Home Away From Home...

I'm not talking about Bahrain. I'm talking about the MANY MANY grocery stores I've been frequenting lately. I swear, I spend more time there than ANYWHERE else. This Whole30 is a time-suck. I mean, I'm super grateful to be able to lead my family in this healthy journey...but it's consuming my life! 

I'm either searching for recipes, meal planning, making shopping lists, driving to the grocery store, fighting for a parking spot at said grocery store, actually grocery shopping, cooking, or cleaning up from the meals. Luckily I've been able to make time every day this week to work out - it's helped me keep my sanity and given me a break from the food. 

So....to keep my readers entertained and exposed to the crazy Bahraini world I want to talk about....

drum-roll please....

GROCERY STORES!

Exciting, I know. But, TRUST ME...these aren't your run-of-the-mill grocery stores!

So far the Bahraini grocery stores I frequent the most are: 

GEANT

Carefour

Al Jazira

Alosra

YES...I do go to all 4 of these at least once a week - more likely 2 or 3 times a week. So I'm becoming pretty familiar with them. And so talking about how different the grocery stores are is about as exciting as my life gets right now. Grocery stores, gym, cooking, cleaning...oh and wiping butts and feeding Davis, and constantly telling Caden to stop kissing Davis so much. Glamorous.

Here are a list of the things I find intriguing so far.... 

1. LIQUID CHEESE. They have aisles and aisles of this Kraft, liquid cheese. I'm not sure what else to call it. There are several varieties and sizes. These particular lot was in the "Ramadan Special" selection. I've never seen cheese like this back home. I can only imagine all of the health benefits. But hey...it's KRAFT...must be good? This is just one example of the STRANGE products I've found.

2. AMERICAN PRODUCTS. Most of the stores carry a few American products, which I am grateful for. I'm even more grateful when they slap a big American Flag on the shelf to make sure we notice them. I've still never seen any other country's flag posted. I wonder what makes us so special?

#3 GROCERY CARTS. Not only do you have to PAY to get a grocery cart, but these grocery carts are possessed. I HATE THEM. They don't just roll forward and backwards...no, of course not. They also go side to side or really whatever way you want them to go. Ever tried pushing an office chair down a hallway? Maybe that's a bad example....but because it can go anywhere - IT WILL go anywhere. I've run into a few people. They were not amused. Sorry, silly American coming through - nope, I can't even operate a grocery cart - but hey thanks for the American Flag signs.

 

So, to get a cart out your have to insert 100 Fil (about the size of a nickel and worth about 25 cents USD) into the cart to release it. When you return your cart, you get it back. A lot of people just leave their cart next to their car and don't return it. So, someone can get rich off of gathering them up and cashing in. Then again - it is SO hot outside, who wants to do that? I'll admit, I've ditched a cart or two and left my 100 fil before. Some things just aren't worth it. After loading groceries, Caden, a crying baby and myself in to the care in 110 degree heat, sweat dripping everywhere, the last thing I want to do it return a grocery cart to get about 25 cents back. 

#4 NOT FOR MUSLIMS. In case there is ANY confusion - there are signs all over the place making sure the Muslims are aware of what they are and are not allowed to purchase. 

#5 THE PORK ROOM. AKA - THE BEST ROOM! BACON - YAY! When we first moved here I wasn't even sure if I would be able to buy pork anywhere. Which, in my humble opinion, would have been a tragedy. 2 years without bacon. How un-American. Luck is on our side. The NEX sells pork products and so do most grocery stores. They just have the "Pork Room" set off from everything else. Often they are also labeled with, "NO MUSLIMS ALLOWED" signs as well. They usually have a pretty good selection. I just still laugh every time I enter the "Pork Room". I'm PRETTY sure the last time I bought pork the female cashier was afraid to even touch the package. She picked it up by the corner edge of the package and held it away from her like it was something rancid and disgusting. No my friend...in that package is the best thing in the world. BACON.

#6 PRODUCE. I've never appreciated the produce section of grocery stores back home like I do now. The produce here is difficult. It tends to go bad super quickly, and it's REALLY expensive. I spend an insane amount of money on produce each week. Not only that, but it's just odd sometimes. Like these GIANT green bell peppers we found a few days ago. Or the fact that red onions are teeny tiny. You need 3 or 4 to make up for 1 from back home.

Also - after you select your produce you have to bring it all to a special guy setup in the produce section. He or she, weighs it and tags it all right there. This is a simple, but easily forgotten step. When you are used to just grabbing it having the cashier enter it, it's easy to forget. Believe me, people in line DO NOT like it when they have to wait for someone to run your produce back to the Produce Man to get tagged because you forgot. I'm learning this lesson. 

One cool thing about the produce is that the fruit is usually delicious AND they have some fruit that I've never even heard of. Our goal is to try one new fruit each week. So far, so good. We haven't encountered anything too crazy yet. 

