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The best thing about half term was  THIS....

Oh how I miss these mornings!

London Shopping

So if you only read bits of my blog you may well think all I do is shop & pilates WRONG ( I do work occasionally!)! But I do like to share my shopping!! I also sell LOTS of stuff I no longer wear or need on Ebay and have just had a huge cull of cashmere sweaters, coats, hats and other bits that I will now hardly ever wear... these are bought with the proceeds!

Having just returned from London there are 2 new items in my wardrobe both of which I LOVE love love : one cheap as chips and the other the reward of some very hard work !!

Sometimes there is nothing as soft and luxurious as lamb's leather - buttery soft to touch.... this new clutch from Miu Miu did not disappoint.... It fits 2 blackberries, cash, keys, Mac Lippy and a bar of Green & Black's chocolate!! It snaps open and close with areal purpose and goes with EVERYTHING .. a little pricey but it will be a piece to keep and use for years to come ( it had it's first outing today for a girl's lunch in Riyadh... and was much admired and stroked!)

You can buy one here ( my colour sold out) from Net a Porter in creamy/blush or black

So this is my cheap as chips.....

Really soft, sleeveless, slightly transparent chiffon-like material top with 3 buttons in a grey leopard print. The tail of the shirt is longer and has a pleat at the back by the shoulder blades so it skims your body - PERFECT for Saudi weather ( hot outside but cooler in due to the constant air con)

Doesn't it look lovely and under £15 from H&M LOVE it! I couldn't find it online but I'm sure its still available instore....

And here they both are off to lunch in Riyadh... Peace sign and Pearl Necklace (from my website Violet and Rose London)

Hello London...

Leaving Riyadh just after midnight and arriving at 515am into LHR courtesy of my new BFF British Airways - DH was on the same flight (different class, of course!) but chose to go and have a shower in the Business lounge before his 8am meeting

Lucky me, jumped in the car and drove to Hampstead to arrive at my friend and pilates instructor's house at 615am (house was in total darkness so I sat outside in the car for a good 15 mins before sending her a text - "Anyone awake yet?")... poor girl opened the door looking very sleepy
( but in gorgeous dove grey  White Company silk PJs!) I took her dogs out for a walk on Hampstead Heath ( with her now wide-awake husband!) - great way to start the day and blow awake the cobwebs and stiff body after a long haul overnight flight with minimal sleep but the best was yet to come....
P I L A T E S! I was back in her studio on the Reformer at 8am for an hour of hardcore work and I loved it! I still haven't found a class in Riyadh with the Reformer but I will keep trying (who knows if I sell a couple of properties to new clients maybe I could treat myself to my own machine....)

The rest of the day was fun - Green Tea at Ottolenghi on Ledbury Road in Notting Hill with girlfriends ( still my fave place and I bought their new cookbook - Jerusalem) followed by a haircut at Toni and Guy in W8, spot of shopping on Ken High Street - mainly Zara (for me), Cos (also for me!) TopShop (for daughter) and Wholefoods (just because!) Shopping is quite hungry-making so another Green Tea (plus GF Choclolate Brownie) at Cafe Nero with another girlfriend before meeting DH and collect daughter from her bus - Hurray it is Half Term and I have the children for a whole NINE days.

New Abaya...

So, many of the British or American ladies I have met since being in Riyadh only have 1 Abaya (or 2 at the most) and they are never very excited by the purchasing of them!

I, on the other hand, have only been living here for less than 2 months and now own SIX! Yes SIX...BUT I have to wear one everytime I leave the compound ( for me this is daily) I decided in order for it not to be a chore to wear I would treat it like an outfit - so I have sparkles, demure ( well almost!) and totally OTT

So here is my latest purchase....

DH thinks I am about to "take off"

There's a LOT of material but the belt that ties up inside helps create some shape...

As you can see the dust plays havoc with long floating BLACK dresses out here!

This one is definetely not "an everyday" Abaya but I think all the swathes of fabric and the embroidered waist 'belt' make it quite glamorous...

My everyday look is more like this - but it was designed in Dubai which has more bling!! It has very tight fitting silk jersey sleeves...

As you can see they all differ hugely - some are fastened with poppers down the front ( this style is great for travelling as quick to remove!), some have a zip diagonally from the neck to the shoulder 

(very high fitting covering everything - great for wearing downtown in the Souk!) Some just pop over your head and have a couple of poppers at the chest/throat area and my very special evening/going out one has one popper at chest level but lots of silk jersey fabric so it hangs beautifully (will do a photo post of this one later!)

