Hello my lovelies! I know it has been quite some time since I have done a fashion post on my blog. I do apologize for the delay! It has been so busy since we moved to Dallas. So, Harun and I got engaged in Austin, Texas on Thanksgiving weekend in 2015 and we spent our two year anniversary of being engaged at the same place with the same group of people this Thanksgiving! It was a nostalgic weekend filled with family, friends and good food. Harun’s parents flew in about a month ago and have been helping us settle into our new place in Dallas, Texas. My parents flew in from California and joined us for Thanksgiving. My sister flew in from Illinois and spent her Thanksgiving break with us. Our close friends Sherin, Shibu and their adorable daughter Amara drove with us from Dallas to Austin where Harun’s aunt hosted a massive thanksgiving dinner. Beans, greens, potatoes, gravy, turkey, stuffing, you nameeeee it (can anyone guess that meme? lol). After our Thanksgiving meal, we were discussing strategies on how to get the best deals on Black Friday. Black friday is a HUGE deal if you live in the States. Almost everything goes on sale and most people get their Christmas shopping done on this day. The sales are pretty major, I am talking about upto 75% off original prices! Our initial plan was to go around 4 am on Friday morning but some of us were worried we wouldn’t wake up in time and would miss the deals. So, guess what we did? We left the house around midnight to hit the closest outlet mall. There were 14 of us and we decided to divide and conquer the sales. It was my first time going Black Friday shopping with the whole family and it was quite an experience. Take in the fact that we were going shopping past midnight so one is bound to make a few bad decisions and spend, spend, spend! I was careful not to buy everything that caught my eye lol. To top off Black Friday madness, we made a 6 am run to Austin’s famous Round Rock Donuts. They have the Texas sized donut which is literally twice the size of your face and obviously, we had to get it. I scarfed the donuts as fast as I could and hit the bed at 7 am, finally! Saturday morning, while we were thinking of things to do and places to see around Austin, my friend Sherin or Sher as I call her, came up with a fun idea! She wanted to style me and do an impromptu photoshoot! She is a big fashionista and I absolutely adore her sense of fashion! I loved going through her clothes, jewelry and shoes. We had the best girl time dressing up! Sher does photography on the side as well and takes amazing photos. I will share some of the pictures we took here. This whole look is from Zara, one of my favorite stores to shop from. I love this dress with the bow detail and pairing it with these leather gloves and sock boots added so much elegance to this outfit! Oh, and this lippie! It is not something I would reach for usually but I got a chance to raid through Sher's makeup collection and fell in love with this liquid matte lipstick from Huda Beauty. It's called Spice Girl - a great shade for this time of the year. We were stuffed with food and by the end of the weekend, I’m pretty sure we were all a few pounds heavier. The main focus was to spend quality time together with the family. We had very little time and tried to take advantage of that opportunity while we could. All in all, it was a great American Thanksgiving weekend and I enjoyed every bit of it. Until next time, xoxo, Rae Rae
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Dear New York, You have been a dream. I remember arriving on a warm afternoon in August 2016, newly married, to my husband's matchbox of an apartment and taking it all in, mentally preparing myself that living in a 450 square feet studio apartment with a new human being I have never lived with would be okay. I was so excited to see and experience the city, we woke up at 5 am, got in our runners and walked for three hours around the city, exploring and sightseeing. Only finishing our stroll with a tall cup of Iced Capp from Tim Horton's. The sight, smell and finally having a sip of Tim Horton's aka Timmies for a homesick Canadian like me made me feel like I could call Manhattan, home. We spent the next few months in our apartment on the Upper East Side. Exploring all that the city had to offer. My husband, Harun who moved to the city a year before me had been waiting for me to give him company to find all the good spots and places to check out together. I would find where we would be eating everyday by doing a quick search on Yelp, or the number of Instagram pages dedicated to spotlighting the amazing food NYC has to offer. Instagram pages like @Infatuationnyc, @Newforkcity, @NYCeats, @Brunchboys were my favorite ones to scroll and drool over. With roughly 24,000 restaurants, which means I could eat three meals a day, each at a new restaurant for almost 23 years! Our first apartment was located on 78th street and 1st Ave. It was a fairly quiet neighborhood and I loved the tree lined street that it was located in. When you walked into the building, the first apartment to the left was ours, which meant no climbing up steep stairs with heavy grocery bags. Elevators are a luxury in NYC and not many of the older buildings have one. We were also lucky to have a laundry room in the basement of the building, uncommon in a lot of apartments in the city as well. The end of the block was our favorite pizza spot, Salvo's, just 20 steps away. Their plain cheese New York pizza slice is something I salivate over. And one of the neighborhood's most popular ice creamery on the Upper East Side (UES), Sedutto was right next to our place which quickly became our go to dessert spot. I love you New York. People were always in a rush to get somewhere. The