happy birthday to me.

happy birthday to me.  happy birthday dear... me.  happy birthday to me!

this lovely cupcake is from crumbs bake shops in nyc.  go get one!

yes.  that's right,  today i am another year older, and hopefully that much more the wiser. 

i had an amazing time in nyc... i packed a lot into 24 hours!

i had dinner with friends at wildwood barbecue, i highly recommend the pulled pork sandwich!  and rounded out the night at corner bistro, one of my favorite little joints in the all of manhattan (if i hadn't already downed a pound of pulled pork... i would have enjoyed on of the famous corner bistro burgers, they are delish!)

i got up relatively early after my night out, jet lag aside, and headed out to find a legitimate ny bagel (something you absolutely cannot get in abu dhabi) and some iced coffee.  murray's bagels was my spot of choice!

next i was off for a couple hours of shopping, the only rule was that i had to stick to stores i don't have access to in abu dhabi or phoenix!  so i stopped in tibi, where i usually want one of everything!  and after lunch at macaron cafe with one of my lovely friends from work, i hit up a very new and very stylish boutique in williamsburg that one of my lifelong friends just opened called life:curated.  girl is talented, you must go see!

with not enough time on the clock i headed to the airport, scottsdale bound.  i'm so happy to be here with my family and am looking forward to a day of birthday fun, bachelorette craziness, and a weekend of wedding!

so here is to a great start to a new year of my life!  

who says

you can't go home...

this week my travels take me to a couple of places very close to my heart, starting with new york.

the last few times i flew through JFK, i left myself just enough time to make my connections and type out a few emails in the lounge before boarding. it was painful to sit so close to the city i love and not be able to just go... so this time i planned a little layover. i'll be there just long enough for dinner with friends and a day of shopping!

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!

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!

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?!