Pizza Pizza!

Last week I had the fever to buy chocolates. Again.
So instead of getting a Kitkat or Twix or even extra sweet Mars, I went to Patchi.

And I shopped for chocolates!

I bought some ridiculously priced chocolate biscuits, and some even more ridiculously priced candies in sample quantities of course. I also bought half a kilo of Patchi mixed chocolates.

Since then, I have been eating chocolates non stop.
Chocolates in the morning for breakfast, chocolates for lunch and chocolates for dinner and of course I snacked on chocolates.
The craving has reached new levels, as the minute I’m done with a piece of chocolate I want some more immediately!

The result?
Well…I’m suffering from what’s internationally known as the Pizza Face Syndrome!

New zits every single day!!

I should be depressed about this I guess.

But I’m not.

Most probably because of the euphoria that I get from chocolates deminishes the darkest depression.

On the other hand, as I was washing my pizza face this morning, and wishing it to become silky like milk (fresh milk and not something that has been in the fridge, or outside it, for decades!), I thought how many men do I know can resist a pizza?

Not many!
The couple I know who don’t eat pizza, or junk food, are not the MEN I want, if you know what I mean!

I myself can’t resist a pizza!

So a pizza face is an irresistible face!

Yippy!!

Lucky me!!

Bring on those chocolates, baby! My pizza is still cheese only…and we need big pieces of pepperoni on it!!

My Shadow & I

Ever thought if your shadow was a Shadow?
You know, as in if it had its own mind and life and that some sunny or lighted times, it makes an appearance in your life just to entertain itself?

I don’t usually pay attention to my Shadow. But then I hardly pay attention to anyone around me.
However this morning, as I walked from my car to the building, I looked at my shadow (it was not a Shadow by then) and started thinking (with fond memories of Peter Pan and his Shadow flooding in).

What if Shadow was the other you?
You being two different psyches occupying one body most of the time, but when it’s sunny and hot, Shadow comes out cause it’s getting stifling inside. Now that’s not really a far fetched idea, ha?

If it was a different psyche and you lived in a darkened place all the time so that the Shadow never came out, would Shadow be upset? Would it try to regain some of its freedom by plotting against the other psyche? Would it slowly corrupt and destroy the other psyche until it’s succumbs to oblivion?
The other psyche would face a dilemma, as though it can weaken the power of Shadow it can not destroy it. That would suicidal. It would be like lobotomizing a part of the soul.

Shadow could be the part in the soul that embraces the darker emotions in one self, feeding upon them and strengthening them.
Everyone has chinks in their armor and Shadow would be very good at finding them. Greed, addiction, arrogance and prejudice are all good places to begin an assault on the other psyche, but they only serve as starting points for Shadow. Shadow knows all of one’s most intimate secrets. More importantly, it knows exactly how one works mentally. It knows best how to adapt its actions to greatest effect, as Shadow can be a tormentor with but one victim - itself.

But is it fair to assume that just because Shadow is a dark reflection of one that it is evil?

I don’t think so.
My Shadow is quite calm and quiet. It didn’t, as yet, speak to me. Of course it could be because it’s the opposite of me and I didn’t shut up to give it the chance!
As I looked at my shadow this morning, and contemplated, I thought that I like my Shadow.

I really do.

My Shadow is a better part of me. Especially at that time of the morning, where it is taller and thinner than I am. Darn I’m jealous!! I need my hot chocolate fix now before I do something suicidal!!!

Post quiescency!

I have been quiet for a long time.
I have not blogged for a fortnight now, though each day passed with me promising myself that I will blog at the end of the day. I broke the promise every night.

And it was not because of lack of events.

On the contrary.

I was extremely busy and I had many things to blog about like birthday surprises, good looking men, birthday gifts, good looking men, movies, and oh did I mention good looking men?


But I have time to blog today….why? because I’m in the office since 6:30 am!!!
The company is recruiting some new staff and one candidate, coming from India, woke me up at 2 am!
Of all nights, I didn’t have my mobile on silent. The lucky b@$t@rd!
He didn’t have a copy of his visa and wants to know if I can fax it!
Did he expect me to leave my worm bed at 2 am, let alone go and find a copy of his visa and a fax machine?
I stayed up for an hour trying to email him the soft copy I have. But of course the internet connection, like me, was not happy to work at that hour of the night!
So he missed his flight and I had to come early to the office to fax him a copy so he can catch the second flight.
I will be interviewing this guy today.
I already know that I don’t like him.
And I already know that he won’t get a good review from me.
I actually know that I will lobby against him joining the company!!