subway system was so confusing at first but thank God for Google maps. I learned to love the subway and preferred it over Uber or a yellow cab any day to beat traffic. The underground subway would get hot and humid during the summer, and some of the newer trains would have powerful air conditioning which felt like a blessing from above especially when you find a seat on the train. Manhattan. An overpopulated small island. I was in love. The city itself was like a drug. It is encompassed with so much energy. It draws you in, keeps you hooked and makes you coming back for more. It keeps you moving. You will never be bored. There is always something to do, somewhere to go, some place new to eat. Living in this city has changed me more than I could think, I walk faster, talk faster, my interest for art, culture and history has grown. I have learned to appreciate the beauty in everything. I learned to enjoy the fast lifestyle and to slow things down to stop and smell the flowers. The foodie in me has grown, not only my taste buds but my hips as well. The city shaped me, helped me find my confidence, determination, dreams and goals. There are so many "only in New York City" moments one could have. From hailing a yellow cab, getting on the subway to getting lost, being awed by the architecture of the city from century old buildings to modern skyscrapers, admiring the Grand Central station, the walk over the Brooklyn bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn, getting the perfect picture of the Manhattan bridge from DUMBO, Brooklyn, learning to eat a New York slice pizza larger than your face, commuting on foot everywhere and anywhere, watching the flowers bloom on Park Avenue during Spring - my favorite street in the city, an afternoon picnic at Central Park, when you fall in love with all the city dogs and you see yourself becoming a dog person, watching the performers at Washington Square Park, admiring the beauty of building that is the Flatiron, walking across the city on the High Line and appreciating the great sense of city planning, watching your first Broadway show, driving nearly three hours to get to the Hamptons to watch a beautiful sunset at Montauk beach, grabbing Halal Guys at 4 am, seeing the Oculus at One World Trade, when you figure out that NYC brunches so hard and you gotta find a way to make it your lifestyle, the free ferry ride to Staten island or "Satan" island as my friend who is a native Staten Islander calls it. The feeling of eating an overpriced Ramen burger at Smorgasburg while looking at the Manhattan skyline, only to pinch yourself and ask, am I really living in my dream city right now? This is NYC. It's hard to capture the feeling, the sounds, sights, the vibes of the city. It demands to be felt. It hugs you and makes you feel at home. Only after you step on dog poop that ruins your fresh white sneakers, or the warm smell of garbage lurking on the street corner on a hot summer day, or the sirens that become your morning alarm, or the city traffic, or seeing all the homeless people on the sidewalks. You get to see two extremes in the city, the posh and the poor and amid all of it, you form a sense of appreciation for what you have. It's not NYC unless I walk 40 minutes to accompany Harun from work at midtown back home, then head over to find dinner, with my usual suggestion being Haandi, a Pakistani Indian restaurant located in Curry Hill/ Murray Hill. It's where my love for artisinal donuts grew, from Dough to the Doughnut Plant to the Doughnut Project. This is where I had the best ice cream ever at Morganstern's ice cream. This is where I made friends who became family. This is the city that pushes you to achieve your dreams. This is where I finally grew some courage and started Stylenstroll. Thank you New York for being so picturesque and giving the perfect backdrop for my blog pictures. In February, we moved apartments 10 blocks up to 88th and 1st. Our main decision of choosing the apartment was based on the new subway line, the Q, which made the rest of the city more accessible. It also meant less time walking in the cold winter's to get to the subway station. Living in the concrete jungle, the tunnel effect paired with chilly winds in the Winters is pretty harsh. We preferred this area better than our previous one because the subway station being so close to us, Central Park was just a 15 minutes walk, Carl Shulz Park was a 5 minute walk, the close proximity of our favorite Indian restaurant, Mughali where the food is good and their dine-in lunch is always 50% off. We discovered another pizza bar which became a favorite, Luigi's, a 10 minute walk to the most beautiful mosque I have seen thus far in North America made going for Friday Jummah prayers easier, Pye Boat Noodle became my favorite Thai place on the UES, only after Love Mamak located in the East Village. The best bakery on our block called Glaser’s Bake Shop which has been there for 115 years and they satisfy our Cookie Pie cravings every Friday. After spending a lot of time eating, I decided to get on my health and joined New York Sports Clubs, where Harun and I would go to work out at 5 am during the weekdays. My love for this city is infinite, it is never ending. I have been more than blessed to call it my home for a year. It has changed me in ways more than I can believe. It has shaped me to who I am. This city has given me confidence that if I can make it here, I can make it anywhere ( cue in Alisha Key's "Empire State of Mind"). She is right though, there is nothing you can't do, big lights will inspire you. So let's hear it for New York. So New York, I have loved you from afar and I loved you even more while here. I will love you always and maybe one day, you'll welcome me back. Until then.
