Pin-teresting Eats

I've been really busy in the kitchen the past few days y'all.  We haven't been good about keeping up with our weekly cooking dinner together deal since we moved to Dubai, so in an attempt to revive that, I suggested we make Paella on Saturday night. Ram was thrilled! Even though we just checked out Rosa Mexicana a few days before, we can never have our fill of Spanish/Mexican food.

Surprisingly the ingredients for the recipe looked very simple and doable. So as we I Ram cracked open a bottle of wine, we got started and chopped up all the veggies (thank god for the slap chop!).  I chickened out and bought frozen shrimp and mussels. I really was not in the mood to clean those bad boys. I don't think the dish suffered as a result either, so I'm okay with it:)

And here's the final product:

It was light and yummy, I would definitely make this again!

On Monday, I decided to experiment with fruit leather. Ram and I love fruit roll ups but they are loaded with sugar and crap and besides, they are not sold here. In an effort to find a healthier way to enjoy this treat, I found these 2 pins, one for Blackberry Mint and Strawberry. I love that you can control the sugar content in these recipes and you can even cut them out in any shape you like, which I'll be doing down the road for baby girl:) The best part is you can mix together any fruit combination you like.

Removed the seeds for both mixes

Before going into the oven. They both smelled really good.

I didn't add any sugar to the strawberry one and I only added about a tablespoon of honey to the blackberry one. I also didn't do the full 3lbs of each fruit, because I wanted to test it out first. I also read  that heating up the fruit on the stove before putting it in the oven will give it a shiny finish, so I experimented and only heated up the strawberry. Unfortunately, the oven process takes hours and the average was 4-6 hours. I have a gas oven, and I know from past experience that usually means to cut the cooking time in half. Unfortunately, by the 1 hour and 45 min mark, I was already too late. Both dishes were too dried out to even roll and crumbled at my touch:/

Exhibit A

I was SO disappointed but I plan to try again.

Tuesday night I decided to attempt Gumbo. Ram loves Cajun food and the only Cajun dish I have mastered is jambalaya. So I decided to surprise him and add a new dish to my repertoire (plus I had left over shrimp to use!). The ingredients are very similar to jambalaya with the addition of okra. Seemed easy enough. And it turned out great!

Slap Chop to the rescue once again!

A Room for Our Princess

We finally got our furniture delivered for the nursery yesterday. I've been so impatient the past few weeks waiting to get her room set up. I even made some artwork for her room to calm my nerves. We still have the small things that we left behind in the US that our parents will bring when they come (i.e. books, toys & picture frames) but I really like how the room's shaping up:

This is the view from the shared bathroom with the other guest bedroom

My artwork doesn't look half bad, eh?

This door leads to the hallway and the master bedroom is right across

  

To the right of the bed is a closet

And this will be her play area downstairs. It unintentionally turned out to be pink and blue again. It was so hard to find neutral colors here. But once it fills up with toys and animals, it won't be so obvious:

Surprisingly, Luca has not attempted to jump onto the swing. He's been very good the past few days while I've been setting up. Actually, he's showed no interest in baby stuff at all. He didn't even bother to come into the room once while I was organizing, which is weird because he likes to be in the same room as me at all times. Maybe he knows that he will have limited access to her room later on, so he's practicing now. He's such a good boy:)

When Ram saw the nursery yesterday, I think it struck a cord.  It definitely solidified the fact that this baby is coming sooner vs later. It's about time he caught up to me! I cannot believe I'm in my third trimester now. 12 weeks and counting!

Weekend Fun

With Ramadan coming to an end, Ram was notified earlier in the week that he would either have Thursday or Sunday off. The thought of a 3-day weekend got us very excited. Immediately Ram looked into hotel and air far to Muscat, Oman. It's a short flight and is on our list of places to see in the Middle East. As I looked into boarding for Luca, Ram and I both started to feel bad about leaving our little booger so soon.  Turned out all the kennels were booked anyway, so it was a no-go.

Then we decided to look into day trips. There are 2 Emirates within 1-2 hours driving distance from us, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah. Abu Dhabi is known to be much more conservative than Dubai and with a holy month coming to an end, I wasn't sure it was a good idea. So I looked into Yas Island, an area 20 minutes from Abu Dhabi that's a popular concert and restaurant area. Sadly, nothing was going on this weekend worth the drive.

