Word: alanoud
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...nearly half an hour late for Nof Al Mazrui, the young mother who is Alanoud's shopping buddy. Nof, who hails from the neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi and moved to Dubai when she married four years ago (in Elie Saab couture), is about to open a kids' store called Lolly Pop in the Village Mall. But how to find her now? Right in front of us is a site map that is cut into complicated colored cross sections. We're completely confused. Alanoud whips out her cell phone. "Upstairs? By Mont Blanc and Diesel...
...Alanoud says her family rarely visits these days. "It's such a long way, and there's so much happening around this part of the world that going there isn't necessary anymore." Nof doesn't travel there either, mostly because her husband forbids it. "We used to go a lot. We'd hop around to New York, L.A., Las Vegas," she says wistfully. "But my husband is from Ra's al Khaymah?that's the most northern emirate?and one of the bombers on the 9/11 planes was from there." Instead, they go to London, where Nof's husband...
They have probably never seen her on skis either. We have come to ski, and Alanoud is determined, changing into ski pants and a jacket while Nof slips a long padded parka over her abaya. Nof needs no encouragement to try tobogganing and even has a go at skiing after Alanoud, who is proficient, demonstrates where to position poles and skis. We might be in the middle of the desert, but it feels as if we are in the Alps: chairlifts lead up to the black-diamond run, and it's cold enough to fear frostbite...
Another day, another mall. The next morning, Alanoud shows me around BurJuman mall with her friend Raghda Bukhash, the designer of the gutra clutch bags. Under the label Pink Sushi, she also designs slogan Ts, and she gives me a peek at the one she has on under her abaya. "It translates as, 'Shake your hips, little ducky,'" Raghda says, laughing. "So now you know I'm a rock chick Madonna with my customized T and my micromini and my black tights and bright green jeweled shoes...
...afternoon, and Alanoud has a work meeting she can't miss. In any case, I have an appointment with David Dessureault, the buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue at BurJuman. As she leaves, Alanoud invites me to dinner at a place called Spectrum. "They do the best virgin mojitos," she says. (We end up having more fun on mocktails than I thought possible...