Yearly Archives: 2014

Check out Parts I and II if you missed ’em!

The adventure: Our first non-essentials-shopping-related day trip into Dubai for some relaxation and sightseeing, and an afternoon in Sharjah.

We left Sharjah bright and early on a Friday morning, which is an ideal time to be out and about for shopping or sightseeing purposes because the first ‘call to prayer’ of the day isn’t until about noon, so most people are home with their families and at the Mosque until 1pm, so there’s no traffic on the roads (read: You get to feel marginally safe on the roads!!!) or crowds of people to contend with, so you can really soak up the experience in a leisurely way.

{Our first stop: The Dubai Mall – home to a gigantic aquarium, the world’s fastest indoor roller coaster, and Ski Dubai. Snow is a beautiful, beautiful sight when it’s 114 degrees out! I wasn’t really sure Ted was ever going to leave this magical place…}

{Window shopping and square donuts at Al Qasr at Madinat Jumeirah}

{The gold dispensing ATM…yes, it exists…for everyone who asked me to verify the rumors}

{We strolled around the gorgeous waterways of Madinat Jumeirah. In the first picture you can see the luxurious Burj Al Arab hotel and in the first two pictures you’ll spot the beautiful wooden abra “water taxi” boats. The slotted openings at the tops of the buildings are how traditional Emirati homes back in the pearl-diving days were designed – they serve as a cooling system that sucks in the “cool” gulf breeze and redirects it down into the interior of the home}

{Can’t ignore a good photo op location!}

{Then we took in the Jumeirah Beach. We walked down the pier and out over the water for a better view of the beach, skyline, and palm tree and world islands….and we all instantly melted into disgusting puddles of sweat}

{Lunch at Lime Tree Cafe. I had an incredible plate packed with the most delicious roasted and curried cauliflower, spinach, and chickpea salad, two salmon and asparagus risotto patties topped with dill cream cheese, a freshly-squeezed beet-pineapple juice smoothie, and a slice of their carrot cake. Seriously, you want to eat here immediately. I actually cannot wait to savor/devour their amazing food again…ASAP!}

{This shark had plans for me…}

{And this friendly eel mugged a big old smile for the camera}

{Back in Sharjah, Fereh accompanied us to the Sharjah Aquarium….which clearly has the best aquarium signs ever, as evidenced above}

{Sharjah views from outside the Aquarium}

{After the Aquarium, we shared dinner at a traditional Emirati cuisine restaurant. It was located right on the river downtown so it had beautiful water and sunset views, as well as really awesome outdoor seating…so, naturally, I decided we must be like the locals and sit outside, in the stifling heat and humidity, and eat hot food for two hours. I’m not sure what I was thinking. Ted still isn’t sure what I was thinking. But, aside from sitting very, very still and trying not to move at all throughout dinner so we didn’t melt into our food, it was really serene, the food was delicious, and I think it was a really great and memorable experience! Ted got some sort of pita, yogurt, and lamb kebobs and I shared a totally delicious Iranian baked fish and saffron rice dish with a pregnant cat – which was pretty much the highlight of my day! You can see her in one of the pictures above – and topped off the meal with a steaming hot kettle of amazing Arabic coffee, which is flavored with cardamom and tastes like a hybrid of coffee and tea}

{The restaurant had a beautiful view of the fountain show and the Al Noor Mosque at night, which was simply stunning, as you can see! Click the photo to enlarge – it’s worth it!}

More to come later! :)

A brief list of things I love…

(you know, since it’s birthday month and all)

1.

{These amazing and uplifting “Live Your Dream” Tom’s – size 9. Get them here. I’m pretty sure I need these shoes for Dubai, mostly because I need one singular pair of comfortable walking shoes with good arch support that go with absolutely everything, aren’t heavy or unbreathable, and are something other than sandals. And, for every pair of Tom’s shoes you buy, a second pair is donated to a person in need…a mission and a company that I really, really love and can definitely get behind! And, if you’re couponly inclined, they offer cash back through Ebates, free shipping, and you can use code SUMMER15 for an additional $5 off.}

2.

{A dual-time zone watch. For obvious reasons. I’m in LOVE with this Tissot T56162379 Heritage “men’s” blue leather watch. Get it here. Apparently, it’s a dude’s watch, but it’s totally identical to the “ladies” version of this same watch, which is lavender and gold instead of blue and silver…and about $40 more expensive, naturally – because they always charge more for women’s stuff. But I like this one much better, and so far, finding a dual-time zone watch that I actually like has been a wild goose chase failure. This is definitely my top pick! This is also Ebates eligible for cash back on Overstock.com, and comes with free shipping.}

3.

{This Fossil Explorer Mini Crossbody bag. Get it here. Camel – shown above – and Mint are my colors of choice. Bonus: the mint color is on sale for $60 right now. This bag is absolutely perfect for hands-free international traveling and daily use and, for a “small-bag” kind of gal, it’s just the right combination of size, style, and function. I have a yellow Fossil crossbody purse of a different style that Ted got me nearly 4 years ago that I use every single day – so much so that it’s starting to fade. The quality of Fossil’s leather is outstanding and I would be thrilled to add a second, smaller, more versatile crossbody to my rotation so I stop wearing out the yellow one so fast and can extend it’s life to last another 4 years. Fossil is Ebates cash back eligible and also offers free shipping.}

4.

