A long awaited return... at least I hope so!

No, I haven't been abducted by aliens from another planet, and I didn't die... I just kept either forgetting to update or just being too tired when I thought of it that I didn't want to. Mostly because I knew that I'd have SO many pictures to post. I may just have to make this two or three posts!

The last time I updated with my own shoe pictures was on the 9th of July. Almost two full weeks ago! I mentioned that the following day the boy and I were hosting a barbecue. We did. It was a HUGE success and everyone had a very lovely time. We've got leftover buns and rolls for burgers and dogs like WHOA! And I had to make a meatloaf and a pan of meatballs with the leftover hamburg. The boy likes to buy copious amounts of food for guests. We had WAAAAY more food than we did guests. It also rained that day so I'm sure that's why some people weren't able to come. I started the day out wearing my galoshes. It was pouring when we got up and we had to go to the grocery store to get all of the provisions for the afternoon's festivites! When we got back, however, it had stopped raining and was quite warm and humid out so I changed into flip flops. That I stole from my sister. They're quite comfortable. I've had them for so long that they've molded to my feet. Not like Old Navy flip flops mold to your feet because they're getting worn out, but these are cushiony and comfy. Except for when they get wet. Then they're slippery and annoying.
But they're not too bad, I don't think.

The next day he went to a Magic: The Gathering Tournament thing and I stayed home and watched Desperate Housewives and hung out for a while. I also made meatloaf and meatballs. Both were delicious. That night I went to Trivia at Applebee's with my friend Darrell and wore my grey and white sundress and grey flip flops. Of course as I'm writing this and uploading all my pictures I am realizing that I have actually worn these shoes TWICE! *gasp* I know. I'm awful. I can't keep track of which shoes I've worn and which I haven't. Well. That's not true. I am very aware of what I've worn, and that I'm getting VERY close to the end of my shoes. Well, of the ones that are still in my closet and not in a pile waiting to go to Goodwill/Salvation Army/Plato's Closet or any other number of used clothing donation sites. But this was the first time I wore the grey ones.
They're some of my favorites of my Old Navy flip flops. I don't know why I like my grey ones so much more than say my black ones or my white ones, but I just love them. I had a pair last year and wore them ALLLLL the time and had to buy a new pair this year.

Monday, I was all set to be super adventurous and wear these black and white spike heels that a good friend of mine got for me at Goodwill. I've never worn them because I've never really had an event to wear them to. I got dressed. Took pictures. Put them on. And found that in about 3 seconds I knew that there was NO way I could wear them all day long. Even if I do just sit behind a desk. The strap cuts into my ankle and the white part that is over the top of my foot cuts into my foot there. And, all my pants are too short to wear with these and hide the fact that they're kind of... well... slutty. So, I figured I'd show them to you anyway, but admit defeat that I don't think I could wear them all day without coming home with bruises on my feet.
When I got them they had these GIANT satin bows on them and I just couldn't do it, but I did some investigation and found that the bows were easily removed with a few snips of my scissors. So, They're adorable as all get out, but there's no way I can wear them to work. I guess I just need to find somewhere fancy to wear them! :)
Once I decided not to wear these I thought I'd try a different pair of super fancy shoes. So, I pulled out my silver sparkly T-Strap shoes. My sister has the same pair. We seem to do that sometimes. Find cute shoes and then both of us end up with them. Of course, these were on purpose. We bought these for when our mom got re-married back in October. We were bridesmaids, and gave her away, and we decided to have matching shoes. I LOVE these shoes. I've dubbed them my "wedding" shoes. I've worn them in three weddings now. My friend, Julia's, in St. Maarten (sooo beautiful), my mom's and my cousin, Alisha's, back in June. Just before I started the blog. But, again, these are too fancy to wear to work. So, you'll just have to deal with the pictures of them.
I don't think you can tell from the picture, but the rhinestones on the front are starting to fall off/apart, and at my cousin's wedding, our dresses were full length and the hem kept getting caught and by the end of the night had completely fallen down.

