Unicorn Cafe: A review.

If you have a son or daughter who loves unicorns (and you live in the UAE 🇦🇪) you need to read this post. 

Recently we visited the Unicorn Café on Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan St in Abu Dhabi.  Our daughter Posey is all about that unicorn life at the moment and we felt that both the children deserved a little treat.  I had heard about the café  a while back but had been told to hold off as they weren't quite set up yet and that their menu was still very limited.  Fast forward a couple of months and we were dying to give this place a go!

When you arrive at the café you are greeted with an array of pink and gold goodness.  It is definitely ascetically pleasing and it is easy to see why it is so instagrammable.  So if you are heading there for the 'gram' you won't be disappointed. 

The menu is only small and but there are some delightful unicorn treats to sample.  From a unicorn milkshake to a unicorn milk cake there are a fair few options.  If you are someone looking for a slice of savory with your sweet then there are a couple of options but if come on, if you're heading to the Unicorn café indulge yourself in all the sweet goodness.

When we went to the café we happened to be the only ones there - which was fabulous.  The café is very small however if you get there when it is quiet it is a pretty delightful place to visit.  Your little ones will definitely leave on a high (a sugar high) and you have the chance to take some lovely photos sitting on the café's indoor swing or sat in front of their beautiful flower wall. 

It is somewhere you would head every week but it is definitely worth a visit and would be a lovely place for an intimate baby shower or little girl's tea party. 

If you go and check it out let me know what you think :) 

You can check the café out on instagram - just search unicorncafe.ad  

Thanks for stopping by, 

Dear Lochlann... you are four.

 // 2.1.2019

Hey there little boy guess what, you turned four today.  Our little blonde, curly-haired Peter Pan is growing up! You were so excited this morning and told us that your favourite present was your electric toothbrush despite the bicycle and a dozen hot wheels cars also waiting for you.  You were allowed any breakfast of your choice but simply went for coco-pops but you were even too excited to eat those!

You have grown up so much in the past year Lolo.  You have left nursery joined big school, given up bedtime nappies and even given up your dummy.  When I think about how far you've come this year I realize you really aren't my little baby boy anymore.  We were so worried (well I was your dad knew you'd smash it) about you joining FS1 in September and yes there are sometimes tears in a morning but you have done so well.  You have your own little group of friends and you happily tell us all about your days.

You absolutely love every type of vehicle there is you are all about fire engines, police cars, helicopters, trains... you name it, you love it! Christmas and your birthday have been a dream come true for you as you are now the proud owner of a whole fleet of play mobile vehicles.  You are still such a home bird and love nothing better than staying in at home and playing quietly with your toys.

The vehicle theme continues when you are asked what you would like to be when you are older. Your answer usually ranges from pilot to fireman to astronaut to train driver.  Whatever you choose to do I know you will love it and I have no doubt that you will be great at it.

... slow down boy of mine and stay little just a while longer.

Love you to the moon & back again little Lolo.

Love,

Mama

xx

Dear Posey... you are five.

Well little girl I cannot honestly believe it but you are five years old, five already!  I am not sure how we have got here so quickly and yet it seems as though I can barely remember a time where it was just your daddy and I.

You are growing into such a wonderful person P, you are bright, you are sassy and you are ever so caring.  Right now your favourite things to do are draw and write.  You are so determined to read and write which is just fantastic.  You can be quite hard on yourself, it seems we may have a little perfectionist on our hands.  I hope to try my best to teach to you to be kind to yourself, these things will come, there's time yet my darling.  We were so amazed by your confidence when we went ice-skating in Copenhagen, you went straight for it round and round the rink on your own like the super star that you are!

You recently learned how to swim without your life jacket and your face beams with pride each time you manage to swim a width or two of the pool.  You have your daddy and Sally to thank for this.  I love watching you in the pool, I think it is most probably your favourite thing about living in Abu Dhabi!

