Wow. Just Wow.

My first thought upon seeing these this morning was, "holy crap!  What the hell?"  Whereas when I showed them to the hubby, his first response was, "those are cool!"  We then had a pseudo argument about whether or not you could actually walk in them.  My argument is that without some kind of ankle strap it would be difficult.  Then I read the description and they are from 1875 Syria, so I'm guessing they were more for decoration and less for walking anyway.  Even imagining a cool, period outfit to go with these doesn't make me want to wear them, though.  And yet, I still like them better than shoes with a wooden block for a heel.

Red and Black. Again.

So my Wednesdays-in-Lent tradition continues for the third week in a row of wearing red and black.  I own a LOT of black because it goes easily with clerical collars.  And red is a nice way to brighten it  up.  So I'm not wearing the same outfit every week, just the same color scheme.  This week I'm wearing one of my favorite pairs of shoes:

 

 

 

I really love these.  I found them one day while wandering through DSW and HAD to have them.  I immediately sent a picture of them to a friend who went out the same day and bought the same pair.  Because we are awesome shoe twins like that.

 

Hmmmm...maybe next week I'll continue my trend by wearing these:

 

 

With a skirt.  Or even better, with capris!  Yep, total dork.  That's me.



Villains

Today's calendar shoe came as a bit of a surprise to me:

I just wasn't expecting Maleficent to show up on a pair of pale pink flats on my shoe calendar.  So of course then I had to google Disney villain shoes and see what else popped up.

 



 

Who knew?  I learned something new (and completely irrelevant) today!  I don't think I need to wear Disney villains on my shoes, but hey, they are a fun alternative for people who like to express their evil side with cute flats.  You can see all of the images that came up here.  It shouldn't continue to surprise me, but it does.  I am continually floored by all of the fun and crazy things people will put on shoes.  Clearly my shoe collection needs more graphics.

Shopping Trip

The hubby decided it was time for new work-out shoes.  I'm not sure why...he's only had the ones he's been wearing for 15+ years (silly boy).  So we went shopping tonight, and I totally take back my earlier comment that tennis shoes are boring.  These are men's shoes, but holy color, Batman!

We went to a couple of different places and he found a pair that he liked and were in the price range he was looking for.  As in everything else, we have basically opposite taste in shoes.  I went for color, he went for basic white, black, or gray.  He did get a pair with some red on them, so maybe we're making some progress.  I also ended up getting a pair of shoes because they were on a lovely sale.

 

 

 

Frankly I would have preferred more blue and less pink, but I actually think these are really fun, and they are amazingly comfortable.  I'm actually (sort of) looking forward to trying them out.  Now, don't get me wrong, I would still rather shop for heels or flats or other kinds of shoes, but workout shoes turned out to be way more fun than I expected.  Yay!



Weekend Retreat

I spent the weekend at an Elementary retreat with the hubby and 4 of our 3-5 graders from church.  We spent a great couple of days together hiking, playing, singing, learning about God's kingdom, and giggling a lot.  It was a sensible tennies kind of weekend (closed toed shoes were a requirement).

 

 

 

The kiddos were really great.  They were good travelers, good campers, and they all had a good time.  The hubby was a trooper considering he has never been to camp and I kind of roped him into being my male chaperon.  I was a little worried he might be so traumatized that he just filed for divorce when we got home.  Which would have sucked since today is the 6 month anniversary of our getting married and the 2 1/2 anniversary of our first date.  Holy buckets, we've been together for 2 1/2 years!

 

 

 

I think every high school female counselor was wearing Uggs with their pants tucked into them this weekend.  I imagine they're very comfy, but I've never gotten into the Ugg craze.  They tend to be less than flattering on a lot of people due to their shortness.  I don't need to look stumpier than I already am.  I don't begrudge anyone their shoe choice, we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.  And on peep toe boots.





Slippahs

I'm actually writing this post on Friday, as on Saturday I will be in the Santa Cruz mountains on retreat with some of our 3-5 graders.  But, I said I would try to post every day, so I'm trying to stick with that goal.  On a somewhat fun note, I got to peek ahead at Saturday's picture!