xoxo, Rae Rae
Hey guys!
As most of y’all may know, we went on vacation to India! I can’t say it was a vacation because it was crazy hectic. Harun and I were on the road almost everyday, we barely had any time to relax. We vlogged our entire trip which is up on Stylenstroll's YouTube channel if you want to check that out! The only time we did get some relaxation was on our trip to Alleppey. For some of you who may not know, we are from the southern state of Kerala, India. Situated on the Malabar coast, it is one of the popular tourist destinations in India due to its rich culture, history and plenty of activities to experience - from beaches to backwaters to dense forests to tea plantations. And if any of you are curious to look up Kerala tourism, you will most likely be shown pictures of a big houseboat on serene backwaters with coconut trees in the background. For as long as I can remember, every trip our family took to Kerala, I was determined to go on a houseboat and experience true Kerala. But, we never had enough time to do so because we were always busy visiting family members, shopping, or something or the other that always managed to come up. This vacation, finally, my dream came true. I can happily check “going on a houseboat on the backwaters of Kerala” off my bucket list! Harun and I planned this trip with a few of his friends who were also vacationing in Kerala. Since we were only in Kerala for two weeks, everything was planned spontaneously, including this mini vacation within a vacation haha. We hopped on a train from Thrissur to Aluva where we met our friends, Foushan and Mehnaz. They picked us up and we drove to Ernakulam - the busiest city in Kerala. We knew we were going to the backwaters of Kerala so we planned accordingly. Harun and I wanted to do a photoshoot in traditional Kerala attire, a Kerala Saree, with Jasmine flowers in my hair. Never fail to pass up a photo opp, amiright? You can always find Kerala saris at any time of the year in Kerala. These saris are usually creamish ivory to white in color with a golden border (kasavu) and makes you look and feel so elegant! It is mostly worn on Onam, a state festival in Kerala that usually takes place in September. We walked into Lulu mall in Ernakulam and got straight to business. There were so many patterns to choose from but with Mehnaz’s help, we narrowed it down and picked one right away. The employee was so helpful in finding me a blouse to go with the sari. Since we were short on time, I bought a ready made blouse which fit me like a glove. After shopping, we feasted at one of the best restaurants I have been to in Kerala which is called the Paragon Restaurant located inside Lulu Mall in Ernakulam (also located in Calicut and Dubai). This restaurant never fails to impress, I am sitting here with my mouth watering as I think about their food. We ordered Kerala porotas, chicken 65 (deep fried chicken with Indian masala), special curry of the day and a chicken biryani. After stuffing ourselves there we grabbed a few scoops of ice cream from the Coldstone Creamery, which again hit the spot. We then drove for about 2 hours to Alleppey, where our resort named the Lake Palace was located. We arrived late around 9 pm where we met up with two more of our friends, Vineeth and Gino, and had a big dinner right at the resort and hung out until late night. The next morning, we saw the true beauty of this resort. Each room is an individual villa that surrounds a lake in the back. The Lake Palace is well maintained and the staff was very polite and helpful. They offer many activities such as jet skiing, boating, massages, pottery class etc. Definitely check out the Lake Palace if you are planning a trip to Alleppey! We decided to go around in a houseboat late evening so we could do our photoshoot. The resort offers boating tours but we had a private contact and got our trip for a much better deal. Neither Mehnaz or myself knew how to wrap a sari properly so we called up reception at the resort and they sent a sweet lady named Rasna to help me wear the sari. She worked at the beauty salon inside the resort and knew exactly what she was doing. She did a fantastic job and I felt very comfortable in that sari. We had a 15 minute ride to where the boats were docked. We used that opportunity to find Jasmine flowers for my hair- an essential to this photoshoot! We got on the boat at around 4 pm and toured around the backwaters until sunset. The houseboat was equipped with bedrooms, a living and dining