Labor Day Weekend

It was quite the eventful holiday weekend! I got up bright and early on Saturday morning and drove down to Branford, CT to see Molly, Andrew and Liz!! Liz had flown into CT for the long weekend, and we had a BLAST catching up on old times. It actually felt like we were still in high school...or maybe even middle school?? The only thing missing was Sara, so we promised that next year there are no excuses. The 4 of us will all be together again!!

Molly and Andrew took us on a tour of beautiful Branford (which sits right on the ocean) and then we went into New Haven for the afternoon and walked around the Yale campus, had some ice cream, and did a little shopping. Then that night Andrew cooked us a fabulous dinner, Liz made us some delicious drinks, and we had an amazing night.

Here's a picture of the 3 of us girls in New Haven:


Unfortunately, Seli couldn't come down to CT with me because stupid work called him into the office ALL WEEKEND. It was a pretty big bummer for him - it was a beautiful weekend and he wanted nothing more then to get away for a couple days. Therefore, on Sunday when I got home we put some steaks on the grill and sat out on the deck to enjoy the cool air. On Monday, we ventured up to Ipswich, MA - which is on the North Shore - for a little hiking at the Ipswich Wildlife Refuge. We didn't see much wildlife except for a few turtles, but it was still a beautiful hike.

Then after the hike, we decided to head over to Cranes Beach in Ipswich and take a nap out on the beach. It was a little cold for bathingsuits (I had on a sweatshirt), but it was still a perfect day on the ocean.

Ladies Weekend!!

These last 2 posts are a little backwards, as ladies weekend actually happened the weekend BEFORE Alice and Brian's wedding, but oh well! The Boston girls (minus Katie, as she was at her nephew's 1st birthday party) decided we were in need of a serious 'ladies weekend', so Christy, Emily, Rachel, Ryan and I headed up to Portland, ME for a relaxing weekend on the beach. The weather ended up being absolutely beautiful, so we spent both Saturday and Sunday on the ocean and then explored old Portland at night.


Nerds love puzzles & games =)


Ryan and I relaxing on the beach


beautiful skies...


a little pre-dinner photo shoot (minus Christy)


cooling down after some serious dancing - 80's style


and...I'm back at it!


Emily found herself a very sweaty dance partner


and goodnight!

A Granvillian-turned-New Englander gets married!

A few weekends ago, Seli, Hallie, Molly, Andrew and I headed up to Portsmouth, NH for Alice Carey's wedding (to Brian Fields). While Alice and Brian had 'technically' already said their vows in May, they decided to throw a big party for all their friends and family to celebrate the recent nuptials! It was definitely one of the most relaxed and fun weddings I've ever been to. Plus I got to see a lot of old friends from Granville, including Julie Freeman , Amanda Partyka, Hannah Kenah, and Alice's sister, Libby.

We spent the entire day at the beach with the bride and groom, then all met up later for some delicious bbq, some crazy dancing, and some serious laughing! :)

me, Alice (the beautiful bride), and Hallie

the 3 musketeers - me, Molly & Hallie

relaxing on the patio with Mr. Carey!

*all photos taken by Hallie =)

Serefe Turkiye!

In July, Seli and I headed to Turkey to visit his family and friends in Cesme. Cesme is a beautiful beach town on the Aegean coast of Turkey, about 45 minutes northwest of Izmir. His family has a summer house here that he has visited every summer for the past 29 years. In fact, his grandfather entered a lottery many years ago when Cesme was first being built up, and won a piece of land right on the beach! Below is a picture of their house and the view of the sea from the front gardern.


This year's trip was even better than last summer because 1) I actually knew most of his family members and his friends this time making the visit much less stressful, and 2) this year Aylin (Seli's sister), Andrew (her husband), and Aaron (their 10 mos old) were there at the same time!! We had so much fun being with the whole family, and Aaron is quite the little cutie!! It definitely made me miss my own nieces and nephews A LOT.


Aaron loves the sound when people blow into glass bottles. This was our attempt to get him to smile for the camera. :)

The Bells! Aylin, Andrew and Aaron (preoccupied with a balloon).

