Colin and Aberly are out getting shwarma for dinner so here I am am cherishing the quiet and sitting in my living room with Christmas candles burning and Manheim Steamroller playing on iTunes. It's pretty nice. I'm doing my best to get in the Christmas spirit since sunny days and 80 degree weather makes it hard to believe it's getting to be that time of year.
Sorry for the blog hiatus. Not intentional but after Colin's birthday came Aberly's birthday, our anniversary, and Thanksgiving. And then we were blessed with a long Thanksgiving weekend due to National Day being called in Oman (it's like 4th of July here) and Islamic New Year, so it was a five day weekend. And I had a hard time finding a time when I wanted to sit down and type.
It was also hard because once we new we had the 5 day weekend, that meant that the girls were headed to Dubai to SHOP!
Okay, initially we were going to go as a family, but then some of my gal pals decided they wanted to do another IKEA run and well, that sounded like more fun for all of us, Colin included. Being home for 2 days alone with Aberly was way less stressful to him than shopping all day and driving in a new location with lots of traffic. I agreed. And hey, a girls trip and shopping with no toddler was a dream for me.
So four of us loaded up in the car at 5:00 AM to head to Dubai. It's a 4.5 hour drive and with wanting lots of time to shop, we were headed out early. Sadly, Aberly woke up around 4:30 and went I went to comfort her, I could immediately tell she had a temperature. Uh oh. Sicky! I hesitated leaving knowing how caring for a sick child can be so tiring for one parent. Colin said go and don't worry. I love him! Especially since she threw up later that day (luckily just once).
The drive was beautiful. Lots more desert and lots of camels to see. That was very fun. We arrived around 10:00 and made our first stop at Mirdif Mall. Let's just say it's a huge place and there are like, 400 stores. Did we hit them all? Goodness, no. But we did get to go to places like Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Borders. It was GREAT. Christmas was in the air!!! All the stores had their decorations out in full force and it was beautiful. I got some Christmas candle, the ones I smell now, at Bath and Body Works, a beautiful mercury glass piece at Pottery Barn, a gift for Colin, and some wrapping paper and a puzzle at Borders. After a PF Chang's lunch, we stopped at our hotel to check in and then turned around to attack IKEA.
Before I hit on IKEA and the evening time, I just have to say the drive through Dubai was crazy. It's like being in a futuristic city. The buildings are crazy designs. It's like all the architects are trying to one up each other with all these new designs. A few buildings didn't look like they should be able to stay up. Obviously they do, but they have all these weird angles. It was pretty amazing.
Anyways, on to IKEA. And it was packed. But it was IKEA and I was in heaven being able to find a bunch of decor for our home that didn't cost us the arm and a leg it would've in Oman. I got a pantry unit that we desperately needed for our kitchen due to minimal cabinet space. That was the most important thing! After IKEA, we had dinner at Outback. I was still full from lunch so while the girls had steak, I settled for a potato, veggies, and salad. It still tasted great.
After dinner we hit our final destination at 10:00 PM (yes, things stay open late there). ACE hardware. Doesn't sound too exciting but it offers a lot more things you'd like to fine for your home than other hardware stores in Oman. And they had REAL CHRISTMAS TREES. Only in Dubai. Since it was 10:00 and I was exhausted from the long day of travel and shopping, and had not slept great the night before, my emotional level was a titch more unstable. Okay, maybe more than a titch. One smell of a fresh noble fur caused a serious lump in my throat. If I had let my mind go with it I could've had serious tears streaming down my face. Not because I was homesick but because it was the first time I felt Christmas. The decorations sort of did that afternoon, but this really nailed it for me. Christmas was coming.
We finally made it back to the hotel and crashed. Sleeping with no child to wake me up was nice. The next day, we hit the mall again to pick up a few things people decided they wanted to buy. We had one more lunch and were back on the road with a VERY PACKED car. Four women can do some shopping damage when on a mission.
Once home, we unloaded and headed home. The next day after putting out all I bought, my house now feels and smells like a home. It's amazing how a few extra pillows, lamps, candles, and decor pieces can quickly change things. Ahhh....
