Tom Ford pumps with lock and key
After a period of restraint, a woman deserves to treat herself to a coveted statement piece. These patent leather pumps by Tom Ford are mine. While Ford has referred to them as his chastity shoe, because of the gold lock and key, their effect may be quite the opposite. Dh4,745, available at Tom Ford boutiques in The Dubai Mall and Abu Dhabi’s Galleria and Etihad Towers.
Liquido gold snake yoga pants
Free your legs from the mundane tyranny of black yoga pants with any of the bold rock-star prints in Liquido's range. The Brazilian company uses a slinky lightweight fabric (Amni polyamide if you must know) that's designed to provide protection from UV rays, so they're a perfect fit for desert yoga. I spotted Dina Ghandour, the manager of Dubai's yApparel, rocking these gold snakeskin pants at a yoga festival, which inspired the copycat in me to take the plunge. They're now my favourite pants, both on and off the mat. Dh360, available at yApparel in Jumeirah Centre (www.yapparel.com).
Ritz-Carlton’s date and avocado smoothie
My favourite iftar treat this year was the date/avocado smoothie at the Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi. So much so that I asked for the recipe, kindly provided by Giornotte’s restaurant manager Bastian Kuhnt, who came up with the idea. “I like to consider avocados a superfood as they provide all 18 essential amino acids necessary for the body to form a complete protein as well as the healthy kind of fat that your body needs,” Kuhnt says. “Combining avocado with the regional superfood the date, which has been used to break the fast for centuries in this part of the world, seemed like a natural thing to do.” I tried this recipe at home, using almond milk from the store, and while it wasn’t quite as good as the one at the Ritz, it did the trick.
Ingredients
1 cup homemade nut or coconut milk
2 dates, pitted
1/2 large avocado
1 tsp vanilla extract
Optional:
3-4 cubes of ice, if you like a colder smoothie
Directions
1. Place all ingredients in blender.
2. Process until creamy smooth.
Wafi Gourmet at Nation Galleria Mall
It's a "soft opening", like much of the new mall it calls home, but the Lebanese answer to Dean & DeLuca is now open in the capital just in time for the holiday and definitely worth a visit, even just to pick up a gift basket or tray of Middle Eastern delights for a gift. The saj and tajine stations aren't fired up yet, but its mezze and dessert stations are wow-inducing. In Nation Galleria Mall on the Corniche (www.wafigourmet.com).
mgannon@thenational.ae
Company Profile
Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
Men from Barca's class of 99
Crystal Palace - Frank de Boer
Everton - Ronald Koeman
Manchester City - Pep Guardiola
Manchester United - Jose Mourinho
Southampton - Mauricio Pellegrino
The specs
Engine: 3.0 twin-turbo inline six-cylinder
Transmission: eight-speed
Power: 503hp
Torque: 600Nm
Price: from Dh400,000 (estimate)
On sale: now
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Thailand v UAE, Tuesday, 4pm (UAE)
TV: Abu Dhabi Sports
What to watch out for:
Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways
The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof
The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history
Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure
Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Star Wars: Ahsoka
Director: Various
Starring: Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Lars Mikkelsen
Rating: 4/5
Sweet Tooth
Creator: Jim Mickle
Starring: Christian Convery, Nonso Anozie, Adeel Akhtar, Stefania LaVie Owen
Rating: 2.5/5
Match info
Liverpool 4
Salah (19'), Mane (45+2', 53'), Sturridge (87')
West Ham United 0
If you go...
Etihad flies daily from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, with fares starting from Dh2,807 return. Frequent high speed trains between Zurich and Vienna make stops at St. Anton.
Super Saturday race card
4pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 | US$350,000 | (Dirt) | 1,200m
4.35pm: Al Bastakiya Listed | $300,000 | (D) | 1,900m
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 | $350,000 | (Turf) | 1,200m
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 | $350,000 | (D) | 1,600m
6.20pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 | $300,000 | (T) | 2,410m
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Group 1 | $600,000 | (D) | 2,000m
7.30pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 | $400,000 | (T) | 1,800m
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
RESULT
Uruguay 3 Russia 0
Uruguay: Suárez (10'), Cheryshev (23' og), Cavani (90')
Russia: Smolnikov (Red card: 36')
Man of the match: Diego Godin (Uruguay)
