Friday Shoegasm: How to plan a vacation around your shoes

It's raining, it's pouring

Mommy's out shoe-whoring

After a week of summer weather even before it was officially spring, I'm in that bittersweet place where I'm not quite ready to pack up the boots and too superstitious to break out the bare-toe sandals. The rain today is actually a nice reprieve. I'm wearing the delicious lipstick=red patent leather wedges I tromped around in every damn day I could last year while contemplating what precise moment to unwrap the summer lovelies.

Oh, who am I kidding? It will be next week! In three little days, Lil E and I will be boarding the inaugural launch of the Disney Fanstasy Cruise and I will be clomp-clomp-clomping the decks glorious in stacked-heel sandals.

A pause to squeal: A CRUISE! I didn't even know I was a cruise kind of mama until Disney politely asked me to join them on a media tour for three days. SO NICE! A CRUISE! OH MAH GAW! What do you wear to look super suave and cute on a cruise? A CRUISE!

Back to the shoes: What better time than a press trip to pull out the phenomenal new Charles & Davids scored on a killer sale when the winter was pretending it was going to be bitter cold and ominous. 

Charles & David Laura is $120 (new, no box) on eBay, $70 on Piperlime. Hate/love to tell you I snagged these for $39 on one of those daily deal shopping sites that own my ass.

I decided since my intent is to be nautically adorable and not lug around 600-pounds of shoes (this time), I'll center my cruuise-wear around these burnt-orange beauties. The label says "red" but they really walk around a lot more orange than that, so I'll compromise by referring to them as "sunset" or some other ocean/cocktail/raging pale-lady sunburn color. 

Here's my thinking: Pair these with a black and white maxi dress I bought in Hawaii, a khaki shift dress that can be dressed up/cazh-ed down/coverd with a cardi, and sleek navy satin cargo pants that scream out CLIPBOARD! and JULIE ON THE LEDO DECK!

Here's how I'm envisioning them with khaki tones:

Here's what I'm going for with the darker thang:

This is the bliss I'm hoping to get a taste of just before I indulge in shrimp cocktail and chocolate chip cookie inhalation:

Maxi dress. Blurry from acute SPF exposure. How cute is E in that Hawaiian shirt? I MUST convince him to sport the flowers again.

Then I throw in some fancy flips and flats (it's a CRUISE!), one in a flashy silver with fake-ass gemstones and another in a safe black ballerina style, that I can bundle up and shove in next to the running shoes I will jinx myself from ever lacing up simply by placing in my suitcase.

The key here: Every bit of clothing will match every pair of shoes (except the lonely Nikes). The stripey boatneck in coral will be a safe enough distance to blend well with the sunset-colored sandals. The cute cover-up and Marilynesque swimsuit could even handle them. Hell, if the plastic "rubies" fall off of the flat sandals, I might just hot glue them to the Charles & Davids. That's how good everything is going to look together.

Plus it warms my heart and organizes my IT"S A CRUISE!-frantic brain to be able to thematically pack around the color of an oozing, beautiful, calm ray of light.

Because today it's raining and soon, very soon OHMYGOOOOOOD, A CRUISE!

Multiple shoegasms:

Heart-stealing espadrilles

Squirrel kickers

Flip-flop fail

* All composite images created by Jessica Ashley via Polyvore.

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Friday Shoegasm: Why you should be thinking boots, not sandals, right now

It's really difficult with the sun shining down to 60-degree temps and Daylight Saving Time in a few days and the call of the cruise/camping trip/excursion to your friend's aunt's cottage in eastern Indiana to resist stocking up on sandals that scream to the world you are so ready for summer. Or at least spring. 

But it's not time to throw money at cute cork wedge heels or espadrilles or even fancy flip-flops just yet, no matter what all those sales emails and catalogs and deals of the day say.

It is really time to embrace winter for just a few days more and buy boots. Not only are boots on sale right now, you won't have to worry about gunking them up with slushy snow or street salt. 

Although I adore boots and will wear them until my feet are so sweaty inside them that I can leap right out of them into open-toed heels, getting a new pair wasn't even on my list of things to do while I am waiting to pack my sleeping-back down coat away. Until yesterday when my mom and I made a run to Nordstrom Rack to return a pair of boots she bought me for Christmas (no time like three months later!). 

