He who must not be named

As you read this, I am on my way to D.C., but I wanted to leave you with some shoes for thought.

At the height of irresponsibility is your good old shoe pal Erin. My dirty secret is that I am ridiculously messy. To the point of embarrassment -- possibly even "Hoarders". This doesn't end with my car.

So, because of this messiness, I didn't realize that a SHOE fell out of my car as I was putting stuff in it, and I proceeded to shut the door, get in, and drive away. Of course this doesn't have a happy ending. This is what I came home to:



When I told my sympathetic shoe friends I was immediately asked... "May I ask... who it was?" Who it was indeed. If you're reading this Msr. Louboutin, and are inclined to help out a sad shoe lady who is sorrowful about the loss of "Double Strapper" (a vintage style, no longer in production), I am a 37.

All things considered I am pretty impressed. I ran over this shoe. With. A. Car. For the most part it's still held together and the break is clean at the heel. I could probably get them fixed (though it might be expensive), and while not good as new, would be decent. Otherwise my plan is to turn the other shoe into a wine holder or some other crafting extravaganza.

Bon week-end

In short, my weekend was incredibly busy, but spectacular. I've still got miles to go before I sleep, but let's talk about so far. Friday night I had tickets to see one of my favorite musicals, "Spring Awakening". I got really good seats, but I forgot about the fact that they also have stage seating... so while I was there, I asked if there were any seats available on stage. There were two left, so my fella and I got to enjoy the show up close and personal. As a side note, I've seen this musical three times, so I knew all the words... but if you're not as versed, stage seating makes it a little hard to hear the singing because of the band playing so close.

This is the second time I've worn these pretty shoes. I've had them nearly three years, but the heel is so delicate (made of "specchio" leather -- kind of a rubbed metallic leather?) that I was scared to wear them. Having beautiful shoes that just sit in my closet seems so silly, so I've been trying to wear them in all their fabulousness more often.

The dress was a great sale find while shopping when my dear friend Cecilia was in town for a wedding. After wearing it though, I think I may see if I can remove the ridiculous shoulder pads. Ignore that my face looks like I'm melting.

Christian Louboutin Numero Prive in Gold Glitter and Specchio, Black Halo Dress

Fit on the shoes can be found here, but as an update I will say that after two wearings these have stretched out quite a bit. These are a 36.5 and while the toe box was pretty tight when I got them and I worried about whether or not I needed to size up, I'm glad I did not.

Studly

My fella suggested going to the mall because he had a gift card and needed to replace his tea kettle, so off we went to Posh Park Mall and into Nordstrom... for you know, a cursory glance at shoes.

Pittsburgh is losing it's Saks, and while their shoe department was horrible, I'm terribly saddened by this loss. It looks like Nordstrom and a few other small shops will be the only game in town for pretty shoes.

I digress. Onward pretty! I'm in love with studs always, and thought these Valentino shoes were perfect.

Valentino Rockstud Open Toen in Red shown with Asos two-toned tights

Valentino Lace Mena Wedge and Rockstud

Fit on the Rockstuds was true to size for me. I found them perfect in a 36.5 with very mild heel slippage (which may or may not have been caused by my stockings). I have to say for 140mm they seemed very comfortable. The toe box wasn't narrow at all for me, and I could see wearing them without being uncomfortable for a few hours. Available at Saks.

I did not get to try on the Lace Menas because they didn't have my size, but they were super cute and I think would be wonderful with summer dresses.

While checking out the studs, I also saw a super cute pair of Sam Edelman heels. The crossbreeding of different styles of shoes was maybe a bit much for me, but if they weren't peep toe (and exorbitantly priced for what they are), it would have been love.

I really liked the narrow metal heel, though, and will try to make it my goal in the future to track down something similar.

Sam Edelman Scarlett in Black and Gold

Fit on these seemed true to size as well. I tried these on in a 7 and the size felt right. They weren't the most comfy to walk in, because of the steep pitch and narrow heel, but would be great for a car to door night on the town. Available at Nordstrom.

In the age of dinosaurs

Probably the thing I love best about my job is that we don't have any kind of official dress code. With some casual inquiries and slowly testing the waters, I'm happy to report that so far my quirkier clothes haven't raised any eyebrows -- in fact, my boss' wife called these my "dinosaur tights".

Having no dress code is good and bad. Most of the time, it makes me pretty lazy and indulge in yoga pants and tees. Despite those days, I genuinely like getting dressed up and try to make an effort at least 2-3x per week to ditch the house clothes and instead wear something I wouldn't be embarrassed to run into a frenemy in.

Today's outfit consisted of my favorite new tights, a sale find at Marshall's. When I first saw them I thought "huh. What's with the ruffle?" but the more I looked at them (and the price! they were cheap!) the more I loved them and couldn't wait to wear them.

Wearing something more ostentatious like these requires a bit more of a subdued outfit. I paired the tights (Trasparenze "Melbourne") with an American Apparel wrap dress, Express tank top, and t-strap maryjanes from Kimchi and Blue.

Trasparenze "Melbourne" Tights

The tights are a size 4, which I typically need in Trasparenze (aka "large"), and they are very cozy. They are nicely opaque but not too thick. The ruffle in the back is a chiffon that sways when I move.

I took these pictures while out and about during my lunch break, where I stopped at a thrift not far from work. I found a great pair of flat patent boots there, and for $6 I couldn't say no. They are fun and even better -- insulated! Perfect for the upcoming snow.


Not much else going on in the shoe front here! The snow is kind of getting me down about pretty shoes, but Spring will be here before I know it.