end of august

here we are kids, the end of august, about two-thirds the way through ramadan, and nearing the end of summer.

with most everything closed during the day for ramadan there is a bit of a shortage of things to do on the weekends.  laying by the pool can be treacherous since no eating or drinking in public is allowed.  so this weekend i decided to hit up a very popular indoor activity in the UAE.... "spa"ing. 

hey, i design 5-star hotels, every once in a while i should be able to enjoy them right?! so i spent the day at the Chi Spa at the Shangri La Qaryat al Beri. 

here is the catch 22 of it all.  a spa is supposed to be an escape right?  the curse of a designer is that everywhere you go you are constantly critiquing, taking it all in and analyzing.  you have to keep telling yourself to shut your brain off and enjoy your massage, dinner, drinks, company... 

luckily for me, i was there long enough to take in the design and enjoy my treatments. 

here is a sneak peak at their wet relaxation area.

yum!

one fun thing about moving to a new country is finding new foods that you love. 

thanks to that book i read on the plane, skinny bitch, i have started paying much more attention to what is in the food i am eating.  and i guess not to my surprise, not much is straight from nature anymore unless you go looking for it!

i was perusing the cereal isle at the market here and found the most amazing granola bars ever.  they are so simple (as in when i read the package i knew and could pronounce all of the ingredients) and delicious!

now i don't know what i will do if i can't find them when i go back to the states...

check out the company, called Jordans, out of the UK. 

FRUSLi....  seriously delish and healthy!

to see or not to see

...ok.  i read the book. so do i see the movie?




personally, i had a hard time relating to this character's exact dilemma.  i'm just not the person that is jumping from one relationship to another, i've had plenty of time alone, maybe too much...  but, i think everyone can relate to being in the "zone" of their life and one day feeling the need to stop and question it all.  this is on the extreme side, but hey, to each her own!

bottom line: i read the book. i love julia roberts. i will see the movie :)

out in theaters in the UAE as of October 17.

calling all creatives

i came across this contest by CB2 in my email today... somehow i think taking a photo of my hotel room at Aloft would be some sort of rule-breaker.  SO, i know all of you creative friends of mine back in the US already have amazing apartments! all you have to do is photograph them and you could win $10,000 to spend at CB2...get out the camera and get shooting!

don't pretend you haven't been dying to move some things around and buy new stuff for the last 2 years.  after the toll this recession has taken on our industry, i don't know who wouldn't want 10k to blow on their home!

that's a wrap!

i love this and i just had to share.  the queen of the wrap dress, diane von furstenberg, has collaborated with the cleveland clinic to design... new hospital gowns!

who better to design a hospital gown!  its totally out of her high fashion element, but the core of where she started.  whoever thought of this combination was a genius.


read more here!

ramadan kareem

Today marks the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan which is one of fasting and devotion to worship Allah for the Muslim people of the world. 

here is a great interactive article by gulfnews.com that demystifies Ramadan for all of us non-muslims out there!

now, being in a predominantly muslim country there are certain rules of etiquette (also from a gulfnews.com article) recommended for non-muslims during this time.  i found them interesting and thought i would share:

• Eating and drinking in public is banned across the UAE during Ramadan, and strict penalties are levied on those who break the rule. Most eateries are closed during the day for the month, but some restaurants do offer delivery services.
   
• Avoid eating or drinking in front of colleagues who are fasting in office.
   
• Do not get into arguments with those who are fasting; be patient and show consideration for the long hours of fasting.
   
• Dress and behave modestly, avoiding animated behaviour that could cause offense.
   
• Try to understand Ramadan better by involving yourself in the spirit of the month. Saying 'Ramadan Kareem' to Muslims and attending a fast-breaking feast, or iftar, would be appreciated by most Muslims.
   
• Do not play live music as it is banned through the month.
   
• Shopping malls and supermarkets are expected to be open late at night.
   
• Since cultural consciousness is also high during the month, Ramadan can be a good time to connect with the local and Muslim cultural scene by attending the various musical and social events, as well as trying local and regional cuisine that is popular during the month of fasting.
   
• Arabic speaking non-Muslims wishing to learn more about the region and its people will notice that Arabic television channels change their programming to a new schedule dedicated for Ramadan, when some of the most popular celebrities in the Arab world feature in some of the most-watched soap operas, historic series, as well as religious, cultural and musical shows.

ramadan kareem!

seriously.

dear readers of my blog, everyone needs a good vent once in a while, thank you for listening.


i'm stressed here.  all the time.  i want to relax and i can't.  the idea of living the next two years of my life with this much stress is more than i know what to do with at the moment. every time i get into a car here i fear for my life, my job is stressful, i share a car at the moment so i can't take charge of my own schedule. i've been trying to roll with the punches, but this is now beginning to affect my health and something has to be done. 
 
did you know stress is a big factor for a lot of major health problems?

here is one example.  weight gain.  there are so many articles on this topic it is overwhelming, my coworker laughed at me when i said this, but its real.   here is one source that explains it pretty clearly.

There are several ways in which stress can contribute to weight gain. One has to do with cortisol, a stress hormone. When we’re under stress, the fight or flight response is triggered in our bodies, leading to the release of various hormones.

Whether we're stressed because of constant, crazy demands at work or we're really in danger, our bodies respond like we're about to be harmed and need to fight for our lives (or run like heck). To answer this need, we experience a burst of energy, shifts in metabolism and blood flow, and other changes.

If you remain in this state for a prolonged amount of time due to chronic stress, your health becomes at risk. Aside from a host of other dangers, chronic stress can also cause weight gain -- which is why some products like Cortislim are marketed as diet aids.

