They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Dragon Mart!

Well, we had a relatively uneventful weekend. Our immune systems got a good work out, as we both came down with the achy, sore-throat flu last week... ick! Isaac only got a 24-hour version, but I had to leave school early on Wednesday and was in bed until Saturday morning. When we woke up, this is the scene we were met with...


Weird weather in Dubai these days! First rain, now we appear to be living in some low-lying clouds. The city was engulfed by a dense fog all morning. When we first woke up we couldn't even see the buildings next door to us!


Eventually the fog began to lift...


The building next door appeared... but that was about it


Silly Miller wants to go outside to play in the clouds!






Bella has become quite the little "scruffoluphagus" and we finally got a grooming appointment scheduled- which is why I drug myself out of bed on Saturday.

Say goodbye to your chops, Bella!

The groomer was clear out in International City (30-40 minutes away), so it was quite a trip! International City is a rather new area of Dubai (what area isn't?!), and is home to a sprawling 1.2km-long shopping center called Dragon Mart. Dragon Mart is a massive trade center, carrying products from China. The building was constructed in a serpentine shape, topped off with spikes on the roof to mimic its namesake. One can find just about anything known to man at Dragon Mart... well, as long as it was "Made in China." Auto parts, knives, cheap jewelry, toys, lawn mowers, suitcases, kitchen gadgets... we could only spend about 15 minutes in the stale air, surrounded by the grimy, cheap merchandise before we had to leave.

Dragon Mart

The Chinese lanterns were a nice touch, but not nearly enough!


It was nice to see that Dragon Mart had a recycling center (the first we have seen in Dubai)... though it was a bit disheartening that it was the only center for a 1.2km building!


After leaving Dragon Mart, we decided to try and find Festival City to go shopping at IKEA and ACE. Success! How good it feels to sort-of know where we are going in this ever-changing city=). We purchased the rest of our dining room chairs, as well as a plant for our bedroom... not too exciting, but will help us put the finishing touches on our home. IKEA had quite a few Christmas decorations on display, so we began feeling quite festive. We decided not to purchase any decorations at IKEA, with the hopes that ACE would have a better selection. Luckily, we were right! ACE had a huge Christmas section, the carols were blaring over the loudspeakers, and we were in absolute heaven! We had previously decided not to decorate our place in Dubai, and just to wait until we got back to the states. But, once we were surrounded by tinsel, lights, and inflatable Santa's, we just couldn't resist! We decided to buy a tree... a very nice looking, re-usable evergreen=). As we searched for more decor we came across beautiful aqua and chocolate brown Christmas ornaments, and decided to try something new this year. We must have looked so dumb rushing around the holiday aisles, squealing whenever we found something we liked. As we drove back to pick up Bella we couldn't resist the urge to listen to a few Christmas carols. I know we are ridiculously early this year, but we justified our jump start because of our short holiday break.

Bella definitely received a haircut... complete with shaved, Snoopy ears! She looks a little goofy, but her hair had become such a stinky nuisance, that we really didn't care all that much about her appearance. Bella seems very pleased with her new "do" and is extra wiggly!Bella loving snuggle time=) We are much more eager to snuggle with her now that all the hair is gone!

After we got home we couldn't resist the urge to set up our tree. It looks great in the corner of our living room. We did decide not to decorate the tree until AFTER Thanksgiving =). Can't wait to celebrate the holidays with you all!!!