Istanbul: What We Ate

Turkish food! Yum!

Chicken Schnitzel:

This one came with a side of bulgar wheat and fresh veggies. It was good, although the chicken reminded me of two frozen chicken patties, each folded in half, with cheese tucked in the middle. And yes, it's a pile of mayonaise and a pile of ketchup at the back of the plate.

Traditional Turkish Bread:

This was served almost every time we sat down to eat. This one was unique in that it had sesame seeds sprinkled on the top. This bread puffs up, but it never deflates. It has a very thin top and bottom and the inside is full of one big air bubble. Our 2-year-old enjoyed snacking on it quite a bit. 

Turkish Meat Pizza:

This was wonderful! A lovely dough filled with mild tomato sauce, meat, and cheese. Baked to perfection with a crisp outside and a soft interior.

Cold Appetizers:

Tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, hummus, baba ganoush, olives, tomato salad, etc. I love the oil, spices, and salt that are rubbed all over the olives. Such a savory treat!

Fish Casserole:

This was okay. We were assured that this casserole was boneless, but it ended up being far from the truth. Also, we were charged $50USD. Ouch!

Turkish Ravioli:

These are shaped more like tortellini, filled with a bit of meat and topped with a yogurt-like sauce and some reddish oil. Enjoyed this quite a bit!

Turkish Pancake:

This was available with a variety of fillings: cheese, spinach, potatoes, etc. Or, you can get it with everything, which we did! It was like a quesadilla, but not spicy at all. This restaurant was the only place we found the Turkish pancake. Otherwise I would definitely have eaten this more than once!

Children's Menu Macaroni and Cheese:

Some of the finest mac-n-cheese I ever did see! It was penne pasta, in a light white sauce, topped with parmesan cheese. Included were small chunks of rich, soft cheese. To top it all off, an egg, cooked all the way through, but not brown, was thrown in there. The egg sounded odd to me, but it ended up being quite delicious. We both helped our daughter finish off this kid's meal!

Chicken and Mushroom Crepe:

My final dinner in Istanbul. This was by far the finest meal I enjoyed. It was perfect. Inside the crepe was a generous portion of cubed white-meat chicken and large-dice mushrooms. The cream sauce was light, and the cheese on top was broiled and golden. On the side, the orange carrot ribbons were absolutely the sweetest carrots I'd ever had!

What ethnic foods do you enjoy? In your home country, or abroad?

Is your mouth watering?

Istanbul: Where We Stayed

Pretty amazing view, right? This view was from a rooftop restaurant where we ate a few nights ago. Our hotel, the Eski Konak Hotel, is the mustard-colored skinny building in the bottom of the photo. We're in the room on the top floor with the wall of windows. The domed tops of the windows below us are peaking out just above the dark flat roof in the foreground.

The mosque pictured above is the Blue Mosque, although it looks rather yellow all lit up at night. Here it is during the day from a different side:

Our accommodations have been clean and simple. As my dear husband said, "I recognize things here that were on the website, but let's just say they did a good job with the photography." That's not a complaint, just a reality. We ended up liking our homebase quite a bit for the four nights we spent there. If you click here, our room is in pictures 5, 6, 7, and 8. Our view of the water is photo 12. Or, here's our view on a cloudy day, emphasis on the awesome black and white hotel. Love the architecture!

How about you: Ever visited Istanbul? What was your experience?

Episode 14 "Lips" - Missionary Makeup

You can read about why I'm doing this here.


Check out this pink picture of loveliness! (Hard to believe it wasn't too long ago that I was not much of a lip person. I've found so many things recently that I just love!) Note: Many of these sample-sized products are usually just kept in my purse.

My Lips Collection:

Tarte LipSurgence Natural Lip Luster in Sweet

Laura Geller Lip Shiners in City Lights

BareMinerals Pretty Amazing lipgloss in Fearless

Buxom Lipgloss in Sugar and Sasha

Urban Decay Lip Junkie in Naked

Bobbi Brown Lip Gloss in Buff 4

Maybelline Baby Lips in 30 Peach Kiss

Essence Glossy Lip Balm in Pink Dragonfruit

Philosophy Vanilla Birthday Cake Lipgloss

Philosophy Kiss Me SPF 20 lip balm in red

Revlon Lip Butters in:

Creme Brulee, Sugar Frosting, Berry Smoothie, Cherry Tart, and Sugar Plum

Elf Pout Perfecter in Glow

Elf Hypershine Gloss in Fairy

Stila Lip Glaze in Kitten, Pinkle Twinkle, and Dreamy

Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Blooming pink

Napoleon Perdis Frontrow Red Lip Gloss

Napoleon Perdis Luminous Lip Veils in Sugar Plum and Rare Opal

Wow, that's a lot of stuff! Phew!

I don't want to travel with too many liquid things in my travel makeup bag, so here's what I think I'll toss in:

Tarte LipSurgence Natural Lip Luster in Sweet

Maybelline Baby Lips in 30 Peach Kiss

Essence Glossy Lip Balm in Pink Dragonfruit

I will have to put Essence's glossy lip balm in my quart-size ziploc bag to satisfy the TSA. But the others I should be able to have in my carry-on. Both Tarte's Lip Luster and Maybelline's Baby Lips are moisturizing and have a bit of color to them. The gloss just adds some shine.

