#FashionFriday: Edgy Chic

Statement floral heels, Steve Madden

HELLO SUMMER SIXTEEN! (whaddup Drake reference). I am DONE with finals (aka: hell week) and I could not be happier. I hope to give you guys awesome, creative content all summer long since I will have way more free time :) Today I'm going to show you guys a really edgy yet chic look with my Armani biker jacket and fave Steve Madden floral pumps. Floral print is in everywhere this season so a similar shoe shouldn't be too difficult to snag. In fact, I got mine from a local TJ Maxx for $35, so be sure to check out those stores before heading to the mall. This look is comfy and perfect for a casual day out. (you guys know I live for looks that are comfy but look like I tried haha). 

All my photos for this shoot were taken by the talented Sara & Derek from World Vision Photography! I linked their socials so be sure to check them out!

Many of us love to rock the all black everything vibe but I love adding pops of color throughout my outfit to help spice it up. This small handbag is from Aldo and it's the perfect size for your phone, wallet, keys and touch up lipstick. How cute are the gold medal bar red studs in the front?!

This is a sweater I got from a Gap store about 2 years ago and if you follow the care directions, it will still look as good as new! My biker jacket is from Armani Exchange and I am in love! It is so edgy and makes you feel like a total baddie. The necklace can be found at any Icing store (I got mine around December but I'm sure they will have a similar style).

Any of these items can be replaced with what you have lying around! Grab your old leather jacket (because these made a comeback), a light swear and statement necklace and you're golden!

Mango juice ft. me at Chrome Yellow Trading Co.

My favorite watch from Michael Kors benefiting the Stop World Hunger Campaign!
Money for a good cause that looks good on my wrist? Yes please! #Hairflip

What would you guys like to read next?! Any certain look you want me to style? Maybe a makeup tutorial? Comment below!

p.s: I have more fashion posts coming so check back every #FashionFriday in May!

Follow us on the gram & tag #TheLipstickPantry when recreating a look!

A Taste of the Windy City

Happy friday everyone! Hope everyone plans on enjoying the pretty weather we're going to have this weekend. Today's post is going to be a review on all the food places I ate at in Chicago, so if you're ever planning on visiting soon, some of these places are so good and some may not be worth it (depending on what you eat). For the most part, when I eat out I'm vegetarian unless the restaurant serves Halal meat (since I am Muslim)-- so if you see me mentioning this down below, that's why :). 

1) Usmania's, ($$) an Indo-Chinese restaurant located on Devon Ave. 

Orange Chicken and Hakka Noodles

This was one of the first spots we tried in Chicago and man was this place good! There are two restaurants with the same name located right across each other (not sure how/why this happened lol). The Usmania restaurant is bigger & serves (halal) Pakistani food whereas this was across the street serving (halal) Indo-Chinese food. The servers were kind and accommodating and the prices weren't bad for the amount of food you received. We ordered the: corn soup, orange chicken, hakka noodles, manchurian chicken with a side of white rice. I can't say I was a fan of the soup however everything else was absolutely delicious. Definitely stop by here if you're in the area!


2) Catch 35, ($$$) a high-end seafood & steak restaurant located at 35 W Wacker Dr. 

Catch 35 was recommended to us by almost everyone in our lobby at the Renaissance hotel. It was less than 50 feet from the hotel and apparently everyone working there loved it so we decided to try this place out for dinner. Since they do not serve halal meat, I was limited in what I could order here. They had a variety of shrimp options and I got buffalo shrimp with a side of fries. My sister ordered salmon, which she liked. The buffalo shrimp however is something I do not recommend getting. It was literally buffalo sauce poured on cooked shrimp (I'm glad I ordered French Fries is all I'm saying lol). Personally, I did not enjoy this place but if you eat meat (fish, etc.)you will have a lot more options and may want to try it out or find Yelp reviews. However, everyone was nice and the ambiance is upscale formal. 


3) Lou Malnati's, ($$) an American Chicago-style pizza restaurant chain (multiple locations). 

The Lou

Oh. My. God. If you visit Chicago and don't go to Lou Malnati's... what are you doing with your life? I will say this, do not let the wait time turn you away from trying it. There were three of us and we were given an estimated 1 hour wait however they gave us a booth used for two people in about 15 minutes and we all fit so it worked out! A plus is that while you put your name down, you can go ahead and order so by the time you're seated your pizza is ready since it takes 45 minutes to make. 