room that was left open so you could enjoy the breeze and views of water on both sides. The boat's captain, Antony was super helpful in showing us the most photographable spots and explaining the locality. He even let me sit on the captain seat and hold the boat’s steering wheel! There is usually a private chef in all of the boats who cooks up traditional Kerala food which includes catching fresh fish off the waters and cooking it to perfection. This is usually done if you stay overnight on the boathouse but since our trip was just for a few hours, the chef made us Pazham pori (banana fritters) and some amazing chai as we watched the sunset on the boat. We took plenty of pictures on the boat and we asked Antony if he could find a smaller boat (thoni) so Harun could take a picture of me sitting on the edge of the boat. After asking a few boat owners, one finally agreed. He parked his small boat next to the shore and Harun and I got in it. I am not a good swimmer and Harun doesn’t know how to swim at all so this was a big risk trying to capture this shot! The boat owner was a skinny, elderly man who clearly knew what he was doing because he was balancing the boat perfectly. When Harun and I got on the boat, I was so scared that it was going to topple over! There was this one moment where our houseboat’s captain, Antony asked Harun to slide over from his seat so he would be sitting in the middle. The moment Harun moved, the tiny boat we were on almost toppled over to the side and a tiny bit of water got into the boat. Keep in mind that these water bodies are about 40 feet deep! I had enough pictures on that unstable boat and we both rushed (safely) off of it. Definitely something to remember! Stay tuned for our Kerala vlog to see that in action! The houseboat trip was everything I imagined it would be, if not better.I had so much fun getting ready in my Kerala saree and taking pictures on the houseboat. And all the adventures that came along with it. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is planning a trip to Kerala. It is for sure something that would take your breath away! xoxo, Rae Rae
Hey lovelies!
En route to India, Harun and I had a 6 hour layover in Abu Dhabi. We took this time to our advantage by visiting the Grand Mosque. One place that I have been wanting to go to for a long time. Before our trip, we did some research on how long the transit from the airport to the mosque would be and see if we had a little wiggle room for some shopping. I knew that I wanted to buy my first Abaya during our transit in Abu Dhabi so I asked a few Dubai/ Abu Dhabi bloggers on Instagram for the best stores to get my hands on one for a reasonable price. An Abaya is a loose, robe-like dress that some Muslim women wear, mainly in the Middle East. Some of my aunts wear it casually as a form of modest wear and my sister and I used to wear it to the mosque when we were in Canada, mostly during Ramadan. But, I never had one to call my own so I was very excited to get one for myself! I knew that upon entering the Grand mosque, they would provide you with one if needed, but we wanted to take a few pictures in my own Abaya so all in all, it was a good purchase.
We landed in Abu Dhabi around 1 pm on a Friday, cleared immigration and left our carry on luggage at the luggage storage at the airport. The heat wave hit us like a bus when we stepped out of the airport, thank God for whoever invented air conditioning. We took the airport taxi to the Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre which was about 20 minutes from the airport. There were plenty of abaya stores with an overwhelming amount of different styles. Since we were short on time, I quickly made my mind up about one. These abayas are usually marked up so don’t hesitate to haggle with the store owner like we did. The abayas mostly come in one size fits all and once you complete your purchase, the store has a local tailor who alters it to fit to your size. This usually takes about half an hour. In that time, we went upto the food court at Madinat Zayed to find some authentic shawarmas. Unfortunately, the options in the food court was limited with not a sight of shawarmas. Lulu shopping centre, which is a supermarket with locations all over the Middle East had a food market with a variety of food options. We got ourselves a few shawarmas and devoured it at the food court. I have tried plenty of shawarmas but nothing compares to the ones served at Shawarma Palace in my hometown of Windsor, Ontario.
