Octopi

The Camp Friend posted this rather interesting picture to my facebook wall this morning:

 This shoe is insane and also awesome.  I'm not sure how it stays on your foot so you can walk, but it's definitely one of the more unique shoes I've seen.  And I like the colors, of course.  So obviously I had to go in search of more octopus-inspired shoes.

I love the turquoise heel and the double strap.  I love the black with the other colors on the shoe, and the shoes are kind of cool, but also kind of creepy at the same time.

Not creepy at all.  Cute.

Kind of cute?  Also kind of weird.  Good shoes to wear to the aquarium maybe.

Um...EEK?  Who comes up with these things?   Who then buys and wears them??

Whew, I needed more cuteness.

I like these in theory.  I'm going to have to take a stab here and say that I'm just not a huge fan of shoes with octopi on them, even if the octopi are blue.  These two look mean.

 

Speaking of creepy.  This was just one of many octopus rings I found during my search.  Clearly there are people out there who are vastly more fond of octopi than I am.  That's cool for them, but I think I'll stay over here in my octopus-free zone.  That ring might give me nightmares.

PS--didja notice that this post has EIGHT pictures in it?  Didja see what I did there?

Geckos

One of the things we did when Double A and The Bean were here was go to one of those paint your own pottery places.  Those little buggers are really creative and talented, and I'll show you their stuff after they get it.  It wasn't done being fired before they left, so I had to pick it up and mail it to them.  Double A wasn't sure she wanted to see a picture before seeing the actual final product, so I'll just wait a bit.  I can show you what I made, though:

It's a little sleeping gecko.  It has to be asleep as there was no way I could accomplish eyes.  The eyelashes were almost too much for my feeble skills.   I like the way she turned out, and it was fun to hang out with the girls (and Dad...not sure how much fun he had), and do something creative.

Here are some gecko shoes to go with my gecko plant hugger.

I think I've shown these before, but they're still cute.  Plus, blue and green, how can you go wrong?

I think these are cute, but they also remind me weirdly of armadillos.

I am frightened. Hey, JG, here are some black sandals for you!

Adorable.  And a little mischievous looking.

Less adorable, but I like their tails.

Are these cross-stitched?  I think they might be.  Hmmm...who could I make cross-stitched gecko shoes for?

 

This is actually purse material, but how cute is it?  This would make cute shoes.  Or a skirt.  Or a purse, obviously.

Now I must go water plants so my little gecko continues to have somewhere to live.

Pinstripes

I received a text from my aunt the other day with the following message:  "You can pinstripe anything.  [Your uncle] and I went to a car show and saw these."  She sent 2 pictures in illustration.

They're actually pretty cool, and inspired me to go find some more.

I love these.  Of course the fact that they started off as shiny, red patent leather certainly doesn't hurt.

These are cool, too.  I love the colors of the pinstriping.

Very pretty, and although more detailed, they don't seem quite as well done as the ones before?  I still like them, though.

Is that supposed to be...marijuana?  Maybe I'm just over-thinking it.  I like the green accents on the pink, but I wouldn't want people staring at my feet wondering what kind of a statement I was making.

There were some other examples I found, but apparently, like tattoos, pinstriping can get creepy quickly, and I just wasn't in the mood for skulls and eyeballs and other weird stuff tonight (possible marijuana shoes notwithstanding).

Thanks, Auntie, for the inspiration!  Hope you are having/had a fabulous visit with your brother!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of the father's out there:  the biological, step, adoptive, godfathers, uncles, and anyone who steps into the role of father figure and loves their kiddos.  My dad is pretty darn awesome, and I had some wonderful grandpas, so I'm lucky in the dad department.  I also know some amazing fathers in general who I love and admire.  My dad isn't a shoe guy, so the following are shoes he would never wear, but I thought it would be fun to go colorful for this celebratory day.  We'll get a little help from Mr. Roy G. Biv.

I can't actually think of a dad I know who WOULD wear these.  Maybe for a costume?  Or for specific sports teams?  For instance, the orange and black pair are my school colors, so now also Double A's and The Bean's colors.  Actually, we can't escape it.  DJ, Flower, and Laughter all moved to different towns, but their colors are STILL orange and black.  So maybe those shoes would come in handy, and maybe you think of other specific occasions where the men in your lives might have cause to wear some of these.  In the meantime, I hope you've had the chance today to honor or remember the important father-figures in your life.

