PRAYERS BEFORE BED

CAN'T LAY MY HEAD ON THAT PILLOW WITHOUT POSTING THESE...

TOTAL.

FUCKING.

KILLERS.

Kill City/Gabriella Marina Gonzalez/Our Lord and Saviour

A FEELING TO MAINTAIN

A random Radisson Blu moment...

Ever got in a spat with someone you were seeing then had to endure a swelling silence while going through one of those automatic car washes? Oh my God, I swear that just happened to me. Only thing uttered, "This would be pretty neat to do while high"

Interesting...

In all fairness, a lot of interesting things have been going on in my life lately....muay thai classes....hypnotherapy sessions...more on those at a later date but by the way, both I higher than highly recommend! Umm so I have to get some sleep right about now if I'm going to face the manic work day I anticipate most Sundays (yeah we work Sundays and our weekends start Thursdays), so I'll just fill out a questionnaire thingie so we can catch up.

Last thing you ate: popcorn

Last thing you drank: coke

Last thing you watched: Daybreakers (because we were too late for Shutter Island and I was hoping in vain to see some cum-inducing vampire scenes)

Last thing you bought: bag and skirt from Zara

Last thing you returned: an HTC phone

Last thing you dreamt of: a very strange film showcasing the vagina in many different shapes and forms...I sat watching it with Rihanna who had a guest appearance. Twas pretty gross

Last thing you fought with someone about: littering

Last thing you regretted: buying that Zara skirt in XS

Last thing you forgot: that Earth Hour was being celebrated today so I plan to switch off everything for an hour everyday this week instead

Last thing you wrote: an article probably

Last text you received: A purchase of AED 545.00 was authorized from your NBAD Debit Mastercard at blah blah blah

Last thing you laughed at: a vampire exploding

Last thing you read: a few more chapters of Kafka on the Shore while relaxing on the beach

Last thing you felt proud about: waking up early as fuck on Friday to go to Muay Thai class after partying hard the night before, then after training doing 100 air punches, 50 push ups, 30 then 20 then 10 kicks on either side in 3 mins 15 secs. - I beat Monday's time (5 mins)!

Last thing you considered: A Blackberry (no thanks)

Last person you spoke to: The Fox

Last thing you saw that you wanted: an army green Jeep Wrangler

Last thing you stole: some really expensive looking chopsticks from a bar

Last thing you realised: just how fucking powerful the mind is

Last thing you decided: to relax, get some sleep and wake up and deal with the shit tomorrow instead

ARE YOU SERIOUSLY STILL HURTING?

They're all sold out. ouch.
Actual Pain.

AND SATELLITES THAT COMPROMISE THE TRUTH

ummm yeah?

Karen Walker.

But still...even though I have no clue how I'll be able to pull them off, I'll be investing in...

Wang/Linda Farrow madness

P.S. I love this bar. That Hotel is the shit too. The chairs in the hot white lobby are massive neon bean bags.

FLUSH

In case you wanted to see some of my favourite artist's art pieces jumping around...

...literally

Hillier in da House! I haven't visited his site in a while but these are my latest of his 'inactive' pieces that I adore.

Really missing London today...

I CAN TELL THAT WE ARE GONNA BE FRIENDS

I'm sure you guys have heard about this film. Along with that other one Jack White stars in on guitarists (It Might Get Loud), which I sadly didn't get to catch while in Cali last year, I've been wanting to watch this one for several months now. It follows the band as they embarked on a cross-country Canadian tour with the goal of performing in every province and territory across the northern nation. It's probably nothing that non-Stripes fans would be interested in but I get the fattest lady erections for Jack - who I hear is obnoxious, but you would be if you were him, so give him a break. Not to mention, I of course love their work. The box set came out yesterday and I think they'll also have a coffee table book, and some live CDs and DVDs in association with it. Any Stripes fans out there think the DVD is worth buying?

MUSING IS AMUSING

Found this on a party website just now and thought you'd find it amusing...mildly. This is way back in January when the Fox and I had realised that we nearly share the same birthday so we made a pact to party for the entire month to celebrate..and that's how we realised we kinda should just cut the shit and date each other (partying with someone for a whole month straight is actually a cool way to get to know them, provided that you retain the memories). On this particular night we decided to borrow his brother's dirty jeep and drive to another emirate (state) to party (well...hardly, as Dubai is like 1.5 hours away but still...). Booked a hotel and went to the beach the next morning. As vomit-inducing as our matching gear is, it wasn't planned in the slightest. And for the record, he dresses a lot better now. And I know, he is so not my type (but isn't that how it always goes?).