We took another taxi with my tailored abaya in hand on route to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, also known as the Grand Mosque. Once you reach the mosque, you have to pass through security check and there is a locker room to check in your bags. Make sure that you wear proper attire when you go into the mosque. The women must be covered head to toe, not wear anything tight or revealing, along with a headscarf to cover their hair. The men should be wearing long pants and a shirt. As far as I know, wearing shoes/sandals are fine inside the mosque but there is a designated area to store your shoes if needed.
The mosque was launched by the late president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayhan. He wanted to unite the cultural diversity of the modern and ancient Islamic world. The raw materials used to build the Grand mosque are from all over the world. It took almost 12 years to build this beauty! It is the largest mosque in the Middle East after the ones in Saudi Arabia, Mecca and Medina. There is no shortage of white marble stone, gold, precious stones, crystals here. We were speechless by the beauty of this mosque, the architecture is astonishing. There are local guides to give you a tour of the mosque but we didn’t have enough time for that. The heat was unreal since the mosque is an open building and there was no air conditioning to cool us off, even at 4 pm in the evening. We enjoyed the beauty of the mosque and took a few pictures for about an hour before we were drenched in sweat!
The leaf details on these crowns are made out of real gold!
One of the security guard had a problem with us taking too many pictures at the mosque. His argument was that a few strands of my hair was showing in the photos, I rolled my eyes and argued that so many other people had more hair showing. He was too stubborn to hear me out and pulled us aside and tried to go through the pictures one by one, before he realized that it would take forever to go through the photos and made us delete a few. Just a tip for anybody visiting the Grand mosque: don’t argue with the security officers. He was ready to take the memory card to the camera away. It is a place of worship so be respectful where needed. A somewhat scary experience to our trip in Abu Dhabi but makes a good story, nonetheless.
We didn't have enough time to visit the inside of the mosque, unfortunately. Hopefully, we get to return soon and see this beauty of a mosque again. We were exhausted after spending a humid and hot afternoon at the mosque, and returned to the airport just in time to check in for our flight to Cochin, India. I loved my experience in Abu Dhabi and you can see more of it on our vlog which is linked below!
xoxo,
Rae Rae
Hi everyone!
What's up with gingham? This fun print is seriously making a trend this season. It is showing up everywhere, from pants to tops to jackets to shoes and I ain't even mad about it. It is such a bold print yet can be worn as a neutral pattern if paired with the right accessories. Get on the gingham trend with this outfit!
I stuck to a monochrome palette when it came to this outfit. For another look, I would pair these pants with a bright top, something neon would be fun! These gingham trousers are from Zara and I couldn't be more in love with it. The bell flared bottom with little pom poms are what caught my eye. It is such a unique piece I knew I needed to have in my closet. I paired it with a plain white blouse from Forever21 and this black lace kimono cardigan with pom pom details on the sleeves (coincidentally) also from F21. The shoes and clutch are from Aldo and my hoop earrings are from H&M. I would wear this look to brunch or a dinner date - it is one of my favorite outfits thus far!
For my makeup, since the whole outfit is monochromatic, I had to pop it with a bright lip. I used Colourpop's ultra matte lipstick in More Better. Ever since my sister introduced me to Colourpop, I cannot get enough! They have the most pigmented and long lasting lipsticks that are flattering on every skin tone. Don't doubt the power of gingham. Wear it, own it and show me how you rock it! Here are the outfit deets! Kimono and Blouse - Forever21 Pants - Zara Shoes and Clutch - Aldo Earrings - H&M Watch - Michael Kors Smartwatch xoxo, Rae Rae
Hey guys and welcome back to the blog!
Today, I want to show you how to style these culottes! They are so easy to wear, super comfortable and so in trend right now. I wore these vertical striped culottes from H&M with a light wear mock neck sweater. I love the frilly detailing on the neck of this sweater, it adds a feminine touch to this otherwise basic top. The vertical stripes on these pants creates an optical illusion of longer legs. I have a longer torso and shorter legs so the stripes work to my advantage hehe. For a more casual look, you can pair a graphic tee with these culottes and top it with a denim jacket or a blazer. Or you can even dress it up with a flowy blouse, throw on some heels and a clutch for an evening out!
