Good Morning! My Daily Dose

I bet everyone of us has the normal morning routine that we follow to start of our day.  Well, for me, life never start before my usual peanut butter (chunky) spread brown bread, coffee and of course my daily read, The 7Days!

I never actually care about newspapers before coming to Dubai but for the past 7 years, it has become a routine to read during breakfast.  This morning newspaper called 7 Days (but available for only 5) arrives my house without fail from Sunday to Thursday.  How convenient!  Some of the stories are appalling and make your heart ache and some could make me laugh my head off!

'The I don't know whether to laugh or cry'

'The Pet Patrol'

My favourite page - 'The Letters'

'The Justice for All'

'The Painful Reality' - Makes me wonder what ever happened to heart? 

Maybe there was no heart to begin with :(

This is when the coffee became tasteless... 

Modest Maxi or Sleeveless in Dubai?

Maxi dresses are synonym with Spring/Summer.  It is a perfect go to piece that is comfortable, feminine and easy to dress up or down.  I bought this purple maxi a couple of years ago but still, I love it to bits even today!  


I had to go and run some errands at the bank and later on off to buy school supplies for the boys today and for this, I paired this maxi with a short white jacket.

The dress is nice just by itself but being in Dubai, one can never be too careful when it comes to exposing the shoulders especially when going to public places due to the strict decency law .  After all I live here and I think it is my duty as a 'guest' to be respectful to the 'host'.  Yes, flashing  'excessive' skin is considered disrespectful here.


Don't get me wrong, you can spot many with shorts and sleeveless in the malls but there have been cases where people with revealing clothes in public got into trouble with the law and I don't want to be at the wrong place at wrong time ;) 


Some of us might still remember in SATC 2 when the girls came to Abu Dhabi, the issue was raised by Miranda :) and even the girls obliged and respected the law! Well, except for Samantha.. ;)

Outfit

Maxi dress : Stradivarius

Jacket : Zara

Sandals : Gucci

Bag : Fendi Twin Tote

Bracelet : Parfois and from local goldsmith

Pictures by : AD

Statement necklace

I love travelling.  Who doesn't?  A chance to see the world that we share with billions of other people with different custom, culture, food and lifestyle.  So when Captain asked if I would like to accompany him on his trip to either Moscow or Venice next month, I was left undecided!  Which one should I choose?  I've been to Venice many times but each trip to Venice is always like the first.  I have never been to Moscow but the idea of geting the visa (if required) is something I am not looking forward to. 


Which of these destination would you choose?  Please share your experience with me if you've been to Moscow, I would love to hear it!

Speaking of travelling, today I pulled out this necklace I bought in one of my trips but the sad thing is neither I or Captain remember which one?  It must be at one of the bazaars I love so much when I travel, the one that sells everything under the sun and bargaining is a must.  Anyway, this necklace is perfect to 'upgrade' any simple ensemble to a more sophisticated one and for that I am glad I took her home wherever she was from!

Outfit

Top : Mango

Jeans : Forever 21 (New)

Bag : Coccinelle

Belt : Esprit

Shoe : Kenneth Cole

Bangles : Parfois 

Necklace : No brand from a vacation
Pictures by AB

New Purchase - Gold tone chunky watch

The chunky gold watch trend finally got to me and I decided that the time has come for me to get on board the gold wagon!  Since I already have a lot of good quality watches plus not really sure how long will this trend be trendy,  I decided to get something moderate.  I started browsing the net and see what were in store.  

I prefer the simple kind, with a bit of retro feel to it, like how the old classic Rolex watches are instead of the 'chrono-busy' type that is very popular now.  After days of browsing, I found

something I really like on Shopbop, a watch by a label called Nixon but unfortunately the item was not able to be shipped outside the USA.  Bummer! 

Today, after a nice hydrotherapy session at the club, Captain and I went to the nearby mall called Lamcy Plaza to browse through the many watch stores there.  That was when I found this watch!  It is perfect!  Exactly the way I like it and more.  It is from Casio, which is good since they make good watches for decades and the price was just perfect!  What a score!

So what do you think about the gold watch trend?  Which type is your favourite? 

Watch : Casio

Silver version here , another one I like here  

Similar one from Nixon here

FOODIE WEEKEND - Party Food Part 1 – Crunchy Healthy Salsa

I love to organize parties.  Not the ‘jump on the table, free flow booze till 3 in the morning’ kind of parties but more on the ‘get together and catch up over some party food and drinks’ kind of parties.  Among my expat friends here in Dubai, we have this kind of parties all the time and once in a while, I too would have some guests over for this kind of gathering.  One item in the menu that never fails to make an appearance over and over is this simple salsa. 

