The heat and humidity in Dubai were impressive, like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Midnight and it was 95 degrees and 90% humidity. Midnight. Let that sink in. Yes, Dubai is definitely a city where your live from air conditioned car to air conditioned office building to air conditioned apartment. Growing up in Central Washington and having spent some time in the dry heat of Albuquerque, NM I thought I knew how to handle the heat but this was a completely different animal. It didn’t even compare to the summer I spent in Georgia where I watched person after person fall prey to heat stroke.

At one point we found ourselves out on the beach looking at that crazy ‘6 star’, sail shaped hotel the Burj al Arab where a suite for the night will run you a minimum of $1,000. Mind you, it’s a 1,820 sq. ft. suite… That’s bigger than my first house!

A bit more driving in the cool but cramped minivan through a tunnel and down a long road and we appeared before this grand hotel and beach resort on ‘The Palm’ island that you may have seen on tv. The resort is a replica of the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. Complete with the bridge suite joining the two halves of the resort. We ventured inside for a look and found a beautiful Chihuly art glass display in the lobby and a massive aquarium down one hallway complete with a whale shark. It just goes to show how small this world has become. Dale Chihuly is a Washington native and created the Pilchuck Glass School . I had the pleasure of shooting his glass school’s auction event for Seattle Metropolitan Magazine last year.

Whale sharks are awesome, by the way.

Somewhere between the Burj al Arab and The Palm Atlantis we stopped at this other cool resort with a very old world Arab feel to it. I would love to stay in one of those little ‘villas’ for a few nights.

Dubai is now home to the worlds tallest building, the Burj Dubai. I only know this because while on the freeway our cab driver pointed right and I caught this horrible image of it while buzzing down the freeway. At 818 meters tall it dwarfs Taipei 101 at 509m.

By the time we whizzed by the Burj Dubai over half of the cab was asleep. Exhaustion had kicked in. The early morning plane ride was looming only a few hours away and we all needed sleep. Back at the hotel we staggered up to our rooms and cooled off in our chilled ice box rooms.

All in all, I wish I had more time in Dubai with good light and a full night’s sleep to take in all the new architecture and really get a feeling for the culture. As it was, the thick hazy air at midnight didn’t leave me with the best impression of this super modern city. Next time.

Yes, I’m teasing you with this shot of the African Plains.. I thought it was cool. The Safari we went on yesterday was amazing. We saw impala, warthogs, giraffes, hippos, zebras, wildebeest, buzzards and lions. Yes, even lion cubs. (They were sooo cute.)

We’re just about ready to take leave for the airport so I haven’t had time to really do any editing. Don’t worry though, I’ll post images here soon from the whole trip so check back.

Internet access here has been very hard to find. Tonight we’re staying in a pretty nice beach resort though and finally we’re able to update the blog. The last few days have been incredible and life changing. We have had the pleasure of meeting a lot of local people connected to the water project here. We’ve learned about their needs and how Thirst Relief is working with the local team to fund the construction and delivery of bio sand filters all over the Bagamoy0 district here in Tanzania. Water here isn’t even safe to drink from the municipal water supply, should you be lucky enough to have the shallow laid pipes anywhere near your home. Even the ground water collected from common shallow wells is contaminated with e.coli. The new bio sand filter we installed in this village will provide these orphans with clean and safe water and provide with with the opportunity to grow healthy and strong.

Above are a few images from our trip to a nearby village orphanage. I hope they stir your soul and tug your heart as they did mine when I captured them.

Make sure to check out the official Thirst Releif Tanzania blog

Project Red Dress was a huge success this past Friday night at the always fashionable Fairmont Olympic Hotel! Ten design students from area fashion schools competed to create the best red dress in a VERY limited amount of time. Monir Zandghoreishi created the Project Red Dress fashion contest in Seattle to team up with the American Heart Association’s cause to create awareness for heart disease.

Stylists from Gene Juarez were on site to do the amazing hair and makeup for the models from Seattle Models Guild. Courtney from Half Past Lavish produced a beautiful show with the help of her team. I also saw some of my friends there from Seattle Metropolitan magazine volunteering their time to make the show a success. The floral designs were created by Daniela of Bella Signature Design. Brook and Monti from Movin 92.5’s the Ladies Room Emceed the festivities and among the talented judges was Seattle Metropolitan’s Laura Cassidy, designer Nick Verreos of Project Runway and Nikolaki Design and Seattle dressmaker Victoria Glenn of V Custom Design.

My friends Barbie Hull, Danielle Bortone-Holt and Mike Adams were there photographing the event as well.

Here are a few of my favorite images from the runway followed by some of the behind the scenes moments. Click on the images to make them larger.

Update: Check out Laura Cassidy’s blog post — Black and White and Red All Over — featuring images from Barbie and I.

Click on that link above and google maps will help you determine how many days you have left to get your registration in. If you live in Washington state you have until October 20th to register in person.

The Project Red Dress fasion event was packet to the gills last Friday in the anticipation of seeing 12 aspiring designers’ creations. In the sold out room at the Seattle’s Macy’s building, Seattle Metropolitain magazine and Fashion Group International had a fabulous show!

The designers had only 16 hours over 4 days to complete their creations from nothing more than a bolt of fabric. It’s amazing what they have done with so little time.

The Judging was tough with top names on the panel such as Luly Yang of Seattle’s Luly Yang Couture, Seattle Metropolitain magazine’s own Laura Cassidy and Project Runway Finalist Nick Verreos.

A jersey knit dress took home first prize including a $3,000 scholarship and a Macy’s window display.

Friday, January 25th from 5:30pm-9pm
Downtown Seattle Macy’s
Stewart Street Room

Macy’s and Seattle Metropolitan Magazine present Fashion Group International’s Project Red Dress. The event will feature a fashion show complete with cocktails, appetizers, and raffle for a chance to win a $500 Macy’s gift card*. Nick Verreos, Project Runway finalist, will be our special guest judge. Ten designer hopefuls will create one red dress to be presented at the event. The winning designer will receive a $3,000 scholarship and a Macy’s window display.

Net proceeds benefit the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women movement.

Sara and I attended a Masquerade Ball on October 19th to benefit the MDA and Augie’s Quest. It was a fun night! The people we had at our table really made it great! Tolga won the bid for a Martini at $50 to start off the live auction! Jamie and Henry sat next to me and it was great getting to know them throughout dinner. Tolga and I know each other from previous work on the Golf Tournament hosted by the club. After the dinner was over a bunch of us headed out to Belltown for another drink. We ended up at Amber which was pretty sweet. Here’s a slideshow of some of the images I took.

This set of images is online at Pictage.com so go check them out on Pictage.