Weekend in Istanbul Part I

I am sure it seems I've traveled a lot lately. This is not common for me. In October we had company and wanted them to see a little, then the first weekend in November was the Annual Women's Conference. CC said, "Go!" so I left my five little ones under his ever-watchful and devoted (a-hem) care, and took off. The conference was held in Istanbul this year and I found a very cheap flight (as in my bus ride to the airport cost more!), so we flew.

I'll be honest, the conference was not my favorite one. In years past, it's been well attended and organized. Although the conference wasn't the highlight, the company I kept this weekend more than made up for that. We had a blast! I didn't wipe any bottoms or cook any meals or check any homework for three whole days. But by Sunday, I was ready to get back to all that stuff. I missed it. I like being with CC and my kids.

We stayed on the Asian side of Istanbul (it lies in two continents and all the stuff you'll want to see if you come visit me is on the European side!). We headed out to IKEA, a Swedish furniture store, that is oh-so-fun. We walked around, I picked up a few candles and lanterns to decorate for Christmas. We went to the cafeteria and had their famous meatballs. I have heard they are opening one in our city in June 2011. (I think that helps confirm my call here for another year.)

Here are my buddies Pam and Jenny.

And here's my dessert...imagine a SKOR bar on steriods.

Here's another cute friend, Logan. She's Miss Middler's teacher. Other than being a Redskins' fan, she's all together wonderful.