Life – Page 3 – Loving Food, Fashion, & Life

My Trip To Dubai (Part 2)

Posted on March 13, 2015 by LFFL

Roaming the streets of Dubai—with my apple juice in a large cup from McDonald’s that I can’t seem to get in the States.

There are seven emirates in the UAE—Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah. I was in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and briefly touched down in Sharjah. But the goal next time is to visit all the emirates no matter how briefly—just so I can say I’ve been to them all. And you know I’ll do it just because!

The Palm Jumeirah & Dubai Creek

I had my own personal escort to the beautiful Palm Jumeirah and the Dubai Creek. I can’t even begin to describe the beauty I saw as we drove around the crescent of Palm Jumeirah. It’s a sight to behold. We also went to a couple of nightclubs that week and I had a blast. It was not a problem for me to be out late at night especially since it was still daytime in America—my body clock was still trying to adjust to the time difference.

At the Dubai Creek.

At club Q43 at Media One Hotel in Media City.

At Barasti Beach club at Jumeirah Beach.

At Barasti Beach club at Jumeirah Beach.

Rollin’ in a BMW at the Palm Jumeirah.

In front of Atlantis The Palm in Palm Jumeirah.

In a phone booth at the Creek.

The time difference in the Middle East took some getting used to at first, but I survived. Since we had just turned the clocks back an hour in the States, I was in a country that was 10 hours ahead of America. But the first day I landed, I was determined to get on the Middle East schedule. And, boy, did I have fun once I did!

We’re BMW rollin’ through that tunnel thing at the Palm.

At the Dubai Creek.

Feeding the fishes at the creek.

The art of smoking shisha and drinking fresh-squeezed watermelon juice.

Shisha at Zyara Cafe in Media City.

Waiting to go out.

Here’s a video I found from the “Documentary & Life Discovery Channel” on how the Palm Jumeirah came about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYAo6cCDXF0

The Dubai Mall

The Dubai Mall is so massively huge that I didn’t have time to hit all parts of it. But I did see some of the highlights. I actually went to the mall on two different occasions with two different gentlemen who were kind enough to keep me company.

Continue reading “My Trip To Dubai (Part 2)” →

My Trip To Dubai (Part 1)

Posted on March 9, 2015 by LFFL

On the way to the airport. No time for makeup yet.

Freaking out at the airport. It’s just starting to sink in what I’m doing.

This girl woke up early on Wednesday, Nov 12, 2014 doing her usual “getting ready for work” thing like any other normal day—and within an hour of getting dressed for the day decided out of the TOTAL BLUE that she was going to go to the Middle East the very next day all by herself!

With absolutely NO PLAN, NO FORETHOUGHT, and NO IDEA HOW to pull it off she set her mind to it. My bosses at work looked at me crazy for giving them ONE day’s notice—but even I only had a day’s notice to plan everything since I had just decided that very morning to do something so, obviously, insane.

And with the help of a few awesome friends, I was able to pull off the impossible and figure it all out and left the next day on a 12-hour flight overseas to Dubai, United Arab Emirates for 10 days! THAT GIRL’S A THUG!! WHO DOES THAT?!

(I have SO many beautiful pictures and videos that this will be a 6-part series. I hope you enjoy all the videos and pictures from my time in the UAE. Wish you could have been there!)

The Dubai airport customs line.

My very own personal TV screen.

The map of where the plane was flying at any given moment. Going over Istanbul, Turkey here.

This trip was so last-minute that I still didn’t even have a hotel reservation when my friend arrived at my house to take me to the airport! I was booking one on my computer as she stood there waiting for me. Then off I ran out the door!

My family and friends were freaking out and texting me all day when I was overseas checking on me—“where are you, what are you doing, who are you with?”

I don’t travel and have hardly been anywhere in my life that doesn’t involve cars, buses, or trains because I’m terrified of planes. Hence, my face in the second picture above when it just dawns on me at the airport what is about to happen! First of all, BY MYSELF; second of all MIDDLE EAST; third of all PLANE!

The living room in my hotel apartment.

The bedroom.

The bathroom.

My lovely hotel in Media City, Dubai.

The kitchen.

Guest information.

The Arabic news.

A Nancy Grace-like debate on television. Lol.

My personal bidet. Who knew?

President & Vice President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayhan (Ruler of Abu Dhabi) and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Ruler of Dubai).

I don’t know why I snapped when I woke up that morning but I did. And now my life was about to get even more exciting. I didn’t have time to research ONE THING about this place I was going to. So I figured when I landed I was just going to “wing it” each day. Yes, I clearly lost my mind.

But, ohhhhhh, how I absolutely fell in LOVE with this city—and the entire country. As soon as I landed and got through the insane customs line, I pulled out of the airport in a cab and within 20 seconds I swore I never wanted to go back to America.

Someone asked me if I felt “safe” in this country. I felt much MORE safe than I ever feel in America. I did things in this country by myself that I would never even attempt to do in America. The emirati have this country on lock. They don’t play. Cameras are everywhere, too.

