Tag Archives: shoes

Goodbye Winter Boots, Hello Heels

March 17, 2014

Can't wait to wear these! — Can’t wait to wear these!

For anyone living in America, you are well aware of how tortuously long this winter season has been. Extraordinarily so. Retail therapy was one of my ways to escape the dreary weather.

I. Love. Shoes.

When I spied this gem of a pair made by Mercanti Fiorentini in DSW’s clearance section, I immediately pictured wearing them at my first book signing. They aren’t a pair my feet will tolerate for an evening of dancing, but are too pretty not to own. Right?

Surprisingly Comfy! — Surprisingly comfy!

This next pair reminds me of Cherry Adair, NYT Bestselling Author of romantic suspense and hilariously fun and competitive shoe maven at RWA’s annual national conference. These black heels are as sexy walking away as they are cute coming toward you. Think I’ll have an edge over Cherry if we bump into each other while I’m wearing these beauties?

After a dreary season of neutrals, it’s fun to select heels with a bit of spunk.

Do you subscribe to retail therapy or are you strictly a buy-for-a-purpose kind of gal?

They Just Don’t Get It

January 7, 2013

I have a friend who is a self-proclaimed Shoe Whore, owning over ninety pairs of shoes. She loves the feel of trying on a new pair, the excitement of wearing them for the first time, and seeing them all lined up in her closet. Her husband just rolls his eyes when she talks about Marshall’s footwear selection.

He just doesn’t get it.

My daughter is a Harry Potter fanatic. She has read each book at least fifteen times, owns much of the merchandise, including the collectible trading cards, board games, and collectible pins. Of course, she has dressed as Harry, Hermione, and Ginny on multiple Halloweens. She played Quidditch in college, was a guest on a Mugglenet.com’s podcast this past fall, and is an avid HP fan fiction reader and writer. When her father threw out her collectible popcorn bucket from the first movie a few years ago, he couldn’t understand why she was so upset.

He just doesn’t get it.

I love Key West. I’ve vacationed there eight memorable times in the past decade, have read dozens of fiction and non-fiction books about the island, seek out #keywest tweeps and travel bloggers, and listen to “Dancing in My Flip Flops” music on Pandora while writing Margarita Moments posts and a romantic suspense set in Old Town. Many people agree with my obsession for the southernmost city, while others I talk to who haven’t yet traveled there express curiosity. No one had ever struck me as not “getting” Key West.

Until yesterday.

As part of my Sunday morning routine, I was surfing the net for interesting articles and photos about the Florida Keys when I came across an editorial in a travel and sports magazine. Excited to read another person’s perspective on my home-away-from-home, I dove right in. After the first paragraph, I was stunned. By the end of the page, I was horrified. In spite of the article’s title inferring the writer knew the key to Key West, I was left with the feeling…she just doesn’t get it.

First, the woman wrote that she stepped onto Duval Street and felt “morally superior” to practically everyone else there, including the locals. Only when she realized she could drink alcohol on the street did she say she grasped Old Town’s appeal: Being able to do things she can’t do in her hometown.

Okay, so the writer has a point about the feeling of freedom one may get in Key West. It is a laid-back, casual island. But to think the island I dream about, the island I can’t wait to return to again and again, and the place I someday hope to reside (even if only in winter) is merely special because it’s a place where people can carry an open container, is nonsense to me. (By the way, Key West has had an open container law since the 80’s. Law enforcement tends to look the other way, as long as people are behaving themselves and carrying a go-cup instead of a glass.)

I was speechless. Then I was angry. When I finally calmed down I thought, “Do I really want a person with that attitude in my tropical paradise?” I reflected some more. Perhaps the person was in Key West during Fantasy Fest or another crazy time (which I’ve yet to experience myself). Maybe she was on a cruise docked at Key West for a half-day and she didn’t have the opportunity to venture beyond the tourist traps on Duval. Whatever the case, I respectfully disagree with the article’s assessment the Conch Republic lacks in elegance, beauty, and charm aside from its architecture, or that the majority of its tourists and locals are loco for wanting to stay at the southernmost key.