#7 SPICES. Okay, so not everything is bad or weird. Some things are pretty darn awesome. Like the bulk spices section found in the bigger stores. They have any spice you can think of and more. We've started buying all of our spices in bulk, which is a good thing with the Whole30, as we are going through it like water. The only problem is communicating how much I want to the Spice Guy. We pretty much have a system now. I point to the spice and use my hands to show how much or how little. 

They also have different kinds of nuts, different flavors of nuts ie: spicy cashews or honey cashews, all sorts of dried fruit, and things like almond flour, coconut flour...so much to explore here. This area makes me happy.

#8. The MEAT Section. I don't really want to talk about this. If you know me, you know why. I'm not a big fan of meat. I have to convince myself it wasn't once an animal to make myself eat it. My siblings tortured me when I was little. No, I'm not talking about how they convinced me that I was adopted, I'm talking about how they would make animal noises while I ate meat. SCARRED FOR LIFE. I still can't eat meat off of a bone - unless it's a hot wing - and even then, if I get ONE bite that reminds me it's an animal, I'm done. Meanwhile, Andrew picks up my half eaten hot wings and pretty much sucks them dry. That's teamwork.

So - there IS a meat section and they have all sorts of things that you wouldn't find in the meat section back home. I can't even bring myself to write about it. I think I'm going to throw up. 

HOWEVER, I do have to tell you the story of the bones. One day I noticed that they sold packs of "Beef Bones" and "Lamb Bones" at Carefour. I had NEVER seen this in a meat section before and I was pretty much immediately grossed out and had to leave without purchasing our meat. Fast Forward to the Whole30 and me trying to find beef broth without preservatives. Pretty much impossible. Remembering that they sell beef bones at the grocery store I looked up some broth recipes and decided that we had to make our own broth, or rather, that Andrew had to make our broth. I mentally accepted that I would have to go to the store and buy a pack of the beef bones...I had NO IDEA how horrible it would be. 

I bravely set out for Carefour last week. Beef broth was our only missing ingredient for the week, and it was time to make the leap and buy some bones. I COULD DO THIS. 

Well, I walked up to the meat section with confidence. I was going to grab the bones and get out of there. I was a big girl - I could do it. As my luck would have it - they were all out of beef bones that day. 

Damn. I was going to have to ask someone. I drove 25 minutes, parked in the crazy City Center parking garage, and got myself, Caden, and Davis in the store for these bones and we weren't leaving without them. 

So, I walked up to the butcher and said, "Umm, do you have any beef bones?" The butcher said he had to check in the back and came back out holding FLINSTONE STYLE HUGE WHOLE beef bones. These WERE NOT the small cut up bones from the packages out front. These were HUGE in tact leg bones from some poor cow. 

I literally started dry heaving right then and there. The butcher tried to hand them to me and I just kind of waved him off, and turned the other way. I tried to exlain that I needed them to be smaller and he cheerfully said, "OK!" and walked away. I watched him as he walked over to a saw and proceeded to saw them up into little pieces. I can't even tell you the horrible things running through my head at that point. I had to turn around and sing songs in my head. I was seriously about to throw up everywhere. UGH. I can't even write about it anymore. It was horrible. It scarred me even more than I already was. 

When it was all said and done he handed me my package of beef bones, and I carried them through the store like a waitress carrying a tray of food through a restaurant. Above my head where I couldn't see them. Did I look crazy? ABSOLUTELY. But the alternative was to actually puke. So I chose crazy. 

AND...YES - Andrew was the one that made the beef broth. I could not do it. I sat there and stared at the ingredients for about 15 minutes, then just turned and walked away. I may be able to eat the meat right now - but that is one job I still can't do.

That's about it on the Grocery Store front. Exciting?! Yes, I know. I guess I'm still amused by the little things here. 

OH....and a Whole30 update. Day 11 done. Still going strong. I haven't dreamt of food in 2 days! I just am craving peanut butter like nobody's business. Our food the past few days has been pretty boring. Veggies, grilled meat, salads, eggs. That's about it. However, dinner the past two nights has been pretty great. 

DAY 10 DINNER:  Chicken Rogan Josh

Rogan Josh is an Indian dish that Andrew loves. It's traditionally made with lamb, but as you can see from my rant above, I struggle with meat, and lamb is just something I can't do yet. So I made it with Chicken. It was delicious. Next time I am going to halve the amount of cloves she calls for and make it "mild" I did the "medium" version and it was just a touch too spicy. We also made cauliflower rice to put it over. Andrew made it tonight and it was perfect - you could hardly tell that it wasn't real rice! Definitely a keeper though. And I'm loving the blog this recipe came from. Tons of Paleo and Whole30 recipes. www.theclothesmakethegirl.com

DAY 11 DINNER:  Mexican Cottage Pie 

This was a fun one tonight. It definitely helped shake things up a bit. I have to say though, it really reminded me of our favorite Paleo Chili. I even topped mine with some avocado and chopped onion. It was DELICIOUS. Plus we have a ton of leftovers. The sweet potato cauliflower mashed topping was awesome. This is a great way to sneak a ton of vegetables in to your meal. Another keeper for us! 

