Enjoying the cool weather while we have it

I am enjoying the beautiful weather while we have it.

Saving indoor activities (malls, Netflix) for the summer when there is no hanging around outside due to extreme heat.

It has been in the 70's mostly.  With lows between 55-59 degrees. Today (according to the internet) it was 79 degrees.

I swim laps in the mornings or evenings, and if there is a breeze then I grab a sweatshirt for when I get out of the pool … I know I know, it’s not the cold of Iowa (Dad) or Washington D.C. (Annie) … but as I have mentioned before, it’s all relative.  (No pun intended after mentioning my dad and sister!)

Today I ran a few errands.  For the NASPA national conference, I am putting a little package o’ goodies for the NASPA Foundation’s Silent Auction.  I wanted to price dates (nut-stuffed and chocolate covered), purchase a hand-made item from Sougha (a Khalifa Fund project, which supports women Emiratis with their craft business; gorgeous items!), and identify a couple of other items I can put together for the auction. Hoping that items from the UAE will be of interest for people.

I’ve decided to wait to go up in the Marina Mall Towers (or whichever high-level view) until Tim is here. He helps me through moments of heights anxiety J  I want to see the view from higher up; just don’t want to scare strangers if I start to get to anxious.

One of my errands was to find a jewelers and a tailor that someone had told me about.  I’ve talked about directions and finding things here. Today was no different.  I didn’t got lost … I knew where I was. But for the life of me I could not find this particular tailor. (“Go down 3^rd to the end, do a u-turn, make the first right, tailor is in the pink building behind a bank.”)  Tried u-turns a couple of times, to no avail.  Maybe my sister-in-law can help me find it. That, or I’ll go with a tailor I can find (there are many of them), randomly selected and fingers crossed.  I did finally see the jewelers I was told about, but by then they were closed.  (My pearls became un-strung; need someone to re-string them now.)

What I was successful at today was having a late breakfast on an outside patio of a restaurant near the Marina Mall.  La Boulanger. Finally figured out where you park to get to it.  

The tallest towers in the background -- just below them is the Central Souk that I've mentioned.  The giant flag pole is on Lulu Island (not sure what's on the island or how you get to it ... you can see canopies of a sort and I guess you get there by boat).

Even sitting in the sun (I need a decent sun hat!), it was lovely. Not too hot because of a cool breeze.  Here are pics of the Corniche and the breakwater.