Get thee to an H&M store!

Cough, cough. Cough. Pardon me while I splutter out all the sand in my mouth. You'll be happy to know I've survived the sandstorm - the gale force winds, the sting of sand blasting my skin, the Marilyn Monroe moment this morning when I thought my skirt was going to go over my head - I'm safe and sound.

And just about the very next thing I'm going to do is go to H&M in the City Centre mall here (or maybe Seef actually, I like them both! - though my favourite massive version is in the Dubai Mall) and stock up on some winter clothes. I need to do this for three reasons:

1. It is now very cold in Bahrain - all of just 20 degrees today, and I am chilly.
2. I am about to head to Alexandria in Egypt with the White Witch, where it is even colder.
3. I optimistically thought I wouldn't need any winter clothes, but clearly I've acclimatised to the heat and now I'm as shivery as any native Bahraini

Now, this is totally ok with me . I love clothes. You know I love clothes. And even the people at H&M know I love clothes, because they see me there so often (browsing, My One True Love, browsing, I promise).

For Aussie readers who don't know H&M, firstly - my condolences. You poor, poor things. Secondly, it's like Portmans, Forever 21, and Sportsgirl got together and had a hybrid baby. They do on-trend clothing at affordable prices - really affordable prices.

And this is one of the great things about being back in the Middle East: access to some of my favourite overseas brands - ones you can't get in Australia, like the aforementioned H&M as well as Zara and TopShop and others. H&M tops the list for me though, it seems whenever I walk into that shop I find something I like. Viz the new voile scarf I bought in Lebanon, the owl pendant I recently picked up, the snuggly grey cardigan I covet, my new swimming shorts ... need I go on?

And I've spent the past 10 days cruising their new winter collection, which is in all the shops now (hooray! new collection!) so I know exactly what I'm going to go out and buy.

There's lots of red, which is wonderful - I'm trying to decide between the grey version and the red version of this lovely rollneck jumper here on the left.

And that little girl is so cute it almost (.....almost) makes me want to have a daughter so I can put her in this gorgeous little red sweater dress. Better yet, make me six years old again so I can wear it myself.

I also have a couple of "events" to dress for - Christmas parties and the like. Even though Bahrain is technically an Islamic country, it's very liberal as things go, and there are Christmas decorations in all the stores, along with Christian religious icons and nativity scenes.

I have three dresses I'm trying to choose between.  

I love the red one here, and it has a forgiving empire line which is perfect for scoffing canapes at cocktail parties and still being able to breathe at the end of the night.

And I love this black one too, because it's elegant and would be quite slimming I think (so can still craftily eat canapes you see while pretending to be skinny).

But I think my favourite is this short sparkly one here. It's so cute and festive! That zip down the front gives it a modern edge, while the cut is a classic, and perfect for those who are slightly self-conscious about their booty. And when I say "those" I mean "me" of course. 

I prefer to have sleeves though, so I would team it with the sparkly black shrug - that would keep the winter chill at bay, make me comfortable, and work back the cream effect for a very chic look. Black gladiator heels would be perfect to cap it off. 

So that's parties taken care of. What I also need are snuggly clothes I can just wear at home to be comfortable and warm in.

These lounge pants here are just the ticket, they've got the elastic around the ankles that I like - I know, I hear you, elasticised ankles are not usually a hallmark of style.

But people, I'm living on my own and I hate having cold ankles. I really do.So I'm going to buy these pants no matter what you think.

And I'm going to team them with this stripy top here even though it's a man's top, because I like stripy tops and I'm living on my own and if I want to pair track pants with a stripy top then I'm going to, just because I can. So ner.

 So that's my current H&M wishlist. I really want to know if they're going to stock the new 80-piece Lanvin capsule collection that was released in late November, because if they do I am totally going to buy this amazing yellow dress as well! That is just about my favourite colour in the whole world.

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(I also want this blazer jacket but I really have to find a reason for it first .... can anyone provide me with the perfect excuse? Anyone....?)