Hodge Podge

First, it appears that I was over-thinking last night (shocker, I know) on the square dancing shoes.  When I was looking for pictures things like Latin Dance shoes kept popping up.  Plus, there are ballet shoes, tap dancing shoes, etc., so I guess I assumed shoes for square dancing had some identifying character.  Nope.  I like learning new things, especially random things.

 

For instance, did you know you could crochet shoes?  I actually did, from finding the baby shoes pictures for a recent post.  Here is a reminder if you don't feel like clicking on the link:

 

I'd never really thought about crocheting shoes until I saw that picture, and then the calendar presented me with this:

 

These are from 1944, and they are...interesting.  I don't love them.  I don't hate them, but I don't think I would wear them.  Love that they are colorful, but would I wear this particular combination of color and stripes?  Also, I love to crochet, but I don't seem myself crocheting myself shoes any time soon.

 

In other shoe news, my coworker is wearing adorable fleep flops today:

 



 

I love the turquoise flower!  It almost makes me wish I liked flip flops more.  I also like her blue pedicure, but like my over-thinking, my liking something blue will shock no one.

 

Finally, how do you feel about tiaras?  Obviously they aren't shoes, but I do love a little sparkle.  The nieces, Mom, and I always wear tiaras when we have a tea party.  But if you click on the link you will get a slide show of real tiaras, worn by royalty attending the events surrounding the abdication of the Queen of the Netherlands.

 

Man, I learned a lot today.  Square dance shoes, crocheted shoes, world events.  Awesome.  Now, how can I fit all of this into my next sermon?



My Awesome Sister

As the title of the entry tells you, my sister is awesome.  She is awesome for many, many reasons, but today she is awesome for this:

 

These are her square dancing shoes; she and my brother-in-law have been taking lessons.  I find this very cool.  I've never really thought about square dancing, but the hubby keeps trying to get me to take something like salsa or tango lessons with him and I keep shying away because I am such a klutz and in no way graceful.  My sister is way braver than I am!  Go sister!  I haven't gotten to see them dance, yet, but can't wait until I do.  You know what's coming next, right?  Of course I had to go look up other options for shoes in this category...

 

 

I like the red a lot, but realize they wouldn't go with as much.  As I was searching I kept finding lots of other kinds of dance shoes, not so many square dance shoes.  Which then made me wonder, what makes a shoe specifically a square dance shoe?  I did a bit of looking, but didn't come up with much.  Apparently this isn't a question a lot of people are asking on the internet.  Wikipedia couldn't even tell me, so what does that say?  Anyone out there know the answer?  Sister?





Creepy and Cute

First the creepy.

Yes, those are teeth shoes.  The hubby found them and showed me awhile back, and I was properly horrified.  Tonight a friend posted them on my facebook timeline and said they made her think of her.  Neither of us are really sure what to make of that statement...  Regardless, now you can try to scrub this image out of your brain, too!

I can't just leave you with the creepy, though, so here are the shoes I wore to church this morning:

 

OK, I actually only wore them to the first service.  I felt really awful this morning, was coughing, sweating, had a fever, etc., and almost took a header in these when I was trying to serve communion because I got dizzy as I was stepping down to the railing.  I figured that would ruin the sacrament for a lot of people, especially the ones I fell on after dumping wine all over them.  I got these last winter for the Advent season, which is sadly only 4 Sundays.  Couldn't the blue season be longer so I could enjoy all of that lovely blue?  Thankfully I don't have to confine my blue shoes to only that season, although it is nice to coordinate with the paraments. 

 

Star Wars

 

I love Star Wars.  I wanted to be either Princess Leia or Han Solo growing up (my brother always made me play Princess Leia because I was a girl.  I thought that was highly unfair).  I saw this clip on facebook the other day and shared it with the hubby today.  We both agreed we would watch this movie.  So, as we all know, once I start thinking about something I have to google it.  So here we go...Star Wars Shoes...