You miss your family in England and I know you find that hard, you've had such a wonderful Christmas with them all and it was lovely to watch you bond with everyone.  You spent time doing everybody's make-up on Christmas Day and Boxing Day which was so funny and so cute too.  Great Nanna looked fantastic! :)

In this letter to you I also wanted to say sorry.  I am sorry for being a shouty mum and I am sorry for not always taking the time to play with you.  You mean the absolute world to me and I feel like I stumble my way through my firsts as a mother with you.  You are my first, you are the little one that made me a mother - I am learning a long with you and I hope that you can forgive me for any mistakes I make and I hope you know how proud I am of you.

I love you so much sweet Posey Margaret Ivy, Happy fifth birthday.

Love you to the moon & back, always.

Mama
xx

A simple start to 2019...

Perfect place to enjoy a walk in 2019

Hi there and HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I won't sit and ramble about how quickly Christmas came and went but I will say that the whole, 'new year, new me' pressure is in the air and it isn't how I want to start my 2019.  Before I had my daughter I always hated New Year and the pressure to make this year, 'the best year yet!'  Then I had Posey on New Years Eve which made the whole day far more enjoyable.

I still feel the pressure though and even last night as I sat on the sofa waiting to ring in the new year (I lasted until 10:30 and went to bed... how rock and roll) I felt anxiety in the pit of my stomach.

I woke up this morning feeling determined to not let the New Year hype engulf me but instead make conscious choices to make the day to day more simple and calming.  I am a mum of two and a full time teacher; I need calm in my life!

With that in mind, I thought I would share with you how I plan to make my start to 2019 calm & simple.

candles //
 we all love a festive candle but I am a year round candle lover.  I think it is the whole hyyge thing. I am going to make a conscious effort when I arrive home or even when I get up in the mornings to light a candle and just take a moment to myself before I carry on with whatever it is I have to do.  That way I'll have a moment to myself to breathe and the apartment will smell glorious, win win!

music //
I don't know about you but the TV on the background has become a bit of a bad habit in the Brookes household.  Most of the time we aren't even watching it, Sam and I will be in the kitchen and the children are usually busy playing!  I much, much prefer listening to music.  So I intend to play much more music in our home in 2019.  Sam and I are really enjoying the new Mumford and Sons album, they are one of our favourite bands and always make me feel calmer and more relaxed.

health //
If you didn't know I turned 30 in December and I am still not quite sure if I am bothered or not.  Can't decide.  However what I am more aware of it my health and that of my family's.  We usually eat fairly well but with the Christmas break and alot of traveling nutrition has gone on the back burner and I am really feeling it.  I am not going to sit here and say I am going to make my whole family vegetarian like me or that I am going to do veganuary but I am going to continue to make small changes that we had already started in 2018.

Sam and the littles are really good with their intake of water, me on the other hand, not so much.  I have one of those hydrate m8 style bottles which does help encourage me so I am going to keep working on that.

I am also going to make the conscious choice to buy Weetabix as breakfast for the whole family.  We all like Weetabix, it is obviously good for your body, I like the fact they don't use any plastic in their packaging and to top it off they are vegan.  So if you eat them with soy or nut milk, hey presto a vegan meal every day! - good for you, good the world.  🌎

a good clean //
Once the tree is down and you've organized the festive clutter I always feel like our home needs a good clean.  I am no Mrs Hinch by any stretch of the imagination but using Method cleaning products always helps to motivate the cleaner in me.  My favourites are the clementine and the French lavender.

walking //
Again not a unfulfilled promise to over haul my exercise regime it is me noting that walking really helps me feel calm.  We live in such a beautiful part of Abu Dhabi, we have the beach right on our doorstep and water surrounding us.  I find the water really soothing and a walk is a great way to silence the noise in your head!



Here's to a new year, same me but making choices to be calmer and more content.

Thanks for stopping by,

A letter from an absent blogger

Guess who's back, back again... 

I have no right to call myself a blogger, not even a part time blogger.  Truth be told I haven't written since August and I have really missed it.  It is probably quite clear what excuse I am going to give... life has just been really busy. 

If you have read my blog before or follow me over on instagram (mamabrookes) then you will know we currently live the Middle East.  My husband and I both work in the same school and we have been away from the UK for just over a year now.  The meant our summer was spent driving up and down the M6, visiting family and friends in England.  This didn't leave much time for blogging.  

