So This Is Life

So, yesterday was a year. A year that he left us, and heaven gained one of its best angels. For weeks, maybe even months, I prepared myself to be an emotional wreck that day. And yet, when it came, the tears didn't fall. I asked his friends/our family to share happy memories on Facebook so we could all smile and remember everything he meant to us. So I found myself checking Facebook all day to see if anything new had been posted to his timeline. The rest of the day I kept myself busy with things I knew wouldn't have sadness that might trigger a breakdown. So when the day ended and I'd made it through with only a few times of tears welling up, I thought "Huh. Maybe I am actually coming to terms with this."

Then this morning came.

I spent most of my getting-ready-for-work routine crying. Cried most of the way to work. Managed to pull it together, then in speaking with a co-worker that recently lost her Mom, broke again. I suddenly realized that it was because I was coming to terms with the fact that: this is now life. In the last year, it's kind of been "new". You know, it's only been a couple/few months... it's fresh, so it doesn't seem real. We were still dealing with settling his estate, there were constant reminders around. Yesterday apparently cemented in my mind that he's gone. It's been a year, and I really do have to learn how to deal with life without my Daddy/my friend.

Everything still seems so clear. Like it was hours ago. And this could be why the nurse kept asking/telling people to get me to leave the room more often than I was (hardly at all) in those last days. To scar me less, maybe? But I wouldn't have done it any differently. Even when I left so his friends/family/church family could have their time with him, I was ready to be back in the room with him. Those last few days I barely let go of his hand. We had Pandora playing and sang to him. The times I was in the room alone with him, I would talk to him in between singing. I wanted him to know we were there. I had "conversations" with him, just because I knew how he would respond if he could. Or maybe I was making him "respond" how I wanted him to... which he'd tell you was probably more accurate. The one day I asked him if he could wake up so we could sing Love Shack on karaoke and his thumb squeezed against my hand would be a good example of this (he hated singing that song and made sure I knew it, but always did it for me - his squeeze was his sign of protest). But the main reason I couldn't leave: I wanted to be there for him like he's always been there for me. I couldn't heal him. I couldn't take his pain. But I could be there to support/comfort him, as he had done for me so many times over the years. 

The people that tell me "time heals" clearly must have years under their belt, or are a lot stronger than me. I miss coming home and him singing to Allie (while I walked in the door) "Who can it beeeeeeeeee now?" I miss watching The Walking Dead with him, and him making fun of me the next day for every time I freaked because they got a little TOO close to killing Daryl Dixon. I miss going and watching Eddie & Debbie sing at Neil's with him/our friends. More than anything, and something I don't see myself ever getting over, I miss singing with him. Whether it were karaoke, at church, random songs we'd burst into when something on TV/someone said would trigger a song in our heads. 

I used to always tease him for the "wrong" things he gave me. Crazy bad eyesight, big feet, bad knees, etc etc etc. And he'd tell me that he used to be sane, then Liz cracked the wall of sanity, and I came barreling through. To which I'd respond first "Whatever. I think I could get accounts from your family proving otherwise." and then telling him all of the "bad" was balanced out by the fact he gave me a lot of my personality. I'm loud, silly, and many times what some would see as crazy. He called me his dramatic child. Because I may or may not have had moments of drama over the years. *places hand over entire family's mouth* But what he saw as drama, I saw as an extension of him. Problem is, when you put that personality into a female... :-). So he gave me some of my personality, my writing passion (hence the reason I'm expressing my emotions tonight through words), and my love of singing. Then of course I got lucky enough to have Mama give me the love of everything else artistic. Drawing, painting, sewing, etc. Between the two of them, I have so much potential. One day... haha.

I feel like this a good point to come to a close. We're all smiling (or at least, I am) and I hope that will get easier and easier to do as time passes. I miss you, Daddy. Heaven's choir is the best it's ever been. I promise to keep singing. 

All my love, 

Tater

Shoes, Glorious Shoes! 33 & 34

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, Betsey Johnson. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Honestly, no. Nevermind. Because if I count, I might shame myself, and then not allow myself to continue indulging in your glorious work. Let's move forward.

