Later this week Rob and I are leaving for a trip to Dubai. I know, right?! This whole thing has come to be, since this post, in a bit of a serendipitous way. A friend recently told me that things he wants just seem to materialize somehow. Like, he was wishing for a GPS unit and the next day a friend stopped by with one and said, "Hey, are you at all interested in this? Because I don't need it anymore." That's pretty much how this whole trip thing happened.

We're not spending all of our time in Dubai - we're also going to Oman. We're traveling with Mr. Mojo and a friend of his. This will be unlike any trip Rob and I have ever taken. Dubai (especially) and Oman are considered much more liberal and accepting than most of the Middle East, but there will still be times we'll be out of our comfort zone. But that's a good thing - I'm eager to experience a culture and see a landscape so unlike what we're accustomed to here. (But the weather, not so much...105-115 degrees, people!!)

Packing for this trip is a challenge, just because it is going to be hella-fucking-HOT there and also because I have to dress conservatively. (For the places we're going, that means keeping knees and shoulders covered, and not wearing anything too tight or with a plunging neckline.) I never wear shorts anyway, so the knees thing is not even an issue. But, all my summer shirts show skin, so the tricky part has been to find tops that are lightweight and cool but not skimpy.

But perhaps most challenging was finding a top to wear clubbing. (Clubs are the one place where women can wear - or not wear - whatever the hell they want.) I'm not the clubbing type, but going to a club in Dubai is one of those cultural experiences one must do. I was advised by several friends that I should wear something that is "barely tied on," that "shows the midriff," and that "has sequins." Basically, something that makes me look like a hooch. So I went shopping, because I don't have a single hoochy thing in my closet. And by "went shopping" I mean that I took Rob to a skanky-clothes store and told him to pick out something hot for me. He had way more fun than I expected. Which is not to say he was terribly successful, because I turned down pretty much every item he suggested. Because, frankly, I consider myself too classy to wear that shit. And it's not like I'm trying to catch a guy. I mean, the only man I'm after already sees me nude - how is any clothing ensemble going to compete with that? We finally settled on a black top that laces up the front and would actually be fairly modest except that it's a size too small and thus can't lace up tight. It shows some skin and a little cleavage (you know, what little there is) but mostly suggests my curves without actually revealing them (which, if you ask me, is way sexier and also, you know, classier). But I'm just hoping it says COME RIP MY BODICE, BABY and not I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A MEDIUM.