Cupcakes and Heels: I Don't Know How She Does It Abroad
()
About this ebook
Workaholic mum Julie Wainscote becomes an overnight Twitter sensation when her live TV gaffe goes viral. Fired from her job, she takes up the challenge of becoming a stay-at-home mum to her son, Jacob.
But when she realises the school run is a catwalk, the coffee mornings involve competitive catering and the class bear has been to Lapland, she has to admit the adjustment required may be beyond her. Does she have what it takes to join Dubai’s ranks of immaculately groomed school mothers?
Cupcakes & Heels is a delightfully funny short story about the dilemmas facing mothers the world over.
PRAISE FOR CUPCAKES & HEELS:
“An uplifting and candid story about one of the most difficult decisions any mother has to make. A truly funny, insightful and beautifully written slice of parenting life.”
Marianne Makdisi
Marianne Makdisi is the author of several much-loved books set in Dubai and also writes the popular expat blog Circles in the Sand. Prior to moving to the Middle East in 2008, Marianne lived in Minneapolis and before that, London, where she was a magazine journalist working across a range of women’s titles. Marianne and her husband are now raising two boys in the United Arab Emirates while she also attempts to hold down a job at Dubai’s Media City.
Read more from Marianne Makdisi
It's Prosecco O'Clock Somewhere Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCircles in the Sand: Stories about Life in the Big D Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Cupcakes and Heels
Related ebooks
Struck: Stupid Cupid; Flirting with Disaster; Pucker Up Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChristmas in St Ives Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cupcake Diaries: Taste of Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSingle Dad in Studio 7D Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Zoey & the Moment of Zen Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Majesty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSing Something True Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Hailey Twitch Is Not a Snitch Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fortune Cookie Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Runaway Ex Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOut of Place Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5P.S. Send More Cookies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHailey Twitch and the Wedding Glitch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lottie Biggs is (Not) Mad Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUn-Veiled Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJelly Baby Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLucky for Good Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Magnificent Mabel and the Very Bad Birthday Party Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSweet Kiss Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPick ‘n’ Mix Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrossing the Line Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Runaway Year Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBea Is for Blended Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The One After the One: A gorgeously heartwarming and funny romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cupcake Diaries: Recipe for Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Spoonful Of Sugar: A Novella Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJust the Way You Are: a heartwarming wonderful romance perfect for fans of Holly Martin Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Dramas of a Teenage Heiress Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fairytale of New York: The BRAND NEW warm, feel-good read from NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER Zoë Folbigg Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Humor & Satire For You
Love and Other Words Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious People: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5101 Fun Personality Quizzes: Who Are You . . . Really?! Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Swamp Story: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: the heartfelt, funny memoir by a New York Times bestselling therapist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mindful As F*ck: 100 Simple Exercises to Let That Sh*t Go! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Favorite Half-Night Stand Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar...: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Solutions and Other Problems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best F*cking Activity Book Ever: Irreverent (and Slightly Vulgar) Activities for Adults Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/530 Interactive Brainteasers to Warm Up your Brain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Soulmate Equation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Go the F**k to Sleep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tidy the F*ck Up: The American Art of Organizing Your Sh*t Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex Hacks: Over 100 Tricks, Shortcuts, and Secrets to Set Your Sex Life on Fire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Casual Day Has Gone Too Far: A Dilbert Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 2,320 Funniest Quotes: The Most Hilarious Quips and One-Liners from allgreatquotes.com Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related categories
Reviews for Cupcakes and Heels
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Cupcakes and Heels - Marianne Makdisi
I don’t know how she does it abroad
As excuses go, it’s a good one. Watertight. I could make a U-turn now, go straight to the office. Would anyone really notice if I didn’t turn up? I push my sunglasses higher on my nose, my gaze glued to the seven lanes of traffic travelling along at dramatically different speeds. And, anyway, who in the world meets before eight am? Other than CEOs and directors?
Mothers, of course.
As it happens, I fall into both camps.
I’ve just waved Jacob off to school on the bus and really ought to be on my way to work. Instead, I’m driving to the class coffee morning, wondering what I’m letting myself in for. Competitive catering at best, a nest of vipers at worst. It’s the first meet-up of the new school year, and I’m going because I’ve vowed I’ll be a more active parent this term (without becoming class mum – as mentioned, I have an excuse. Honestly).
Realising I’m lost and the Arabian-design, turreted villas lining the leafy street have two different numbers on them, I call Host Mum for directions. Her beautiful, enormous, zillion-dirham home is the venue for our get-together and she guides me through the rabbit warren that is the Green Community. So nice of you to grace us with your presence,
she trills down the phone, straight into my inner ear, and it hits me that I’m now committed.
Once inside, she leads me to a table laden with pastries, croissants and macarons in every colour – prepared, I suspect, at the same time as jiggling her toddler, child number three, on her hip and flawlessly applying mascara. She smells like the perfume department of Harvey Nichols, a heady mix that wafts around her like a cloud.
Help yourself,
she says, handing me a plate with a fancy napkin on top. From the sofa, a peel of laughter rises from the women already seated, a tinkling noise that floats over like a stream of bubbles.
The interior of her villa is astonishing. All clean lines, gleaming floor tiles and rich Persian carpets, illuminated by floor-to-ceiling windows, through which the blue of a sparkling pool is visible. Every surface that could be French-polished or topped with marble has been so, and the light-filled room we’re comfortably gathered in is crowned by an elegant, eye-watering chandelier. It’s hard not to gawp with envy. I catch sight of a gardener outside, then the family’s housemaid watering the plants, and my social conscience kicks in like a slap on the face.
As I reach for a tartlet crowned with jewel-like fruit, Host Mum whips off a silver, dome-shaped food cover to reveal a perfect Victoria Sponge cake.
The meet-the-mums coffee morning is never as easy as just nattering with all the mum friends you already know, because the classes are mixed up each year. Plus September sees numerous new arrivals to Dubai.
Scanning the room, I spot someone I recognise. Swiss Mum, who always looks effortlessly chic in designer clothes. She raises her hand and waggles her fingers, her bobbed hair softly framing her sun-kissed face.
I wave hello back, but it’s too late to make chit-chat.