Since I was wearing a basic top, I wanted to dress it up a bit with jewelry. Initially, I thought of wearing a statement necklace to go with this look but changed my mind when I found this body chain that has been sitting in my jewelry box for a while now. I got this body chain when I was in India from an online shopping website called Koovs, I would say their products are similar to Forever21. If you do live in India, check them out!
My metallic slip on oxfords, which have been making an appearance in a lot of my outfits these days are from H&M as well, come to think of it, my whole outfit is H&M. I spend all my money there and Harun always jokes about my dad owning a share of the store lol. I have noticed variety of styles of culottes with cool prints at different stores. Let me know if you end up jumping in with this trend of the season and how you style your outfits with this chic yet comfortable fashion piece!
Outfit details:
Top - Ribbed Sweater from H&M Bottom - Dark Blue Culottes from H&M Shoes - H&M Bag - Kate Spade Body Chain - Koovs.com xo, Rae Rae
Hello ladies!
Wedding season is around the corner so I thought I would share an easy neutral eye makeup look with you guys! Since I used neutral colors, this look can easily be worn as an everyday look as well. Maybe you can skip the lashes if you want to keep it more of a casual look, or keep the lashes, YOLO. Now lets get started.
| FACE |
I start with my all time favorite moisturizer that I have been using for almost 10 years now and that is the Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer with SPF 15. It keeps my face moisturized and it has sun protection. In the summer and on days I know I will be spending most of my time outside, I use Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunscreen with SPF 60, it is very important to protect your skin from sun damage. Foundation - Maybelline Fit Me in Sandy Beige 210 Concealer - Maybelline Fit Me in Light 10 Setting Powder - Sephora Bright Set Pressed Finishing Powder in Banana Contour - Rimmel London Contour in Golden Sands Contour and Highlight -Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Golden Bronze and Sunburst Blush - Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blush in Paaarty | BROWS | I brush my brow hair with a spoolie first and fill it in with Benefit's Ka-Brow Cream Gel Brow Color in 4. | EYES | I used Sephora's Sunbleached Filter Eye Palette for this look. Lid - Latergram Crease - Swell and #tbt Inner corner - Swan song Lashes - Ardell Glamour Lashes Mascara - Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express Eyeliner - Kat Von D Tattoo Liquid Liner in Trooper I always use a white eyeliner for my waterline, it opens up your eyes and make them look bigger. A beige liner on the waterline would do the trick as well if you feel like the white liner looks too harsh. | LIPS | Lip liner - Sonia Kashuk Lip Definer in Petal I filled my lips with the lip liner and threw on a clear gloss for this look.
Add your favorite jewelry to complete this look and off you go looking fabulous!
I hope you guys enjoyed this post, feel free to ask me if you have any questions! xo, Rae Rae Eid Mubarak to all you lovelies that are celebrating! The long days of fasting are over and now it is time to celebrate Eid! For Muslims, Eid comes twice a year, Eid al Adha and Eid al Fitr. We celebrated the latter today. Harun and I got up extra early to get ready for the Eid morning prayer. It is a day where you get dressed up in your newest outfits, wish your family and friends, go to prayer, and spend the entire day eating all the food you can get your hands on. I love going to Eid prayer because you get to see everyone dressed up in their unique outfits, different cultures and ethnicities, all come together and celebrate one exquisite day! It is tradition to apply henna/mehndi on your hands the night before Eid. This year, my good friend, Jennifer or JenJo as I call her, did my mehndi. She is a great henna/mehndi artist. Book her for a party/wedding if you are in the New York area - she is very talented and such a sweetheart. You can find her on instagram @otherindiangirl. We finished off Eid prayer which was held at the New York University campus, followed by a community brunch. Then, we headed to Washington Square Park for taking a few OOTD photos. Following that, we got ourselves some red velvet and matcha croissants from Union Fare, a restaurant located at Union Square in Manhattan. I highly recommend going here if you are ever in the city and trying out my favorite, red velvet croissant! We took these croissants to go because we wanted to reserve our appetite for lunch. Harun suggested Chole, an Indian restaurant in Midtown East. What is Eid without stuffing your face, right? That is exactly what we did at their lunch buffet, my favorite was their dessert, kheer and gulab jamun! We were so full that we couldn't get ourselves to walk to the subway station, we