anybody seen my baby?

Before I proceed to give an account of the rest of our Seattle trip, I'd like to take this moment to thank the blue dot of the maps feature on my iphone, without whose help we would still be going in circles around this city. Even though we took many detours and had to drive miles to get back on track, the blue dot has guided us in the right direction a lot of the time. Not being used to the highway/exit/intersection mentality of Americans, I've struggled so much on this trip to be a good co-pilot and steer my husband in the right direction. Driving here a lot of stress, and I don't know how people do it. To get back to our subject, we reached the Washington Park Arboretum after a pretty drive along the water. The beauty of the houses that face the water are beyond description. People were running along the shore, walking with their strollers, or just hanging out enjoying the sun. The spring blossoms were so beautiful that we had to stop and take pictures in front of strang...

We've been exploring Seattle for the past 3 days. We wanted to take a little trip for our 1st year wedding anniversary, and instead of Oregon Coast which might have been fun too, I wanted to tour Seattle - I miss being in the city and I thought this could be the right fix. I was right! Seattle is full of nice surprises and beautiful sights. We started out by stopping at Pioneer Square on our way to our hotel. I loved the big brick buildings and the entry-level shops. We went into a glass shop where they also had a furnace and people who made things out of glass while you watch, we walked around, visited an underground shopping area with brick walls, went down to the water and took some pictures at the pier, walked back up to the square, and then had coffee at Cafe Umbria , a really neat European-feel cafe. All this time I wasn't feeling too safe as I had seen more homeless and weird people than I have for a long, long time. Throughout our visit, the number of weird people we w...

am feeling a little nostalgic that's all... remembered the 'package deal' we were. remembered all the package deals this girl been a part of. some goodbyes, some days prior to them and some, subsequent. it was fun to come as a package deal, after all. even though i've always believed in the 'yalnizlik omur boyu'. some pools we swam in. some beaches we've been to. summer dresses and winter coats. the ones sewn by talented grandmas with green eyes, who wipe your mouth with a freshly soaped hot towel. and even though i've always believed in the 'yalnizlik omur boyu', i've always wanted to believe in 'alone, together', too.

Dear Leonard, To look life in the face, always, to look life in the face, and to know it for what it is. At last to know it, to love it, for what it is, and then, to put it away. Leonard, always the years between us, always the years, always the love, always...

A famous handmade glassware company, Heisey went out of business in the 1950s but still sends passionate collectors hunting the Holy Grail of their own: the perfect piece, the dream Heisey of each individual collector. I am lucky enough to conduct an interview with a very knowledgeable and long-time collector, as well as lucky enough to be around her rich and beautiful collection every day, as she is my grandmother-in-law. Joyce Rohde was kind enough to answer all my questions. You'll see some pictures as well, although I'm saving the real photo shoot for a sunnier day. - Can you tell us a little about the Heisey brand? Heisey was a handmade glass factory located in Newark, Ohio, started in 1896 and closed in 1956. And the reason it was closed, and which has been the fate of most of the other handmade glass companies, is that it was too expensive – the cost of labor was just too much to keep producing the glassware. And it was hard to compete with factory made glassware. It w...

There are some memories that are so deeply entrenched in me and so dear even though they seem so random. Like the milkmen that came to our door to deliver daily milk. I still remember two of those guys very clearly - one of them had really blue eyes and a girlie voice, and this other one had a beard. But this is not the memory itself. The memory is him putting the metal pitcher into the bigger metal thing, filling it up with clinking sounds here and there, and in one big move, pouring it over to the yellow enamel pot in my hand - the milk looking like a solid white thing for a moment, and the pot getting surprisingly heavy, even though it's expected. (sutcu, teneke masrapa, tencere are the Turkish words you are looking for) Then you thank him, and he goes away, and you put start boiling the milk, and then there's the "cream", Sunday breakfasts, honey and cream, dad's pjs. These memories are so much easier to come back to me here for some reason. It's like, whe...