say what?

OK, this has been on my list of "things i saw ads for on TV and wanted immediately" for quite some time now! So I figure, new country, new language.

Let's see if it lives up everything the TV ads sold me on! Will keep you posted!

P.S. the only word of arabic i know at the moment is shukran, which is thank you. i'd also like to learn how to write arabic. written arabic is so beautiful, not to mention it is written and read from right to left, which is perfect for a lefty like myself!

Rosetta Stone

a view from my current window

abu dhabi national exhibition center... also known as ADNEC.  my coworker says it in the tone of the Aflac commercials every time we drive past it :) 

a woman's right to shoes

this post is dedicated to my dear friend colleen, as she and i share the very same love for shoes.

bcbg max azria satin evening sandal

when i moved to new york two years ago, i came from arizona with a closet full of 4 inch heels and strappy sandals, you know... hot weather shoes. being that i moved in october, i had quite a rude awakening. i actually had to wear the ugg (ugly) boots that my mom threw in my boxes at the last minute saying "you're going to need these!"...and the couple pair of ballet flats i bought for my new location only kinda fit the bill.

so as you can guess, my heels took a hiatus, resting nicely on the shoe organizer in my tiny new york closet. this was a dark time for them, but walking two miles every day just wasn't their strong suit and taxis… i could afford not. so i benched them in one of the most fashionable cities in the world...

but recently, i pulled them from the closet, put them in a suitcase and toted them across the world to abu dhabi. and upon opening my suitcase, i saw them in a new light... in a city of driving where taxis are cheap, sun is plenty, and precipitation is rare. perfect shoe weather conditions!

and then it dawned on me, i am working in a construction trailer. i chewed on that for a second, and a scene from one of my favorite sex and the city episodes flashed through my mind (the one where carrie registers herself for shoes, because she is tired of buying gifts for her married friends).

at the end of the episode, she says this: "The fact is, sometimes it's really hard to walk in a single woman's shoes. That's why we need really special ones now and then to make the walk a little more fun."

so for occasions that require me to wear a hard hat, i bought these:
(i think with skinny jeans and a loose white top, i can rock this "construction" look!)

doc marten industrial steel toe boots

and for days where i am sitting in my office...something a little more like this:

belle by sigerson morrison

hey, in an office with mostly men and only about four ladies... someone has to keep it fashionable!

home sweet hotel?

after an amazing weekend of family and friends, and a travel routine i am strangely getting used to i've arrived back to abu dhabi, greeted by a new home...(check that) hotel... welcome to my new digs!

 

aloft abu dhabi... aloft is a relatively new brand of starwood hotels, aimed at the 20s-30s travel/business crowd, such as myself, and being within my budget, i've decided to give it a whirl! but i'm only committing through to my next wedding trip of course :)

back home again in Indiana

that's right folks, this native Hoosier is headed back to her home state for the weekend!

reason?  wedding 2 of 4 this summer, this will be one for the books kids. high school friends all in the same room after what feels like another lifetime!

i can't wait to get there so i can see my friends + family, eat some steak 'n shake, get my haircut, and do a slew of shopping for bits and pieces that are hard to find in the UAE.

see you on the flip side!

ooohhhhhh the waiting is the hardest part

tom petty, you sing the song so well!

white iphone 4 is not available for pre-order or in-store pickup...tear.  what is a girl to do, wait for the white or buy the black.

i guess we'll just wait to see if apple makes any further announcements.

                      www.apple.com

red tape

Oh the joys of moving to a new country... are starting to get to me!

most everything i want and need feels like it is standing in plain view across an eight lane highway packed with cars moving at Formula 1 speed and i can't get across.

it is one step forward and 5 steps to the side before you can move forward again.

after weeks of paperwork and retaking passport photos because the "background wasn't white enough" and being pricked with needles, i finally have my residency visa. ONE STEP FORWARD: now i can get a car, phone, bank account, apartment...

oh wait.  5 STEPS TO THE SIDE

you want to get a bank account? you need to get letters from your sponsor, but they are out of town for 2 weeks.

you want to buy a car?   you need a bank account (see above) and you also need to get a UAE license, but to do that you first need to have your license translated into arabic.  


you want a phone? but you can't get a 3gs when the iPhone 4 is right around the corner (my trip back to the US misses the release by 4 days, so another month will go by)

you want an apartment? i won't even go into this one again...

there is a tiny Veruca Salt(Willy Wonka) sitting on my right shoulder saying "I WANT it NOW" and a tiny version of my college roommate sitting on my left shoulder saying "PATIENCE is a VIRTUE"

where is the fast forward button?

tick tock...tick....tock......tick........tock...........

time in the uae reminds me of one of my favorite paintings.

