I Want to Go to There: Istanbul

As soon as we got off the tram at Sultanhamet, I could feel how happy I was to be in Istanbul.  I kept grinning as we walked past the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia.  After months of talking about Istanbul, we were finally here again.

Hagia Sophia at sunset

The Blue Mosque at night during Ramadan

Cheers to Wine

For many years I've had a very specific vision of what my life would look like after I graduated from college.  I would get a good job - that part was always vague - in a major city.  I would have a well-decorated apartment that was often filled with sunlight.  I would wear professional, fashionable outfits and adorable shoes, which would be miraculously comfortable, and I'd walk around the city wearing cool trench coats and pea coats as the weather permitted.  After work, I'd either go out to a wine bar and have a drink or two with my equally successful and fashionable friends or I'd go home and whip up a nutritiously well-balanced meal that looked like it came from the pages of Gourmet.  Since graduating, I've learned that this is harder to do than I'd thought.  For one thing, decorating an apartment to make it look like a Crate & Barrel catalog is extremely expensive.  But still, I've slowly started on the path towards my Sophisticated Urban Working Girl dream.  

Kind of like Kate Beckett from Castle, though I'm not tough enough to be a cop.

Eating My Way Through Autumn

On Labor Day, my sister and I went apple picking.  It was a perfect way to kick off the fall, but since I had just returned from a summer vacation, the idea of autumn starting so soon made me panic a little.  September?  When did that happen?  However, as we picked Macintosh and Gala apples (as well as peaches, strawberries, pears and a few tomatoes - this orchard was massive!) I started remembering why I often consider the fall my favorite season: the beautiful oranges, reds and yellows of the changing leaves; new books and new classes (though not for me this year); the crisp air that seems like a relief after a humid summer.  As I imagined myself wearing a puffy vest and crunching leaves under my feet, I also realized that much of my love for the fall has to do with food. 

This photo goes along with an article in the UK's Telegraph about "leaf peeping" in New England.

That makes looking at foliage sound like an unusual, shameful act 

instead of something that you'd do as you go antiquing in Western Mass.

Dreaming Big

In order to work on my storytelling skills, figure out my goals for life, and entertain you, I will also have an occasional series exploring my dream futures – dream jobs, dream houses, dream lifestyles. Please keep in mind that I’m trying to work on fiction skills.

Restaurant Owner in France

I may or may not be basing this entire fantasy future on the films Ratatouille and Julie & Julia (but only the parts with Meryl Streep). I love cooking (and eating), though unfortunately I have yet to develop the instincts or skills to get more creative than just following recipes. Even more unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I can’t start a restaurant with a menu based entirely on my mom’s specialties, the Real Simple cookbook I got for Christmas, and allrecipes.com. Nevertheless! One of my ideal futures is to own a small restaurant on a quiet street in France.

Last summer, I lived in Nantes, a city two hours west of Paris. They had a wonderful restaurant district, here dozens of little cafés opened onto a pedestrian street. Each café also seemed to have a clever, very French name: Pour Ce Qui Savent…, Les Enfants Terribles, Le Petit Bacchus. I would love to run one of those cafés, serving light meals – let’s be serious, I’m talking about France, so it will probably be crêpes– with fancy drinks. It will be decorated simply, in black, white, red and light blue, and the patio will have small square tables with black iron chairs that have swirls on their backs. After meals, my restaurant will turn into a classy bar, where patrons order drinks of various colors in snazzy glasses and sit around laughing and discussing French literature or politics or Tin Tin. It will be a place to gather with friends, sip interesting cocktails, and gaze out at the people passing on the street as the stars glitter overhead.

I have some inspiration for this:

Top: Colored liquors at a bar in Athens, Greece

Bottom: Pour Ce Qui Savent..., Nantes

The drinks are two kirs (white wine and creme de cassis)

and a demi-peche (peach-flavored beer)

When I’m done playing hostess each night, have closed my kitchen, sent my maitre d’ Gaspard off into the night and packed up my leftover cream puffs (oh yes, there will be pastries), I will walk home to my well-decorated apartment, where my boyfriend and our adorable puppies will be waiting for me. I’ll make a warm cup of cocoa, lure my boyfriend to our balcony with the cream puffs, and then relax and gaze out over our street. If by this point I’ve turned semi-nocturnal, I’ll watch the people along the street as they begin their day, opening windows, heading off to work, walking down to the boulangerie for a morning croissant or baguette. After falling asleep in a bed full of pillows (and puppies!) I will wake up to spend my late morning dealing with the business side of the restaurant and coming up with new and amazing recipes.

So that you don’t find this total indulgence…

1. Nantes is not a huge city, but it is worth a visit if you’re in the Pays-de-la-Loire/Bretagne area. I love the Bouffay, their chateau is very pretty, and it’s just a beautiful place overall.

2. French food doesn’t have to be really hard to make. This recipe for Quiche Lorraine crepes has turned out well for me in the past. Okay, fine, it’s from the Food Network and not France, but they measure things in grams over there! You’d be annoyed if I posted a real French recipe!

3. Yes, Ratatouille is a Disney/Pixar film that involves a rat cooking. It’s still worth watching if you consider yourself an adult, and yes, it will make you crave delicious food.

Feel free to send me suggestions for your favorite French restaurants, creme puff recipes, your dream jobs, places you would like to live, or anything else!