 



 

They are all hilarious.  I might even wear a  pair some day.  Maybe.  There would have to be some pretty specific circumstances.   Oooooh....like going to see Episode 7 when it comes out.  Wonder if I could get the hubby to wear the Yoda shoes?

Misc and Etc

Today is one of those up and down sort of days.  Nothing major, just a little bit up and down.  I'm exhausted, so that's annoying.  I took a friend for a belated birthday lunch and we had sushi.  Yum!  I saw my ENT and I have another sinus infection.  REALLY annoying.  I'm wearing cute shoes. 

 

Sadly they didn't photograph terribly well, but trust me, they are cute, and super comfy.  These are the shoes I bought last weekend on the shopping trip with the BSF.

 

Did I mention that I'm tired?  I am preaching this weekend but I'm feeling too tired at the moment to work on it.  But oooh...sparkly AND strappy!

 

 

See?  Weird day. I'm kind of all over the place.  Which sort of makes things interesting at least.

 

30s

I didn't have any "brilliant" ideas today for a post (not that I actually believe any of my ideas are brilliant, but some come easier than others), so I'm headed back to my shoes-by-the-decades concept.  Today we are off to the 1930s.  Again, I'm not sure if these are actually vintage, actually from the 30s, or what, but here's what I liked:

 

 

So fun!  I would wear any of them, except maybe the last pair.  I like those, thought they were visually interesting, but not sure I'd actually wear them.  I suppose it would depend on the outfit.  Although, my usual joy about picturing the imaginary outfits I would wear with these shoes is dampened somewhat by remembering that the 30s were the time of the Depression, so shoes and outfits weren't exactly the top of everyone's list of priorities.  But, since I am picturing imaginary outfits paired with shoes from my imaginary shoe closet, does that mean I can ignore the history major part of myself and just imagine away the Depression?

 

Witchy

The shoe calendar presented me with these this morning:

They are from 1985, but all I can see when I look at them is witch shoes.  It's the combination of the buckle and the extremely pointy toes.  Of course I then had to go searching for more witch shoes and here are a few of my favorite:

 

 

I wouldn't wear any of them on a normal day, but I would wear them for Halloween (although the green ones look potentially really uncomfortable).

 

 

These are not witch shoes, but I am a dork, and I love me some candy corn, so I think these are adorable.  They even have 2 candies on the heel that looks the fangs I always create with my candy corn.  I would totally wear these throughout the month of October if they came in adult sizes.

 

So, I am also a dork because I waited to publish today until I could publish this.

 

 

 

The Norwegian in me is required to tell you that of course it's not that big of deal...not bragging.  The other parts of me are like, screw that--yay!  Probably the different parts of my brain need some sort of family therapy or something.  And yes...I may or may not have obsessively hit refresh a million times this afternoon.  It was stuck at 9993 and 9998 FOREVER!





Funerals and Clogs

 

I did a funeral this morning, with a graveside, so sensible shoes were in order (heels just sink into the grass at the cemetery, and it's completely awkward when the pastor falls on her face).  I've had these shoes for almost 6 years now.  I bough them when I was in Berkeley for my graduation from seminary.  They are cute and comfortable and my favorite color.  What more do I need?  This picture also cracks me up because the hubby is always giving me a hard time about being pigeon-toed.  I didn't realize when I took the picture that my toes were pointing out.

 

Maybe I should have posted that first picture second so it could have acted as a palate cleanser for this:

 

 

Dang those are bright.  They are plastic and rubber molded clogs from the 70s, but at first glance this morning they looked like Crocs on crack.  Which is actually fun to say.  Try it a couple of times...

 

So funerals and clogs and Crocs.  Not things you generally think of in the same sentence.  ALTHOUGH, there was a guy at the funeral who caught my attention.  He had a long, gray mullet, was wearing a black shirt with flames on it, never once took his sunglasses off, even in the chapel, wore a bunch of rings and bracelets.  I was expecting something like biker boots on his feet, but turned out he was wearing clogs.  I may have giggled a little bit.  If only they had been these clogs, my day would have been complete!



