happy holidays!

May your holiday be full of love, happiness, and creativity! My grandma sent me a new red sketchbook for Christmas, and I can't wait to start filling it up. 

Have a harika holiday!

feliz natal!

Pedro tells me that a Christmas without bacalhau in Portugal, is not Christmas. I had never heard of bacalhau until we met, when he explained that the Portuguese love salted cod so much that there are entire songs dedicated to it! Now this smelly yet deliciously versatile fish has become a part of my life.

So to my friends who celebrate Christmas, here's your bacalhau. Happy, happy Christmas!
May your holiday be full of light and love.

xin chao!

Xin Chao from Vietnam! I'm wrapped tightly in my blue scarf, hiding from the fierce winds tearing at the trees in Nha Trang. I wish you all a very happy holiday and hope you are enjoying time with your loved ones. If I can manage to upload photos from my sister's iPad, I may be able to post some pictures at some point during the trip, but we'll see. Happy Holidays!

warm wishes

Have a Harika Holiday!
Cherish your loved ones.

giving thanks

After the whirlwind of a wonderful trip that was Denmark, I've come back to a sunny, warm Istanbul and a pile of work to catch up on. Essays to write, half-finished paintings and drawings, freelance pieces and Thanksgiving. This past Thursday was Thanksgiving, an American holiday with ties to harvest time, centred around giving thanks for what we have been given in life. Traditionally it is said that the day marks a time when the New England pilgrims were on the brink of starvation, and the resident Native Americans came to the pilgrim's aid with food, thus saving their lives.

Growing up, this holiday was perhaps the most important in our household. We were nomads, moving from country to country, culture to culture, rootless with no sense of home except where we decided upon the moment. My mother, an American, was adamant about keeping this one tradition alive— it was her favourite childhood holiday, and she insisted my sisters and I have the pleasure of this family feast as well. A typical American Thanksgiving meal is composed of a tender, stuffed roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberry sauce, gravy and pumpkin pie. No matter which country we were in, my mother would somehow track down a turkey, even if they were not traditionally farmed or eaten in that culture— which often meant visiting butcher shop after butcher shop and befriending expats who might have a turkey connection. There were times when my young mother, who had been raised in a land of pre-packaged poultry, had to learn how to pluck a bird, gut it and decapitate it. Most people would have stopped at plucking the feathers, but my mum was determined.
We would have a turkey.



Cranberries were hidden in cans and bags between layers of our clothes in our suitcases if we happened to visit a country were they were available, yams were hunted down, and somehow, it always all came together in the most elegant and delicious way. Our house would be fragrant with rosemary and roasted turkey, sweetened by baking pies— it was a magical time. Our little family would gather together, invite friends and dine on my mum's determination and thoughtfulness. This was the one thing that connected me with America, a land I barely knew.



This year my mum found a new butcher— believe it or not, a turkey is not always easy to acquire in Turkey, brought in yams and cranberries from Lebanon, and invited a full house of friends to share our feast. This has been the third Thanksgiving I've been able to spend at home since I left for college at seventeen. Every year this holiday passes, I am reminded of how truly magnificent this woman is, and how lucky I am to call her mother.

harika holidays!

My Dear Friends,
Have a harika holiday full of light, love and laughter.
Warm wishes,
Szaza

around town

Happy Holidays!

My sister and I spent Christmas together and made blini for dinner with smoked salmon, cream, pickled seaweed, deviled eggs and vodka. Then we had macarons and tea for dessert. Tomorrow we're joining the rest of our family in Beirut for New Year's. Beirut is a fun city on any night, so New Year's Eve will be out of this world! I plan on taking loads of pictures.

Have a Harika Holiday!