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INA-ILA

a stylish and fun life

An Event and A Photographer

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Some friends and family recently helped throw me an awesome, memorable baby shower at the Queens Botanical Garden.  I knew about the shower well in advance so the one thing I wanted to add on my own was to hire a photographer.  I’m a big fan of hiring photographers, even for smaller events.  I think it lets everyone relax and not have to worry too much about taking photos and, then later, exchanging photos.  It gives me peace of mind to know that important moments are being documented by someone.  It doesn’t have to be complicated: for my shower, I hired the wonderful Mayumi, who offered a really reasonable, no-frills type of package.  Once you have the digital files, you can pick and choose the best images.  And, it’s a good idea to communicate with your photographer about your expectations beforehand.  In this case, I gave Mayumi a short list of “essentials”: photos that I really wanted to see (i.e. foods of the decor, food, photos of family together) and she did an amazing job!

Spaghetti with Peppers, Chickpeas, and Egg!

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I love chickpeas and peppers so I decided to combine them all into a quick pasta dish.  This easy dish is fast, fresh and delicious.  The soft-boiled egg on top was a last minute addition because, let’s face it, egg yolk is ridiculously tasty as a sauce.  The recipe is here.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Shopping Picks: Destination Turkey

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(left) A necklace with Persian coins – from the Grand Bazaar, (right) a bracelet I got from the Galata Tower

I’m back from my long vacation and bringing you a special edition of the weekly shopping picks with items from Turkey. I don’t usually buy touristy trinkets, but instead try to get things that the country is known for or those that have cultural significance. Food is also high on my list of things to bring back! In addition to the jewelry above, here are some of my favorite things that I either brought back with me or enjoyed while I was there:

Used for centuries in Turkish hammams (baths), peshtamals are 100% cotton towels that have recently been gaining fans in the Western world. They’re fast drying and super absorbent. I’m happy with the colors I got – grey seemed to be a big hit for peshtamal colors. See what Gilt Home has to say about these types of towels in The Un-Towel.

In Eastern cultures, a nazar, or evil eye, is a very strong belief that looking at someone the wrong way can cause the person harm. Here in the West we might call it a look of envy or giving off negative energy. Turks use a nazar boncuk to ward off this negative energy – it’s an eye looking right back at the person trying to cast the evil eye. Since it’s a big part of the culture it’s a fun little souvenir to bring back. I got the one on the right, which has my favorite prayer from the Quran written on it (Ayat-ul-Kursi). I found it at a wholesale evil eye store on a street close to the Grand Bazaar. The prices at the store were great compared to those found at touristy areas. Some other fun places I saw the nazar boncuk:

  • on the tail of a plane (definitely don’t want the plane to get nazar!)
  • on a tea-cup (seen above)
  • in a garden, made out of different colored flowers
  • hanging on the outside of many houses

clockwise from top: assorted olives, honeycomb, turkish delights

Ever since I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as a kid, I’ve wanted to try Turkish Delight. After all, it was the one thing that Edmund wished to eat after the White Witch offered him the chance to eat anything in the world! In Turkey I sampled so much Turkish Delight of all different colors, shapes and sizes that I’ll be fine if I don’t ever eat one again. They’re for sale in most bakeries or souvenir stores. The Grand Bazaar has stores that sell heaps and heaps of them. They make a great gift to bring back as they tend to stay fresh for one month.

Turkey is also known for its honey and honey comb. It’s usually served at breakfast, mixed with cream. You can dip your bread into the mixture – delicious! Be mindful of your country’s customs laws when bringing in food. The U.S. allows you to bring in both honey and honeycomb as well as most other food items meant for personal use and gifts (reference).

Have you been to Turkey? What were your favorite shopping picks?

Finds and Favorites

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Clockwise from top:

I am in love with peonies–the big, showy fragrant blossoms signify warm days to come.

The Good Fork in Red Hook, Brooklyn is adept at matching unusual flavors to make out-of-this-world dishes.  My favorites?  The Steak and Eggs with Kimchi Rice (their signature dish), the House-Smoked Trout Salad and Steve’s Key Lime Pie.  Just writing this is making me hungry all over again.

Jessica Taylor’s shop on Etsy features adorable hand-made die cuts in various shapes and colors.  I recently ordered these cute yellow-and-gray birds to make my own baby mobile.

Finds and Favorites

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I love these wall pockets by Tim Karoleff for Ampersand.  They’re made of cardboard and can be stuck anywhere to hold essentials. Functional art!

I received a sample of Bare Escentual’s Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Polish in Kanani and was pleasantly surprised–the color is a sheer coral pink and the gloss doesn’t feel goopy on my lips.  I might have to go out and buy the full sized one once this one runs out!

Sea salt and chocolate somehow just go together perfectly.  This amazing cookie recipe marries these two flavors in a cookie that’s softly chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside.  I went to a sleepover with a friend and we tried them out–they were delicious!  We didn’t do the recommended long refrigeration of the cookie dough but the cookies still turned out great.

Credits: Images from Apartment Therapy, For Me For You and Namala Beauty

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