So, what was that about good looking men?
I went to a conference about 10 days ago. It was not one of those big ones with more than 200 delegates attending and which you can melt in the background without anyone noticing you. It was quite small with about 25 delegates, most of which were men from Saudi and Oman. And most of these were good looking men!
So of course, I did what I usually do when I meet a good looking man.
I wiped the smile off my face, and put on my most arrogant guise. And of course none of the better quality species bothered to ignore my straight face and disgusted look and to come talk to me.
And the conference ended with knowing a couple of nice ladies and a couple of the “is he a real human?” type!
I swear sometimes I want to hit myself on the head!


I saw few movies since I last blogged.

I saw Dark Waters (Jennifer Connelly). You can read about that experience at Hiba’s blog!

I also saw Cinderella Man (Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger). Although it was released in the US ages ago, it took very long to reach us in Dubai. It seems that it didn’t do well in the US box office and that’s why its release in Dubai was delayed.
The movie met my expectations and I was glad I went to see it after all. Crowe & Zellweger can act and they gave Oscar-winning performances!
The great depression tinted the whole movie blue. A gentleman in a full business suit sitting next to Hiba wept during some sad scenes!
I rate it as a “must see” movie.

I also saw Red Eye (Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy). The only thing that I could say about this movie is that I came out from it shouting “Girl Power!” I say: go see it with your girlfriends and feel good about how we women can’t be victimized! (Yeah Right!)


Back to good looking men.
As I said earlier we are recruiting new staff and that means we are interviewing candidates.
The company I work in seems to have a condition when it comes to recruiting men. A man can get the job only if he is below the good-looking level. Way below!! If it was a limbo stick, you’ll have to lay down to crawl under it!
So when a couple of candidate came for interviews and who were, well, good looking, an unprecedented interest in them rose from the female staff.
Being responsible for the human resources affairs, I got to meet and interview those fine specimens.
However, as hard as I tried, they didn’t get offers!!
But being the sweet woman I am, I invited both to contact me whenever they had questions or help in the future!
I am happy to declare that this is an improvement in my character!


I went to see a play last Thursday, a cheap production of “Driving Miss Daisy”. It was not that bad considering that I only paid AED 35 which went to MSF.
Of course Maya, Christine, Hiba, Shahd, Bader & I had more fun arguing, squabbling and bickering than watching the play. It was also fun to silence Maya and Shahd as they were on a high (for some unknown reason) and wouldn’t stop giggling (for some unknown reason!).


I got hooked on a game which tests your detective skills. You are stuck in a room and you have to collect clues to escape. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Here, try the Fasco Room and you can ask me for help. You won’t be the only one!!


Ok I have to start working now…oh how I hate being a “career woman”!

How in Hell did I get this OLD!

No this is NOT how I felt yesterday morning.
On the contrary.

I woke up on my birthday in a subdued mood. I looked at myself in the mirror. (Make that glanced.) And I started to get ready to take my grandma to, what’s becoming our biweekly visit to the physician.
And I went out without makeup!
I thought I looked good enough to venture out without the colorful mask. I definitely didn’t look older than I did two weeks ago, or even Friday night. I looked rested, less tired, and believe it or not, younger!


The title is just what the t-shirt Hiba got me says.
Yeah, youngsters just love to rub it in, don’t they? I always did with my eldest sisters. So fair’s fair.


Nothing exciting happened. The subdued mood continued, and all I did was read a book Christine lent me on Friday and watch TV. I’ll tell you about the book once I finish it.
And then I went to bed early. Really early. 8:30 early.

A remarkable thing happened on Friday though.
I was out all day with Christine and we went shopping.
And I didn’t buy a single thing!
Nothing! Zilch!
I went back home with nothing. This is just short of a miracle!
I had the urge to buy a top, but I thought oh I don’t really need it!!! Me saying I don’t really need something?!! Especially if it was cheap?!! Oh Gosh!!
I guess this is proof that I got OLDER!


But then I can just go down to Villa Moda today and buy something useless and expensive and I can prove I’m still YOUNG! Or maybe Armani Jeans, it’s been awhile since I’ve been there! Yeah!!!

Surprise or Shock!

During the last 12 months, I sent flowers to my sisters at work on their birthdays.
No, I’m not being sweet or loving. Nor considerate cause they won’t be getting flowers from someone else. (Hey I’m not being bitchy, this is the sad truth!)
I do it because it is fun to embarrass them.

