Move Beautifully

Every day is an adventure

02.26.16

My New Obsession with Turkish Coffee

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So, confession time. I’m not much of a coffee drinker. I know, I know – according to the internet, I’m not much of an entrepreneur either without that hobby/addiction/routine. However, when I was in Istanbul last summer, I tasted my first Turkish coffee + it may have changed my life. Turkish coffee is sweet, not bitter at all, + so smooth – quite a difference from most of the coffee I’ve tasted in the United States. Once I’d had my first sip, I knew my souvenir from the trip was going to be a way to make this deliciousness at home.

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When making Turkish coffee, you need very fine grounds – it should be almost like powdered sugar consistency.

Use your cup to measure how much water you’ll need into the coffee pot. The cups are small, almost like espresso cups + the traditional Turkish coffee pot is made of copper or brass, with a long handle.

Once you have your water measured, add the coffee + sugar. Use one scoop of sugar for medium sweetness or two for extra sweet – you can also skip adding sugar but really, WHY would you skip adding sugar?!

It’s important not to stir the coffee when you first add it to the water; instead, let it heat up on the stove + stir once gently after it has dissolved. You want the coffee to foam so don’t actually let the water come to a boil, just heat it slowly to allow it to froth.

Once the coffee is warm + has built up enough froth (just take it off the heat for a bit if it starts to rise before the foam has really accumulated), it’s ready + you can pour it into your cup. Turkish tea is usually served with a small glass of water as well. Let the coffee settle in the cup – since it will still have all the grounds, you need them to sink to the bottom of the cup before you can drink it. Then enjoy!

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Once you’ve finished your delicious Turkish coffee, you can have your fortune read in the grounds. Leave a little bit of liquid in with the grounds (don’t drink it down to the bottom, otherwise you’ll get coffee grounds in your mouth!), make a wish, and then put your saucer over the top of the cup + flip it over. Move the cup in clockwise circles 3 times to coat the inside of the cup with the grounds + then place on the table to cool. You can’t read the fortune until your cup has completely cooled, so sometimes a ring or a coin is placed on the top of the cup to accelerate the process.

Once the cup has cooled to the touch, flip the cup back over + look for shapes in the grounds on the sides of your cup. The different shapes give you clues about your future; for example, a fish means money is coming, birds indicate news, roads are taking you on a journey and so on. Just have fun with it!

One of my favorite things to do is find shapes in the clouds when I’m outside on a sunny day + this is basically the same game but on a smaller scale. There’s a whole culture involved in fortune reading through Turkish coffee grounds, including a phone app where you can upload a photo of your cup + have your fortune read, but overall it’s fun to just look for symbols + use your intuition to weave together a story.

Have you ever tried Turkish coffee? If you do, let me know what you think!

02.23.16

A Postcard From Istanbul

Let me start off by saying that if I could fly everywhere on Turkish Airlines in business class for the rest of my life, I would. The food service was out of this world, with an extensive menu, wine pairings + adorable magnetic salt + pepper shakers. Not to mention the fact that it was so nice to be able to lay flat + sleep for a few hours. The airport lounges are some of the best I’ve ever seen (especially the massive one in Istanbul’s airport). And no, this isn’t sponsored. I just love them!

(Warning // this is a photo-heavy post because this amazing city is just too pretty to narrow down my photos. Believe me, picking just these few was a difficult exercise for my soul.)

On our first day, my dad + I headed to the Sultanahmet area (the Old City) to visit the Haya Sophia + the Blue Mosque. The history of the Haya Sophia is really fascinating, with all the switching back + forth between a cathedral + a mosque + eventually a museum. It houses some beautiful gold Christian mosaics on the second floor that have been uncovered beneath the later Islamic paintings. However, in my mind nothing beats the architecture of the Blue Mosque – while I’ve visited before, I had forgotten how stunning it is on the inside.

We stopped for tea at an outdoor café with an amazing view of the Bosphorus + both the European + Asian sides of Istanbul. I could have sat there all day. How many places in the world can you sit for tea with a view of two continents? The Turkish tea was perfect + came in such a fun setup.

The second day in Istanbul was rainy. We climbed Galata Tower, which was built almost 100 years ago + has been used as a battle tower, a prison, a fire water tower, + now it’s a restaurant + a viewing balcony. The panorama of the city you get from the top of this tower is really beautiful. Thankfully the rain cleared for a few minutes so we could enjoy it.

We also explored Topkapi palace, where we saw some lovely architecture, traditional tiles + treasures of the Ottoman Empire. I forgot how much I love the patterns + colors of Turkish tiles. At the palace, we also saw an exhibit on the past 500 years of Turkish coffee. It included all sorts of historical instruments used to make coffee (pots, grinders, cups) + coffee house furniture + accessories. There was even a photo of Ataturk drinking Turkish coffee with his wife, and a collection of sketches done by a famous Turkish artist done in coffee shops.

On our last day in Istanbul, we drove along the Bosphorous to find a place for Turkish coffee + some dessert. We got gelato + watched to boats go by on their way to + from the marina. My favorite moments in this fascinating Turkish city were spent sitting by the water, just watching the activity. There are so many layers of culture + history here to appreciate.

Have you been to Istanbul? I’m already scheming to make my way back, so I’d love to hear about your experiences there!

02.19.16

Video // 8 Reasons Why Philadelphia Is The First US World Heritage City

Happy Friday! This is a project I recently got to work on with Matador Network (the video was originally published on their channel, here) and it was such a fun one! I spent the entire trip running around Philly, trying to hit up as many of the city’s highlight reel locations – and seeing as I only had two days to really explore, that made for quite the whirlwind! However, thanks to this project I got to see way more of the city than would have otherwise.