I do have a few pictures of us from the trip but they are on my friend's camera, so I'll try to add those once I get them from her soon.
Sorry for the blog hiatus. Not intentional but after Colin's birthday came Aberly's birthday, our anniversary, and Thanksgiving. And then we were blessed with a long Thanksgiving weekend due to National Day being called in Oman (it's like 4th of July here) and Islamic New Year, so it was a five day weekend. And I had a hard time finding a time when I wanted to sit down and type.
It was also hard because once we new we had the 5 day weekend, that meant that the girls were headed to Dubai to SHOP!
Okay, initially we were going to go as a family, but then some of my gal pals decided they wanted to do another IKEA run and well, that sounded like more fun for all of us, Colin included. Being home for 2 days alone with Aberly was way less stressful to him than shopping all day and driving in a new location with lots of traffic. I agreed. And hey, a girls trip and shopping with no toddler was a dream for me.
So four of us loaded up in the car at 5:00 AM to head to Dubai. It's a 4.5 hour drive and with wanting lots of time to shop, we were headed out early. Sadly, Aberly woke up around 4:30 and went I went to comfort her, I could immediately tell she had a temperature. Uh oh. Sicky! I hesitated leaving knowing how caring for a sick child can be so tiring for one parent. Colin said go and don't worry. I love him! Especially since she threw up later that day (luckily just once).
The drive was beautiful. Lots more desert and lots of camels to see. That was very fun. We arrived around 10:00 and made our first stop at Mirdif Mall. Let's just say it's a huge place and there are like, 400 stores. Did we hit them all? Goodness, no. But we did get to go to places like Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Borders. It was GREAT. Christmas was in the air!!! All the stores had their decorations out in full force and it was beautiful. I got some Christmas candle, the ones I smell now, at Bath and Body Works, a beautiful mercury glass piece at Pottery Barn, a gift for Colin, and some wrapping paper and a puzzle at Borders. After a PF Chang's lunch, we stopped at our hotel to check in and then turned around to attack IKEA.
Before I hit on IKEA and the evening time, I just have to say the drive through Dubai was crazy. It's like being in a futuristic city. The buildings are crazy designs. It's like all the architects are trying to one up each other with all these new designs. A few buildings didn't look like they should be able to stay up. Obviously they do, but they have all these weird angles. It was pretty amazing.
Anyways, on to IKEA. And it was packed. But it was IKEA and I was in heaven being able to find a bunch of decor for our home that didn't cost us the arm and a leg it would've in Oman. I got a pantry unit that we desperately needed for our kitchen due to minimal cabinet space. That was the most important thing! After IKEA, we had dinner at Outback. I was still full from lunch so while the girls had steak, I settled for a potato, veggies, and salad. It still tasted great.
After dinner we hit our final destination at 10:00 PM (yes, things stay open late there). ACE hardware. Doesn't sound too exciting but it offers a lot more things you'd like to fine for your home than other hardware stores in Oman. And they had REAL CHRISTMAS TREES. Only in Dubai. Since it was 10:00 and I was exhausted from the long day of travel and shopping, and had not slept great the night before, my emotional level was a titch more unstable. Okay, maybe more than a titch. One smell of a fresh noble fur caused a serious lump in my throat. If I had let my mind go with it I could've had serious tears streaming down my face. Not because I was homesick but because it was the first time I felt Christmas. The decorations sort of did that afternoon, but this really nailed it for me. Christmas was coming.
We finally made it back to the hotel and crashed. Sleeping with no child to wake me up was nice. The next day, we hit the mall again to pick up a few things people decided they wanted to buy. We had one more lunch and were back on the road with a VERY PACKED car. Four women can do some shopping damage when on a mission.
Once home, we unloaded and headed home. The next day after putting out all I bought, my house now feels and smells like a home. It's amazing how a few extra pillows, lamps, candles, and decor pieces can quickly change things. Ahhh....
I do have a few pictures of us from the trip but they are on my friend's camera, so I'll try to add those once I get them from her soon.
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