The Party's Over

We packed the girls up this morning and sent them on their way. The last days of their visit included The Pearl, Souq Waqif, and two nights of Qatar ExxonMobil tennis featuring Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The downer was that Federer bowed in defeat last night and will not compete in this evening's much anticipated final showdown with Nadal. As disappointed as I am, props must be given to Nikolay Davydenko of Russia for his two set victory over Federer. The secondary competition on Thursday night's quarterfinals event appeared to be the battle of the shirtless tennis stars as the females in the crowd were titillated when Nadal and Federer both bared their upper bodies. No doubt a few men swooned, as well :)


After the games, we shared our last meal at Ponderosa*. Haha, David will forever regret tossing that name out as a joke. The girls jumped on it, and next thing you know we were eating buffet food surrounded by a wild wild west theme and Texas flags. I would have said that we felt as though we were back at home, but the clientele was definitely of middle eastern descent (a testament, no doubt, to great American food). After dinner it was off to the souqs for one last hurrah. Thanks for the week, girls. See y'all in May!

Mini Review:

Buffet Cost: QR 49 ($13.50) includes drinks
Location: Al Dafna area off C-Ring behind Al Meera
Impression: Just Ok




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Indulge Us

Objective: Total Indulgence

We arrived promptly at 10:00a.m. for our spa day at the Hong Kong Beauty Center, whom by the way worked very hard to make three American girls the same. Their job was cutout for me, not so much for my two youngest beauties. The job at hand was to strip me of my skin to reveal a brand new layer of epidermis. I'd be lying if I didn't disclose that it felt like they used my dad's electric sander to do the job. It was definitely on the verge of painful, but worth it all when the attendant slathered me with oils and skillfully massaged them in. Warning, this procedure is not for the modest. I could do a whole post on the procedure, but it would have to contain a graphic warning content so I'll just leave it at that. The girls each had an hour and a half massage, followed by pedicures and the ancient technique of brow threading, which they talked me into, as well. Then it was off to The Ritz for high tea. There's nothing like exotic teas, scones, petit fours and cute fake sandwiches to make a girl feel special. A few pics out on the beautiful grounds of the hotel and we were set. Well, almost, that is. The Pièce de résistance was our Rafael Nadal sighting, yes the tennis god, in the lobby of the Ritz. My only regret was that I was not the usual rude obnoxious fan by asking him to pose with my girls. I totally would have, but he was on his cell. His loss.



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We're Not Picky, But...

The girls and I have been nonstop so far, with today being no exception. We're off this morning for a spa day followed by high tea at The Ritz to complete our total self indulgence day. Gotta get out of here, so I'll leave you with an ad that we ran across in The Gulf Times when we stopped at Burger King for a quick bite. This area is quite known for their lack of political correctness which at times can be quite refreshing or down right hilarious (to me, anyway). Take a gander at the one we spotted:

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The Bluest Eyes in Texas are in Doha

Yesterday, we took a trip to Qatar Optics to get the girls some new eyeglasses, which turned into a major event. The staff there waited on us hand and foot while the girls, I swear, tried on every pair of frames that they had to offer. Everything from Armani to Christian Dior to Prada to Coco Chanel to Dolce & Gabbana donned their faces. Rumor has it that our insurance covers the cost, regardless, so I tossed the usual dollar limit out the window. If they renege, a bank loan will be in order for Ms Chanel's latest eye fashion statement. What was really nice is that we didn't even have a prescription, so the optometrist gave the girls an eye exam on the spot. To top it off, the Optometrist asked if we needed anything else, and David popped off and said, "Yeah, some free contacts". Yep, you guessed it, the man shoots back, "No problem". He ducked into the backroom and emerged with two handfuls of contacts. My husband has no shame. I got really tickled when Kristi recounted her experience of reading out the letters on the eye chart during her exam. Eye Doctor: "Do they look different or the same?" Kristi: "Same Same". Wow, is that statement a true testament of her short but worldly Doha stint? Needless to say, my girls will be stylin' when their Prada and Chanel glasses arrive on Thursday. Here's looking at you kid.*


The Bluest Eyes in Texas by Restless Heart

*I've been called out on this line by someone too young to understand its meaning. It's a famous line from the movie Casa Blanca.


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I'm Baaaack!

Hang in there peeps! I'm back in Doha, but not quite back to blog mode. Everything was pretty much how I left it upon arriving, except for the addition of a couple of tomato plants that David is cultivating and a canopy for the patio that just showed up one day compliments of Pabell, our gardener/car washer/housekeeper. The kitten, who was officially named "Princess" by Kristi upon introduction, seems to have gotten quite comfortable during our absence by finding herself her very own personal perch in the villa. It looks as though her newly deemed name will suit her well. I've got both of the girls (Kayla & Kristi) here with me for the week, so I fear there is no time for my jet lag. We have one week to see what kind of trouble we can get into. Looking forward :)

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