I did finally decide on what to wear for Monday though, my "Ugly Mom Shoes" that I used to wear at the Hotel. They're comfortable and supportive so they were great for walking around and standing on my feet for 8+ hours a day 5 to 6 days a week. They're not totally hideous, but they're not overly attractive either. But, they were in my closet so they were included in the challenge.


That Tuesday I wore my flowered ballet flat sneakers. I got them at Target a couple years ago. If you look closely you can see that they are in fact a Kids size 4. I'm sure I've mentioned that I have exceptionally tiny feet, but yes, I can also wear children's shoes. I sometimes have to buy my sneakers in the little kids section or at Kids Foot Locker. Anyway, these are comfy and totally adorable and I love them. I've worn them quite a few times and they're actually a little dirty, so I should probably wash them or something.


Even though it's been so ungodly hot and humid recently, I do still have to wear my sneakers and boots, so on Wednesday of that week I wore my black Pumas. I had wanted these sneakers for probably 4 years before I finally found them. I think I ordered them online, Puma.com I think. I love them because they're more of a "dress" sneaker. I find that running shoes and sneakers like that make my feet look silly. At least in my opinion. So, I wanted sneakers that are a little more classy but are still sneakers. And these fit the bill perfectly.


Perhaps you have been waiting for these to make an appearance. Or perhaps you really couldn't care less. Either way, Thursday it was time for the fabulous Red patent leather heels that I have mentioned a few times in other posts.
These are the beautiful shoes that I decided I wanted and then began my search for. I don't even remember how long I'd been looking for a pair of red heels, but one night I went over to Target.com and there they were. Right on the first page I looked at. In all their beautiful red glory. I love these so much, they're probably one of my favorite pairs. I've worn them a number of times and always get tons of compliments on them.

Friday was another Casual Friday for me. My sister came into town for the weekend. I wore my light teal flip flops with a matching striped V-neck t-shirt and jeans. These are another of my favorite flip flops. I've worn these quite a bit as well. This light teal is my favorite color so it makes me really happy.


And that brings us to last Saturday when my mom, my sister, my cousin and I went to Hampton Beach for the day. I got burned, and it was the second time that I wore my grey flip flops. But, the details of the day and subsequent weekend and week will have to wait for tomorrow, as I am falling asleep on my keyboard.

Shoes-y Q

Dislikes and Disappointments... as Promised

So, if I remember correctly, in my first post I mentioned that I would write at least one post about shoes that I can't stand or ones that I just don't understand. Today, since I've been a blog slacker, is just that day!

I haven't written in almost a week and I do feel bad about that, but it's been a busy week. Saturday we had our BBQ which was a HUGE success! Sunday we didn't do a whole lot, the boy went to a "Pre-Release Tournament" for Magic: The Gathering (in case you've been living under a rock, it's kind of a role-playing card game or something... very nerdy) for a few hours so I was home hanging out with the cat. For the BBQ on Saturday, the boy had purchased FAR too much meat to make burgers, so I took the leftovers and made a meatloaf and a pan of meatballs. And then I watched the first four episodes of season 1 of Desperate Housewives. I'm kind of enjoying it so far. Some things are irritating me, but I'm only 4 and a half episodes in so I can't really complain. Sunday night my friend Darrell and I went to Applebee's for Trivia Night, we came in Second Place!

Monday was Top Gear night so Darrell and I made pasta and sauce for dinner (soooo good!!) and then I got home around 9:30 and hung out with the boy for a while. Tuesday I was supposed to go to a Belly Dance class in the evening, but the boy needed to run to Gardner to pick up a book from his parents house and I wouldn't have had a ride home from the class so I skipped the class and went with him. But, we got to hang out with his parents for an hour or so which was really nice. We dont' get to see them as often as we'd really like.

Yesterday, I went to the gym. For the first time in a loooong time. It was amazing. I went 3.35 miles on the eliptical machine. I was pretty proud of myself. Since I've started my new job and am not walking all over creation, I need to start working out more because otherwise I'll gain a bunch of weight and I don't want that to happen! Perhaps I'll go again tonight after Weight Watchers.

