Open Housing

It's that time of year again!
...and I don't mean when all of your favorite TV shows are coming to end. Graduation season is here and well on its way. This year one of our good friends graduated high school and since she is one of the last of our group to graduate, Hera and I were super excited. We moseyed on over to her house for some open house fun. I have to say, it was quite enjoyable--but then again, what kind of a party with cake pops and a teal venue wouldn't be enjoyable?

Sine it's(relatively) horrendously hot in Indiana at the moment, Hera and I went with simple outfits; her opting for a loose abstract design tunic and jeans while I went with a maxi dress that I had picked up while shopping with Hera several weeks back--yes, we spent way too much time together.

Not to toot my own horn, but this was a purchase I was really pleased with. The pattern of the dress is something different and I love all the mixing of the colors. Often times I don't think I look that great in bright colors, but Hera convinced me to give it a go and it worked out perfectly. Of course I paired my ensemble with a huge purse because I absolutely love big purses. Mostly because they make me feel important, even though I usually don't have that much stuff I need to carry around.

The grad girl and me--I'm the awkward one on the right.  

Congrats to our friend and the rest of the class of '12 for graduating! Stay classy and we wish you the best with your future endeavors. :)


With Love,
Naz

Birds Giveaway Winner!

Hey guys!

So we've picked the winner for our latest giveaway and the lucky winner is...comment number #17, Stephanie H! Congrats! We will be mailing you your beautiful birds bracelet. Enjoy it!

Thanks to everyone who entered our giveaway. We'll be doing another one soon so keep your eyes peeled! Meanwhile, please remember to enjoy our other posts and tell your friends about us!

Love,
Naz

for the sake of a better self and society

A couple weeks ago, I attended the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) convention. At the convention, I heard many fantastic scholars and knowledgeable people speak (I will put a list of them all at the end of this post if you're in checking them out), and they really got me thinking about myself and my actions. 

Whether you're Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Atheist, or what ever other religion/denomination, we all live together in the same society. As citizens of any society, it is our duty to keep things civil and peaceful amongst each other and to also treat each other with respect. However, this is not possible unless we better ourselves. We must expect more of ourselves and less from others.

After hearing many lectures on the Prophet Muhammad (S)'s way of life and daily actions, I realized that I, too, could make myself into a better human being by changing little everyday habits. So I have decided that I will try to change three "bad habits" that I catch myself doing. I want to share these with you guys so I have more pressure on myself to complete them. No, this doesn't mean that I only have three "bad habits" so to say. I know there are many more, but it's difficult changing so much at one time so I'm going to take it a step at a time.

1. Quit the backbiting/gossiping: It is TOO easy to fall into this trap! Seriously, I think it's human nature to talk about other humans, which is totally fine if it's all positive. I never intentionally gossip badly about anyone. Sometimes I get annoyed or angry with someone, and instead of letting it out on them, I go to my best friends and vent, and sometimes that venting turns into backbiting. One thing is, my best friends and I never let the gossip go beyond us. Everything stays between us. And although that does not make it any more valid to backbite, it's better than those who go around telling the whole world everything. So my goal is to not backbite/gossip at all, even if it is just between me and my best friends.

2. Stop complaining and be more thankful: I'll be honest, although I don't complain openly, I complain a lot in my head. In reality, I really don't need to be complaining about anything. I have a wonderful family, a house, a car, awesome friends, an opportunity to get an education, the option to become independent, etc. Literally the list can go on forever. So why the heck do I complain? How do I even manage to find something to complain about? I get to go to school and live on my own, which is a great experience and one that many don't have. It doesn't even matter how well I'm doing in classes, because there has never been a course that I've completed and not have gotten from it. I always learn something and gain some sort of knowledge, and many don't even have that option. And even as I live independently, I still have a family that I know I can always depend on. I have friends that I can have a grand time with when I'm feeling low. So why am I spending my time complaining about how I can't get a pair of Ray Bans? Beats me. From now on, before my mind complains, I will stop myself and say alhamdulillah (all praise is due to God); thank God I have all that I have because there is nothing else I really need.

3. Be kind to strangers: I really don't acknowledge people around me, whether it's the person behind me in line or the cashier taking my order. I think, hey I'm never going to see them again so what's the point of paying attention to them. But it is important. I mean, maybe the person behind me in line is having a terrible day and all they need is someone to smile at them. Or maybe the cashier is struggling at work, trying to deal with a mean boss so she make some money for her kids, and all she needs is one compliment. Our society would be so much better if we were all just simply nice. Also, let me just clarify that I am not mean to strangers. In case some of you were wondering.

It's hard for people to find their own actions "wrong," which is why it is important to understand completely why something you might be doing is wrong before you go about changing it. Otherwise, your intention may not be clear and it'll just be harder and more frustrating to go about the changing. 

