On Sunday I ended up traveling for 2 hours to be able to get to IKEA which is situated on the other side of Izmir.
I myself being 1hr 45 mns away from Izmir, it is a true delight to have to travel so far to be able to get to where you want to go.
One of my favorite things to do is to drink tea when in bed working on my projects so I decided to get a flask from IKEA because I heard they were great.
I also got a laptop pillow which I am currently using and which actually rocks. I am very happy with both items. I would’ve been happier if it was easier to get to those darned shops. The itinerary was as follows:

- Wake up at 7AM, get ready for the bus that leaves at 8AM. (On a Sunday…)
- Arrive in Izmir at 9.45AM because the bus takes the loooonnnnngggg way…very long way to get there. Otherwise it generally takes 45 minutes by car. (Yes, I will be getting my license soon.)
- I took a bus that took me from “Uckuyular” which is where my first ride dropped me off..to “Ucyol” which is where the metro station is.
- I took the metro from “Ucyol” to “Bornova” where “Forum Bornova” is located. Forum Bornova is an open air shopping complex.
- I took a cab that took me from the metro station to IKEA, which is situated at the end of FB.

Once I was in Izmir it took me an extra 45 minutes to get to the shop. Wonderful.

But once I enter that place I’m like a child in a candy shop. I did somehow manage to show restraint though this time, limiting the harm I would cause to my wallet.

When I wonder off like this away from I always feel terrible because I leave my 7 pups behind. I am totally obsessed with them. I think it’s my maternal instinct kicking in. So I rushed back to Cesme as soon as I had finished what I needed to get done in Izmir. Which took me another 3 hours. It’s a lot of traveling for some Swedish goodness.

I’m going to post an ad this weekend to start giving away some of the pups. It breaks my heart but there is no way I can look after all 7 of them..

I think the best part of the weekend is Friday evening, where you can still rely on the next two days to rest up properly and where next week still seems so far away.
Tomorrow I’m going to head to Izmir and go embrace my inner IKEA monster. I’ve got a couple of thinks that I would like to gather..like a proper working flask and a computer cushion thangy for my bed. Hey! I create all my best work from the comfort of my bed..so I need to make sure that I can still produce babies and not fry all my chances up by keeping my laptop on my lap all the time.
I’m probably also going to get a lot of candles. I have a soft spot for candles. Using them at night soothes me and takes away all the days stress.
It’ll also be nice to finally head down to town after having been in a village for six weeks in a row..I wish I had enough time to go watch Alice in Wonderland but unfortunately the last bus back from the city is at 5PM which doesn’t really leave me much time to do all that I want to do.
So..tonight being Friday night; candles are lit, “The Mentalist” is about to be put on and let the pampering begin!

Here is the last press release from the Istanbul Twitter Festival Team “Istanbul Twestival”. Unfortunately I only have a Turkish version. Google translate perhaps my pretties? I am happy to report that there will also be a Twestival in Ankara and in Izmir, which I will hopefully be helping out with.

İstanbul Twestival Global 2010 / 25 Mart 2010
Twestival ile Twitter Kullanıcıları ‘Dünyayı Değiştirecek’ Dakikaları Kutlayacak
300’den Fazla Dünya Şehri Aynı Gün Twitter Partisi Düzenliyor
25 Mart 2010’da 24 saat boyunca İstanbul’un da arasında olduğu 250’den fazla dünya kenti, Twitter üzerinden birbirini tanımış gönüllü organizatörler eşliğinde Twestival’i kutlayacak. Twitter’ın dünya çapındaki her kullanıcısının, yerel ve global bağış toplamayı sağladığı bu organizasyon, internetin sosyal yaşamı iyileştirme gücünü de ortaya koyuyor.
Hareketin lideri Amanda Rose, bir röpörtajında ‘Bu hareketin dünya çapında bu kadar pozitif karşılanması bizleri çok mutlu etti. Bu tip sosyal sorumluluk aktiviteleri, sanal dünyada tanımadığımız insanlarla bir araya gelmek ve böylece yardıma muhtaç vakıflara bağış toplamak için çok faydalı oluyor. Twestival %100 gönüllüler tarafından yapılmakta ve tüm gelirleri seçilen vakfa aktarılmaktadır. Bu sayede binlerce hayat üzerinde pozitif bir etkimiz oluyor.’ dedi.
İlk Twestival Global sonucunda, Etiyopya, Hindistan ve Uganda’da toplam 55 su kuyusu açıldı ve 17.000 çocuğa ömür boyu içme suyu sağlandı. Bu yıl ikincisi düzenlenecek Twestival Global için yine tüm dünya kenetlenerek iyilik yarışında olacak.
Twestival, Londra, Paris,New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Beijing, Sidney, Melbourne ve Lima gibi birçok cosmopolit kentte kutlanmakta. Detaylı bilgi için web adresi; www.twestival.com.
2009’da hem global hem de yerel olarak İstanbul’da da düzenlenen Twestival’lerde Charity Water ve TODEV (Türkiye Otistikleri Destekleme ve Eğitim Vakfı) desteklendi. Bu yıl hazırlıkları devam eden etkinlikte tüm dünyada olduğu gibi elde edilen gelirler, Madonna’nın da destekçisi olduğu Concern Worldwide vakfına bağışlanacak.
Dünya çapındaki bu büyük iyilik hareketi; ‘twiter üzerinden sosyal farkındalığı arttırma’ amacıyla 2010’da Concern Worldwide için bağış toplayacak. (www.concern-worldwide.org ve http://twitter.com/concern )
Istanbul Twestival Global 2010 faaliyetlerini ve gelişmeleri takip etmek için istanbul.twestival.com adresini ziyaret edebilir, twitter üzerinden de @IstanbulTWSTVL hesabını izleyebilirsiniz.
*Program akışındaki belirlenen gelişmeler: Anadolu Sağlık Merkezi, İndeks İletişim, Kurumsal Haberler, Saylam Residence, Showhow, İmece, Yeşim Mutlu, Teknobeyin, Virgin Radio, Cicice, Red Bull sponsorlukları ve Begum Salihoglu ile Anilive canlı defile performansı, Gece Grubu performansı, konuk sanatçılar ile söyleşi ve stand-up showları ve birçok değerli Dj katılımı olacaktır.
Twestival’in Anakara ve İzmir’de de kutlanması planlanıyor.
İstanbul Twestival Global 2010 Şehir Organizatörü
Duygu Saylam
www.twitter.com/istanbulTWSTVL
http://istanbul.twestival.com

