Cupcakes and Merry Go 'Rounds! The Fun Just Keeps Coming

The risk is finally paying off.  After two years of living in a barren wasteland of sand and construction materials, we are finally becoming a real neighborhood!  Well not "real" like in the US where we would own push mowers and have cul-de-sacs and take the time to mulch on weekends.  In Dubai it means that we finally have side walks...that actually LEAD somewhere and that it's possible to walk around without scaling scaffolding and jumping concrete barriers (both necessary skills in the past).

Our 'hood is quickly becoming one of the nuttiest places we've ever lived, you never know what you are going to get outside the front door.  A few days ago we set out to take a stroll and see what else was new (read: what stores and eateries are open at the Dubai Mall).  As we strolled in from the fountain enterance, there she was - Bloomies!  We've been waiting 18 months for this!  The beloved Bloomingdales was finally open and it looked like, well, home.  It was as if Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware had a love child and it was adopted by Dubai.  Finally a bastion of modern hardware and home decor.  Matt quickly found a "must have" item, below:

Then it appeared, somewhere between the gourmet teas and the juciers, I saw the sign and couldn't believe my eyes.  Did that say Magnolia Bakery?  It DID!  The famous cupcakery from NYC has come to to the Middle East.  Life is good.  It's an added bonus that outside of a small few, nobody here knows what it is and that means no line.  I, of course, wasted no time running up to the counter and grabbing a freshly iced red velvet cupcake.  Yum.

After our cupcakes were were on a high, sugar high that is, and we were content to head home delighted by our new found treasure.  We were suprised by one final act of random fun.  Over the past few weeks we noticed that for a reason unbeknownst to us that a merry-go-round as been installed on the boulevard in front of our house.  I figured it was for an upcoming event and paid it no mind.  On our way home we decided to ask about it and the operator said "there is just here for people to ride for free, want to go on?"  Well, sure but huh?  Yup, that's right, there is free merry-go-round outside and we don't know why.  So we took a few spins.  Can't let a good merry-go-round go to waste!