It is no secret that I love pizza but I had never tried deep dish before so I was excited to try this place out because it was recommended by so many. We got the classic "Lou" pizza in medium and it was big enough for all three of us. If you love pizza or are a major foodie, you have to try this place and somehow make room for the chocolate chip cookie desert. It takes 10 minutes to make so they recommend ordering it after you start on your second slice. We waited awhile after finishing our pizza to put in our order for desert because we were pretty stuffed, but I wish we had gotten the bigger size! The small order is a sample size and once you take a bite-- you'll wish you ordered the bigger one (like we did haha). 




4) Max's Take Out, ($) a small American fast food joint serving hot dogs, burgers & fries located at 20 E Adams St. If you eat halal/kosher-- ask for a separate menu! 

Personally, I wasn't a fan of this place. It wasn't bad-- I ate my chili cheese + onions hot dog and my fries but the chili didn't have enough flavor that I'm used to from making my own at home. The fries were actually pretty good. 




5) Wildberry Pancakes & Cafe, ($$) a popular breakfast/brunch cafe located at 130 E Randolph St.

The Garden

Go ahead and schedule this place in your vacay itinerary and download the NoWait app to reserve your name so you aren't waiting on location for 2 hours (because if not-- you will. This place is busy but it is worth it. They open at 6am so logon to the app and reserve your spot). We weren't told about the NoWait app until we got there, even though we called beforehand to inquire about it but we were catching up with family so the time flew by. 

Berry Buttermilk Pancakes

Red Velvet French Toast

We ordered "The Garden" which is essentially a skillet of hash browns topped with cheese, sautéed and fresh vegetables and 2 sunny side up eggs on top. I'm going to attempt to recreate this heavenly breakfast item on the blog soon, so look out for it! My brother ordered the red velvet french toast that was also amazing. The fries were good. It's just all good haha. 6) Sunda, ($$) a chic space serving Asian fusion food. They offer a vegan menu!

After visiting SkyDeck we were absolutely starving and initially we were trying to go to Xoco, a mexican place but that specific location was closed. This was the closest spot from where our Uber dropped us off that seemed good. I had a bad pad thai experience in Atlanta and the noodles were just hard to chew. However, form the vegan menu I ordered their pad thai and while I could've done without the chopped peanut, the dish itself was plated perfectly and tasted amazing. Both my sister and my brother ordered sushi and enjoyed their dish as well!

7) Eataly, ($$$) a modern market featuring a wide variety of Italian eateries & markets located at 43 E Ohio St. 


This is the cutest little market! They have a bunch of desert places like a Nutella crepe bar, Gelato, etc. I tried a Nutella crepe and my friend got the strawberry Nutella crepe and both were amazing! Definitely a cute little spot to pop into while you're walking the streets of Chicago and are craving a little something sweet. 

8) The Halal Guys, ($) a Middle Eastern eatery serving falafel and gyros located at 49 W Division St.

I have heard so much about this place and like I mentioned on my travel vlog, it's like a Chipotle but the Middle Eastern version. They have a rice platter and you choose your choice of meat, etc. and it comes with the infamous white sauce that wasn't actually bad (I'm a picky eater lol). They don't mix the food items either, it's all separated on the platter. I've never tried the NY Halal Guys but I have heard that the location there is better than the Chicago location. 


9) Ghirardelli, ($) a chocolate shop/desert cafe located at 830 N Michigan Ave. 


YUM. Without a doubt, this was guaranteed to be good-- let's be honest haha. The brownie sundae and banana split was to die for, I'm craving it all over again. We were strolling through Chicago and ran into this place and of course being the foodies we are, we stopped in. 

Putting the Chic in Chicago

Happy Sunday babies! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far (don't let these April showers get you down!) So if you follow me on my social media and caught the last blog post (here), you know I just took a quick vacay to the windy city of Chicago. I had only visited this city once before as a kid but going back as an adult was obviously an experience, especially with my two best friends (aka: my siblings).

I took my Canon T3i and Sony A5100 with me so of course I'm about to hit you guys with some slay ootd's I wore and fill my babies in on all the deets! Since I had two amazing cameras with me I vlogged for the first time (ahhh). I love making movies in iMovie so this was a blast for me to film and edit. In fact, this vlog was done and ready to upload last Monday night, less than 24 hours after I got back BUT my computer was giving me hell for it, hence the delay.

Watch my travel vlog here! (hint: grab a snack/meal!)

