Party time!

It has been a really long time since we have gone to a nice work function. Sad to say it was probably before we were married. And the parties we have had to go to were horrible and we paid ridiculous amounts for.

 Saturday night was Ford Otosan's end of the year party. Big year for them too, 10 years as the #1 selling vehicle in Turkey. Ford has really made a name for its self here. After talking with Murat (our driver), it seems like Ford is better liked here than at home. 

My day started early since I still hadn't found a dress! Our wonderful driver put up with my craziness. It only took 3 hours (including lunch) and 40 stores to finally find it. And the worst part was we walked by the store 10 times before I finally went in. I had been into Marks & Spencers just two weeks ago and I hadn't seen anything. I had actually thought this would be easy! I found an outfit for next Friday at H&M on sale and that was my first stop! I had looked a little online and had found two dresses I really liked at Zara. So I think that got me stuck and should have been the first place we went. But we parked on the complete other side of the mall from it. Oh well lesson learned. I was very happy I had Murat.... Sephora doesn't have anyone that speaks very good English. And that is definitely one store you need it!
 Damn to Pinterest, I have been DYING for a pair of sparkly shoes. Actually, before I left, my friend Monica and I had a GNO of shopping and dinner at Zona Rosa. We found a super cute pair of sparkly shoes at DSW. I loved them but knew I'd never have any place to wear them. *Kicking myself*  So as the flurry of sparkly shoes appeared on Pinterest..... those were in thanks to my Big. Another sorority sister already kills me with her pins. I need Dawn to be my personal stylist! Anyways, I knew I wanted these shoes. So I hit up Hotic where I bought my last killer shoes (see recovering shoe addict post), but they didn't have anything fun. Nine West was just across the way and I didn't feel like another stroll around the mall, plus there was a big 50% off sign in the window. As I walked in, I saw.... a WHOLE section of sparkly shoes. And a sale sign! It was really hard to not buy every pair. They had a pair that were red, blue, silver, and green. They were gorgeous! The only reason I got out of the store without buying them was because I was already checking out. After I finished my shopping.... off to get my hair done. I hadn't been able to find a style I liked online, so I had decided to just wear it down. Trim, color, mani, pedi, and eyebrows.... two hours later, I emerged feeling pretty. ooo... I finally got to try threading! It was a little more painful that I expected. But she did an amazing job! My eyebrows haven't looked this great since Christy at Serendipity did them! 


 I regretfully didn't get a whole lot of down time when I got home. Traffic was pretty crappy so I didn't get home til 4:30pm. Our new sitter was supposed to arrive sometime after 6pm. And nothing can ever be calm. As I was getting ready, our water delivery and the pizza arrived. Right after I was ready our sitter arrive. She's a very sweet girl named Bea. She's German but spent the last few years in the US. Mostly California and Florida. Now she works during the day for a Turkish family. It's always hard to trust someone new that you've only talked to a handful of times. 


 One of the BEST things about having a driver.... no fighting over who is DD. It is hard enough to drive here let alone after a few drinks! Hmm... wonder if I can have a driver at home too. :) So off we went to the Museum of The History of Science and Technology. It still makes me laugh... but as we pull in, everyone has their drivers and a ton of Valet are running around. It's just a scene you see at home with a bunch of wealthy people. Something I've not been around. It still makes me a bit uncomfortable. I can open my own damn door! LOL. Joel had joked on the way, that he was pretty sure we would be the only Fiesta there. And he was correct. It was a sea of Mondeo's and S-Max with a few Galaxy's thrown in. Joel said that his coworkers got the nicer cars and stuck their wives with the little cars. Status is very big here. I told Joel, we could have taken the Mondeo. LOL. It's my loaner while my car is getting fixed. But who wants to drag all the car seats out! I'm just fine in Joel's cute Fiesta!


 When we arrive, they had a red carpet that lead thru a big 10. The building was a gorgeous stone! And a glass addition had some beautiful old trains and streetcars. We wandered around looking and then finally headed in. We had to have our picture taken under the 10. Once inside, we dropped our coats and had another photo op. Which I'm sure is going to be horrible because Joel was poking me and making me laugh. We walked into cocktail hour and said hi to the bosses. Then found our friends. A very nice man appeared with drinks almost immediately. Then the food started arriving. The basic snotty apps. But there was this one that was a ball of cheese with green herbs or something on the outside. It tasted like dill... it was SO good. I ate like 10. All thru the hall, they had living statues. We were standing between a gold one and white one. It was fun to watch. Tom was standing close to one and one point and the lady kept getting closer and closer. We got a good giggle out of it.  
 One thing I forgot to mention that they had a group of women that welcomed, and gave you your seating info, and basically corralled us. Joel said they looked like Car show models! LOL. So they called us for dinner and we all headed to find our tables. Deider and his wife said they were at the Fusion table last year and stuck in a corner. But we were pleasantly surprised to have a good table. Everything was perfect!
 
As wine and salads started to arrive, the MC came out and the speeches started. I have NO idea what was said. I was kind of surprised it was all in Turkish. Being a Managers dinner, everyone there spoke English. The company that is in partnership with Ford is Koc Holding and I was impressed to see the owners son was there. He made one of the speeches. The MC and a lady sang while we had dinner. Made me feel old because it was WAY too loud. Then speeches again and they wrote a song.... a SONG for Ford. And gave our flyers so we could sing along. I still need to translate it but I will totally post it when I do! I know it says 10 years and #1 but that's it. And the main entertainment was an award winning Turkish pop star. I have no idea who she is! But she was good.  
 It was a really nice night and great to see friends. I could really get used to these parties! On the way out, we were handed these big gift bags. We didn't bother looking until we got home. We were both pretty tired. It turned out they gave us a Duvet and Shams! It is amazingly soft. Too bad they gave us a Full size! Not sure what I'm going to do with it! Maybe guest bedding?   
 Our babysitter worked out great. The kids loved her and she cleaned the kitchen and picked up the girls room and playroom! The things I needed to get done on Sunday, were already done! So we spent the whole day watching Hulu in our PJs! The perfect Sunday. We even got our first Chinese takeaway! It was a little disappointing... but the profiteroles were worth it!