Take A Page Out Of My Book

Our worship and music director got roped into choosing a number for today's post.  It was something of a comedy of errors as it's been so long since I looked at the handbags book that I couldn't remember how high the pages went.  She had to choose 3 or 4 times before we got low enough.  So...here is page 432:

 

 

It's hard to tell, but it's a snakeskin and gold metallic clutch.  Not so much the snakeskin, but at least the gold is kind of festive.  Nothing terribly festive about page 432 of the shoe book:

 

 

These are cute, but what cracks me up is that the description starts with "a rounded backside."  Yes, I'm being totally immature, but I'm tired, OK?

 

And the calendar picture for today:

 

 

This has nothing to do with page 432 of anything.  You want segues, you're going to have to come up with your own until I get a vacation (which I will in January!!!!).  These are cute enough. I like that they look all snuggly and fleecy inside.

 

Today was busy but fairly good.  Had a discombobulated morning followed by crappy traffic on the commute, and then a bout of grumpiness at church, but then I had a lovely Christmas lunch with staff and SKD.  Then it was back to work with a funeral planning meeting and worship tonight, even though it's not my usual night to be at Wednesday worship.  Definitely time to go home.

 

 

 

Today

Today was a good day.  It was busy, with lots of meetings, but overall, it was a good day.  Unfortunately, it was a day where I had absolutely no idea of what to write here.  Instead of overthinking it, I'm just taking what the day gives me.  We'll start with the shoes of the day:

 

 

If you feel like you've seen these before, you have.  I think I was wearing pants the last time I put them on the blog, but I'm too lazy to go look.  I also have these in blue, and I'm not sure those have been on here at all.  Again...too lazy to look.

 

 

The poor shoe calendar has been neglected of late.  There have been some cute/hideous/boring/whatever shoes, but I for some reason haven't been posting many of them.  Since today's post is about today, though, the calendar shoes finally get to make an appearance.  And I like them.  Sorry for the poor quality, I had to use my phone camera.   These have green and pink flowers on them, and are satin, with a gold platform.  Very cute.

 

 

Today is 11-21-13.  11+21+13=45, so this is page 45 of the handbag book.  Yay for a fun, beaded handbag from the 50s!

 

And this is page 45 of the shoe book.  The top pair was made for Elizabeth Taylor in the 80s, the lower pair were worn by Lana Turner in the 1955 movie The Prodigal.  I don't particularly care for either pair, but I'm always up for some random, celebrity trivia!

 

There you go, random shoe-ness inspired by the day.

 

 

 

Doggies!

Today I made our Vicar choose the number.  A vicar is a seminary intern, and most often the title is used on the East Coast, but as our Senior Pastor went to seminary in Columbus, OH, we use the term, here.  I was also a vicar on internship, because I did mine in PA.  For 10 months no one really used my name, they just called me Vicah.   Which is what I now call our poor vicar, and consequently so does part of our congregation.  My apologies to the vicarrrr.  Anyhoo, the vicar chose 300, which gives us this in the shoe book:

 

 

On any other day I might get more excited about this.  It's historical, and the explanation says that waterproof boots were one of the first steps in emancipation for women.  Huh.  That's worth exploring.  But not today, because today the Handbags book has given me this:

 

 

Scottie dogs!  (and poodles, but it's the Scottie dogs I'm interested in).  I love Scottie dogs!  I had an adorable outfit as a kid that was green with black Scottie dogs wearing red bows (I think).  I'm not sure if I loved Scottie dogs as a kid and chose that material, or if my mom chose it, made the outfit, and THEN I loved them.  Regardless, I still have a soft spot in my heart for them.  Of course I went searching for shoes:

 

 

Normally I wouldn't show multiple colors of the exact same shoe, but I love these so very much that I had to show them all.  If you want more Scottie dog shoes you can go peruse at your leisure.  I'm pretty sure I  now need a pair of Scottie dog shoes.  Probably not this exact pair because most likely they are freaking expensive, but I am now on a mission!

 

 

 

Ooops!

First off, thank you to everyone for the encouragement about the 5K.  I'm fairly freaked out about it, especially since you all know about it now, but it definitely feels better with the support.

 

Today for a little frivolity I am heading back to the very neglected shoe and handbag books.  I asked the hubby for a number this morning when I was on the phone with him, and very kindly obliged, but I accidently told him to choose a number between 10 and 500 and the handbag book doesn't actually go up that high.  So of course he chose 500.  Silly brain and it's lack of proper memory of page numbers.  Anyhoo, it turns out page 500 in the shoe book is quite entertaining:

 

I know I've seen this shoe before.  Not sure if I've ever had it on the blog.  We're at almost 300 posts (!) so I can't remember every shoe.  I could go search, but I figure maybe you won't remember all of the shoes, either.  The fact that this is a giraffe shoe is interesting in that there is a riddle thing going around on facebook right now where if you answer the riddle incorrectly you have to change your profile picture to a giraffe for 3 days.  I'm not sure why a giraffe.  Wonder if I could use a giraffe shoe instead?

