Green Day

What expertise lets you serve at your highest capacity and joy?

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Congratulations my love @korayerimez on finally claiming your Food Engineering diploma, over two decades later! It was wonderful visiting Ege Üniversitesi with you and seeing you light up like a college schoolboy, remembering the stories that led you to being our beloved crazy Koray. Great way to do a full circle on our Turkey journey and set the tone for the next great adventure ahead of us.

Here’s to using your expertise to serve others in your highest capacity and joy.

πŸ’š Onwards and upwards!

Time to touch grass!

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Montalut Daily Rhythm

25°C weather is here and today was extra busy at the neighborhood park. Looking forward to sunny spring days to touch grass more often again and tap into grounding energy.🌿

I’m an ideas πŸ’‘ person by default, airy and flying from one shiny new thing to the next. Green Day is my polar opposite: staying grounded in the concrete and practical, servicing. In my Sun years (30s) I started feeling an impulse to build a home and more recently, life as a mother, has gotten me embracing green energy more. I like predictable and steady, what parenting circles would call rhythm.

On this Green Day, may you find your bit of nature, calm and balance.πŸ’š

πŸ’š What feast surrounds you every three months? πŸ’š

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Sunflowers are blooming in Turkey now.🌻 They’re such happy flowers, we just had to stop by the road to get closer to them.✨️

Fun fact: the Turkish word for sunflower is ayΓ§iΓ§eği which means “moonflower”.🌝

I’ve seen the fields around us transform throughout the four seasons now, and I’m endlessly drawn to their changing colors.🏡 So many times I’ve asked Koray to stop the car so we can “smell the roses” in their changing forms: the whites of cotton, the colors of spring’s white daisies and red-pink-purple wildflowers, the browns and oranges of wheat and saz (tall reeds common in wetlands). It’s amazing how nature shows off without even trying.🌱

πŸ’š On Green Day, step back and observe nature around you. What sensory feast do you see? What awaits you next season, and three months after that?

πŸ’š What’s your music? πŸ’š

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When I was building my house, one feature my brother insisted I put in was built-in speakers πŸ”Š It was an inexpensive add-on to the house that gave so much value in return. Having that surround system envelope me everyday while I worked, painted, ate, slept–it was therapy. It makes me smile just remembering it.

Music speaks to feelings in a language altogether its own. It is feeling itself.πŸ₯° And I’m happy my daughter has her own relationship with music, even when she borrows mommy’s playlist. She loves it like food; it’s nourishing for her.

πŸ’š On Green Day, let’s check the music we play everyday: what’s on the playlist? What’s on repeat? Is it easy (or a hassle) to play it? What’s the sound quality of our everyday music? 🎢

πŸ’š What are your green sprinkles? πŸ’š

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For over two weeks, our 5yo has been asking for this one special dessert with green sprinkles. We went through all our usual spots–groceries, patisseries, bakeries–and still haven’t found it. 🍡

The closest we’ve gotten so far is that her special green sprinkles are actually pistachio bits or fΔ±stΔ±k, a common topping in Turkish desserts.πŸ‡ΉπŸ‡·

Sometimes we remember just bits and pieces of life, and sometimes those bits and pieces are strong enough to keep memories alive.πŸ˜™ The joy, pain, excitement–they live on because of green sprinkles.

πŸ’š On Green Day, pause and list down your own green sprinkles. Set them aside for your memory bank, so you have them on standby whenever you need a little bit if magic sprinkles.🌟

πŸ’š Where is home? πŸ’š

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If your answer to this is also your answer to where you live right now, then you’re very lucky.

I’m 42 and I’m still seeking my home 🏑. Not a metaphorical home, but my real world physical home where I can truly be myself–the quiet introvert me who loves solitude and the bold and brave me who goes on adventures, the biggest of them being @leadiagrowth, a home of possibility.🌟

πŸ’š On Green Day, imagine your bestest home, where you’re “at home” and truly you. Imagine the physicality of it– what do you see, smell, touch, hear, and taste? Who else is with you?