Thai

I had lunch with JG and Sunshine's grandma today, which was just what I needed.  I've been a little down since the family left (and for a variety of other reasons that I won't go into just now), and having lunch with 2 of my favorite people was a fabulous pick-me-up.  They absolutely brightened my day, and we had lunch at my favorite Thai place where I finally got to indulge in the Pad Thai I've been craving for about a month.  Because of this, I decided to a search for "Thai shoes" and see what popped up.  Like I know anything about Thai fashion.  But here is what the internet shared with me and I now share with you:

These are both from a collection by a woman named Caroline Issa.  I love the colors and designs, although could do without the puff ball thingies on the heels.

These are from the same collection, for all of you who don't think you can wear heels.

Colorful and sparkly!  Why the spider, though?  I'm not sure, but while I don't have an issue with spiders, really, this one could go hang out with the puff balls and I'd be OK with that.

Pretty!  These were labeled as embroidered shoes from the Hmong culture.  I think they're beautifully made.

Hmong baby shoes!  Very sweet.

Maybe these also have a spider somewhere on them, but since I can't see it, I like these better than the ones above.

Today I got to hang out with fabulous women, and have a yummy lunch that inspired me to find some fun shoes.  Not a bad day.

Fleep Flop Art

It's National Flip Flop Day!  Which is awesome for all of you flip flop lovers out there, I hope you wore your favorite pair.  Me, I only wear fleep flops in certain circumstances, and I'm never terribly happy about it, so you wouldn't think I'd celebrate such a day.  But then the Pinterest Friend sent me this:

Flip flop art!  How adorable is this?  I like flip flops just fine, as long as I don't have to wear them. This also takes care of my other issues with flip flops, which is that you can't see the cute part because you are stepping on it.

Patriotic flip flop wreath!  I kind of want to find some really cheap flip flops now, and make one.

Oh, adorable.  Love it.

Blue for me, green for Double A, Mom, and SKD!

There are a million bazillion wreath ideas out there, and I totally got sucked into perusing them this afternoon.  

You know what else is fun for National Flip Flop Day?

 

Cake!  Every day is better with cake!

See?  How adorable is this?  I'm not fond of fondant, but it makes for adorable decorations, and I'm sure the cake inside is quite yummy.

 

Or, if you want to DIY and go a little simpler, there's this idea.

So, you can wear flip flops, create flip flop wreaths, eat flip flop cake and make...

Flip flop sculptures!  Yep, that's a ginormous turtle made out of flip flops.

Here you can see the flip flops in more detail, although I'm not sure what exactly is going on here.  Is it a sock monkey that got drunk and passed out?  Was it supposed to be sitting on the fence and it just fell over? 

I think this one is pretty cool.  It's like a tattoo, only a sculpture.  And made out of flip flops.

So, don't throw those old fleep flops away.  Bake yourself some flip flop cake, dig out all the flip flops you don't wear anymore, and get creative!  I'll be over on Pinerest, waiting for your creations...

Dalmatiany Shoes

Mom, Dad, Double A, and The Bean left yesterday after being here for a week.  It was so good to have them here for a visit, and I enjoyed every minute of it.  I, of course, would have preferred if they could have stayed longer (maybe forever?), but am glad I got to see them for whatever time possible.  We went to the Jelly Belly factory, spent an afternoon in a friend's pool, played Beatles board games, had a picnic with SKD, painted pottery, took pictures of statues (something we also did when they were here 4 years ago), watched movies, played with puppies, and giggled a lot.  I definitely needed the time with them.

While they were here, The Bean bought a Disney CD that we listened to in the car quite a bit.  It had the Cruella De Vil song from 101 Dalmatians.

It was then stuck in my head for most of the week. 

The song, coupled with this picture from the 15th, pretty much determined the theme for tonight's post.  Obviously I was being told to do dalmatian shoes.

Wow.  The hubby needs to plan some kind of Halloween outfit around these.

I actually like this.  Not so sure about the thing on the heel, but the rest is cute.

I like these as well, but I prefer the larger spots.

Same here.  Cute, but I think I'd like it better with larger spots.

Yep. Doesn't hurt that it's also a Mary Jane.

Awwww... And look!  Ribbon shoelaces!

I like these, but I don't really want them for my canvas shoe collection.

Adorable.  Love the ribbons.  And yes, I do know these are more uniform polka dots, rather than dalmatian spots.

I would totally wear these if they came in an adult size.  And if it ever rained here.

The hubby and I agree that our house now seems empty and quiet without the fam, and the puppies miss all the extra snuggles they got from the girls. We miss you, cute family!  Come back!