What would you use if you could only use three lip products for the rest of your life?

Episode 13 "Mascara" - Missionary Makeup

You can read about why I'm doing this here.

Maybelline Great Lash in Royal Blue

Revitalash Volumizing Mascara in Black

Benefit BADgal Brown Mascara

Look at my cute little mini collection of mascaras! Choosing which one mascara I would travel with was far from difficult! Hands down, when I want my lashes looking their best, I always reach for my Revitalash. That stuff is so awesome. It makes my invisible lashes really lovely! Welcome to the makeup bag!

Have you tried Revitalash products? How happy has it made your lashes?

Episode 12 "Eyeliner" - Missionary Makeup

You can read about why I'm doing this here.

Eyeliner Collection:

Elf Liquid Eyeliner in: 

Black, Plum, Midnight, Cobalt Blue, Teal, Forest Green and Stardust

Maybelline Master Drama by EyeStudio in Midnight Master

Shiseido Automatic Fine Eyeliner in BR 602 Brown

Urban Decay 24/7 glide-On Eye Pencils in:

Underground, Demolition, Bourbon, and Stray Dog

Prestige Soft Blend Khol Eyeliner in 12 Haze

Milani Color Brilliance Eye Pencil in 02 Aqua

Napoleon Perdis Eyeliner in Gold Standard

I really am a fan of all my eyeliners. The only one I'm on the fence about right now is the Prestige Soft Blend Khol Eyeliner in 12 Haze. "Soft Blend" seems a little misleading to me as it doesn't seem to blend softly. I'm giving it another day or two to prove itself to me. After that it may or may not come with me at all!

My favorite eyeliners are definitely my Elf liquid Eyeliners. They are so cheap, but I love them. For this trip, however, I'm packing them away in a suitcase instead of my makeup bag.

Here's what I've decided to toss in... (I'm thinking simple here!)

I'm bringing my Maybelline Master Drama by EyeStudio in Midnight Master (a very soft-textured dark black) and my Napoleon Perdis Eyeliner in Gold Standard (a gold that is good for my waterline and inner corner). It's hard for me to be so simplistic, but I think those two will last me until I arrive in my new home and can unpack the rest!

What's your go-to liner of choice?

Episode 11 "Jumbo Pencils" - Missionary Makeup

You can read about why I'm doing this here.


Winding down to the final three episodes here. Here's my jumbo pencil collection.

Tarte SmolderEYES Amazonian Clay Waterproof Liners in:

Golden Beige, Moss, Navy, Espresso, Smoke, Silver Black

Benefit Gilded

NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencils in:

Yogurt, Horseradish, and Purple

Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencils in:

Morphine, Sin, Juju, Rehab, Clash, and Delinquent

I love all of these.  Recently I'm using the NYX ones under my lower lash line since they tend to crease for me on the upper lid. The Urban Decay and Tarte ones, however, are "old faithfuls" to me when it comes to lid color. They are super quick to apply, they blend easily, and then they set and don't move throughout the day. What's not to love!

That said, I'm thinking I may not put any of them in my makeup bag.

Wow, as soon as I typed that, I changed my mind. 

I'm throwing in Tarte's Smoke and Urban Decay's Juju. They both are lovely. Smoke is a metallic gray and Juju is a metallic brown. How can I not bring them?!

I know a lot of people own the Tarte and Urban Decay pencils. What is your favorite?

Episode 12 "Eyeliners" is just around the corner!

Episode 10 "Eyeshadow Palettes" - Missionary Makeup

You can read about why I'm doing this here.


I love eyeshadow. And I truly never know what I'm going to layer on my lids until I open my drawer in the morning. It's totally based on my mood, what's coming up in my day, and how much time I have. Here's my shadow collection:

Small Palettes:

TheBalm Shady Lady Vol. 3

Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trio in Walking on Eggshells

Elf Studio Single Eyeshadows in Sand Dollar and Oatmeal

CARGO Metallico Eyes

BareMinerals Ready Eyeshadow 8.0 in The Cocktail Hour and The Playlist

Elf Essentials Brightening Eye Color in Hazy Hazel

Laura Geller Baked Eye Dreams Eyeshadow in Bellini

Too Faced Matte Eyeshadow Collection

Large Palettes:

Urban Decay's Naked and Naked2 Palettes

TheBalm Nude 'Tude Nude Eyeshadow Palette

Tarte TEN Eyeshadow Palette

So, right off the bat I eliminated the large palettes from my travel bag. They'll fit nicely in a suitcase, and I'll see them when I get to South Asia. That brings me to my small palettes. I know I want a neutral option and a color option.

After much pondering, I've decided I'm taking TheBalm's Shady Lady Palette Vol. 3. It has colors that would support a natural look and colors that support a more colorful work.  Congrats to the shady lady! (It's the giraffe-print looking palette buried under all the others in the picture.)

What one eyeshadow palette would you take with you if you could only take one?

Episode 11 "Jumbo Pencils" is coming up next!