more coming eventually!

So after a really long time without any updates....

I bought extra room on Picasa web albums and am working on uploading all the thousands and thousands of photos I have to it. It will take a while longer to get them all up, so I probably wont actually update until after the new year. But I will eventually!

If anyone wants to take a look at those I have put up so far, here is the link
http://picasaweb.google.com/revolutiontoast

It is nice to be able to have loads of extra room for all my photos now! It wasnt even worth updating since I was completely out of space for photos, and updates without photos are boring.

An update: what a crazy concept

+ Wes finally got his eye surgery. He was going to get the LASIK but apparently his eyes are all weird so he had to get the other type. Anyway, he's still recovering and he's off of work until next Wednesday. Until then it's lots and lots of eye drops, laying in dark rooms and not doing too much else. Hopefully he will be recovered enough to do something for his actual birthday this coming Tuesday.

+ We're less than one month away from the wedding. Even closer than that? Being back in the States: May 13. Currently, I am SICK of planning the wedding and asking people to do stuff re: the wedding. I am thinking we should have just used the money for some crazy trip instead. Oh well. No turning back now.

+ Speaking of which... I'll be in Chicago May 15-17 for a SND MeetUp. Super excited for that. Plus I plan on doing some "Chicago eating" while in town. Hot Doug's, here I come.

+ The big WOMAD festival is currently going on in Abu Dhabi. It's a big cultural music festival featuring lots of live performances on the public beach. Totally free. Robert Plant, of Led Zepplin fame, is headlining tomorrow night. I'll be there.

+ Wes and I secured tickets to the big Abu Dhabi F-1 race for the weekend of Nov. 1. Should be insane.

+ We're starting to come to the realization that no one will probably come visit us here. I think what it comes down to is people imagine the UAE and the rest of the Middle East as a non glamourous place. It's too bad, really, because the UAE is full of glamour and flash. Since we've come to this realization we've decided to just go ahead and start using our vacation time. After wedding season is over we're looking at trips to India and Istanbul for sure... both are easy (and cheap) weekend trips for us. Also in the near future: Malta (staying with realitives makes it cheap).

The National wins 22 design awards

Elysia made me take down my other post because it was too braggy and ripped on the paper's competitors.

So here, just check out THIS article instead to see the awards the paper won (and the 8 or 9 Elysia won) at this year's SND competition.

Lazy.Bored.Apathetic.

So many words can describe why we've stopped updating this blog.

Wes, well, he doesn't update anything (Facebook, Blog, MySpace, Twitter, etc. etc.) and I've given up and have resorted to 140 words or less.

Twitter. So much easier.

Day-to-day at: leashpj33

In case your one of the 200+ people ignoring my 50 messages about being in Michigan

Yes. I am in Michigan. WE are in Michigan. Have been since Jan. 15. I like how many "friends" are ignoring that fact. We fly 7,000 every weekend!!

I'm not bitter or anything!

Anyway, we head off to have a vacation from our vacation Saturday AM where we head to Cincinnati and Nashville for a few days. In fact, I REALLY need said vacation from our vacation. It's been a hard time here (most being spent in the hospital with my mom). If you don't know about that just ask me, please don't post about it on this blog. Too impersonal.

See you Abu Dhabi cats in no time.

How time flies...

Today marks one year of being in the UAE for me.

Crazy.

Now's not the time to come vacation in the UAE

Why?

Sheikh Rashid bin Ahmed dies

Things in the UAE will be closed for 7 days of mourning.

Time to make other plans

Guess THIS rules out our Dubai New Year's plans.

In case you're too lazy to click, the headline says it all:

'Mohammad orders cancellation of New Year celebrations'

Elysia's top of 2008

::::drum roll please::::

Best big life moment
Moving to a foreign land BEFORE the recession hits
Runner up: Having the funds to actually have a real wedding celebration with

Best dish
White truffled mashed potatoes at Bord Eau in Abu Dhabi
Runner up: Salmon appetizer at Al Fanar in Abu Dhabi

Best event
Barack Obama getting elected
Runner up: Lizzie's going away party at the champagne bar

Favorite album
Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
Runner up: Seriously, was it just me or was there a lack of good music this year?

Best clothing find
Discovering one-of-a-kind clothing on www.newyorkcouture.net
Runner up: The discovery of Harvey Nichols in Dubai as the closest thing to Nordstrom

Best new tradition
My wedding anniversary
Runner up: Monday Cake

Best vacation
Vegas for work
Runner up: (Re)discovering Amsterdam with Wes

Most exciting new food
Learning how to properly enjoy an oyster... condiments included.
Runner up: Foir Gras and pretending I don't know where it comes from

Favorite film
'The Wackness'
Runners up: 'Pineapple Express', 'The Counterfeiters' and 'Tropic Thunder'

Best animal
Camels
Runner up: Greyhounds from afar (greyhounds in person are much, much better)

Best TV on DVD
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" season 3
Runners up: Gossip Girl and Mad Men

Next years' list will most likely include: Wedding celebration of the century, getting out of debt, St. Patrick's Day in Ireland

The BIG anniversary dinner

Some of you may have read about our BIG dinner already HERE on SouthSoundEats.com.
But it's probably safe to say that most of you haven't SEEN the seven-star dinner we ate at the Burj Al Arab's Al Mahara for our anniversary.

Feast your eyes.


Wes' main course from above: A wild selection of the sea


Our table: Shot by our waiter during our main course


Admiring the fish: Lots and lots and lots to see


Guilty pleasure: Foir gras and eggplant


A lobster "salad" that Wes ordered.


The dinning room: A small 80+ person space with one giant tank.

