Hen P-A-R-T-Y - Tom Selleck is a handsome 65!

My apologies, I am posting this still a bit sloshed-morning after...but too amazing not to share immediately, slash I just burped-threw up in my mouth a little bit..but it is ok, signs of an amazing night!

Yes, me and Magnum PI (aka Tom Selleck)...don't judge, you love it. Best canvas poster EVER.  Slash I know I have a dirty twisted mind to have a celeb-crush on TS. shhhhh..

ok this one is more normal...

Hottest blue v-neck sweater in the world!!

All the *lovely*/conspiring hoes that planned my surprise hen party (yes I am british now and say hen party..don't judge I am still drunk!). Dinner at the Spice Market (W Hotel)..best booze-free Ramadan dinner ever (sorry I am going to say ever A LOT in this post).

And the after math...

See the yellow thing on the table?? Banana holder.  Oh yeah.

Ok this post was probably TMI, but no regrets.. such a good time.. I have such awesome friends here..
PPS half the reason I am so still drunk is because they took away the word *awesome* from me and I had to take a shot each time I said it...yeah...if you know me..that is a challenge.

xoxox KP

Smiling From Within

I think that often when we smile and are happy it is merely on the surface. Our smiles may be true, but the energy comes from our faces. Truth be told, I spend most of my days with this type of smile parked firmly on my face. Now, this is not to say that I am not happy or I fake happiness all the time…but it is more of a realization that only every so often I am blessed with the other kind of smile, the one that comes from deep inside.
Yesterday, I caught up on g-chat with an old friend who I haven’t “talked” to in awhile. I was so happy to hear from her that as I sat at my computer, alone in my living room, I began to smile.

And it was such a special smile.

I felt it literally radiated from my soul, onto my face, and out into the world for all to share. At that moment my inner happiness was practically tangible and it generated a warmth that I could feel within my bones. I thought to myself, “Man, it has been awhile since I smiled this genuinely. Why is that?”

And then it hit me:

I hardly ever let myself just be happy. I don’t let myself live in the now.

Constantly, I find myself fixating on things in the past or focusing on what may happen in the future. I get so caught up in my job, to-do lists, life’s stresses, etc. that I don’t ever let myself relax enough to enjoy the little things that make everyday special and worth it. Like the good morning kisses from my sweet soon-to-be husband, the colleagues who make me laugh at work, a nice facebook message from a friend, or just how good that piece of dove chocolate tastes.

If I let go a little and live in the moment, then perhaps I will have more genuine smiles. So when I spill my lunch on the floor, instead of getting mad or upset about it, I can just laugh at my clumsiness. Or when the future hubs leaves the toilet seat up (yet again), I can just sigh, “oh, Men!” and put the seat down without getting mad (and politely remind the future hubs about putting it down later on).  I know this is probably true because today I still feel the residual warmth and happiness of yesterday's smile.

So here goes nothing - let us live in the moment! (she says with a smile)

True Blood, True Life

From: Durban Galpal
Sent: Wednesday, August 18 2010 2:28 PM
To: KP
Subject: TB

Here's a nice picture of Eric for you :-)

From: KP

Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 2:40 PM

To: Durban Galpal

Subject: RE: TB

Holy sh*t.

From: Durban Galpal
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 2:58 PM
To: KP
Subject: RE: TB
my thoughts exactly!

Oxymoron

I apologize in advance for over-sharing, but...

I just had the BEST EVER bikini wax.

Seriously, it was life-changing and I am compelled to share.

For those who have ever had the treatment done, you are probably thinking "best ever" & "bikini wax" is an improbable combo, an oxymoron even (especially when you opt for the Brazilian).  I can't speak for anyone else, but I have had more than my fair share of super unpleasant waxing experiences in my life.  My recent experience was not as awesome as say getting a back massage; but it was super quick, clean, and hardly hurt at all.  I was amazed.  Seriously, I called my girlfriend who recommended the spa to me immediately afterwards to thank her for changing my life. I know I am a dork.

So where did I get this "best ever" bikini wax done?  Bliss Spa at the W Hotel in Doha.  Yes, I know none of you live in the Middle East; but it is a NY based company with locations in most major US cities.  If you get the chance, go.  Your hoo-ha will thank me.

