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2012 // best year of my life (in pictures)

It’s true – this really has been my favorite year of my life. Every year, I make a Shutterfly book to document the travels and memorable occasions of the year, and after finishing this year’s album, I truly cannot stop grinning. I spent the last 365 days living with my best friend, traveling around the world, going to four weddings, seeing the birth of two close friends’ babies, finding a new church home, getting a promotion at work, being given a new home to decorate, and having two proposals in my family (mine and my older sister’s). I’m blessed with amazing friends and family, all of who make every day happy.

Click here to view my 2012 in pictures.

It includes travel to Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, Colorado, Oregon, California, DC, Florida, Antigua, New York, Turkey, Greece and France. Lots of amazing memories. Happy New Year to you!

Favorite Looks of the Week

I love Christmas! It’s such a joyful time. We arrived back in the states on Christmas day and headed straight to my parent’s house for Christmas dinner. Jet lag could not bring down the excitement at the Semples! My favorite outfits for this week range greatly in style and make each of the blogger’s whereabouts very obvious (i.e. desert vs. Hawaii vs. New England). Blair’s look below is my favorite! It’s gorgeous.

Happy New Year, y’all!TRAVEL_12

Atlantic Pacific

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The Pink Peonies

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Could I Have That?

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Stripes and SequinsJoie-Dress-Use

Damsel in Dior

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Le Blog de Betty

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Song of Style

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Classy Girls Wear Pearls

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Fashion Toast

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And finally – the Parthenon

Our final day in Athens proved just as busy as the others, as we visited the last of the “must sees.” We ate lunch at Thanasis, which was the most Greek restaurant so far, and the meal was absolutely delicious (see pictures below). If only the house wine in the states tasted this good! We entered the Kapnikarea Church in the Monastiraki area, where we paid tribute to the living and the dead in true Orthodox manner. Afterwards, we walked up to the Parthenon, which is truly breathtaking. It was very cold and windy today, so we stopped by Piazza Duomo for coffee (Sasha went Irish, naturally). Then we walked another 2 miles (uphill, oh heavens) to the highest point in Athens – Mt. Lycabettus. We were winded when we got to the top, but it was worth it for the views. We drank tea and coffee at the restaurant, then rode the funicular to the base and wandered through the Kolonaki area on the way back to the hotel. Another amazing day – wine tour in Corinth tomorrow!
DSC_1567Sasha, loving his Greek beer, ready for the most authentic meal yet at Thanasis
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The spicy green peppers proved too hot for my darling (a true Semple “man down”)

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The most beautiful Greek salad everDSC_1585

Amidst renovations of the Parthenon, with his man purseDSC_1578

An amazing view of Athens from the AcropolisDSC_1615

We finally made it to the Parthenon (but almost didn’t for the third time…)DSC_1610

Sasha with Mount Lycabettus in the background – our next challenge – which we conqueredDSC_1609

Greek history everywhere you look – such an amazing cityDSC_1606

A wet and windy day doesn’t damper our traveling spirits 🙂
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A lot bigger than you think – a true Kodak moment
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I loved the Turkish flag pic so much, I had to…
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The entrance to the AcropolisDSC_1646

Deep thoughts atop Mount Lycabettus (we climbed up more than a mile, as we didn’t see the funicular – oh boy)DSC_1673

My wilderness man at the restaurant on top of Mt. LycabettusDSC_1669

City as far as you can see
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St. George Church on top of Mt. Lycabettus (highest point in Athens) – destination wedding?
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Wind like you’ve never felt before

And finally, two iPhone pics:

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5 o’clock somewhere – Irish coffee time

Day Two in Istanbul

I’m playing catchup with pictures, as we don’t have the best wi-fi so it’s hard to upload pictures. Sasha and I just arrived back in Istanbul after spending two days in Cappadocia, which is in the middle of Turkey (Asian continent). It was incredible, and I’ve got lots of unique pictures to share tomorrow. As for now, I’m posting the photos from our second day in Istanbul. We did a private tour with True Blue Tour in the morning – Yilmaz was the nicest, most knowledgeable tour guide. We rode up a mountain on the Pierre Loti cable car, drank authentic apple tea, went inside a mosque and learned all about Islamic rituals, got a personal tour of the Egyptian Spice Market (met the Turkish Al Pacino – see pic below), tour a boat tour along the Bosphorus, then we on our own for the rest of the day. We  bought hot chestnuts from a street vendor, walked through the Grand Bazaar, ate at the amazingly delicious Amedros Cafe, then bought lots of presents for family at the markets. We walked back to the hotel after dark and ate locally, given that we had to be up at 5am to go to the airport in the morning. I’m totally ready for friends to plan a trip to Istanbul so I can share lots of tips! More pictures to come tomorrow.DSC_1004

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Best halloumi cheese and portobello mushroom dish on planet earth!

Touchdown Istanbul

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After some of the most stressful travel hours of my life (an experience in Manila tops the list), I’m finally in Istanbul – and from what I’ve seen so far, I love. Due to Expedia’s incompetency, Sasha was not able to get on his flight in Accra, Ghana, so he is not here yet. He’ll arrive bright and early (after booking another flight). Tomorrow’s itinerary (yes, it’s printed) is jam packed. I’ll be posting pictures regularly.

xoxo