...Continued

Since I know you all have been waiting on pins and needles for it, here is the other picture of the shoes I posted yesterday:

 

 

You're welcome.  I'm sure you lost sooo much sleep over that!  These are the shoes I bought for the reception the church gave us after we got back from our honeymoon.  The reception was outdoors, so these very chunky heels worked well for not sinking into the grass.  The heel also makes a  nice, solid handle if I ever need to use these shoes as a weapon...

 

Remember my shoe shrine?  Well, it's growing.  That poor little table is going to collapse from the weight one of these days.

 

Here's another view, which actually doesn't look as crowded as I thought it would.  You've seen the shoe-shaped wine bottle holder the hubby gave me for my birthday, but I've gotten a couple of other new things as well.

 

This is actually a few weeks old.  It says "I'd rather be shoe shopping," and one of my lovely bible study ladies gave it to me.  I should have removed the sticker goo before I took the picture, but clearly my tendency towards half-assed quality control continues.  Anyway, the pad is correct...I WOULD rather go shoe shopping than grocery shopping.

 

THIS lovely addition showed up after the church rummage sale last weekend.  The senior pastor apparently decided I simply must have it for my collection.  It looks like it could be an older piece, but the sticker on the bottom says it's from Ross.  Which for some reason just makes me giggle.  Part of me thinks this is hideous, and another part of me thinks it's hilarious.  All of me knows I would never wear shoes like this.



Dying Battery

Sigh...I just discovered I left my laptop cord in my office at church.  My  battery usually lasts about a second and a half, so I'm going to type like crazy, and do a longer post tomorrow.  Church shoes for today:

Aaaaand the battery died halfway through uploading. I am now on the hubby's iPad; at least one of the two pictures loaded. I will have to upload the other one tomorrow as it's a better picture of the overall shoe.  Oh well...technology is great, except when it isn't.

Fun Day with the BSF

Today I spent a much-need day with the BSF (Best Shoe Friend).  She's my friend for lots of reasons, and one of my really good friends, but she is also the one I go shoe shopping with the most often.  We met at some outlets that are about half-way for both of us, had Thai for lunch, and then did some shopping.  This place had LOTS of shoe stores.  It was awesome just to wander around and look at shoes with someone who has similar taste, and who likes shoes as much as I do (and she can wear slingbacks, so I live vicariously through that ability).  We each bought one really cute pair, and I bought some dress shoes for the hubby.  Pictures to follow when we wear them (we'll see each other again at Synod Assembly in about 10 days).  I had planned to take a picture of our feet as we wandered, but sadly I forgot.  So no picture of her cute orange flip flops (or fleeeep flops, as Flower used to say).  Instead I just took a picture of my own feet.

 

 

These are the shoes I finally found when I was on my quest for new, black, everyday summer shoes.  They're basic and plain, but I think they are cute, and they are super comfy.  They were great for walking around the outlets today.  Too bad they make my feet sweat which means my feet smell less than lovely when I take the shoes off.  Boo to smelly feet, but hooray to a day spent with the BSF, to  Thai food, ice cream, and shoe shopping!



Nope, Not Pregnant

Today's post is inspired by 2 things.  First, I came across this blog today showing a trend on Instagram of pictures of babies in mugs.  Silly, but adorable.

 

Second, yesterday when I got to church I was holding the door for one of our preschool moms who was picking up her 3 year old daughter.  The mom asked me how I was feeling, and I thought she meant the sinus/allergy stuff, so I answered that I was feeling a lot better, thank you.  She then followed up with, "now, when are you due, again?"  Oh dear...  I told her I wasn't pregnant and she was fairly mortified and then said that her daughter had told her I was going to have a baby.  One of my facebook friends said, "when in doubt, blame the preschooler!"  It was probably just an innocent remark, but oy...made me think about working out more.

