Category: Life

The White Dress & The Tornado

Posted on by LFFL

Me

Dress—Maurice’s

I just love when I can take myself shopping at the mall.  It had been a while since I’d been mall shopping so I made an entire day of it.  Not only did I need new clothes in general—but I wanted to find things to wear on my next trip overseas.

Yep, I was at the mall from mall opening until mall closing—10am-9pm (probably a man’s nightmare).  But I mean—there are so many stores there to venture inside of that it didn’t surprise me I was there that long.

One store I ventured inside of was Maurice’s where I found this cute little white dress.  I thought it was simply adorable.  It’s perfect whether I go to India for my next trip or whether I go back to the United Arab Emirates.

Mall tornado shelter

But the real fun came when there was a sudden torrential rainstorm going on outside and everyone in the mall was ushered from the stores into a tunnel-type hallway because tornado sirens were going off in the surrounding area.

No one could get a signal on their cell phones inside this narrow passageway either which was irritating.  So there was just a lot of standing around and waiting for the tornado warning to pass—while hoping an actual tornado would not hit us directly.

And although a couple of small twisters did touch down in surrounding areas, fortunately, one did not touch down directly where I was—thank goodness—or I’m sure my car would have been in the next state over when I left the mall to go home.

And since it was raining so hard when I was ready to go home, I had to wait it out so I could actually SEE to drive home because you literally could not see more than a couple of feet in front of you.  There was just no telling when the rain would die down either.

Well—more shopping for me then!

So, if you have nothing else to do today, spend an entire day from morning until evening buying yourself nice things if for no other reason than you deserve it.

Take-Away Life Lesson:  Always look at the positive side when you get stuck inside a mall because of bad weather—a little more unexpected eating and shopping never hurt anybody.

 

A Lazy Days Good-For-Nothin’

Posted on by LFFL

Pajamas

Oh, my goodness.  This is just one of my favorite things to do ever—lounge around at home in my pj’s and do absolutely nothing.

Don’t you just love days like this?  Sometimes I’ll even make a whole weekend of it.  Why not?  Who’s to say I can’t?

Sometimes I’ll just lay in the bed at the opposite end with my head on a pillow and prop my feet up on the headboard and do some thinking.  Other times, I’ll chat away on the phone to a friend, read a book or a magazine, take a little nap, watch TV, or snack away on food.

The key to getting this comfort situation down properly is in the lounge-wear.  You can’t just do this particular move with jeans and sports shoes on—and, God forbid, a bra.  No, sirree.  It just won’t have the same effect.

Next, you need a large plush area in which to sit/lay.  The bigger the area, the better.  The more pillows, the better.  A queen- or king-sized bed or even a big comfy couch will do.

Last, but not least, the more food you surround yourself with—the better.  But, oh my, to do nothing all day long but ‘whatever’—now that’s living the dream!

So, if you have nothing else to do today, just be a lazy good-for-nothing all day long.  It’s one of life’s greatest pleasures.

Take-Away Life Lesson:  One thing I might point out:  If you’re staring up at the ceiling while relaxing, daydreaming, chatting on the phone, or whatever you may be doing during your downtime and you happen to see what appears to be a dark “mark” up there that is definitely not the same color as your ceiling—I’d say hightail it out of bed immediately and investigate that it is, in fact, a black “mark” rather than just staring at it longingly and/or laughing with your mouth wide open and discovering that it’s a beastly bug or spider of some sort that will come hurtling down on you at any given moment.  I’m just sayin’.

A Beautiful Creation

Posted on by LFFL

Flowers

A sight for sore eyes.  Is this not the most gorgeous thing ever?!  If only I could, I’d send each and every one of you a massive beautiful floral arrangement to make your days as shiny and wonderous as possible.  Have a beautiful weekend everyone!

So, if you have nothing else to do today, find yourself a heapful of nature’s lovelies and admire them in all their beauty.

Take-Away Life Lesson:  Sometimes it’s nice to receive and send an arrangement of flowers—or even just get yourself a single ginormous sunflower at your local farmers’ market for 50 cents, put it in a vase at home, and have a glorious day.

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The Beauty Of Flowers

My Trip To Dubai (Part 6)

Posted on by LFFL

Me

I just loved waking up every day in Dubai to my next adventure.

