My Eid - Eid with the family!

We had a lovely Eid celebration this week, wand it felt like a busy one with lots of family and guest all congregating my my mum's! We had a fantastic meal (as always) cooked by my mum, with lots of giggling children, dressing up, photo-taking and gifts, made complete with some sunshine!

For Eid this year I wore this gorgeous peach suit from Pakistani label Sapphire Pakistan, which my husband picked up from Pakistan a couple of months ago. I absolutely loved the colours when I first saw it, and thought the work on it was really decent quality. I'm a fan of Sapphire Pakistan, and it was one of the places I asked my husband to stop at while in Pakistan - I only wish I had bought more of their pieces! I also loved that it came with a lovely silky dupatta, which had a pretty print on it, and both the dupatta and the suit were embellished with pearls. What I particularly liked was how well stitched the outfit was, and the fact that the pearls were sewn on properly - no half-hanging-by-the-thread pearls or damaged seams!

I also thought I'd make an effort this year wear some decent jewellery too (in past Eids I've worn minimal jewellery pieces!). So on one hand I wore some pretty glass bangles with pearls all over from Pakistan, which came from my mum, while on the other hand I wore a 'haath panja (a hand harness) piece which was sent to me by my mother in law. I loved how these looked, and they went wonderfully against my outfit.

As usual, the kids in the family bought the outfit game and rocked it - I loved all of what they wore. There was a lovely mix too, two wore pretty ghararas, one of my nieces wore an Afghan-style dress from Pakistan, and two wore party dresses! And of course, they all wore the cutest shoes!

Here's a peek at some of the food we had - this is only one table (we had another one full of more food!) and which we fully enjoyed. Even though it was straight after a month of fasting in Ramadan and we were stuffed, we ate well and enjoyed it!

My sisters and I have created a tradition of gifts over the years, if not always for each other, then we try to get them for the kids of the family. It's well worth it when we see how excited they get, and gives them something to look forward to as well! This year I received an abundance of chocolate and makeup. One quirky present we all liked was pretty mugs for each of us with our initial on it, which was a nice idea.

Eid was a fun day for us, full of silly jokes, games and of course sweet treats. We usually try to spend the next day doing Eid too but some of us had work the next day, and a lot of us wanted to catch up on sleep, getting energy back and get into routine again after all the madness!

Eid Mubarak!...Eid-al-Fitr 2019/1440

Wishing you all a lovely Eid and hope it's been a fun celebration for you all! I've been loving all the outfits I've seen people wear on Facebook and Instagram, and can't wait to show you my outfits !

Hope you all had a lovely Eid, and wishing you all a wonderful week of food, family and fun this Eid (which I'm sure will carry on onto the weekend for me!)

In the mean time, here's a quick peek at what I wore for Eid, which was very comfy (plus some seriously yummy chocolates from my sister!)

Love,
Curly Fries
xxx

Our Eid...Day #2

I'm sure you know by now that when my family does Eid, we tend to make the most of it! On the second day of Eid we had lunch at my sister's and my family went to my aunt's for dinner, which was a relaxed evening of fun.

My outfit for the second day was a metallic green and gold outfit by a Pakistani label called Sequence, which my best friend bought as a gift for me on her last visit to Pakistan. I love the cut of this outfit - the top is a A-line angrakha-style top, which came with shimmery gold salwar-style bottoms that went perfectly. I paired this with metallic gold heels and a gold and cream clutch, which went perfectly!

I loved the decor my sister had set up - colourful pastels, which was finished off by a beautiful throw on the table to bring the colours together. She always puts together a different, pretty theme for Eid as well as Ramadan and I loved the colours for this year.

Food was a fun affair, with plenty of dishes of course - if you're from an Asian family like mine you'll know that it's not a dinner unless theres lots of different dishes and desserts!

The babies went colourful for the second day of Eid, with flouncy party dresses that they looked seriously cute in!

I wish I had more photos to show you of our Eid weekend, but honestly we always manage to not take enough because we're too busy yakking away and enjoying the good food!

Hope you all had a good weekend!

xx

Our Eid...Day #1

We had a lovely long weekend celebrating Eid this weekend, with plenty of opportunity to overstuff ourselves with food! It was nice to spend the day dressed up, especially with the weather being nice and sunny, and everyone being free for the weekend.

This is what I wore on Eid, which was a pretty mint-coloured kurta with silky pants. My sisters and I didn't get time to order anything online so had a look around the shops, and I ended up going with this outfit that my husband actually pointed out on a second visit to the shops! You can't tell properly but this is a shimmery gold tone to the fabric for a two-tone effect. I loved the colour palette of this kurta, lilacs, gold, silver and mint which for perfect for the warm weather.