That's all I've got for tonight. I hope you all enjoy going to the grocery store this week. What I would give to be able to drive up to a store, get out, walk a few feet to get inside, and then find everything I need in one place! You all are spoiled!

and That's 'Watts' She Said...

I Bet Your Mall Doesn't Have This...

1. Prayer Rooms in the Mall

2. GENDER SPECIFIC Prayer Rooms at that...

My newest Bahraini discovery. Yep, prayer rooms in the malls. I got a little lost looking for an elevator at the Seef Mall and found this. Pretty cool. 

The malls also have really great private nursing rooms equipped with changing tables and everything. The malls here are awesome and so interesting at the same time. I could seriously people watch for hours.

My first time going to the mall was both a wonderful and crazy experience. Being surrounded by women in their abayas - it's a sea of black. My first thought was, how can you tell which one is your friend/sister/mom/wife? 

My guess would be by the shoes or purse - what little these women do show is STYLISH. I love it. I especially love that a lot of them wear TOMS with their abayas! Can't miss the blue TOMS tag on the back of their shoes. Also - I have discovered that their abayas aren't just plain black cloth. There are MANY MANY different abayas. Some have embellishments, rhinestones, lace, fringe, ruffles, flowers, the list goes on and on. I love all of the different varieties. One of these days I'll do a post just on the fashion of the Bahraini women. I love it. 

Seriously though,all in all - it really is a sea of black in the mall. I know how easily Caden can wander away from me in crowded places. That's one of my biggest fears. At least he can see ME and the shape of me and my clothes. I saw what happens in the Bahrain City Center when a child loses his mommy. It just about broke my heart. 

Caden and I were sitting in the food court and a little boy started running around yelling "Mama!" and just turning in circles totally lost. Luckily, his mom was within a few feet, she was just turned away from him. But how scary. I can only imagine how often that happens. 

The malls are awesome right now - they are pretty much deserted due to Ramadan. On a busy non-Ramadan day at the mall you can look for parking for 30 minutes. Easily. Right now, I can just drive into the "Car Park" and find a prime spot. I love it. 

Another Whole30-during-Ramadan bonus. All of the restaurants, coffee shops, snack places are CLOSED. So what temptation I would have to grab a quick snack are totally eliminated. Thank goodness!

This is the food court at the City Center Mall. The Food Court isn't just closed - it's gated off. Most food places are. This is no joke people - they seriously don't want you even thinking about eating here. There was actually a Mall Cop guarding the area as well. 

AND...the subject of FOOD. It's seriously haunting me. Last night I could barely sleep. In my dreams I was LITERALLY fighting with food. Brownies, OREOS, chips, pop....but they were huge - all like 5 feet tall. I guess when the folks over at the Whole9 said that you would be dreaming of food and fighting serious cravings, they weren't kidding. 

You'll be glad to know that we are still going strong Day 8 is done. We haven't been cooking as wonderful of meals in the past two days because I am EXHAUSTED. Another awesome Day 7 and 8 side effect of the Whole30. So our meals have been eggs and veggies for breakfast, leftovers for lunch, and the past two nights we had pork chops and roasted veggies and then chicken and roasted veggies. I guess you can use this as poof that you CAN do the Whole30 when you don't have a ton of time.

I'm not so patiently waiting for this energy boost I'm supposed to get in the next few days. I need it. In a BAD way. On that note - I'm off to bed. 

and That's 'Watts' She Said...

O-M-Ghee: Whole 30 and Andrew's 1st CrossFit WOD!!!

Sorry folks, no funny 'Life in the Middle East' stories for you today. Just another day spent at the pool swimming, tanning, and spending time with friends. I know, I know...it's a rough life we are leading here in Bahrain. 

The biggest, newest, most exciting news is that our family has committed to the

 WHOLE 30!!!!

We are following the Whole 30 designed by www.whole9life.com and it's awesome!

Pretty much it's 30 days of strict clean eating. No alcohol (you read that right, NO alcohol), no added sugars, no grains, no legumes, no dairy. 

For 30 days....30 DAYS....

This is not for the weak, that's for sure. It's going to be hard, but the benefits are supposed to be oh so good.  It's important to know that the purpose of the Whole 30 is NOT weight loss. The purpose is to reset your body and your relationship with food. An added bonus is that over 90% people also lose a decent amount of weight in the 30 days. 

Andrew and I are always trying to eat as healthy as we can, but all too often things sneak in like noodles, or garlic bread, or take out Chinese, or oreos of course; and before we know it we aren't eating as healthy as we would like to be. It's tie for us to get serious about reaching our optimal health.

We've discussed doing the Whole 30 for a long time. I've always wanted to do it, and Andrew has thought it was a good idea, but he had to think LONG and HARD about giving up his precious milk. Well ladies and gentlemen, the time has finally come - and Andrew is putting down the MILK! YES! I hate milk, and I especially hate when he tries to kiss me after drinking a big glass of milk. Disgust city. Ugh.

