Shoes, Glorious Shoes! 37

It's been a while. A full year since I posted a shoe blog, and almost 8 months since I posted ANYTHING. A lot has happened. Namely, two surgeries for kidney stones that took about a month 1/2 of my life. Life in general, then a couple of crazy work months. And here we are.

The last couple of weeks have been the hardest hit on my anxiety I have ever had in my life. Not my emotions - that was (still is) easily my father's death. But my anxiety. I am going through something I have only shared with a small handful of people, and it is completely consuming me right now.

The thing is, I have learned over the years to be a high-functioning anxiety-ridden person. Anxiety makes people uncomfortable, awkward, annoyed, etc. It's easier to hide it than it is deal with the consequences of the real world (ESPECIALLY in a professional environment). I'm great at smiling/laughing/joking when inside I'm screaming. It's something I've - in a very obtuse way - written about before. I DO consider myself to be an emotionally strong person. The more I've thought about that over the years, it's because of that wall I've learned to put up. So when "normal" emotional situations present themselves, I can deal. When anxiety situations present themselves, I go into that same "strong" mode, but my brain NEVER shuts up. Ever. I can do 8 million things to try and silence it. Usually at home, I'll have a TV show playing on the computer while I play a computer game. Right now, I have a TV show playing while I write this - and yes occasionally am having to pause the show so I can clearly think through a thought. All the while, my brain is saying "What about...?" "Did you think about this...?" "What if...?" And if there is silence around me? Forget about it. I'll likely end up making myself throw up from the stress.

People that don't have everyday anxiety don't get this, and never will. Everyone understands anxiety. Everyone can have anxious situations. But for it to be all-consuming, where it can make you physically ill... not many people in your day-to-day will get that. They'll tell you to think about other things, or find a way to distract yourself. Which as you can see in my above paragraph, I certainly try to do. On "small" anxiety days, it sometimes works. In times like these - it barely touches my thoughts.

SO...

That heavy intro aside (I promised y'all I was going to be more real going forward - this is me being real) - I decided to distract myself today by dressing the way the-artist-formerly-known-as-Katie would. Heels, matching outfit, and purse. I had a new dress to wear, and perfectly matching Betsey heels and purse. 

And about halfway through the day decided to blog the shoes, as I would have back in the day. So, here they are!

Brand: Betsey Johnson Name: Kissez

Store: Smile.Amazon.com

(I specifically direct you to Smile Amazon, because YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE)

Review: 4" heel. Fits 1/2 size small. As you all know by now, a 4" heel is nothing to me, so these would be UBER comfortable, except the heel part of the shoe is SUPER tight, so rubs a blister on the side of my foot if I don't remember to stretch it out a couple times during the day.

This dress** is so simple, but I love it SO much. It's very Parisian, to me. In fact, it makes me think of the last two episodes of Sex and the City, when Carrie first gets to Paris:

As much as I hated how cheesy they ended the show (even though I loved the actual end result), I was (AM) obsessed with those last two episodes, because EVERY. SINGLE. OUTFIT. was perfection. That was most of my (and plenty of other women's) obsession with the show, was the fashion. Then the hilariously brilliant writing was a bonus. But OMG, those last two episodes. They could not have been any more perfect, fashion-wise. And I'm sure they went all out, given they knew they would never have to worry about budget again (until the movies came around). PER.FECT.ION. 

**Sidenote: that one picture of my dress took me sitting in the grass to set up my camera on my tripod/adjust angles/self-timers, etc. for maybe 2 minutes: and resulted in an hour+ long allergy attack. The joys of being allergic to outside, y'all.

Anyhoo, I know this blog has been all over the place. But that's just where I am right now, so I'm sharing it. See y'all... I dunno when. Maybe tomorrow, maybe in another year. 

      

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

"It's always best to start at the beginning - and all you do is follow the Yellow Brick Road."

So to start at the beginning, for those that are new to the land of Katybug - here is a good start to introduce you to me (i.e. my Oz obsession). For those that know me, let's dive right in. In fact, let's just go through Dorothy's Oz journey!

Sepia (Kansas)

So years back, I discovered (likely because of a random Oz Google search) the existence of an Oz Museum in Wamego, KS. Made a mental note that one day I WOULD go. A few years later, I legit don't remember how I stumbled across Oz Winery's site. But again, mental note. Then happened to notice it was in Wamego, KS... and the bucket list trip was created and added to the list. A day at an Oz Museum followed by wine PLUS more OZ?!?!! Yes and YES. I didn't know when it would happen but knew it would.

Munchkinland

Cut to modern day, and Katie's plan to live life to its fullest. I decided now was the time. I was willing to go by myself, as I've discovered I actually have a lot of fun on solo trips, but tossed an invite out to numerous people to see if they wanted to join.

Now, mixed in between the bucket trip addition and modern day, there was the announcement that the Orpheum's Broadway tour this year would include Wizard of Oz. So, OF COURSE, I bought tickets to that back in December for a June show.

There are no coincidences in life. The weekend that worked best for our Oz trip happened to be the weekend of Oz at the Orpheum! So Friday at Oz in Memphis, then off to Kansas for a family visit and more Oz on Monday.