Salvador Dali - The Persistence of Memory

the change of pace from New York to Abu Dhabi is alarming.  the pace at work remains the same, but the pace outside of it crawls to a slow.   it all begins with the commute.  things that we think are second nature in modern traffic design haven't quite found their way here yet.  traffic lights aren't sensored and nothing is really clearly marked, did i mention there aren't addresses here?  if you want to go somewhere, it is best to know a few close by landmarks to either look for, or tell your taxi driver about.  you often get the feeling of gridlock. traffic.stands.still.often.

i so struggle with this here, it is in my blood to be on time.  i am usually one of the first people in the office and i enjoy that quiet moment when no one is there and i can get my coffee and check my email in peace before the bustle of the day hits. 

the change of pace also creeps into your dining experiences.  there is no such thing as fast dining (unless of course you hit up one of the many US fast food chains that are EVERYWHERE here).  Dining here is... leisurely,  which is a curse or a blessing depending on what kind of time you have, but time here seems to be irrelevant.  it is nice not to have someone trying to turn over your table in record time, but also expect to ask for the check, they will let you sit there as long as you like.

while i am learning that slowing down isn't such a bad thing, i don't think i'll ever grow out of the need to be on time.

moral of the story?  leave earlier, get a good stereo for your car, and dine leisurely!

ambition...

comes easy when you've got oil money to back it!

all joking aside, these are some pretty fantastic billboards for Abu Dhabi Central Bank situated on the road to Dubai...

you say stop, and i say go, go, go...

driving in the uae is... hmm, how do i say this, chaos.  you take drivers from all over the world and stick them all together in one city with all of their driving habits that they've brought over from their respective homelands and all rules are out the window!  change 4 lanes at once, drive 150 km/hr on the highway (and that's slow), park on the sidewalk or 2 lanes and 2 rows deep on a main road.  no problem right?!

we've got some pretty entertaining road signage as well.  check out these two that are on the island where our construction site is located :)

channel the beatles...

i'll refrain from stating the obvious, take this one where you want to...

chelsea flowers

monday mornings in nyc: get up, get ready, and walk to the subway. along way pick up $5 flowers from the bodega on the corner... there is something about fresh flowers, no matter how sunny or gray the day, or what lies ahead for the week, that little bundle of petals wrapped in paper somehow seems to instantly make my world a better place!  ranunculus happen to be my favorite, but they have a limited season...

oh how i took the bodega flower stands for granted! there is nothing like this in abu dhabi.  yes, i know it is the desert so they probably wouldn't be outside... but even the grocery store flowers leave much to be desired!  there are about four types of flowers readily available here from what i've seen:  roses, carnations, spider mums, and filler flowers... oh my!  and to make it even more appalling, they think they are doing you a favor by making "arrangements" and mixing them all together. 

typically, if i receive one of these types of arrangements, within 15 minutes it being delivered, i have pulled it apart, removed all of the fillers, and paired it down into something that is more my style, rather than FTD's.  pay attention men, bigger is not better when it comes to flowers!

out of sheer desperation, every time i go to the grocery here, i think about getting one of their premade arrangements, but they are so bad i'm just not sure they are redeemable. even the color combinations are bad! 

what to do!  this obviously needs to be explored, there have to be florists around here right?! 

ferrari world

i moved "homes" this weekend, and by that i mean i moved hotels... since the apartment hunt is slow going!

here is the view from my new balcony at Park Inn, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

ferrari world is a theme park next door to abu dhabi's F1 marina circuit!