Too hot to trot - take extra care of your dog in the summer months

Summer time in the UAE can be tough on all of us, but it's also tough on our furry friends. Year after year many people seem to forget, while blissfully walking their dogs, how hot the pavements, roads and sand can get. You won't walk around barefoot on it, so don't expect your dog too either. Walkies timings become super early mornings and late evenings, but sometimes they just have to go out in the day time and with many places lacking in greenery close by, concrete and sand are the only options.

Already vets have reported several cases of dogs being brought in with burnt paws. Animals that have been left out in the heat - a BIG no no or walked on surfaces too hot for them and this sadly is the result:

Horrific isn't it?! Imagine how painful that is?!

So, what can we do to help our dogs go for a walk and avoid this horrible outcome. Well a few people have suggested using baby socks with the non-slip bottoms, fastened with elastic bands. You could have lots of fun with different colours and patterns and I'm sure your fur baby would lvoe you for it or not as the case may be :-)

But there are specialised solutions. I got some Ruffwear dog boots for my boy Toby. They're hard wearing with grip pads on the bottom and fasten with a simple velcro strap. I was amazed that he didn't try to chew them off in about ten seconds, instead standing and staring at me as if to say 'What the hell are these things now?'. Watching Toby walk in them for the first time was pretty hysterical, as he over exaggerated the movements, but once outside all was forgotten in about thirty seconds and he went about his walk as usual.

I got these booties from City Vet on Al Wasl road, Dubai and they have some great advice for all dog owners.

So, please take care of your dog during the summer months. If it's too hot for you outside, it's too hot for them. If you need to wear shoes to walk on the ground, so do they.

A response blog - we go to the cinema to WATCH THE MOVIE!

Now, it's not very often that I feel the need to write a response to something, but in this case I think I will. It is a response to a recent blog article in a local newspaper about going to the cinema.

http://blogs.thenational.ae/others/hey-habibti/hate-people-chatting-at-the-movies-then-watch-at-home-alone

Now let me start with this comment from Haneen 'The whole point of a public cinema is to have fun with your friends while watching the movie of your choice.' er no Haneen, the whole point of going to the cinema, is to watch the movie!!! I haven't just paid my hard earned cash, to listen to you have a conversation with your friends or chatter away on your phone - bring back mobile blockers in cinemas I say. You should absolutely, 100% treat going to the movies, like being in a library and KEEP QUIET.

Sadly, it would seem that people like Haneen, do not know what is and what is not socially acceptable. If you want to socialise with your friends, then you go to a coffee shop, or a bar, or a shisha cafe, where it is acceptable to talk and have a conversation - arrange to go to one of your friends houses, stick on a DVD and have your fun there.

Now, for many people going to watch a film on the big screen is a personal experience, it's a couple of hours of escapism, a chance to get away from the grind of daily life and have a flight of fantasy for a while - which is why, where I come from, people have no issues with going to the movies alone, because everyone is there for the same reason, again TO WATCH THE FILM.

Whether this article is indeed tongue in cheek, it certainly doesn't come across like that to me, or to many other people. Sadly what it has done, has backfire rather spectacularly. What Haneen also fails to realise, is that her 'freedom of speech' ends when her actions affect other people. It also rather tragically, reflects certain nationalities in a bad light and only goes to reinforce the stereotype that some people live in a fantasy world of false self importance and superiority over others, where making others lives miserable is of great enjoyment to them. All this before stating the obvious, in that if you are writing in a publication, then you have a social responsibility of someone in the media to not cause upset, antagonize or cause division.

Haneen also fails to grasp that her and her friends attitudes and behaviour has an impact on the local economy - bet she never thought of that did she? Why might this be? Well it's rather obvious, certain peoples behaviour and failure to behave in a socially acceptable manner is a deterrent to many actually going to the movies to start with, because they know it's going to be an event filled with grief and aggravation, rather than an enjoyable experience. So, therefore lower audience figures = higher prices for those who attempt to go and watch a film.

If people acted this way where I come from, you'd be booted out the cinema in an instant and have a whole lot of public humiliation to go with it!

So, here is my suggestion to Haneen and her friends. Cinemas have mums and toddlers showings, why don't you pop along to those, where you can behave like the children you are, be as disruptive and as noisy as you like, and leave the rest of us, who actually go to the cinema to watch a film, do so in peace.

To those of you who actually do know how to behave at the movies, carry on and enjoy :-)

Wedding planning - nightmare? Or piece of cake?

Planning your big day can be as simple or as complicated as you choose to make it. Having basically planned my wedding myself, I discovered very quickly that one of the most useful and helpful things, is getting recommendations from friends and other couples on where to go for various things.

Wedding planning is both exciting and stressful at the same time. Without going into huge details, I will give a basic run down of everyone I used, in the hope others might find the information useful.