The salsa is so versatile, it can be used as side dish for dumplings or spring rolls, act as dipping for the good ole chips or in my household we use it to roll in tortilla like we would do burritos over some grill chicken slices and fresh herbs!  It is refreshing, crunchy with very little calories!

Crunchy Healthy Salsa

Ingredients

Half an onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 cucumber seeded and diced

1 red fresh chili, seeded and diced (optional)

3 plump tomato, seeded and diced

1 tablespoon of white vinegar

2 tablespoon of finely chopped flat leaf parsely

1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon of tomato ketchup

Sugar

Salt

Method

Put all diced ingredients in a bowl and add in salt.

Tip :

Pour the mixture into a strainer and leave over a small bowl.  Tthe cucumber and tomato will release water with the help of the salt and this water will seep through into the bowl. 

Leave for an hour or so.  This way, your salsa will not be watery or soggy!

Later add in the rest of the ingredients and mix gently. 

Add sugar to taste.  The salsa should have the sweet and sour taste.

To guarantee the freshness, serve immediately.

Blossomed! A Review

Greetings, beautiful people! Hope your weekend was great so far.  As for us here in Dubai, today marked the end of Spring Break and the boys are back in school.  Yes, on Sunday!  We start our week every Sunday here in the Middle East that ends on Thursday with Friday and Saturday as weekend.

Anyway, as you can see, I have 'blossomed' into the trend of the season, floral!  If some of you remember in my recent post here I have concluded that florat print pants are not for me in general but I am craving for this floral trend!  So yesterday, I went browsing the malls and came back with this top from ZARA. 

I love the texture of the material, it is not silk but the softest blend of cotton that falls perfectly.  The top comes in 3 floral designs but I chose this one to compliment my wardrobe which I think is more to this shade.  The elasticated hem is also flattering especially on this soft material. 

I paired it with this white pants to give the whole outfit a more spring vibe and more elegant look but for a more casual approach, this top would be perfect paired with denim shorts and ankle length booties or pair it with long cotton flare skirt, loop earings and some chunky bangles; you get yourself a boho inspired outfit!  So many looks can be achive with this top, definately a keeper!

Outfit

Top : ZARA online here

Pants : Micheal Kors last seen here

Belt : Gucci

Shoes : Boden

Bag : LV Epi Leather Speedy 30 in Cassis

 last seen here

Accessories : Evita Peroni

Pictures by : AD



Colored blazer and tie-dye!

I was just talking to Captain this morning over breakfast on how lucky we are this year to be blessed with a fantastic winter/spring season.  We are in the midle of April and here I am still being able to put on a blazer when last year by March it was already scorching!  Last night on the way out for dinner with the boys and Captain, it actually rained for a bit! The temperature plunged to 22 degrees within minutes and it was truly a great night to be out.

Today accompanying Captain on his 'quest for a perfect dream car', I picked this blue/green blazer.  The pictures do not do the color justice as it has a vibrant, intense color in real life! Perfect for spring!

I thought this tie-dye tank top I bought a few months back would compliment the color of the blazer and give a less serious vibe to the whole ensemble besides the well worn jeans.

To finish off, I decided to take out my Balenciaga City Gris Poivre!  It is getting softer by each wear as expected with all Balenciaga leather.

Outfit

Tank top : etsy.com

Blazer : Stradivarius

Jeans : Juicy Couture

Booties : Naturalizer Comfortwear (last seen here )

Bag : Balenciaga City (featured here and last seen here )

Accessories : Tous (bangles) Koton (necklace)

Pictures by : AB

Earth tone, mustard and white

Some trends are not made for certain people.  In my case I don't see myself sporting a pair of floral print pants that are so much in trend now.  I figured that this trend suits very slim girls and I have to pull myself out of the equation here.  So, while digging in the closet looking for what to wear to the dentist (yes, AB finally had his braces fixed) yesterday, I came across this brown high waisted pants from last spring/summer.  The pants have the same cut and material of the floral print pants I tried at the store recently only minus the print!  Since I still feel bloated from the medication and didn't feel like squeezing into one of the skinnies, I decided to wear this one instead.

I love the mustard yellow.  It is the only form of yellow that I can wear without disappearing!  Yellow skintoned like me, I have to seriously consider yellow and some pastel shades. 

This white jacket is truly something! First because I love white in general and secondly, this jacket spells S-P-R-I-N-G all over! It is called the 'sailing' jacket.  I guess it is because it looks like one of those that used by the sailors?  Anyway, it is lightweight and perfect for this time of the year.  Glad I bought it!

Outfit

Top : Forever 21

Jacket : Massimo Dutti (New)

Pants : Promod

Bag : Louis Vuitton

Shoes : Kenneth Cole

Belt : Banana Republic

Bracelet : Tiffany and Co.

Pictures by : AD