However, before we got to Cesme we made a stop in Istanbul so I could see the city for my first time. Istanbul is a really amazing city, however it is a crazy one. There are almost 13 million people who live in Istanbul (compared to the 8 million who live in NYC). My favorite part of this trip was getting to visit Seli's old roommate Oyku, who moved back to Turkey last year. She now lives in Ankara, but she flew to Istanbul to see us.

Oyku and I at dinner on the Bosphorus, and a view of the city.


Being from Istanbul originally, Oyku took Seli and I around to all the major tourist sites in the city. We were only there for about 24 hours, so it had to be fast and furious, but it was still very educational and very fun!! We visited the Blue Mosque, Haga (Aya) Sofia, the Cistern, Topkapi Palace, and the Grand Bazaar. Below is a picture of Seli and I in front of the Blue Mosque. Looks a little different than the alarm clock, right? :) Also below is a picture of Seli at the Topkapi Palace. He's practicing being a Sultan. Ha.


The rest of the trip was pretty much beach, beach and more beach. We had lots of sunny days playing in the sand with Seli's family, and lots of fun nights partying with Seli's friends. Here are a few pictures capturing some of these amazing moments!


me, Seli, Andrew, Aaron, Ira and her daughter, Rita


eating Midye (mussels) on the beach! Yum!


out at Sol e Mare for a few drinks! These 3 guys are Seli's best friends (Ragi, Izi and Mahir)


and our favorite thing to do at the end of the night...crack open an Efes, put our feet up, and listen to the sea crashing into the sand from the front garden of his house.

What an amazing vacation!!

Summer 2009 recap

So I'm realizing now that I really should have started this blog before the summer started. Grad school is about to start up in a few weeks, which means I basically lose my social life. Therefore, I will have much less to write about! I thought a good first "real" post would be to recap what a fun-filled and busy summer I've had! Busy being the key word here. To summarize - in just 4 months I have been to 6 weddings (and in 2 of them, which brings my bridesmaid count into the double-digits); moved into the South End (Boston) with Seli; traveled to Ohio, Florida, New York (a few times), Maine (a few times), Louisiana, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Turkey; and completed 3 additional credits towards my MBA. Below are a few pictures from through June. Seli and my vacation to Turkey needs a post all to itself, so that will be coming soon.


Summer (sort of) kicked off with the annual Pondskimming event in VT. Brian and Dave were the only 2 brave souls who dressed up and actually skim'd this year. The theme was cartoon characters - I think it's pretty clear who they were dressed as!

Sara and Anthony's wedding was a blast - especially getting to spend time with some of my favorite Granville girls!!

That same weekend I got to spend Easter with my parents and the Kochers. Getting to play with Will & Grace (and Georgie) was my favorite part!!

Seli and I drove down to NYC for one of his college friend's weddings. Old college friends who haven't seen each other for years + big party = trouble!

Seli had never been to Disney World before, so I felt it necessary to introduce him to Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Pluto. I also got to see some old study abroad friends while we were there, which was an extra bonus!!

Next was Fran's wedding (one of my best friend's from college) in beautiful Poughkeepsie, NY! In this picture is Fran's best childhood friend Stacie, Fran and me.

For my 28th birthday, Seli threw me an unbelievable surprise party at the Sevens on Charles Street. He did such an amazing job - he even got Hallie and Molly to come up from NYC and CT as an extra special surprise!!! Clearly (note my face in the picture above) I was having an awesome time.

In June, I headed down to Louisiana for Laura and Damien's wedding, which was an absolute blast!! Above is a picture of the just-married couple!!

I also got to spend some quality time with the whole Patin family, including one of the most amazing women ever - my grandmother, Alee!!

...and last but not least...the summary of my visit to Lake Charles wouldn't be complete without a picture of "Michelle & the ladies"!

Welcome to Corn-bred in Beantown!

And I'm off! Welcome to my new blog. I have been pondering the idea of starting this for some time now and thanks to the inspiration of the many friends and family members who have started one before me - I've officially done it. The intention of this page is to simply share some of the funny, entertaining, and quirky events in my life. And believe me, there are many. So thanks for stopping by...and enjoy!!