Abu Dhabi Life: Friday Brunch

Our friends baptized their new baby this weekend.

In the UAE, it's also a good occasion for going to a big ol' celebratory brunch. And in true WASPy fashion, Steve and I love a good brunch. Before moving here we had fun trying quaint little brunches all over LA, Vegas, and Seattle. And even farther back, I have hilarious memories from the cheap bottomless mimosa brunches my friends and I used to seek out across NYC in the years right after college.

But in the UAE, brunch isn't cute, or quaint, or made for rolling out of bed and stumbling towards. It's an event that requires a little advance planning, usually reservations, time to get presentable (yoga pants not recommended), a round trip taxi ride (zero tolerance alcohol policy in the UAE), and eating and drinking way too much (both are all you can eat). Oh, and it's typically on Friday since that's the primary day off here and people tend to stay for the entire brunch time - 4 hours.

And you guyyyyyyyys, brunch here costs $125 - $180 per person.

Apparently, my reaction means I haven't fully acclimated. None of our friends seems to have the same reaction, or at least not anymore. Even Steven thinks it's fine.

But of course we wanted to support and celebrate with our friends and their new bebe, so we joined in. Steve and I opted for the non-alcoholic option but time crawls when you're drinking water and iced tea.

But 4 hours is a long time when you're stone cold sober and all your friends are several drinks deep.

So when Aimee handed me a mojito 2 1/2 hours later, I happily partook.

And like magic, the rest of the brunch flew by. And so did the drinks we had at our place, and the shawarma we ordered and happily ate with our hands.

The end.

Take me back

I miss being on vacation.

I miss really good truffle brie and foie gras and bulots.

But mostly, I miss my husband.

Photo credit: this awesome photo was taken by our new friend Liz. She's an American living in Europe and takes wonderful photos. She and her family have been living abroad for a long time now, and I just really loved hearing her stories and perspective on life.  Follow her on IG at @lizzylinder or @brandotheiggy to see what I mean!

Travel: France in Fall - sneak peek

I'm savoring every last memory, new friend, and photo from this trip. When I came back my heart was so full and my head so grounded and I really want to hold on to that for as long as possible. So I've been reminding myself of the goodness I felt every day since coming back.

One of those good things was being forced - partly by the lack of cellular, partly/gently by Sven - to unplug entirely from work and random web distractions. I still took a few snaps and shared a couple things online during the trip, but it was fairly sporadic. If you follow my Snap (heathmo.grizz) or IG (@oohheather) you may have noticed the sound of crickets. In the moments it was a combination of being too interested in the activity or company to bother, and during the lulls I was intentionally trying to break my habitual and half-hearted phone patterns. I'm trying to be more fully present in my real life by doing more outside of work, giving people and pursuits my full attention, and taking fewer meaningless photos (it just becomes mind clutter). Sometimes that means I end up not sharing anything at all (ahem, silent blog), and sometimes it means I'm sharing long after the time has passed. But in the constant struggle to re-prioritize and re-time my life, it's helping me.

But anyway, here's a smattering of photos for a sneak peek.  They're not the best photos - some are blurry and I haven't really edited them.  But I'm less concerned about that than I used to be.  The moment is shared because it was lovely and I cherished it.  And that can be enough.

Our Airbnb for the first week - a charming house in the middle of all the vineyards (and fog).

So much goodness.  And blurry, but whatev.

In Paris I couldn't resist getting a variety from the markets.  We ate it just like this - picking at it with our fingers from a towel spread on our hotel bed.  It was marvelous.  Clockwise from top - figs, semi-dried tomatoes, butter (is life), tinned octopus, bresaola (air-dried, salted beef), baguette, magret de canard (smoked Moulard duck), grapes.

Our last dinner of the trip.  Clockwise from top - foie gras, roasted peppers, chorizo, herbed goat cheese, roasted & herbed mushrooms, large shrimp (eaten peeled), small brown shrimp (eaten whole), whelks (boiled in broth and eaten by plucking meat out of the shell). Not pictured - baguette and wine!

Photo taken by our new friend Liz.  Check her out on IG @lizzylinder

Travel: Croatia Sneak Peek

We're still in Croatia and loving every minute of it.  The water is cool and crystal clear, the sun is out and the temperature is perfect, and the people are very friendly.  We're drinking cheap beer, great wine, and eating lots of seafood, smoked ham, great pasta, and gelato.  So basically, we're in heaven.

There have been such gorgeous views that span as far as the eye can see.  I've been trying to capture the full majesty of what we're seeing, but it's hard to capture something that takes a full head span from left to right (for me anyway).  So I've been sharing a lot of Snapchat videos(heathmo.grizz), and I think I've used the Panoramic feature on my phone more in the last 2 days than in the last 5-6 years combined.

But here is a tiny sneak peek:

Driving from Split to Dubrovnik

Steven prepared breakfast on the patio in Dubrovnik (I have such an excellent husband).

That's it for now - we're off for a swim in the turquoise waters!

Social: Snapchat

About six months ago my sister convinced me to join Snapchat.  I was hesitant for so long (probably because of the app's original, somewhat leery purpose), but now I'm really glad I did.  It's fun to see little tidbits from everyone's daily life.  And of course, the filters are hilarious.

I don't have that many people on my Snapchat though, and I want to see more!  When I first joined, I made the mistake of adding a couple old friends based on their phone numbers, only to find out the "Snapchat way" that those numbers now belonged to other people.  So I don't recommend doing that...

But send me your Snapchat names, or add me so I can "see" you and I'll add you back!  I'm bored and I want to see what you're all up to.

Here's my username:  heathmo.grizz