No Shame

I have been feeling a bit bogged down recently, so I think it might be therapeutic to get just a few things off of my chest...

• I hereby consider Diet Pepsi and potato chips an acceptable morning snack
• It normally takes me a few iterations to figure out what I want to wear and even though it bothers future hubs that I do this, I am probably not going to change that habit anytime soon.
• No matter how hard I try, my hair will never grow as long or be as fabulous as Hollywood Hair Barbie's and I hate her for it.

(yeah, keep smiling b*tch...)
• I cannot wait to be rid of this demon, hell-kitty we have been babysitting for the past 2 weeks

Careful! Don't look evil straight in the eyes.

• But secretly sometimes I find the kitty to be more cute and funny than annoying. (Shhh! Don't tell the future hubs)
• Having a daily makeup regimen is overrated. Just rocking tinted minty lip gloss is underrated.

• My cupcake frosting skills are sub par at best and I am insanely jealous of all bakers that can get their frosting to look like a sweet fluffy cloud of heaven resting ontop of a moist cakey hill.

• Blog stalking is the highlight of my pre-work morning
• When I check myself out in the mirror, I totally "suck it in and stick'em out"
• I am super nervous about my upcoming wedding...not about the whole life-long commitment thing, but all the other crap about the day.  Like everything going smoothly, family getting along, and everyone having a good time.
• I spent time googling to find Eric from True Blood in his blue sweater, but was completely disappointed by the results.

It looked way hotter in my head.

• 
  
  We've had an Arabic pop song stuck in our heads for months.  Future Hubs asked one of our Qatari friends if he recognized the song and literally sang to him: "something, something, HABIIIIIBI".  Our friend looks at him in disbelief and goes, "Seriously?? You realize that pretty much EVERY Arabic pop song has the word 'habibi' in it.  It's equivalent to me asking you about an American song with the word 'Baby' or 'Shortie' in it."  I almost peed my pants laughing.  With the help of google, we found it: Ella Habibi and have been playing it on repeat ever since.
• 
  
  Bullet points rock my socks off.  If I could only talk in bullet points in real life I would.  Top ten lists; however, are totally lame.
• The end.

Nope, still not a Grown Up

FACT:  I am at an age where it is socially acceptable to get married & have children.
FACT:  It is debatable whether or not I am actually mature enough to do either of those things.  Same goes for future hubs.

Case in point:

After a minor "you never take me on dates anymore, folded arms across the chest, bottom lip pout" incident (seriously, I am like 5), the future hubs graciously planned to take me on a movie date this weekend.  Backstory - the future hubs is not a fan of movies or even TV for that matter (unless it invovles bicycles, cars, or Neil Patrick Harris) so I was pretty stoked that he was willing endure 2 hours of filmwatching just for me sans complaints; especially since the last time we went to a movie I made him suffer through Twillight Saga: New Moon (wow, now that I say it, we have not been to the movies in awhile) and I still have not heard the end of it.  So while I have been dying to see Eclipse, I decided to spare future hubs from having to watch me DROOL over the age-inappropriate for me to have sexual fantasies about Taylor Lautner and picked another movie. Sadface for TL being so young and for me not getting to see him in all his shirtless glory amplified on the big screen, but I digress.  So there we were; a twenty-something engaged couple, who just finished a very nice lunch at a trendy French Bistro, with Starbucks coffees in hand, standing outside the ticket office deciding on a movie to watch.  Of all the great choices of movies out now like Salt and Inception, what did we decide to see?

in IMAX 3D.

See, I told you I am not a grown up.

And even worse, we LOVED it. Especially because we got to wear these super awesome glasses:

We dedicated about 10 whole minutes to making fun of how each other looked in them before the movie started.  Speaking of Harry Potter. Oh wait, I wasn't speaknig about HP?  Anyway, the preview for HP7 came onto the screen (in all its HD, 3D triumph) and I about lost my shit.  I was hyperventilating, jumping up and down in my seat, and squealing like a little girl. I WAS SO EXCITED.  Heck, I AM still so excited and you better believe I will be getting in line to see a midnight premiere.

Ok, so back to me not being a grown up.  I have now during the course of writing this post changed my position on the subject and have developed the following theory:

Maybe people have children so that they can make excuses for indulging in pleasures like Disney movies, building forts, jumping in bouncy houses, playing with rad remote controlled toys, eating grilled cheese sandwiches, and going to bed early on the weekends withough feeling ashamed or like creepy creepsters.

