Thanksgiving Celebrations

Being abroad during the holidays can be tough.  We're terribly far from our families, friends, the tradition, the season, all in all the familiar and full magic of the holidays...but at the same time, being away can be uniquely special.

This Thanksgiving, I've discovered that simply having wonderful people to celebrate in the beauty of the season is in itself a really wonderful thing.  It may not be the traditional that I grew up with (the Stewart family dressing, a crisp sunny day, lunch at 2 then leftover meal at 6pm, the macy's parade, football), but there is certainly a kindness in the air that comes from the true purity of togetherness.  And no lack of dressing (aka stuffing for you non southerners), outfit or decorations can diminish that feeling.  And, THAT friendship and togetherness is what I am most grateful for this season.

We had a lovely dinner at Joey's boss's home on Thursday night.  Don and Sherry are amazing and have quickly become our family here.  They're kind, compassionate and live each day whole-heartedly...it's a gift to be so connected to them.

Pam was also a little Thanksgiving miracle for us this year too!  She ended up having work in Dubai (she oversees the middle east operations for Loreal), so we were lucky enough to have her with us for the holiday.  Nothing like a little family to brighten the occasion!!  

Friday was spent poolside with Pam.  Since it's chilly in Paris, that was her only request for the weekend...a little sunning!  haha, easy enough in Abu Dhabi!  That night we met up with our friends Nadine and Wissam for NYU Abu Dhabi's theater production of "Death of a Salesman".  It was an interesting adaptation to say the least.  They used objects/puppeteering for some of the characters...and I gotta say, I really enjoyed it.  Makes you think of characterization a little differently.  The brother character was a punching bag and the mistress was a little fan...how's that for conveying their purpose around the main characters?  Brilliant.

Then finally to cap off our Thanksgiving weekend, Saturday morning I taught my first yoga class on the corniche.  I had the pleasure of having Joey and Pam in attendance.  It was great!  It's amazing how my auto pilot kicks in when I teach...like the words simply flow and I'm able to guide everyone gently while giving them a pretty intense work out.  I really truly love it.  After the class we sat on the beach for about an hour, then went back to our apt, finished our bits of cooking, then drove to Dubai for a little holiday get-to-gether at our friend's, Sara and Omar, place.  The dinner was amazing and Sara did a fabulous job preparing SO MUCH FOOD!!!  Everything was delicious, including the company!

A HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2011 INDEED!

November Happenings

Where the heck did the month of November go??  It honestly was a blur.  We've been so busy with so many random things...

After spending most of our time furniture browsing/shopping, picking out necessities for our new apartment, overseeing slight bathroom issues (they had to come in and re-tile our shower b/c the water wasn't flowing towards the drain...we flooded our bathroom twice :( , working...me teaching more yoga classes and Joey kicking butt w/ his project development,  meeting with friends, attending Thanksgiving festivities, planning our Dec travel, etc...here are some photo highlights :)


Joey worked diligently the afternoon we moved into our apt to master the espresso machine.  And let me just say... my cappuccino was DELICIOUS!!

Last Monday I had to return something at The One in the Abu Dhabi Mall and saw this sign for "Breaking Dawn" outside the little theater....just magical!  And since I had several hours before my next yoga class, I decided to treat myself to a little twilight matinee lovin!  Cheesy acting, but definitely worth seeing if you've read the books.



I also discovered that much to Joey and my anticipation...Pinkberry had FINALLY opened in the mall!!  I restrained myself from immediate indulgence and planned to surprise Joey with a little tart yogurt dessert on Wed night...our first night to actually spend the evening in our new apartment.






Our dining chairs were delivered earlier in the week, then on Wednesday our table, cabinet and mirror were delivered from Crate and Barrell.  After arranging them to our pleasure, we enjoyed a little pasta dinner together.  Our first meal at our new home!!  Oh, and pinkberry for dessert!!

Marine Corps Ball

Joey and I had the distinct honor of attending this year's Marine Corps Ball here in Abu Dhabi!  The event was held at Emirates Palace and everyone arrived dressed to impress!   Lots of our UAE family was in attendance as well and we all spent the evening learning all about the marines, their service at home and abroad, enjoying great conversations, eating delicious food and, oh yeah, the dancing!

