WHAT I WORE: IN DUBAI

So what does one wear in Dubai? I guess a lot of my wardrobe will be sitting redundant apart from during visits to Europe and from now when shopping on I shouldn't as much as look at anything else but summer clothes. There are obviously some rules too when it comes to choosing what to wear in Dubai. Shoulders and knees should be covered. To respect this the best possible item of clothing has got to be a maxi wrap dress with sleeves. Although having said that the v at the front is probably too low and therefore better worn with a cami underneath. The dress in these pictures is an old one from DVF. This season they have it in a few different prints and colours out of which this is my favourite one.

(Here a demonstration of the negative sides (literally) of hair extensions. If you let them dry naturally without brushing this is what they look like from behind. Or at least mine did! Not the best look. However... I'm now free of them and intend to stay that way.)

Have a smashing Saturday ladies (and gentlemen...?)!

Minna x

DUBAI MARINA AND ABOUT SCHOOLS

I forgot that I had a few more Dubai posts that I wanted to share with you. So here we go! We took a stroll along "The Walk" in Dubai Marina one evening whilst there. To my knowledge it's pretty much the only place in Dubai where you can actually do that; have a walk. The walk is lined up with restaurants and cafes where you can sit outside and watch the world go by.

I can't remember what was behind this but I would imagine that I was being a cheeky monkey. Sometimes I just can't help being so damn funny.

The main purpose of this trip was to take Little M to a school assessment. Yes, yes, I know... all the Finns out there are now thinking OMG she is not even four years old! (In Finland you start school at the age of seven and a vast majority of children simply attend their local school.) That's exactly how I felt too. However the school assured me that it wouldn't be a test as such, all it would involve would be playing with a teacher. And that it was, too. That didn't mean that I wasn't nervous about Little M's behaviour beforehand. I was pretty sure that she wouldn't willingly leave my side. I was totally wrong. She excitedly took the teacher's hand and marched off. She came and waved at me half way through. I was stunned. She was in there for about an hour and apparently hadn't stopped chatting for one moment. Guess that was a good thing as they accepted her. She has a place in a lovely school for the coming September. That was my biggest worry about Dubai so it was a huge relief.

Finding a school wasn't easy due to very high demand especially in her age group. The whole process can certainly feel like a full time job at times. The next job is to find us an apartment or a house to live in. I've done a lot of research and ground work so let's hope it won't be too hard when the time comes.

Minna x

A DAY AT ANANTARA, DUBAI

Now that I started talking about Dubai let me take you back to a lovely afternoon spent at the new Anantara Hotel on the Palm a few weeks ago. 

Anantara is located at the very end of the Palm so a bit of a drive away however very much worth it. I like the Palm. You get a lovely beach with beautiful views and it has a certain calmness to it.

Our friends were staying there so we took a little dip in their pool. Little M got to show off her swimming skills.

Later on we returned to the beach to make some sand castles. 

There was some competition over a very fancy handbag. 

It helps to be the taller one.

This particular afternoon was my final turning point. The point where I realised that I had started to look forward to living in Dubai. Being able to spend a day like this on regular basis can't possibly be a bad thing? I have a feeling that the kids won't mind it either...

Minna x

HI THERE DUBAI

So... Some of you have already gathered from my Instagram that it's Dubai we're moving to!! We've known about it for a year already but I've had this "I believe it when I see it" attitude towards the move. Well I now have to believe it as it really is happening!

Let me tell you about my feelings towards Dubai and the move. Initial reaction: NO WAY! I had been to Dubai once and it really wasn't my cup of tea.

Despite this I wasn't going to say no to it so I started to try and get more positive about the thought of living there. It's not a permanent move so I told myself that nothing will really change in London in the few years we'll be gone plus the kids will have a great time so maybe it will all be okay. As the months passed I went hot and cold and even through stages of complete denial pretending that it wasn't going to happen. There were tears too, at the thought of leaving London and our amazing friends that are such a big part of our life. Not to mention being much further away from both of our families.

We then visited Dubai again at the end of our Oman holiday in December. I had hoped and expected to like it more this time but sadly I was disappointed... I just couldn't warm to it, at all. All I could think about was: I love London and I hope the move won't happen after all.

My wishes didn't come true and the time came to start making plans for schools and housing. In January I flew to Dubai for a couple of days with a tight schedule of school and house viewings. During both of our previous Dubai visits we had stayed in hotels that we weren't so keen on. This time I chose a hotel pretty much blindly and ended up in a totally different area, close to Dubai Marina. What a change!! A very positive one! The first evening after running around from viewing to another I relaxed on a hotel sunbed with a lovely view of the impressive Dubai skyline over a beautiful beach and thought to myself that actually... maybe it won't be too bad after all. Seeing all the potential areas to live in and being able to narrow down where I'd like to be also helped. I went back to London feeling much, much better about Dubai.

Then a few weeks ago it was time to fly back there to take care of a couple of things. And guess what... it nearly hurts me to say it.... here we go; I actually loved it! I had a great time! I enjoyed every minute of it! It's no London or New York but it certainly has its plus sides. It's an exciting place full of opportunities. Not to mention the sunshine! So I'm amazed and pleased to find myself looking forward to the move. I'm excited about it and I think it will be a great experience for all of us. Best of all we won't be alone. We have a good group of friends moving there too.

So here we go. You are finally up to date with my news. Sorry for not telling you any earlier. It's been hard to keep it in but I don't believe in announcing anything that's not 100% sure. So... is there anybody out there who lives in Dubai? Would love to hear from you in the comment box and get even more excited about the move! I'm not moving just yet though, not until after the summer. The kids and I will be heading there after the hottest summer months are over. But I am packing my bags and leaving London for the South of France in May. I will miss London dearly so I'm going to make sure to enjoy it until then.


Minna x

CHRISTMAS EVE WISHES AND PICTURES FROM DUBAI

I want to wish all of you a lovely Christmas Eve! In my home country Finland today is the day of Christmas celebrations. Here in the UK we have to wait for one more day! However we have such a lovely day ahead of us today that it feels like Christmas already. We are meeting friends for lunch after which we are heading to my Mother-In-Law's for the Christmas period. Tonight we are having gammon for dinner, which is the traditional, Finnish Christmas dish. It's my absolute favourite so I can't wait!! 

Here are some not so Christmassy pictures from Dubai where we spent the last day of our holiday. You can see from our clothing that the temperatures have started to cool down over there however it was still as sunny as ever.

My favourite outfit on Little M at the moment.

Happy Christmas everyone! Hope you have a lovely, lovely time!

Minna x

OMAN PHOTO DIARY PART II

Our Oman holiday is coming to an end. We have a nice, last Zighy Bay dinner ahead of us still and a stop in Dubai too. There might be a few of you who have followed my blogs from the very beginning and those few might remember that I've been to Dubai once before, a couple of years ago, and that it wasn't so much my cup of tea. However I'm heading there with an open mind, hoping that this time it will be!

As we haven't left our resort even once this week we've been able to wear our usual beach wear with no problems. However if you want to walk all the way to the end of the beach there is a sign stating that one must wear a cover up over their swimwear when exiting the hotel resort. Fair enough!

The kids have thoroughly enjoyed themselves. However today Little M said that she misses London and her friends at the nursery. Guess that means that she's holidayed out and that we selected the duration of this trip right!

I will still do a proper post about our hotel, Zighy Bay. I just need to go through those hundreds of pictures that I've taken to select the ones that do it most justice.

Happy Friday night everyone!

Minna x