Then our return to Abu Dhabi saw our youngest join us at school in FS1 as well as Sam and I both being promoted into middle leadership.  Basically what I am trying to say is that life has been hectic! I am constantly tired #mumlife #teacherlife 

Because I have taken on this role at school I feel guilty for thinking about spending time writing for myself when I could probably be doing school work.  There is always something else you could be getting on with in teaching, your job is just never done.  That coupled with my new role and with the endless list of jobs a mother has meant that my blog has fallen to the bottom of the priorities pile.  

I almost forgot about my little space on the internet.  I pushed it to the back of my mind and believed that because I haven't written there was no point in starting again.  Then I remembered the point of this blog.  It is for me and it is for my children.  I am a sentimental, overly emotional fool who loves to collect memories.  It really doesn't matter why I stopped writing what matters is that I want to start again. 

I want to keep sharing our families little adventure, I want to continue rambling about motherhood and married life.  I may not be the most stylish woman in the world but I like to write about the outfits to throw on and I love to shout about small brands that I like to dress my children in.  I would also like to write more about our expat family life and add a little more lifestyle posts here and there. 

This isn't my job, this is my little hobby, my little escape from my day job.

What I am trying to say is that I am back.  And I can't wait to get stuck in, if you'll still have me? 

Hello, again. x 

Body Confidence.

This is a post I have toyed with writing for a long time.

It is something I want to speak about, something I battle with and importantly something I feel passionate about.  Body confidence is such an issue.  It is talked about every single day in so many different corners of the world and affects so many people no matter what walk of life they are from.

At the same time though, I almost feel like I shouldn't write about it, in fear of insulting or upsetting anyone (my own family members included).

I am going to write about it anyway, I am in no way an expert on how to deal with the struggles of body confidence and have absolutely nothing figured out but here goes.


My body is something I have struggled to love for as long as I can remember.  This struggle far proceeds me becoming a mother.  Don't get me wrong there are some parts of me that I don't mind too much but my negative opinions about myself outweigh the positives.  This post is not supposed to be a sympathy post it is just one I felt inclined to write.

I can remember feeling fat and ugly before even entering high school.  I always enjoyed my food as a younger child but I remember one day where, if memory serves me correctly, I ordered the same meal as my dad and something in me just nagged at me.  I looked around the dinner table and saw my mum's salad and then my meal mirroring my dads.  A thought entered my mind and it never left.  It told me I shouldn't be eating what my dad was eating (portion size wise) and this thought festered.  I began to notice how much taller I was in comparison to a lot of my friends and I started to note what I was eating and what my mother wasn't. My anxiety began to grow and by the time I was entering my adolescent years I was trying to think of ways to avoid food and diet.  I became a little more obsessive and conscious about my body and how much I ate.  I made bad choices though and still do.  Like even though I wanted to be thin, I continued to chose Diet Coke, sweets and bits of cheese and I think that is because inherently I still loved food.
 This love for food is something I still feel extremely guilty about.  There is something in my mind that tells me it is wrong to enjoy food and I almost feel like I am letting myself down when I do eat but common sense prevails and reminds me that I am supposed to eat and enjoy food.  However I should note that I feel stronger in myself when those pangs of hunger hit and feel weak when I give in to them... which I know sounds ridiculous.

At this point in the post I think it is important to tell you that my mum has struggled with an eating disorder for many, many years.  I can remember points in my life where she has managed her eating disorder 'well' and other points where we have lived in fear that her body will just give up on her.  I remember her weight watchers soup and plates of boiled vegetables for dinner, I remember the look of despair on my dad's face when she refused to eat in public places and I remember the many tears I have shed worrying that I was going to lose my mum to anorexia... this is harder to write than I thought it would be.  I don't blame my mum by the way.  She can't help it believe me I know she has tried but she just can't overcome it.

_________________________________________________________

I started writing this post months ago.  I stopped because I didn't know where else to take it and kind of forget my reasons for starting it in the first place.  Whilst it was therapeutic to write in some ways, in others, it was damn depressing!

