april in new york, part two

the second half of our vacation time was spent in auburn, and was filled with celebrations! first, ben's 31st birthday, which we honored with a fun dinner out. he was treated to many gifts, and a delicious chocolate genache cake, courtesy of mom & dad!

plus, some special guests helped us celebrate who had just gotten into town that day, lauren, verna & lynn! unfortunately my pictures dame out a bit blurred.
next up was a very special lady's tea, my bridal shower! sarah & mom put together an amazing spread, with a strawberry theme, much to my delight. lauren, verna & lynn worked hard to help make it a very special day... and succeeded!
friends came in from various parts of the northeast...
the food was incredible! tarts, english scones with clotted cream, finger sandwiches, strawberry cake and more... quite the spread!

jesse came all the way from dc & played photographer... i'm still waiting for her pictures, lynn's too!
aunts, cousins & friends made it a very special afternoon, and i can't wait to put all of my fun new kitchen items, recipes & cookbooks to use!
last but not least, a champagne toast, with strawberries of course!

thanks, ladies, for making me feel so very special : )
after the guests had left and mom and dad and i had a chance to rest, we were ready to receive our next visitors: ben & his father, all the way from turkey! his dad came for a check-up with his doc and was able to schedule some extra time to spend with us in auburn, his first visit! we enjoyed a very busy day together seeing all of the wedding sites, lunching on a small feast prepared by mom, and visiting with dad's friend, matteo, who owns a fabulous carpentry and wood-working shop in auburn. matteo treated us all to a tour of the wood shop, followed by a glass of wine in his office and beautiful hand-made cutting boards to take home. later we had a great italian dinner at an auburn local's favorite, michael's restaurant. all in all, we think it was a success & ali left very pleased... we hope!
the rest of my time was spent doing some more wedding-related stuff and enjoying time with mom & dad, seeing some binghamton friends, and then a brief last visit with sarah & jeff in hoboken before we flew out on saturday. as always it wasn't enough time, but i was happy to return to ankara and find the weather has warmed and we are well on our way to my favorite season in turkey, summer. and this summer will be especially fun, as i will spend it looking forward to my next visit home, when ben & i will get married!