I remember when I first started getting into fashion as a preteen/teen. I wrote the most sadly pathetic e-mail to CoverGirl, asking them if I could be one of their models. In their defense, they actually responded (heaven knows they get thousands to millions of e-mails a day - between consumer affairs, models, spam, etc) - telling me to sign with a modeling agency first - then get back in touch with them. Maybe they saw potential in the pics I sent, maybe they were randomly taking pity on a sad, sad girl. Whatever it was, it was enough to light a fire under me. I started buying every fashion magazine I could get my hands on, and burying my face in them night after night. Often tearing pages out when I would find something I was so obsessed with (both fashion and modeling poses/looks), I couldn't bear to throw it away with the rest of that magazine. To this day, if you were to go through my storage boxes (and for that matter, folders on my computers), I PROMISE you: you will find stray magazine pages.

Now I had years of the "modeling" world. What this boils down to is being screwed over by a "modeling agency", but also many wonderfully fun years of posing for a photography class for U of M, and eventually, the photogs I made friends with from said class (and a couple from a modeling site I had joined). For the most part, those days were glorious fun, and I remain friends with several people I met during those times.

But my heart was always more on the fashion side. As time went on, and I learned more about who was who in the designer world, Betsey Johnson always stood out to me. When I first encountered her, it was - "She's kinda weird. And I like it." As the years went on, and ESPECIALLY now that I've grown into my personality as a woman, I admired her for her focused determination to live life youthfully. Who cares what number your birth year puts you at? Age is what you feel. Who you are. Your spirit. And by golly, Betsey Johnson lives and breathes this every single day.

An added bonus for me: I ADORE her work. While that bonus did not work out for me in my younger years, and budget being what it was - over the years I've learned to save. watch for deals, etc. So today's blog is a tribute to two pairs of heels, but really - as you can tell - Betsey herself.

Brand: Betsey Johnson Name: Barbe

Store: Honestly forget - maybe Amazon

Review: 6" heel. True to form for Betsey, fits 1/2 size small. So me being a 9, I always order a 9.5 for Betsey heels. I love, Love, LOVE these shoes. Besides the fact they're houndstooth (ROLL TIDE ROLL, AMIRITE?!), they are sexy as hell. I can't help but strut when I'm in them. 

Brand: Betsey Johnson Name: Leanah

Store: Amazon.com

Review: 6" heel. Probably closer to 7 (as is Barbe, above). Fits true-to-Betsey. I wanted this shoe for 2 years, but couldn't afford, given financial times. Life happened, and suddenly she appeared before me again. Haiiiiii. Guarantee you, this will be one of my most-worn heels. Comfy and SEXXXY.

Betsey, I love and adore you. Please don't ever stop realizing your brilliance! I could post pics of everything Betsey here, but just know there's a lot. Plus this:

http://mindifibugyou.blogspot.com/2012/10/shoes-glorious-shoes-12.html

http://mindifibugyou.blogspot.com/2012/06/shoes-glorious-shoes-7.html

And be aware there are more Betsey shoes to come. Long live Betsey Johnson.

God's Country

So, I'm finally going there. I've hinted at it for a while on my blog, but wasn't ready to openly discuss. I kept referring to it as life changes, major stress, etc etc etc. I wasn't ready to really talk about the fact that my Daddy was gone.

September '14. He hadn't been feeling well for a couple weeks. I asked him to go to the doctor. He was a man. He postponed. I made a "deadline" in my brain. He just barely beat that deadline. I wish now I'd pushed harder, but at the same time - it wouldn't have made a difference in the diagnosis. To be told your Dad has leukemia one Saturday, and him to be gone the next - there are no words. I liken it to him being in a car wreck, or some other accident. There was no time to process the information before we lost him. I've typed and retyped a few sentences/paragraphs regarding his last days, but the words keep turning to anger regarding his first team of doctors. This is a subject I have to somehow eventually let go of, but haven't made it there yet. So instead, I'll just say God Bless Dr. Martin (and team) with the West Clinic those final days for the work they did. The genuine care and attention they showed him and us meant more than they'll ever know.