This is my type:

a flaming haired snowboarding olympian wearing American flag jeans and posing like a tard for Rolling Stone (and who sadly is the spitting image of a French guy I fell in love with after we holed up in bed for 2 days straight - in the non-sexual Yoko-John sense - then never saw again). Yes, Shaun White is my man. Even though he ignored my congratulatory note on Twitter the other day, like the chai lattes at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (who I just discovered is in my office building - one of only 2 branches in this city), I can't get enough of him. What's more is I'm sure I could've easily caught him raiding the racks of the Kill City store on Melrose when I was in LA last summer because apparently he's a big fan. WHICH MEANSSSS Shaun White and I have something in common! We love KC gear and we both get free shit from them. HAHA! Could a day when we compare, admire and then rip our KC gear off each other and do unmentionably explicit things be approaching in the not too distant future? Stay tuned.

P.S.: How is my blogging? Call 666-FUCKYEAH to comment.

DECKADENT

HONESTLY, who the fuck lives in Illinois? But anyway, if you do, you best be checking this shit out....



The 'beer, boobs, booze and boards' tagline should cover any explanations you may desire, but basically, to spit it out, it's a party and an exhibish where all these rad artistic people like Kesh customize some old fucked up skateboards. I'd kill to see the outcome (and I'm sure Kesh will do a follow-up post on it) but yeah, I'm busy on the deserted Yas Island not so much enjoying a complimentary 2 nights stay at one of the new hotels. The Fox is with me. We just fought....3 times. We've stuffed ourselves silly on all sorts of complimentary fare and are supposed to meet the group up again at the pool bar for more complimentary junk at several venues across the island. It sounds all lush and jealous-worthy, but believe me, once you get used to complimentary this and that, it gets tired...fast. I'm a fat pig with bad skin and a foul temper. Looking forward to going back home and sitting on the stationary bike upstairs for the rest of my life. Pictures to come. Enjoy your weekend.

BENCH-PRESSING TWENTY ODD THINGS BEFORE BREAKFAST

So literally the first thing I did when I touched down in Manila (apart from put back in my nose ring and limply hug a never-ending line-up of long lost friends from the US and UK, including Panda) was scope out a tattoo parlour. Luckily there was one next door to my hotel so by the time we hit the clubs that night, I was totally rocking it.

Of course my arm was grabbed to no end that night so it stung like a bitch but it's the price you pay, right? Not sure if you can read it but it says '...and she lived happily ever after'. I was toying with doing the whole 'Once upon a time..' business on my other arm but my wallet told me to hold off and see where my bills ended up near the end of the trip (and boy am I lucky I refrained). Anyway, just to add, as someone who has suffered from clinical depression since she was 12, I am absolutely obsessed with happiness and chasing it. So that should explain that one. As for now, as Jay-Z would say...'on to the next one.'

CITIZEN ERASED

Currently reading...

I'm really enjoying stories about teenage boys just this moment...

IF I LAY HERE WILL YOU WALK ALL OVER ME?

Trust Ji Kim to score amazing boots like these while abnormally vintage shopping. I have no idea what that says for someone like me who is seasoned in scouring the earth for vintage. But she always dominates every and anything and every and anyone. Of course I adore the lace dress too (do I have to spit everything out all the time?).

I'M GONNA NEED YOU TO SAY SOMETHING

It's so much easier to ease back into blogging with the help of a song....

And with that sung, let us vent...

"So she finally decides to show up...what fucking nerve! Abandons us like a Friday night cum shot and expects us to congregate again like nothing ever happened...which nothing did for over 2 bloody weeks! Seriously. The. Nerve."

Well. I hope that covers it but feel free to make good use of my comment box because even if you're typing my ear off about how shitty I am as a blogger, it beats only receiving junk from Japanese spammers.

Recently I've been:

sleeping in seedy whore-infested motels in Manila - getting more tattoos - partying on the beach by moonlight in Boracay - slurping duck embryos straight from the egg like shots - wearing denim shirts, feathers and large tie-dyed scarves - playing tennis again - fantasizing about watching my copy of Woodstock: The Director's Cut...but not watching it - trying to pick the perfect moment to watch it - buying items for my new accessories business - collecting bank from the first couple items sold - trying on fancy jalabiyas (arabic gowns) to the chagrin of many save for the store keeper and myself - speaking lots and lots of arabic - wondering if I am going to become a muslim just because I am ANYTHING BUT - but then drinking lots and lots of alcohol - eating lots and lots of restaurant food due to a huge surge in demand for me to do reviews - getting chunky because of said reviews and rice-crazed Filipino dishes - enforcing another strict fitness/diet regime as a result - getting tagged in way too many unbecoming photos - shopping at Oyshko for pyjama bits and bobs to wear out and about - flipping through the latest UK Elle on the beach with The Fox and having him give me style advice - shaking hands on the idea to take a joint trip to Zara/Zara Men and choose pieces for each other - actually trusting him on this one because he likes girls in baggy tshirts and mini skirts - catching myself off guard talking about The Fox too much like this....that sort of stuff.

