Happy 2017!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season — my family came to visit us, and we traveled to Dubai and Italy, so I have tons of photos and information to share with you soon. However, I realized that I never really told you about our move, and I thought this Middle East-inspired outfit was a perfect excuse to do that.

As I think I mentioned in passing, we moved to Bahrain in July. It has been quite an adjustment (it was approximately 9 trillion degrees in August), but we’re finally getting used to it.

Before we left the US, a lot of people asked if I would have to wear a head scarf or abaya (robe) to go out in public, and the answer is no. Lots of men and women here wear traditional Middle Eastern clothing, or a modified version of it, but non-Muslims (and some Muslims) wear the same kind of Western clothing you’d see anywhere — jeans, T-shirts, sandals, etc. Women *are* supposed to dress a bit more modestly than in the US or Europe (no tank tops or short-shorts), but I have seen many people around town wearing things that would definitely violate the base’s dress code!

Still, I try to be culturally sensitive, and I like to dress for the place I’m living or visiting anyway. So when I saw this tunic in Dubai, I thought it was perfect — it’s gorgeous, comfortable, and covers everything that should be covered. It also works with jeans or leggings, and could even be worn as a dress (although maybe not around here!).

I also thought it went really well with the beautiful henna I had done when I took a tour of the Grand Mosque. And though I’m keeping my hair red for the time being, my awesome hair stylist decided to try ombre shortly before these photos were taken, since the bottom part of my hair had faded significantly but was still a pretty color. Despite what Anne of Green Gables believed, I think red heads can totally wear pink. Don’t you agree?

Tunic: Al Jabber Gallery (similar here, here, here, and here), Jeans: Pilcro (very similar), Bag: J.Crew (old, but I do like this pink bag), Sandals: Roxy (similar, similar), Earrings: Purchased in Italy