The days and weeks after his death are kind of a blur, there was so much going on. The one thing that sticks with me though, is how many people reached out to us. Being a Daddy's girl, I always knew how awesome *I* thought he was, but the outpouring of love and support during those days just showed how many lives he truly touched. My Mom & I went to his church the day after he passed, and even typing this I'm getting choked up. To walk in and see your Dad's choir robe sitting in the chair he always occupied... extremely emotional moment. And beautiful tribute.

His memorial service was another example of all of the people who loved him. The sanctuary was full, and the service was beautiful. I wish we'd thought to video it, as it was filled with music and laughter - just as Daddy would've wanted. 

All of this feels like it was just yesterday. But somehow, here we are, creeping up on a year. That just blows my mind. I can still hear his voice, picture him laughing, feel his hugs, and especially hear him sing. I hope I never lose that. I was blessed to have him as a father, and a friend. 

So the final leg of my road trip was to Rockwood, where Daddy grew up, to spread his ashes. Daddy expressed for years that he wanted to have his final resting place on the lake, where he (and we all) had so many fond memories. His favorite place in the world. Disclaimer: *technically* he expressed that he wanted a Viking funeral on the lake, but I think there are probably safety regulations or permits involved with that... 

We rented a boat, and all thought happy no-rain thoughts (it called for t-storms all day long, and the clouds were looking to deliver on that forecast). I even wore my sunglasses and sun hat to bring all of the sunshine vibes I could our way. We got to the marina, and lo and behold: BLUE SKIES WERE PEEKING THROUGH!

While we did hit a little rain here and there, for the most part it held off and we spent a lovely day on the water. We went by the cabin our family used to own, told stories of our memories there... the awesome swing, the family summers, the time I almost drowned... good times. Haha 

We drove all around the lake, stopped at one of the marinas for lunch, and just generally did what Daddy loved to do - enjoy the water and the beauty of the lake and hills. God's Country, he called it. And it's pretty hard to argue. 

In Loving Memory of 

David John Roberts

(1954-2014)

Buggy's Road Trip, Day 2 & 3!

And onward we go! Thankfully not over any major bridges after this one leaving Evansville.

Day 2! And the longest drive of the trip. Anyone close to me knows I am not really phased by road trip driving, so anything up to about 10 hours seems easy to tackle. After 10 hours, I'll still do it - but I'll put a LOT more planning into it. Maybe scoping out a hotel or two just in case I get too tired to do the full drive in one sitting. This drive, however, was pretty standard at 6 hours.

The plan was to head to the hotel first, so I could get checked in, drop my stuff off, etc. and then go hit the town for the rest of the day. Alas, I did not plan on being stuck trying to get through Pigeon Forge for over an hour. It's a 4-mile stretch. So frustrating. I just wanted to pick up the cars and go. I understand there's a traffic light every .25 mile but here's the thing. If you actually pay attention to the lights changing, and don't block the intersections so crossing cars can't get through, and don't slow down to look at everything you pass... magical things will happen, and we'll all make it through in a matter of minutes, not hours!

Sorry... I may have been slipping into a bit of PTRR (post-traumatic road rage) there...

So, by the time I got to the hotel and got settled it was almost 6:00. I knew I was going to have to drop a bunch of my planned stops from the list. However, the two things that could NOT be missed were the aquarium, and Hillbilly Golf. It had been YEARS since I'd visited Gatlinburg, but I feel like I grew up there we went so much as kids, so planning my route of attack was easy. The aquarium was next door to my hotel, so it was stop #1. 

Speaking of my hotel, the view from my balcony was not too shabby!

Maybe I'm a bit biased, being that the Georgia Aquarium is my favorite (doesn't hurt that it's in ATL), but when I saw a billboard that this aquarium had been voted #1 in the country by visitors on TripAdvisor, or some site like that, I was like WAIT, WHAT?! It's a nice aquarium, but given what I know about Georgia Aquarium, this kind of shocked me. So I thought, "Maybe they've added on to it since the last time I was here." Paid for my ticket, and in I went!