The Scarecrow

Appropriate, if you ask me, that this scene applies to this part of the story. The Scarecrow is my favorite character in The Wizard of Oz, and Dorothy's best friend. And I spent my Memphis Oz experience with MY best friend! She is a piece of my heart, so I wish we'd taken a picture of her Tin Man-inspired outfit. It was more perfect than I even processed that night! :-)

Waiting for the show to start. Selfies are always required.

We have matching Oz shoes (this IS a shoe blog, right?!), and I of course had to get a Betsey Oz fix in there with my purse.

Now, about my outfit that night: I knew I would be wearing "our" Ruby Slippers. So I just had to plan around that. Cue black pants. Then I thought "Oh, my black and white striped shirt would work. Matches the shoes." Suddenly occurred to me - I'll be dressed as the Wicked Witch of the East's legs! PERFECTION. Outfit selected. Presentation is everything.  

*Note: I thought on the drive down there (too late), I should've bought a toy house and glued it to a headband so I could've been an accurate portrayal. But at least now I have a Halloween costume. 

My review of the show (as posted the night of attending): "It was cute. Definitely wasn't blown away. I hated the way the Scarecrow was portrayed, and the Tin Man was annoying. THE. LION. WAS. AWESOME. Glinda's dress was mesmerizing. I wanted to kidnap that chunky little Toto dog. He got the loudest ovation at the end. Overall, I'm glad I went for the Oz experience, but wouldn't go again if it came back."

Tin Man

So Saturday morning, I hit the road for Kansas. Arrived late afternoon and spent a fun night visiting with family. Sunday we'd decided to do a day of antique-ing. Turns out, there was a beer/food truck festival going on down by the shops that day. Shopping, beer, and food... sign me up. We get to the first store, and I am immediately in love:

Started as a joke(ish), and rapidly progressed into me deciding I needed them. We decided to hit the other shops just in case I saw something else, or wanted to talk myself out of them. All I did was talk myself in to them more. PURCHASED. *Insert dramatic shipping story here and note: NEVER ship UPS. Just don't. Greyhound, if you have furniture/large items. FedEx for everything else.*

There were numerous other success stories from that day. Mom found some chairs, as well. We all found some little purchases here and there. One store we went in, the sales associate complimented me on my dress as soon as we came in the store. Later, I was looking at their novelty socks, and she came over and whispered "I have inappropriate socks, if you're interested.". BUT I thought she said "I have inappropriate thoughts.", and after being complimented the second I walked in the store, plus this, I was kind of like "Umm... ok, random stranger..." Once she kept talking and I realized what she had actually said, I started giggling uncontrollably and told her what I thought she'd said. We had a good hard laugh, and she said "Now I feel like I can't look you in the eye!" 

Of all weekends for me to find this album - it happened to be Oz weekend?! MEANT. TO. BE. 

Did I mention food trucks?! Buffalo chicken tots, FTW.

Cowardly Lion

So, Monday had finally arrived! Oz day!! We piled in the car and headed to Wamego. I found myself calmer than I expected, but I think most of that was that I had only slept like 2 hours. Once I had the museum in sight, I don't think the smile left my face. 

Blue gingham shorts for Dorothy's dress with my Betsey Johnson Ruby Slippers. PRESENTATION IS EVERYTHING. 

You start your journey in sepia (the gift shop, ticket counter, etc). The entrance to the museum is through Dorothy's house.

Here's the museum. Every display case, plus close-ups of certain parts. I have so many words, yet "Shucks folks, I'm speechless."

We had so much fun. Probably (likely) me more than my mom, aunt, and cousin.

Emerald City (The Wizard of Oz)

Museum tour over, time to head to the winery! I booked a private party/tasting for us - because if I was going to do it, I was going to do it right. We chose 4 hors d'oeuvres, and they paired the wines accordingly. 

Our tasting room and custom menu. The Hot Pepper Bacon Jam was definitely the biggest hit (we all purchased some to bring home), but everything was DELICIOUS.

This was probably my favorite part of the day. Getting to geek out on Oz, and also laugh and chit-chat with family - well, that's a pretty good time, if you ask me. Also, discovering that they're allowed to ship wine to me (I've been told by other wineries that they can't ship to TN) was great. Because I really wanted to try their bubbly, but they're in a bottling cycle right now and didn't have any on-hand. Champagne/sparkling wine is my favorite. So I'm excited to order some. Plus be able to restock. 

Not hard to guess who belongs to whom here, is it?

There's No Place Like Home

Well really, there are a couple places I'd rather be than Memphis. But that's "home" for now, so I digress. Time to bring the chairs home! I have left the home office in a state of disarray for months because I couldn't decide if it was worth setting up the room knowing I'd be leaving for Canada at some point. Once I got the chairs, I decided they deserved to be displayed appropriately. So I took on the task of unpacking about 20 boxes and setting up the shelves. Then I ordered curtains. And poppies for my Oz vase.

The Oz wine also found its home. 

And, without further ado...

New chairs. Witch's legs curtains. Perfection.

And the panorama of the full room.

So that is my Oz journey. I may have mentioned presentation being important to me. So you're aware: this blog was written while wearing Oz knee socks. 

HOW ELSE WOULD YOU DO IT?!

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.