Am I the only one who totally just had an "Ah-Hah" moment right now?!

No? That is not why people have children??  Ok then.

FACT:  My maturity is still questionable.

I blame the heat

I have seriously got honeymoon on the brain this week.

I cannot be held responsible for my actions; I blame the heat.

It has caused me to do things like buy this little number from Anthropologie:

(I envision me and the future hubs reenacting the picture above.)

And I am on the hunt for a few more cute and fun honeymoon outfits.  I know it is probably silly to buy new clothes just for my honeymoon, but I can't help myself!

I see pictures like this on the internet and I just go crazy.  Oh, the whimsy and romance; I am dying!

I may or may not have already purchased this Victoria's Secret convertable dress in cobalt blue as well...

I figure the ability to wear one dress many ways is perfect and very practical for travelling.  So purchasing this dress may actually be consider economical, perhaps?

I guess a wedding/honeymoon is as good of an excuse as any to spruce up my wardrobe.

(Heck, I'll take whatever excuse I can get. ha)

So let's go for broke:

 Does anyone out there have any good "honeymoon style" suggestions?

Daydreams

I've been daydreaming about escaping from the heat and stressful workdays to my future honeymoon destination...

The French island of Corsica.

:::Le Sigh:::

images from here.

UPDATE: Also found out that the future hubs and I are very in vogue, since our choice of honeymoon destination is the same the lovely newlywed Alicia Keys.  Although I am quite sure our honeymoons will be VERY different since we will mostly be cycling and hiking and I am sure she is doing more of the beach, booze, and boating I am a really rich celebrity thing.

Survival

It made its foreboding presence known by upping the humidity index to the "unbearable" level. The experience of stepping outside is equivalent to walking into a very hot steam bath...especially since your sunnies fog up immediately.

Ramadan is quickly approaching which means all the restaurants and shops will be closed until sundown, the entire country will be DRY (alcohol-free), and you cannot eat or drink in public (during the daytime) for an ENTIRE month (approximately August 10th-September 10th).

We made our last-minute-stockup run to the Qatar Distribution Center (the only place to buy alcohol in the entire country) this past weekend and basically panic purchased an excessive amount of booze for fear that we may run out. Which is funny because the future hubs and I hardly drink. We are typically 1-2 beers or glasses of wine a week type people. But with the prospect of it being unavailable and restricted, all of a sudden we figured ourselves to be a 1-2 beers/glasses of wine twice a day type couple!

With the onset of Ramadan we have also gone into panic mode with our social calendar.  Suddenly, it seems imperative to have every weekend overbooked with events and gatherings. In our normal life, we plan in advance occasionally and mostly play it by ear. We like to keep our options open and let our moods dictate what we do. It works for us. But not this month. This month we have gone out of our way to book brunches, dinner parties, villa parties, possible boating adventures, cycling rides, etc. I am getting exhausted just thinking about it, but heaven forbid we have a free moment and wind up with nothing to do because everything is closed.

We have been eating out in excess, too; trying to fill our meals with food from all of our favorite places before they close up.  It feels like we are acting as if these places are closing FOREVER.  The hardships experienced during Ramadan have been so hyped up and drilled into our heads since we arrived last October that we seem to be preparing for Armageddon rather than a holy month!

But hey, it's all a matter of survival, folks.

MENKIND - I would like to submit my formal complaint

Dear Menkind,

While I am impressed with your general know-how when it comes to fixing and operating technical gadgets, electronics, motorized vehicles, and the BBQ grill; I am however, baffled by your lack of common sense when it comes to simple household tasks at times.

Exhibit A.                                                      Exhibit B.

It confounds me that you are able to navigate the 5 remotes that control the “Home Entertainment Center,” yet you seem incapable of steering your dirty dishes and clothes into anywhere but the kitchen sink or onto the bedroom floor. I am perplexed how you can operate the myriad of buttons on those TV remotes with ease and finesse, but you seem completely unable to figure out the 2 buttons it takes to operate the dishwasher & washing machine. A helpful hint, (in case you did not realize it) your clothes & dishes do not magically wash themselves.