With Andrew's busy work schedule he has said that he is happy to do the Whole 30 with me, but I have to have all of the meals prepared and ready for him. I guess I can do that, even though my days are SO busy. Getting a tan is hard work!

So, if you wonder where I am for the next 30 days; chances are I'm either cooking, meal planning, grocery shopping, or doing dishes. How domestic huh?

I'm totally fine with it. I'm just so excited for our family and can't wait to see our results. Hey, I have to focus on the positive that will come out of this because let's face it...I'm not going to be a very nice person for the next few weeks. 

I'm going to reach a whole new level of HANGRY! 

My amazing midwife and dear friend, Brooke, is also doing the Whole 30 with us...from Maryland. So it's been a lot of fun to iMessage with her the past few days and be there for each other and encourage one another. 

Even Caden is on board. He has had this huge bag of Halloween/Christmas/Easter/Birthday candy that we've had around for months. Every now and then we let him pick a treat out of it, and it's presence in our house is a PROBLEM right now. So after a talk with him about making healthy choices he agreed that it wast time to ditch the candy. So it's gone! I was so proud of him. I'll be honest, it didn't take any convincing, all he said was, "Well, can I still play my Kindle?" When I said yes, he just said, "okay, sounds good" and walked away. Priorities.

The first step was to empty out our cupboards....I loved seeing the bad leave our house as I brought in all of the good!

Out with the old...

 In with the new....

Yesterday I spent ALL day going to a million different grocery stores to get our ingredients for the first few meals. We should get extra points for doing this from Bahrain. There are so many things that we don't have that would make this so much better and tastier. ie: sugar-free, nitrate-free bacon.

In the past day I have cooked 6 meals and made my own Ghee!

What's Ghee you ask? Well, it's kind of like butter, but better. According to the Whole 9

 website, Ghee is: 

 Golden colored ghee is prepared by melting and simmering unsalted butter until all the water evaporates and the milk solids settle at the bottom. The milk solids (those problematic milk proteins that make plain old butter a less healthy choice) are then filtered out, leaving only the remaining pure butter fat.  This form of fat (approximately 2/3 saturated) is very stable with a high smoke point, making it an excellent choice to use for frying and sautéing.  In addition, it can be stored without refrigeration for several months.   (Note, ghee and clarified butter are not the same.  Ghee is cooked longer, then browned, giving the butterfat a rich, nutty flavor.)

Ghee is the ONLY allowed dairy on the Whole 30.  

The instructions I used for our Ghee was from Nom Nom Paleo, one of my favorite food blogs. If you are so inclined you can make Ghee too!  Go HERE.  

I have to say, the ONE positive thing about the grocery stores here is the availability of Kerrygold Butter!

Back home I easily spent $7 for one package of Kerrygold's delicious butter made from the milk of grass-fed cows in Ireland. Here, I get a 2-pack for $3. It's amazing! It almost makes up for the $30 I spend on broccoli.

So last night I embarked on my first Ghee experiment using a ton of Kerrygold butter. 

Melting....

Simmering...

And...the finished product! I think I let it simmer a little bit too long as it's darker than I expected. BUT it's delicious! I have already used it a few times and it gives a rich nutty butter flavor. So delicious! 

I plan on posting our daily menu for each day. Just in case one of our friends or family members decides to join us - I'll do all the work and just tell you what to eat!

DAY 1

Breakfast:  Sweet Potato Hash and Fried Eggs

(Andrew LOVED the hash, he even woke me up on his way out the door to tell me how amazing it was)

Recipe from Nom Nom Paleo Here

Lunch:  We had a little bit of sweet potato hash left over so I roasted some broccoli and grilled some chicken breast and served it all together. 

Another WIN - Andrew called me to tell me that he could easily eat that any day.
Caden and I ate ours while sitting in the car on our way to the pool. 

Snack:  Green Apple with a tiny bit of Almond Butter

Dinner:  Tacos served in lettuce cups

I didn't use a recipe here either, I made my own Taco seasoning for the beef that included, garlic, onions, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, paprika, salt and pepper and squeezed some fresh lime over it too. We made our tacos with tomatoes, onions, and avocado on top. DELICIOUS. 

Though I was definitely missing the tortilla chips, shells, and cheese. 

So Day 1 is DONE!! We have survived. Surprisingly I felt pretty great all day. My biggest

challenge is right now. I would love to reach for a little snack...but I WILL NOT DO IT! I am determined for us to be successful in this adventure this month. 

I'm also SUPER SUPER happy that after a year and a half, I have finally convinced my husband to CrossFit with me! After he got home from work today I put him through his first class!

He learned all about the squat, front squat, back squat, push, and push press. He was a natural! I'm so extremely proud. He even got his first double-under today! I was shocked.

Though he was glaring at me A LOT, it was really fun. After the skills instruction I had him do FRAN!!!