I think I felt inclined to write it for these reasons;
1. to acknowledge how I felt about myself in the past and realise that yes; perhaps I did have a bit of a problem.
2. to acknowledge my mum's anorexia and my childhood watching her struggle.
3. to remind myself that I need to not be so hard on myself when it comes to food but at the same time not be so hard on myself when I am feeling negative about the way I look.
4. to remind myself to NEVER let these thoughts get a grip of me again as I don't want my children or my husband to be part of the battles my family have been.

I DO NOT blame my mum for how I feel about my appearance she spent my whole childhood trying to make me confident and encouraging me to eat food.  She told me I was special, she told me I was beautiful.  How I feel isn't her fault and she stood never feel guilty.  I am just so deeply saddened by the fact that anorexia won't leave her alone.  I hope that one day she will find a way to be comfortable but I am not sure that will ever happen.  I am incredibly angry with the mental illness as it took my mum away from me.
I am incredibly angry with the illness because it has made me question my appearance and my food choices.

I love my husband and my children because they fixed me.  Not to say that I love myself now because I do not but I am far healthier because of them and Sam helps me with how I feel every.single.day.

- I love you Sam. -


I am sorry for an awfully waffling on style post.  This blog is my little online diary and this is something I wanted to write about it is just a shame I couldn't express my thoughts more coherently.

If you are someone reading this that struggles with body confidence, food or anxiety in general regarding the way you look, please talk to someone about it.  Whether it's a family member, a friend, a colleague or a doctor be brave and take that step to feeling better about yourself.

The term nothing takes a good as skinny feels... is bull****, there is far more to us than our figures and I am going to try hard to remember that.  So should you. xx

If you are still here reading this, THANK YOU.

Lots of love,

Holly x

Confessions of a regular mama

It seems to have happened... the one thing I promised myself I would never turn into when I had children.  I am a shouty mum! Sometimes even a yelling one and quite frankly it makes me feel like crap.

I am not sure when it happened... don't get me wrong I was never a perfect mama by any means and occasionally I did shout but as my children grow out of their toddler years I seem to be doing it much more often.

Since moving out to Abu Dhabi our lives have been filled with emotional highs and lows and sometimes these are pretty extreme.  I think this has had an impact on my parenting.  It has taken time to adjust to the earlier get up times, a new job, a new home, the fact that we are constantly together and of course the heat.  We still use 'time out' as our main form of discipline and yet I seem to be raising my voice more and more.  The truth is the more I yell, the less I am heard and the more both Posey and Lochlann seem to push the boundaries.  But then of course they do, who wants to be shouted at by their mama.  I need to remember they are still my babies, they are only 3 and 4.  Shouting is not the answer not matter how tired or emotional I am and no matter how much they are testing my patience.

Lochlann has hit three and although he is still such a sweet and gentle soul he now has fits of anger and frustration.  This frustration sometimes causes him to act out by hitting his sister or yelling, 'no' at Sam and I when we ask him to do something.  I think that I know the reasons behind his behaviour though.  Not only has he gone through all the changes that we have as a family, he has also been toilet trained and is being weaned off his dummy.  I know he is finding the latter of these very difficult so I need to bloody well remember this when he is acting out.

The thing with Posey is that she is a bright young lady and she is testing her limits and ours.  She has learned that she can tell lies (by lies I mean little fibs) and this is something we are tackling.  She also has a cheeky attitude and now stamps her feet at me if she doesn't get her own way.  It absolutely infuriates me when she does this.  I then shout and plonk her in time out when really it probably just needs a cuddle and a discussion about the right ways to show her frustration.  She is only four after all.

This isn't a, 'oh woe is me, I am such a terrible mother' post.  Instead it is me recognising something in my own behaviour and vowing to change it.  I am going to talk to my little family and let them know that this is something I am going to work on.  I need to speak more softly and hope that I am heard better.  I need to go to bed earlier and get more sleep whilst we are off and replenish my energy.  I also think making healthier eating choices and taking some time to exercise (aka have some time to myself without feeling mega guilty) will help me be a calmer, happier mama. 

