I need a beer.

Luckily I found a gnome beer. Perfect.

Let the games begin!

Waiting for Costco to open. Me and 20,000 other people. The week of Thanksgiving. What is wrong with me?

Safe and sound.....

Layover in NYC

So we flew onto NYC yesterday afternoon from Istanbul for a 24 hour layover. Checked into our hotel. Layed around like slugs for the rest of the day, got pastrami sandwiches from Junior's and hummingbird cake from Magnolia Bakery downstairs at Grand Central - we stayed at the Grand Hyatt at the station - and got up this morning with a jump start! We walked the Highline Gardens, strolled through Chelsea Market and had brunch outside at The Standard. What a beautiful day.....

Then it's off to midtown for a little shopping and off to the airport......

A perfect end to a perfect vacation!

I have waaaaaay more to post about Turkey, but it just had to wait!

Too funny..,,

There are exactly 5 camels in Turkey -as they are not indigenous, but tourists expect to see them, so there they are - and we found one.....

Pigeon holes.

First off, this Viagra market was too damned funny. We made a stop to
Look into the valley of pigeon holes - limestone caves made for pigeons by the locals to make it easy to collect pigeon droppings to use as fertilizer as the soil in that area was not great for planting crops. We were on our way to the outside museum of goreme where early Christians built homes and churches into the limestone to hide the practice of their religion while it was still illegal. But more on those structured later. Here we found a tree loaded with the Turkish good luck charm of the blue eye. It was beautiful in the light....,

Here are some of the rugs we saw ,,,,,,

Rug making.......

We visited a rug factory in Cappadoccia last week. The workmanship was amazing. They worked in wool and silk and produced some stunning pieces. I was looking for a tulu rug so I did not
purchase one here, but it was really hard not to!!!

Last night in turkey

So many photos. So little time. We have a shuttle to the airport in 5 hours and I'm beat. I have so much to share but it is just going to have to wait. I'll leave you with this...... A cave painting from the Ankara region of Turkey from around 8000 b.c. Crazy!

Alrighty then..... Off to bed and then home!

What a beautiful day!

We stayed last night in Cannakale and our hotel was right on the waterfront. So lovely! It was a gorgeous morning only made better by my new little gnome friends. How funny. Them I made new little dog friend at Pergamon. Look at that face!!!! The street dogs here are all so sweet. I just to bring them all home!

Turkey rocks!

Took a ferry across the Dardanelles today onto the Asia side of Turkey. What a beautiful day. Then we visited the city of Troy. The Trojan Horse is hilarious. Tomorrow.....Pergamon!

Time to shop!

We did a little shopping in Sultanahmet and found Frenchy a lovely new hat. Ok, so he didn't really like the hat. I'm so excited to bring back all of the great stuff I found to the shop!

First full day in Turkey

What a great day! Obama gets reelected AND we get to visit the Blue Mosque!

All the way from Istanbul

Happy Obama supporters! Way to go O!

...and I'm off!!!!!!!

I am of to Istanbul in exactly 7 hours!  YIPPEE!!!!!!!!   

I will be bringing back lots of lovely treasures for the shop.......just in time for the holidays!  

Can you say TEXTILES????????

See you in a few weeks!!!!!

Hosta love.

Usually the Hostas in my garden turn yellow in one night and turn to mush. This on though, is taking its time. I think it is quite lovely.

check out these do-over chairs!

We just gave this pair of vintage wing-back chairs a do-over......what amazingly cheerful fabric! (it's an outdoor fabric) I can hardly believe the before and after pictures - such a dramatic change! Stop by the shop and take a peek...as always, the espresso is on us!