I bought this outfit from a small shop in Ilford Lane, East London called Laaj London, which is a fairly new shop (Facebook page here and Instagram page here), where they had a range of different colours. The kurta was quite reasonably priced and fit perfectly, and I thought it was a pretty decent find among the madness of Eid shopping!

We started off Eid with lunch at my mum's house, which is always a tradition for us, as it's the one place myself and all of my siblings descend to get together, enjoy our mum's food and get all of the kids together. Unfortunately I have absolutely no pictures of the food, as we were pretty hungry and I forgot to take any! But just assume the food looked as amazing as it tasted!

We then decided to do something a little different for the evening, with a barbecue hosted by my brother and sister-in-law at their house. My sister-in-law had hired a bouncy castle for the children (which was fully enjoyed by all of us!), and we spent the evening chilling out with family and enjoying the warm evening.

If you know my family, you'll know that the toddlers in my family always steal the show - with credits for their dresses to my mum! The toddlers all wore matching floral dresses (the one in the middle had the dress too, but she wore a lilac dress to match all of her other cousins!)

This year I joined in with an online Secret Eid, which was really fun - there were over 40 participants, and it was fun to see the gifts everyone got! I opened my Secret Eid on Eid day and loved what i received - candles, an engraved personalised bookmark, travel mug, book light, chocolates and a gorgeous box that it all came in.

I also received some beautiful presents from my sisters, including these gorgeous purple heels, and a whole treasure trove of makeup, chocolate and jewellery from my eldest sister.

We finished off the day with a seriously chocolatey cake made by one of my sisters, which was as chocolatey and rich as it looks!

It was a lovely way to spend our Eid, and one which was special because all of the family which got together, which can be rare for all of us! The only thing I wish we had photos of was the outfits for the ladies in the family - we were too busy chasing after the kids and stuffing our faces!

Atelier Finds: A Ramadan Gift

I recently was sent a beautiful Ramadan gift by Instagram company Atelier Finds, who specialise in tasbih and oud perfume wedding favours, hijab accessories and Islamic Gifts. The company sent me a new idea of theirs, Ramadan and Eid gift parcels which would make ideal presents.

I thought this was a really lovely idea, and a great alternative to the usual Instagram pages and online sellers I have come across, most of whom usually sell outfits, jewellery or scarves. While all of these are always in demand, it's nice to see something different out there which is well-put together and relevant to my faith.

This is the box I was sent, isn't it lovely? It was so pretty I almost didn't want to open it.

It also came with a lovely card with a sweet message inside for Ramadan - personally I think it always makes a difference when a company puts in small touches like this because it shows how much they care about their products and their service.

Even thought e box was almost too pretty to open, I opened it in the end! I was glad I did, because inside were some even prettier things which I loved - two gem-stone hijab pins, a mini-tasbih and a pretty pin tin, which you can see below.

I really liked the fact that each product was a good quality, luxury product, and not just random generic things which you would find on the high street. The hijab pins are part of the real gemstone range, with the the black one being black onyx in gold vermeil (gold plated sterling silver). The tasbih was another well-crafted piece with sparkling beads and a lovely chain finish.

I thought this was a really lovely, innovative idea for Ramadan and Eid gifts, and it's something which is new to the market - it's nice to have a few pretty things like this on your dressing table or on your shelf. One of the things I loved was that these were all things I would use - the pin tin is a pretty, vintage-style piece, the hijab pins are lovely for dressing up, and the tasbih would always be used in my house.

I also love that these are all available as wedding favours - it's a really nice alternative to the usual sweets and nuts look and it's something guests can take home. The company also does ouds in different scents as well, so will be checking those out next!

You can contact Atelier Finds or buy any of the products via the company's Instagram Page, or via their Etsy Shop.

Things I've been doing: January/February Edition

It feels like it's been a busy month for me in January and February (I think because after nearly two weeks of hibernating and binge-eating chocolate Santas over the Christmas break, I felt very sociable!) I meant to post this a few weeks ago but got busy, so thought I'd combine January and February together!

I've been doing a lot of random things, but am hoping to catch up with some of my blog posts, and be a little more productive!

Things I did in January

Visited Dalloway's Terrace
This is a beautiful restaurant which I thought was worth a mention! The restaurant is unfortunately now closed until May for the summer greenery, but I'd recommend a visit because of how lovely the restaurant and ambience is (not to mention lovely food!)

Winter Lights Festival at Canary Wharf
I love light shows and every now and then, there's a big one around London which my sister and I always try to visit. This year it was set in Canary Wharf and did not disappoint - you can see my full post about it here!