{Death’s Door Gin – small-batch distilled in Wisconsin using juniper berries picked on Washington Island up in Door County, where Ted and I were married. I’m a recent convert to gin, and I have a feeling I’m going to want to cozy up to a comforting evening gin & tonic come late September. Just a hunch.}

5.

{This Amco Recipe Divider/Multiplier Chart Magnet. Get it here. Because I find myself needing to divide and multiply recipes constantly, and multiplying or dividing fractions is definitely not my strong suit. Look at all that practicality!}

These are my birthday swoons. Fellow August babies (and there are a ton of us out there!), what are you loving and/or wishing for?

{Food Truck Rodeo goodness}

 {Black raspberry chocolate chunk ice cream date with the husband}

 {Farmer’s market treasures}

 {Swimming, reading, and sunbathing on Lake Ontario}

 {Homemade bouillabaisse – spoiler alert: it was amazing. I actually surprised myself with how incredible this was}

 {Pre-college Panera lunch date with this wonderful person!}

Over the weekend we spent Friday night and all day Saturday in Naples, NY, in the heart of the upstate NY Finger Lakes wine region, where Ted has been staying for the past week (and where he was a few weeks ago and where he will be again a few weeks from now) doing media and lighting designs for a couple of summer stock shows at a great little theatre in town.

And I’d been in deep need of a quiet, relaxing little getaway from the hectic schedule at work and at home. So, I drove down Friday afternoon after Summer Academy…and it was the MOST relaxing 24 hours I’ve had in a LONG time.

Friday night when I arrived in town we enjoyed brick-oven pizzas out on the front porch of Neapolitian Pizzeria with two of the other designers, then we walked over to the theatre for opening night of Les Miserables, and followed it up with a late night trip with the entire 40+ person cast, crew, and company of the show to the only open-late bar in town – the Tavern – where we downed wings, shared pitchers of beer, talked and laughed, put early 2000’s pop tunes on the jukebox, celebrated opening, and played darts until they closed at 1:30am. The Tavern is awesome for multiple reasons, only one of which is that because the town is so tiny, only about a mile long with a population of just over 1,000 people, you can walk everywhere…and so everyone does. So, when the show is over, you walk down the street and over to the Tavern. And when the Tavern closes and the party is over, you can just walk home (or to the house of the lovely host family with whom you are staying) in the dark, at any hour of the night, and enjoy a clear, brilliant, undiluted view of the billions of stars of the sky along the way. Gorgeous. And peaceful. And, again, gorgeous!

The weather has been ridiculously awesome (like, sunny, breezy, mid 70’s awesome) for the past few days, so we kept our bedroom’s windows and screen door that opens up to the upstairs balcony open all night for the cool breeze to lull us to sleep and then started the morning off right with a massive plate of chocolate chip pancakes. Ted was wrapped up at the theatre all morning and into the afternoon with meet and greets, designer presentations, and first reads, so I had the run of the town!

 After my delicious stack of chocolate chip pancakes, I walked up a sweet little road to Grime’s Glen to check out the waterfalls. Once you’re in the park, the path through the woods to the falls starts off as a rocky trail, gets sharp and steep, then quickly disappears. And when that happens, you simply roll up your jeans, step into the cool water, and walk upstream until you reach the first waterfall. And then you keep splashing right on through to the second waterfall. It’s absolutely delightful!

{as a side note, this was Ted’s office view this week – no pity for this guy}

 After my wilderness walk to Grime’s Glen, I spent the next few hours just strolling up and down Main Street taking in the pretty homes, historical landmarks, coffee shops, sweet little stores, vineyards, wineries (hello wine tastings!), local wayside markets, pups named Maggie, and the only graffiti I saw all day – kitty graffiti! I had no schedule or timeline to keep (which was glorious!) and I ended up walking 10 miles on Saturday! Ten! I can’t even believe it! I also had no less than 5 totally great conversations with wonderful strangers about anything and everything. I love small towns for all these reasons!

When Ted was done at the theatre, we met up, walked back past the vineyards and shared sweet glasses of amazing dessert wine on the back porch of the Inspire Moore winery (oh, the view! oh, the wine!). AND, the topper on the cake, Ted got to pet a bald eagle…his favorite animal. Naples is basically the best.

 {Nobody who lives in Texas will be excited about this, but I FINALLY found Sweet Leaf tea in NY. I’ve been looking for it for 2 years…and there it is, at the Grainery in Naples! I nearly died of shock and happiness.}

And that, friends, was my visit to Naples. And it was indescribably wonderful. I am already looking forward to my next visit!

In a word: BUSY (a.k.a – Summer Academy – super awesome, super exhausting – best job ever! Best people ever!)

Also…

And, over the weekend, I actually found time to grab a beer and a girls night at Titus Tavern with Shawnda! I’m impressed :) Also, I sense some awesome home-made ice creams will be the result of all those sweet cherries and blueberries I picked! I’m thinking blueberry-vanilla-lavender and cherry crisp ice cream! I share with visitors :)