Now, THIS is thinking outside the box!

This story is TOO GOOD to not write down.
It did not happen to me, but I sure hope you enjoy it. ;)

So, my friend and his wife and their 50-pound dog were traveling from Kansas to Kuwait. They got stuck in NYC due to a mechanical problem with the plane, and had to get a hotel for the night.

The airline tried to help them find lodging that would take dogs, but were having difficulty. Finally, after calling 17 hotels, the airline was able to get them a hotel reservation. So my friend, his wife, and 50-pound dog took a shuttle to the hotel. However, upon arrival, they discovered the hotel only allows dogs who are UNDER 10 pounds!!!

So, how did they find a place that allows a 50-pound dog? Well, the next hotel they went to, my friend put on a pair of sunglasses, walked into the hotel lobby holding onto his wife's arm w/ the dog by his side... The dog led him to the sitting-area in the lobby, where he sat down while his wife checked them in. And the hotel didn't give him any problems because they thought he was a blind man with his seeing-eye-dog!!!

BRILLIANT!!!!

The best thing to do when it's 110 degrees outside?

Go skiing INSIDE!!!

... or snowboarding...

...or tubing...

At the indoor ski resort - SKI DUBAI!!!

Shopping in Dubai

They say the shopping in Dubai is a highlight, a must-see, a must-do. On the tour bus, when approaching the Deira Gold Souq, the tour guide gave fair warning, "This next stop makes the ladies happy. Gentlemen, hold onto your wallets." As you can see, there is A LOT OF BLING, and it goes on forever!!!!



And yes, it does make the ladies happy. :)












My favorite shopping experience, however, did not involve jewelry directly. While melting in the 110 degree weather and admiring the streets aligned w/ gold, my friend and I decided that it was simply too hot and we should go to the beach to cool off.


The only thing we needed were swimsuits. No problem - we entered a shop that had mannequins dressed in swimsuits, and inquired if they had more of a selection. The store worker brought over a stack of swimsuits, each individually packaged in clear plastic. "Choose one," he said to me.

I ruffled through the pack, picked out a suit, opened the package and held it up.
It was the size of a 2T onesie! I asked, "do you, by chance, have something in a larger size????"


"Yes," he said,
"Small, medium, large. One size fits all."


What? ARE YOU KIDDING ME????!! Have you ever heard of a one-size-fits-all-swimsuit?!!?
Well, desperate times call for desperate measures, and we were quickly melting and the ocean was an absolute necessity at this point. So we bought it - for $4.50 - and laughed all the way to the beach.

And so, you may ask, does one size fits all?!?
Well..... not quite, but close enough!



And so, this is me, in my $4.50 one size fits all swimsuit, at Jumeirah Open Beach in Dubai. :)

And this is as close you'll ever get to seeing me in it - ever again!

It may, however, look super-cute on my 3-year old niece, Molly.