Black and White styling!

So my sis turned 40 and she wanted a fancy dinner! So which better setting than the Jumeirah Etihad Towers?!

I’m a bit late posting this  since this was in December…the setting was beautiful and so were we! We chose a Black & White theme just to make things a bit more interesting!

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I kept things quite casual with black jeans, black shoes and white shirt with cutouts.

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My sister turned 40 this year and she is on fiiiiiire!!! #goals #fab40 #40isthenew30 #werk

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My friend Shade also played along and was on theme with a white dress and black shoes. Both ladies were a bit more dressed up than I was…what can I say, a girl can only go with her mood of the day! And I was out and about the whole day so all I had to do was swap the top and shoes and be on my way!

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Here’s a closeup of my babies…the shoes of course! From ALDO! Top from H&M and jeans from EXPRESS…All contributed to a very cute, casual look for a fun night out!

Until next year…enjoy your 40th year sisi!

Abaya styling!

In the Middle East, one can’t help but fall in love with their quiet and distinguished elegance displayed on a daily basis!

Here, I am rocking a little H&M dress whose design/motif is reminiscent of arabesque flower design (seen on the elevator floor lol) and to be modest, I chose to wear an abaya. The abaya (from LOUZAN) lent class and cover all at once and since it is laser cut, it also adds a modern twist to it!

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I kept the accessories to a minimum as well as the makeup. I went for a dark lip as my face was otherwise bare and neutral.

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Cheers divas!

 

Brunch at Le Royal Meridien!

Friday is Brunch time in the UAE and who are we to do otherwise?!

Le Royal Meridien has a whopping 3 restaurants on full display: Amalfi, the Italian restaurant, WhEAT which is transformed into an Alice in Wonderland-themed playroom for the kids to enjoy, and Cafe Palmier.

The food was amazing and we were spoiled for choice! From salad bars to raw oysters, grilled seafood (shrimps, lobsters, hammour..etc), a sushi bar, antipasti! There was a naan oven, fresh kofta and beef grilled on demand, fish & chicken tikka. Fresh pizza straight out of the oven was also available!

The dessert bar was sick! From chocolate cake, strawberry mousse cake, cheesecake, date cake, Opera mini cakes…you name it, it was there! They had the most original ice cream flavours..from basil to passion fruit and from cookies & cream to vanilla and coffee!

The kids enjoyed it as much as we did! Thank God for the swimming pool afterwards to burn all these calories!

To top it off, the staff was absolutely delightful! They were very helpful, chatted with the kids, offered full bottles of still & sparkling water for the children once they came out of the pool as well as a margharita pizza piping hot from the oven!

Will definitely be back! Highly recommend it!

Amalfi

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WhEAT

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Dessert Bar

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Cafe Palmier

It was a lovely Friday afternoon!

 

No love for the Love Food Festival!

The Street Feast festival has been renamed the Love Food Festival and we were ready for it!

Last year was awesome…the venue was great (The Corniche), entry was free…logic if you’re going to pay to eat and drink! Kids could scoot or bike around…great outdoors activities to burn off those calories!

But then this year someone had the bright idea to revamp everything: entry to Mushrif Central Park (5 dhs), entry to the festival (30 dhs if bought online and 40 dhs at the door), kids activities (20 dhs each though it was advertised as having a great kids corner) and finally the food (from 30 dhs to 45 dhs for a meal and 20-30 dhs for a drink)…I mean when do you actually say enough?  I had to pay for that princess makeover!!!! 👑👑👑

The food was great but the formula was wrong!!!! Some of the much anticipated trucks were back as well as some new ones! I got to sample all of the food I was looking forward to as well as a few new ones!

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I had a grilled cheese sandwich with Stilton and pastrami as well as another one with goat cheese, honey and walnuts! Yum! (Not pictured)!

I also had one of the best fried chicken I’ve had in a long time from The other side! Another favorite was the chicken po’boy and sweet potato fries from Dixie Union! The Cajun spices were everything! To top it off, the drinks from Tonic were off the chain…both taste and presentation! Last but not least the ice pops from Hip Pop were exactly that: hip and popping! The concept is great…choose a flavor, a dip and a topping, all for 25 dhs! #delicious

So as you can see, I did get my food fix but will I be back next year based on that alone…No! The cost was too high for a family day out and I can tell you there’s nothing more that discourages people more than that…my daughter’s nursery teacher turned back out of principle! She said it was a rip off! The park was full of people who didn’t come in because of the entry fee…I mean once in you don’t have a choice but to spend money and that should be enough!

Well I am now looking forward to Toast Europe on March 11th at the DU Forum, from 3 pm onwards!!! Free kids activities, and 2 food vouchers + 1 drink voucher all for 100 dhs! Oh and all under 21 get in FREE!!!

 

3 Lolitas’ fried ice cream!!!

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My bay girl just lost her front teeth! She looks just like that little monkey on her PJ!

20151117_203733.jpg20151117_203750.jpgSo ice cream + bread + bread crumbs + frying pan = a deliciously decadent dessert!!!!

The girls and their friends LOVED it so much…I had to make this dessert every night for 3 days straight!

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Brownies Sleepover!

20151120_13550520151120_13564720151120_13584920151120_135841My baby girl is growing up! She went on a sleepover on her own with her Brownies unit (a version of the Girl Scouts) and she was super excited! It helped that she was wit Jadesola…or I am in denial about how independent my baby really is!20151120_135619

Here she is rocking her uniform and her twistout…favorite hairstyle of the moment! #teamnatural #happytobenappy

Though I did enjoy my time with my little babies…conversations were a tad bit simpler! The joy of motherhood! 😉

 

Water Lights Graffiti @ Abu Dhabi Science Fair

My girl was all hands on deck at the ADSF, perfecting her personal logo i.e. her name! Perfect educational and fun afternoon! The concept was quite cool: a black board, a paintbrush and water…the kids could draw, write whatever they wanted and it would light up as soon as the wet brush touched the board!

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The place was packed so I couldn’t avoid the occasional photo bomb!

Xoxo