FRAN

21-15-9

Thrusters and Pull Ups

I am SO excited to coach him. I truly loved our family time outside working out together. If only it wasn't SO HOT!

I always sweat during CrossFit - but CrossFit in 100 degree humid weather. We were drenched by the end. 

And that's the newest and greatest in our world. I don't plan on turning this blog into a CrossFit/Paleo/Whole 30 blog - so don't worry. I'm sure I'll be back to shit show stories and butt bath pictures in no time. 

Until then - wish us luck! And let me know if you want to join us!!!

and That's 'Watts' She Said....

"Mommy, this is NOT a good day for you, is it?"

It feels like FOREVER since my last post and I have to admit...I missed it. 

This blog is like my new addiction. I guess as far as addictions go this is way better than something like drugs, or alcohol, or Oreos. 

We have had a crazy busy and but insanely wonderful past few days. So much has happened, it's not possible to put it all in one post. So I'll just break it up a bit. Believe me, there were WAY too many shit show stories to put in one post. I swear, I am a walking disaster anymore. 

In my quest to throw a great 4th of July BBQ (or 'cookout' as my husband calls it - so weird) I went to 4 different grocery stores! That's right 4 DIFFERENT GROCERY STORES. 

One grocery store is enough of an adventure in this heat with two kids...but I had to really outdo myself and go to 4. 

Yep, that's life in Bahrain. 

I would do just about anything for a Safeway or Giant or Costco right about now! Not to mention what I would do for a Trader Joe's or a Whole Foods. It's sinful, the things I would do. 

There are a handful of different grocery stores here and they all have their pluses and minuses. So to make a specific dish you will most likely end up at several different stores, and you will pay a fortune. It's a good thing you save so much money on gas because you need it to be able to afford food here. (Yep...I have still only spent $15 on gas in the past 3 weeks! Take THAT America!)

I was able to get almost everything for our BBQ. Though it about cost me my sanity and an entire paycheck. 

The Exchange on base has some staples - but the selection is VERY small and the prices are still insane. Do you know what it cost for a half gallon of Organic Milk??? $10!!!!! Insane. And you can't always count on them to have basics like boneless skinless chicken breast. I can't live without that stuff. 

So, after getting what we could at the NEX (Navy Exchange for my non-military readers) I decided to venture WAY out there (8 miles away) to visit GEANT. I had heard that this store was kind of like a Target and a big grocery store all in one and NEEDED to check it out. 

My friend Jessica and I decided to take on this adventure together. So we put GEANT in our GPS and headed out. I guess technically GEANT is in the beginning of the 'Red Zone' AKA that 'we are not allowed to go there zone' but it was completely fine. 

Not only was it fine...it was AMAZING!!!! 

Okay, the grocery selection was amazing. My experience was probably one of my biggest shit shows so far. 

First of all, GEANT is located inside of one of Bahrain's many many malls. So before we went in I decided to be a good mom and get Caden some fresh squeezed orange juice from Starbucks. Well, I ALSO needed Caden to push Davis in his stroller so I could handle the grocery cart. So I ended up placing his orange juice in the bottom of the cart. Well....as I was picking up a new mop for our maid, I plopped it in our cart and SPLASH...orange juice everywhere. 

I imagine that would be what it's like to have your water break in the middle of a store. That was my first thought randomly...did my water just break?! What was that?! Umm..no I'm clearly not pregnant, so this was a totally irrational thought, but I thought it. 

Nope, it was Caden's fresh squeezed orange juice, all over the ground. 

As Jessica put it, "At least we are in the mop aisle" Of course it wasn't an aisle that we were alone in. There were a bunch of other people there to witness my accident. 

Here's Caden cleaning up my mess. 

Just joking, I didn't really make him clean it. By the way...I'm buying a NEW mop because my maid came downstairs and angrily declared, "Madam...I HATE your mop!" I was instructed to buy a new one before she returned. So yes ma'am...here is your new mop. 

Not long after the Great Spill I realized that my shoe felt extremely funny, so I looked at the bottom of it and realized that the heel of my cute new flip flops was breaking off. 

Great...one more thing to worry about, so from then on I kind of slide/stepped my way through the grocery store trying not to make it any worse.

About 5 minutes after the shoe discovery I realized that my new Old Navy linen-cotton blend pants were GROWING. They kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. 

By the end of the shopping trip I swear I was tucking the waistline up under my bra to try and keep them up. Okay, maybe it wasn't THAT bad...but they are about 2 feet too long and the crotch of them was at my knees.

So imagine, me pushing D in his stroller, slide/stepping behind it trying to keep my pants up and my shoe from breaking while also trying to pull my grocery cart. 

I. Was. A. Mess. 

(Seriously - I can't make this stuff up. This is my real life.)

It got to the point that Caden looked at me and said, "Mommy, this s NOT a good day for you, is it?" 

Poor Caden. He must be so embarrassed by me. Then again...NOT poor Caden. Poor Mommy - guess who once again decided he had to use the potty for #2 in the MIDDLE of our grocery shopping?! AGAIN! What is it with his timing? 