I had no idea today was going to be a doozy—but a doozy it was!

Desert Safari

I had SO much fun on this 6-hour safari.  Here we had the pleasure of meeting a couple from Canada and a couple from America as we all piled into the land cruiser once the driver picked everyone up from their prospective hotels.

The safari carried on from about 3:30pm-9:30pm and I loved every minute of it—well, almost every minute of it.  There was a bit of dune bashing that threw me for a huge loop.  I was NOT prepared for that, I can tell you.  What started off as a smooth ride soon turned into chaos.

On our way to desert safari camp.
Having fun headed to Desert Safari.
Being silly in the land cruiser on the way to safari.
Being silly on the way to safari.
Chillaxin’ in the desert on our way to camp.
Our group taking a break on the way to camp. (A couple from Canada, a couple from the States, my date from India living in Dubai, and me from the States.)
Me chillin’ with a big bird.
Me and a bird chillin’ in the desert.
Out in the middle of the desert.
At a rest stop halfway to camp.
A store at a rest stop.
Our snacks.
That sun.
Those land cruisers for all that dune bashing.
The sunset.
Desert Safari campsite.

I had absolutely NO IDEA we would be in a land cruiser with our driver tearing across the sand hills like a freaking maniac!!!  What was that about?!  At first I thought we were just going over a few bumpy parts to get across the desert, but NO—apparently, it’s all part of the safari adventure!  They actually hire drivers to drive around like nut jobs across the desert on the way to camp.  What?!

And my date and I were sitting in the very back seat which made the experience that much worse for me.  You can feel everything in the back seat—all the bumps and everything!  I swear I don’t know how many times I thought we were going to tip over and go rolling down any number of those hills.  Geez Louise!

One of the guys in our group took an excellent video of some of it and was kind enough to send it to me.  But in the video below, yeah, you can hear me carrying on in the back seat—but not nearly as much as I really was.  This is because the video is only 30 seconds long but our maddening ride on those hills was 30 minutes long!  And the video doesn’t make the ride seem nearly as rough as it really was.  Trust me.

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Video courtesy of Scott McQuistan

It was all I could do to keep myself from getting nauseous, dizzy, and throwing up vomit in the back seat—considering I noticed there was absolutely no way to let the windows down in the back seat just in case I had an accident.  Seriously?!  Is this really happening right now?!  My date tried to help me through it all best he could, bless his heart.

That camel ride.
Getting ready to ride. Giddy-up.
On a camel ride.
Getting off the camel with some help.
Me and my safari date in the shisha pit.
Me and my safari date still in the shisha pit.
We keep taking pictures.
The picture-taking goes on and on.
Me and my safari date in the shisha pit. We’re not going anywhere.
Glad I met someone in Dubai that likes taking pictures as much as I do.
Me and my safari date chillin’ in the shisha pit as only we know how. Who does it better?
He’s back there somewhere.
How many pictures does one take before they’re considered vain?
Us again.
Yeah, that’s right.

Somewhere along the way to camp, we stopped at a local store for about a 5-minute rest break.  We grabbed some snacks to eat the rest of the way to camp.

Continue reading “My Trip To Dubai (Part 6)” →

My Trip To Dubai (Part 5)

Posted on by LFFL

Me

Ready to go on a dinner cruise in the Dubai Marina.

I couldn’t wait to get on the boat and sail down the Marina while having dinner buffet-style.  You know I love food.

The Dhow Cruise

When we arrived to the boat, there were fresh sweet dates waiting on a platter before we even stepped onto the boat.  I can’t begin to describe how sweet these things were!  Omg.  I couldn’t eat just one.

I finally had to pull myself away so I could board the boat because my date kept encouraging me to try another one and another one because he saw how much I liked them.  I’m telling you—I could have eaten the entire platter myself.  Which means there’d be none left for the rest of the crew—but such is life.

Headed out the door for the cruise.
The platter of fresh sweet dates I couldn’t pull away from.
Getting ready to board the boat.
That’s me on deck shipping out to sea.
Me and my dinner date.
Me and my dinner date.
Me and my dinner date.
Waiting to eat dinner.
At the dinner table.

This cruise was one of the most beautiful and romantic ever!  I loved looking out the window at the water and all the beautiful buildings.  It was a sight to behold.

