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....

Boy is sick...

DH has been moaning about how late we go to bed considering how early we have to get up ( well how early he has to get up!) so last night we were in bed and asleep before 11pm ( unheard of for the nightbird that I am!)

1105pm my mobile rings - in my dream, I thought but no it continued - after knocking into everything bar the blackberry on the bedside table I answered it to hear a very sad, little voice "Hi Mama"

My poor baby boy was ill at school and in the sick bay and I am a 7 hour flight away and there is NOTHING I can do :(

Pilates, Swimming, Walking.....

So this week I decided to start my fitness drive (drive, now there's a funny word - no driving here for a woman!)

Our week starts on a Saturday as the Saudi weekend is Thursday and Friday. So Saturday morning was my 1st Pilates Class with Cynthia at another compound about 30 mins drive away.  (In London I did a one to one pilates session on the reformer machine 3 times a week - Very spoilt, hugely expensive but saved my body and soul from the madness of being a working Mum.)  Cynthia teaches a mat pilates class to 4-6 ladies maximum and Saturaday's class was to be an hour on the stability ball ( I am so unco-ordinated I usually fall off!)

Luckily I LOVED it - my friend Joanne and I have now signed up to go twice a week.  As you can see from the photos we look pretty odd for going off to do some exercise - In Saudi women MUST wear  an abaya ( a long black cloak-like dress with ZERO shape) whenever they leave their house ( or Western Compound) -

As you can see the compounds in Riyadh are very fortified with barbed wire, high walls, security guards and LOTS of concrete bollards!

Weirdly you soon get used to handing over your passport to get into various compounds to visit friends, take a class etc

So that was Saturday morning - Even better was when I got home our fabulous cook VeeJay had baked a Gluten Free Banana cake - it was still warm and had to be tasted - surely an hour of pilates deserved tea and cake on the verandah?

        Only the crumbs left on the plates!

Forgot to mention I also bought a copy of Hello Middle East Version!

I'm digressing - back to fitness.... So Sunday I was to swim in the pool at 730am when DH left for work - OK I fell off the wagon on Sunday and stayed in bed!!  So when DH eventually came home from work Sunday evening I forced him to walk the "compound walk" with me - basically we walked the circumference of the compound at dusk ( compound is 1km square). Not much to look at whilst you walk - all the houses are pretty much the same!

        
     I may look pregnant in this photo I AM NOT!!!!

So Today is Monday and I went to Pilates with Cynthia again so I'm doing pretty well 2 days out of 3!

Have considered taking up yoga in order to........