These are from the late 19th Century.  My first thought was ew!  But I appreciated them more when I saw the date.  Again, I am easily swayed when I start picturing shoes with a certain outfit, and I would love to pair these with a fabulous gown from the time period.  Oooh, and fun hair and accessories!  (Obviously I'm making myself a person of means in this scenario...)  See you tomorrow where maybe I'll have some fun stories from the weekend!

Eeek!

I'm not much of a fan of the booties in the first place, but these are even worse than normal:

 

One of my coworkers said they look like a bird cage.  I just think that's a LOT of string.  I would want to start to unravel them to see if it's all one string.  That's probably a rather expensive experiment, though...



Wanna Color With Me?

I was making copies for Sunday school today and found this coloring page:

 

It says, "whose feet are these?" and I suppose the kiddos are supposed to give answers like mom, dad, cowboy, etc.  But heck, these shoes could frankly all be from the same closet.  Some of them are probably supposed to be kids' shoes, but they all kind of look the same size to me.  Dang, now I'm thinking I should have taken the time to color this before I posted it.  I hate it when I miss an opportunity to break out the crayons!  So what do you think?  Would your shoe collection make a fun coloring page?



Progress Report

Today's shoes are purple...the calendar must know it's Lent!

 

 

 

I, however, am wearing red and black today (and believe me, I know it's Lent).  I don't  own enough purple to wear it every Wednesday and Sunday for 6 weeks.  So I'm not seasonally color-coordinated today.  Come to think of it, I wore red and black last week, also, just in a different configuration.  I've had the boots forever and they are some of my favorites.  Little pieces are starting to come off, though, so I might have to retire them soon.  Which is always sad with a pair of shoes I've had for a long time, but it also means I get to go shopping for new black boots one day in the future!

 

Last week on Ash Wednesday I outlined my plans for my Lenten disciplines.  On the giving stuff up I'm doing great.  No chocolate, no coffee, no problem.  I get the occasional craving, but so far so good.  On the taking-on I so far suck.  I haven't done any yoga, and my flute is still in it's case...hasn't even been taken out.  I'll blame both on the cold I have that has settled in my chest.  It's hard to do yoga and play a flute when breathing is difficult.  Yeah, that's it.  I'll go with that.  I'm much better at the giving up than I am at the taking on.  There's probably a lesson in there that I'm supposed to learn.  Maybe I'll learn it next year during Lent.



Huh?

Maybe these are actually really great, but to me they just look terribly uncomfortable.  And odd.  I get that they're going for something different with the wooden block, but whenever I look at this I feel like if I were to take a step in these I would walk right off the block.  Maybe these aren't really high heels, maybe they are flats with their very own starting blocks!   Think of how good of a day you could get started on with these! Yes, I know, I make my own fun, and I'm easily amused.  Also, why do these shoes get 2?  Every other picture from the calendar so far has only had half the pair.  Who did these shoes blackmail?  Let me know if you have any theories...



Yay!

I couldn't think of anything to write about today, until for some reason it occurred to me to google Beatles shoes.  Oh my goodness.  Go here if you want to get sucked in, or you can just see the few random ones I selected.  I want Beatles shoes.  I loooooove the Beatles.  Love them.  Between them and egg nog it was how the BFF and I knew we were soul mates and meant to be friends forever (no we don't have a love of egg nog...it's a long story).  I have no idea why I've never looked at Beatles shoes before, I've googled lots of other paraphernalia.  Anyhoo, here are some of the ones I found:

 

 

 

There are more.  Sooo many more.  I would wear these.  I would look like I dork and I wouldn't even care.  I would wear them with one of my many Beatles t-shirts and I would listen to Beatles music while looking at Beatles pictures.  Ooooh, and I could get matching shoes for the nieces!



Lent 1

Today is the first Sunday in Lent, so I broke out a new pair of purple shoes.  I took a few pictures in the full-length mirror but none of them came out looking at all purple, so I took another in my office where the light was better.

 

 

 

I love them.  Think they're adorable, and they are fairly comfortable, which is always nice.

 

So, I've mentioned before that I tend toward klutziness and today was no exception.  In the altar area of our sanctuary we have termite damage, which means there are several soft spots under the carpet.  Today as I was walking back to the altar after sharing the peace I hit one of those just right , lost my balance, and went flying.  Thankfully several chairs broke my fall, and I wasn't hurt, but of course about half of the congregation saw this delightful scene play out.  Oy.  20 seconds after this I had to sing the kyrie.  I did OK, I think, considering the adrenaline and heart-pumping.  So, in case you were ever wondering if pastors are regular people?  Just look to me...I'm as regular and un-divine as they come!



