Baby Doll

The title comes from this new neckalce I purchased yesterday at a local accessory boutique for 12 TL (approx $8). I love the fabric baby doll with gold chain and colorful tassles and charms. Came with today's ensemble just so I can wear the necklace. Everything except for the necklace is from my mom's closet. Again the items are a little big but I make do with the help of a belt. I bought this T-shirt for my mom as a gift. I love its gold specks. It actually has a cute style when worn outside but I tucked it in cause the shorts are too baggy as it is. I have same style shorts but again at home of course.

See how cute the necklace is?

BabyDoll Charm Necklace - Boutique in Turkey

Gold Speckled white Tee - Mom's (Forever 21)

Jean bermuda shorts - Mom's

Gold Sandals - Mom's (Target)

Today's Activities: It was not as hot today and somewhat overcast in the morning so took advantage and walked to the park. The kids again chased the piegons and rode all the slides. Then it started rainning so we walked very fast back to the house then decided to have lunch out at a restaurant right by the apartment. Today I napped when the kids napped so I can catch up on sleep a little. Woke up to pouring rain so entertained the kids at home. The view was georgous. Once my mom got home my son and I left with my cousin for the shopping center. Picked up his girlfriend on the way. Had dinner at my uncle's place than saw Shrek movie in 3D. My son amazingly sat through the whole movie with the glasses that were way too big on him. We had to keep explainning what was going on but this is Turkey and people talk a lot more in the theaters so it was OK. He went to bed a little past his bedtime but as a very happy boy.

Here I am with my son at the park...

Barrowed Tie Die

Another last minute combination. I am seriously out of outfits on my list that can be worn in the city. We are probably here minimum one more week so need 7 more combinations. The good thing is we are back at my Grandpa's house and I have full access to my mom's closet. So using her pieces to make some new combo's this week. These are her tie die jeans. They are a size big but they hold with a belt. I wore this madonna tank top with my own tie die jeans in the States so it is not that creative. Again felt like I needed to wear something on top as I don't feel that comfortable with a tank top in the city. The jacket is mom's as well. I love how the beaded bib necklaces clashes with the converses. This necklace is slowly falling apart thanks to my out of control 16 month old daughter. Everytime I wear it she damages one part of it. I try to fix it but it won't hold for long.

Madonna Tank Top - H&M

Tie Die Jeans - Mom's

White fishnet crop hoodie - Mom's (Bebe Sport)

Converse- converse.com

Today's Activities: Painful morning waking up early after only a 5.5 hours of sleep. At least the house is fully equipped with multiple commercial grade AC's so it is very comfy. Managed to get the kids fed and dressed and went out for groceries and a stop at a tailor's to get my son's swim suits altered. That much outing was enough given the heat so we returned home. My strolled does not fit in this elevator so it is absolute pain to fold and carry it while managing two kids one of which still prefers to crawl on dirty floors. While they napped I left them with my mom and went to the dentist than got my hair fixed (last time it was too blonde in the front so added a few darker segments in between). To do these things I took the bus for the first time since I was 18 years old (the year I left Turkey and moved to USA)! It made me remember many things. Remember how I said 'in Turkey everyone dresses up' OK, so I really meant the tiny percent of population I am exposed to. Getting on a bus you realize what the real people look like in this country. Definitely not dressy! Even though I have a pretty casual outfit I stood out like sore thumb.  I remembered how you can remain in a bubble here if you wanted to. If you only visit upper class neighborhoods and see only friends and family and obviously avoid public transportation you can manage to not see how the real people live. It is not like the people on the bus were pitiful, it just was obvious they did not have the same advantages we and the people we hang out with do. It would be interesting to see my son's reaction to all this.

I got this shirt with other combo's in mind but wanted to wear it while here so put this together. I would have tied the red scarf a bit more but it was too hot for that. The shirt is long but fitted. It has very light blue thin stripes. The cuffs and neck are white. You can roll up the sleeves and button them for a short sleeved look. If I was home I would have worn something else underneath but on a trip I have to do with what I have. Did not have any accessories today cause we were at a pool outing and did not want to deal with stuff. The shoes once again were the most eye catching item.

Striped Men's Shirt - JeiWei (store in Turkey)

White Tank - can't remember. Probably Target

Skinny Blue Jeans - Closet

Red Scarf - Charlotte Russe

Red Shoes - Cengiz (shoe store in Turkey)

Today's Activities: Unloaded all the suitcases and bags of stuff  from my aunt's house to my grandpa's house early AM. Then went to my mom and aunt's friend's house for a day at the pool. She lives in the fancy suburb area. Huge luxorious house with an amazing front and back yards and pool. The kids loved it. They ran and ran on the nice grass and played by the pool. It was too deep for me so I couldn't really allow them to swim but they dipped a little and still had a great time. Had them take naps there so we could spend the whole day without being rushed.

Skirt over a dress!