The Church - We got married at Christ Church, Jebel Ali in Dubai. The entire staff are extremely helpful and gave us untold contacts and assistance and generally made life very easy. It really is worth paying the extra, to get them to have your marriage certificate attested and legalised. The Chaplain, Steven Wright was brilliant and really personalised the ceremony to us.

http://christchurchjebelali.com/

My dress. Trying bridal dresses on, has to be one of the most exciting and hilarious experiences for any bride (just a shame we couldn't have Champers at the same time!). I had an idea of the sort of dress I wanted, but ideas and the reality can be very different. What you think might suit you, might not and vice versa. It's definitely better to go with an open mind. I think you know when you have the right dress, when you virtually burst into tears and it's so beautiful. When you're standing there on the podium, in dress, heels, veil and it all just looks perfect.

I'd thought about ordering a dress online, or having one made from scratch, but I really didn't want to take the risk, so when I found my perfect dress, I ordered the correct size then had it altered. I tried dresses and bought mine from The Wedding Shop in Dubai. The staff were more than attentive and the alterations were made free of charge.

My husband also hired his tuxedo from the Wedding Shop, which was very cost effective. 250 Dhs and you pick it up the day before and drop it back the day after.

http://www.theweddingshop.ae/

I'm a big fan of personalised engagement and wedding rings and that's something that jewelers do very well in Dubai. My go to jewellery experts are in Duba's Gold & Diamond Park - Cara's. Their staff are always very professional and really spend the time, to help people get exactly what they want. The bonus is, if you want something made, they do it very well and very quickly. A friend who bought an engagement ring there, actually went to the workshop to see it being made.

www.carajewellers.com

Flowers can really be a headache and extremely pricey to boot! Many flourists/hotels will want to charge 500/600 Dhs upwards just for the bridal bouquet! Luckily for me, this is where a fantastic friend recommendation came in. I knew what colours I had in mind and I couldn't originally decide whether to go for fresh or artificial flowers, but in the end I decided on fresh.

I was recommended a little flourist in Dubai, Garden Gate Flowers, which I went and visited and they were so helpful, they had exactly the colours and flowers I was looking for - even if they didn't, they could probably get them ones you wanted. In the end my bouquet, a bridesmaids bouquet and 4 button holes came to just shy of 500 Dhs. The flowers were beautiful and exactly what I was looking for.

www.ggflora.com

There's definitely something to be said for shopping around and even looking online! My mother pointed me in the direction of a fantastic online store - Light in the Box -  from which I ended up buying my wedding invitations, veil, shoes and garter from. It's worth noting that because these items mostly come from China, with things like shoe sizing, it's worth ordering a size up, otherwise they can be a bit of the small size - luckily I did this and they fitted perfectly. I loved my wedding shoes so much, I bought the same ones in various other colours - a girl has to shop (sometimes).

www.lightinthebox.com

When it comes to your wedding photography, you really want someone who is experienced and knows exactly what they're doing. I spoke to and researched many photographers in Dubai, but I didn't really feel comfortable, until I came across Helen Shippey. I'd researched her work, she came highly recommended and was just a lovely person, who understood what I wanted and put me completely at ease. She also went out of her way to get permission for us to take photographs at the Madinat as well - we photo-bombed the Dubai International Film Festival red carpet :-) Everyone has commented on how wonderful our wedding photos are and I can't wait to have some of them made into canvases.

http://shippeyphotography.com/

https://www.facebook.com/shippeyphotography

Deciding where to have your wedding reception is such a personal thing, but I think we really did come across one of the most lovely venues in Dubai - The Empire Room at the H Hotel. It's a good sized space, not too big, not too small with very elegant and classy decor. The staff at the H organised our reception for us aswell. I couldn't fault Nina, who listened to exactly what we wanted and she and her staff came through in spectacular style. We had a personalised buffet dinner, British vs German courses, wonderful wines, personalised welcome drinks and the biggest red velvet cake as a wedding cake that I've ever seen! Not to leave out the gorgeous flower arrangements. They truly made our evening special. What's more, included in their wedding package was a suite for the night for us - which was outstanding! It was so wonderful after a manic, exciting and special day to head to your room and find the giant bath filled with hot bubbly water and scattered rose petals, truly a personal touch. Definitely a venue worth considering.

www.h-hotel.com

I have a go-to company for Limo hire in Dubai.  Dubai Exotic Limo. I've used them on many occasions now and they've never let me down. They're good on price, have a great range of vehicles and their drivers are simply fantastic.

www.dubaiexoticlimo.com

For the entertainment factor of the night, I made the guests do some work with karaoke - always goes down well after people have had a bevvy or six. I roped in work mate Nick Robinson (Radio 1 UAE), to do the honours in hosting the karaoke and to do some DJing, which he did brilliantly as always. There were a few extra bits of equipment that I needed to hire, so I turned to Media Kraft for those.

www.mekraft.com

Annnnnd I think that's just about it! I thoroughly enjoyed planning our big day, but of course there are many good wedding planners out there who can assist and do pretty much everything for you. But whatever you decide to do, enjoy it, as it all goes by so fast on the actual day :-)