I'm very excited about this weekend because my younger sister is coming home!!! Yaaaay!!! She lives out in upstate NY with her boyfriend and I don't get to see her much so I can't wait. On Saturday she and my mom and my cousin and I are all going to the beach for the day! First beach day this summer, and I can't wait! Of course, if it rains or is cold I will probably cry!! But, we'll probably end up going shopping instead if that happens! haha

Ok, so now to more important things... shoes. The reason we're here. So, if you remember a few posts ago I was crazy excited about the three new pairs of shoes I ordered from Target.com and two pairs had come in and I was just waiting for my third pair to come in. The nude/buff/cream colored ones. Well, I got an email from Target telling me that those shoes were not available in my size. And instead of just waiting until the shoes were available they are just cancelling that part of my order!!! HELLO!?!?!?!? I ORDERED THEM BECAUSE I WANTED THEM!!!!!!! >:-0 So, I'll have to "keep checking back" for when they become available again and if I still want them I can order them again. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but if they're going to show availabilty on their website that they have a certain pair of shoes available in my size, then shouldn't they... oh, I don't know... HAVE THEM AVAILABLE!??!!?!? I'm so angry about this. I was so excited about these and now they're not coming! Yes, I probably will order them again or find a different pair that I like just as much that are very similar but that's beside the point. The point is, I wanted those shoes. I ordered those shoes. And I should receive those shoes! ARRRGH!!! But, there's no use complaining about it. It's not like they're charging me for them even though I'm not receiving them. I guess that's the risk you run when you order things online.

Now, on to the Dislikes in the shoe genre... first up... UGGS.
All styles, colors, shapes and sizes. I don't care how "warm and comfy" they are. Why would you want to walk around in these HIDEOUSLY HEINOUS things??? I just don't understand it. I will admit, albeit begrudgingly, that there was one time that I wore a pair of UGGS. It was for a total of about 3-4 hours and it was when my mom and I went to visit my sister and her boyfriend in NY and we went to one of his hockey games. It was April so all I brought were flip flops and my Puma sneakers. My feet get cold very easily so my sister convinced me to borrow a pair of her UGGS to wear for the game. They were her chocolate brown ones and I borrowed on of her boyfriend's sweatshirts that was dark brown also so I did match. (I'm all about matchy matchy in case you were wondering.) Yes. My feet were mostly warm sitting in the bleachers at the ice rink. Yes. They were relatively comfortable. Yes. I felt like a hypocrite and a fool and embarrassed for the entire amount of time that I was wearing them. And, YES. As soon as we were back in my mom's van after the game, I put my Puma's back on. Lucky for me there were only a maximum of about 35-40 people at the game that saw me. Who knows how many of them are like me and look at (and judge) what kind of shoes someone is wearing. Wearing those things went against everything that I believe in and I was very against it and even now I don't really want to talk about it, but in the effort of being honest here, I had to tell you. The only thing worse than wearing UGGS for comfort and warmth is wearing them in the middle of the summer or when it's warm out paired with a mini skirt or shorts or, like in one picture I found online, A BATHING SUIT. REALLY!?!?!?! What planet are you from? If it's warm enough to wear a bathing suit then I would assume it's probably also warm enough to wear sandals or flip flops. Or some other kind of shoe that doesn't make you A) Look like a complete IDIOT, or B) Make your feet sweat and then get stinky and grossss!!!! If anyone who reads this has UGGS and just LOVES them... could you please try to shed some light on what makes these ugly things so wonderful? And if you say it's because they're trendy or in style or something cliche like that... I might just have to throttle you... just saying.

Another shoe style that boggles my mind are peep-toe boots. Take a minute to digest that.

....still bewildered by the concept? Yeah, me too. Peep-toe... i.e. you get a "peep" of your "toes" meaning your feet are exposed. Boots... closed toe, closed back, any height from ankle to mid thigh, with or without heels. Doesn't. Make. Sense. I love Rhianna and SJP(Sarah Jessica Parker) and all, I just don't understand the peep-toe boots. It's like what season do you wear them for? I feel that boots are usually for cooler weather, i.e. fall and winter. Maybe early spring. I'm going to have to wear my boots in the summer because I'm dumb and didn't think about my boots or other cool weather footwear that I now need to sport during this challenge. Oops! But yeah, peep-toe boots... I am at a loss for words. It gets worse when they're like half sandals and half boots... I want to ask these people... did your shoes get into a fight with the lawn mower? Do you have any thoughts or comments about peep-toe boots?

Which brings me to the third and final (for today) shoe style that I just can. not. fathom.

GLADIATOR SANDALS!

Let's take a moment, shall we? To take in the cages that are gladiator sandals. I just don't get them. They're weird and rather ugly. And NOONE's feet look cute in them. I know MK&A (Mary-Kate and Ashley) are all about them, and I think Hayden Penetierre too, and I know Sienna Miller loves them. I just dont' get it. Especially the ones that are flat and wrap around 3/4 of your calf. EW! Some of my friends have and wear gladiator sandals and I just can't understand it. Why? Am I the crazy one? I'm not even a huge fan of t-strap sandals. It's almost like, what's the point of wearing sandals if you're going to put all these straps and buckles and studs etc all over your feet? Isn't the point of sandals to keep your feel cool in the warmer climates/seasons? Not, to cover them with straps and stuff that will make your feet sweaty and uncomfortable?

I don't know. Maybe I'm the weird one... but, I just don't understand the obsession with these three styles of shoes...

What do you think?

Shoes-y Q

Day Twenty-one through Twenty-six.

Happy Fourth of July! ....five days late. Oops. I got busy, and kind of forgot to update. So, here is almost an entire week!!! Sunday was the 4th of July so I had to be at least a little patriotic. Red shirt and red flip flops. Got to go to a community band concert that my mom, aunt, three uncles, and various other family friends play in. Hung out with my Grammie for a bit, visited with a family friend I haven't really talked to in a while and got to see my cousins from Texas. Yes, I had just seen them at their daughter's wedding a month ago, but they were up working on the house Charlene grew up in and came to the concert. It was pretty fun.


Monday, I had the day off! Yippee!!! So, I did laundry... and had to wear my chucks. I've worn these babies almost completely out. I don't know if you can see it from the picture, but the heel on both shoes are falling apart! haha The heels usually end up rubbing on my feet and hurting, but they weren't too bad on Monday.


Tuesday, I had to go back to work. But, my boss is on vacation this week and one of the other two girls in the office went home sick around 9:30am so it was just me and Heidi all day. Tuesday began our week long heat wave. It was over 100 degrees plus crazy humidity. I dressed for the heat with a bright yellow sleeveless shirt and a cute skirt. And of course heels.

I got these from Victoria's Secret online, a few years ago. I don't wear them much because they used to hurt my feet, but they really don't anymore. Maybe I'm used to them, or used to higher heels so these aren't so bad anymore. Either way, they're adorable.

Wednesday, it was just me and Heidi again, and hot as anything again. I wore a skirt again and my cute orange top from NY&Co. And my other pair of new shoes that came in with the navy blue ones. I really like these, except since they're patent leather they kind of squeak a little when I walk or move, but I'm sure that'll go away once I wear them more.


Thursday, it was still super hot. And then there was this guy next door to our office who was trimming the hedges. He was majorly jacked - giant arms, 6-pack abs, the whole deal, and was strutting around all day long with his shirt off. The three of us were in the office trying to take pictures of his body on our cell phones and being silly all day. Of course, when he turned around and we saw his face, we realized he was not at all attractive! A "Butter Face" if you will. Great body... not so much with the face. But oh well, it was fun to watch him work. He did provide us with some entertainment and a nice change of scenery. Anywho... I opted for flats on Thursday. These were one of my first pairs of flats that I've owned in a long time other than flip flops or sneakers. I bought them for Christmas a couple years ago and I really like them. The little bow is so cute and I love the quilted fabric on the sides.


I went for casual Friday today. Purple flip flops, jean capris, bright purple tank top with a white, short-sleeved button down shirt over it. A very adorable outfit, I must say. I also went up to NH to have dinner with my cousin. It was a lot of fun.