When you buy a new Abaya they usually come with a matching chiffon style rectangular scarf that has the same embellishments as the abaya - usually just down one side or on the ends... 

I have to admit that actually I quite like the drama of an abaya and the need to add embellishments! I can see a new company emerging....

Into the desert....

Friday morning is the equivalent to the Western World's Sunday - When in the Middle East with time on your hands on a Friday a trip into the desert is in order!! Today we went DEEP into the desert - over 150 kms from Riyadh about 2 hours drive from our compound - the mission was to find Shark Teeth Valley and see what we could find! As it is advised that you do not venture into the sands with less than 2 other vehicles ( nice big comfy 4x4's with great air con!) we joined some other friends with our picnic and the co-ordinates in the Sat Nav ( no idea where these co-ordinates come from but they got us to the right place!)

My Trusty and often Bossy Driver for the day...

The trip there was pretty interesting - we seem to be following the oil pipeline! I'm guessing these photos are of a town(?) by the side of the road where all the workers eat, sleep and generally hang out

By now we were off-road and into the sands - passing a few goats en route - No cars, no people nothing - it was amazing....(especially for a Londoner used to constant hustle and bustle!)

Its really difficlut to achieve the sense of vastnest in a photo...

I really wanted DH to take lots of photos of me skipping up and down the dunes in a flowing maxi dress with a sunhat on but we were with too many other people who I didn't really know!!!

We found these amazingly bleached white Camel bones - they almost looked like driftwood from the beach they had been so bleach and dried out by the hot sun - I thought there was a real beauty to them....

The Desert is the one place outside of the compound that women don't have to wear the Abaya ( I'm sure we should still be wearing it but as it is very unlikely that you will see another Human Being for miles and miles off comes the cloak...)

We picnic-ed in the midday sun just like typical Englishmen and our search for Sharks Teeth was hugely successful - you sit on the Desert floor and slowly gently sift through the top layer of sand, just when you are about to give up finding anything....

Isn't it amazing to think these teeth would be MILLIONS of years old from when the Desert was an Ocean .... Fabulous Day!

This one is for M

                                

                                 Happy Birthday dearest darling girl

                                                    I cannot believe you are 13 years old

From this.....

to this....

And now....

You have given us 13 years of joy, laughter and a few tears! Long may it continue xxx

You've got to love birthdays...

So a bit of a change for me this year - no children on my birthday wanting to open my cards/presents and no planning of daughter's birthday party/making her a cake/buying her presents etc for the following day!

DH bought me a cup of tea tea and a slice of Vijay's Birthday Banana cake in bed before he left for work which was a lovely start to the day!

Lovely friend, J,  collected me at 1030 and we headed downtown to new fave place Cafe Bateel for brunch, mint tea and lots of gossipping - infact we didn't leave until 230pm BUT not before I had tasted more of their delicious chocolates, dates and chocolate covered dates!!

The best thing is they let you TRY the chocolates - today we tried at least 4 each and didn't actually buy any chocolates ( just the usual kilo of dates!)

Who knew you could get these in Riyadh? Apparently there is a Laduree in one of the Malls - I'm saving that adventure for another day!!

Everything is beautifully packaged...

These don't look hugely appetising but are very tasty though my favourite is still the stuffed dates!

In the sunshine waiting for our driver with my purchases

Hungry?

This is Kingdom Tower which we were passing on the way home and it looked so beautiful in the sunshine surrounded by blue skies - The peeler bit at the top is the observation area surrounded by glass which you get to via a lift ( 99 floors but well worth the trip!) Not a bad photo considering it was taken on my Blackberry!

Happy Days!

Ottolenghi Style in Riyadh...

This evening VJ (Our Fab Cook) excelled himself!  

I had given him Ottolenghi's Cookery Book Plenty - One of my fave books - great recipes and fabulously mouth-watering photos! 

(Photos Courtesy of Ottolenghi)

If you haven't eaten or had take away food from here yet YOU MUST TRY IT - delicious! My fave is, of course, the one in Notting Hill on Ledbury Road W11 ( Close to the junction of Westbourne Grove and next to the Anya Hindmarch Boutique...)

You see you can take the girl out of Notting Hill BUT you can't take the Notting Hill out of the girl!!

We had Ottolenghi's delicious Sweet Potato Cakes with sour cream dressing and VJ's own salad of Avocado, Asparagus, Sweet Melon and Crumbled Feta Cheese - My tummy hurts it is so full....

This is all that is leftover for DH's Lunch tomorrow!

I also miss their amazing gluten free cakes - especially the Lemon Polenta Cake with Pistachio icing....