And you are such a wiz when it comes to fixing things that are broken. So how come you have difficulty applying that same handiwork to fixing dinner?

Also, you know I love it when your face is clean shaven, but do you know what I find even sexier? You CLEANING anything (besides your bike or your car).


Lastly, your extensive knowledge of sports facts and statistics is astounding. You know everything! But how can you not know a simple/common fact like you cannot leave cooked food (especially meat) out overnight unrefrigerated because it will go bad? And also just for a random made up example (cough*maybe*cough); that having to throw away the abundance of leftover homemade chicken meatballs and sauce that your loving partner spent her whole evening preparing while you were out riding your bike would make her very upset?

Any steps that can be taken in order to improve any of the above grievances would be greatly appreciated. Moreover, training classes on the art of laundry, cleaning, food preparation & proper storage are happily offered from the School of Womenkind all year long free of charge!


Thank you for your time,
Womenkind (aka The Management)

*Disclaimer - this post may or may not be reflective of a certain to-remain-nameless future hubs, nor is it neccessarily directed at said person for certain acts they may or may not have committed recently.*

I am having a bit of an off week.

I have every intention of writing a humorous expose' on "How I Learned We Are NOT Cat People"; however, let's just say at the moment that post would turn out a bit more murderous than humorous.
Besides all the other not fun things going on this week; this morning right before we were leaving for work, the cat we are babysitting decided it would be a really awesome idea try to jump ontop of my bambo plant which is held in an enormous glass vase...

At the moment the vase came crashing down (water & glass EVERYWHERE) I felt myself growing into something like the Incredible Hulk and boomed, "CAT I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU!"  So, yeah...it might be a day or two before I find my sense of humor again on the subject of cats.

Anyhow, this satirical blog post a fellow cylcing friend sent me this morning gave me a good laugh and instantly I felt a little bit better.  If you are having a not so pleasant morning, perhaps it can cheer you up a bit too.

Tomorrow will be a better day,
KP

We cannot direct the wind

but we can adjust the sails...

I'm No Model

But here is my best attempt to show you all my latest Etsy purchase/obsession:

From The Pretty Little Pearl Shop

eat your heart out, martha.

(yes, I realize I look like a total dork holding that whisk, but work with me here people)

FAIL

4:30 AM, the alarm goes off. 

The future hubs has to go into work super early for a meeting.

Wearily, he drags his butt out of bed and resets the alarm an 1 hour later (5:30 AM) for me to get up.  We only have one car since circumstances do not necessitate the need for two, so I arranged to catch a ride at the normal time with a coworker.

Future hubs showers, gets ready, kisses me goodbye, and leaves for work.

Meanwhile, I am somewhere between blissfully dreaming and awake.

RING, RING, RING.

I wake up to the sound of my phone ringing and shoot out of bed.  I look at the clock and it says 7:50 AM. 

SHIT. (please excuse my french)

I answer the phone and it is my ride calling.  He is frantic.

"KP, are you ok? You don't sound good. Where are you?!"

I tell him that I just woke up and I realize that it is not really 7:50, but it is 6:50AM.  He has called me about 10 times and I've made him late for work. (Bummer)  I told him I am so sorry and to leave without me since there is no way I am walking out the door in less than 5 minutes.

Turns out the future hubs turned the whole clock forward an hour, instead of the alarm. 

Awesome. 

And now I am totally stranded. (Have I mentioned I live in an apartment complex with mostly coworkers? Which does me no good because they are all already at work).

I try to call the future hubs.

The call goes straight to random Arabic message. BAHH. (I hate when that happens)

I quickly get dressed and try calling again. I get the Arabic message.

Make my lunch. Call. Flipping Arabic message.

I throw my phone angrily (and magically in slow motion for effect) onto the bed.  I really hate that Arabic message.

I decide to call one last time before I start walking and trying catch a cab, but as you can imagine at 120 degrees F that is not a very good option.

I dial his number. 

AND. IT. RINGS. thankyoujesus. 

Long story short, I make him leave work to come and get me (hey it was his fault!) and I only manage to be an hour and a half late.

BIG FAT FAIL.  THE END.