Anyways - while I clumsily made my way through the store Jessica looked effortless wearing her sweet baby in her Baby Bjorn carrier while I schlepped along behind her. Some girls have all the luck. 

We went down nearly every aisle and kept saying, "OH MY GOD!!! They have ______"

Chobani Greek Yogurt

Ezekiel Pasta

Aminos ? I don't know but Jessica was excited...

Daisy Sour Cream

Organic Valley Cage Free Eggs!!!! ($8 for a dozen, but I totally bought them!)

The list goes on and on. 

It was awesome. Almost as awesome as when Jessica pointed out the American Flags to me. I was pretty oblivious at this point, clearly I was just trying to keep my pants up. 

Apparently, GEANT puts American Flags on all of the American products. I just thought they had some 4th of July spirit going on. It was so cool though. 

This wasn't just ANY old cheese aisle!

GEANT is definitely our favorite new grocery store and I can't wait to go back, even though I looked like a total disaster walking through it. 

Oh, and by the way....my slide stepping wasn't working very well. By the end of our shopping trip the heel had totally ripped off of my sandal, and it was flapping away behind me as I walked. Good thing my pants were SO LONG they pretty much hid everything. 

However, you couldn't miss the fact that to get through the parking garage to my car I now had to "Pony Step" to keep my shoe on. Yep, every step with my right foot I had to pick up my leg like a pony or high-knee before putting it back down again. 

I'm going to start a new trend. 

THE shoe. So sad, these were my favorites.....

All in all, it was a success...an EXPENSIVE success, but still a success. 

By the way, I couldn't figure out HOW I had spent so much money at the grocery store....then I saw it. 

BROCCOLI!!

As I started to prep the broccoli for our delicious salad I realized that I paid over 10 Dinar on broccoli alone. That's almost $30 on broccoli!!! Seriously. Insane. 

Good thing everyone LOVED the broccoli salad - or else I would have been super sad. 

Note to self: Find Cheaper Broccoli!!!

I'm not kidding though, groceries are going to be our biggest expense while here. I can' hardly believe it. Not  just expensive but totally inconvenient. After our marathon GEANT shopping trip I still had to go to Al Jazira for pickles (the only place I've found with good pickles) and Alosra for decent lettuce and white onions. No ONE store has everything you need. Heck,  I would settle for 2 stores. I'm just hoping things go smoother once I figure out where all of the good ingredients are (plus maybe next time I'll have pants that fit and shoes that aren't broken). 

OH....and THEN I thought, "I would love to have some fresh flowers out in our new house" I saw these beauties at Alosra and was about to buy them...

Yeah...that price tag...it says $20 Dinar. That's over $50!!!! For 4 hydrangeas...they are FREE out of my mom's garden back home. You've got to be kidding me?! $50. No need for fresh flowers here.

Despite my usual mommy shit show, our 4th of July BBQ was wonderful. We had a ton of food, and a pretty good turnout. It feels wonderful to be making some good friends. I still have to admit, I was definitely sad when I went online on the 5th and saw everyone's 4th of July posts. 

I can't wait for next year....but hey, this little guy had a GREAT 1st 4th of July. Somehow this is the ONLY picture I took all day. 

His cuteness makes it all better. At least I have my boys. 

and That's 'Watts' She Said....

Rug Shopping 101

Three years ago when I started dating Andrew he was SO proud to show off his Persian Rugs that he had purchased while stationed in Bahrain. I thought they were nice and made sure to smile and approve. For a bachelor he had some pretty nice things - though it definitely wasn't my taste. Then when we moved in together in Maryland, placing the rugs was a huge deal. I was like,

"Okay, I mean, they're nice - but I really like this one I saw at Pottery Barn..." 

Needless to say, he was SUPER offended. I mean, the rugs were beautiful and all - but it wasn't really my style...YET. We may have had a fight about it. Okay, we totally fought about it.

I gave in and the rugs were moved to center stage in the living room and our bedroom. Honestly, they grew on me over the years, and randomly one night I asked him how much he spent on them. Finally I was truly impressed - but then he told me what they would cost IF you could find them in the States and I was really impressed. I know - I'm a bit materialistic, so sue me. Suddenly - these rugs were awesome.

And..when I say that you can't buy these carpets in the US - I mean it. There are US sanctions forbidding the import of Iranian made carpets. So folks...if you want a beautiful carpet now's the time to get one while we are here!

Anyways, since our first rug argument we have since decided that we want our house to feel eclectic and have rugs/art/decor from all of our duty stations. We call it, "Decor with Meaning".

When we got our orders to Bahrain, Andrew could not wait to get back to his favorite carpet place, Oasis Carpets, and get some more rugs. My thought was, "REALLY? MORE Persian rugs? Isn't 2 enough?!"

Fast forward to our third week here. I couldn't understand why Andrew was so giddy to go into the Carpet store until we went in.

It. Was. Awesome.