I just loved waking up every morning in my new home away from home.

I loved meeting so many people along the way. I was wedged between two awesome guys on the plane in a really tight space. We took selfies together. One lived in the States but was from Tehran, Iran and was going to visit family; the other guy was from America and told me all about his travels to Afghanistan and such.

Continue reading “My Trip To Dubai (Part 1)” →

Stalking That Man El DeBarge

Posted on December 17, 2014 by LFFL

Oh, lordamercy! My night was made. There’s really not much to say other than I acted like a total crazy person stalking this man when he came to concert.

I don’t know if any of you have ever been on a stalking spree before, but there’s a process involved. You, first and foremost, have to do your research.

Find out when the person is coming to town,
The hotel the person will be staying at,
The restaurants he’s likely to eat at while in town,
The cars he’ll be riding around in,
Someone who can give you the GPS coordinates of said car at a moment’s notice, and
Someone who can possibly get you front row seats along with backstage passes (namely the man himself)

Secondly, you have to make sure you look your absolute best, otherwise your chances are that much less. What those less “chances” are is anyone’s guess though. But dream on, I say!

I’m pretty sure he was singing “Stay With Me” directly to me personally. I mean—I don’t know who else he could have possibly been singing to when you really think about it.

I took a marriage license along in my purse on the stalking spree “just in case.” I’m not sure how real I thought the “just in case” was going to be, but a girl can dream, can’t she?!

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A Trip To The South Bronx

Posted on December 13, 2014 by LFFL

Well in the middle of October, I finally made it to New York after all these years. My dad hadn’t seen his mother since he was around 20 years old! So it was about time!

We decided to take a LONG train ride there because my dad isn’t getting on a plane unless it’s life or death—and even then we don’t really know. I’m not a big fan of planes either—let’s get real.

I had never been on a train before—so I was looking forward to it.

Waiting for the train at 5:30 in the morning.

Boarding the train.

Leaving the station. The train is rocking too much.

On a stop to NYC.

A bird wandering the train station in NYC. Apparently, this is normal as no one looked twice.

The drug-sniffing dog at the train station all up in everyone’s business.

The train ride on the way to New York wasn’t bad at all—especially if you can manage to get two seats to yourself to spread yourself out and relax. The scenery out the window wasn’t much to write home about though.

The food on the train was even less exciting. Not only were the prices outrageous as I would only expect them to be—but the food pretty much tasted just like it looked. Thank goodness I brought lots of food and drinks from home, too.

Continue reading “A Trip To The South Bronx” →

How I Became A Pimp

Posted on November 11, 2014 by LFFL

It all started one day when my dad innocently put one of his pimp hats on my head. That girl didn’t stand a chance of being the same person again ever since.

My walk changed, my strut changed, my attitude changed, my fashion sense changed. Now you know! It runs in the family.

Move back and give me room, people! THERE’S NO STOPPING ME NOW!

So, if you have nothing else to do today, find pictures of yourself as a young-un and see if you still have the same fashion sense now that you had then. See if there was a specific moment in time that made you the person you are today.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Never underestimate the power that just one accessory can have on transforming who you become in life.

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Pimpin’ At Fashion Week

Fashion Week For Spring/Summer 2015

Posted on November 5, 2014 by LFFL

As anyone knows, I just LOVE fashion week when it rolls around. There are always several shows to choose from to attend that week and I usually go to at least one of them.

For this particular week, I chose to attend the show where some of the “Project Runway” designers were showing their collections. I mean, after all, I used to watch “Project Runway” on television all the time at one point—though I haven’t in a very long time.

Casanova, Michael Drummond, Laura Kathleen, Joshua McKinley, Althea Harper, and Anthony Ryan were the six designers who showcased this particular evening and let me tell you—I was expecting a little more from some of them since they were “Project Runway” designers.

White Dress

Laura Kathleen Collection

Casanova Collection

Casanova

Joshua McKinley

Collection

Michael Drummond

I, personally, thought the “regular” designers from the shows last season presented much better clothing than some of the “Project Runway” designers did. So I was a little disappointed—but I had a fabulous time nonetheless.

I mean, some of the fashion you see on the guests attending these shows are sometimes worth the entire experience. It’s always a fun time!

So, if you have nothing else to do today, go to a fashion show for the loud music, the drinks, and to mingle with the other guests while at the same time knowing you may not be impressed with a lot of things coming down the runway.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Never get your hopes up when attending an event just because somewhat “famous” people are going to be there. We’re all human after all.

The Fun Of An Art Fair

Posted on November 1, 2014 by LFFL

So—I had the great pleasure of attending the annual 3-day art fair here in town held in the ritzy part of our city. LOVED IT! Hundreds of vendors, thousands of people, live music bands around, and food everywhere!!!

What’s not to love?! I had a great time and I have to say—the food vendors were some of my favorite. I made my rounds. Any surprise?