wishing well, twinkling.

Today's our big day! My dearest's U.S. immigration visa interview is at 1.30 p.m. If you haven't been reading very long, here's us in a nutshell. Somehow, separately, we ended up living at the end of the world aka Patagonia chilena. He's from Turkey, I'm from California, we were married in Istanbul last year. Since we returned "home" to Chile, we've been taking steps toward his immigration process via direct consular filing in Santiago. (It's not a big secret that I've been done living here for a while, and that I'd planned on moving back to the States after completing my job contract a couple years ago. But then I met the love of my life. So, hey, plans change.) Well, today is the day, dear friends! Please toss some copper into the wishing well for us!

{wishes by vladimer shioshvili }

There's so much I'd like to write about, but we've been a little on the run these days. So little time. If I had some hours to spare, I would dive into what it means to try to go baby shopping for the first time here. A few days ago it gave me a case of the hyperventilation jeebies. (How many times do we have to change a newborn's diapers per day? So, how many cloth diapers to start out with? What do we need need need to have on the way home? Trying to think about all this stuff not even being sure whether baby will be born in Chile or the States can be kinda like a Ferris wheel of worry, spinning just a lit-tle too fast.)  

But I've come a long way since a few days ago, done more research.Written long lists using the invisible ink behind my eyes. Last night we bought a couple of smiley happy friends to dangle from a crib that we'll likely borrow. A toothy blue monster hums a tinny twinkle twinkle little star while the pink bunny giggles. They put a huge, calm smile on my face. And remind me that stars are such pretty lights to wish on. 

{once upon a starry wish on etsy}

Wish us luck!

10.10.10 + 1.

10.10.10 is pretty much over all over the world. Yesterday it would have actually been 10.10 p.m. here, but we've just sprung forward, so suddenly it's 11.27 p.m. (o.k. so not really 10.10, but close, no? see, honesty can get in the way of telling a good story!). Chile will celebrate the three tens with another dia feriado on Monday. Actually, I don't know which saint we're supposed to celebrate, but everything's closed again. It's pretty incredible how many "holidays" there are here every week! 

{pale blue ten by caro's lines}

To celebrate the tens, I thought I would share ten random things in the order that they appear to my fingertips. 

1. I'm a horrible shopper. It's not that I don't love clothes + jewelry + books + housewares + groceries + outdoor gear. But when it comes to shopping for anything, you may find me a little stressed, perhaps unable to breathe deeply. 
2. We ate dinner at a quarter to midnight tonight.  
3. As much as it may frustrate the efficiency control freak in me, I am fascinated at how people search for things online. 
4. My favorite cereal as a kid was Life (and we've found some in Santiago; it's as simple and quick to sog as it always was!). Barbara's Shredded Spoonfuls replaced this childhood fave when I started shopping at good ole Trader Joe's. 
5. I love looking into my husband's eyes. How our eyes meet spontaneously sometimes, and we dive in--just splish--nary a splash.  

{artichoke by mary beth griffo rigby}

1. Artichokes comfort me (as does dark chocolate and coffee ice cream).
2. I write haikus to our unborn baby, who likes to hang on the left side of my belly. 
3. I have dreamed of blog friends I've never even met, or they have visited my dreams. 
4. Four people attended our 10-minute wedding last year. My aunt has lovingly stored the wedding dress that both her mom and sister (my grandma and mom) wore for me. I hope to wear it for a reception or recommittment ceremony in the States someday. 
5. I think it's amazing how many people we are to the people in our lives (wife, daughter, sister, niece, friend, teacher, student, grammar nazi, stranger on the subway, one day mother). I wonder what kind of mother I will be.

What's the first random thing you think about yourself?

circling + yawning.

For the last two days, we've been running around madly. In circles + squares, practicing geometry. A little like this...

{donuts on the highway by vicki + chuck rogers}

And I have to say, growing a little person is tiring! I get cramps at random intervals walking (round ligament pain, no big deal) and have to slow it down. I spend most of the day looking for a bathroom or covering my big yawn of a mouth. (And right now at 25 weeks, baby yawns like a fiend right along with me!) My energy stores have been superb, but this city vibe is sapping me dry. Just feeling a little spent, and ready for Saturday's long lie in.

{"self-portrait" by hobit&gollum}

But, people have been lovely (not a normal occurrence here)! Even if I'm wearing my yet-baggy maternity hoodie and feel like I must not look pregnant, kind women offer up their seats to me on the metro. I haven't accepted yet--because we're normally just a stop or two away--but today might be a different story.

Looks like instead of leaving the city to site see in the hippie valleys, we'll be staying in one place. In between long naps (and maybe breakfast in bed: hint hint, dear husband), I'll be catching up on your blogs and working on translation projects.

{photo by anna gay}

I hope your weekend is filled with love + sunshine (even if it's raining outside)!

edible accessory retreat.

On the flight over to here to Santiago from Punta Arenas, I flipped through the airline mag to find these precious eggplant slippers!

While I can't really imagine myself wearing eggplants on me feet, I love the idea of real ballet pretties in aubergine. These are real eggplants, though, by Italian artist Fulvio Bonavia.

Here are some of my other favorite items. I seem to be drawn in by the handbags...

{blackberries}

{broccoli}

{+ prosciutto : equal parts gross and cool}

What do you think about beautiful ephemeral food art?

{photos via}

because changing plans is how we roll.

Today we head to Punta Arenas for a flight that leaves tomorrow at 5.30 in the morning. If you've been following for a while, you might remember me saying that I would never do such flights again, because it requires arriving to the airport via the latest bus and staying there for hours, watching movies on the computer, trying to nap or just plain waiting for the our flight to depart. Where we live, by the way, is three hours away from the airport by bus.

But as I started writing this down, I thought that's just crazy! So we changed our plans completely. (The plan was to drive to Punta Arenas, visit our three hospital choices to see where we'd want to have baby, go for an ultrasound (24+ weeks!), and leave our car at a lot to sell while we are errand hopping in Santiago.

{circa 24 weeks, s loves to make it look as big as he can}

New plan: Take the bus to Punta Arenas just in time for our doctor/ultrasound appointment, stay in a hostel there, and wake up butt early in the morning to head to the airport (like normal [read: not so vagabond-y] people who have a flight at that ungodly hour). I might need one of these alarm clocks Jen is giving away after all! Just writing about our more sensible plan makes me feel refreshed. On our way back from Santiago, we arrive just before 5 am, and then we will have to wait a few hours for the first bus to Natales and our own sweet bed. But it's only one way of absurdness, and at the end of the rainbow awaits... our bed!

{via the diversion project}

So, this is it! Santiago means lots of random appointments, maternity clothes shopping, warmth + sunshine + c'est la vie what comes with it--cough cough smog, and most of all--Serkan's visa interview at the American embassy. We will find out on October 13 if we're allowed into the States together. Send us happy thoughts!

Meanwhile, we've been doing a little daydreaming aka house hunting (within our meager means). First we were "dreaming" about really crappy foreclosed homes. Then we branched out a little and starting falling for lofts like this or single family homes like this. We aren't anywhere near actually thinking about buying a home right now. But if all goes well at the embassy, our next flight will be landing in the states within the next six months.

Are you in your dream home now? How did you find your current nest?