One of the highlights of the weekend was watching the sunset from our hotel window, 15 stories above Independence Hall. We had an amazing view of the city + the river, which both looked incredible beneath the setting sun’s pink light. You can see the video from that moment right at the end of the video!

Have you been to Philadelphia? What are your favorite things about the city?

02.16.16

Everyday Adventure // Basalt Business Retreat

Meet my mastermind besties, Alissa + Rebecca! We’ve been meeting a couple times a month for almost a year now, chatting about our businesses + keeping each other accountable towards our goals. They have become an invaluable part of my journey + when the idea came up to do a January retreat where we could plan for 2016 + crack down on some of the tasks we’d been putting off on the admin side of our businesses, I knew it HAD to happen.

We picked this beautiful AirBnb in Basalt, Colorado – where there was no cell signal + little internet. The perfect place to focus + get inspired! We spent 3 days in the house + I seriously wish we could do this once a month because I got SO much accomplished. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to take time for dreaming + planning + creating, especially when we can get so stuck in the routine + the daily tasks of our lives. One of my favorite parts of this winter season has been spending more time up in the mountains; they are an endless source of inspiration for me.

I have a lot of plans for Evergreen Lane this year, the first of which is coming later this month! I’ll be launching a free guide for capturing amazing video on all of your travels + adventures. Stay tuned for more details or sign up below to receive video postcards from me + you’ll be the first to hear the news! You’ll also get a copy of the free guide, packed full of all my tricks of the trade for when I capture video on the road, as soon as it launches later this month.

I can’t wait to share more with you as the year progresses. 2016 is going to be a good one!

P.S. Here are a few places we visited during our retreat (for the few minutes we weren’t working away on all of our projects in front of this stunning view!) that I would recommend, if you’ll be traveling in the area:

Saxy’s Cafe in Basalt for a good chai latte + some fast internet!

Creperie du Village in Aspen had the best ambiance + delicious food.

Iron Mountain Hot Springs which we hit up on the drive back to Denver – they’ll probably get their own post here pretty soon.

02.09.16

Postcard from World Domination Summit 2015

I found myself quite fortunate to be able to make acquaintance with the Pacific Northwest two separate times this past year: the first time being my trip to Seattle in May of 2015, and the second being Portland in July for the World Domination Summit.

If you know me at all, you know that while I do love to think big, I’m definitely not the “pinky and the brain” type, so the name of this conference might seem a little incongruous, but let me assure you if you’ve never heard of WDS, it’s likely nothing like you’re imagining. The weekend I spent at WDS was surprisingly intense in some ways that I didn’t expect, along with being easier in a lot of ways that I wasn’t anticipating.

As an introvert, I’ve felt quite overwhelmed by some of the past conferences I’ve attended. You also feel this pressure to look a certain way, + have your elevator pitch ready so that you can respond to the 250 people who will pitch right back at you. But World Domination Summit was decidedly different.

First of all, if you are an introvert who’s ever been at a large event, you will get excited with me about this feature of the event: a highly sensitive persons’ room. A haven where you could escape + sit in quiet if things got too crazy. So despite the big crowds + a lot of things going on, it was fairly easy to interact + engage without getting overwhelmed or too exhausted like I had been worried about.

Everyone I met at this conference was so supportive, asked deep questions + was genuinely unique + interesting. No need to have the perfect hair, the perfect outfit, or a perfectly polished manicure here. Although if that’s your thing, that’s also cool – but I know sometimes we can feel pressure to look “the part,” so to speak, whatever that part is. I definitely felt like as long as I showed up as myself, I would be welcomed with open arms. What a wonderfully challenging group.

Other things about this conference that made it really unique for me were all the “extracurriculars” you could choose from – we had meet-ups on all sorts of topics, parties celebrating all things Portland, and lots of opportunities to connect with like-minded people. Because of the environment fostered by the World Domination Summit, I connected with some of these new people quite deeply.

I think WDS was really a culmination of things for me – a confirmation of these quiet whispers that had been stirring in my heart. I’ve made some personal decisions in the last few years to live quietly, safely, while I healed from some deep hurts. But lately, I’ve also felt that familiar pull towards my “something more” + it’s taken a great deep breath to begin taking steps back in that direction. Those small little tugs towards art + music + having a real passion for my work again.

MAKE MORE ART is something my insides have been telling me for a while.

All the speakers at the summit were excellent, my particular favorites being Kid President + of course, one of my all-time heroes: Jeremy Cowart. The main themes that I took away from the event as a whole were as follows:

Bravery: taking small steps in a direction even if I don’t know exactly where they’re taking me + even if I feel afraid.

Cultivating play: + that childlike creativity I let go of at some point, or at least, stopped practicing.

Embracing my voice: being true to myself without letting hate or negativity (from either internal or external sources) drain me of my energy.

It is OK to be genuine. It is OK to still be figuring it out. It is OK to be vulnerable. But it is not OK to be stagnant. It’s not ok to avoid feeling. It’s not ok to let the gifts I’ve been given atrophy or hide my magic.

But those are all hard, big things that are going to take a while to sink in. Six months later + I’m still pondering + processing them.

I won’t be attending this year due to schedule conflicts, but I’d highly recommend checking it out if you’re looking for a conference to go to in 2016.

Also, you can’t beat the look on the hotel staff’s faces when they ask why you’re in town + you respond: “The World Domination Summit.” It’s almost worth it just for that alone.

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