Our friend Dick, who was honored as the oldest marine in attendance, had a constant urge to hit the dance floor...and most of the time with his favorite dance partner in hand.  Me!  haha  We had the BEST time!!!  I even got to witness our Ambassador seriously cutting a rug!  It was an experience to remember!

Move IN Day 1 at Etihad Towers

A couple weeks after Halloween and I swear you could have witnessed two zombies walking around Abu Dhabi... Me and Joey!

It wasn't by any means on purpose, just the result of some seriously long hours furniture shopping, strategizing move in arrangements, long drives to and from dubai, work, late hours skyping with family, being sick (I think it's allergies causing me to feel like I have the beginning stages of the flu...just constantly tired with a sore throat and headache) and a few other random stresses.  The days simply go by too fast...or better there are never enough hours in the day to accomplish all we would like in a relaxing sort of way.  We're still trying to work in time to send our save-the-dates...but that keeps getting bumped :(  Soon, though, I promise.

Anyways  after sleeping in this morning, I'm finding myself with a little more energy to post our latest happenings...our move in!

Joey admiring our view!

The apartment really is amazing and we can't wait to share it with all of you!  YES, that's a personal invitation to come visit us!!  We'll hopefully have all of our furniture by mid-January (our couch and coffee tables are coming from Denmark courtesy of BoConcepts and we'll have a shipment of our stuff from the states too), so feel free to plan your visit anytime after :)

So our 1st move in was yesterday (saturday from 9-12pm) where we just got keys, inspected everything, had the cleaners come in (It was a mess when we walked in!  They were supposed to clean and have everything perfect before we came.  I was mortified....and of course complained.  Then before we knew it, 10 smallish guys were in and fast at work dusting, mopping, buffing, painting...it was nuts!), and had furniture and appliances delivered.  So in the end, it all went relatively smoothly.

But Joey and I were wiped.  We left our new apartment around 3 and headed for some random odds and ends at TheOne furnishings and lunch.  They have the most delicious food!!  From what I can remember of it...it was just as tasty yesterday.  But I think Joey and I were both so tired, it all was a blur.  I can vaguely remember looking at chairs for our dining table and trying with all my brain power to determine which would look better...the red ones or the white.  The red ones or the white... Ow.  Must sleep.  Can't go on...

Okay, so more on the official move in day on the 16th!!  Miss you all!

Halloween

As an American, I have a passion for the holiday season instilled in my heart.  I just LOVE the energy that's in the air from mid-September to New Year's Day.  And as a Tennessean, that love is even stronger because we always have the changes in the season to create the perfect backdrop, especially for Fall!  The moment those leaves start changing to shades of orange and red I know the wonderfulness that is autumn is among us!  The crisp air, the fall festivals and parades, harvest decorations around town and in all the stores, halloween candy and costumes, bundling up in soft sweaters, parties and celebrations, apple cider, big pots of chili, football, then the Thanksgiving preparations, halloween turns to harvest, pecan pie, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, did I mention pie?, christmas shopping, the first traces of winter, glittering snow fall, ice skating, hot chocolate and bailey's, holiday cards, decorating the christmas tree, the parties, family togetherness...

Now imagine living in the Middle East.

Lol, okay, let me just say I am TRULY loving the opportunity to have such a unique experience in life and am so grateful every day...but this time of year it's a little hard to be so far away from the magic of the holiday season.  We live in a wonderful place and have the sweetest friends, so like I said...I am truly grateful EVERY day.

So with my very deep rooted optimistic spirit and Joey's eagerness and love, we create our own little holiday season right here in Abu Dhabi.

There's not a big display of Halloween around town, but if you look for it, you can find a little something.

In fact, some of the restaurants will go all out on Halloween day with decorations and dressing up.  Which is just SO FUN!!   Joey and I ended up going to the Trader Vic's at our hotel, since that was the biggest display we heard of.  It was fairly tame with latin music, but the decorations and staff's enthusiasm was fun!

Next year, we've decided since we'll be in our own apartment and settled in, we'll host our own halloween costume party!  "Rocky Horror Picture Show" playing on the projector, a buffet of weird looking treats and the sounds of "monster mash" echoing through the strobe lit room!  (maybe I should have mentioned these things to Joey before posting them on my blog...hahaha, oh well!!)