After spending a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng time, and a loooooooooooooot of pictures in the Shark Lagoon (sharks are pretty special to me & my family), I made my way through the rest of the aquarium, and found myself at the gift shop. I was like "Wait... did I miss something?" I swear it seemed bigger years ago. I circled back to make sure I didn't miss a hallway somewhere and sure enough, that was it. Not saying it wasn't fun, it just shocked me I got through it so fast. I'm still convinced I missed a turn somewhere. But anyway - I wandered around the gift shop for a while, picked out my obligatory souvenirs, and proceeded to stop #2: SHOPPING.

Sidenote: Georgia Aquarium, still the best. Not up for debate.

Here are some of my pictures from the aquarium (seriously, if I had uploaded all of the shark pictures I took, you'd spend the rest of your day clicking through... or maybe just delete me from your life). 

So, to the shops I went! 

Found some good laughs along the way (click to make larger)

How I ever rode this, even with Daddy holding my hand, I have no idea...

And of COURSE, had to get an airbrushed shirt!

After nabbing a few finds here and there, I passed one of those aqua massage places, and decided to stop and try it. After a night of dancing, my legs were definitely making me aware that I am not as young as I used to be. Plus, I've been having a lot of migraines/tension headaches from stress, so I thought this might help. Overall opinion: good for minor aches/pains/soreness, not very effective for major tension (like I have in my neck/shoulders). But my legs felt great when I got done. I hit a few more shops, then decided I was ready for dinner. My review of the restaurant I ended up at (Loco Burro on the Parkway): I asked for a to-go box and my check when my meal FINALLY came out. I could rant and rave, but that sums it up pretty accurately. A couple next to me ended up leaving, having never even been asked what they wanted to drink after sitting there for about 15-20 minutes. So I'd highly recommend you go elsewhere to eat if you're ever in town. The only good part was my jackass stool, which you'll see in the Gatlinburg gallery below. I decided to head back to my room (it was after 10:00 at this point), and try and salvage my evening by relaxing, and then getting a decent night's sleep.

Day 3! The main mission of the day was Hillbilly Golf. Easily my favorite memory of Gatlinburg, going there as kids, and even as an adult years later. SO much fun. Mini golf in general is usually very enjoyable, but Hillbilly Golf is a whole 'nother level. You ride a tram up the hill, then play your way back down. Through farm equipment obstacles, nonetheless. I was notoriously the worst at this (not just Hillbilly Golf, any course we played) growing up, so I prepared myself for a horrible scorecard. Made it through the first 6 or so holes with a decent score (I think I was 1 over par), and caught up to a family of 6 that was nice enough to let me play through. They said "Ok, show us how it's done!" I joked with them that I was not their source for play techniques, lined my ball up, hit it... and HOLE IN ONE!!! Hahaha, apparently I perform well under pressure. Got cocky, bragged about it on social media, and two holes later... got a 4 on a par 2. It's a long way to fall from the top, people. Final score: 1 under par. I'm framing my scorecard.

Up next was the Hollywood Wax Museum. Most of the story is in the pictures in the gallery below, but I will tell you this - if you've got the time, go! Many of the figures don't look like the celebrity, but there a lot of good ones in there. And even though I was by myself, I felt like I was there with a big group, because everyone was laughing at people's silly poses for pictures and taking pictures for other people, etc. A lot of fun. Now for the funny-to-everyone-but- me part. I paid the extra $9 for the All-Access pass. This gave you access to the other attractions associated with the museum, plus access to the third floor with observatory deck. That's exactly how it was described to me. The outside of the building is the Empire State Building, with King Kong on the side of it. So on the deck, you're right up next to his face. 

Now, maybe I should preface the next part of this story by telling (or reminding) you that I am absolutely terrified of heights. I get weak in the knees & dizzy. So I'm thinking "the third floor with observatory deck" might have a few more statues, plus the deck. I get on the elevator, punch my access code in, the doors open, and: BOOM, YOU ARE OUTSIDE IN OPEN AIR WITH AN OPEN RAILING TO THE FALL TO YOUR DEATH DOWN BELOW. There was a crowd of people waiting to go back downstairs, so I stepped out and let them on to the elevator, the doors shut behind me, and I glued myself to the wall, punching the crap out of the elevator button to call it back. To try and distract myself while I waited, I snapped a couple pictures out at the mountain (sometimes it helps me to look out, instead of down). That didn't help. I started sweating. WHAT WAS TAKING SO LONG?! I was desperately trying to grip the walls with my fingers. Alas, they would not sink in. Just as I thought I might have a panic attack, or faint, the doors finally opened and I ran in to safety. In actuality, this probably all only took maybe a minute or two, but it felt like half an hour. I paid $9 to scare the living crap out of myself. 

