Pia time

It honestly felt like the whole of the month of January was one long celebration. First Lucas, and Tove, were here; then Erika turned up the week before my birthday, and Thomas, Anna & Andrew also came. The day itself, the party and the aftermath. On Sunday everyone went for brunch at the Yas Links Golf Club:

Pia then stayed for another week after my birthday. A rather chilled week, as we didn't have many plans. We enjoyed the sun and the good weather at the pool, at the beach - and at the balcony!
She came along to the museum as well of course, to admire the Cartier exhibition.

 

We also took Linnea with us and had a girlie Dubai Day. I needed to go see the Goldman, remember, and so did Pia actually. Then we took on the Dubai Mall, Kinokuniya and other shops, a full on day walking about, shopping, having multiple coffee breaks and eating good food.

Now that she's gone, it's back to work - and it's rather empty in the house!

So spoilt

I got very spoiled for my big day, not only with endless well wishes on social media, confetti and balloons - and visitors from near and far; I also got some lovely gifts to commemorate this special birthday.
I got bottles of champagne, some Chocolate Block and some gin.

Kathleen and Termy had custom ordered a gold necklace with my name in Arabic, something I've always wanted!

Karin and Holger brought me a Ritual candle, and - this plant! Rather optimistic... ha ha... considering I have killed not one, but two gardens in our old villa! Karen thought our balcony lacked som greenery and I certainly will do my best to keep this alive, but I'm afraid my I have none of my Mum's green fingers...

Pia celebrated our friendship by gifting me the Bojesen 'Love birds', naw!

The big blue box came from Erika. It looks like a coffee table book, but it actually contains a photo album. Erika had printed out photos from the very beginning of our friendship, 27 years ago, until now - what a trip down memory lane! Such a thoughtful gift, what a job! Ha ha, also putting the pressure on for me thinking of something really special for her big day next year!

Anna had got me a box with '50 things to do when you are 50'! We decided that I should draw one card every week, and the first one I drew while she was here said "Bake a cake and invite friends around". My kind of challenge!

Linnea and Nathan knows me well, so they didn't get me any real flowers, but a bouquet of red Lego roses..! Cute! It will be built on a day when I need some focused downtime.

Linda (and Johan) gifted me a dinner, with the following rhyme (sorry, it's in Swedish!):

"Till Boel när du fyller 50 och fabulös
Positiva saker att säga om dig finns såklart en hel drös
Du är driftig, kunnig, pålitlig och väldigt ambitiös
En underbar vän som gillar att uppleva, utforska och se nya saker
Du är lojal, härligt ironisk och uppskattar konstens alla smaker
En härlig dam som jag haft mycket roligt med i UAE under åren
Spelkvällar, Expot, midsommarbåt, på olika palats och gallerier beundrat dekoren
Luncher, Bruncher, Magaritas, cirkus på Afternoon Tea och champagne på hotelltak
Jag fortsätter på tema mat för att fira dig med ett riktigt brak
Kom med mig till Atlantis det nya, en kväll för att fira 50-årsdagen din
Med att på Dinner by Heston få se både Masterchef, meat, fruit och liquid nitrogin
Datum bestämmer vi ihop, och jag är chaufför så att du får dricka vin!
P.S Det är från mig och maken min - men han får bara följa med i teorin"

So, I can't wait for that - Dinner by Heston at Atlantis in Dubai!

Finally my parents gave me some money to spend on my next visit to the Goldman, which turned into a really pretty set with a gold necklace and bracelet.

Lucky lucky me!

Happy 20th!!!

I was of course not the only one having a big birthday over the weekend. It was also a milestone birthday for this one - Happy 20th birthday Lucas!

 

 

Now he is no teenager no more. He's twenty. Oaw... you blink, and time flies.
It has been twenty years since he made me a mother:

We missed him a lot over the weekend, and as much as I would have loved to share these special celebrations with him it just didn't work out for him to come home for his birthday. He celebrated in Copenhagen with his girlfriend and some friends; and it looked like he had a really good day too.

We miss him a lot every day of course, and on a special day like this you can't help but reminisce, and miss ALL the ages that he has been..! Especially this chubby little face of his, ha ha!

Happy Birthday Lucas! We love you always. ♥︎

A Crafty birthday

In all honestly, it was Nathan's dream to host his birthday at Craft, but as it wasn't open in time for him to have his party there - it became my plan. But why not? Great atmosphere, delicious food, beer on tap and the best service in Abu Dhabi!
So that's where I hosted my birthday dinner - at the first brewery in the UAE!

We had asked to be set up in the family part (as I didn't want to be in the smoking section) of the restaurant. We got a great section which took up three large tables, and settled in. Pia, Linda and I:

Erika, Michaela and I:

The Brunei crowd, Anna, Andrew, Peta and Browny:

Kathleen, Michaela and Erika:

Holger & Karin:

Linnea was the only youngster, but she did enjoy the company of the McGeehee kids; who had also come to celebrate! I didn't catch Kristen and Chad in a photo, but they were there too, of course!

We sat right by the brewery part, so we had the best view of the tanks and all the shiny equipment!

I had already decided on the menu, and we had the pretzel with charcuteries for entree:

A big meat sharing platter with corn ribs, pickled cucumbers and house salad for main:

People could have all the beers, and for those who didn't want beer, there was wine or prosecco. Flight after flight of beers went out on the tables, the tasters were a success!

I really like the idea with the NFC tags on the glasses, to tell you more about each beer!

My work besties, Kathleen and Termy:

Every one seemed to enjoy themselves, and we had a great night with so much food, and so much prosecco..! Happy Birthday to me!

Upgrading to 5.0

There we go, I have officially been upgraded to version 5.0..! How time flies!

The last few days have been a complete whirlwind, with the house full of guests, and birthday celebrations with no end - my heart is full!

As Erika and Thomas were already here, and with Pia arriving on Friday night, we ended up celebrating my last night in my 40s rather heavily (...) to Nathan's annoyance, as he just wanted me to go to bed so that he could decorate the house for the morning!
But I got my first balloon already at midnight, as Pia got aware last year that birthday balloons are my only must! Grattis and Happy Birthday to me!

Everybody had been up early to help prepare and I got invited down to a beautiful birthday morning table with confetti and balloons, and a birthday brunch with everything I could wish for!

Great start to the day!

I even got a flower delivery, from my cousins back home in Sweden! They had organised it secretly texting with Linnea, such a lovely surprise!

In the afternoon, the last overnight guests Anna & Andrew turned up from Doha, and after everyone had gotten ready we had a few glasses of champagne on the balcony with the rest of the Zeina crew, before it was time to head out to the birthday dinner. More about that in the next post!

Happy 50th to me!

 

Culture & nature

I had one day I needed to work while Erika was here, which suited well because so did she. I went to the museum and she worked from home. I had also picked up an External Tour one day for my German Ladies group, of the Cartier Exhibition, so for that one she came along.

Then we enjoyed lunch at the terrace in the museum. As I said - wintertime in the UAE is the best!

After our museum visit we continued across town for some more outdoor adventures. I took her to Hudayriyat to walk the boardwalk next to the sea, in search of some birds.

I felt just a tad overdressed on the beach in my pink suit, but hey, it's Abu Dhabi - can you ever be overdressed really?

We didn't spot many birds, but it was a nice walk and then we had coffee down the waterfront at the Marsana. Erika was happy just getting to be outside!