A Change Of Perspective

Over vacation I re-read the book "Into Thin Air" by John Krakauer.  It is a personal account that chronicles a disastrous expedition to climb Mt. Everest in 1996.  I can remember being in Canada when this book was released and seeing an IMax film about a seperate expedition to climb Everest which happened to be on the mountain at the same time as John Krakauer.  Although the filming of the documentary was a seperate effort, the events that occurred during John's climb effected the IMax expedition and the tale ended up being weaved into the film as a consequence.  The documentary motivated me to read Krakauer's novel the first time back in 1998 when I was 13 years old.  Thereafter I became extremely fascinated with rock & ice climbing, and mountaineering, but had not had the opportunity to try the sport until much more recently.

Last year I learned how to rock climb (and also experienced real fear for one of the first times in my life).

I also learned how to ice climb while visiting Alaska.

Then finally, I completed my first summit attempt on Mt. Adams.  Nothing too spectacular, just a little 12,281 ft climb of limited technical difficulty, but it gave me a nice taste of what the sport of mountaineering is all about.

I was on such a high after that climb that I started to get all sorts of delusional thoughts about becoming a bad-ass, mountain climbing chick and conquering summits all over the world.  I came up with a plan: I would start training by gaining experience on the close by peaks of Mt. Hood,

Mt. Baker,

and lastly Mt. Rainier. 

Then I would go visit the fiance' up in Alaska and together we would tackle Denali (ignoring the fact that I am quite sure he has no interest in high-altitude climbing, but minor detail).

Hopefully we would even get to travel the world and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, and perhaps some other less challenging (and expensive) than Everest or K2, Himilayan Peaks.  And maybe, eventually one day we would get to visit Everest.

But before I could even initiate phase 1 of the plan (conquer local Washington peaks) we got reassigned to Qatar.  A country that is 100% flat, and sandy, and basically like a barren hell hole.  But, alas, I am a dreamer and I still harbored the hope that I could accomplish the impossible.  I started thinking, "Maybe I would try to climb some peaks in Europe and heck, Africa is even closer now, and so are Pakistan and Nepal!"  My skiing trip to Austria this past March only fueled the fire as the future hubs and I spent an entire week admiring the glory of the Alps.  So when I came home for vacation and spied the dusty "Into Thin Air" book sitting on the shelf in my old bedroom, I grabbed it and began reading with a renewed fervor.

AND THEN IT STRUCK ME.

I must have not "really" read this book when I was 13 or understood what I was reading at the time.  Seriously, did I miss the whole part where basically everyone on the expedition died a horrible death alone and lost on the mountain or from illnesses related to altitude, or at a minimum was left disfigured from frostbite??  Because if anything, "Into Thin Air" will turn you off of climbing and make you clearly understand the repercussions of doing anything at high altitude.  At about 24,000 ft your body starts to literally deteorate and eat itself just from the air and cold alone.  Not to mention the million other physical danagers of unstable glacial ice, avalanches, storms, etc. 

Um, WHAT WAS I THINKING!?! 

Yeah, I no longer have any desire to climb the Himilayan Greats (although I still would be interested in hiking up to Base Camp at Everest) and my thrist for Denali has also been somewhat quenched.  But I still have a bit of a lingering desire to climb some smaller, less dangerous summits and Mt. Kilimanjaro.  

It is shocking just how much your perspective can change with age.  Climbing Mt. Everest seems to be a whole lot of hassle and they say when you get to the top you are so tired and oxygen deprived that you cannot even really feel happiness or relief that you made it. Not worth it in my opinion.  (Note: I am still very much intrigued by the subject (aka a sick fascination) of high altitude climbing and have since bought a few more books on the subject.)  At any rate, the future hubs will be very excited that I just saved us over $130,000 (65K/person) by deciding that I do not want to climb Mt. Everest (yes, it costs THAT much just to try to climb it).  Maybe I can buy some shoes and a Kindle with all the money I just saved us!

UPGRADE

Hey Kids, remember our friend the cheetah??

Well, we have not seen him out during our bike rides for the past few weeks...

And now we know why.

It looks like he has upgraded his ride:

Only in Qatar.  Awesome.

Because I am Swamped At Work & Over Stressed....

I am going to cop out on writing an actual post and instead distract you with some pictures that I took over vacation of my two favorite beast-dogs:

THE END, for now.  I hope to be back with regular posting tomorrow & next week.