Needless to say, that was enough excitement for me, and after a brief stint in the gift shop (WIZARD OF OZ!!!!), I headed to lunch, and then on to my next stop. 

Here are the pictures from all of those adventures!

Leg two, done!     

Am I Jaded?

So, in keeping with my decision earlier this year that I was going to live life more, a couple of months ago I randomly one night got the idea of going to see Aerosmith on their latest tour by myself. I've honestly lost track of how many times I've seen them in concert now, but I think I'm somewhere around 10 shows. However, never have I seen them alone. I also never have had floor seats. This was always on purpose. I didn't want to be the unlucky one to get stuck behind someone ridiculously tall and not be able to see everything the show had to offer. So I decided that night not only was I going to alone, but I was going to splurge and get VIP floor seats.

*cut to a month+ later*

At this point I had talked myself into and out of the tickets NUMEROUS times, to the point I had missed out on the VIP Brad/Tom meet & greet. The reasoning behind this was complicated, but mainly boiled down to me being so overwhelmed with life, that the idea of traveling to a city I didn't know and going to a concert alone was too much for me to process. One night, I had enough of life trying to kick me while I was down, and decided I was fighting back, and fulfilling my promise to myself. Without letting myself think twice, I got online, booked one of the last remaining floor seats available, and a hotel for the night. 

Once I got everything booked, I started thinking about the fact that I had to be in Rockwood (East TN) that weekend. Did it really make sense for me to drive back to Memphis on Thursday, and then over to Rockwood on Friday? So the wheels started turning again, and suddenly I had an entire road trip planned. Memphis --> Evansville --> Gatlinburg --> Rockwood --> Memphis. More on that to come.

The day of the concert arrived. I drove up to Evansville that morning/afternoon. Got checked in, grabbed a quick bite to eat, then went back to the room to get ready:

You remember here where I not only showed you the shoes, but told you about a ring I was ridiculously excited to wear to an Aero concert? Now you know why.

Had every intention of walking to the concert, because I didn't want to fool with moving my car, waiting on valet, etc. When I got outside the hotel, there happened to be a large group of people boarding a shuttle bus. I asked, and sure enough, AEROSMITH! "Sweet!", I thought. Save me the walking in heels. Had I known how that ride was going to go, I probably would've walked. The shuttle bus was packed, and I was one of the unlucky ones who had to stand. Let me tell you - trying to balance while standing in 4" heels in a moving shuttle bus when the driver is taking corners like she's in a friggin NASCAR race... not as easy as it sounds. Doesn't sound easy? Correct. Difficult. By the time we got there, my knees and calves were burning like I'd just done 3,000 squats. 

After making my tour merch purchases and waiting in a RIDICULOUSLY slow line at the bar, I made my way to my seat. As I walked in the direction the usher pointed me to, I noticed I was getting closer... and closer... and closer to the stage. I knew my seats were good. I had no idea how good! I was two rows back from the center stage extension. So at this point I was shaking (literally) with excitement. To the extent that I had to put one of my drinks down (the only plus to the slow line - they DID let you buy two at a time) so I could hold the other with both hands so it didn't spill. Haha 

Living Colour was the opening act, and very entertaining, considering I only know one of their songs, Cult of Personality. Corey Glover was having a blast interacting with fans. To the point that after taking numerous selfies while singing, he jumped down from the stage and headed into the crowd.

They, of course, closed with Cult of Personality. And then left the stage for the crew to begin preparing for Aerosmith. During our wait, The guy next to me began chatting about how long it had been since he'd seen Aerosmith (Original GNR was their opening act, if that tells you anything) and that he was so excited to be bringing his daughter to see them for the first time. If I were to guess, I'd say his daughter was maybe 10 or 12. Super cute. 