Well, I'll leave off this rant with some pictures from the convention below! I'll also put the list of the speakers I heard with links to their Facebooks if you're interested. A lot of these speakers talk about the actions that make one a better human being in society, so it is applicable to non-Muslims as well.

Thanks for listening as always,

Hera

so many people!

The stage was beautiful.

Imam Siraj Wahaj

Sheikh Yasir Qadhi. Probably one of my favorite lectures.

Nouman Ali Khan. He's never not amazing.

Another favorite: Wisam Sharieff

List of speakers:

• Wisam Sharieff
• Sheikh Yasir Qadhi
• Sheikh Suhaib Webb
• Imam Omar Suleiman
• Sheikh Abdul Nasir Jangda
• Nouman Ali Khan

Ladylike

Hello lovelies,

 Ever since we've gotten back from college, it's been nonstop go go go. Afternoon lunches, tea parties, dinner parties, mini vacations, amusement park days, summer classes, we've already done it all already. That's the reason we haven't been updating as much. I've finally started feeling so guilty, I thought I'd share a quick OOTD with you guys that Hera and I wore today at a brunch we were at. If you follow our Facebook page, you've already seen these pictures. I'm so sorry for double dipping on post material but desperate times call for desperate measures. If not, please read on and enjoy.

I love brunches. They make me feel so proper and elegant--so I thought it fitting to wear polka dots in order to achieve the dainty effect. My Jeffrey Campbell dupe shoes also came in yesterday in the mail so I couldn't resist pairing those with the whole ensemble--more on those later. My outfit, coupled with Hera's two toned maxi made me feel that we looked very ladylike. If only we had the British accent to top it all off. I guess you can't had it all though, can you?

Hera has also been on some adventures on her own so keep your eyes peeled for some of those posts!

-Naz

Birds for the Blog Giveaway!-CLOSED

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED. However, please check back later for more giveaways :)


Hello hello hello!

We're excited to announce that we're doing our summer giveaway. This time it's a gorgeous Lover Birds bracelet. We found this little gem while searching the depths of Etsy and thought it would make a perfect summer staple for one of our lucky readers.

The directions to enter this giveaway are below.

To Enter:

1.) Suscribe to our blog. You MUST do this in order to win. If the generator picks you and you haven't subscribed, we'll unfortunately have to move on to someone else.
2.) Leave a comment ON THIS POST ONLY with your name and email address. We must have your email address so that we can contact you.

We'll choose the winner by using a random number generator. This giveaway will end on June 10th!


Good Luck!

apologies

Sooo I cannot remember the last time I blogged about anything. School took up most of our time, then I also kinda lost some motivation and just didn't have any inspiration to blog. But this will change!

We promise to bring you some new stuff in the upcoming few months. First of all, thank you to those sticking with us and checking back. We still get about 15 views a day even with no new material, so that gives us hope. :)

Second of all, get excited, because I am going to have lots to share soon! Next week, I'm heading to the northeast for the ICNA convention so I will have tons of material learn and blog about. I also plan on volunteering/shadowing doctors this summer, which I am super excited to write about my experiences. Then Naz has some awesome video ideas, which will be a nice change and lots of fun.

So all in all, we haven't forgotten about this blog and we have new posts coming up shortly. Apologies again for the inactiveness (just invented a new word there), but we promise to make up for it all!

Lots of love,

Hera

Attire Tautology: Color block dress

attire tautology /əˈtaɪə tô-t l -j/ n. the study of a article of clothing in different fashion senses

We are starting a new series for the fashion part of the blog, called attire tautology. In this series, we will bring to you two same article of clothing worn in two different ways. We want to showcase how versatile clothing and accessories can be and almost anything can be worn dressed up or down. 

For our first post on this series, we bring to you this amazing color block dress. We found this fantastic dress for a great price, so we both ended up buying it. The colors of the dress are a perfectly contrasted.

Look 1: For my look, I made the dress a little more dressy/party-ish. This is something I would wear on a night out with my friends. I paired the dress with a gold, Egyptian-like chocker necklace, sparkly shoes, an elegant updo, and black tights and a shrug. You could even add some gold bangles for a little more sparkle. 

Look 2: For my look, I paired my dress with a black cardi, leggings, color block oxfords, and a bag. This is probably something I would wear if I went out for lunch with friends or out shopping. I would even wear jeggings with this instead of black leggings for a more casual look (I just didn't have my jeggings with me). I absolutely love oxfords. There is absolutely no better way to be in a pair of shoes so comfy that look so stylish.

Let us know what you think of these looks and this new series we are starting! What would you wear with this dress? Post your ideas below or on our Facebook page.

Happy color blocking!