Chronic stress and cortisol can contribute to weight gain in the following ways:

Metabolism -- Do you feel like you're prone to putting on more weight when you're stressed, even if you're eating the same amount of food as you always have? Too much cortisol can slow your metabolism, causing more weight gain than you would normally experience. This also makes dieting more difficult.

Cravings -- OK, you're stressed. Do you reach for a nice salad or a pint of Ben & Jerry's? I'll bet on the latter. People experiencing chronic stress tend to crave more fatty, salty and sugary foods. This includes sweets, processed food and other things that aren’t as good for you. These foods are typically less healthy and lead to increased weight gain.

Blood Sugar -- Prolonged stress can alter your blood sugar levels, causing mood swings, fatigue, and conditions like hyperglycemia. Too much stress has even been linked to metabolic syndrome, a cluster of health concerns that can lead to greater health problems, like heart attacks and diabetes.

Fat Storage -- Excessive stress even affects where we tend to store fat. Higher levels of stress are linked to greater levels of abdominal fat. Unfortunately, abdominal fat is not only aesthetically undesirable, it’s linked with greater health risks than fat stored in other areas of the body. 


seriously, wedding mode is not going as planned and I'm in full belief that stress is the reason.  I am eating completely healthy and working out at least five times a week.  i feel no better than the day i started.  and to make matters better, my mom got my dress in for my next wedding and decided to email me and tell me she thinks it will be too small.  great.

people tell you don't come to the table with a problem; come with solutions...   change the things you can control and accept the things you can't...

here is a solution.  yoga.

 now if i only had a way to get there... my problems are circular.  what is the solution for that?

shawarma

funny word isn't it?! 

to take the mystery out of it for you, a shawarma is just a gyro by another name! in the UAE, it is a flat bread, with some carved meat (lamb, chicken, or beef, no pork!), tabouli salad, pickles, hummus and lots o' garlic.  

i discovered this delicious local fare when they catered lunch for our workshop at the site office...surprising me with good food is a surefire way to make a girl's day!

 YUM!

falcons on a plane

snakes on a plane was so four years ago... i'm talking FALCONS on a plane.

falcons are one of the top pets in the UAE.  Falconry is a sport in which trained birds of prey capture game for their humans.  Think this is just a sport of the rich and famous or a trendy pet of the week you might see Paris Hilton toting around?  Try again, not so long ago when this was a Bedouin community, these birds were trained to hunt for them as a supplement to their scarce desert diets so falconry is a revered practice for people of all statures. Falconry is also a highly respected sport in the UAE because they believe it to be one that teaches endurance, strength, and patience. 

Falcons get some special treatment around here.  Number one, they have falcon hospitals!  The Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital has had 35,000 patients since they've opened 10 years ago.  They also have a falcon museum and offer tours of the hospital where you get to actually let a falcon sit on your arm (this is definitely a must do)!

Secondly,  it is estimated that the UAE spends $27 million USD anually on the protection and conservation of wild falcons! 

AND thirdly, to tend to the namesake of this blog post.  Both on Emirates and Etihad Airways, your falcon can fly with you on the plane!  I'm not talking in some little carrier like a Chihuahua that has to be under the seat the entire time... just hangin' out in the cabin on your arm.  Your falcon also gets a passport!

I haven't encountered this yet, but the idea of a falcon sitting next to me for a 14 hour flight is well, a little scary to me.  those things have some serious beaks and talons!  falcons on a plane... i'm sayin'!

work:place

moving to abu dhabi for my job included a drastic change in office atmosphere. i went from fancy design office in the empire state building to a... construction trailer. 

between my online shopping habits and additiction to design blogs, my inbox is usually flooded with new products and newsletters with chic new design collections.  now, i usually skim them and delete before i have the chance to whip out the plastic,  but just in today were a few new must haves to give my trailer office a touch of style... both reasonably priced i might add!

a new line of desk accessories by the perpetually colorful Jonathan Adler.  get it here!

...and a collaboration between West Elm and Pratt Institute on a new line of home office goods!
 (my favorite are the wall accessories!...now, if only there was a west elm here in the UAE)

vroom vroom

Yas Marina Circuit is the Formula One race track in Abu Dhabi, it stands to host it's first F1 race at the end of the season this November... you think it would be amazing to go see a race... i've got one better for you!

a drivers experience.  

the deal?

zoom around the F1 track in your choice of 4 cars including an Aston Martin GT4 (my machine of choice) for a small price of 950AED (about $260).  screaming deal, i looked into a driving experience like this in the US for my dad's 50th, they started at $800 USD.  Prepare yourself padre, they even have a modified 2-seater F1 car (a "bicycle" built for two), so mom could ride along hitting her "fake brake" the whole way!

 
now...who will teach me how to drive a manual so i can make my Aston Martin dream a reality?

interested? check it out here: Yas Marina Circuit

oh the times they are a changin'

 

i love this commercial. it so hits home for me!

9-11 hours. that's the time difference between where i currently call "home" and where the majority of my friends and family live.  i love that at the push of a button i can not only hear their voices, but see their smiling faces! it wasn't so long ago that some movie, set way in the future, featured this method of communication and we were all mesmerized. now we all carry it around in our purses and can get in some quality "FaceTime"  whenever we like!

in its brief 30 seconds, this commercial brilliantly brings to life the whole concept of globalization.  as our ability to create new technology increases exponentially, so does our ability to reach further faster opening ourselves up to a whole world of possibilities.

what's next, skype in 3D?!