Outing

The hubby and I had an outing to Amador County today.  We've been feeling a little cooped up lately...OK, to be honest, he's been feeling cooped up.  As an introvert I have no problem staying home, watching movies, reading books, crocheting, wandering around the internet, etc.  But as a raging extrovert to my extreme introvert, that kind of stuff makes him a little crazy.  And grumpy.  So off we went, and it was a lovely day.  The weather was in the 60s (which is great and all, but it's FEBRUARY and my body still thinks it should be somewhere around 25 degrees), we wandered around antique shops, went to an old general store that has been preserved as a museum (the original owner's great granddaughter was there and had lots of great stories), and went to a Cheese Shoppe that had some amazing cheeses.  My favorite store was one that had a lot of vintage clothing and shoes.  I could have poked around in there for a lot longer.  I only took one picture, though, as I didn't want to seem rude.

 

 

 

After wandering for awhile we took our newly purchased cheese and crackers, found a pretty little pond and had a picnic.

 

 

 

Notice my sensible wandering around shoes.  While this picture shows my shoes, it doesn't do the cute pond justice, so here are a couple that give a better idea.

 

 

 

All in all, not a bad day.  Considering my grumpies yesterday and the hubby's grumpies this morning it's probably a good thing we got out and enjoyed a day together rather than smothering the other with a pillow.  Or, you know, saying something really mean.  Not that we would ever do either of those things, of course.  Because we're newlyweds.  And I'm a pastor.  And we are both always on our very best behavior.  Still not buying it?  Yeah, OK...go back and look at the pretty pond...maybe eat some cheese...





 

Grumpy

I woke up on the wrong side of everything today because I am gruuuumpy.   It's not really any one thing, just a million little things that seem to be combining to make me pissy.  The phrase, "just put on your big girl pants and deal with it," occurred to me which then got me to thinking I need some shoes for days when I am grumpy.  So I googled grumpy shoes and came up with some really weird results.  But this was my favorite:

 

 

It's not the best angle, but they have Grumpy from Snow White on them.  I think I need a pair.  I could wear them on days like this and give everyone fair warning that I am out of sorts.  Discombobulated.  Just plain pissy.  Hope your day doesn't involve a pair of grumpy shoes!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day from the Shoe Calendar!

 

They're red, they're shiny, they have some sparkle.  Add some chocolate and they'd be just about perfect!

 

 

On Tuesday morning when I flipped to the next page on the calendar it was this and I thought, oh that's a nice choice for Valentine's Day.  Then I realized that it was 2 days before Valentine's...yeah, I clearly have issues.

 

 

 

Oh well.  Hope you have a great day!  Celebrate however suits you best and makes you happy.  My day started with this sweet surprise from the hubby:

 







Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  Lent is the season in the church that leads up to Holy Week and Easter.  It's considered to be a contemplative time in the church, and as such, many people use these (aproximately) 6 weeks to give something up (meat, TV, swearing, facebook, sweets, etc.) or to take on a new spiritual practice (regular bible study, more prayer time, charitable donations of time or money, etc).  It's a season that reminds us that we don't need so many of the things we think we must have in our lives, and a season that encourages us to strengthen our relationship with God and neighbor. 

 

I traditionally give up chocolate.  I love chocolate more than I love shoes, and could gladly eat chocolate every day, multiple times a day.  Lent is a reminder that I can go through life without it, no matter how much I might crave it.  This year I'm giving up chocolate and coffee.  I gave up caffeine a couple of years ago and have done fairly well at staying off it, but now I think I'll give up coffee, especially those expensive trips to Starbucks that I seem to be taking more than I should lately.

 

I'm also going to try to take something on this year.  I've been missing yoga and haven't done it in forever, so I thought I'd try to make it a regular practice to do some yoga and maybe spend that time in prayer and contemplation.  I'm also going to try to break out my flute and play it more regularly.  So, wish me luck.

 

Some day, if I'm feeling really "spiritual", I'll give up shoes for Lent.  I'll just wear the same pair for 6 weeks.  But not this year.  Nope.  I've got purple shoes that need wearing, the first of which you'll get to see on Sunday.  In the meantime, here is today's calendar pic.  They are from the 30s and woud be cute if it weren't for that crazy back.  Makes my ankle chafe just looking at them.  But the hilarious part is that they also have a lipstick holster!