Hotel: We were there for four nights and stayed at the Renaissance Hotel in the heart of Chicago. This hotel was everything and then some-- the decor, hospitality and at home vibe we got from the staff and other guests truly made for a wonderful experience. Plus the Iowa State basketball team stayed their during their March Madness game so our lobby was always a fun spot to hang out. We were within walking distance to the majority of all tourist attractions and just as close to the shops and food (the most important lol). Part two of this mini-series will talk about the attractions we saw and the food I have been posting (I'm craving it already and it hasn't even been a week since I've been back #foodie). Anytime I find myself back in this gorgeous city, I already know where I' m staying (each and every time) and no this is not sponsored LOL ;).

The diva that I am wrote a how-to: travel in style blog post that was also space efficient but ya girl didn't know which season to pack for so I didn't even get to wear more than 1/2 my suitcase (#fail). As soon as we landed it was raining and freezing which made sense because by lunchtime it was hailing/snowing. I wish I wasn't too busy stuffing my face because even though I dislike cold weather (being born/raised in hotlanta and all) that snowfall was absolutely beautiful-- I wish I could've captured it for you guys. The rest of the days were in the upper forties/low fifties which would've been bearable but the winds were something I was not used to at all. I do not know how the locals deal with that intense wind on the daily, I came back craving a haircut from all my tangles. My phone was acting up while I was there so I barely was able to use it but whenever I got a chance to Snapchat complain about the wind, man did my friends give me hell for it. Lol, and yes I know I was visiting the windy city but I assumed since it was full on Spring ft. pollen down here it would've been slightly warmer (false). Regardless, Chicago has stolen my heart because the city vibes & the food was perfect.

DAY ONE (airport):

As I mentioned in my travel in style post, a comfy outfit for the airport is a must especially if you have a super early flight and want to catch up on some zzz's en route to your vacay. Since our hotel wasn't ready for us when we landed, we headed straight to the shops and even though I packed enough to change into a more casual outfit rather it was cold so I decided to stick to my sweats for the first day. Which is shocking considering I never ever wear sweats publicly like that unless I'm on a plane or doing a late run to Target lol. It's even funnier that I can't even find a photo of me wearing this outfit because when I'm in sweats-- it is straight chill mode. However on the flight back to ATL I wore the same outfit and traded my grey sweats to some comfy black H&M jeans that were a steal at $7. YUP. SEVEN. But tragically, these were the only pair (booo).

details:
(1) Heather grey sweats from H&M (here), the best sweats ever! So presentable + comfortable.
(2) My simple Ralph Lauren grey tee was stolen from my brother's closet (tysm) (similar here)
(3) My favorite teal jacket is also H&M (surprise surprise). I believe these are a year-round staple item for them because whenever I'm shopping there I always see these hanging around.

DAY ONE (evening):

After a long day of travel and shopping, we decided to eat at a restaurant right next door called Catch 35 (will review this place in part two of the series). Even though we were literally walking 100 feet to dinner, I was dressed in sweats all day and brought a suitcase full of clothes to dress up in so I did my makeup and threw on a warm outfit.

details:
(1) I wore my H&M black jeans (similar here)
(2) My all-time fave tan sweater from Gap-- last season
(3) Brown leather jacket (old but any leather jacket will suffice!)
(4) Necklace (old + I don't remember where it's from
(5) Shoedazzle blush strapped heels (style: CLARISSA)

DAY TWO (daytime): 

We visited Cloud Gate where the infamous "Bean" is located. Seriously such an amazing piece of art. Afterwards we went to try some amazing pizza that I will rave about in my next travel post!



details:
(1) I wore my H&M black jeans-- recent (similar here)
(2) A black/white H&M striped blouse--recent
(3) Red trench coat from Banana Republic-- last season (any trench coat will suffice!)
(4) White Converse All-Stars (here)

DAY THREE (daytime): 




We roamed the city and visited Willis Tower (Skyledge, also formerly known as Sears Tower). Since we walked everywhere I wanted to be comfy and stuck to a basic all black outfit with a bold necklace and warm leather jacket!


details:
(1) I wore my H&M black jeans (similar here)
(2) Simple H&M black tee
(3) Brown leather jacket (so old but any leather jacket will suffice!)
(4) Necklace-- Black Friday (Icing)
(5) Black flats (Steve Madden)













DAY FOUR (daytime): 
This day was mostly a traveling day besides breakfast so I re-wore my airport outfit. Details are under Day One :)

Part-two of my Chicago series is next! I will be reviewing all the food places we ate at and the tourist spots that stole my heart!

Rasmin, xo