Happy New Year!...2019

Happy New Year everyone! 2018 was an interesting year, with lots of things for me to post about (boy do I need to play the catch up game!) - so watch this space!

I’m looking forward to a few things already this year, and it will be interesting to the trends, outfits and events the year brings!

Wishing you all a great year (let the good times roll!)

Love, Curly Fries
xxx

Happy New Year!...2018

I know, I know, I'm super late to the New Year message! But hey, it's still January and we're still in a dieting-joining-the-gym-phase so let's pretend I'm not three weeks late!

I've been meaning to post a whole load of things in the last few weeks but decided to take a break - not for any lack of things to post about! So watch this space, I have plenty of things to share with you all, so bear with me while I slowly but surely try to get back into regular-posting mode!

So here's wishing you all a beautiful 2018 - I'm in a floral mood so hopefully the year will start off with blossoms, pinks and pretty things!

Love, Curly Fries xx

Things I've been doing: May Edition

May is always a busy month, and this year it was busier than usual! My weekends have been pretty packed this month, and I've been pre-ocuppied with either preps for events or attending them! Having said that, May is one of my favourite months (not just because it's my birthday month!) and I love that summer is arriving and giving us a chance to shed the coats and wear our floral dresses.

Holiday to Norway
Hubster and I went to beautiful Norway a couple of weeks ago, and it was unlike any other holiday we've been to before - plenty of beautiful natural scenery, pretty towns and breathtaking views of mountains, seas, forests and snow. I'm still blogging about my adventures here, so keep an eye out for more posts!

Attended a bridal shower for a close friend
Most of my close friends are married now (and got married before me!) but there's a couple who aren't, so when one of them got married this month we made the most of it to make it special for her. I'll post about this soon, but here's a peek at the gorgeous decor!

Went to a mehndi & wedding event
This was for the same friend as the bridal shower, and it was amazing to see how beautiful the bride and all the guests looked, as well, as the decor details. I'll be posting about these too, soon!

Muslim Lifestyle Show
My sister and I attended the Muslim Lifestyle Show at the beginning of May, which was really fun because of the variety of goods for sale, and since it gave us a chance to find a lot of new brands and meet vendors - more about this soon!

A day out to the farm with family
My sister invited everyone to her end for a day out to the farm, with all of the nieces and nephews along with family, which ended up being a really fun day. There were plenty of animals to see and an entertainment section at the end for the kids (we played crazy golf!) as well as a restaurant for the kids to eat and the adults to relax. It was a really nice way to spend the bank holiday weekend, and the family ended the day with a barbequeue and cake at my sister's house!

My birthday
Like I said, May babies are the best! One of the reasons we went to Norway was partly for my birthday, but on the day I was lucky enough to get wined (the non-alcoholic variety!) and dined by the hubster!

Afternoon tea with friends
I've posted about this here, a really fun afternoon tea with some friends this week (for a long lunch!) which involved yummy sandwiches, scones, cakes and brownies. I loved the atmosphere of this tea room, and the beautiful fresh flowers and vintage floral print crockery which made a lovely, girly afternoon for us.

I'm looking forward to June, as it will be the start of a quieter month and also a time to reflect during Ramadan, which always goes by too quickly. I'll be sure to keep posting through the month, and perhaps some food ideas, so watch this space!

Holidays and All That Jazz - Beautiful Bergen, Norway

I know, I've been quiet for a little while, but I had a good reason! The hubster and I decided to take a short but much-needed break a few days ago to Norway, where we enjoyed plenty of fresh air, greenery, picturesque houses and plenty of boat trips!

You can see more pictures if you head on over to my other blog here, but in the mean time, here's a shot of me in front of the harbour in my floral maxi dress which I managed to get tailored!

Curly Fries xx

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2016...!

It's an eventful year, but 2015 is finally over and we're now embracing 2016! Wishing you all a happy new year, full of beautiful clothes, shoes and food!

I'm hoping to spend more time on productive things this year - less time binge-watching tv series and more time writing/reading/drawing and of course, appreciating beautiful clothes! What are your aims for this year?

I'll  also be hoping to post more regularly with some more interesting stuff, so watch this space!