Fujairah looked promising when I saw it actually had some historical sites to see. One being a castle, now downgraded to a fort. The fort sat on the edge of the Emirate with views of the gulf. Aside from that there was a mosque we could check out but that's about it. Ram didn't think it was worth driving 2 1/2 hours for those 2 sites only to have to turn back around a few hours later. That coupled with the unforgiving heat, I agreed. It was probably not a good idea to be outdoors in the middle of the day.

So with my hopes of a mini-vacay shattered, we decided to make the most of it and enjoy a stay-cation. And it wasn't until Wednesday that Ram found out he would have both Thursday AND Sunday off. That's one very frustrating thing about the local holidays here, nothing is determined in advance.

We spent our four day stay-cation relaxing and eating our fav foods:) I managed to find chicken wings, velveta, and rotel at a specialty store and decided we would have a taste of home on Thursday. The queso turned out as good as velveta can get, but I'm not sure it was worth the $7 I had to pay for it!

Friday I started my day with a massage and then we headed to our fav cafe for lunch. Later than day we started watching season 1 of Homeland and finished it by Saturday. We are annoyed that I-Tunes doesn't have Season 2 available yet. But we've got Season 1 of Game of Thrones to distract us in the meantime.

Saturday we had a bump shoot at the mall, which I'm very excited about. (I get to see the proofs next week). Afterwards we went to IKEA to hunt for a bookcase and nightstand for the baby's room. We ended up only finding a nightstand and decided to use our "old" bookcase in the interim. At night we had a date night and checked out a new mexican restaurant called Fuego. We were immediately enticed by their fajitas and chimichangas and found them to be decent. We are impatiently waiting for Rosa Mexicana to open here and hope that it tastes just like Ram remembers it from NYC:)

Sunday we spent the day relaxing and began work on the nightstand. It's coming together nicely:) The stay-cation ended with a yummy home cooked meal from my hubby. These days I will take any form of pampering:)

And now back to reality! The rest of the nursery furniture we ordered from Pottery Barn arrives tomorrow and I cannot wait to finally to set up baby girl's room!

Ramadan in Dubai

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and is one of the most important months for Muslims as it is believed this is the month that the Qu'ran was first revealed to the Prophet Mohammed. Muslims fast from dawn until sunset throughout the entire month and refrain from consuming anything during that time. Nothing is allowed to touch the lips during the fasting period. That includes water and cigarettes. I've fasted before, but no water? No bueno.

Even though the Muslim population is smaller than the non-Muslims, the entire city changes and adapts. Restaurants and food courts are closed and only a few will offer take away only during the day. Most places also refrain from serving alcohol for the entire month (we got our liquor license just in time!). The few restaurants that stay open or even offer take away service are screened off or blacked out from public view. Your car and office space are considered public spaces, so no consumption can take place there. Many corporations provide a blackout out room where their non-fasting employees can enjoy lunch guilt-free. Heavy fines are awarded for those who violate the rules. Luckily, Ram and I missed half of Ramadan while we were visiting Houston. But since we've been back, it's definitely been an adjustment. I can't grab that water bottle to go while I'm running errands. I can't enjoy my snack while perusing through the store. Being pregnant during Ramadan hasn't been easy.

Everyday at sunset however, the landscape completely changes. Restaurants open their doors for Iftar (breaking fast) and stay open till 2am daily. Iftars in Dubai are quite glamorous. Many hotels will build special air conditioned tents that can hold up to 900 people and offer an arabic style buffet for their guests to gorge on until the wee hours of the night, along with entertainment and shisha. This is one from the Atlantis Hotel and Resort:

SOURCE

We figured we might as well partake in this tradition and see what its all about since Ramadan is coming to an end this weekend. We were deciding between a tent at the Atlantis Hotel and a restaurant at the Burj Al Arab. Since we've been to Atlantis in general before, we figured we should take advantage and finally see the elusive the Burj Al Arab (world's only self-proclaimed 7-star hotel). The hotel does not allow anyone to enter without a restaurant or bar reservation, so it's nearly impossible to just go "see" it.  So when we saw they had availability, we jumped at the chance.

You have to cross a bridge to get to the hotel as it sits right on the ocean. The views outside were spectacular: 

However, that sentiment was left at the front door. The food and service were excellent, but the decor inside was very disappointing. It was uncharacteristically gaudy in the lobby and restaurant and when we went to Skybar, it was like we turned back time to the 80's:

Almost every establishment has some sort of water feature. This hotel was no exception

The ceiling

Nice ocean view from our dinner table

Part of the buffet

Skybar (NOTE: if you do not dine at the hotel, you have to spend a minimum of $60-75/pp at the bar, which is easy since each drink costs on average about $30)

Panoramic view of the city from Skybar 

I got SO excited when I saw this pink Ferrari! 