 

Just so the handbags book wouldn't feel left out, I flipped it open to a random page:

 

 

The picture doesn't really do justice to how cute this purse actually is.  The sequins are actually pink, and the whole thing is a bit shinier in the book.  It's from the 50s.  The imaginary shoe closet definitely needs one of these.

 

 

Corresponding page 349 from the shoe book.  Yawn.   I mean, red and shiny and ankle strap are all good, but this shoe is still kind of blah.  It's from the 70s, so it's perfectly appropriate for the era, but sadly it's also now back in style.  Thankfully we have random giraffe shoes to make our days complete and to make up for blah platforms.

 

 

 

 

Number Selection of the Week

I didn't ask anyone for a number today.  I noticed that this is my 265th post, so just decided to go with that as my number.  Page 265 in the Handbags book gives us more Lucite:

 

 

This one is hatbox shaped, which is kind of cool.  I don't dislike it, but again, it puts me in mind of whacking someone upside the head.  I think it's that Lucite is such a solid, unyielding material to make a purse out of.  It's definitely sturdy, but I can't quite imagine carrying one around.  So I went in search of more examples

 

 

I love the blue, and think the patterns in the 2nd picture are fun.  I appreciate this in a quirky, retro kind of way, but again, can't imagine carrying one around, no matter how cute the shape, how fun the color.

 

Page 265 of the Shoe Book is a little boring again this week:

 

 

Holy blurry picture, Batman!  Sorry about that.  But you get the idea:  Black and white.  And hey, black and white shoes have their place in the world.  I'm just not terribly thrilled with either of these.  How about some alternatives?

 

 

Better!  Well, at least in my opinion.  You'll have to find your own better alternatives if these aren't floating your boat. :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black...and Black

OK, I confess....I'm writing this during an all-boards meeting.  Don't tell the senior pastor.  I actually pay better attention and am much better behaved when I have something to do while I sit in meetings.  Usually I crochet.  Tonight I'm writing a blog entry.  So, I actually remembered it was Tuesday in time to ask someone for a number. Today's number comes from the BFF who gave me 321.  Without further ado, here is page 321 from the handbags book:

 

 

OK. It's black, it's simple, but it's got some nice detailing.  Probably wouldn't jump out at me from a pile of handbags, but I do like the sparkle.

 

The shoe book also provided black today:

 

 

Well, mostly black. That clear mesh is a little odd.  Although, I'm not thinking of the crazy socks you could wear with these boots for a little fun and goofiness.

 

I wear a lot of black because of my clerical collars.  My shoes are where I bring in some color.  So while I have  few pairs of black shoes, I'd rather buy pretty, colorful ones.  But, since today's theme is black, I went looking for black shoes. 

 

 

 

Black doesn't have to mean boring.  Details are always fun.  I still prefer a bit more color, but black shoes definitely have their place.

 

 

 

Handbag Thursday

It's been a crazy week. Tuesday I had back-to-back meetings and didn't even think about asking someone for a number for the handbags book.  Yesterday due to a dentist, an EKG, and a bunny I didn't even make it to church at all.  Even though today was also crazy with lots of meetings and appointments, I decided to choose my own number and take the pictures before I left church (I got home at 9:00-ugh).   So, I chose page 400:

 

 

It's a "rare turquoise alligator" handbag from the 50s.  So I put in turquoise alligator into the image search to see what else I could find.  I have to say I was a tiny bit frightened there would be an actual picture of a turquoise alligator.  I really didn't want to contemplate someone killing said rare alligator to make above rare handbag.  Yes, I know I have issues.  I did find some shoes, though.

 

Clearly the hubby and the senior pastor both need a pair of these.

 

I'm not really a fan of alligator shoes, but I kind of like these.  Not the texture so much, but the color and the details.  Stupid slingbacks, though.

 

Which brings us to page 400 of the SHOE book:

 

 

Yikes.  Damn.  Eek.  Feel free to add a few of your own.  These are insane.  Since I did matching shoes for the turquoise handbag I thought I'd do a matching handbag for the orange shoes.

 

 

I don't know a lot about purses.  I don't lust over them the way I do shoes (that would be the provence of the BFF), but I think this is really cute.  Hate the shoes, but I would rock this purse!

 

 

HandbagTuesday: Kind of Blah Edition

Today I sent a text to my good friend asking her to choose a number.  She is awesome because she didn't even ask why, just texted back with 233.  Did I mention that she is awesome?  Well she is, but it turns out that page 233 in the Handbags book is rather boring:

 

 

This bag is from the 50s Lucite with a Moire silk lining.  There's nothing wrong with it, it's just not that exiting.  I do like the shape of it, though, and since it's hard-sided, it would be great for smacking people...