Of course, the aisles were full of sandals and formal footwear that you will wear once to your college friend's wedding and then ditch forevermore because they are tequila-stained/heinously uncomfortable blister-inducers/make you obnoxiously taller than your date/lost in your car somewhere/all of the above. But there was also a great selection of boots at awesome prices.

Sure, I was tempted by these babies.

Alas, my sheer knee-highs are in the wash and the next, most-awesome Halloween party for adults I will likely be invited to is a long, long time off.

 

But what I ended up trading in the boots (a boho Pocahantes pair of feet-squeezers) for these beauties.

 

They are Enzo Angiolini (love that brand, not even handed buckets of cash to say it) Karissa boot in a pebbled coffee-and-cream-colored leather (the tan is also delicious).

 

The 3-1/2" gives me the boost I want without being too hooker-like for daily drop-off at the old elementary school and still styley enough that I will definitely wear them out on a girls' excursion.

Also? Comfy. Not kidding.

 

And? Unobtrusive treads are barely visible and mean I don't clonk-clonk-CLONK around as much as usual (you're welcome, neighbors). 

Today, I am taking a style tip from Meagan Francis and throwing them over leggings and a flippy little dress (to super-skinny gals)/tunic top (to me).

But I will also wear them barelegged with dresses as the weather warms, before my sandals demand all my tootsies' attention.

Delightful for right now and even better for next fall and winter. Oh, and only $75 on sale. FOR ENZOS (I know). 

Here are a couple of other deals I would have taken if there was more room in my boot box to stock up:

 I am in love with Frye boots, and am crushing pretty hard on this Mimi Scrunch style, in part because they are $120 off. That savings can fund another pair of boots, kittens! Think of it. While you're walking tall in these girls. On Piperlime, $229 (and worth every single cent).

I am a big fan of Franco Sarto shoes and would even be willing to wear flats made by that delicious Italian. Marked down nearly a hundred dollars (ringing in at a sale price of $99), you will be extra happy to find these gorgeous riding boots when the season turns cold again next week/next autumn. 

You all know well that I am late and hesitant in coming to the UGG love. But there I was yesterday at Nordstrom Rack and ooh-ing and ahh-ing over how much wearing these boots felt like walking upon a cloud spun of sugar and air. The photo does not do them justice, but, man do they look sweet on. Also, the ones you order shouldn't have a giant ballpoint pen mark across the top like the ones at the Rack (which is why I opted out). These are suede and will call to your sweaters to join them in winter cute-casual fun. $187 on sale, down from $350.

I've been wearing a lot of dresses this winter-ish with black tights and booties. Sometimes I get really crazy and add patterned tights (what?!). I think a great pair of booties in black or chocolate or whatever color is your go-to is a great investment, even if you are a lady who only wears jeans or fancy pants. If I can only take one pair of shoes for a weekend trip (ohmahgaw, the horror), then I'd choose these because I can use them to dress up or down and outfit. These by Guess are $84, down from $139. These are on my list but for now, I am totally, unashamedly wearing a pair I picked up on sale at Target (yes, you've got it...) last spring for $20.

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Friday Shoegasm: Shoes for conquering the world

This sign hung above the Famous Footwear booth at BlissDom. They were giving out shoes and so, of course I was there with a bedillion other women in line. They are cute -- gray suede kicks with nice arch support and pink trim. They are comfy and sweet and very likely the kind of shoe I should wear more often. 

Instead, I collect shoes that are way too high and often uncomfortable without layers of band-aids and heel cushions and in some kind of impractical print that makes them work with a small percentage of clothing in my closet. Every time I travel, I plan my outfits meticulously, shoes included. And then in the end, I can't help myself and I throw three more pairs of shoes I absolutely must find time to wear in the hours I am away from home. 

I don't often wear the running shoes, rarely end up incorporating the flats, only slip on the comfy pairs if I absolutely must. My feet are tired and blistered and in need of a good rub-down every time I am headed home. But the shoes I choose, especially when I am traveling, are always the ones I feel best in for that trip.

They are the shoes I stand tall in. The ones that tell people I meet something about me. The pairs that make me want to dance, step up to the podium, rest my head in my chin with legs crossed underneath, cross the room to find a friend. 

I get clarity and breathe deeper when I am in shoes that help me hike up hills and chase away stress on the treadmill. There is a power in slipping those babies on my feet.

So thanks for the soft suede tennies. But when I am out in the rest of the world, I want to conquer it click-click-clicking my way through. 

Which shoes will you wear when you set off for world domination?

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