Tomorrow the boy and I are hosting a BBQ at our apartment so we've got to go shopping in the morning for burgers and dogs and other BBQ necessities. I'm excited for it. I think it'll be a lot of fun, and it'll be nice to see everyone. I just hope it doesn't rain too much because it will be a LOT of people in my small apartment. Oh well.

Bon soir.

Days Nineteen and Twenty: Shoes A-Plenty!

We observe "Casual Fridays" at my office. And since I've worked there I have participated, quite happily. Being allowed to wear jeans and flip flops to WORK is pretty much right up there for me. But, since I just recieved my faaaaabulous new Navy Blue shoes from Target on Thursday, I had to debut them! Voila!

They're pretty hott right?? I love them. My only issue is that I do wish they had a bit of a platform on the toe part. My toesies got a little squished yesterday. And I didn't walk around much. To and from my car on my way to work. To and from my car and in and out of Stop N Shop to get lunch. And my toes were yelling, and I got a little blister on the outside of my left ankle.
See that little red dot that I tried to point out? (Thanks to Paint) The heel guard rubbed against my heel so much that it caused that little blister. Of course, walking to my car and then from my car to the Amherst Brewing Company to meet a friend who had just turned 21 for drinks. Then walked back to my car. Then into the boy's work to say hi to him and then back to my car and then into my apartment. So, I guess I did do a decent bit of walking in brand new shoes. But, they were totally cute so I dealt with it. And I got the FIRST injury of the challenge. Almost 3 full weeks in before hurting myself significantly... not bad!

Today, I am wearing my dark blue Old Navy flip flops. I was going to wear the teal ones but remembered I'd worn those already. And I have a dark blue tank top that matches so I'm wearing that under my Forever 21 t-shirt with old school cassette tapes on it with neon labels. It's a pretty rad shirt. Clearly, my feet are relaxing today by not being constrained by anything other than the thong part of my flip flops.


Perhaps tomorrow I'll wear my red flops since it's the 4th of July! Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Days Fifteen through Eighteen

Another four days, another four pairs of shoes! So, Monday I wore my low-heeled black shoes, once again from Target! I got them when I first started interviewing for jobs when I was still in college. I had this cute little skirt/blazer suit. Which is now waaaaaaaay too big for me, so I had to get rid of it. These are pretty comfy, and are actually a size 6, not a 5.5 like most of my shoes. They're pretty comfy too, but my feet get sweaty, and that's no good. Black dress pants and a white and army green striped shirt with a white tank underneath. It was still hot as balls on Monday and crazy humid too, so I tried to wear things that were light and I wouldn't be too hott in, but we had the AC on at work and it blows right on me, so I FROZE! haha Oh well, at least now the humidity has broken and it's cooled down a bunch.


Tuesday, were my newest addition. Grey peep-toe pumps, I got them on Ebay. They're Wild Diva brand, which is one of the brands that you can find at RAVE. These were my birthday present to myself. My red ones are very similar to these, except the red ones are rounded in the toe and not squared like these, and I think these are a slightly higher heel. I absolutely adore how the instep is open. I feel like these are very Marilyn Monroe-esque. Which I'm ALLLL about. Maybe that's what it is about peep-toe shoes that I like so much. That they're very Marilyn. The only thing I don't really care for about these is that the back part that's not attached is kind of wide and almost a little stretched out. It's a little annoying, but whatever. I still love these babies.


Yesterday, I went with these shiny gold ones. They were a gift from my sister. (If you remember Day One: Purple Suede Flats I mentioned that those were a Christmas gift from my sister. These were in the same package. She loves to keep me up on fashion and finds things for me that almost always fit in with my own personal style. And she is has some of the best Bargain Karma I've ever known! haha

I'm not really sure how I feel about these. When I wore them at my other job I had a bunch of people comment on them and say how cute they were and how much they liked them. They pinch my heels a little bit and after walking around for 8 hours they hurt my toes too, but they're really not that bad. I can guarantee that I would never have even looked twice at these if I'd seen them in the store. I would have brushed them off as "Grandma Shoes". After watching the entire first season of Glee recently, I'm realizing that they're kind of Rachel Barry shoes. Some knee-high white socks a super short plaid skirt and solid color blouse or shirt with a cardigan... yeah, they're Rachel Barry shoes all the way. I might have just inadvertently given myself an idea for a Halloween costume. But, I digress... I've only worn these shoes a couple of times. Usually paired with brown dress pants and my shiny gold/cream button-down.

