Christmas in Abu Dhabi 2019

This year due to moving jobs and apartments once again we decided to spend Christmas as a year in Abu Dhabi.  We were originally going to travel to a more wintery destination but as we moved apartments again in early December we decided it best to stay put.

We did Christmas in Abu Dhabi in our first year here - our children were very young and we hadn't had long to settle into our new life.  Our first Christmas here was a strange one.  I remember crying on Christmas Eve, longing for the sort of Christmas we were used to.  But when Christmas day rolled around we did have a really lovely day.  We did the fairly typical expat thing and went to Christmas brunch at the Westin.  It was a great experience and I am really glad that we did it but it was easy to forget that it was actually Christmas day, sitting outside at a brunch with everyone eating at different times.  Christmas in Abu Dhabi that year could be found with lots of Christmas tree lightings and with a visit to see Father Christmas in the Abu Dhabi mall but it was still very much something that you had to look for as, after all, we live in a country that doesn't actually celebrate Christmas.

Fast forward to this year and what a change! Christmas has been all around this year and we have had a super festive December.  I am so pleased and so appreciative of the fact that Abu Dhabi has embraced Christmas this year.  With Christmas songs playing in the malls, copious festive events and Christmas markets it really has been so much better than our first run up to Christmas in 2017.  We have taken advantage of many of the Christmas events that have been happening in and around Abu Dhabi.  Some highlights include the Yas winter carnival and the Galleria mall winter wonderland (so if you're here next Christmas you should definitely check those out).  We also threw in a trip to Ski Dubai (about an hour and 40 minutes from where we live) which was so much fun! We played in the snow and paid Father Christmas a visit.  We were already in the festive spirit so this was the cherry on top!

After playing in the snow and popping into iHop (The international house of pancakes for those of you that don't know) we headed over to stay on the QE2 which is now permanently docked in Dubai.  The children absolutely loved the experience of sleeping on a ship and the following day we watched the Peter Pan pantomime on board!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were fairly quiet affairs; just us, delicious food and lots of present unwrapping!  We bought lots of delicious food from Waitrose but got our actual Christmas dinner from Jones the Grocers here in Abu Dhabi. Apart from the dodgy gravy the dinner was absolutely brilliant - really tasty and there was turkey left over for Sam and the children for days! Sam made his very own turkey curry!  The days following Christmas involved more fun, more playing, the odd delicious cheese coma and lots of slow walks around the mangroves and to the park... bliss!

Overall, we had an absolutely wonderful Christmas... it was the quiet Christmas we wished for; filled with lie ins, family time, playing and plenty of food! We missed friends and family at home of course we did but video calling helped with that. :)

Thanks for stopping by and Merry Christmas,

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, 

A little life update...

It's the end of May, how is it already the end of May?! ... I know it is a cliché thing to say but the past two years have literally flown.  We are coming up to two years of living in the Middle East and our lives have changed so much.

When we decided to move out here we made a pact that love it or loathe it, we would stick our two year contract out and then see where we were at and how we were feeling.  Now we are reaching that first set of goal posts and I am actually very proud of us.  We left our friends and family in search of a better life for our children and that is what we achieved.  I mean don't get me wrong the #expatlife is far from perfect but when I sit back and look at our daily lives now I am pretty impressed.

Here is a little round up of what makes me most proud;

1. We can afford to pay for our children's music, ballet and rugby lessons all on our own

2. We have been able to ignite a passion for travel in our children.  Before we moved here the most exciting trip Posey and Lochlann experienced was a ferry trip to Ireland for a family getaway with my lovely in-laws (which was lovely by the way) but in the past two years we've lived in Abu Dhabi, visited Copenhagen and Bali as well as traveling back to the UK! - Posey and Lochlann now have places like China and Italy on their bucket lists!

3.  Our children have friends from around the world.  They are getting to learn about and experience many different cultures.

4.  Not only has our marriage survived, I honestly believe it has now begun to thrive - it took time to settle and to get used to being with each other basically all the time but honestly now I think we are stronger and happier than ever!

5. We have started to take care of ourselves a little better - eating better, having a healthier mindset (me) and working out together at the gym.


