The Eat Shop Love Pair

My friend and I met each other when we were in our early twenties, and like two mad women who create more madness when they hangout, we got along like a house on fire … and like how something don’t change, a decade later too we are still the same, as crazy, as chirpy as we were and we will probably be clinking our beer mugs even when we are in our 50’s … we will never grow old.

The common denominator in our lives has been that we both have been corporate slaves but our interests have clearly been outside … Her interests in food & dining and mine in fashion & beauty … Deadly isn’t it? And the best part is we both get into the detailing of our respective interests, which also helps us in writing about them in our blogs.

Image courtesy of nenetus at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
11:30 am
So last weekend we decided to hang out at a popular mall in the city.
A mall is like a temple for people like us, foodies find their places of worship in a variety of restaurants and shopaholics like me find our places of solace in the plethora of Department & Retail stores.

And as always she wanted to eat first and I want to shop first & then she immediately quoted a line she read outside a restaurant which said “One cannot Think Well, Love Well, Sleep Well if one has not Dined Well” so I realized that if I have to shop well, my stomach better be full so I gave in to her demand of calming down our hungers pangs first to kick start the day.

11:40 am
We both wanted to binge on something light so we headed straight to the Food Court on the top floor. A food court in a mall is like heaven for any foodie. There are so many cuisines to choose from; Indian Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Juice Stalls, Ice Cream Stalls, Pizzas & other International Burger and Sandwich Brands … you name it and they have it. So while my friend decided to have healthy salad sandwich, I settled with a more Desi option of Idli Sambhar.

12:30 pm
Taking one hour to finish a small meal supposedly the breakfast is long, but how does one help … when two like - minded, over enthusiastic women catch up on a lazy weekend, conversations are obviously going to flow and one cannot avoid the chitter chatter.

We are on a mission today, next month my foodie friend has to pack her bags and head to a splendid 5 Star Hotel in Jaipur to attend an exotic destination wedding and while she cant contain her excitement thinking about the food mania she will experience there, I remind her that she also needs to shop a little (little???) to look her gorgeous best. She has 4 functions to attend and for me to have her purchase 4 gorgeous outfits is like a moral duty.

She is crunched on time and today is all she gets until the next 2 weeks, so I suggest to her that we buy some stuff today and balance order online from www.eatshoplove.in, a website to order some cool dresses and accessories from.

1:00 pm

We enter one of the finest stores in the city famous for Indian Ethnic wear. The store has the same effect on me as what a restaurant has on my friend, I feel blissful just looking at the variety of colors around.  Soon we lay ourselves comfortably on the cushion mattresses on the floor and the enthusiastic shopkeepers start showing us one outfit after another and voluntarily tell us which outfit will make my friend look like Kareena Kapoor and which one will make her look like Vidya Balan.

3:00 pm
After 2 hours of trying & rejecting almost 100 outfits, my friend finalizes on two outfits after she is convinced that these will almost pass her off as Kareena Kapoor’s clone … We Love Bollywood!!!

3:05 pm
Her hunger pangs strike back. Its been almost 2 and a half hours since our last meal … Ouch!!! What do we eat? While my mind is racing towards what must be her next purchase, she decides that we must lunch at an Arabic Restaurant on the same floor as the Food Court.

3:20 pm
We settle at this Arabic restaurant, place the order almost immediately and wait patiently for our food to arrive. In the meanwhile I notice the quaint décor of the place. The colors are eye catching and very Arabian. There are hints of Royal blue, Emerald Green, Deep Purple & Gold all very finely integrated with the ambience and before my friend can say anything I have a eureka moment!!! I have just found the inspiration to create the next outfit she needs to wear at the wedding.

Eat fast! East Fast! Eat Fast! we need to get out of this mall because the designs inspiring me cannot be found within the walls of this mall !! Eat Fast.

4:00 pm
I drag my friend to a suburban market that is like a textile temple of the city; this is the only place where I can put together, my Arabian inspired look for her.

5:30 pm
Much to my surprise, I have managed to gather all the materials I need for her Arabian look in flat one & a half hours, given them to our designer who is fortunately very close by and closed on her 3rd outfit of the wedding saga.

Simultaneously my mind is also racing towards the super snazzy jewelry we could buy online from www.eatshoplovepair.in

And I know that something like the Golden Drop necklace would fit the bill, as it is so Arabian



6:00 pm
I am tired and need a beer. The 4th outfit (for a pool party) needs to be closed today but we need some energy boosters for that. So we go back to the same mall and crash ourselves at a Casual Dining place.

7:00 pm
Friend: You know I had edible Flowers in Paris last year.
I: You need a Floral Dress for the morning pool function, perfect fit !!!
Friend: About to Faint.


7:05 pm
We head to the Spanish Retailer Store in the mall who boasts of some very jaw dropping floral prints & designs world over. But unfortunately we don’t find anything there. So I immediately check online at my favorite site www.eatshoplovepair.in and find this lovely while floral dress … Awesome … we are sorted !!!

8:00 pm
And it’s a wrap. We are heading home. We had a fabulous day!!!

I am amazed at how food inspired me to shop outfits for her. They will make her stand out in the crowd for sure in the most stylish way possible.

So people, Food & Fashion are a killer combination, (at least in our case) little creativity and one could inspire the other.

Words by- Dipika Kanungo. 

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