My Etsy Shop Link for Face Mask Lanyards & Ribbon

My Etsy shop link is:

PosyPop.Etsy.com

I’m making face mask lanyards for adults, teens, and kids, and also offering high quality american-made ribbon by the yard.

Helping Hands

I'm sure you have seen the coverage on the news about the Texas wildfires.  I used to live in Austin, not too far from where those fires are burning.  I could smell them this week, even here in the Houston area, where I live now.


People there need help.  Over 1,600 homes have burned.  People are displaced, so many have lost everything.


So this week, I will be teaming up with Homespun:Houston Handmade and 23 other artists/artisans/crafters, in donating a portion of all of my sales to the American Red Cross of Central Texas.  Please visit my Etsy shop on Wednesday September 14th, and I will donate 50% of my total sales that day to the cause.


And as we reflect on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I pray for peace and healing for all those affected by this great tragedy.

A BIG Sale and a BIG giveaway!

I think I done lost my mind!  It's time for the Christmas in July Sale!  For the rest of the month of July, every item in my Etsy shop will be marked 30% off.  AND if you purchase $40 or more in one transaction, I will upgrade your shipping to Priority Mail.

www.posypop.etsy.com

In addition to that...get ready for it...I am also participating in a GIANT giveaway with On The Spot Studio.  I'm giving away my Drops of Honey necklace.  You MUST check it out!  Details can be found here...

http://blog.onthespotstudio.com/2011/07/06/otss-7k-fan-giveaway/

I will be having some additional crazyness coming up later in July in the form of another givaway with an amazing childrens clothing designer.  More details will be coming on that later.

And to top it off?  PosyPop will be a participating vendor in the Summer's End Fashion Show, by Yono Pomotions and Productions in Louisville, KY.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=232743316752019

July is going to be a fun month!

Bright Lights, Big City

Well, I've been meaning to post this for a while.  We had a wonderful time on our trip to the Middle East.  I wanted to share a few pictures and videos of our travels.

Dubai was amazing to say the least.  I was there in 2004 and well, in 2011 I didn't even recognize it!  The amount of construction that has taken place is incredible.  We only had a couple of days there, so we tried to see as much as possible in that short time.  The first thing that struck me there is the amount of non-Emiratis in Dubai.  Foreigners make up the great majority of the population there.  It's an easy place to visit because they speak English everywhere you go.  I found it to be very westernized, yet you are still able to get a good taste of the Arabic culture. 
At the base of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, is the most gorgeous fountain.  A musical fountain show is played at time intervals in the evenings.  Think Bellagio in Vegas, but BIGGER.  I took this clip on my iPhone...

Another pretty amazing place is the Palm Jumeira.  Basically its a group of manmade islands in the shape of a palm tree.  Its HUGE.  We took a drive on the islands and it was really amazing. 
http://www.palmjumeirah.ae/
I took a clip of part of our drive with my iPhone.  We are still kicking ourselves for forgetting our good camera. 

I wouldn't mind living there!  The Palm is so much bigger than I expected.  Did you see Atlantis?  I had no idea that there was an Atlantis resort here.  It's gorgeous!
I haven't mentioned the shopping yet.  If you like malls, they have a few gigantic ones.  The two biggest are Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates.  Believe it or not, Mall of the Emirates is home to Ski Dubai an indoor ski resort.  Yup, I said indoor.  I also liked the fact that you could find a lot of American and European stores in one place.  Then there are the souqs.  Souq Al Bahar is quite nice if you are looking for something indoors.  The weather was pretty darn hot even though it was still only May.  Souq Al Bahar is next to the Burj Khalifa.  You can see the outside of it on the left side of the screen on my video of the fountain above.

We also checked out the outdoor spice souq in a different part of town.  This is more the traditional style souq.  We bought a bunch of spices like saffron and some arabian mixes.  I found some whole vanilla beans too.

I also wanted to take a peek at the textile souq, so we hopped on the water taxi and headed across the Dubai Creek to take a look.  That my 2 year old with her dad hanging onto her as tight as can be.  These water taxis are crowded and a tad rickety looking.

One thing you have to be able to do when you shop in the souq is bargain.  And bargain hard.  At the textile shop I chose a few blouses and added up in my head what I knew they were really worth.  The shopkeeper started out at 650 dirhams.  I told him I was willing to pay 200.  He looked at me like I was nuts.  So I told him I would shop around a little and be back.  He came down to 600.  I started to walk to the door.  He came down to 550.  I walked out the door.  OK he said, 350.  I stood firm at 200.  By the time I made it a few steps out the door I got my price :) 

There is really so much more to tell about the amazing city of Dubai.  If you ever have the chance, take a trip there, you will not be disappointed!

The Idiot.

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law live in a city in Kuwait called Mahboula.  It translates to "The Idiot".  Seriously.  There is a story behind it, which I really need to find out.  Their apartment building is a nice location filled with American fare like Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, Johnny Rockets, and the like.  The McDonalds across the street is always busy with cars lining up out to the street for the drive thru.  We are having a good time here with family.  The kids are getting along so well and having so much fun together.  We head to Dubai tomorrow for three nights...I can't wait!

The fun came to a crashing halt last night- literally.  We were driving back from dinner and there was a large accident on the other side of the freeway.  The idiot behind us was so busy gawking at it that he slammed into out car.  Hard.  Thankfully everyone is ok...we went to the hospital just to be sure.  I was worried about the kids, but they are fine.  I think we have a little whip lash...these kind of things seem to appear in the days following an accident.

Hopefully I will get to post more in Dubai...I'm not sure what kind of internet access we will have there in the hotel.  Then on Sunday we head home! 

Until next time...:)

Jet. Lag.

So there is an 8 hour time difference between home and here in Saudi Arabia. Which is why I'm writing this post at 2:20 am and I'm not tired in the least. We arrived in Kuwait a few days ago, spent the next day there, then flew to Saudi Arabia. The city has changed a lot since I was last here in 2004. It is starting to remind me of California a little. Palm trees, nice landscaping, wide streets, a pretty area to walk along the beach, and lots of shopping and restaurants. Lots of American restaurants...McD's, KFC, Applebees, Baskin Robbins, Pizza Hut, Subway, just to name a few. Big bright grocery store chains.

We went shopping this evening and I found a caftan. It's seriously the most comfortable thing I've ever worn. We bought the kids a couple of toys...I'm not so sure about the quality though. My daughter got a doll who's arm just doesn't want to stay on. And I would dare put the doll's clothing anywhere near an open flame.

We are still so jet lagged that we took the kids to the playground at 11pm. They finally passed out around 1:30am. Hopefully I won't find them playing loudly behind the curtains in the living room again at 4am like I did yesterday.

On Thursday, we're planning to go fishing, then drive back to Kuwait in the afternoon. I'm really kicking myself that we forgot to bring our good camera. Well, at least we'll get some iPhone pictures!

Time to go count some sheep and try to sleep!

My First Blog Post

I am so excited to be starting my new blog!

What better way to begin, than to tell you about my upcoming trip to the Middle East. By upcoming, I mean in less than 2 days. I haven't started packing. My 4 year old daughter has already packed some toys she wants to bring, namely princess figurines and her favorite bunny, Clarissa.

We will be going to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai. Mostly visiting my hubby's family. I haven't been there for about 3 years, so I'm excited to go! My girls are looking forward to playing with their cousins.

Stay tuned for updates from our trip!