And this week I'm:

taking a sushi-making class - interviewing a taxi driver about his harsh Abu Dhabi reality - reviewing another restaurant - enjoying a complimentary 3 night stay at a new amazing hotel - thinking of checking out like a rock star - looking into a short stint in Jordan - buying tickets for my friends' gig with Sir Bob Geldof in Dubai next weekend - doing laundry - probably returning 2/3 of the Oyshko items.

And right now:

I promise to try my best to post at least once a week.

LICKING AND SCRATCHING, AND NEVER MATCHING

It's the end of a really hectic work week and I am sitting at home sipping on cold soy vanilla chai tea (soon to be replaced with liqueur), watching RocknRolla on Show on Demand while wearing an almond/cucumber/pineapple face mask that has been on so long it's beginning to hurt. I'm also in that mood you sometimes get in where you want to cut shit up...

Know of it? Wearing these tonight to go to Left Bank with the Palestinians

ANYWAY, what did you get up to this week? I...
-gutted and cut up some expensive gloves
-interviewed major Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan (as well as attended the premiere of his movie My Name is Khan)
-got my period
-bought another pair of sunglasses
-fought with The Fox over which one of us should buy this sword necklace we saw (he won...in an ideal world - going to buy it next week)
-was given a ring...fuck no, not that one but this really cute and quirky one I mentioned liking in passing and which The Fox later picked up for me
-drank Sangria on a terrace with glowing tea candles
-got paid
-booked a hotel in another country
-paid back any outstanding debts I owed
-switched numbers with a gay flight attendant who didn't believe that The Fox (who he was advancing on) wasn't gay
-wrote an article on last minute Valentine's Day gift ideas
-got commissioned to review a German bar this coming Valentine's Day (all complimentary and including a +1!)
-got into Google Alerts in a major way (so ridiculously ideal for writers/bloggers that I don't know how I ever lived without it)
-finally did a blog post on the Kill City blog (and you would think I'd be posting 3 times a day knowing that each post is worth credit to their amazing gear! But no!)
-sat in a cigar bar just to down a drink before going clubbing and was given hors d'oevres that were compliments of the chef...for reasons I don't know
-cried so much my face looked like that of a fat chinese kid at work the next morning
-enjoyed Rihanna's 'Rude Boy' too much for my (and anyone's) own good
-got called Rihanna AGAIN on the street
-finally saw one of those new rare pink ladies' only taxis driving around
-finally fessed up to the office that I was born in 1989
-had chats like this in the office due to lackadaisical last-day-of-the-week behaviour:

Editor: Right, does anyone care to take a needle in the arm for me this afternoon?
Me: depends on what's in it

THERE'S A SCIENCE TO FEAR

The fam hit up the Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island yesterday for the GP2 Asia Series. Not exactly my thing but, like I said in the last post, you have to be there and see F1 racing to actually enjoy it and get into it I think.

Bag and shoes...

The bag's actually several years old and from Forever 21 but I've been rediscovering it because it's huge and perfect for my new journalist's lifestyle. Moccasins - Topshop.

I love what Yas Island is becoming. The architecture and interiors are sick too! One of the hotels...(which has a tunnel that goes straight across the track).

It must be amazing to watch the cars zip by right under you. It is so ridiculously loud and fast and exciting. I LOVE IT!

Although I imagine it'll be an expensive venture, my dad has a friend here who races and I'm going to look into learning how to race. I'm probably also gonna check out the Drag Festival coming up in March.

SOLDIER ON, SOLDIER ON

At the moment I'm watching Michelle Pfeiffer's Cat Woman transformation (yeaaahh!!) and thinking I give last night an F minus. Fack! It was the Flatliners (Sambuca, Tequila and Tabasco Sauce), but I love 'em. Anyway, doesn't matter; the night before at Left Bank was a total killer. Stinkin' pure House music, awesome company (an entourage of hot Palestinian guys) and the studded Zara jacket!



So recently I've been...

-getting home at four in the morning

-working my butt off for the mag

-ogling the total sartorial winners in new Spanish store Uterque at Abu Dhabi Mall???!! (OH MY GOD, TOO GOOD!)

-afraid to get my next pay cheque because of said store and the stuff I saw in Zara over the weekend

-a sore loser and decided to cease training for the triathlon (there's just too much going on that I have to fund right now so don't have the money to spare for this (registration fees, gear etc.))

-in awe of the roaring cars at the Yas Marina Circuit (yuh know, I thought Formula 1 racing was boring but it's really one of those sports you have to witness firsthand)

-toying with the idea of learning how to burn rubber on the fuckin' track too!

-enjoying reading Murakami's Kafka on the Shore (albeit at a painfully slow pace)

-smiling everytime I see the E-ticket on my desk for my upcoming trip to the Philippines! (yup! booked! 18th to 26th!)

-listening to drivers' sad life stories in the back of taxis

-getting pleasantly lost in the back streets of town

-getting hair inspiration from a 6 year old blonde girl

-chilling by the pool

-really enjoying the salad buffet at work since I started this whole no-carb thing

-having first fights with The Fox

-hanging with too many ripped, fitness-obsessed Palestinians and feeling a need to up my game at the gym

-gearing up to interview this really famous actor I used to have a crush on when I was a tween!

-having really lacklustre work style that definitely needs to end soon!

-hyper

YOU SHOULD BE AFRAID OF WHAT I'M GONNA DO NEXT

TWO THINGS BEFORE I RUSH TO WORK (TO INTERVIEW A BOLLYWOOD STAR I USED TO CRUSH ON AT 11) :

MUSIC VIDEO STUCK IN MY HEAD - FUCK.ME.

SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD. LOVE.LY.

THEN I FELT THE LUXURY OF HER

My latest Zara purchase (among many). Okay so I admit, I do feel that studded anything is now two thousand and late (especially for someone who spent 1/4 of her life totally inebriated, head-banging, making out, thowing up and moshing) but I have been waiting to get my henna'd hands -on this ridonculously suit-of-armour-heavy number for ages! At its initial AED 650 price tag, I wasn't impressed (or was heartbroken, rather), but how can you resist a sale price like AED 195?!?

Pardon my lack of a proper setting (and inspiration) with these pics (you gotta start somewhere).

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, BUT YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT

When I'm having a night out and plan to get beyond fucked with my bad self, certain songs put me in the right frame of mind to get where I'm going ('destination inebriation', if you will). Last night was one such night, and oh was it good...and long overdue. While drinking a beer in the shower and trying to decide what colour face paint to smear across my eyes, this was one of the tracks blaring in the background...

Can't quite place why this old Cradle favourite makes me feel sexy, empowered and a better dresser, but it does. HOT!

Damn...ironically just got a call from Nat and Chass to head out again tonight. This is not going to make traithlon training any easier tomorrow.

YOU SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND

It seems a lot more people than I expected enjoy my bullshit so I am going to try and post a couple things tonight...

This would be my best friend in London Mistress Ivy hard at work. She's a librarian. I shit you not. I am waiting for her to explain this one to me. Watch this space..

In other news (and this is such a 2010 thing to do! *barf*) my brother and I are in the middle of plans to enter and start training for this...and I promise (if I don't get it commissioned for a feature), that if all works out, my progress will be a regular segment on here so you can keep abreast of every muscle I pull, bit of food I throw up, 2-pack I gain, strand of chlorine-massacred hair I cry over, and such, and such...

I WANT YOU BLEEDERS

Bath essentials?

Looking...at Sweeney Todd on TV and wondering when I'll ever get over his lust-worthy coif..still upset with my hair stylist for telling me my hair would break off if I put a white streak in it (and no, a fake chunk won't suffice)

Reading...Arabic...had my first proper class today!

Drinking...Iced chai tea lattes, as usual

Watching...this Cass Bird trailer over and over of life perfected, starring friends in the Sophomore Spring 2010 collection! (posted on my birthday, might I add)

Smelling of...chlorine

Eating...sashimi...forever

Dreaming of...my upcoming trip to the Philippines! So stoked! Next month, bitches!

Wearing...Zara. Zara. Zara. A sneak peak at my last much anticipated, heavily discounted purchase?

Trying...and failing to be productive - there are so many reasons for which I need to sit in front of this laptop for hours but have only managed to give it the time of day to browse FFFound, update my twitter status, internet bank and stalk Rihanna

Wanting...my motherfucking cheques to arrive in the post already!!!

--------------------------------

On a side note, IT'S SURF SEASON! Have never even lain on a board on the fucking sand but I've been keen to start for years (and what better excuse than a new year?). Scott over at SurfDubai has been sending me loads of cool updates recently and it looks like they're doing a special offer for their surf fit programme (land and water based boot camp happening next month):

The one month course, which consists of 2 sessions a week only costs AED 1000! And if you bring a friend you both pay 900 (bring 2 and you'll pay 800 apiece!!). All equipment provided!

ALSO

This Friday, check them on Sunset Beach (Dubai) in the morning and grab as much free Quiksilver gear as you can (they're their sponsors and are being super generous that day only to celebrate the opening of the season.

Interested? Check those fuckers out!