Interview with Saira Rizwan at Tehxeeb London exhibition
I was lucky enough to meet and interview Pakistani designer Saira Rizwan, as well as look through her gorgeous bridal collection in London boutique Tehxeeb London.

Went Sale Shopping!
I didn't go too crazy this year, as I didn't really see many things I liked and also have been trying to save money for holidays for this year. I was a little more selective this year, and got a couple of dresses and scarves and some comfy shoes from the sales (the Christmas chocolate doesn't count!)

Things I did in February

World Hijab Day Pre Love event
This was a charity event sponsored by Malaysian hijab company Aidjuma, in celebration of World Hijab Day. I'll be positing more about this, but here's a little peek!

Went to Dominique Ansel Bakery
This is a famous bakery from New York named after the famous chef, and home of the famous cronut, not to mention some other seriously yummy desserts. I went here with a friend of mine who recommended it, and enjoyed every bit - we may have gone a little crazy and ordered a whole bunch of stuff!

London Modest Fashion Week
This was a modest fashion event with fashion designers from around the world, showcasing their designs on the catwalk and also exhibiting for people to buy - you can read my post about it here.

Pancake Day!
This is a little silly but I had to include it, my friends and I indulged in some pancakes and crepes with Nutella and strawberry for Pancake day, which was great fun.

I'm looking forward to the warmer weather, as I can imagine it getting a little busier, not to mention getting a chance to wear all my pretty summery stuff! Hubby and I have a few things planned over the next few months too, so here's hoping I'll have more to post about very soon!

Our Eid-ul-Adha...!

Our Eid was a lovely one spent with family, although it did feel like we didn't get to spend time celebrating it long enough as most people had to go to work the next day!

For hubster and I, it was a double celebration - Eid was on the same day as our wedding anniversary. So naturally it was great to spend time with the family to celebrate (and demanding a cake from everyone who walked through the door!)

The night before, the locate roads were busy with people applying henna, buying last minute outfits and random sales on makeup and jewellery. It was a fairly quiet affair for us this time as my sisters and mum were busy (one is getting her house refurbished, the others were busy with Eid preps and getting the houses ready!) so I quickly went to get  my own mehndi done and went home before the roads got too busy.

I don't always have time to put mehndi on, and my husband insisted I wear it this year for our anniversary so I got it done on both hands this time - you can see below the results.

On Eid day we all went to our mums - it's become our central headquarters for the whole family, where everyone comes to meet, eat and enjoy ourselves, especially as most of us live in different places now. It's always lovely to get ready and make our way over in the morning (not to mention sending selfies of ourselves before we get there!) and it was lovely to celebrate Eid and our wedding anniversary too.

This is the outfit I wore, by a Pakistani label Cross Stitch, whose brand I've followed for the last year or two and have loved. I've only recently been able to see shops selling this brand in the country and took the chance to buy a printed, colourful summery kurta from a local store, which I paired with silk straight pants and sparkly heels.

The weather was pretty warm on Eid, so my uncle took the chance to do a barbeque for us in the back garden - I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the grilled chicken and kebabs but here's something we did enjoy - grilled corn!

We also had the usual Eid food affair as well, but instead of my mum making everything, the women all brought a dish to make it easier for my mum and also bring a range of dishes. There was plenty of food (below is just half of it!) which we all enjoyed thoroughly.

We also had an abundance of desserts - we had three cakes from guests (forgot to take pictures of them again!) but my favourite was the chocolately Eid cake made by my sister below. My husband's favourite dessert was the kheer, which I've also posted below!

My sisters, as usual rocked their outfits. I haven't got picture sof them all, but here are a few - my sister in law got a Cross Stitch outfit from the same shop as me, and my sister got a custome made suit. My niece also had a lovely dress with a matching skirt in black, which she looked very elegant in.

As usualy, the babies took the show - they all managed to wear matching blue dresses, and spent most of their time playing in the garden with their new Moshi Monsters toys and some very cool emoji balloons which were a gift from my sister!

Instead of the usual presents this year, my eldest sister had the very cool idea of an Eid 'Lucky Dip', where she walked around with a bag of presents and you just had to pick one. Most of us got some pretty, delicate jewellery which was a nice treat for the girls. My aunt also gave us lovely gifts, I got a pretty beaded scarf from her and my sister got these lovely pom-pom bangles below which were fab.

All in all, we had a lovely Eid which was filled with family, and a lot of guests. My parents have seen how our family is getting bigger now and have extended their living room and kitchen, and this was the first time we all had Eid in the new space and all managed to fit in! My husband and I spent a lovely day with family as well, and enjoyed our wedding anniversary with good food and good company (although we did also go out for dinner the following weekend as well!)

I hope you all had a lovely Eid, Eid Mubarak everyone!