Inayah Collection's Sample Sale

I'm a big fan of modesty wear which caters to customers looking to be modest and yet stylish. Although the bigger brands in the high street and Western catwalk are beginning to expand to provide modest clothing, it can still be a hassle for those of us looking for something which covers us, whether it is a pretty abayah or just a modest dress or skirt.

Inayah Collection is one of the bigger brands which I follow, which primarily focuses on simplicity with modesty, and has a large following which is popular with a lot of young women looking for stylish hijab outfits. I've posted about this company before, and my opinion hasn't changed - I love how this brand has evolved with the fashion trends and has compromised in their styles.

I recently saw notifications on the Inayah Instagram page which was advertising a sample sale week during the holidays for their products, which I thought was great as their products are only sold online. I emailed the company for a time slot to visit, and went down today with a friend to see what was on offer.

There was surprisingly a huge range of outfits, scarves and abayahs available - most of these are on the websites at full price still - but at the sample sale a lot of these were about half price or less - I loved this maxi dress which was reduced in price by quite a lot and was tempted to buy it (but didn't in the end because I couldn't find my size!)

This is what I bought, a few dresses and scarves at amazing prices (the scarves were only £3 and £5 each!) and which I know I'll be getting wear out of!

If you're looking to attend the sample sale with Inayah, and you're around London area in the next day or two, email showroom@inayahcollection.com and you should hopefully be given an appointment slot - I highly recommend a look - it's the Christmas sales after all!

...I'm back!

I know I've been absent for a couple of weeks, but it's for good reason! Hubster and I decided to take a much-needed break to the Greek Islands (we both wanted to go somewhere hot and beachy) and have only just come back now - if you've been following me on my Instagram account, you will have seen all the beautiful places we've been visiting.

I won't overload this post with pictures from my trip, because I'll be doing a travelogue here, so please feel free to check this out!

In the meantime, I have lots of goodies and clothes to post about, and a few weddings happening in the next couple of weeks, so reviews and pictures coming soon!

- Curly Fries xx

My Blogging Year...A Look back at 2014!

2014 was a very eventful year for me, especially as I had a lot of personal events happening in one go! I wanted to do a quick re-cap of a few things I have blogged about in my year, in case you missed some of them!

I got engaged - I was lucky enough to have my wedding fixed with my husband (at the time, to-be-husband) and started the mad flurry of wedding outfit designing, finding venues, caterers, and looking for all the various wedding things that comes up!

I had two new baby nieces born - to two of my older sisters (and both of them are now smiley little pixies!). They were both a beautiful blessing to their parents and to us, their aunties (and their cousins!), and have spent the last six months making us giggle.

I got married in a beautiful and crazy series of functions which almost passed in a blur! I had an amazing series of events, which made me feel pretty amazing and also gave me an opportunity to not behave so bridezilla-ish, and spend time with my family! Here's some of the outfits I wore during the wedding, I don't have a favourite because I loved them all!

I moved into my new house with my husband, and now have a huge wardrobe. Seriously, it actually fits all of my beautiful Asian clothes. Having said that, the look on my husband's face when he saw them all is something else.

I went on my honeymoon to the amazing Istanbul, and had some amazing food and saw some amazing sights. It's put the travel bug in me already, and I'm sure I'll be going somewhere again very soon!

There were several other things which happened this year, but these were the highlights of the year for me. I don't expect 2015 to be as stressful as 2014 was, but I do hope it's as fun! I've had plenty of dawats (dinners with family, friends' and relatives) which aren't quite done yet, and lots of opportunities to meet some lovely people, and find beautiful clothes, lipsticks and food.

Having said that, I don't really have any new year resolutions, but I am looking forward to the next year because I think it will be a new challenge, and it'll be especially fun to learn new things (like cooking!) and spend time with my husband and my family!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2015!

Just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year, full of new clothes, new friends and lots of blessings for you all! Here's hoping 2015 is an eventful and enjoyable one - anyone have any plans made for this year?

Honeymoon Travels!

Sorry all, I know I've been absent for a week (or so!), Mr Curly Fries and I went on our delayed honeymoon recently and have only just got back (and already planning our next trip!)

We decided to visit the lovely city of Istanbul in Turkey, which has always been on my bucket list of places I've always wanted to visit. I had a lot of fun in this city, and it was really a great experience, the people are friendly, there's beautiful sights to see and there's some seriously amazing food!

