Hammocks

Yesterday was the Bean's birthday.  I can't believe she is now a teenager.  It was just yesterday that she looked like this:

Awww...wasn't she the sweetest baby bean?  And I didn't post on her birthday.  Worst. Auntie. Ever.  I actually had the post planned and everything, just got tired and forgot to do it when I got home.  Anyway, she recently told me that purple is still her favorite color but that blue is also her favorite.  Sniff.  Sniff.  I'm so proud.  So here are some blue and purple shoes to help her celebrate her 2nd day of being an official teenager.

Love them.  I think we need matching auntie-niece shoes, don't you?

These are kind of weird and kind of fun.

If we wore the same size we could get both pairs and each wear one of each!

Yesterday was also Hammock Day, which sounded pretty fabulous.  I think the Bean and I could have definitely found a beach somewhere and hung out in a hammock to celebrate her birthday.  She likes flip flops, and these came up under hammock shoes.  I like the bright colors.

 

It's a whole series of fun hammock fleep flops!  I would even put up with the damn thing between my toes if it meant spending a day in a hammock with the Bean.

Happy Belated Birthday, Bean!

Ice Cream (Sort Of)

Guess what?  The hubby and I played hooky and left the office before 3:00 this afternoon!  It was like a tiny vacation.  We still worked from home, but it was nice to come hang out with the puppies.  I even had time to run errands tonight at a decent time.  To celebrate, and because it was a million degrees again, we just polished off a pint of ice cream each.  Except not really:

It's dairy-free, gluten-free, fat free, has a low glycemic index, and has protein and fiber.  AND it's only 150 calories a pint, so it's pretty awesome.  This is flavor I had tonight.  The hubby had cookie shake, I think.  There are about 20 flavors.  It's not Ben and Jerry's, but it's pretty darn yummy, and it's dessert the hubby can eat.  Plus, 150 calories verses the 12 billion in a pint of B&J's.

So, weird ice cream leads to weird ice cream shoes:

Oh, Irregular Choice.  You continue to be weird, and...well...irregular.

Memory Lane (One of the reasons I went with the ice cream post tonight was because 2/3 of the following posts are about food): 2013. 2014. 2015.

Sunglasses

Today is Sunglasses Day!  Why?  Who cares?  I read a blog that claims that everyone looks hotter in sunglasses.  I'd that's mostly true.  Unless the sunglasses are awful and then the person looks kind of dorky, but generally speaking I would agree.  I wasn't sure what I would find in terms of sunglasses + shoes, but I did manage to find a few things:

I actually think these are both kind of cute.  They look like they're made out of material that doesn't breathe, but overall they're cute.  They're also Karl Lagerfeld and were applauded as being shoes "under $200."  Yeah, unless they're WAAAAY under that dollar figure these are definitely not that cute.  And/or I'm cheap.

 

Awww...baby sunglasses shoes.  OK, probably just glasses, but work with me, OK?  They're sparkly and cute and made me then search for Babies in Sunglasses, which you should definitely go peruse, because adorable.  I give you example A in the form of toddler Flower:

AND she was wearing adorable shoes. If I remember correctly she was about to go fishing with her dad when this picture was taken.  Most fashionable fisher-girl I've ever seen!

So, I implemented my new plan for getting my patootie (or patoosh as Laughter sometimes refers to it) out of my office chair today.  According to my phone (and I have no idea how accurate it is...one of these days I'd like to get a fitbit) I walked 7,655 steps, for a total of 3.69 miles, over the course of 72 minutes, and burned 264 calories.  Not the greatest results in the world, but still a million times better than what I've been doing most days of late.  Now I just have to keep it up.  I also drank over a gallon of water today, which is good as it was 8 million degrees.  I'm pretty much over summer already and it's not even July yet.  Sigh.

Memory Lane: 2013. 2014. 2015.

er-girl I've ever seen!

Cute Auntie Shoes Day 3

Last day of new (to me) shoes from the Auntie!  How adorable are these?

They're a fun, sea-greeny color.  Sadly they started to rub my toes on both feet, but that's OK...

...because I have Jane Austen bandaids!  You can't really tell from the picture, but the flowers are the same color as the shoes.  Yep.  I'm just that cool.  Let's take a gander at some more sea-greeny shoes with flowers, shall we?

 

This is really pretty despite the fact that it's a slingback and has that thing between the toes.

I think I'd prefer if the flower was a little less floofy, but otherwise I'm on board.

I think I've posted these before with multi colored flowers? Who can remember any more?

Yes please.  I'll take a pair in each color, thank you.

OK, so these are a little bit off-theme, but there ARE flowers and sea green, so I'm including them because I think they're fun.  And because it's my blog.

Oh man, I definitely could not get my poop in a group this morning.  I woke up late, which threw everything off, but then I was just scattered.  I went to get the dragons out of the tub and realized I hadn't fed the dogs yet, so I detoured to do that.  When I got to the cupboard with their food I realized I hadn't finished cleaning up from making juice, so I detoured again.  I did manage to get everything done eventually, but I was definitely out of my usual rhythm and I almost forgot the poor dragons in the mix.  The day got better after that, but man my brain is full.  My hat is off to you who have children thrown into that morning mix.  All I have are dogs, dragons, and a husband and I'm a mess.

Memory Lane: 2013. 2014.

Snail...Paper?

Today is International Snailpapers Day.  Yeah, I didn't know what it was either.  Apparently it's a reference to the fact that newspapers are rapidly becoming a thing of the past.  So, snail mail is to email what snail papers are to online news?  Whatever, at least it gave me a direction for today's post:

Newspaper shoes!  I think these are kind of fun.  I don't know that I would ever wear them, but they're still kind of fun.

 

What's black and white and red all over?