Abdul, the owner had sold Andrew our two carpets 4 YEARS ago, as luck would have it - he was at the shop when we walked in. 

Here's where it gets CRAZY...he REMEMBERED Andrew from 4 years ago. He said most of his business comes from the base, so it wasn't like Andrew was the only 6'4" white guy buying a rug from him. There is Navy memorabilia all over the shop. But this guy...this guy was amazing. He remembered that Andrew was with HM-14, but was working with HM-15. He remembered that he flew 53s...and he REMEMBERED the carpets that Andrew had purchased! 

I mean seriously. This guy sells A LOT of carpets. I was impressed. 

So, we chatted for a while and told him that we would be back to buy some carpets in the next 2 years. I guess I didn't realize at the time that Andrew really meant, I'll be back in 4 weeks before moving into the villa to buy carpets. But, that's what he meant. 

As soon as it was for sure that we would get this awesome villa we made a trip to the rug store. As you can tell by the pictures of the villa - there are a lot of hard, cold floors. This is obviously good considering the oppressive heat of Bahrain, but we needed a little warmth from some carpets. 

The grin on Andrew's face was priceless as we walked in and said, "Well...we need to buy 2 carpets!"

From that point on - the carpet experience was like an awesome dream. I felt like Julia Roberts in 'Pretty Woman' but instead of clothes...it was carpets. So not really nearly as cool, and no red ruby necklace - but still so much fun. Most of all I was shocked that my penny pinching husband was so willing and excited to spend money. He was like a little kid in a candy shop...so I just went with it!
I mean, what girl turns down a shopping spree...rugs or not?!

(Note: this is SOOO much cooler than the time Andrew bought me a bathroom rug for my birthday present. That was not cool. I will never let him live that one down. AND yes, that was my ONLY present, and NO it wasn't even there in time for my birthday. So it was, "Hey, Happy Birthday, I bought you a bathroom rug but it won't be here until next weekend" not his finest moment. Nor mine, I cried. What?! A rug?! Where's my ring?! Yes, this was WAYYY better.)

Ready to shop!

So here you go...

HOW TO BUY A PERSIAN CARPET 101

Some friendly tips:

1. Pick your Carpet place. Our favorite is Oasis Carpets in Carpet Alley. Great service, great English, great selection. We walked in and told them we were there to buy some rugs and they waited on us hand and foot after that. (They even went over to Shawarma Alley and got Caden fresh orange juice.) You can visit their website HERE. They go into Iran every month to buy the carpets, so their selection is always changing and they get them straight from the source. 

2. Know before you go what size you are looking for - and ABOUT how much you want to spend. The price range is pretty wide. All of the rugs are hand-made, all one of a kind, almost all are beautiful, but some are silk, some have 600 knots per square inch (more affordable), and some have 1000 knots per square inch (these ones feel AMAZING, and are super pricey). Spare yourself the grief and don't fall in love with the $10,000 rug. This is like wedding dress shopping in a couture shop with a David's Bridal budget. Just don't do it. 

3. You don't need to know what you are looking for - and I suggest that you keep an open mind. In my mind I wanted a neutral colored rug that would go with anything. In the end I got a more unique one that will make a little bit of a statement. Hey - if we are going to have an expensive, one of a kind Persian rug, I guess I want people to notice it!

4. If you can, buy more than 1. You can get a bigger discount - and hey...why not?!

5. Sit back and relax as they put on the show! All you need to do is nod your head yes or no and they do all of the work!

6. NEGOTIATE. Don't take the first price - they will always come down. We negotiated ours down by about 100 BD ($265). 

7. Enjoy - and keep the red wine AWAY from the rug. 

*8. AND try not to look too much like a hot mess while shopping. You might realize halfway through that the kind woman also rug shopping and giving you her opinion is the Ambassador's wife. Just saying...

The Process

As soon as we told them what we wanted, a team of 4 guys came out and started tossing around thousand dollar carpets like no big deal. I was cringing...and also adding up the ridiculous amount of money in carpets stored in this tiny shop.

The owner - the guy in the white - stood there and directed while the others got a serious workout. It was awesome. He would reference a rug and they would know the exact one. To me - they all started blending together and I was going cross eyed after a while. 

One by one they unfolded the carpets and I would simply make a face (smile = maybe, disgust = no way), or nod, or speak, any of those worked. I was ONE with the carpet team.

 The first goal is just to weed out the NOs...then we went through the maybes, and kept narrowing it further and further down.

If there were two that were similar we would put them side by side, stare at them, walk around them, walk on them, and then pick one. I think we were there for hours.

 It felt like forever, but in a good way.
 

Oh, and taking your shoes off is a MUST - you need to feel it under your bare feet. After all, this is going on your floor you better like how it feels. 