πŸ’š What do you find endlessly fascinating?πŸ’š

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My exact words about Turkey πŸ‡ΉπŸ‡· when we just moved here. It was my third visit, and I felt I was still seeing things for the first time. The richness of the land, culture, seasons, history and life on the streets–endlessly fascinating. The blues of the sea and sky, the changing leaves, the rich food and weekly markets–endlessly fascinating. And the animals! Dogs, cats, and the everyday sightings of storks, flamingos, pelicans–endlessly fascinating! 🦩

When our daughter rode the Istanbul metro for the first time, she loved it so much, she asked to ride it again the next day and “pretend it was her first time”.πŸš‰

This ability to find everyday things endlessly fascinating is a gift 🎁.

πŸ’š On Green Day, make a list of what’s endlessly fascinating for you, and keep that list handy.

πŸ’šWhat’s on your picnic spread?πŸ’š

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Here’s an indoor surprise that greeted us one Spring day. Curated by a little girl who really wanted to have a picnic.🌼

She chose these for her spread:
βœ…οΈ A bowl of fresh fruit from the garden (green plums)
βœ…οΈ Assorted Biscuits
βœ…οΈ A pitcher of water
βœ…οΈ Plates, cups and straws according to the number of invited guests
βœ…οΈ Kolonya aka Turkish hand cologne/sanitizer and wipes
βœ…οΈ Handpicked flowers from the garden
βœ…οΈ Pretty ribbons and a family photo as her party decorations
βœ…οΈ A big Yellow ribbon by the door to welcome the guests (not in picture)

It’s hilarous how she’s already picked up how to host and set up a party, and meticulously planned and executed it in one go.πŸͺ

Her spread says a lot about her: what’s important for her, how she wants her guests to feel, how she anticipates their needs, and how she wants the experience to be beautiful.🌈

πŸ’š On Green Day, imagine what you’d put on your picnic spread. What colors, textures, smells, sounds would be there? What experience would you want for your guests; what will they feel at your picnic? And what does all this reveal about you?

πŸ’š What’s your happy chore?πŸ’š

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πŸ’š What’s your happy chore?πŸ’š

Here’s a typical kitchen scene in our home: Mommy and Su play-cooking, while Babam does the serious cooking behind-the-scenes.🍳

I’ve been told many times that I’m luckyπŸ€ I don’t need to do the cooking for the family, and sometimes I counterargue and say I do have my signature dishes too.πŸ† This week, for example, I learned to cook carbonara with no cream, just eggs and cheese, and Su loved it so much she asked for it again the next day πŸ‘©β€πŸ³. For the most part, I am super thankful @korayerimez loves to cook. It’s his happy chore, just like clearing the dishes is mine.🍽

πŸ’š On Green Day, tell those who do the not-so-fun chores for you that you appreciate them. And give yourself a pat on the back too for all the heavylifting you do to keep your home and castle nice and shiny.🧹🧺

πŸ’šGreen Friday: Happy birthday, Pops πŸ₯³

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May 19 is when we celebrate my father, PepeΒ @pepebpilar. He’s probably one of the gentlest souls to everyone who knows him, with his cheerful, quiet demeanor and many years of dedicated service to our neighborhood community🏘 and Church. In our family, we lovingly call him Mr. Nega(tive) because he likes to challenge everything and in his words, “play devil’s advocate”. He’s our all-in-one farmer, architect, journalist, and lawyer, and is the most voracious reader in our family (his favorite past time as a kid was to visit the library)πŸ“š.

I will never forget Mom’s stories of him writing love notes on paper napkins.😍 These days I get my share of love notes from Pops as random emails about new healthy superfoods and recipes, tech news. He sends Whatsapp messages about his musings about life in his 70s, memories from his youth, and lessons to pass on to his kids and grandkids.πŸ§“

Now that my siblings and I crave for wide open spaces as a way of life, we feel the same call Pops has as a farmer. To be one with the land, and grow something is nothing short of a miracle.

πŸ’šOn Green Day, ask yourself this: What am I growing? With every inch of me, what am I servicing and tending to, and am now ready and willing to wait for?