boys, good work.

I've made the decision to take golf lessons this spring. I know I say this every year but I think this is the year to really act upon it...unless of course I'm traveling. I was potentially getting sent to Brazil for the 2nd time in March but I have jury duty so I can't leave the country...or the state for that matter. I am a little disappointed but I really want to get on this jury. I mean, I'm a huge John Grisham fan and I coincidentally found myself reading 2 other books that had judges, lawyers, and juries in them. You don't get much more qualified then that. I'll keep you all posted on that experience.

Updates on the home front

Here are some updates:

1. I got my hats. I'm returning the gray one and keeping the one that is brown in the picture but I ordered it in black. I've attached a picture for your viewing pleasure. I tested the hat in the 9 degree weather we had and it kept me nice and toasty!!

2. I went back through and put some pictures in my blog. I'm going to try and stay on top of this now!!

3. I got my haircut! I've also included a picture. I think it's going to take some getting used to but this is the first time in 24 years that I haven't cried after a haircut so that's got to mean something! But I also haven't had to style it yet so there's time! ;)
4. It's winter here in Midland. Last night we got about 3 inches of snow. The night before we got about 4. I think one of the best decisions I made was getting a SUV before I moved up here. The only problem is that I'm quite short and I have a hard time reaching the middle of my windshield with the scraper without leaning on the car and getting myself covered in snow. Do the make scrapers with extendable arms? Because they should.

I hope this all finds you well! I think I'm going to have to hold off posting anymore until something exciting happens again! I bowl on my bowling league this Friday. I average about a 40. The good news is that this gives me a handicap of about 16o so my team really likes me. Maybe this week I'll get a strike in the 10th frame. That's always my goal. Last time I didn't get a strike or a spare the entire game though so I would even settle for that.

West Coast weekend!!

Well, I went to Los Angeles over the weekend to go visit my cousin Selen who is going to grad school out there and Kathryn who is working out there. Gina also flew in so I got to see a lot of people in one trip!

We got in Thursday evening and the first thing we did was hit up In and Out burger. People talk about that place like it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. It was pretty good if I do say so myself. Then we went to Selen's apartment which is super cute (and way bigger then I expected) where we hung out for a while, changed, and finally made it out.  We went to a bar in Santa Monica called Busby's (or something like that). Apparently the pickup line of the evening was "It's my friend's birthday..." because we heard it 3 times.

                
Friday morning we woke up and went to UCLA's campus which is BEAUTIFUL! We saw the graduate school and walked around for a bit. We ate delicious ice cream sandwiches and had chinese food for lunch. Then we headed to Hollywood to be tourists. We went to the Chinese theater and hit some of the shops. We stood in line for Jimmy Kimmel for a while which only resulted in getting our parking validated. We had dinner at Geisha House which plays great music, had delicious sushi, and looks pretty cool on the inside. On the outside, it looks quite sketchy and they make you come in the side door. We also got to go see Kathryn's cute apartment in the heart of Hollywood and where Ashley, a friend from college, works. Whether it was all the catching up we had to do, or the effect of the California air, by this point I had pretty much lost my voice so we went back to Selen's and had a little slumber party. After hours of talking (and lots of tea drinking) we called it a night because we had a big day on Saturday!

          

Saturday we started at Chinatown to "find Gina's family" as the joke went. We went into lots of tiny little souvenier shops and looked at 10,405,508 bamboo plants. We went to lunch at some place with roasted ducks in the window b/c Gina said you can't go wrong with a restaurant with roasted ducks in the window. She's Asian so we believed her and she was right! We thought we ordered way too much but we made a pretty nice dent in it! After lunch we walked around a bit more and we got bubble tea! Then we headed back to Santa Monica where we took the bus to the beach. We rented beach cruisers (except for Gina who got a tricycle) and road down to Venice Beach. Kathryn and I attempted a tandem bike and decided it was too crowded for our first try! We walked around there for a while and gawked at the interesting Californians cruising around. We road back to the pier and then hit up the 3rd Street Promenade. We also went to Yummy Cupcakes and shared some delicious dessert (even though we hadn't had dinner yet). I have to say that they were good but they don't compare to The Cupcake Shop here in Michigan. Finally after we didn't think we could shop anymore, we went back to Selen's for a delicious Turkish dinner and to get ready for a night out!!

   

We went to a club called Opera in Hollywood. First of all, they don't put the names on the outside of all the clubs, so if you don't know where you're going (which we found out we didn't) it makes it rather difficult to figure out where you are. Also, it always helps to know someone b/c there is nothing like skipping the line and getting right in to boost your ego. We made some friends (mostly negative) and enjoyed the music, dancing, and people watching. Of course, no trip to L.A. is complete without seeing someone famous and who showed up at the club? Rob from Rob and Big! Of course, being from the Midwest we "nonchalantly" took pictures of each other with Rob in the background. I think him and I are the same height!
      
We finally made it home around 3 am because we had to leave for the airport at 6. The flights home were uneventful because I slept through both of them. I do have to say that I was suprised at the size of the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. I was starving when I got there but I decided to find my gate first and then back track to find food. My gate was so far out in the middle of nowhere that I decided I would rather wait another 4 hours until I got home rather then drag my suitcase back through the airport to find something to eat.