One

Doesn't this say it all?



Happy anniversary, Wes.
Love, Me

a challenge

find a reputable science webpage that proves that otters fart.

For all interested parties...

... mostly probably just family....

((Preface: We will NOT track down friends and beg them to hangout this time around. That was a lot of let down last time. Translation: IT'S ALL YOU if you want to see us.))

... Wes and I will be home Jan. 15-Feb. 1.

The second week of being home we'll head down to Cincinnati and Tennessee for few days.

December 15?! Really?

It's hard to look at the calendar and believe what it says.

Thinking about Christmas and "winter" when the temperature is still 70+ degrees and sunny outside is nearing impossible.

While most of you will tell me to shut up and stop bragging, it's a very strange experience for someone who has ALWAYS seen snow in December. It feels like I'm stuck in October and Halloween is just around the corner.

While there are little hints of Christmas such as co-workers receiving greeting cards by post, grocery shopping to a PA playing carols and decorative trees dotting malls and hotels, the lack of jacket weather has the excitement factor of the holidays hidden.

And, well, to make matters worse I'm doing most of my shopping via Web. There are no sales fliers or Black Friday fights. And there's certainly a lack of wrapping paper and Cassie's paws prancing all over it.

Maybe this year Christmas will have to hold until our January return.
Bah, humbug.

UAE National Day December 2nd photos!

UAE's 37th National Day was December 2nd and was quite an experience.


Loads of cars were decorated with all kinds of detail. There were lots of images of the founding father of the country, Sheikh Zayed. Flags were also in abundance with almost all of the cars having one somewhere on it. Some of the cars were even spray painted with the UAE colors or had loads of red, black, green and white stickers all over them.



And of course, how unsurprising to see a giant flag being towed around the sky by a helicopter. Yes, that tiny little dot in the upper left corner is a full size helicopter that flew around over the waters of the Arabian Gulf along the Corniche. That thing in the bottom right corner is a giant observation tower attached to the Marina Mall, another giant structure all in itself.


Some microlight aircraft few along the Corniche as well, all decorated in the UAE colors, and were even lit up at night. They wisely moved to a safe distance during the fireworks show.


Muhammad and I went to the Hiltonia Beach Resort early in the day and sat around listening to the constant honking of cars, the revving car engines and backfires of Ferraris.... all having their engines sacrificed in the name of National Pride and Patriotism.


After a while we moved to a spot where the view would be even better and met some people who had to sneak into the resort since they were not allowing anyone else to enter. We ordered some food and had some shisha. Roland enjoys a few puffs before the fireworks begin.


And a double apple shisha for me. I am wearing my UAE scarf that I got at the UAE vs North Korea football match.


The fireworks display was pretty good, and the lasers and spotlights from the Emirates Palace lit up the smoke.


Yea I took a lot of photos. The display lasted about 45 minutes and was pretty good. On the other side of us an equally large display went off at the same time, so we heard explosions from in front and back of us. Had we been in another location we might have been able to watch both at once, but as it was, this was good enough.


After the show we walked out to the Corniche Road, which is basically the "Main" street in Abu Dhabi. It was packed with cars and people, and all we could hear was shouting, honking, singing and revving engines.


Here is a short video to give you an idea of what this was all like.


Some of the cars had a little less decoration, or maybe were just done in a a hurry like this one:


Even more looked something like these, with plenty of decoration and UAE spirit:






We even saw 2 old Baja Beetles decorated in UAE colours. I took this one while we were slowly driving off. I would have liked to have a better shot of it, but maybe next year. They really should have a best decorated car contest here, there were so many more that were beyond amazing. The work some people put into making their car a driving symbol of patriotism and pride is beyond description.

Happy 37th Birthday UAE!

Check out some of the other photos if you would like, but I think this post about covers all the best ones.

UAE National Day Dec 2 2008

Perez on George in AD

A photo and a "brief" comment about George Michael and his appearance here in Abu Dhabi.
Click here to see it and also read the idiot comments about AD. It still amazes me how people think the UAE is equal to the wild west.

Apparently this is some kinda "big deal"

I could see the crowd gathering in our courtyard at work through my window. But I had no clue as to why.

"It's the trophy!" exclaimed a desk mate.

I could see it. It was big. It was shiny.. it was... "What is that?"

"It's THE trophy!!!" he stated again. "THE trophy."

I could see it was A trophy but had no clue as to why it was here or what it was an award for.

I left my desk for a closer look.

It was, I discovered, the Premier League trophy or as it's properly called: Barclays Premier League Trophy. Think the Stanley Cup of football (or soccer to most Americans).

While I was still generally, more or less, unimpressed. As seen here:


Wes worshiped it (or at least acted like he did to impress the Brits in the newsroom):




As to why it was there, in our courtyard in Abu Dhabi, far far away from it's current home of Manchester? You got me.

The big 3-7!

Today the UAE celebrates it's National Day — 37 years of being a nation.


While most people will celebrate it like Wes by not working, heading to the beach to smoke shisha, drinking and watch the fireworks... I will work. Very late. Unfortunately the paper considers a country's anniversary and the world's largest fireworks display "news." That's a crazy thought!

One year ago today

At exactly this time last year I was interviewing for a job, over the phone, in the UAE. After being offered the job on Thanksgiving I was unable to eat my yummy dinner because I was so distracted/freaked out by what to do.

I think it's safe to say I made the right decision.

No pushing food around my plate this year.

George Michael + us

It's official.

Wes and I are going to the George Michael and Alicia Keys concert Dec. 1.

Apparently this will be Michael's last show EVER.

Leave it to the UAE...