I love my babies, I am in love with my little family and I need to make sure they know how much they are loved.  Shouting is not my parenting style and it stops here.

Thanks for taking the time to read.  If you are a parent reading this, I hope you can understand.

7 months in...

The wall of dreams at Yas Beach.

7 months in doesn't quite have the same ring to it as 6 months in but I have been one busy lady recently so, alas, it's now mid March and we are 7 months in!

7 months into living a 7 hour flight away from the UK. 7 months into working in a new school.  7 months into the littles settling into their new home.  7 months into apartment living and 7 months into living in the desert heat!

How do I feel about it now?

In the interest of being honest, it hasn't always been an easy move but then we never expected it to be.  We moved two small children away from their home comforts and we have all had to adapt to a very different culture.  There have been many ups and downs along the way.  They say it takes at least 12 months to feel settled and to think of this place as 'home'.
Having said that, there are so many positives here that sometimes I wonder how we will ever go back to England.

Highlights of the past 7 months include;

• our marriage has survived!! Wahoooo!! 😂
• settling into and beginning to enjoy a new workplace
• watching P and L settle and thrive in their classes 
• copious days enjoying the swimming pool
• a yearly membership to the local waterpark (Yas water world which is 10 minutes away and fantastic for children). 
• Trips to Dubai 
• Our desert safari for Sam's 28th birthday
• making new friends
• watching Sam enjoy playing for the Saracens Rugby team (not going to lie I think it is rather hot watching him run around the pitch in his shorts!)
• visits from Sam's sister Kate and my sister Sophie 
• I got to see one of my best friends and her beautiful baby girl on a trip to the UAE for her 30th
• trips to the beach for birthday parties 
• watching Beauty in the Beast in the park, all sat together on a blanket munching treats whilst the sun set 
• Sam cutting off all his hair (I am pretty much his no.1 fan at this point)
• playing in fake snow at the Galleria Mall at Christmas time
• Christmas Brunch at the Westin Abu Dhabi 

... the list goes on.   I could go on about the negatives that we have experienced (like me crying every time it bloody snows in England and we aren't there to enjoy it) but then, nobody really wants to hear me moan.  Those aren't the things I want my children and I to look back on either. 

In short, yes we get homesick quite often but the move out here was absolutely worth it.  Work is going well, the children are happy and my husband looks great with a tan! What more could I ask for?! 

We are very much looking forward to our holiday back to England in the summer.  There are lots of people that we miss terribly and I can't wait for everybody to see how much our two littles have grown.  I am so proud of my little family and despite everything, I am really proud of us for moving out here. 

I am now going to share some of my most favourite photos from our time here so far - most of which are just iPhone snaps...

Our first date night in Abu Dhabi

P and I at the Crowne Plaza on Yas Island

P and L enjoying an ice-lolly at Dubai Mall

Our first trip to Dubai

On the boat ride to watch the amazing fountain show at Dubai Mall

Our first ever time trick or treating.

When Sam plays the name game at Starbucks! 

When Posey won star of the week and got to take Popsy home.

My handsome husband on his birthday trip to the desert. 

Me feeling awkward around a camel... 

At the F1watching Mumford & Sons ... what a great night! 

P and L all ready for National Day celebrations

Christmas 2017 at the Westin Abu Dhabi 

Posey just generally being her usual self :) 

Our boy at Yas Gateway Park 

After our winter picnic at Yas Gateway Park 

and then she turned four. 

And he turned three...

When my beautiful friend and her family visited during their stay in the UAE for her 30th.

Mother's Day celebrations at Lochlann's nursery.

A special moment with my boy and I whilst waiting for Daddy to bring the coffees. 

When Auntie Katey came to visit.

When Auntie Sophie popped in for 3 hours on route to Nepal. 

One of my most favourite things about Abu Dhabi... the sunsets. 

Our littles on a recent visit to Jumeriah.