But then, that’s just my opinion.

Tell us about your passion, and a time when you realized others just don’t “get it.” How did you react?

REALITY can be rewarding…

espcially if it’s the REALITY blogger award. One of my new cyberspace writer friends, Jill Weatherholt, recently nominated me, and I gratefully accept and thank her.

Seven Facts about Me:

1. I write every day, if at all possible. When I don’t, I become a crankapotamus.

2. I’m a leftie. That’s one reason I got to know my now-husband, a fellow southpaw. He was always lending me his baseball mitt during college for intramurals.

3. I’m a homebody. As much as I love traveling, when we’re at home, I much prefer to be in my cozy den by the fireplace in the winter or poolside in my backyard in the summer than anywhere else in the world.

4. I love skinny jeans, as long as they have spandex in them and I can be comfortable.

5. I am a worrier. But I’m working on that.

6. I’ve been gluten- and dairy-free for one year this month. At times it seems like the worst diet in the world (especially when faced with cheese dishes or homemade bread), but I am healthier than I’ve ever been.

7. I still don’t have a phone connected to email. I know. I’m a relic from the past, but I don’t see the need for one when I have a laptop at home, a desktop at work, and a Kindle Fire with internet. Besides, I’m frugal.

The five lovely bloggers I nominate with the REALITY award:

http://rhondahopkins.com/blog/

http://julieglover.com/

http://donnacoe-velleman.blogspot.com/

http://elisacashiola.com/

http://missindeedy.com/

Until next Monday, may you be busy doing what you love!

DSW, I Love You!

June 13, 2011

Well, maybe love is too strong a word to describe how I feel about a retail store, but the mere thought of Designer Shoe Warehouse causes a delicate trickle of excitement to warm my insides. Like many of you, I’m busy with a day job and family, so when I find an hour to go shoe shopping, the perfect mini-escape is when I find the rare and wonderful combination of brand, style, comfort, and cost in a pair of shoes.

A fan of Sex & The City back when it was an HBO regular, I yearned for a shoe collection like one owned by Carrie Bradshaw. Her Manolo Blahniks, Louboutins, and Jimmy Choos were always cutting edge, often breathtakingly beautiful and out-of-reach to a middle-class mom in the suburbs like me. Unlike Carrie, I cannot justify maxing out my credit cards to sustain a shoe addiction. Besides, I’m too hard on them and I demand my clothes and accessories provide a certain degree of comfort. (Okay, for really beautiful heels I’ll pay more, as long as they are semi-comfortable for at least two hours.)

This past April, it seemed everyone was talking about Kate Middleton’s wedding dress and, of course, her shoes. Her sister, Pippa, is becoming a fashion icon as well. I like this young woman’s style, and was surprised to see a pair of her shoes is similar to one of mine. (Click on Pippa’s name above to check out a fellow shoe lover’s blog. Pippa’s silver sandals are pictured there.) Judge for yourself. Does the future Queen of England’s sister share my taste in heels?

Sometimes, if you’re like me, leaving your home to get a fix for your shoe craving can seem close to impossible. If you haven’t discovered the next best thing to in-store shopping, you may want to try this. Go online to Zappos. This virtual store is a wonderful alternative to designer shoe outlets, with all the selection and sizes as well as incredible customer service.

The choices beckoning a footwear fan browsing in-store or online can distract even the most focused shopper from her mission. You know what I mean, like when you go to Target or Walmart intending to buy one item for twenty dollars and you leave there having spent three times that. Shopping Zappos, the consumer can do an advanced search by brand, color, style, size, heel height or any of these combinations. This site can be especially useful when you have the dress and need specific shoes to match. The silver sandals shown above are from Zappos. I was in a wedding and needed silver, 3.5 inch high heels for my dress’ length. When the first pair sent turned out to be too large, I exchanged it for a smaller size, without additional cost. Quick and easy.

Thinking about your summer shoe wishlist? Consider taking time out to visit your favorite shoe haunt, and get a pair or three. I’d LOVE to hear about your finds. Oh, and don’t forget to pamper those hard-working feet with a pedicure. Now, that’s an escape!