Today, since it was chilly, I opted for "sneakers" and capris with a long sleeved shirt. I don't wear ballet flat sneakers like these very often, but I got these a year or two ago. My best friend saw them in a store in town and when I went in to try them on they didn't have my size. The smallest size they had was like a 7. Hah! So, I had to go to Keds.com and buy them. You can't really tell from the picture, but the upper of the left shoe is bigger than the other. It covers more of my foot and the elastic part is slightly further back. It's a little weird, but I don't care. After wearing them all day, they're kind of starting to pinch my feet right where the elastics are. But, that's the only thing that hurts.

So, that's this week so far. I'll try to be better tomorrow and over the weekend about updating day-by-day.

Shoe-sy Q

NEW SHOES!!

Ok, so I know I haven't updated all week and I'm sorry about that, I've been distracted doing other things. But, I have been keeping up with the challenge and taking pictures each day. I just haven't uploaded any pics yet. However, I do have to post about my new shoes that I just bought. Yay for Target.com. Three pairs. (Dont' judge.) This mini-spree was spawned by a single pair. These navy blue ones.

Aren't they adorable!?!?! I found these in-store back in like September or October of last year and FELL IN LOVE with them. But, for whatever reason I didn't buy them. Or, actually, it might have been much earlier than that when I didn't have a job and therefore couldn't afford them, but every time I went to Target I would try them on and walk up and downt he aisle loving these babies. Then I found them online!! But, they only had them in either a 10 or 11. So, I tried googling them to see if I could find them elsewhere in a 5.5 since I have child feet. No luck, then the other day I was checking out Target's shoes again and they had these in a 5.5. Soooo, I just HAD to buy them. I mean, if I've been in love with them for over a year now and I still swoon, I think they're a good choice! I just got notification through my Target account that these and a second pair were delivered today!!!! :) I can't wait to get home. Of course, it is UPS so I'll probably have to wait until next week to get them because if the boy and I aren't home UPS won't just leave the package, they'll take it to the office. And since the office closes at 3pm and I don't get out until 5 that doesn't really work so well huh? Oh well. This is the other pair that got delivered today. I have one pair of black heels, but they've got these little cut outs on the toe and I just don't wear them much (I actually almost wore them today, but opted for my flamingo ballet sneakers instead). I'm also in the search for black closed-back, peep-toe pumps. My only black peep-toe pumps are my sling backs that I wore last week. And don't get me wrong, I LOVE those shoes. I wear them all the time. They're kind of my "go-to" dress shoes. But, I would really like closed-back peep-toe pumps. Even though these here aren't peep-toe, they're still adorable, and really, you can't have too many pairs of black shoes. Flats or otherwise.

This is the last pair in this spree.

I'm not always one to jump on a trend right away, if at all, but I really like these, and it seems to be the trend now to wear cream/taupe or nude heels. I'm ok with that trend. It's much more subdued and reasonable than others. (We'll save my rants on other styles for a later post!) I think I can rock these babies. I mean, I rock my grey peep-toe heels like it's my job, so why not these? These will be sent in a separate shipment. That seems to be how it goes when I order multiple pairs of shoes from Target. Two pairs come together and then the third takes a little longer. Last time, my tan/brown peep-toe and my polka dot peep-toe shoes came first and it was like two weeks before my red ones came... that was torture! I'm glad my navy blue ones have already arrived! :)

I didn't really realize when I was bought these three pairs that all of them are closed back AND closed toe. I really don't wear a ton of closed back/toe shoes, but I'm excited to wear these! :) I'll post all my pictures from this week either later tonight or tomorrow! :)

xoxo,

Shoe-sy Q