took a Via (ridesharing app like Uber) home instead and fell asleep. Eid is not complete without a food coma and a blessed nap. My family spent our last Eid in Kerala since my mom and I were already there and my dad and sister arrived on the morning of Eid, the best Eid gift ever! Most of my family flew down for my wedding so we were all together at last after a very long time. We had a huge lunch at my grandmother's house and enjoyed each other's company. Each Eid we celebrate is different, with different people at different locations, but the day of Eid is one that is familiar and close to heart, no matter where you go. On to my outfit! I wore this light pink Kaftan that was gifted to me by a family friend as a wedding gift. The long rhinestone covered earrings are from Aldo and my shoes are from Designer Shoe Warehouse. I loved wearing this kaftan because it kept me covered /modest for prayers and it was light enough to wear on this hot summer day. I hope you all had a great Eid and were surrounded by family, friends, and good food! Talk to y'all soon. xoxo,
Rae Rae
It is almost the end of Ramadan! For some of you who many not know what Ramadan is, it is the holy month for Muslims where we fast (refrain from food and drinks) each day from dawn to dusk. The time when we break our fast is called Iftar and for all of us, it is the time we look forward to! At home, mom would make snacks and different types of juices and smoothies to break our fast, followed by a delicious main course, her Biryani is my favorite. Since I got married, it is just Harun and I at home and since it is our first Ramadan together, I try and experiment with different recipes that are healthy and tasty at the same time.
I will be honest with you, I pretty much dream about what I will be eating for dinner/ Iftar throughout the day. Keep in mind, living in North America, the fasting days are long during the summer - so there are plenty of times throughout the day where I go through a hunger pang! I find myself drooling over food pictures on Instagram, spending countless hours in front of the TV watching the Food Network or any cooking show for that matter. The other day, I was chatting with my best friend, Q about life in general and since we both are avid foodies, what else would we be talking about? She mentioned that she made chicken and waffles for dinner and shared the recipe with me. The way she described how well it turned out got my mouthwatering. I immediately got down to making it for dinner- we were still on Skype when I started marinating the chicken haha. The marination part takes a bit of time but other than that, the recipe is pretty easy! The waffle came out of the waffle maker fresh and warm, and it smelled SO good, Iftar couldn't come any sooner. The chicken was perfectly crispy and golden brown. This all paired with the sweetness of pure Canadian Maple syrup...MMMM MMM! I'm making it again for dinner tonight after this blog post goes up! I tweaked the recipe quite a bit to satisfy my savory taste buds so here I am sharing this much requested recipe with y'all! Hope you give it a try!
FRIED CHICKEN AND SAVORY WAFFLES
YIELD: 2-4 servings TOTAL TIME: 40 mins PREP TIME: 10 mins COOK TIME: 30 min
INGREDIENTS:
For the chicken marinade:
For frying:
For the waffles:
DIRECTIONS:
For FRIED CHICKEN:
For WAFFLES:
Enjoy your home made chicken and waffles and let me know how it turns out with #stylenstrolleats !
xoxo,
Rae Rae
Welcome back everyone!
Harun and I are always trying to find picturesque backdrops for our photo shoots. Living in Manhattan, we are blessed with an abundance of Instagram worthy spots just steps away. On this particular day though, we decided to venture out and see what Queens had in store. After a few Google searches and recommendation from a friend, we found a historic site just a 30 minute drive away from our apartment called Fort Totten. It is located in the borough of Queens with a view of the East River and the Throngs Neck Bridge. Some of the fort has been turned into a training ground for the New York Police Department and New York Fire Department and much of the fort is now turned into a public park with an outdoor pool, baseball and soccer fields. We went to Fort Totten on a cloudy, overcast day with scattered showers. Nevertheless, we got some great photos! The fort had a very Game of Thrones feel which we found exciting since Harun and I are big fans of the show. I wore this chic black and white dress in polka dot prints with an asymmetrical hem. I love the cut and fit of this dress - super romantic. It is perfect for date night! Since the weather was kind of muggy, I opted for these boots from Forever21 which kept my feet dry (stylish and functional - that's how I do it). The outfit needed a pop of color and I achieved that with my bright red Kate Spade bag.
Outfit details!
Dress - Lord and Taylor Boots - Forever21 Bag - Kate Spade Watch - Michael Kors xo, Rae Rae |