Very quickly thought and put this outfit together today. I was pretty much in PJs majority of the day packing. Finally when I was finished enough realized we have to make couple get well and new baby congrat visits so sneaked into my son's room and pulled these items together. The dress underneath is the eyelet summer dress I got at Mango on sale. I wore it layered with the shirtdress a few days ago. This time I went real crazy and wore a skirt over the dress. Then added a thin jean shirt on top but left the buttons open so the eyelet dress peaks out. The black skirt is mini so plenty of eyelet shows from underneath. It was 3 layers on my waist but I don't think it looks too thick. Right? I accessoriezed with with the fringe necklace to cover the exposed cleavage and my new bone leaf ring a gift from my aunt for my son's 3rd b-day. Again used my husbands chain necklace as a bracelet around my silver watch. Since I left my napping daughter at home I could actually ditch the diaper bag and use a puse! My son is posing below doing his superman impression in his new superman t-shirt birthday gift from my cousin.

Jean Shirt - WeiJeil (store in Turkey)

Black Skirt - TJ Maxx

Eyelet dress  (worn underneath) - Mango

Sandals - Boutique 9

Leather purse with bird bead detail - Thread Show

Fringe Necklace - H&M

Today's Activities: Packed pretty much all day. Will be moving from my aunt's house to my Grandpa's house for little over a week until we make the final move to the summer house. Don't plan to really unpack at my Grandpa's house. It is amazing though how much I settled into my aunt and uncle's house. You would think I moved here permanently. They emptied so much closet and shelf and vanity space so I just opened up everything. It took me all day to group it all together.

After packing took my son and visited a relative who had a hip surgery than another frien who just had a baby. Then walked the kids a bit while running some errands. At night we had a nanny at home so took adventage and went out for a beer: My mom, my aunt, uncel and myself.

Tiger Lilly

Gave the title cause I feel this dress has an Indian Princess feel to it. If you are a mom of a toddler you know the Peter Pan character Princess Tiger Lilly who is the daughter of the Indian Chief. :) My kids also loved the suede soft texture of this dress and so do I. Amazingly the drop waist band is tight enough for my narrow hips to hold. I love how comfy the whole dress is. Since it already has silver studs at the sleeves and waist band decided to go less on jewelry. Chose my cascading leaf earings which go from bronze to silver to steel color. Added the silver chain necklace of my husband which got mixed with my stuff when I packed as a bracelet around my watch. My arabic bronze/silver ring completes the look. Photo is taken in front of the indoor play area we hosted my son's 3rd birthday party today.

Note the hair color job I got today.

Suede look microfiber drop waist dress - Boutique in Turkey (Berlis)

Earings - Mango

Sandals - Victoria's Secret

Today's Activities: Woke up with wishing my son Happy Birthday. Told him the day he was born while cuddling in bed. Made them both breakfast with eggs and opened a few presents. Then my mom and aunt's housekeeper too the kids while I got my hair colored, cut and mani and pedicure. After lunch and naps (luckily they both took great naps) we left for the indoor play area where we hosted my son's birthday party. Managed to find 4 kids close to his age (grandkids of my mom's friends) and they all had a great time. After the 5 to 7 PM party went to my uncle's restaurant for dinner and came home just in time for bed.

Here I am with the kids at his party... Missing my husband very much...

My son who is obsessed with Lion King got a huge Lion King cake.

Flower heat

Very colorful today. Wearing my other Versace purchase from years ago at NYC's Century 21 store. I usually wore this blouse with black shorts and hot pink kitten heels which is a super cute combo. To make it more city appropriate tried it with my blue slacks and my new farmer's market purchase necklace. Although I got my hair done professionally it is way too hot outside to wear it down, so had to use a clip and braid today.

Flowerly Blouse - Versace

Blue Slacks - Ann Taylor

Sandals - Boutique 9

Necklace - Farmer's Market in Turkey

Today's Activities: After an early rise and breakfast with the kids took them grocery shopping. Sounds boring but when it is hot, ice cold grocery store is actually a great place to be. Plus they have an amazing kid book section which my kids love. We spend at least 20 minutes there browsing books and always purchase a few. The more Turkish books I collect the better I can keep up the kids' second language when I return. After that dropped off our bags at home and went to the pier. My daughter practiced her new walking skills. After lunch and good naps in AC'd rooms we went to a friend's house for a playdate then came home to dinner.

Peachy Cute

Wearing my farmer's market purchase dress. Love the colors and the design but the top band does not fit well. My mom thinks we can get it fixed. Might give it a try. Love that the skirt part is lined so I can wear it as is. It has a neck tie but I wore my fringe neklace over it so you don't really see it. Also got to wear my double stone ring (a gifr from my mom last summer) even though the colors don't go with it perfectly like it with this outfit.

My son insisted he pose with me for the photos.

Dress - Zara (purchased at a farmer's market for approx $8)

Necklace - H&M

Denim Sandals -  Steve Madden

Ring - from Turkey

Today's Activities: It was my mom's Birthday AND MY DAUGHTER STARTED WALKING FINALLY! She is 16 months old! And boy did she start. She is going super long distances, changing direction and even tries to dance or pick up stuff while standing and walking. I am so happy. For the first time she actually stayed relatively clean with no knee marks on her tights. My son on the other hand woke up an hour early and refused to nap and was an absolute nightmare. We went to the farmer's market (local one) in the morning. Went to a shopping center that has a kid entertainment area in the afternoon.