A reader—yes, I believe I have actual readers, people (at least one or two)—just wrote me and asked whatever happened with my “brush with royalty” that I briefly alluded to in this post upon which I never elaborated. I totally forgot to tell you. You should all know this upfront about me: I am a terrible finisher. I am excellent at starting things; hence the house full of half-finished creations. I start so many projects with every intention of finishing them and lose steam midway through. It’s a real problem, and it’s not one of my finer qualities, I’ll freely admit it. I am still surprised that I have been able to keep this blog going, since Word press reminds me everyday of my trail of blogs past; ones that stand no hope of ever seeing another post written to them. Please feel free to remind me if I ever drop a teaser and forget to clue you in on it.
Stunning Inamullumani Designs
Let’s recap. My friends and I visited an event at the Abu Dhabi Convention Center a few weeks’ ago called “Made in Jordan.” This event featured the fashion, food, handicrafts and some fine citizens of Jordan. It was really a lot of fun. There were really unusual crafts there and some very interesting artists, including a lady that runs a virtual shop called Inamullumani, which I urge you all to like and share. Her jewelry designs were fabulous. They were rivaled only by her great big personality, which was 1 part salesman and 2 parts stylish best friend you didn’t know you had before you walked into her booth. We ambled into her booth. I admired a necklace with a gorgeous coral motif, and off she went. She dressed me up and matched like jewelry for me. She inherently recognized me for the “fashion disaster” that I truly am, but I believe she thought there still might be some shred of hope for me because I have such a good eye for attractive clothes and jewelry—just little desire to open my wallet and spend money on it—especially jewelry since there is very little that I cannot make for myself. I used to make jewelry many moons ago but that was just another “Lizzy” incarnation. I had my eye on the coral necklace. Lovely, right? I love sea motifs in jewelry: Coral, Shells, Starfish, et al.
The Artist behind Inamullumani.
My friends slipped off to look at other booths as this designer and I had fun. She showed me the traditional fabrics and garb of Jordan and her modern take on them. Fashion was so effortless for her; I envy women like that–the kind that make it look so easy. I believe it really is easy for them. The moment I mentioned that I kept a blog, she had new plans for me. She very much wanted more western exposure; I was indeed happy to oblige. She asked me to photograph her, her booth and her jewelry from many angles. Again, this sort of thing makes me very happy and needed. Midway through our impromptu photo shoot someone came in the booth and excitedly informed the designer in Arabic about something happening at the event. Dramatically, she clasped her face in her hands, lobbed them animatedly back down flat on her legs and elicited a small shriek. She turned back to me grabbing my hand and informing me that we were going to go get her photo taken with the Princess of Jordan. She demanded that I be more excited. I’ll admit I wasn’t sure who this princess was. I had heard of Queen Noor because she’s an American, and I had also heard of Princess Reina, but that was about the extent of my knowledge of the Jordanian monarchy. Either way, I obediently followed her. What choice did I have?
She scurried through the narrow, crowded pathways of the event until we got to where all the action was. There were lights, cameras, and tons of action. Reporters were everywhere. There was a gaggle of security guards and another of handlers. The sheer elation the jewelry designer felt was electric. She was still squeezing my hand, mumbling breathlessly about the princess. Finally, Princess Alia was in full view. She clearly had many admirers in attendance as evidenced by the throngs of people waiting to greet her. My new friend was obviously not the patient type and she guided, no pulled, me through the masses to the front of the queue. She smiled the kind of smile that you rarely see woman give anyone but the object of their affection on the Princess and they embraced—they visibly knew each other from somewhere. They chatted a moment and then she asked me to take their picture with my camera, then with her camera, then with someone else’s camera. Again, I obliged. I take direction well, and she gave it like a pro. Finally, the princess asked if I would like to be in a picture. I am not one for photos. I prefer to be the photographer, not the subject of any given photograph, but I agreed. How often do you get to have a photo with a real live princess? I smiled as normally as I could—not such an easy task for yours truly.
Lizzy and Princess Alia (thanks to Inamullumani designer on left).
The Princess asked us to join her group for tea, but the designer declined for the both of us. She had to return to her booth. The princess vowed to venture over to her booth as soon as she had had some tea and rest. We thanked her and off we went back to the booth.
As we walked back to her booth, the jewelry designer still reeled a bit from this encounter. She fanned her face a bit, and asked what I thought. I said, I thought the princess was beautiful and so nice. She told me that her name is Princess Alia, and that she is much beloved in Jordan for her kindness—I can attest to this. She is also a great proponent of the arts, which was probably the rationale for her presence at the Expo that day.
Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am not a big fan of royals and monarchy. I definitely fall more into the Lorde-version of royal interest than the Kate Middleton “Baby-watching” variety. I could honestly care less about anyone’s royal: what they wear, what they do, what sort of a hat they sport or what they deem a worthy baby name, so it was sort of funny to be prancing behind this lovely artist in search of her “royal moment.” The thought “why am I following this person?” kept whizzing through the back of my mind as she whirled me through the Convention Hall. Why was I following her? I have no idea. I didn’t particularly care to meet a princess, but I went anyway. I think I went because I enjoyed this artist’s company and, though royal stuff is not my cup of tea, I experienced her elation viscerally. It’s sometimes amusing to be caught up for, just one moment, in someone else’s caprices.
I returned with her to her booth, bought a pretty bracelet and went on my merry way with the promise of blogging about her, her lovely jewelry and our chance encounter with the Princess Alia. I almost forgot to do it but, thankfully, I was reminded. So, please check out Inamullumani jewelry, and think about visiting Jordan–it’s near the top of my travel bucket list.