More Buttons

The other day when I was looking for button shoes I of course found the ones that I posted, but I also found button-up shoes.   The kind that need an actual button hook to fasten:

 

I've always been fascinated by both the shoes and the hook.  I remember my mom showing me a pair somewhere (Grandma's, maybe?) and showing me how the hook worked to fasten the buttons.  It's possible the conversation came about because of my fascination with all things Little House on the Prairie (I've read the entire series roughly 30 times).  It might just be that I was a weird kid with weird fascinations.  How many elementary-aged kids do you know who were obsessed with Gibson Girl brides?  Oh well, I'm probably still weird.  Let's just look at shoes, OK?

 

Blue!  I would totally wear these now if I could find them.

I really love this style with the higher ankle.  I'd wear these, too.  And red - how fun is that?

Not my favorite.  I think I'd like them better if they were all one color, or the white accents were done a little differently.  The white might actually be stuffing to keep the shoes upright, in which case the lady's stockings would have shown through.  Seems a little risque, don't you think? :-)

 

Ooooh....these would have worked for a wedding!

I love vintage shoes.  Yes, OK, I love shoes in general.  Shut up.

If you are happy with button shoes and don't want to get any deeper, please feel free to stop reading now because following I'm going to let off a little emotional steam, and you're welcome to opt out.

First, 3 happy things:

1. Last week we got to watch DJ graduate from Navy Boot Camp!  Soooo very proud of her
2. Yesterday was Flower's birthday and her giggle always makes me smile
3. The Nephew lost his first TWO teeth last week!

I'm trying to remember that there are happy things in my life, even when it's crazy-stressful-depressing.  Opening a new business is no joke.  I knew it was going to be hard and stressful, but I didn't realize that it was going to kill my soul one small piece at a time.  Melodramatic?  Of course.  But some days it's how I feel.  If there were some happier work news it would help, but dear God, it just seems like it's one piece of bad news after another.  I'm trying to stay positive, and things have always worked out in the past, but I'm so insanely freaked out at the moment I can't even begin to describe it.  I'm currently suffering from a crying hangover for finally giving in last night and sobbing for awhile.

Because of the stress the hubby hasn't been eating like he should, which means his blood sugar has been out of whack.  He's needy when he's stressful, and uber needy when he's sick, so he's been clingy like a toddler with separation anxiety lately.  I get it, and I try to be patient, but damn, sometimes I want to be the one getting taken care of.  And as a introvert sometimes I just need him to leave me the hell alone.  Then the Lutheran guilt kicks in.

Because of all of this I keep having fantasies about building a pillow fort, climbing in and pretending the world doesn't exist.  If only that would work.  My escapes have been crocheting, reading, and Christmas movies.  I asked on Facebook for book recommendations the other day because I need something to distract me.  Something enjoyable and not too heavy or dark.  I also started watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel the 2nd week of November, which I NEVER do. Christmas is AFTER Thanksgiving.  But this year I need the sweet, sappy escapism of movies where everything always works out and Santa or Christmas in general saves the day.  Can Santa please come and make everything work out?  Is that too much to ask?

In the meantime I will go back to my mantra of happy thoughts happy thoughts happy thoughts, as well as the only prayer I can formulate right now which is pleasegodpleasegodpleasegod.

Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

Oh, friends, I've missed you.  It might not seem like it considering the giant gap in posting, but I have.  I compose posts in my head on a daily basis (sometimes I do it with sermons, too), but never seem to find the time/energy to actually write them.  And things have been crazy and stressful and I haven't wanted to write a whole series of crazy-stressful-depressing posts.  But I should have written on Halloween, and the hubby's birthday, and the seester's birthday, and a whole bunch of other non-crazy-stressful-depressing posts.  The other day a Facebook friend posted a link on my timeline to inspire me to maybe post.  I'm going to post with some of those pictures soon, but today I'm posting what I started working on yesterday when it was Button Day.  I have no idea why Button Day is a thing, but you know I'll look for shoes.  So, here we go, for the first time in a couple of months.  Hopefully I remember how!

I love these.  I think they came like this, but there's no reason someone crafty couldn't make a pair to their own design and colors.

Hmmmm...is it time to take out the ribbon laces and find some cute buttons?

I'm not a huge fan of the shoes themselves, but I do love the color (duh) and the smattering of buttons. 

Don't be freaked out, those are doll legs, not creepy baby legs (which is what I thought at first, because I am a dork).  These are cute for a doll or a baby!  Although, a little baby...not one who could yank off the buttons and eat them.  Right, Mom?

 

Not as cute in the adult version.  Is it the buttons they chose?

For you fleep-flop fans!

I think these are my favorite.  So simple, cute, and classy.  Could someone make me a pair, please?

And while you're at it, could you make me a pair like this, too?  Maybe in black?  I need a cute pair of black flats for work.  Which reminds me:  I'm wearing a lot of flats these days.  Sorry to disappoint those who live vicariously through the heels.  

Alrighty then.  I feel better.  Hopefully I will talk to you again soon!

Team Last Name

Some days I don't have a clue what to write about.  Today is actually the 25th anniversary of my maternal grandfather's death, and while I loved him dearly, I couldn't think of a thing to link him with shoes.  I mean, he wore them, but I'm guessing he pretty much just wore basic men's dress shoes.  Can't think of him wearing tennis shoes, although maybe he did.  And he had house slippers (I think).  He died when I was 13, so while I have lots of memories of him, I wish I  had more, and what I do remember might be more family stories than actual memory.  A few things I do remember:  he yawned like Santa Claus (ho ho ho).  I though the liver spots on his hands looked like the dark spots on lefse.  He used to torture us on Christmas morning.  He used to pretend to throw rocks at me when I would get into his raspberries and strawberries.  He would sit in his chair in front of the living room window, in plain view of people coming up the walk, and absolutely ignore them when they rang the doorbell if they were someone he didn't want to talk to.  He was gruff and grumpy and always groaned when I hugged him like I was squeezing the stuffing out of him.  I loved him dearly, and still do.

Since I couldn't find anything to tie the above paragraph to shoes, we're just going to pretend there was a logical transition in there somewhere, and move on.  As I was searching for inspiration I randomly typed in our last name, followed by the word shoes, and came across these:

Except for the red ones, these are all kind of quirky.  A basic, cute Mary Jane, but with lots of visual interest.  They remind me of Lala Loopsy dolls, actually.  I kind of like the shoes named after us, actually, and I think I need several pair to be part of my official Team Last Name uniform.  Now...can I talk the hubby into wearing them as well?