I can’t seem to find any good tutorials on logo creation with Adobe CS4. It’s annoying because I’d like to try and create one of my own instead of having to go through someone else for it. I’m going to try doing it without any guidance..embrace yourself for disaster

I would like to believe that I’m very much like my father when it comes to creating. He created one of the most successful advertising agencies in Europe and has been a Creative Director for as long as I’ve known him.
My best friend and I have been looking for a project to collaborate on for years now. It’s never easy to find the perfect idea to jump start an empire, is it? Well, I’d like to think we might have. I came up with a couple of ideas, which I am not at liberty to share just yet, which might end up being very successful. Here’s to hoping!
We are now in the make it or break it phase; the agony of working out the small details.
There are a lot of skeptics out there who say that going into business with your friends is very risky but I think that it’s all about common sense. If you both want the project to be brilliant, then there is no room for bickering and fighting. It’s all for the common good.
As time passes by, it’s harder to find a good name, which isn’t already taken, for a project. Out of 4 I’ve only found two and we’re diligently trying to figure out what we want to call the other two. I’m one of those who believes that giving a project a name is like giving it its own soul, it is so important. I generally cannot start without it being named first. Call me picky.

IstanbulBlogger has a great website which provides us with a view of the city through an expats eyes. You should head on over there and check out his latest gallery named “The Real People of Istanbul” – Some of the pictures in there are great and gives you a feel for what Istanbulians are like these days.

Do you know what is just as exciting as traveling? The whole process of trip planning. First you decide where you want to go, then you map out your whole trip bit by bit, building up anticipation. I’m not one of those travelers who needs to have all her days pre-planned but I do have to spend some sleepless nights with a guidebook, reading up and making lists.

The guidebooks are a huge part of the planning. They are what make the dream seem possible. They give you insight on the culture you will soon experience and they fill you with glee and hope. If I didn’t have a list of the places that I want to see I would feel like I might miss out on something super important. The internet is also a great resource for information but I’m one of those people who still uses journals and paperback travel guides. Can’t beat the classics.

Work is busy and due to all the chaos I often have to rework travel plans several times. I was supposed to be in Sydney end of March for a wedding which I now will not be able to attend but I still plan on heading downunder this year. Fingers crossed.

An old friend of mine is moving back to Melbourne from Istanbul to study for a year or two so I’m planning on visiting him too whilst out there.

I’ve got several guides for Australia that I used during my previous trips but this time I will be using an “Eyewitness Travel Guide”..actually whilst writing that I checked the print date and it says 2003. A bit outdated perhaps. Maybe I’ll have to pick up a more up to date copy somewhere.

Very exciting..

Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work.

-William Arthur Ward

I shy away from arguments very quickly. I don’t like confrontation when it comes to personal matters. If I can ignore the issue or solve it by avoiding the stress brought on by a firey argument, I’ll take the chance. But unfortunately it takes two to..argue. Not everything goes as planned and the other party might try to exercise their right to yell, patronize and argue till the cows come home.

My initial reaction to that is my stomach turning to stone and a nauseating feeling. Especially if the subject is annoying. The more annoying the subject the more I feel sick discussing it. I think that’s a reaction to accumulated stress.. And if pushed hard enough, my second reaction will be to strike down as hard as I’m being stricken. I generally do not like to be pushed that far but sometimes, there is no stopping people. They will push and push and push until you explode, and then they will act surprised that your inner-hulk has taken over and feign that they didn’t want the argument to get this far.

Another aspect of arguing I hate is being misunderstood. There are those who misunderstand intentionally to serve their own purpose..but there are those who think they know you that they read differently into the things you write which results in you being massively misunderstood. There is nothing that irritates me more than a smart ass who thinks they know what you think better than yourself. Look at me getting carried away here..It’s late and I’m sleepless. I should learn not to blog at night.

You may think you know but you don’t. I don’t even know myself properly. Life is too short to be arguing about every single thing.

I always seem to be searching for a theme for my blog, no matter how satisfied I am with the current one! I just get cranky when I see the prices on some of the ones I like.. I know a lot of work and effort goes into creating a template but 120 dollars? Really??!

I’m busy browsing themeforrest.com – lets see what good will come out of that and at which moment I will whip out my credit card whilst yelling “YES! FINALLY!”