Prevent a fire, save your life

This New Year’s Eve did not go as planned. Having direct view of Burj Khlaifa, the tallest building in the world, we celebrated with friends at home and were excited to see some spectacular fireworks.

At around 10:00 pm, my mom questioned her eyesight. “Is that building over there really on fire?” The first message appeared on my phone: “Has the Address Hotel caught fire?” One of the most beautiful buildings in Downtown Dubai stood on fire!

Over the next hours, we were shocked and scared by how quickly the flames took over 63 floors and watched the news to understand what was going on. It was not what we expected.

When the New Year rang in, it was bizarre to watch the fireworks on the left and the burning building on the right.

This night made me realise how fortunate I am but it also made me revisit our safety. What can you do to prevent fires?

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How to store your Christmas decoration

Christmas Ornaments22015 was the first year we fully decorated our house in Dubai for Christmas. In recent years, we only placed a few Christmas ornaments around the living room. This year, things changed. I got carried away on weekend afternoon and bought plenty of glass ornaments, now displayed in high rise vases. On top of that, there were candles and more candles lid up every night. I love them. They create such a wonderful, peaceful and intimate atmosphere. Now, however, it’s time to remove ornaments, garlands and wraths.

Just how do you store your Christmas decoration? After all, you don’t want to go through heaps of boxes next year, still not finding what you’re looking for.

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Me time – Take care of yourself and just breathe

Christmas BeachThe festive season is almost over and the long weekend seems to be months away. It was such a wonderful time celebrating with my loved ones on the beach. But then, I was shocked seeing a Facebook post about my cousin in the US. She was hospitalised – suspected stroke! While she’s better and at now home now, it was terrible news.

It made me realise how important spending time with our loved ones really is. We’d expect something to happen to our parents, not to our cousins and friends.

We’re all so busy wrapping up outstanding projects at work, finalising that sale before year end, preparing for the Holidays, rushing from one party to another, getting the nails done and so on. There’s hardly any time for us to just breathe. Even at the hairdresser’s, it’s writing down what needs to be done next.

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Meal options for the busy you

Like most of us, I’m really looking forward to the long weekend. The last few weeks were rather packed with work, travel and fun activities. A few peaceful days with my loved ones and without email will be great.

A number of my friends are in a similar position. A little be of quiet time to reflect. One friend is regularly looking at her life and is making changes to improve it. Having started a new role recently, she’s now facing the daily cooking dilemma. Going out, ordering in, picking something up from the supermarket or making something from scratch?

Are you also struggling with the daily question “Honey, what’s for dinner”? Whatever your family situation, meal planning can take a load of your shoulders and give you some peace of mind.

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Wrap up the year

Year End PartyThe last few weeks of a year always seem to be a mad rush. Last week, we had our company year end party which was such a great laugh. In less than 2 weeks, we’ll celebrate the birthday of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and Christmas. For a lot of expats in Dubai, this will be time to travel to their home countries and many are also thinking how and where to spend New Year’s Eve. I’m so happy that all this is sorted and I’ve some peace of mind!

Yet, as we’re getting ready to celebrate, it’s also time to wrap up 2015. Nowadays, year end is almost forgotten and few people only use it to reflect. Instead, we’re already focusing on the next year. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s finish this year first. Here’s a list of activities to wrap up in 2015:

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