Here's a few snaps of our trip, I probably took over a thousand pictures because there were so many places to visit and lots of things to do, so here's a quick look - I'll be posting in more detail on my Instagram page and also my other blog so keep checking for more!

 

Happy New Year!….2014 - New Year, New Kapray!

Happy New Year everyone, and hope you all had a good rest over the last few days!

I'm hoping that this year will be a busy one for me (although I'll try to keep blogging regularly!) - I  already have a few events to look forward to, and I'm hoping to find new things to post about too, not to mention expand on my sister's and my online shop Feroza. I've had an interesting year in 2013, and can imagine that 2014 will be even better - although I'm aiming to do more like travel more, visit more places and eat some scrumptious cupcakes!

I'd also like to ask you to visit my sister's Muslim Inspiration Journal 2014, which she has created and is making available for download for free - check it out and let me know if you find it useful!

So at the beginning of this year, here's hoping that 2014 goes well for all of us with plenty of good memories, good food and some amazing clothes :)

Love, Curly Fry x

Happy Eid!

It's been a super-busy weekend, starting with Eid celebrations which began on Friday, with plenty of dinners and a party just yesterday for my newborn niece (more on this later!).  As per usual with my family, we all got dressed up and stayed at home! Although we had plenty of family around this year, and lots of food, cake and sparkly bangles. The only thing I wish I had managed to do is put on some mehndi, which I didn't due as I was feeling a bit too lazy. Oh well, I'll practise later.

Here's some peeks of my sister's outfits and one of numerous cakes we had over the weekend (the picture at the end is of my newly-wed sister showing off her sparkly bangles and her very pretty outfit!)

My outfit was a bit more toned down (for me anyways!), I chose a navy and maroon maxi dress with some embroidered motifs at the bottom and a banarsi style bodice, which was paired with gold heels and some matching bangles. This outfit originally came from India (it's one of those unstitched pieces you can make to your own size) and didn't cost me a lot, so I was quite happy with it, although the net dupatta annoyed me all day by jumping off my arm every five minutes! Here's a look at the dress, although the colour was slightly a bit deeper than these pictures.

And this is me in my outfit, posing out in the garden in the FREEZING cold, although it was thankfully clear and not raining. And below are the rest of my sisters and my elder niece, wearing beautifully deep colours. My eldest sister is hiding a little behind her daughter(!), but she also had a pretty, buttercream yellow outfit on which was given to her by my mum.

Hope you all had a great weekend regardless of whether you celebrated Eid or not, and blessings to you all! x

Busy times ahead...!

I'm finding that I'm becoming more and more busy (and having less free time to blog!) due to upcoming events, including Eid which is coming up, friends' wedding events, and not least, my sister's wedding which will be happening in a couple of weeks! So if I disappear for a couple of days, don't worry, I'm just preparing for lots of colourful posts ahead - and believe me I have a lot of ideas already, all these events have meants getting new outfits and shoes galore - so keep checking back!

In the meantime, I LOVE this beautiful black and white dress by Umar Sayeed, which was part of his collection showcased in Fashion Pakistan Week 2012. I've seen several copies or similar versions  of these in the high street, but I absolutely love this version because of how chic it looks.

What do you think of this outfit, is it something which appeals to you?

Image Source

Happy New Year!

It's been a sparkly, enjoyable first year for me with Kapray Shapray Blog and I hope it's been just as enjoyable for you reading it, whether you're interested in fashion, pretty things, weddings, or just want to give me some support! So thank you all for giving me inspiration in writing about the things I'm interested in, here's hoping 2012 will be filled with more fun ideas!

I'd like to include a short round-up of a few of my favourite posts which I've enjoyed writing about most during this year and some of the different topics and pretty things I've seen.

Post Links: Happy Brides, Copycat Dress, Tanu Weds Manu, Bangles from Bees, Hijab Pins, Nilofer Shahid, Bina Khan, Fusion Cards, Architecture Rings, Sushmita Sen, Hijabi Bride, Maria B Nikah, Sonam's Peshawar, Tamanna's Maxi, Clutch from Indian Hanger, Paperself Lashes

Hope you all have had a good rest during the holidays, and hope 2012 is a good one for you all, full of colourful memories and glittering good times.

Happy New Year!