All in all, it was a great weekend! The weather was perfect, the company was ideal, and we accomplished a lot! I miss the girls already and hope that we can do it again soon!

Technical difficulties...

So, I'm trying to make this blog more interesting or at least nicer to look at by adding some features that Google makes available. Unfortunately, it's not working the way I want it to. If anyone knows how to get a picture on my blog that goes all the way across the bottom of the page and is there all the time, please show me how. I know it can be done because I've seen one that has it!! I'm quite annoyed. But once I do get it figured out (and I will), please feel free to comment on my success.

I also added a list of books I've read and recommend. I don't know if anyone else actually likes the same types of books I do, but I'm putting them up there anyway.

In other news, I'm planning on getting a haircut next week and I have no idea what I want. My current plan is to take in a bunch of pictures of haircuts I think are cute and then just tell her to do whatever she thinks would look good. Normally, the control freak side of me would hate this plan but my hairdresser is really cute and her hair always looks good. I'm attaching a few pictures that I plan on taking in.




What to do, what to do!!

Last night I watched "It's always sunny in Philadelphia" with my roommates and friends. I'm sorry to say I do not like that show! I watched 3 episodes because I really wanted to give it a chance. So many other people like and it doesn't take much to make me laugh, but this show did not win me over.

You know what else started last night? BIGGEST LOSER!! I haven't had a chance to watch it but I know there are 2 boys over 400lbs on it (so sad!) and the oldest couple yet!! Should be a great season!!

Branching out

Happy New Year everyone!!

This year I decided that I'm going to branch my blog out a bit. It won't just be about my travels for work but my life in general and any weekend trips I might take. And I hope to add a few more pictures so that those of you reading can feel like you're there!

Right now I'm in Michigan but in just 2 short days I'll be flying off to LA to visit Kathryn and Selen!! I'm quite excited to see them (and not to mention enjoy the sunny weather of California!!)!!

For the past two weeks I was in Indy enjoying the holidays with family and friends. It's always so nice to go home for extended periods of time! I miss everyone already! I also miss having a garage to park my car in so there is no frost on it when I get in it in the morning. But at least with frost I don't have to scrape it off like snow so I won't complain!

On my way down to Indianapolis, I finished listening to the book THE PARTNER by John Grisham which I highly recommend. I have yet to read something of his that I didn't enjoy. Recently, I've also read ANTHEM by Ayn Rand which is short and strange but worth reading. And I read TELL ME YOUR DREAMS by Sydney Sheldon which once I finished, I realized that I had already read. Oh well! I would recommend that book as well as any of his others.

I decided that my current winter hat which though very warm, is not necessarily the most professional (imagine extended ears and a ball on top as well as 2 more on the end of the strings that you can tie under your chin). So I decided to get a beret. I couldn't find any at the mall when I went so I ordered two online and am anxiously waiting for them so I can decide which one I like better and which to return... I've attached pictures below.

anthropologie.com and urbanoutfitters.com

Feel free to make fun of my hats if you must, Colleen already did anyway.

I think that's it on my life updates for now! I hope this finds everyone happy and healthy and enjoying the new year! Look forward to LA updates and my trip to Turkey in just 2.5 weeks (God willingly!)!

I almost forgot I had a blog

Well, technically I'm not on my audit anymore but it didn't even occur to me that traveling to Indy was a travel audit until now, so it's time for an entry!!

So I was lucky enough to come back to my sweet home of Indiana for 3 weeks for an audit! And I even got to stay with my parents and have my own rental car! When I picked up the rental in Michigan, I was given a Mercury Grand Marquis which are usually driven by people who are 65 and over. It was massive! So once I got to Indiana, I made some phone calls and got myself hooked up with a convertible! I've been cruising around for the last 3 weeks "top down, screaming out 'money ain't a thing'" to quote my sister.

This audit also couldn't have fallen at a better time because it fell over the weekend of my sister's wedding! So I got to hang out with her and our family who was here from Turkey up until the big day! The weather for the weekend was predicted to be awful and rainy due to Ike but God wanted to see my sister get married outside so he made it sunny that Saturday. We were so thankful!

The rest of my time here has just been spent playing with friends and visiting with my family who lives here. I also got to have lunch with some people from both summers that I interned down here which was really nice. I was surprised how many people recognized me! Apparently I haven't changed much over the last 3 or 4 years!

Towards the end of the second week I realized that while a summer in Midland was great, I wasn't quite ready to go back yet for the fall and extended my trip an extra week. That brings me to today. I've been putting this week to good use by trying to see as many people as possible. And Friday evening, a bunch of my Kappas from school are getting together and then going to the Purdue football game on Saturday. I couldn't think of a better way to end my trip! I'm anxiously counting down the days until the rest of the crew arrives!!

Well this probably would have been longer and better if I remembered the blog a few weeks ago but what can you do? In a few weeks I'll be traveling to the Dominican Republic for a week long all inclusive vacation. I'm not sure if I'll have internet access there but I'll try to send an update when I get back! After that, I'm scheduled to be in Michigan until the end of the year but 2009 is still up in the air! Who knows where I'll be next!

All my love,
Emel