 

The Shoe book didn't do much better on pages 232-233:

 

 

Again, there's nothing wrong with this shoe.  I like red shoes, and I like Mary Janes so I like this shoe just fine.  It's just not that interesting.

 

Today's calendar picture is from the 80s (although you probably could have figured that out without my having told you):

 

 

These aren't my cup of tea, but at lest they have some color and interest to them.  So, Awesome Friend, you still rock my face off, it just wasn't the world's most exciting number.  Hopefully that won't stop you from choosing a number next time I ask!



 

 



I Remembered!

Ha!  I remembered!  It's Handbag Tuesday, actually being brought to you on Tuesday!  Hey, I'll take my accomplishments where I can get them.  Today's number choice comes to us from our fabulous Preschool Director (I asked her to choose a number and she said, "why?" really skeptically.  My poor staff puts up with a lot from me).  Anyhoo, she chose number 65.  You are actually getting pages 64 and 65 since the picture took up both pages.  Woohoo!  2 for 1!

 

This is a beaded Art Deco evening bag from around 1920.  It's pretty.  I like the detailing.  It makes me think of scenes from parties in books like The Great Gatsby.

 

I also have a book called SHOES that sits on my shoe shrine table.  It was a gift for one of my wedding showers last summer.  I figured since I have it and I'm highlighting the Handbags book it might also be fun to show the corresponding page in the shoe book.  Page 65 in shoes does NOT go with page 65 in handbags (not that I really expected it to).

 

 

If  you can read it, the top of the page says The "Invisible" Sandal. I have to say, I'm not terribly impressed.  See-through shoes like this tend to put me in mind of strippers.

 

So there you have it...from glamorous handbag to stripper shoes!

 

 

Handbag Wednesday

OK, OK...clearly I can't seem to remember this on Tuesday.  Maybe I'll switch it to Wednesdays.  Or whenever I remember it.  Today I hit up one of our church members, who was here fixing a broken door.  He chose page 10:

 

This is pre 1890; a Turkish bag made for the European market.  Sadly this was the best of the pictures I took.  A photographer, I am not.  Plus, my phone doesn't always take the best of pictures. Anyway, I like this one.  The detailing is nice.  I did a quick image search for Turkish shoes of about the same time period and found these:

 

 

I love these.  A lot.  I mean, they're blue, so that earns them points right away.  The detailing is beautiful, too.  They don't go with the purse, but I wasn't looking for a matching set.  I would definitely add these to  my imaginary shoe closet.

 



Handbag Tuesday: Wednesday Edition

It's handbag Tuesday!  And yes, I know it's Wednesday.  I posted about something else yesterday, OK?   So shoot me.  Sheesh...you're so particular.  Anyhoo...today our trusty admin chose the number 13, so here is page 13:

 

It's an embroidered, drawstring bag from 1820.  I don't love it, I don't hate it.  It's kind of leaving me a little meh.  Not it's fault, I'm just not feeling it today.

 

The calendar picture for today, on the other hand...

 

 

Holy insanity, Batman!  My first response was what the hell IS that?  Then I read the blurb and it was described as a "Lady Gaga" boot.  Oh.  Of course it is.  This thing is hideous on so many levels.  I would have to scrub my feet 7 million times after wearing these just to make them feel less icky.

 

 

Handbag Tuesday

Remember way back when I got this book from one of my Arts Camp volunteers?

 

If not, don't feel bad.  It took me forever to find the original post because I couldn't for the life of me remember when I had written it.  Anyhoo, when I got the book I said I would occasionally post from it for a bit of a change of pace.  That was over 4 months ago and I haven't done it yet.  Today I am remedying that with Handbag Tuesday.  It kind of stinks that there isn't a day of the week that starts with H so I could have alliteration, but whatever.  Tuesday is just arbitrary.  I won't necessarily do this every Tuesday, but hopefully I'll do it again before another 4 months pass.  As part of the process I popped into the front office and asked our admin person to choose a number between 10 and 439.  She totally thinks I'm weird(er) now, but she was awesome and threw out 368.  Here is page 368:

 

 

This is a "tapestry and sculpted chenille bag with satin lining" from the 60s.  I'm not mad at it or anything, but it's not a purse I would choose for myself. 

 

Since this is a blog about shoes, I then went and did an image search for tapestry shoes.  There are so very many; you should definitely go check out the wider selection.

 

 

I just can't with these.  Holy cow, my eyes.  Don't get me wrong, I loved me a good tapestry vest as much as the next person in the 90s, but these shoes are a new level of crazy.  Especially that last picture.  How many cat tapestries had to die to make those ugly-ass boots?

 

Thank you to my fabulous front-office lady for helping me try something new today.  Next time try to pick a page number that doesn't lead to me needing to scrub my inner eye with a louffa... :-P