 

 

 

 

Surprise Card on My Desk

This card was on my desk when I got to church this morning.  Inside it says, "shoes can make or break an outfit."  I suppose it's open to interpretation whether the boots are making or breaking these particular outfits.  The women all seem pretty happy in the picture, so maybe they feel like they are rocking those shoes.  At least they aren't peep toe.  I myself went through a phase where I was more than happy to wear pretty much nothing but Birkenstocks, no matter what outfit I was wearing.  But that's a story for another entry.

To Peep or not to Peep

You know what I don't understand?  OK, there are probably 8 kajillion things in the world that I don't understand, but for the purposes of this entry, I will keep it to one:  I don't understand peep-toe boots.  They baffle me. 

 

Why is this necessary?  Of course, awhile back, my mom (Hi, Mom!) said to me, "What's up with all of the peep toe shoes you have?  I thought you hated peep toes?"  She's right.  I DID  hate peep toes. But then I started seeing them everywhere and it seemed like every time I went shopping all I found were peep toes.  Finally I caved and bought a pair.  They weren't bad.  So I bought another pair, and then another.  Now I would say a third to half of my collection consists of peep toes.  Wishy-washy strikes again!  It's like capris.  Hated them with a fiery passion for about 2 years.  Then they didn't go away so I finally gave in.  Now they are basically all I wear to work in the summer.  I should probably worry about my lack of decisiveness.

Today's shoes are peep toes.  I like them.  I would wear them.  I may or may not paint my toe nails before I wore them because I am crazy (ahem, lazy) like that.

Now in 5 years if I'm running around in peep toe boots I'm trusting you all to slap me.



Shoes, of Course, and a Little Pep Talk

I decided on turquoise shoes for church this morning.  I may still be recovering from surgery, but that doesn't mean I can't wear cute shoes.  (Although it does, apparently, mean that I can't make it through the first service without losing my voice.  Sigh...)

 

I find it difficult to take self portraits of my feet.  The angle is always weird, and I'm not a creative photographer.  I probably should have found a full length mirror and tried that approach, because I'm not terribly fond of how my legs and ankles look in this picture.  Love the shoes, though.  I tried to show that they have a silver heel, which I both love and sometimes worry looks a little stripper-ish.  Which makes me wonder, does that negate the alb and collar or do the alb and collar then balance out the stripper heel?  But back to my disliking my lower extremities.  At first I wasn't going to use this picture.  I thought about taking one of just the shoes, without my feet, but then I thought...you know what?  To hell with that.  They're my ankles and I am going to work on loving them no matter how fat I think they look or how swollen or how pasty white I am.  That's my pep talk to myself this morning.  It might be the drugs talking, and I might not actually listen to myself, but hey, it's a step.  What are the things about yourself that hold you back from liking pictures of you?



Plaid

I have a coworker who loves plaid.  I'm fairly fond of plaid myself.  Today I saw these shoes and had to share with her:

I really like the plaid.  The shoes are OK, but maybe not my style.  We both agreed that we liked my plaid shoes better:

 

 

 

Actually, I like the shape of these better, but I would love to have a pair with this shape and the above plaid.  Then I decided I would love to have a pair of shoes in my family's tartan:

 





My imaginary shoe closet is awesome.

Cards

Under the category of shoe gifts, several months ago a friend sent me a box of note cards.

 

Such a fun idea!  I love the cards, but I'm having a hard time actually using them.  Someone suggested choosing some of my favorites and framing them, which I love, but it also seems a bit selfish.  I should share the shoe love.  But I keep talking myself out of using them.  I keep thinking it has to be the perfect occasion to send them.  So there is my selfish confession for the day:  I am a terrible person who won't share  her shoe cards.

 



A Very Merry Unbirthday

It's my birthday!

 

OK, not really...my birthday is in April.  BUT these shoes are from 1975, which is my birth year!  Again, when I use my phone for the picture the color doesn't always come out, these are actually a lot brighter.  I like them, though.  Love the color.  Don't necessarily care for the snakeskin platform, but it's minor.  They remind me of a pair of green velvet shoes that I used to have and dearly miss.  See how awesome 1975 was?  Green shoes AND me!