The moment finally arrived, and Aerosmith started their set. Not only did they start their set, they started it RIGHT. IN FRONT. OF ME! I Periscoped this part, so I don't have a video. The show was awesome. HOWEVER: there were many oddities during the concert. I'll admit many of my Aero concerts I've been a bit inebriated. That being said, I remember a couple of shows that Joe was frustrated with the sound of his guitar. This show however, was different in that EVERY guitar change he did, he messed with the guitar for a long time. Almost like he hadn't bothered to do a sound check before the show. Several times during the show, Steven was calling for him to come join him center stage/stage extension, and JP was nowhere to be found. One point we could see JP, but he was messing with his guitar so much that Steven finally said "It sounds fine damnit, come play!" Given their toxic relationship, you always wonder how much is good-natured ribbing, and how much is tension. But the rest of the show they were giggling and grinning at each other, so I think it was all in good fun.

The JP guitar issues aside, there was also a LONNNNNNNNNNNNNNG delay between end of the concert and encore. Once they finally came out, Steven apologized for being late on the encore because he was on the phone wishing his daughter (Mia, I'm assuming?) a happy life because she just got married. Well, a couple things: 1) why schedule a concert on your daughter's wedding day? 2) you only had 2 songs left - since you're not there, can you not wait 10 more minutes to call?

When they went into Sweet Emotion as the finale, Steven said something about Brad getting off the phone. Well, lo and behold, you look over at Brad, and he's on a cell the entire first part of the song. Given I've seen them enough, I found this a smidge annoying, but mostly funny. However, I'd imagine first-time goers might've been more annoyed by it. The whole experience was just... odd. Like they were enjoying themselves so much that they thought they were in a casual environment where they could do whatever. 

That being said, most of the concert was what they've done for the last couple of tours. The drum solo by Joey, where Steven comes out and plays over him. Dream On with the piano that JP gets on top of, etc etc. Awesome for first time goers, good/great for those of us that have seen it numerous times. One fun part that was different for this concert: it was Joey Kramer's birthday. The below video was right after he and Steven had finished the drum part I was talking about.

 

If you'd like to see the rest of the videos, just go to my YouTube (you'll see a bunch of other craziness, too).

And here are the rest of the pictures I took from that night (click image).

Leg one of Buggy's Road Trip: in the books. Or blog. Whatever. 

   

Shoes, Glorious Shoes! 32

I'm making an effort these days to do things that make me smile. Life is really just kicking the crap out of me/my loved ones the last 6 months. But if it has taught me anything, it's that you have to keep making attempts to find reasons to smile. Some days are easier than others. But I've decided I'm no longer just settling for things as they are. I tackled something that has been bringing me down for years at the beginning of this week. No guarantee that anything will change, but I did at least do my part to make the situation better. That's all you can do. You have to learn that some things are just out of your control, and it's what you do about those situations - speak up, leave, bite your tongue and be miserable 24/7 - that affects your every day life. I have been known to speak my mind on occasion...

*insert raucous laughter from friends and family here*

...however, when it comes to a situation that affects my daily life (i.e. friends, family, work), I tend to hold my tongue. Usually at the cost of my mental health. I don't want to hurt the feelings of people I love. I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable in a day-to-day situation. And so, I stay quiet. Sometimes (like in this case) for years, where things build and get worse until I finally break. My goal is to get better about this. It will probably take baby steps, but I'm at least making strides. While I still don't want to hurt people I love, I know they also don't want me to be hurt, and that requires me speaking up. 

Speaking up for myself aside, I've also decided I'm living life this year. Taking weekend trips with friends, going to movies alone when I want to see something but no one is free, seeing a pair of shoes I want and not thinking twice before hitting the checkout button, etc. Which brings us to today's pair.

I am switching everything up for a while. Since most of my outfits are usually 90% the same, given they're work outfits, I'm going to start picking and choosing when I post outfits. Spring/Summer you'll probably see more outfits than Fall/Winter. Just more options when it's warm. Plus you can see the shoes better in a skirt than in long pants. So today, we focus on the shoes and accessories.

