Please Don't Judge Me!

I turned 35 today.

And.

I have the same hairstyle as I did when I graduated from high school.

Before you judge me.

{I know you are!}

Let me explain why this has happened.

There are two simple reasons:

1. I live 200 miles away from the only man in this country that I trust with my hair. So, by default, I had to grow my hair out so I don't have to go as often.

2. While we were in London and I was bored sitting on the subway, I people watched. I noticed that all the cute, classy London ladies had bangs. So, what did I do? I woke up one morning and cut my own bangs. My husband was standing by the whole time watching, saying "You're going to regret this. You're going to regret this."

I never regreted it.

Until today.

When I turned 35.

If I went to my high school reunion, I would win the "Hasn't changed a bit" award.

And I don't think that is really a compliment.

A Laugh to Tide You Over

I am having a hard time getting my next post out.

Vacation last week + Thanksgiving this week = no time to sit down

{not to mention we forgot to pay our internet bill this month and it got shut off. whoops! we paid and are now back on the grid.}

So in the mean time, I leave you with this to keep your laughs regular...

You know those tourist shops where you go in and can dress up like saloon girls and wild west cowboys?

They have those here too...

The Bedouins 2006

Strangely Familiar

Apricot Lady is back!
We enjoyed our much needed break and feel rested and ready for another year of excitement and adventure...which I'm sure you will be hearing all about.
This last trip was our 14th trip across the Atlantic ocean! To my amazement all our luggage was again patiently waiting for us when we got off the plane. Kudos to Royal Jordanian! Our 'stuff' gets successfully from one point to another because of two factors...heavy duty $25 Rubbermaid bins that I bought in 2003 and eight brightly colored luggage straps that I bought at the Ikea in Athens, Greece 6 years ago. I should get paid by these companies for such a great endorsement!

For a lady who hates change (yes, I know, I picked the wrong lifestyle), these past few days have been a delightful reflection on how strangely familiar our cross-culture life has become. It all started in the Chicago airport when I giggled as I watched three young guys do their prayers in a quite corner of the airport using the slim cases from the Mac's as a clean resting place for their heads. I found myself greeting every baby around me on the plane or while standing in line for the bathroom with the common cheek pinch and exclamation 'Look what God has done!" or "May God protect them", always returned by big smiles from the mamas and babas as they tell me all about how wonderful their child is. I smiled as the plane landed and everyone erupted into claps and called out "Praise be to God". You know everyone is saying that during the landing anyway...why not just shout it out? I found it strangely familiar to get on a plane in the lush green, cool mid-west and find myself 12 hours later landing in the dry, brown landscape of the Middle East. I found myself enjoying how although completely covered the beautiful Middle Eastern ladies express their individuality through their colorful scarves matched with their shoes and purses. And I love their quite, calm mannerisms and the way they let their kids be kids and seem to just enjoy the moment they are in. I laughed knowing I could report to my faithful blog readers that the first thing I saw when I walked out of the airport this morning was a trashy cat finding it's morning snack in the airport trash cans. Then, our driver cheerfully announced "welcome home!' when a pick-up truck pulled up next to us on a major street through town with a camel in the back. And I cringed when I walked in to my house which was closed up for too long to find a bunch of dead bugs and evidence that we had a rat visiting and playing while we were gone. My dear husband is with the Terminex man as I type 'dealing' with the issue. Strangely familiar. But for a gal who does not like change, at least my life is predictable!

Blog-a-versary (Free Stuff Involved!)

You may have noticed I have been a little slim on the blogging these days. My family and I are enjoying a much needed vacay and I have really tried to un-plug! (Although, my addiction to Facebook gets the better of me sometimes)

Don't worry! I still have a lot of funnies rolling around in my head. Apricot Lady is still in business!

An important milestone is approaching: I have been blogging for one whole year! I know, most established bloggers have been around for a whole lot longer than that. But here is to celebrating my blog and the fact that all the funny adventures our family finds ourselves in are getting documented. I love getting my reader reports each week and am amazed at how many people actually read about our (mis)adventures. Glad we can supply you with a bit of humor!

So, in honor of my one year blog-a-versary...I have some give-aways...straight from the Middle East!

You know those great Moroccan-inspired tunics that everyone is wearing these days? Want one? Looks great with jeans or leggings. One size fits all.

Love all-natural products? How about 100% olive oil soap? This stuff really does amazing things to your skin. And for all the guy-readers...my hubby loves to shave with this stuff.

Finally, a home-made creation from the cute ladies I work with. A basket made from newspaper.

Here is how you can win one of those items: A blog quiz!

Simply post the answer to these questions in the comments section (don't forget to put your email address so I can contact you if you win).

1. What does the young Bedouin shepherd gal carry with her each morning as she walks her herd through Apricot Lady's neighborhood?
2. What does Apricot Lady call the four (sometimes three) legged creatures that feed off her trash?
3. What was Apricot Lady's New Year's Resolution for 2010?

I will draw the winners randomly from a hat on Aug 17th (the official anniversary!) and will contact you if you are a winner. You have to get all three questions right, and there will be three winners. Have fun!

*Disclaimer: I have no idea what I am supposed to write in a disclaimer. But, every contest has one, so I have to write one, right? I hereby disclaim that there will only be one unique winner per item. And I will only send within the continental US. I guess Alaska and Hawaii are fine. And Guam too.

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Congratualtions to the winners!

Megan won the tunic!

Rose won the soap!

Sarah won the basket!

Keepin' the Lebanese Happy

I totally ditched the heat of the Middle East this summer.
{I am sorry I ditched you Blazing Summer Desert.}
{Will you still be my friend when I come back?}

Well, remember this post?


I did something to make amends to the Middle East that I so quickly ditched...

Do you see any gray hair?

Isn't it great?

Seriously, what will my Lebanese hairdresser and I talk about the next time I go get my hair cut?

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Post-Script Confession: I was not going to announce to the blog world the minor detail of finally dying my hair. But, I begged my sister to help me pick the color and do the duty. She said she would on one condition: That I confessed.

There. I confessed. I conformed.

The Official Apricot Lady Shirt

There is a great little company here called Jo Bedu.

They make fun of themselves. I am a strong believer in making fun of oneself. They have brilliantly combined the West and the East by making t-shirts and bumper stickers with funny Arabic slang and hilarious Arabeezie {Arabi (Arabic) and Engeleezi (English) put together} sayings/spoofs.

You can buy a t-shirt that says: Wanna get Freekah? {Freekah is the name of a popular meal.}

Or these:

{Jameed is the goat milk they use on their national dish - mansef.}

Speaking of mansef...

Check out this one:

A spoof on this:

Well, look what I found!

In Arabic it says "Bil Mish Mish"

Translated: "In your dreams". It comes from this old Arabic proverb.

Apricot Lady is famous! {on a shirt}

**All the photos {except my new shirt!} were taken from the Jo Bedu Facebook page.**

I Love a Good Fashion Statement

My husband will tease me until the day I die.

In college, I received a degree in Business Administration with a major in Marketing and a minor in...

Fashion Merchandising.

For some reason that cracks him up.

My theory was, if I had to sit through classes like Economics and Accounting, I could at least look forward to classes like Visual Merchandising and Buying. A class all about Buying...what could be better?

Although I don't look like it most days, I love a bit of fashion here and there.

So, the fashion statement I saw today that made the fashion-ista in me smile?

The cute little Bedouin shepherd gall that lives in the tent in the mountains behind my house.
The one that brings her sheep herd down the hill each morning and through the empty lot next to our house.
The one that leads her sheep to the empty lots around town, helping them to find small nibbles of grass.

She carries a purse.

It always matches her dress.