Birthdays

Today is the birthday of 2 of my favorite people:  My best friend's son is 3, which is crazy, as it seems like yesterday that we were welcoming him to the world.  It's also the birthday of one of my best friends from seminary.  We lived together for a year, she was the presiding pastor at my wedding, and she shares my love of shoes.  In fact, hers are the feet in the picture above wearing the cute turquoise and green shoes.  We have gone shopping together and bought the same pair of shoes on more than one occasion.  And one day I sent her a picture of adorable shoes and she went out and bought the same pair.  I'm pretty sure we have also bought at least one pair of the same shoes without pictures or being together.  Just because we have mind meld.  Because she's awesome like that.  Anyhoo, today is her birthday and she sent me a picture of one of her presents:

 

It's a business card holder!  How cool is that?  It definitely blows my business card holder out of the water.  Happy Birthday, fellow shoe lover!  Hope your day involves some actual shoes as well!

 

Retro

The more I look at these the more I love them.  They are from 1968 and my first thought was that they were interesting but that I would never wear them.  Wishy-washiness strikes again because I would totally wear these.  Maybe not for everyday, but for Halloween?  Heck yeah.  I'd wear them with a dress shaped something like this:

 

 

 

Obviously not that pattern, because that would be a bit much, but definitely the shape.  And the hair!  It would be awesome.  And I'm pretty sure I have now talked myself into liking the boots enough to wear even if it weren't Halloween.  The Preschoolers would love them!

 

In the Family

My aunt's funeral was this past Thursday.  I wasn't able to go because of the surgery on Wednesday, and I definitely missed being there.  Funerals aren't my favorite thing, but they do provide an opportunity to grieve, honor, and celebrate with others who knew the person.  I would have liked to have been able to hug my mom and dad, hang out with my siblings, and snuggle the nieces.  On Thursday I got a text from my mom sending me a picture of my cousin's daughter's shoes.

 

When I first saw them I thought they were green sparkly, but they are actually dark gold sparkly.  I'm not always a fan of the wedge, but I really like these.  I also like that my mom took the time to take a picture of shoes for me.  She said of course she would "now that you're a shoe blogger."  I might not be world famous, but I'm famous within my own family. :-)  My family is awesome and I miss them.



Wishy Washy

I have a small confession to make:  I'm wishy-washy (OK, those of you who know me already knew this...I can hear you snorting from here.  Stop that!).  When I first saw this picture yesterday I wasn't impressed.  Didn't hate them, just thought, meh...whatever.

 

Then I read that they are vintage, from 1952.  It wasn't an immediate change of opinion, but the year got me to thinking about outfits from that time period.  The more I thought about the outfits, the more I started to like the shoes.  On their own I still find them kind of meh, but once I checked with my good friend Google and fell down (yet another) rabbit hole of images, I started picturing these shoes with dresses, and then I was much more favorable toward them.  Here are a few of my favorite outfits:

 

So while I don't necessarily love the shoes on their own, they make me think of fabulous outfits from another era, and then I do kind of love them.  See?  Wishy washy.



Socks, Ice Cream, Thoughts

I have awesome friends who totally enable my love of footwear.  Yesterday I received these as a get well gift from a friend who came to visit:

 

I mentioned recently that I didn't have any Valentine's socks anymore and voila!  She brought me these and 2 other pairs.  Did I mention that I have awesome friends?

 

In other news, I was exploring Pinterest last night (holy time-suck, Batman!) and came across this:

 

 

 

Actually, there isn't always room for more ice cream in my world.  I do like ice cream, but it can make my tummy extremely unhappy.  On the other hand, shoes never make my tummy upset, nor do they don't make me fat.  In fact, it makes me think of a quote I read recently that said, "And yet, even hideous shoes are entertaining, and that is because shoes are the best. They rarely make you feel like your body is too fat/too thin/too square/too round/too pointy/whatever it is that you worry about with your figure. They are just pretty, or delightfully CRAZY, or amusingly HIDEOUS, and as much as I hate the GIRLZ LUV SHOES!!!!!!!! stereotype, because I also enjoy sports and books about serial killers, I must admit that I DO luv shoes."  You can see the entire post here.  This is part of why I love shoes.  They make me happy without making me worry that my butt is too big.