Love,
Naz and Hera

The REAL Dictator

So I was browsing the web and I came across this interesting article on the front page of Yahoo! News. It was about the dictator of Syria. NOW, before you guys go "omg, not another blog post about Syria" and close this window, hear me out. This post isn't begging you to help humanity (even though you should), it's just a thought that kinda amazed me.

The article, which you can read here, talked about some emails that were found between Asma al-Assad, the wife of the evil dictator Assad, and a friend. In the email, it is quoted that she wrote, "I am the REAL dictator, he has no choice."

Asma al-Assad

I was blown away by the power of her words. I then googled her name to see what she looked like because I didn't really know what she looked like. After seeing her picture, I was even more blown away. She was not what I was picturing her to be. Asma looks so beautiful, sophisticated and smart. She is the picture perfect First Lady. Looking at her, you wouldn't think she was actually a psychopath (excuse me for not finding a better word).

It makes me wonder about the power of women. What if Asma wasn't the evil woman behind an evil man? What if she was a good-willed woman behind an evil man? Would the evil man still be vicious or would he get some sense knocked into him? Would he dare slaughter thousands of people knowing how disappointed and unhappy his wife would be?

We often underestimate the power of a spouse, especially a wife. When we look at leaders, whether it be of a country or a company, or even people in general, we often forget how much of a hand their spouse, husband or wife, have on the decisions they make. I know this doesn't necessarily apply to all people, but I think it's safe to say that is applies to most.

We've all heard the very famous and overused proverb, "Behind every great man, there's a great woman." What we don't realize is how true it actually proves to be.

Peace,

Hera

What are your thoughts on this matter? Share them below, on our Facebook page, or Twitter!

Checkered

The weather in Evansville has taken an unexpected turn, I guess, as unexpected as one can expect from Indiana weather. (Those of you who live in the Hoosier state know what I'm talking about). These days, it can be hot and humid one day and be snowing the next--not to mention the random tornado that nearly blew out most of the southern Midwest. It makes it very difficult to dress appropriately. There has been more than one time where I wore a sweater in 60 degree weather or a chiffon blouse during a cold wind front.  Recently, I've managed Mother Nature's fickle mood by taking my mom's advice and layering. That way, when it does go from hot to cold, I'm not freezing my butt off and vice versa. 

This green shirt is actually a dress which I've bunched up. I love getting pieces that can function as more than one thing. It truly gives you a bang for your buck.

shoes-H&M

green dress (worn as a shirt)- Forever 21

pants-Target

checkered button down- h&m

vest-Forever 21

A plea on behalf of the people of Syria

Today I received an alert on my iPhone from my CNN International Breaking News App. Now as you can imagine, the world is always filled with breaking news and needless to say, my app is always blowing up my phone. However, this one particular alert really disturbed me.

 

I know the conditions in Syria haven't really improved since I last wrote about them, but this is starting to just get ridiculous. How can so many people be massacred and the rest of the world just sit here and pretend like it's not happening? What if the whole world just sat around and watched as Hitler killed millions of people as if it was no big deal? I'm not suggesting that we go into another war, but you cannot tell me that there is absolutely nothing so many powerful leaders of such grand countries, like the United States and Great Britain to just name a few, can do to even attempt to stop this injustice. 

As Charles Montesquieu said, "An injustice committed against anyone is a threat to everyone." Honestly, I couldn't put it in any better words. 

Here is my plea to all of you folks out there. Do something to help these people. It could be anything from donating money or simply bringing it up in conversation at lunch to spread awareness. If one day, God forbid, you are in a situation where your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers are being murdered in front of your own eyes, how would you feel knowing that the rest of the world is watching but ignoring your cries for help?

Below I have shared some links of ways you could fulfill your role as a citizen of this world and help humanity:

• Islamic Relief
• UNICEF
• MedWish

Don't forget to check out any Facebook and Twitter pages dedicated to help the Syrian people.

Please,

Hera

spots and dots

I think I mentioned this before, but I am obsessed with animal print and polka dots! So I thought I'd play around and combine both prints in one outfit. I know, it sounds crazy, but if done right, it can look really good. I promise you won't look like a cartoon character if you just follow a couple rules.

First of all, make sure both prints incorporate colors from the same family. In my case, I combined brown on black polka dots with a brown and black cheetah print scarf. Second of all, make sure both prints aren't dominating. If you're going to have big polka dots that stand out, tone down the animal print. If you have an animal print that really stands out, like in my case, keep the polka dots small. Follow those two simple rules, and you will be good to go! :)

And never be afraid to add a pop of red. I like to treat red as a neutral. It gives every outfit a little extra class.

 

reddd

scarf - stolen from my mom's closet

shoes - charlotte russe

black, long sleeve tee - target, i think

pants - forever 21 originally, but i found them at tjmaxx

Thanks for reading,
Hera

Don't forget to hype our looks on LookBook!