Friendship

This little blog of mine has been a little quiet of late because for the last couple of weeks I've been hosting my best friend Sarah here in Doha.

We had the most brilliant two weeks together laughing and catching up.

Sarah Squared out in the middle of the desert!

Sarah and I have been friends for almost 20 years and we know each other inside out. Her visit couldn't have come at a better time. A few days before she arrived I suffered a miscarriage - my 2nd in as many months and I knew that having Sarah around would cheer me up and help me get out of my slump. Sarah and I have been there for each other through some rough patches in our lives and we've always got each others back. The loyalty that we both have for each other is unbreakable and although we don't get to see each other very much we always pick up where we left off. 

Sarah said to me while she was here "Friendships are either for a reason, a season or a lifetime" our friendship certainly falls under the lifetime category. 

Do have have friendships that have only lasted a season? Have you ever had to end a friendship?

I have recently ended a friendship here in Doha. In May, Matt was retrenched from his job and it looked like we would be moving back to Australia. I had wanted to end this friendship for a while but found it very difficult to do as I don't like to hurt people's feelings, and I genuinely had a great time with her! I thought I could take the cowards way out when it looked like we were moving back home and just end all contact. However, thankfully Matt secured a new role here and we are now staying. Mmm but what to do about that friendship....

I have known for a while that this person wasn't a good fit for my life. I believe that friends should be loyal and no matter what is happening in their life you should support them and be there for them. I felt that I was always there for this person, I always had her back and encouraged her in whatever she wanted to do in life but I didn't feel I had that in return. My amazing husband made it crystal clear to me as I was struggling with the fact that perhaps it was me and not her. He told me to have a look at the people in her life and all that she had fallen out with and it made me realise that it wasn't me at all, that she had her own issues to deal with. Perhaps our friendship was for a reason. I learnt the true value of friendship and now look at my friends who I have had for such a long time and know not to take them for granted. I look at the new friends I have made after moving to the Middle East and look forward to them growing and lasting for a long time.

I think everyone has made mistakes in friendships, I know I certainly have! But I think there comes a time in life when it's not about the number of friends you have but the quality of your friendships and I believe they are like a marriage - you have to work at them to make them successful.

I now feel like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I feel free from the bullshit to put it bluntly!

So here ends a pretty heavy tale of friendship, and one I have debated for a while to write about but I think writing can be like therapy and you know what... I just needed to get that one off my chest!

x

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the yummy mummy's out there! I hope you are all spoiled rotten! 

Most especially a happy mother's day to my amazing Mum and Mother In Law who are back home in Australia and who I miss so much every day! 

You have both taught me so much and I will forever be grateful!

xxx

Be Awesome - Have A Great Weekend!

MET Costume Institute Gala 2011

The MET Gala is one of those events that I eagerly wait for every year to see what the 'it' girls are wearing. I have always dreamed of being a designer's muse, it will never ever happen but I will always fantasize that these three guys will fight over me to wear their clothes exclusively...

And my favourite dresses of the night...

Flirty Fuchsia

When I was a little girl I adored hot pink! Even into my teens I loved it and had my parents paint my room a very pale pink with fuchsia borders.

As I grew into womanhood my love of hot pink fell by the way side, I felt that it was too immature and girlie.

So I'm not sure why it is now, perhaps it's Lady Sadie's influence (she likes to tell me constantly that pink is  her fave colour) or perhaps it's my infatuation with my hot pink chanel lipsticks; but for some reason I've recently become obsessed with fuchsia!

A few different shades of pink!

My toes are currently rocking this OPI shade


Currently on my wish list...

TopShop Belt

There are just no words...

Stripes and Pink how can I resist!

 And pink in the home!

Scones

I've only been baking for a short amount of time, and each time I begin a new recipe I get very nervous that the whole thing is going to fall to pieces.

My nerves were probably double today as I tried my hand at baking scones. I've wanted to bake scones for quite a while but thought for sure I'd end up with lopsided scones that were hard as rocks.

The baking angels must have been looking over me today because what came out of the oven was absolutely scrumptious! So light and fluffy and incredibly moreish, Mr D and I shared one scone and have put the rest in an air tight container where I know they'll be gently whispering my name begging me to eat some more!

The best tips for making scones is to ensure that your butter is extremely cold - I actually put my butter in the freezer for 10 minutes before hand and the AC at full blast in the kitchen. I also used a food processor to pulse my dry ingredients with the butter and tried not to over mix the dough at all. You have to treat this dough with kid gloves!

I realised too late that I don't own an appropriate cutter so used egg rings instead and perhaps my scones could have been a little thicker but all in all they turned out utterly cute as pie and incredibly delicious dolloped with a healthy dose of strawberry jam and cream.

I had wanted to bake these scones for my Royal Wedding Party on Friday but my nerves got the better of me but thankfully Alexa brought along some divine blueberry scones which she made from a Martha Stewart recipe.

Here is the recipe I used and please don't feel afraid to try your hand at these - it takes literally 20 minutes to prepare and bake the scones which is far quicker than getting in the car and driving to the bakery!