My New Treadmill...

Well...finally I got my new Treadmill. So now I have no excuses. I must take my weight tomorrow and my measurements and continue on where I left off in Canada! I hope it is not up tooooo much, but I can't kid myself...I know it IS! Good-Bye yummy goodies and treats and Arabian food! I shall only taste it from now on because I have no excuses now.

Starting tomorrow I will do my logs again. Every week I will do the "Weekly Weight & Measurement Check" and I will log my exercise for the day. Now all I need is a Stepper and some Step Class DVD's and I am all set. I will do them in front of the big screen TV hehehehehe! I HOPE I can get Les Mills DVD's of the classes because they are AWESOME and I have lots of room to do them in. I would sooo love that. Oh and also I need to sometime soon get a Spinning Bike and DVD's so I can do some Spinning because that was my favorite and I brought my shoes. Once I am more settled into a routine I hope to find a gym with some classes but for now I have only found Les Mills classes in Abu Dhabi and Dubai...so those are 1.5 hours away!

Soooooo wish me luck and InshaAllah (God Willing) I will be as successful as I was just before I left! I just want to feel great again and this gives me something for myself to focus on :)

Loooove Kasey UmmKhaled

I couldn't resist...another Abayya...

Salam Aleikum and a friendly Hello...

I have lots to blog about but I still do not have internet in my house. I am picking it up from my Brother-In-Law's house and it cuts out a lot because it is like to houses away and I can only pick it up in certain areas of the house! Even I have to sit in different directions! So BoKhaled said he will get us our own internet...he has just been sooooo busy!

For those who do not know (Terminology for this post):

ABAYYA: Is the long flowing mainly black robe that Muslim women here wear over their clothing as a form of modesty. They are veryyyy beautiful! Come in many designs and fabrics, and can be custom made to your taste.

SHAYLA: Is the head covering that Muslim women wear over their hair as a form of modesty. You can wear many colors, fabrics and designs. The ones in the UAE are usually black and chiffon-like material with many designs and usually match the Abayya.

So back to the topic. I already ordered those three new Abayyas and Abaylas in Sharjah...but I was shopping at the Bawadi Mall here in Al Ain with my Sister-In-Law and we came across the Abayya and Shayla section. She was looking for Shaylas to go with her all black plain Abyaas, and I thought I was just browsing. I do not have a plain one that doesn't have a Shayla to match so I didn't need extra Shaylas. So we were in this store called "Geelato" and I saw a really beautiful shayla that caught my heart...it was all black with gathered flowers in the material with a small black crystal in the middle of each flower. It is totally covered in these flowers made by gathering the material. Welllll I wanted it cause it is sooo beautiful and elegant that I decided to get the matching Abayya to go with it. The Abayya is all black and the sleeves are the same as the Shayla in nice light flowey material...and the wrist is stretch material but black. (The arms WERE the huge new style...but I made one like this and I prefer the more fitted sleeve, so I changed it) I know it is probably hard to picture but it will be finished in 6 days so I will be able to post a picture. Ten more days until the other 3 Abayyas are done :)

I cooked up a storm today...I made Lamb Saloona (boneless lamb chunks with Okra/Bamia/Lady Fingers, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, spices, in a stew-y tomatoe-y gravy) over Basmati Rice. I made OmAbdullah's (From Purple Paisley Ponderings) Creamy Nutella Cake Dessert and I made some Creme Caramel. I will post pictures after as well.

Well off to post the Abayya Pic in my previous post I have been meaning to do.

Loooove Kasey UmmKhaled

New abayaaas!

Since I am now in UAE for some time, I needed to get some new abayyas and shaylas...I loooooove abayyas. I went to one of my favorite places Bludan and I got one made and it was ready in 6 days. I love it a lot. Pictures to follow...

Bag from Bludan..one of my favorite places to get Abayyas and Shaylas in Al Ain.

This is the Abayya with the sleeves: (sorry it is rotated)

Closeup of the neckline: (Pinky-Mauve Chiffon with Black Chiffon over it, same as the arms)

And a few views of the sleeves and wrist. It is slightly puffy at the wrist with beading and crystals.

You can see a line of pinkish stitching...that is all down the underarm and sides of the Abayya as well and it looks really pretty with the stitching. I did not take a picture of the Shayla but it is the same as the wrists on the end of a black Shayla.

Then my Brother-in-Law's wife who is from Sharjah said there is this great place to get abayyas...like a mini-mall with alllll abayya stores on two floors. So I went a little crazy and got three made...but they will only be ready on the 20th of this month...so 19 more days. This is because they are really busy in Sharjah and have a lot of orders.

I chose a pretty plain tailored one...kind of flowy from the waist down and it is a light material with satin around the neck and the wrists...I think it is really pretty and the shayla has satin in the middle of the shayla lenghthwise.

Then we went off to another store and I chose two more:

One is the new design with the stretch fitted wrists in blackish-silver stretchy material and then flowey arms (which I NEVER thought I would choose because I really love a more tailored arm, but after trying it on I liked it and it is good for more fancy occasions so I went for it). It has gathered same stretch material from the shoulders to just under the bust then a belt underneath to tie and make that part fitted. Then some fasoos (sparkley crystals) in a cute pattern. The material is different I do not know how to explain it. The shayla has the band of material on one end.

The second one is in a light material...then it has a high neck with a square panel on the chest and back at the top in the goldish-black material and some fasoos (crystals) in a nice pattern on the chest part and back part and sleeves. Originally it has those huge flowy arms but I made them smaller, like in between. Hope it looks alright! InshaAllah! The shayla has the band in the middle like the first one I made.

I wanted one more and I may go back to the store and order it when I pick them up on the 20th. It is simple...black...and has black satin ribbons going lengthwise from neck to floor. it is really pretty and I think I will get it. InshaAllah.

There is one more plain-ish one with flowey chiffon I want to show them a picture and get made, I will do that today when I bring my new one to get an adjustment from Bludan :)

Well hubby just called and is on his way home for lunch...which is pretty much the big part of the daily life here... "Better have a big lunch cooking all morning LOOOOOOL" or you look really bad to the In-Laws...hehehehe! He will be here in 5 minutes so I have to get in the kitchen and look BUSY!

Loooove Kasey UmmKhaled