 

Anyway, in honor of baby-related things, I give you baby shoes:

 

 

There were so many more, but I limited it to 4, otherwise I would be adding pictures all day and this post would never get published.  How cute are these shoes?  I just love them in all of their varied adorableness.

 

Polka Dots

I've been slightly obsessed with polka dot shoes lately.  It's not like I'm running around buying them willy-nilly, but they are just so cute.  All I have to do to put a large smile on my face is go here and drool.  Of course, this can also lead to coveting, but I try to keep that to a minimum.  Here are a few examples for you.  I tried to get several different styles and colors, but there are-oh-so many more options out there.

 

Of course I love these, as I have a pair that are very similar.

 

Love these!  So many fun colors!  And we all know I love a good ankle strap...

 

See?  I like flats!  These are adorable.  I can't pull off skinny jeans, but I don't hold that against the adorable shoes.

 

Lime green!  Awesome, and definitely different and eye-catching.



 

I used to have a pair of shoes that were almost exactly this color of yellow.  They got donated during one of my many moves, though.  Don't tell those shoes, but I like these better...  On closer inspection, these might be the same shoes as the lime green ones.

 

So there you have it:  A polka dot fix for you day, whether you needed one or not!



Diversity

The last couple of days have been interesting with the shoe calendar.  Nothing I absolutely love, but they have been rather diverse this week, which I appreciate.

 

For instance, these are from the 80s and are worn by brides of the Hadendwa tribe of Eastern Sudan.  I find that fascinating.  Do I want them?  Not really, because I hate stuff between my toes, but I love the colors, and love that they are worn for a specific purpose and have special meaning for a group of people.

 

 

Tooled leather from the 50s.  They kind of make my feet sweat just looking at them and their non-breathable-ness, but I like the detail.

 

 

Also from the 50s, but this time from China.

 

 

Eh.  Another bootie-type shoe.  I'm kind of whatever on these, except for the color, of course.  But hey, the rest of the week had some character!  Different decades and countries!  Yay!





Decades

I was recently googling random terms looking for shoe ideas.  I started typing "shoes worn..." and up popped different decades.  For instance, shoes worn in the 20s.  There are pictures of shoes, pictures of outfits, pictures that clearly aren't from anything to do with the 20s.  But it's fun to peruse.  For instance, I'm not sure if these are actually from the 20s or just reminiscent of the style, but how fun are these?

 

 

Mary Janes and T-straps...really, what's not to love?  There are search results for other decades too, of course, but I think I will hold those in reserve for days when I need something to type about.



Running Shoes

For me, there aren't words enough to express all of the emotions that tragedies like that at the Boston marathon today evoke.  I grieve for those injured and the families of those who lost their lives.  I wonder why and try not to let anger overtake everything.  I am so so grateful for the men and women who help, from first responders, to those who donate blood, to those who give money or food or supplies as needed in a tragedy.  This has been going around on facebook a lot recently, and I hope it really is a quote from Fred Rogers, but regardless, I think it is a sentiment we can all remember and learn from:

 

 

Anger is a valid emotion, and has its place, but in the end, love and loving actions are the only thing we can look to to make the world a better place.

In Need of Inspiration

I was hoping as the day went on I would think of something to write about for today...I seem to be stuck.  I wore the same shoes this morning to church that I wore last week.  2 different churches in 2 different states, so I can get away with it. :-)  I'm not inspired by today's calendar, Shoe Box P--- hasn't given me any ideas today; I'm just boring.  Clearly I need to google something, but even that hasn't given me any ideas.  I even asked the hubby, who suggested I google bizarre shoes, and there are definitely some weird ones out there.  I can't seem to think of anything to say today, though.  I'll let you  peruse on your own if you want, and save that idea for another day.  Finally, I googled birthday shoes and this popped up:

 

WTH?  Those are just insane, and they look like they would be crazy heavy.  Also how is gray cake in any way appealing?  See what happens when I can't think of anything?  We end up in crazy cake land!