This pair is SO MUCH FUN. And totally me. Anything that has a rocker edge, I'm good with. I instantly go to "I can wear these to an Aerosmith concert!" (sidenote - I have a new ring that is SO AEROSMITH-worthy, I geeked out when I saw it; you'll see it at some point)

Brand: Style by ShoeDazzle Name: Yousra

Store: ShoeDazzle.com

Review: 4" heel. Fits true to size. I'm not going to go into the typical ShoeDazzle vs Katie's long toes in their pumps story here. These are actually pretty comfy, as long as you're used to walking in heels with no platforms. And SO rockstar, right?! No? Super plain, you say?

Sssssssssssssssilly you, for thinking I would tease a rocker shoe, and not deliver. Plus, I love a little toe cleavage. Sexy, edgy, different. LOVE.

So why not pair it with a matching ring? A 4-finger ring, at that (excuse me while I switch into Bama mode for a second - FOUR FANGERS! FOUR FANGERS!). Note: if you have never worn a 4-finger ring, prepare yourself. It flat-out does NOT work in an every day world. I had it off for most of the day at work. You can't do most tasks, because you can't separate your fingers. But if you're wearing for a social engagement, it's fine. Not uncomfortable for several hours wear, as long as you don't need to type, write much, etc.

And then a little extra special touch on the other hand. LOVE this ring/fingertip accessory ring. The spike ring on my pointer finger is hard to see, but the rocker vibe was carried out. 

So for now, dear blog readers, I bid you adieu. But hopefully soon, I'll have a lot more to talk to you about, and not just shoes. 

Shoes, Glorious Shoes! 31

Well, as usual, life got the better of me for a bit and I am now behind on blogs - and on shoe wearing. The blog part, meh. Can always catch up several at a time, as I have clearly demonstrated in the past. But behind on shoe wearing?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? IS THIS THE END OF THE WORLD? HAVE I STARTED THE APOCALYPSE AND WE'RE JUST WAITING FOR THE LOCUSTS TO SHOW UP?!?!!!!!!

Ok, so that might have been a bit dramatic.

Anyhoo, this pair that I'm about to show you I have actually had for a while. Had only worn them once prior to this, and realized they're a smidge big. Decided I was going to buy an insole to put down near my toes to help hold my foot at the back of the shoe... and well, that never happened. Cut to me wearing them months later to work, and realizing it had never happened and barely being able to walk all day. At some point I'll get all of this straight, I swear. Life will start to fall into place, and all will be right in my shoe world again.

Speaking of life falling into place, I am hoping this near year will bring some calm into my life. It's certainly not starting that way, as right now I have a sick kitty to worry about, but hopefully after his follow up next week (*sends prayers up for good news*) all will slowly return to peaceful. Or as peaceful as life gets with two kitties and an 80-lb ball-of-energy pup. I am never once to make resolutions, as I feel you just set yourself up for failure, but I do have a couple things I am excited about getting in to in the new year. I have always been a fan of making my own pasta, but the process without the right tools is SO tedious. Everything was by hand, and usually turned out yummy, but not quite what I knew it could be. I have a KitchenAid mixer and all of the pasta attachments coming to me this week, and I am excited to be able to experiment with different recipes and just play in the kitchen again. It's been far too long since I have  really cooked and I feel my inner chef is screaming to be set free. Also, in the spirit of getting back to my creative side, I have gotten my brand new (3 years old, but still in the box) sewing machine out of storage. I have no plans on what my first project will be, but I have had numerous ideas over the years, and now I just need to stop thinking and DO. The one possible snag in that plan is I'll basically have to teach myself to sew all over again. I haven't been behind a sewing machine in probably 15 years or so. And even then, wasn't a pro by any means. So, we'll see.

On to the shoes:

Brand: ShoeDazzle Name: Nadira

Store: ShoeDazzle.com

Review: 7" heel. Fits large in length, width is fine/slim. It's hard to see in the picture, but these have a great gradient effect from the pink in the front to the black at the back. Super fierce. And the pink is WAY more intense than these pics reflect. 

I'm going to have to find a new place to take outfit pictures at some point. These are just serving their purpose, not really giving you a good view of the outfit/shoes. 

At whatever point I actually wear the other two new pair I have, the blogs will come. And who knows, if I stick to this whole pasta-making/sewing plan... maybe some different blogs, too!