Cartoon Network

I had to put up a pic of this TV show Pete and I saw today! The cartoon women in the show are wearing one version of the face-covering style that we see in Abu Dhabi - a metal faceplate (called a batoola). It is supposed to be one of the more traditional, old-fashioned versions of their headwear. I wish I had a photo version of what the real thing looks like...

Ramadan Kareem

Ramadan is in full swing here in Abu Dhabi. For those of you who don't know much about this yearly Muslim holiday, here's what you need to know. Most importantly, this is a time of fasting for all Muslims. Their daily fast begins after the first prayer, which starts as soon as the sun comes up, and goes all day until sunset. At sunset, they break their fast with dates and have their final prayer and then it is time for IFTAR!!! Iftar is the big meal at the end of the day...and it is BIG! Most of the restaurants here serve iftar buffets every night of the week during Ramadan, rather than carrying their regular menu. And, they are also pretty much closed during the day. What does this time mean for the rest of us? Well, mainly the city slows down A LOT during the day. Work hours are shorter, many of the shops are closed, and food and drink is very hard to come by. Non-muslims are not meant to eat, drink, smoke, or even chew gum during fasting hours. It definitely makes things interesting! I could put up some pictures of people sitting around...not eating or drinking, but that's not very exciting, so I thought I'd show you what else we've been up to lately.

I took this when we were driving home on Corniche Road on the first night of Ramadan. The whole town is all decked out with lights!

After iftar, the malls get pretty crazy. They have the motorcycle in Marina Mall that the guy (Paul Senior) from Orange County Choppers made. Kinda cool?

We broke our fast in Dubai the first weekend of Ramadan. Pete and his friend Eric decided to partake in a Cuban to celebrate ;-)

Stay tuned...

We are moving this week! Once I get some pics and we get the internet, I'll be sure to put up some photos of our new digs!!! YAY!

Furniture Shopping

After months of experiencing the "Inshallah Factor" when it came to moving, Pete and I have finally found a place to live! We should be moving out of the Hilton Corniche Residence sometime in the next week...inshallah. The place that we settled on is a sweet four bedroom villa in the Sas Al Nakheel development, just outside of town. (Yes, that means we have room for visitors!) Since we won't be mooching hotel towels, or furniture for that matter, to deck out our place, we had to brave the crazy world of furniture shopping in Abu Dhabi last weekend. We went to the typical destinations (IKEA, Home Centre) but also scoped out some bargains at some of the lesser known haunts. After this whole experience, I can now understand why so many expats have such similar furniture. The choices were endless, but the style was just a little bit extravagant.

We scored a great deal on some couches at Home Centre.

We are still on the fence about these lovely chairs, found at Options in Khaladiya Mall.

No living room would be complete with a Lover Seat.

This bed was hard to pass up.

Butter

A group of us got together last Friday for brunch at the British Club. The brunch lasted most of the day, and the food was great, but my favorite part had to be the butter sculpture of the Sheikh that presided over the spread.

Reminds me of a song...Garden of Simple

Birthday Celebration

Pete and I went out to help our friend Mike celebrate his birthday in Abu Dhabi style last night. We went out for a delicious meal at the Yacht Club with him and his cousin. We might have stayed out a bit late for a "school night", but it was well worth it!! Happy Birthday Mike!!!

The four of us, and a bottle of vino.

Katie - this pic's for you. ;) I had seafood yakisoba noodles and Pete had Thai glazed chicken. Yummmmmm

Surprise!!! Happy birthday from the crew of the Yacht.

Make a wish, or three...

(thanks to the trick candles!)

Moroccan Bath

Three friends and I decided to set out for a different spa experience in Abu Dhabi yesterday. One of them had read about a "Moroccan Bath" and massage that cost 130 dirhams at the Violet Flower. Having never heard of such a thing, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. The four of us had no clue what we were getting ourselves into! When we walked into the Violet Flower...we realized that they take that name (and especially COLOR) very seriously. Everything in the salon was violet. The chairs, the curtains, the outfits....