Me

 Me and my dinner escort.

The buffet-style dinner was lovely.  Of course, I had to get one of everything which required more than one plate.  And since I don’t have eight arms, I could only carry one plate back to the table.  But my date surprised me by bringing me a second plate with food from the other side of the buffet—which I hadn’t made my way to yet.  But you knew I was headed there, right?

For someone that’s only known me a short time, he figured me out pretty quickly when it comes to food!  He was such a gentleman taking care of me.  Ahh, I just absolutely loved meeting people in Dubai.

Continue reading “My Trip To Dubai (Part 5)” →

My Trip To Dubai (Part 4)

Posted on by LFFL

Me

I’m all ready to go see the famous Burj Al Arab hotel.

Now I’m on my way to Jumeirah to see the Burj Al Arab.  Ohhh, my goodness gracious I’m so excited.

The Burj Al Arab

What can I say about this magnificent creature?  I’m speechless, I tell you.  Totally speechless.  I can’t even begin to describe its beauty.

I was on my way to have lunch at the Al Muntaha restaurant.  First of all, you’re not even allowed to go up the long drive that leads directly up to the hotel without having a reservation either at the hotel or at one of the restaurants at the hotel.  You have to show security at the gate that you actually have a reservation or you’re not getting anywhere close to that bad boy.  No siree!

The taxi drivers will even ask you when you first get into the car if you have a reservation there because they already know they aren’t getting past a certain point if you don’t have one.  So don’t even try it!

The Burj Al Arab in all her glory.
Approaching the Burj Al Arab.
Greeting the cars.
Rollin’ at the Burj Al Arab.
Rollin’ at the Burj Al Arab.
The walkway in front of the Burj Al Arab.
The walkway in front of the Burj Al Arab.
In front of the Burj Al Arab.
The Jumeirah Beach Hotel directly across from the Burj Al Arab.

I found this interesting video on how the Burj Al Arab was built.  It totally blew my mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGzSNZudEHw

I did some sightseeing outside the hotel and wandered around the inside of the first floor.  Then I made my way to the restaurant’s personal elevator/lift that goes directly from the first floor straight to the restaurant.

And, oh my goodness, what a view of the sea from that glass elevator ride!  I wanted to ride it all day long like a little kid—up down, up down.

The view from the restaurant windows is even more fabulous.  You look directly out the window and all you see below you is the beautiful Persian Gulf/Arabian Sea.  Pure gorgeousness!  You’re literally out on the sea in this hotel!

Continue reading “My Trip To Dubai (Part 4)” →

My Trip To Dubai (Part 3)

Posted on by LFFL

Me

Excited for my next adventure today.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Today was the day I took a trip to Abu Dhabi to see the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.  I took a charter bus to get to Abu Dhabi from Dubai and it took about an hour and a half to get there.

I thought the charter bus would take me all the way to the mosque, but it dropped off at the bus station and I had to take a city bus the rest of the way to the mosque which was another 20-30 minute ride.

The bus station in Abu Dhabi was segregated with a “ladies waiting area” and a men’s waiting area.  I had no idea until I saw a sign.  Interesting that the ladies had such a small waiting area while the men had massive room for seating.  What’s that about?  But I just went straight outside to wait for the bus.

The bus schedule from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
Charter bus in Dubai headed for Abu Dhabi.
The ladies waiting area at the Abu Dhabi bus station.
The men’s waiting area at the Abu Dhabi bus station.
The prayer room at the Abu Dhabi bus station.
Ladies waiting area on an Abu Dhabi city bus.
Ladies at the front of the city bus, men in the back.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque up ahead.
Getting closer to the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.
Walking across the bridge to the Grand Mosque.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

There’s also a prayer room inside the bus station and people were taking off their shoes going inside to pray.

When I got onto the city bus, I didn’t realize the men and women had their own separate sitting areas.  I almost sat with all the men but turned around and saw an empty seat next to a lady—so I sat down.  That’s when I looked up and saw a sign that said “ladies only.”  Whew!

You also have to open the door on the city bus yourself by pressing a button.  You have to do this whether you’re getting on or off the bus.  Of course, I stood there waiting for the driver to open the door for me until he told me.  (I mean—how lazy can a bus driver be?!)

Continue reading “My Trip To Dubai (Part 3)” →