About

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Hello! Thanks for stopping by.

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 raising two boys in the United Arab Emirates while she also attempts to hold down a job at Dubai’s Media City.

Her books include: 

–Distracted Housewife in Dubai – Diary: “It’s Bridget Jones with kids and living in a sandpit”

–It’s Prosecco O’Clock Somewhere: The international, uncensored edition of Distracted Housewife in Dubai – Diary 

–Circles in the Sand – Stories about life in the Big D: “A great book full of entertaining and gripping stories of life in Dubai”

–Cupcakes & Heels (a short story): “A truly funny, insightful and beautifully written slice of parenting life”

–Oceans Apart: “A well-crafted emotional rollercoaster that keeps you guessing until the end”

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FOLLOW THE BLOG!

Follow along (by entering your email address and pressing the ‘Sign me up!’ button on the left-hand side of the home page), especially if you’re considering a move to Dubai. You could always ‘Like’ my Facebook page, too, which I fill with fodder from the land of glitz and sand. Find me on Instagram @marianne_arts_ink

41 thoughts on “About”

  4. Hi there, apologies for posting on your blog like this, but I couldn’t find an email address to message you privately. I’m the editor of ExpatArrivals.com, a site devoted to developing comprehensive destination guides aimed at easing expat transition abroad. I came across your blog through the course of my research on Dubai today, and was hoping I could convince you to share some of your expat insight with our site. If you’re interested to learn more, please contact me: catherine@expatarrivals.com

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  6. I’m an American and DH and I are moving to Dubai soon. Thanks for your helpful blog to show me what to expect. I love reading it!

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  8. Hi. I live in Cape Town, South Africa, and presently work from home as a freelance copy editor/proofreader for various publishers. My daughter and grandkids moved to Dubai a year ago (my son-in-law works there as an architect), and it looks like this is going to become long term, which is quite hard to take form my side. Do you perhaps know if it is possible for me to reside in Dubai with them and yet continue to freelance for South African publishers? Most of my work is done electronically anyway (some of the publishers are situated in other provinces in SA and we’ve never met face to face). I can find out from South Africa what the laws are from this side, but don’t know about such a situation in the UAE.

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    • Hi Wendy, I’m no expert on visas here, but that sounds very possible to me! I can understand it’s really hard for you having them all in Dubai, and I hope you can join them! A friend of mine from S. Africa has her mother here too .. I wish mine was closer! Good luck!

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  9. Hi, I was given your blog details via a pilot wife on a pilots wife group on face book. My DH flies regional in Australia and we are interested in making the move at some point 🙂 crazy world is the aviation world lol. I will have a good look round your site for info on life in Dubai etc, we have 2 kids also so would be keen to see info on schools etc, cheers

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    • Hi Elle, thanks for taking the time to look at my blog! And good luck with making the decision! It’s certainly worked well for us. I hope my site gives you a taste of life here – there are certainly lots of Australians here, and now there’s an agreement with Qantas, I think there will be even more flights to and from Oz too. There’s a search function on the side panel of my blog that sort-of works – if you type in school, or perhaps schools in Dubai, it’ll bring up posts I’ve written on schooling here. Do take a look at the Dubai info page too. All the very best and maybe meet you here sometime!

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  13. Hello and greetings from Lebanon. I am the managing director of a publishing company, Turning Point. We have been successfully publishing lifestyle titles in Lebanon for the past 14 years and we
    signed our first publishing project in Dubai a couple of months ago. We are searching for further projects this year in Dubai and would like to talk to you to discuss a possible collaboration. If this sounds interesting, please be in touch with charlotte@tpbooksonline.com

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  14. Hi there,

    We are contacting you in the name of Palmer’s Middle East.
    Palmer’s Middle East will be running their Mommy Bloggers Awards for the first time this year. We are contacting the best Mommy Bloggers in the region to participate and you’ve been selected!

    How can we reach your personal email? If you are interested, kindly email us on palmersme@gmail.com and we’d be more than happy to assist you with further details. 🙂

    Best Regards,

    The Palmer’s Team!

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  16. hi,
    Let me start by introducing ourselves, we are a team of creative, energetic and passionate women living in Dubai and we just started our own event styling company.
    Our mission is to bring style and unique concepts to everyday parties, gathering and social events for individuals and businesses across the UAE.
    To further support our growth strategy and expand our market reach we are very keen to leverage media and we would like to connect with you

    Our Company’s – Bianca Event Styling -launch party will be on the 24th of Oct and we would be very delighted to have you in our event.
    We are planning an evening full of music, entertainment and unique culinary concepts and we are excepting around hundred people from Dubai’s elite social communities
    Please let me know if you are interested in joining us and accordingly we will send you the official invitation.

    Regards

    Sawsan Kawash
    Marketing Manager
    Bianca Event Styling

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  17. Hi! I was hoping for some Dubai info, mainly about being a single mum and potentially looking into coming to work over there teaching…trying to do research! Can you help??

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  18. Have followed you on twitter – I am @pamhank1 yes hopefully you can? Just want some more Dubai info esp for single mums if you can help? Lifestyle/rules/childcare etx

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  20. My name is Allie Kolb and I work in casting for a popular international travel show. The show is comprised of following people who are moving from one country to another. It can be a temporary move (6 months or so) or a permanent move. There would be monetary compensation involved for the people featured on the show. I’m specifically looking into lifestyle bloggers who have moved abroad recently and wanted to see if you knew of anyone who fits that bill. If you have any questions you can contact me via skype at alliekolb.leopard, or email me at AllieKolb@leopardusa.com

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  23. I’m so glad I found your blog. My husband is an Air Force C-17 instructor pilot here in the US, and is considering a change once his flying contract is complete. We have been thinking about a move to Dubai. I look forward to following your blog!

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