Receiving flowers at the office announces that you have some occasion to celebrate and that someone remembered you.
This will interest your colleagues who will come and ask you what’s the occasion and maybe even try to celebrate it at the office (there is always someone who wants any reason to party!).
It could also start some rumors and the gossipers will have a field day.
Then if they are really nice flowers, you don’t want to leave them at the office, cause one: there is not enough space on your desk and two: you don’t want your colleagues to keep grilling you about them for the whole week!
So you will have to go to your car carrying these flowers.
And that means going down elevators, walking in buildings and crossing streets, while people are gaping at you and the flowers and smirking knowingly!!

It is really embarrassing to the bashful.

My long awaited for birthday is on Saturday. I was calm because I’m off on Saturdays and my sisters, who vowed revenge, can not do anything about it.

Well they sure can’t do anything on Saturday, so they united against me and sent it today!!
It being a basket of flowers (20 red roses, 20 peach roses and 10 white roses adorned with lilies, orchids and birds of paradise) and Godiva chocolates.
It’s really big! It’s really lovely! And I’m upset!!


I was not embarrassed that much.

Oh well.. just a bit!

And no I’m not upset that the flowers turned to be from my sisters and not from a secret admirer! Knowing my luck any admirer, if such existed, would be so cheap to even send a single rose!


I’m actually upset, cause I have already many things to carry with me, like my laptop, the eight printed presentations that I’m supposed to read over the weekend, and my bag!
And I’m wearing my highest heels today!!

And now I have a huge basket to carry!!

What a pain!!

I have no option but to leave something at the office!









Of course I’ll leave the laptop and the presentations!!
I’m not going to miss walking down to my car with a basket of flowers!!
I don’t get flowers everyday you know!!



Till Sunday….
Drive safely and really get out of my way…. Cause when I’m back I’ll be ONE year older!!!

The "About Nothing" Post

I’m blank. I don’t mean look or personality-wise of course! But as in I have nothing in my mind, at the moment, to blog about and yet I want to blog. (9:00 am)


My boss is treating me like jack of all trades. I have to tell him soon that J isn’t for Jack!!
I’m getting overwhelmed, and I’m losing focus. At least he thinks I’m losing focus.
Well of course I will lose focus!! I only have two eyes and I have more than 5 different roles, all being important!!! URGH (12:30 pm)


Anyone noticed that the top 10 stories in any news broadcast has the words dead, killed, or injured in them?
Few years ago I was worried of over population. With all the mass deaths happening around the world, China will allow its people to have more than one child again to ensure the Human race don’t get extinct.
Though I personally think the Human race has already vanished and semi-Humans has taken over. (2:00 pm)


I want to kill someone. Note it’s not anyone. It is Someone!!
I nicknamed him the Disease! His initials are the same as a disease, you see, and he sure makes many sick!!
He is particularly getting on my nerves today…he thinks he is a perfectionist but he isn’t! He is PICKY! Don’t make mistakes before expecting people to be mistake-free. Not that I did a mistake!
Not at all!
But I have my own mind!
And yes I let him do what he wanted to do at the end cause I don’t care anymore!
But I still want to kill him today! Slowly!
I’ll show him perfection with my precise cutting.
I didn’t graduate from Anatomy without knowing how to cut the right pieces!!! (5:20 pm)


If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk? -- Laurence J. Peter
Mine is cluttered alright!
And I moved desks yesterday…so now it’s way worse!
I can’t find anything…I’m not in the mood to clean up…but I should…maybe tomorrow morning…maybe...then maybe not! (6:02)


I was on this page checking all the Egyptian presidential candidates.
I think Mr. Ahmed Al Sabahai Khalil should be elected...he is only 90 years old, so he will definitely not last very long! Not another 25 years that is. This by itself should be a great motive to vote for him.
He wants to let all Egyptians wear the Tarboosh (a felt cap (usually red) for a man; shaped like a flat-topped cone with a tassel that hangs from the crown)!!!
And then if he wins he will give up the presidency to Mr. Mohamed Hosni Mubarak!! (so why would anyone vote for him instead of Mubarak? someone is losing their marbles!)
But this man is cute! I mean, he not only want to teach the people how to dress elegantly but also how to be patriotic and selfless!! He should win!!! (6:20 pm)


If you were wondering about the times at the end of each paragraph, it’s because I kept writing this throughout the day! (6:22 pm)

The Circle of Life

I’m suffering from Saturday-evening blues.