When reading those things back they all seem pretty normal, mundane things, things that I am sure many people take for granted in their daily lives.  But they're not small things to me.  When our children were very small our family helped us to provide for our children and give them all they need and whilst there is nothing wrong with that - we wanted to be able to do these things for ourselves.
I hated the guilt of knowing I couldn't always afford things for our children - only holidaying in Wales because we were fortunate enough to use our family's caravan.  The children only wearing the nicest of the cheap clothes because that was all we could afford or them having things bought by our family - I was so grateful but I yearned to do things our way - to take them to places we wanted to visit and for them to wear or play with things that we had chosen for them.
I am struggling to put this across in a way that doesn't sound like I am totally only interested in the materialistic side of life but I just mean that I wanted to feel like we could do things for our little family all by ourselves.  I guess I wanted to show what we could achieve even though we got together quickly, got serious even quicker and became parents within 18 months of being official.
I wanted to show that Sam and I were strong together, that we were meant to be despite it all seeming so rushed.

I mean between 2011-2015 we got together, fell pregnant, bought a house together (with help from our parents), welcomed our daughter into the world, fell pregnant for a second time, got married, welcomed our son & then moved house AGAIN!

Fast forward to New Years 2017 and you found Sam and I in our beautiful detached four bedroom home, the home we stretched ourselves for in the hopes it would become our forever home.  Sadly we fairly quickly got bogged down in nursery fees and mortgages repayments.  We have some really wonderful family memories from our time in our house but I vividly remember sitting down together in the New Year just after Posey's and Lochlann's birthdays and deciding that something needed to change. We knew our home wasn't what we wanted for our forever home. We were sick of working our butts off for little pay off and money always seeming tight.  Something needed to change.  We wanted to made our children's lives fulfilled with two happy parents, family adventures and a little spare cash to make life easier and that is what moving to Abu Dhabi has given us.

We arrived with two toddlers, one still in nappies and 8 rather large suitcases.  Two years later we've had two successful years in our current school, our children have both started school and really love it.  Now we are getting our little family ready for our a new adventure in a new school.


                               Us not long after we arrived...

                                Our first trip to Dubai

                                Posey is 3 here and little L is only two

                              On a desert safari for Sam's birthday

How long we will be here?  - In honesty I don't know.  Sam and I stick to our decisions and see them through. Our new contract is for another two years therefore we will be here for at least that.  It gives us two more years to save money and will see us move to another part of Abu Dhabi with new places to explore.

I do worry about the children not experiencing their childhood in England surrounded by our family but the opportunities we can give them here mean that they can spend summers getting in that quality time and the rest of the year living where our weekends involve guitars lessons, the beach and trips to the pool.  We definitely couldn't say that when we lived in Warrington!

                                                            Us now...

I am aware this post has been a ramble fest and possibly doesn't even make much sense but as these first two years draw to close I wanted to get my thoughts down.  There are honestly still moments daily where I still cannot believe that this is where we call home.

I am so glad we started this adventure, I love my little family so much.
💛

If you've reached the even of this long winded post then thank you. 🙏

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 

Design & Dine

So it is has been a while since I blogged ( I think that is how every post of mine begins LOL) but I tried something a little different last night and fancied writing about it.

Design and Dine was something my friend told me about a while ago but we've never got round to going.  When they announced this month's one had a travel theme I was really excited to go.  Once a month a lovely lady called Gemma hosts a brunch with a difference in Dubai and in Abu Dhabi -  the difference being that not only to you get to eat and drink to your heart's content you also get to create a piece of art work.

Last night, as I said earlier, the art work was travel inspired.  We were given a canvas, a world map and a quote.  We had to draw or trace the outline of the map and quote onto our canvasses, all the while sipping a cosmo or two!  The setting was just beautiful as it was in the Venetian Village at the Ritz Carlton.  We were lucky as we got a table right on the water's edge which created a lovely, calm and relaxing atmosphere despite it still being around 38 degrees! 



Once we had drawn out the outline we were seated for dinner.  We enjoyed 4 courses from the Olive restaurant which included: gazpacho, mozzarella flat bread, patatas bravas, olives, ricotta ravioli and then a trio of desserts to finish.  After devouring the delicious treats it was time to head back to our canvasses and get painting! We were given all the equipment we needed and shown a few design ideas.



I decided to go for a more pastel style with mine and as I hoped to hang it in our apartment, I painted the background a subtle grey rather than painting a blue for the ocean.  I certainly won't be giving up my day job anytime soon but it was fun and I like my finished product.

Now I plan to hang it in our apartment and buy some cute pins to place on it to show where Sam has been, where I have been, where we have been together and where we hope to travel to as a family.

If you live in the UAE or are on a holiday and fancy doing something a little different, I would defiantly give the Design and Dine brunch a go!

I love how many new little opportunities I have been lucky enough to have since we moved out here!
There is another brunch coming up during Ramadan so if you fancy going just search Design and Dine over on Facebook for more details.

Thats all for now :)

Thanks for reading,