you better bet i wasn't sitting around with my feet up all this time doing nothing. i should have a better excuse than that, right?!
here's what has gone down.
sometime in the last month, things have all fallen into place. first and most significant, is that i found an apartment (finally)!!! and bonus, it came with an amazing roommate and new friend. the place is coming along slowly, but nicely. i have a case of something i am deeming the "expat stuff dilemma". by definition, we expats are a special breed prone to wandering. we don't know how long we will be in one place therefore investing in a lot of furniture and other stuff you will then have to drag around the world comes at a price, one we aren't usually interested in paying. the solution for most: ikea.
everything you could possibly need for an apartment at a price that won't leave you cringing... my situation poses a bit of an extra challenge. i am an interior designer. i design luxury hotels. i have expensive taste; i think i was born with it, really. so i had to do what i do best, get creative. i'm pretty sure i've been to ikea at leat 2 times a week since moving into this place and i've got a nice share of it coming my way this weekend, so i believe i've fulfilled my portion of the expat quota for their profits this year!
the great thing about the "expat stuff dilemma" is that when you live in a community where a large amount of people are expats, people are always coming and going... and therefore purging their barely used items at a fraction of the cost! i was able to score some pretty sweet living room furniture and fit out my spare bedroom in this fashion! the best and most popular website for this in the UAE is called Dubizzle (yes, that is for real kids!)
there's also a great thing about being an interior designer. i know people.... well the right people when it comes to these sort of things anyways. people who will make me custom draperies from their back stock of leftover fabrics. actually an interesting tidbit about the UAE is that anything that involves tailoring can be done at a very reasonable price here, a fraction of what you would pay in the States!
the bed and the dining table my splurge items. no question about where my priorities rest! for these little gems i will most likely head to Crate and Barrel in Dubai :) thank god for them, they must have known i was moving here because the dubai location, which only opened earlier this year, just happens to be the one and only C&B outside the US.
more to come soon, maybe even a few snapshots once we get this place up and running!
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