Thursday, May 17, 2012

Shoes, Glorious Shoes! 5

Here they are. The shoes that awoke the beast. We were on vacation in Atlanta, shopping at our fave mall, Discover Mills, and walked into Off Broadway Shoes. At the time my shoe addict beast was in hibernation. I saw plenty of shoes I loved, but admired them from afar and moved on without purchasing. Granted, financial issues helped with that decision. But still…

We walked into Off Broadway, and these bad boys were right at the front (understandably so). I tried them on, and instantly fell in love. Stupid of me to try them on. Stupid of me to walk in the store. We knew we didn’t have any more money to spend if we wanted to be able to pay for gas on the way back home. I sadly placed them back in their box and walked out of the mall. The rest of the trip and the whole way home, I kept talking about the shoes. Thinking about the shoes. Dreaming about the shoes.

I had to have them.

Now thankfully I have a very good memory. I used to say it was photographic when I was younger. I think age has put a dent in that theory. I tend to forget things easily while at work. Someone can ask me to send them a file, I’ll say ok, and five seconds later I’ve forgotten about it. I tend to either forget, or block out, painful memories. But when it comes to the deliciously random details of life, they are stuck to my brain like glue. I can quote the entire movie “The Wizard of Oz” (as my Dad would say: animal noises, and all) top to bottom without thinking twice. I can recall conversations that were had with friends months before, and bring them up when having a related discussion months later. And much to my delight, I apparently can remember the names of shoes after only looking at the box once as I try them on.

Cue the Google search. Up comes DSW.com and the rest is history. Ever since I purchased these shoes, I have been on a full-blown shoe binge. Doesn’t help that DSW has a rewards program, so I’m always earning coupons/certificates. I can’t stand letting free money go to waste. I think the only thing saving me from being homeless on the street living in a shoe house is I do make sure to only buy the shoes if they speak to me. I don’t buy shoes just to buy shoes.

So without further ado, here they are:

Brand: Steve Madden Name: Saassi
Store: Dsw.com
Review: 5” heel. Fit just a smidge big. Not big enough to go down a half size, especially since the strap keeps your foot from sliding in and out all day. Super comfortable. This is a pair I think I could get away with wearing all day and all night and not come away with blisters the next day.

Nothing over-the-top on the outfit. I let the shoes be the star.

I *almost* put 6” heel on the review for this pair, because technically they’re about 5 ½”. Couldn’t decide if anything over 5” qualified as 6”, so I just stuck with 5”. They’re tall. Let’s leave it at that.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Shoes, Glorious Shoes! 4

I’ve actually had this pair of shoes for a year or so now, so I don’t remember if there is some wonderful or dramatic story to go with them. I do remember that I got them for super cheap during one of my first trips in years to Rack Room. They were already on clearance, plus they were my ½ off pair, so I think they ended up being like $7.

I was slow to jump on the ankle boot bandwagon. In fact, these are still my only pair. Have seen plenty I love, just never hit the purchase button for some reason. But when they first became THE thing a couple years ago, I wasn’t sold. They kinda reminded me of a pair of pants or a long skirt that had shrunk and was now in that weird in-between area. Not really long, but not really short… just… off. But when I saw the price I could get these for, and the fact I knew I had a sweater in my closet they matched perfectly, I took the plunge. SO happy I did. They lend themselves to a rockstar feel for some reason. I find myself walking with attitude and purpose when I wear them.

Brand: XAPPEAL Name: Gia
Store: Rack Room Shoes
Review: 4” heel. Fits perfectly to size. Just enough space in them if you want to add a pair of socks, you can. I will say, for some reason the right boot puts pressure on the top of my foot like every other time I wear them. I don’t do anything differently, so that could just be a weird Katybug-ism – not the shoe.

I was tentative when I first got these. I started wearing them with tights, then would do tights or leggings. Now I don’t care. I’ll wear them with anything and OWN it.

If you do not yet have any ankle boots in your collection, I highly recommend you get at least one pair and then party like a rockstar!

Friday, May 4, 2012

Going to the Chapel

Nope, not me. Don’t get excited. Not anxious to travel that road again any time soon. Other than maybe the party. Would it be wrong to get married just to be able to plan the reception? And pick out the dress(es)? Yes? Ok, moving on…

This is the first of my “fun outfit” posts for a pair of shoes. So it got it’s own special title- rather than sticking with the shoes, glorious shoes series. You first met these beauties here. I will say, I must’ve either broken them in the day I wore them to work, or just slid them on better this time (yes, there is an art to putting on a shoe), because they were UBER-comfortable this time around. No squished toes for Katybug.

The occasion? Obviously a wedding. A friend/former co-worker of mine got married a few weeks ago. The wedding was beautiful, one of the sweetest weddings I’ve been to in a long time. Maybe ever. Not a dry eye in the house. The reception was downtown, and my luck being what it is, I managed to be the car that was right behind the last car that would fit in the lot for the reception location. And so begins the excitement of finding a spot to park that is safe/where you won’t get a ticket or towed. Luckily Spaghetti Warehouse was just a few blocks up, so I took it upon myself to pretend to be a patron and park in their lot. So now we know that you can walk a few blocks in these shoes and not be in miserable pain by the time you arrive at your location. Also, I know those of you that live in Memphis/know about Memphis are incredibly impressed with me right now. I walked 3 blocks on a dark side street downtown. By myself. And I’m alive to type this blog right now.

I feel like we should insert some sort of superhero music right here.

I love any chance I get to primp up. Doesn’t happen that often anymore, although I suppose I could primp up for work if I REALLY wanted to. But that would mean I’d have to get up at least an hour earlier. And that’s where the discussion ends. But for this night – primping was on the menu.

This pic was snapped just to text to a friend to show her my outfit. Thank goodness it was, because much to my surprise – no additional pictures of my outfit were taken that night. And so continues the tradition of bad/blurry outfit photos on the blog.


I was so excited that my hair was still curly after the wedding, I had to snap a picture.

So there you go! Maybe now that Spring/Summer is here I’ll have more opportunities to doll up and go out. I know I at LEAST get to look forward to the summer movie series at the Orpheum. Can’t tell you how excited I am that they’re showing Princess Bride this year. Add it to the must attend showings of Wizard of Oz and RHPS, and we’re talking about the possibility of three blogs! Shoes, Shoes, SHOES!