Looks like an awesome decoupage project!

See comment above.

Snail slippers! These are hilarious to me.  I've actually done a snail post before, but not snail shoes.

Awww...baby shoes.  Why do snails often look so confused?  Must be the googly eyes.

Look!  The snail slippers have siblings!

I love the colors of these.

Happy Snailpapers Day.  Maybe you could celebrate by reading an actual newspaper.

Memory Lane: 2013. 2015.

World Autism Day

April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day, and April is Autism Awareness month.  I think it's wonderful that there is a day set aside to encourage conversations about Autism, what is, what it's like to live with it, how people thrive everyday while living with it.  The more we talk about it, the more we speak with people who are on the spectrum and understand that they are just people the better off everyone will be and the more we will be able to love and support all of our brothers and sisters know matter what.  Some of the things people are doing to celebrate today and the whole month include "lighting it up blue for Autism."  This might mean changing your front porch light to a blue bulb, wearing blue, or changing your Facebook profile picture to include a blue frame to create awareness.  I'm sure there are a million other things as well, but those are just a few examples.

I have mentioned before that the Pinterest Friend's son is Autistic, and I know this creates challenges for their family.  I also know he is a smart, curious, sweet, and loving boy who happens to have Autism.  It doesn't define him.  His mama is a fierce and loving mama who works every day to make sure her son gets what he needs to thrive.  In honor of today she sent me the following shoes:

The puzzle piece is one of the symbols of Autism.  I reminds us that people of all different shapes, sizes, abilities, colors, etc. can work together to create something amazing.

I wish this had colors.  I appreciate the simplicity, but I would like it more with color, I think.

I don't know if this is actually a mismatched pair or one shoe from 2 different pairs.  I would wear them mismatched. 

Toms and Vans really do seem to have shoes for every occasion, don't they?

Today reminds us to love, support, and walk with our brothers and sisters with Autism.  We don't need to "fix" them, we just need to understand how they see the world.  Maybe our own way of seeing the world will be better for it.

Memory Lane: 2013. 2014. 2015.

More Birthdays!

Today is my dad's oldest sister's birthday, which is always tough because it reminds me of how much I miss her.  But it's also the Seminary Roommate's birthday, which is much happier!  Although, I miss her like crazy, too, but at least she's only as far away as Seattle.  In honor of the SR's birthday, I'm doing shoes named for her (I just did a post of shoes named after the auntie).

Cute!  I need a pair of cute, dressy flats for work, and I think this would be perfect.

A  black dress shoe is as essential as a little black dress.  This one is classic and would go with almost anything.

Oh dear.  Nononono.

I like where these are headed, the sparkles and bows are festive, but that type of short wedge heel always feels wrong to me.  It just doesn't look right.

The color is good.  This would be cuter if it wasn't a sandal.  Would a turquoise Mary Jane clog be so much better? 

Again, not quite right.  I want to like them, really I do.

OK, this one is adorable, thankfully.  I was getting a little frustrated with the selection of shoes named after my sweet friend.  She deserves better namesake shoes!  I'm not sure she would wear any of these (certainly not the heel, but maybe the first and last?), but she does have excellent taste in adorable practical shoes.  At any rate...Happy Birthday, SR!

Memory Lane: 2013. 2014. 2015.

I've been struggling with my 3 things this week.  Some days I stare at the cursor desperately trying to think of the things that make me happy and for which I'm grateful.  Which makes me sound amazingly ungrateful, because there are numerous good things about my life.  Those damn voices that I fight so much are insidious, though, and they like to tell me that my life sucks and I have nothing to offer.  They've been louder this week because the hubby (and I am in no way blaming him) told our employees yesterday and today that I was a pastor before I started working with him.  He says I'm on leave, which is kind of true, and really really untrue.  Then of course there are a million questions and reactions and projections, and it's made me a little confused emotionally.  I miss parts of being a pastor.  I miss my congregations.  I feel like an absolute failure as a pastor.  It's been 2 years since I went on leave and I'm still confused about whether or not it's healthy for me to go back.  I feel like my life is lacking in purpose.  I feel like I suck at this new job with the hubby.  I worry I'll never find contentment with a job.  See?  It's not the hubby's fault I'm an emotional wreck.  But, it's my Lenten discipline to practice gratitude and joy with at least 3 things each day, so the voices just need to shut the expletive up and let me get on with it.

3 Things:

1. Remembering the love always present in my auntie's hugs and smile.
2. The amazing friendship of the SR.
3. Puppy snuggles.  (I know I've said this one before, but they really are therapeutic)

Will You Be My Valentine?

Happy Valentine's Day!  Whether you are in a relationship or not, I hope your day is full of love.  I know today is supposed to be about romantic love, but I say to heck with that.  The Beatles said "all you need is love," and I think that means whatever kind is available.  Romantic love?  Yep.  Familial love?  Awesome.  Platonic love?  Cool.  God's love?  The best.  Plus, any excuse to eat chocolate is OK in my book.  Here are some heart shoes to show the love:

I'd like full pairs, but I'd take a life size version of this for Valentine's Day.

If these were removable they'd be awesome.  Basic black for every day, sparky hearts for special occasions!

 

Damn.  No.  Even the shoe itself is weird.

Again, these need to be removable.  Although I'm not likely to wear baby pink slingbacks, with or without shiny hearts.

 

Simple.  I like this one.

I want to like these, but they look a little cheesy.

Love these.  I need a pair of canvas tennies for every theme.  Buy all the themes!

In case that's not enough Valentine's Day shoes for you, feel free to browse years past:  2013, 2014, 2015.

3 Things:

1. Breakfast in bed.   Thanks, hubby!
2. Lazy day binge watching TV with the hubby and puppies.
3. The Beatles: