Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

The past month we've been here, there have been more and more families arriving on our compound, which has provided many opportunities for get-togethers for us ladies to get to know one another.  Plus, with Ramadan going on, there hasn't been much for us to do outside the walls of our compound.  

Last week, I went to a Ladies Meet and Greet at the MV Complex.  There were rug vendors and a lady who makes and sells abayas as well as lunch and of course desserts!  The rugs were overwhelming to look at, so I just browsed and walked away.  I tried on numerous abayas, but was still waiting for my custom one to be made so I just played dress up for the time being.  However, there were some GORGEOUS ones there and I have a few ideas for a future abaya.  It's kinda funny how much you start to think about an abaya and want it to look, feel, and fit a certain way.  Anytime I leave the compound, I'm wearing it so it's nice to feel that you like what you're wearing and that you think it looks good.  I now have 2, the one from this post, and a new one that buttons up the front so I don't have to pull it over my head.  I also had the back panel left in so my belly can have room to grow and then I'll have it altered after the baby gets here.  Anyways, enough about abayas, sorry.  

The Ladies Meet and Greet was a lot of fun.  We laughed a lot and really got to know one another.  The food was delicious and the sweets were even better!  

Gavin and Tucker joined Cherie and I this day.  There is a built in playroom in the complex so the boys would play in there, come see where we were, then go back and play.  They liked all the food too and got LOTS of attention from the other ladies!  

Another fun evening, that I don't have any pictures from, was Bunko night!!!  I've never played, always wanted to, and finally got the chance to.  We planned for Bunko to be in the evening so that women who work during the day (some ladies teach at the international school here or own the hair salon on our compound) and women with kids could attend!  Bunko was a blast!  We had a really good turn out of women and laughed hysterically the whole time.  My belly hurt when I left from laughing so much.  We even played "Fuzzy Dice" where we literally threw a large fuzzy dice around the room while we played.  It served a purpose, but I already forgot what it was for.  Needless to say, I'm super excited we're going to keep having Bunko night once a month.  It was a blast and I made some fun memories!!  

This past Monday, we had a Craft Day on our compound.  Ladies from other compounds were invited to come and join us and we even had a lady do a demonstration on how to make a Flip Album.  I asked Tucker's mom to watch Gavin since she couldn't find any of her scrapbook supplies in her boxes she was still unpacking so I was able to go and enjoy the day, kid free!  I've always seen the Flip Album books, but never realized you could make them from scratch.  I made mine a baby boy theme and learned how you can print photos from Picassa website to be the sizes of your album (or smaller) so you don't have to cut 4x6 photos to fit.  Now that's a clever idea.  Stephanie and I also brought all of our other scrapbook pages we were working on to give some attention to them as well.  We loved getting to visit with all the other ladies and we even met a professional photographer who takes family photos, or any kind of photos you'd like.  I've heard great things about her and may use her for baby #2's newborn pics as well as family portraits while we're here.  Over all, it was a fun, relaxing, enjoyable day!  

Now that Ramadan is over, hip hip hooray, my girl time was extended and I went on a shopping trip with some girls to Khobar yesterday.  We left the compound around 2:15pm and didn't get home until midnight!  We went to several furniture/house stores that have VERY unique pieces of furniture, knick knacks, and more.  I feel in love with a table that serves as a buffet and am waiting for the store to email me pics of it so I can show Brooks as well as the dimensions so we can see where we'd have room in our villa for it.  I also found some really cute camel napkin ring holders and had to get them to represent our time here!  

We then headed to one of the malls and had dinner at Macaroni Grill.  Yes, I said Macaroni Grill.  It was delicious and I was really giddy about the food from the moment the bread came out to when our entrees came!!  The pregnant girl was very happy!!  

After dinner, we shopped til we dropped, literally!  We went into H&M store, which I LOVE and have always shopped at when I went to New York in college, and while I was walking around I kept thinking I'm glad to know this store is here for when I'm not pregnant and will need regular clothes.  Then, Laura, one of the girls with us, walked up to me and said, "Hey Lindsey, there is a full maternity section on the back wall!"  Oh my goodness, I squealed I was so excited!  I walked briskly to the back wall and began filling my bag up with clothes!  Okay, so here is something interesting about shopping here in Saudi.  There aren't any fitting rooms in the stores.  You have to purchase your items, then go to one of the public restrooms in the mall that has fitting rooms, try on your items, then return whatever items didn't fit or you didn't like back to the store.  Or, you can take it home, try it on, then return within 7 days.  However, for us, since the mall is an hour away we just kept going to the restroom fitting rooms to try on our clothes! I'm happy to say that I found several things that fit and are all geared for cooler weather, which I'm told will be coming soon!  I don't have ANY fall/winter maternity clothes nor do I have any coming in our sea shipment so finding the clothes last night was a huge blessing!  There was even a Carter's in the mall, not near as many clothes as what the ones back home have, but it's something so I picked up a few shirts and shorts for Gavin!  

Last night was a blast and I enjoyed getting to have adult conversation!  The girls are all so sweet and a joy to be with.  Incase you were wondering, Gavin had a blast with Brooks last night... apparently they boxed, played basketball, watched Toy Story and ate some cake!