If you have reached this point you are an absolute legend because I included FAR too many photos! Thank you for reading, I am sorry my posts never follow a pattern or schedule, I'll get there one day... maybe! 😊

A Valentines Date Afternoon

So, I may or not have started drafting this post and then forgotten all about it and never uploaded it... OPPS.  Still very much an amateur blogger over here!

I still wanted to document the lovely afternoon Sam and I had during our visit to the Saray Spa located within the Marriott Hotel Al Forsan, Abu Dhabi.

We visited the Marriott on a bit of a whim really.  It was during our half term break, Lochlann was still in nursery and our good friends had offered to take Posey to the waterpark with them.  This meant one thing... a child free day!!!! Don't get me wrong I love my children dearly but time alone with Sam was needed.  So off the children went and we were left with most of the day to explore the endless possibilities.  Do we get on top of the chores 😂, go and chill at our pool or go out for a nice lunch? In honesty, I really wanted to do something a little more special as Valentines was just around the corner and although we don't usually celebrate it, I thought it would be nice to do something a little more special.  I just didn't know what.

In the end, whilst I was getting ready I heard Sam on the phone arranging our trip to the spa for drinks and a couples massage.  I was so excited, as parents we don't often get chance to appreciate each other and I never expected that this afternoon off parenting would result in a little spa date!
We quickly got ready and headed off as we needed to be at the hotel for midday.  This gave us three and half hours before we had to go and collect Lochlann from nursery.


Our arrival.

When we arrived we were shown to the hotel lobby where they had the most delicious pastries and cakes on offer.  With the package we had bought we were able to choose something to eat and a drink each.  In the end we opted for a lattes rather than bubbles (the reality of needing to parent later that day).  We sat out on the terrace in the sunshine and were served our little treats.  I had a vanilla latte and a chocolate orange macaroon and Sam had a hazelnut latte and some sort of chocolate delight.  I loved this part of our date, the treats were scrummy and we got to sit and just chat to one another without any distractions... lovely!

Saray Spa.

At half one we strolled over to the spa.  We were greeted with a glass of chilled cucumber and lemon water before being escorted into the spa.  Whenever I have been to a spa before I have been really nervous and unsure about what I am actually supposed to do but the ladies at the Saray Spa were so lovely, calming and reassuring.  Plus, I actually took a lot of comfort in the fact that Sam was there with me too.  We were given really luxurious bathrobes and were given time to make ourselves comfortable.  As part of the valentines package we were also treated to a full body scrub which was amazing.  I throughly enjoyed this and really appreciate the fact they cover your eyes over during this... can you imagine how awkward it could be otherwise! After our 30 minute body scrub we were given time to have a shower.  Which I am sure any mother will agree with me, a hot, uninterrupted  shower is like a spa trip in itself!

After we had showered we then had an hour's worth of a full body massage.  It was so soothing and calming, I think Sam even dozed off for a while it was that good.  I really enjoyed the extra little touches such as the heated massage table and the oils that were used to fragrance the room.  I honestly don't think I have ever felt more relaxed in my entire life.

After the massage, you were invited to relax, stay awhile and enjoy the hotel's facilities.  Before leaving the spa, they give us some nuts, dried fruits and a cup of lemon tea and honey.  We didn't have the time to enjoy the pool and things as we needed to collect Lochlann but I did soak up the last few minutes of calm with my tea.

As someone who can be quite nervous and awkward I was never quite sure about spa days but I have to say I throughly enjoyed this afternoon with Sam at the Marriott.  Being there with my husband put my mind at ease and the ladies in the spa were just so lovely. I would most definitely recommend the couples package to any parents that are in desperate need of some. R & R and time together.

 This post isn't sponsored or anything (I am probably one of the smallest blogs out there) we just had a genuinely lovely day and I wanted to share how much we loved it.  If you live in the area or are over in Abu Dhabi on a holiday, I would absolutely recommend a trip to the Marriott Al Forsan.  Thank you to all the lovely staff who made us feel so welcome.

Thank you to my gorgeous husband for treating us to this little spa trip, Sam we need to spend time together like this more often.  💌

Here is a little instagram husband outtake of me to make you smile! 😃

Thanks for stopping by.