 For our biggest purchase, for the main living room, we decided to go with a Nain (nye-een). Here is some information from the Oasis Website:

Nain Rugs - The Synonym for "Fine" Among the finest carpets in the world, the word nain is sometimes used in Iran as a synonym for 'fine'. These elegant carpets are produced in and around the city of Nain; a favorite of many collectors, Nains are precise, delicate and can be stunningly beautiful. Excellent grades of wool and silk are used on foundations of fine cotton. Typical details include the curvilinear vines with forked leaves, Shah Abbas flowers, birds and animals, and regal borders.

Come Sample Our Selection of Nain Rugs

Although Nain is not a very old rug-weaving city, it is well established and among the most valued carpet-producing centers in Iran. It has adopted most of its skills from the very ancient, neighboring city of Isfahan. Customs and traditions here have changed very little in the past century. Nain's talented master weavers may take several years to complete a single carpet. Though very similar in appearance to Isfahans, they are easily identifiable because of their distinctive color scheme and smooth, closely clipped pile. Nain are all signed (Habibian is the most reputable family in Nain). Nain carpets are available in three levels of quality (based upon knots per square inch, double knotted - the higher the number the higher the quality):

After an hour or so we had narrowed the gazillion rugs we looked at to these three - you can't really see them all very well in this picture.

I was HEAVILY leaning towards the rug in the middle (it was SO unlike any other that we saw)...then I found out that it was $4,000 and the other two we were looking at were about half that price.

The owner told us that he occasionally likes to put his rugs on eBay, just to see what people would be willing to pay in the States. He had the center rug posted last week, after a few days it got to $12,000...then he pulled it off. So, in some ways, I can justify this as an investment, right?!

In the end I decided that I felt too guilty spending that much and would rather get a less expensive rug. To my shock and surprise Andrew was like, "If you really want the one in the middle we can get it." AND I was like,
"Who the hell are you? What did you do with my husband?"

Even the owner said to me, "Isn't the wife supposed to be the one wanting to spend more money!?!"

My oh my...what has my husband turned me into?!

There's only one other time he was like this - engagement ring shopping. Again - I thought an alien had invaded his body. I guess when it's something he really wants the price doesn't matter. I mean, I am pretty great after all.

After much debate and going back and forth. We bought the one above! I love it. It was the only one I saw with yellow in it. And the flowers were different than any of the others. I'm pretty excited for it! I think it isn't too in your face like some of the others, yet it still adds a pop of color. I can't wait to put it down in the living room TOMORROW!!!

Davis was excited too...this is what he did while we shopped.

So...deciding on the living area rug was the biggest challenge. After that we went through the process again for a rug for Caden's room. For his room we went with a less expensive, durable, blue rug.

I thought we were done there, then my crazy-rug-buying-possessed husband asked, "Do you want to get an entryway rug too?!"

Ummm..."SURE!"

So we went through the process AGAIN for an entryway rug!

We narrowed it down to 3. Oh...and want to get your MIND BLOWN?

The rugs look totally different depending on what side of the rug you are standing on! So during the process make sure you walk around all 4 sides of the rug - it is a completely different rug from different angles.

Here's an example:

The 3 entryway rugs we were debating over from the "Light Colored" angle

AND...

The same exact 3 rugs from the opposite side!

Is your mind blown? 

Mine is! 

Oh, and I never could decide on just one - so we got all 3. 

All together we walked away with 5 rugs...AND that's when our credit card company froze our cards. They thought FOR SURE that someone had stolen our credit cards and had gone on a rug buying shopping spree in Bahrain. Andrew had a fun time explaining to them that it really WAS us doing all of that shopping. Yes, we are in Bahrain, YES, we just bought a bunch of rugs in Carpet Alley. I swear he almost had to give a DNA sample to them to prove that it really was us. 

Meanwhile, Caden was pretending to be Spider-Man in the stack of rugs! Hey, at least if he fell, it would be cushioned.

So there you, go. Rug Shopping 101.

This was such a fun and special experience. I highly recommend that if you get a chance to do this, you take full advantaged. We are so blessed to be in a position where we can. I will cherish these rugs forever (they better last that long) and am cured of my desire to buy Pottery Barn rugs ever again.

And as far as this rug goes....we still want it. Though we've decided that for now, we'll take a picture of it and come back in a year. We asked if they could find another one for us when we were ready. He said that he would try. So in one year we will try to find it again, and hope that in the ensuing 12 months they can locate one for us in Iran and bring it back for us take home.

OH...another VERY cool thing. We will be hosting a "Rug Flop" sometime in the next year. Think Tupperware, or Mary Kay, or Cookie Lee jewelry party but with RUGS! They will bring the rugs, the food, and the drinks and we have our friends over to rug shop with us!

I can't wait. I just wish I could take THIS business back to states with me!!

Seriously friends and family - if you want a Persian rug, let us know now! We already have orders from some of you. I will gladly go rug shopping as much as needed!

AND FOLKS....TOMORROW we move in to our villa!!! I feel like it's Christmas Eve right now! So excited!!!!

But this year, Santa is bringing me an entire truck full of my own home-goods and 5 new Persian Rugs! 

and That's 'Watts' She Said...