I'm glad we got to check this hotel off our list. I'm sure the actual rooms are gorgeous, but I don't really care to go back. I kind of wish we had gone to the tent at the Atlantis because it looked gorgeous, but oh well, there's always next year!

Bump Watch Week 26

One month ago, at 22 weeks, I felt like I was blowing up:

In hindsight, I cannot believe that I thought that was "big." Here I am now at the end of 26 weeks, a few pounds heavier and 2 stretch marks later:

Baby girl is the size of an eggplant and weighs around 2 lbs. My stomach is supposed to look more like a soccer ball at this stage in the pregnancy, but it doesn't quite look like that to me. I'm definitely carrying wide, which I hear is common when you are having a girl. I'm also feeling more pregnant these days.  I can no longer use my ab muscles to lift me up and I find myself breathless after climbing a flight of stairs with Luca in tow. Pretty soon I will have to stop picking up Luca and carrying him like a baby:/

The good news is I finally got an appointment with the highly reputable Dr. Elsa! We met her earlier this week and she is by far the best doctor we've seen. She was so knowledgeable (and complimentary), which put us at ease right away. She works out of the hospital, so it will give us extra practice on driving there. (One of these days we'll get there without taking a wrong turn!)

The bad news is I recently found out I have gestational diabetes (GD). I was pretty upset to hear the news because I have no symptoms at all. Apparently Indian women have an increased risk. Regardless, it's a big deal in terms of the health of the baby, so I've got to monitor my levels from now on. I'm just praying that baby girl is healthy and she comes before November (I want her to be a Libra like daddy).

This news coupled with a few other factors have been throwing me off balance lately. I look in the mirror and I can hardly recognize myself. My hair is dyed black (promised Ram I would go au naturale when I became prego); I have a row of pimples that have taken permanent residence on my forehead (thank god for bangs); I have splotchy un-even skin on my face (thank god for make-up); and I have 2 large stretch marks despite lathering up with oil daily (stupid expensive oils are good for nothing). It's easy to sulk and get depressed over all of these things. But I just keep reminding myself that these "issues" are temporary and should be worn as a badge of honor.

At the end of the day, I really do love being pregnant and am in awe that I have the ability to create life. Being pregnant seems to agree with me: never have I been so even-tempered in my life! And this seems like a popular year to have a baby. Lots of celeb babies were born and a new heir for the Prince William and Princess Kate, 2013 rocks! Now we just need to find a way to send baby girl to school out wherever Prince George goes so he can fall in love with her! 

Afternoon Tea, Baby Aiyer style

On Saturday, July 13, Emily and Shilpi hosted my afternoon tea themed baby shower at Flora & Muse Cafe. We got off to a rocky start with the event coordinator but it ended up in a round of free drinks for my friends, so I guess it wasn't all bad:)

I ordered the decor from a store in the UK (thanks Nary) and it was just perfect. I'm planning on re-using the bunting for the baby's room and I'm sure it will come in handy again for her first birthday. I even found tea crackers! My friends definitely had fun with that.

Variety of teas

My pretty hosts:) 

Cracker fun:)

Ram came just in time to open the gifts, lol

I was so great to finally have some girl time. I really appreciated those that came from afar. Special shout out to Jillian who represented the 'Deen!

We got super cute presents and I just have to show y'all a few. This baby's wardrobe is already growing by leaps and bounds!

She's already got swim gear. Thanks Aunt Vicky! 

Her first designer clothing, the white onesies are from Diane Von Furstenburg's new baby line at Gap. Thanks Varsha, Nasreen, Monica, Sonar, Ami, Rachana & Ragini Masi's. I almost don't want her to wear them and get ruined!

The next day we took a 3 day mini-vacay to Vegas. It was a nice break from all the excitement and a chance for Ram and I to re-connect...with Encore that is:) People were skeptical when I mentioned we were going to Vegas but Encore was well ventilated and until 10pm, I had no issues with smoke. It was kinda hard though at night to see all the women dressed up in cute outfits, cocktail in hand. In hindsight, maybe Vegas was not great for my ego because I felt as big as a whale. But at the end of the day, I'm glad we went. We had a spa day, checked out some of the new restaurants at the hotel and saw the new Michael Jackson show at Mandalay Bay. IT WAS AWESOME. Baby girl was kicking the entire time. I think she's going to be a dancer. I highly recommend anyone going to Vegas to see the show, I really want to see it again!