A Big Announcement!

Let me answer your first question... No.  I am not pregnant.  We've discussed the news I'm about to share with most of our closest family and friends, and I always start with this sentence.  So now that's out of the way.

I'll get right to the point.  Will recently interviewed for a job that would take his career to a whole new level.  He participated in a full day of back-to-back interviews, which resulted in a job offer just a few days later and his acceptance soon after.  I'm beyond proud of him for how driven and successful he is in nearly everything he does... I'm also ridiculously excited for this new step in our lives.

Oh yea, I should mention, this job is located in New Orleans.  Yep.  We're moving!!!!  It's been a shock to everyone, since we just purchased our home last year (and half-expected to stay there until our golden years), but after pondering this big change, we both feel it's a great direction for us.  We love the city (the food, music, culture, etc. etc. etc), and with this fantastic job advancement for Will, it couldn't be a better fit.

While we're anxious to pack up the pugs & cats and drive on down to begin the N'awlins way of life, the move will be bittersweet.  We've spent our lives to this point in good ol' Indiana, so it'll be strange to be so much further away from our families and friends.  We're hoping we'll have good luck encouraging visits from loved-ones when it gets cold and gloomy during the Indiana winters :)

Indiana as a state doesn't have much hold on us, although we do love Indianapolis.  Our neighborhood, on the other hand, is truly near and dear to us.  We've really fallen in love with the sense of community and family in Woodruff Place, and although good neighbors aren't impossible to find (though sometimes, they're few and far between!), we know there may never be a place quite like it.  We appreciate how welcoming and helpful everyone has been during our year in the neighborhood, and Woodruff will always hold a special place in our hearts.  We've been asked whether we feel like it was a mistake to have moved from our previous house to spend just a year in this one.  The answer is absolutely not.  We've learned so much from the experience of owning, caring for, and updating an old house, and the friendships and memories we've developed here are invaluable.

Of  course, many more details about our relocation are soon-to-come.  For now, thank you to all the family, friends, and neighbors that have supported us in this decision.  We're thrilled to start this new chapter in our lives!

Fancy-fying the Fence

The past couple of weeks have been jam-packed with home projects, planning for some big summer events, and just enjoying friends and the weather.  As a result, the blog has been a little neglected.  Oops!  The good news is, I've got plenty to share in the upcoming month or two :)

For now, this is a quick little outdoor project I just finished.  I actually bought all the supplies last year, but didn't get a chance to put everything together before it got cold.

I bought a set of mason jars, a roll of 14 gauge wire, and a couple of plant hooks to get the job done.  Pinterest is teeming with similar ideas, but this is how I did it...

First, I measured and cut a piece of wire to about 16" long to make the handle.  I used needle-nose pliers to make a loop on each end.

Next, I cut another piece of wire long enough to wrap around the mouth of the jar, adding about an inch-and-a-half for twisting and securing.  I wrapped it around, just below the lip, and hooked the handle wire onto either side.

Using my pliers, I twisted the ends of the wire together, then folded them back out of the way.

Jackie approves.  Last step is to take the top off and add a candle.

It's probably a good idea to bring them in when you're not using them, but I just resort to dumping rain water out and cleaning them up when I need to.  I've also considered leaving the jar tops on when I'm not using them.  I'm sure they'd get rusty, but a couple layers of Rust-Oleum spray paint could take care of that.

I'll be enjoying these as we grill out this week :)

Istanbul: The "Middle" Days

I posted about the "first days" of our Istanbul trip previously, and I'm back for more.  Like I mentioned, we spent a lot of time visiting the "must-see" sights at first.  The 3rd and 4th days were a bit more relaxed.  We explored different areas of the city, drank Turkish coffee and tea, and just piddled around a bit, enjoying ourselves and the culture.  

Have you heard about Turkish coffee?  The preparation is very different from western-style filtered coffee.  The grounds are boiled and served right into your cup, resulting in a thick, extra-strong espresso-like beverage.  Turks joke that if a horseshoe floats in the coffee, it's been prepared correctly.  We really enjoyed it, but I don't think I'll be trading in my filtered coffeemaker anytime soon.

I talked before about the fresh squeezed juice offered all over- this is fresh "squeezed" pomegranate juice.  YUM!

You can't go to Turkey without getting a Turkish Bath, right?  We visited one of the oldest.  Such a neat experience.  The picture below was taken immediately after... congratulations on seeing me at my most disgusting :)

There were cats everywhere!  People would put out piles of cat food in front of their homes and storefronts for them.

We got some amazing fried fish and oysters at this random food stand.

Aaand Will wanted my picture with the owner.  That must be his signature expression.

This was one of the bars we visited several times- half bar, half bookstore.  Awesome concept.  Also perfect example of a Turkish cat.  Randomly finds a soft chair in a warm bar- then leaves when he's done napping.

There's still more to come of our trip :)  We've also got a little announcement to make soon... okay, a big announcement!  I'll keep you posted!

Istanbul: The Spice Market

Things have been a little busy around here lately... as spring always seems to be.  I have a lot of little house projects coming up that I'll share with you, as well as a few more detailed posts about our Istanbul trip.  For a celebratory it's-almost-the-weekend post, though, I've got a few pictures of the Spice Market below.

I'm pretty sure if I'd never cooked a day in my life, I'd still be completely fascinated by the Spice Market.  There's such a huge array of colorful, fragrant spices lining either side of the indoor market, broken up by displays of pastries and Turkish Delight.  I was totally reminiscing my "Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" times as a little girl.  I'm telling you... you've never tried Turkish Delight until you've tried it in Turkey.  YUM.  We brought some back, too.  Needless to say, there's none left for sharing :)