Every Saturday at around 5pm, a thunderclap of dread clangs inside me. When it hits like a ton of bricks that I’ve to go to work on Sunday morning.
Even though there are still some hours of the weekend left to run, it’s to all intents and purposes over as soon as I get that deathknell despair.

But today is even bleaker than usual, as it the end of my holiday too.

*****

As I was typing the above, I learned that my paternal cousin Sumaya who was expected to give birth today, has passed away.
She died during a cesarean.
Her forth child, a baby daughter, survived.

I didn’t know Sumaya. I never met her. I was saddened by the loss, and I went into tears when my dad started crying.
She was the youngest of her siblings, and she is of a similar age as my elder sisters. They knew her and they were all shocked with the news. Their response was more tearier.

Shock and sorrow was followed with anger. Apparently, a medical mistake caused her her life. To our disamay, the hospital in Sanaa is hurrying with the burial so that no legal investigation is undergone and the family is so distraught that they are not thinking of any action.

In Islam, a woman who dies in labor is considered a Martyr. Sumaya was known to have the kindest heart and had a lovely smile that never left her face. Allah has blessed her in her death.
Her end was the start of a new life.

I’m saddened for the baby girl. Few days ago, I visited a friend who just gave birth. My cousin, unlike my friend, will not be able to hug her baby, nor kiss her, nor tell her fairytales.
The baby will never feel her mother’s warmth, her affectionate hug, her tender kisses or her fond caressing.

She came to this world as an orphan.

Her birthday will always be tied to her mother’s date of death.

What a sad start.


Being healthy and young, Sumaya was not expected to die. When unexpected calls come in from Yemen with bad news, we usually expect news about the old and the ailing.
The old and the ailing will all be attending Sumaya’s funeral tomorrow morning.


Here I was complaining about going to work tomorrow, when I could be living my last minutes on this earth.
News like this are very sobering.


Sumaya, May Allah’s forgiveness, mercy & blessings be upon you. May Allah the Almighty grant you heaven.

Massaged to the Last Bone!

My self-indulgence plan for the holiday started slowly last Sunday with a lengthy manicure and (as a treat) a special paraffin pedicure.

But the real stuff started the following day.

On Monday, I went to Cleopatra's Spa where I experienced my first ever Balinese massage, followed by half an hour of heavenly scalp massage and ended this first episode of pampering with their 75 min Visible Brilliance Facial.
Cleopatra's Spa has lived up to my expectations of extreme magnificence.
I’m already planning to make monthly visits to it. The therapists knew what they were doing, and gave me free consultations.
I was very relaxed inside the premises and very relaxed when leaving it even though I was rushing to get to my dentist appointment.


Yes. I can’t believe I was silly enough to book a dental torture session after three hours of unwinding. Needless to say I left the dentist tense but with clean teeth.


On Thursday, I took my mother (who arrived on Tuesday night from her long vacation) and went for a-three-hour session in the Grand Spa.
Compared to Cleopatra, the Grand Spa is smaller and very compact. However, the Jet Lag Remedy which we both had (they tailored mine to my needs as I didn’t travel and didn’t really suffer from any jetlags, sobs sobs sobs) was in no way lesser in quality than any similar ones in Cleopatra.
The treatment started with a Body Glow, then an hour of Swedish massage and finished with a facial. Though I have requested their Absolute Pear Facial, I was given a combination of different facials and the results were fantastic.
I, for the first time ever and without the aid of concealers, lost my raccoon look. The black circles tattooed under my eyes were no longer there. For the day of course. I’ve decided I’ll be going to the Grand for wonder facials from now on.


Finally, I went to the Givenchy Spa at Royal Mirage today. Luxury is definite here and the designer logo was everywhere.
I was greeted with a lovely cold drink (I have no clue what it was, I know it was green, and I’m guessing it was minted lemonade, but I won’t swear it was) and then taken in for my No Surgetics facial. After 75 mins of expensive creams, serums & masks, I was left to rest with another green drink.
I was not really impressed with the result. Black circles were obvious and my hands & scalp were completely ignored throughout the duration.

I won’t be going there again, though I might try their Hammam in the future.


I just came back from the last massage. I went to Yin Yang Connection, a Korean massage center in a shopping mall.
No evidence of any luxury there. Well, for what I paid, I should not really expect anything but the paper roll on the wooden bed.
I had the half hour back massage. The masseur was literally on top of me for part of it. She used her finger tips, knuckles, palms, arms and elbows in the procedure. I left there very relaxed. I might return when I need someone to abuse my muscles into relaxing.


Massaged and relaxed, I’m ready to head back to work tomorrow.

Not at all!!