The whole experience involved a soaping up with some mysterious green gunk, a long steam shower, full body scrub down and vigorous exfoliation, and finally an hour long massage - all by a very small, old, albeit aggressive Asian woman wearing shorts, a plastic apron, galoshes and a towel (tied like a bandana) around her head. The somewhat comical image of this little lady will probably stick in my head forever. I won't go into any more detail than that, but this pic from the salon sums up how my skin and muscles felt after the whole ordeal was finished. :-)

:-)

Giant Menu

Pete and I went out for dinner to the 18 Oz. restaurant with our friend Mike Miro tonight. The food was tasty, but the real take-away for me was the SIZE OF THE MENU....

Playing House

I've started following a couple of food blogs recently (especially this one) and I felt inspired to give you all at home an idea of what I've been cooking up over here. I got quite a few questions at home about what I make for dinner. The answer isn't all that exciting. Mostly, I cook things that most people probably make at home too. I get to cook in a kitchen that is PlaySkool sized though! Last night, I made chicken stir-fry with zucchini, red pepper, onion, carrots, and broccoli, served over brown rice. YUM!!

The big stove.

Sizzzzle...

The final product. Eat UP!

Sandstorm

I was greeted with some excellent weather upon my return to Abu Dhabi. The entire city was blanketed in a dense cloud of sand. Here's a view from our balcony:

Wedding Season Finale

My lovely friend Rachel just sent me a few photos from the last wedding I attended. What a great weekend I had with my teacher school friends!! After teacher school was over, a lot of us took off on new adventures. It was great to have a little mini-reunion back in Colorado. Miss you guys! :-)

Jen, Kari, me, Rachel, and Jodi

With the beautiful bride.

Congratulations Katie and Kevin!!! xoxo

Last Weekend Home

I thought a good way to big farewell to my lovely little hometown was to head out, downtown, during my last weekend there. My friend Jeremy, who I've known since I was just a munchkin, and a few of his friends were in town visiting family (namely, his brother Andy, who's lived in Colorado Springs for awhile now), and the group headed out to Jack Quinns for a night of Irish pub songs and other Irish-related activities. This was followed by a little tour of Tejon Street, including a tiny, little beer at the World's Smallest Bar.

Rebel, Sweetheart

I'm really trying to hurry up and post stuff from when I was in Colorado so that I can move on and get back to more Abu Dhabi-related things. So here goes...

The week I got back from Taos, I scored some tickets from a gal on craigslist to see THE WALLFLOWERS at the Denver Botanic Gardens with my lifelong concert-going partner, Katharine (who is moving back to Portland, so it's a good thing I got to see her before she moved and I left!!!! I miss you, K!! xoxo)

A couple of thoughts from the concert:

1) The Botanic Gardens rocks! It is really pretty cool to see a show there. The venue is small and outdoors and the weather was great, so that made for a lovely evening. However, they DO NOT serve drinks, of any kind. So, if you are ever going there to see a show, come prepared, or head to the closest Colfax haunt and pick up the necessary items. Katharine and I enjoyed a lovely bottle of rose. Mmmmm...

2) People actually get to the concert when doors open, and you should too. When Katharine and I arrived at 6:30 pm (doors were at 6) the place was PACKED...with picnickers. Holy cow! Everyone was there with their dining room and kitchen in tow. No joke! All the people around us enjoyed a gourmet picnic during the opening act. :-( Next time we'll know.

Anyway...we didn't really care once the Wallflowers came out, because we got to stand right at the stage!! I've loved this band for a long time and have seen them a few times live, but never this close.

Happy Birthday Nana!

The third weekend of July was cause for celebration! The Saulsbury's and Campbell's got together for a trip down to Taos, New Mexico to celebrate Nana's birthday. Mom rented a house that was a short walk to the town square and close to lots of beautiful New Mexico sights.

The whole fam fit into the ol' minivan :-) We headed out to dinner at Orlando's our first night there

Molnar & Madrid

Day 2: On the lift going to the top of Taos Mountain. What views!!!

On the ride down... whoa!

New Mexico has a really big sky.

Birthday Dinner for Nana at an AMAZING restaurant, The Stakeout.

The grown-ups were at the other end of the table ;)

The patio was set up for a killer view of the sunset!

Last night out in Taos. Steve-O and I standing in front of a mural painted by George Chacon...who also owns the house we stayed in! So COOOOOOL!!!