Shoe Wardrobe

Now that I am between jobs, I'm finding myself with quite a bit of extra time. I am so used to being productive, in the work sense, that it's difficult for me to fill my free time with frivolous activities. Thus, my email boxes have been gone thru, as well as all my drawers, closets, stacks of paperwork, cabinets, etc. There is not a square inch of my home that hasn't been sorted, organized and pared down. Which is where my latest inspiration struck.

I have always been a shoe lover. I don't recall when it began, but I certainly remember having a closet full of shoes by my middle school years. There was a time when I had a huge Chuck Taylor Converse collection, which I some days wish I had held on to! That's a pretty unusual feeling for me though because while I dearly love my shoes, I also don't mind parting with them in order to make way for new ones. I'd say my shoe wardrobe has a pretty high turnover rate. I take that approach with many of my consumer purchases, which I suppose can have an upside and a downside. It satiates my ever-changing and evolving tastes, which I swear is part of my DNA-makeup to never be too attached to "things". However, I also know that some of those closest to me find this behavior appalling and wasteful, at best. And so I suppose I have rationalized it by becoming the ultimate bargain-hunter and deal-finder. When I haven't spent a fortune, it's easy to recycle my goods via Goodwill in search of new goods. But I digress...

I found myself sitting on the floor of my closet the other day wondering how many pairs of shoes I own. I even asked my boyfriend who was sitting at the desk in our room, and he couldn't even venture a guess. Neither could I- I wondered if it had grown too big and needed to be purged. I immediately identified two pairs I wasn't particularly attached to and deposited them into the omni-present Goodwill donation bag on the floor of my closet. Then I got to thinking- I have so many cute pairs of shoes, but often fall into the rut of wearing the same three or four pair day after day. Wouldn't it be fun to challenge myself to a new pair each day (did I mention I have quite a bit of free-time these days?!?). In doing this I might purge the collection a bit and pare down to the those I like most, are most comfortable and go with the most in my wardrobe.

Starting Monday I will begin my challenge! There will obviously be some shoes I won't be able to wear in the chilly December weather (strappy sandals, etc), but I have plenty of shoes to get thru before that becomes an issue. I think I'll start out posting a picture of the shoe and any info I recall on their purchase; maybe I'll even get fancy and include voting buttons so you can help me decide their fate. Stay tuned!!!

to do #7: have fun with shoes.

Happy Feet

Okay, I understand the above "photoe" (hehehe) might be somewhat creepy, but I just had to share how happy my feet are tonight. I "kicked" (ha! okay, I'll stop) off my first of four vacation days with a much needed mani/pedi. These used to be a staple in my life, but the past year my manus and pedes (look it up!) have been sorely neglected.

I decided to try out the place across the street. Not because I'd heard good things about it, or had even peeked through the store window, but simply because it is really close and I was feeling really lazy-- a total stroke of luck on my part! It was a typical nail shop on the inside: a bank of pedicure stations on one side, rows of nail tables on the other and a cadre of cute, skinny Korean women buzzing around. But, these cute, skinny Korean women were all wearing adorable white lab coats! It was such a sweet touch. They stocked a great line of polish, used brand new sealed tools, took forever massaging my feet & legs, softened my cuticles in a plastic baggy with a ton of goop inside a heating pad, used a nice warm towel to wash all the goop off my hands & arms and all for THIRTY DOLLARS! Wow. There is no money better spent, and it was honestly one of the best mani/pedi's I've had.

So I know this was a total fluff piece, but dang I just can't stop staring at my hands & feet tonight!

to do #6: find my new favorite nail spot

p.s.: if any of you are in the Atlanta area, the spot is Hammond Nails & Spa

Chocolat

I've only got a second, but I wanted to show you guys what I've been up to lately! As many of you know I've been working on getting my chocolate business off the ground, and it's going well. I've got a photographer coming this weekend to take photos for my website, so I've been busy making samples all week. I'll be sure to share the photos with you once I have them!

to do #5: make chocolate samples

Therapy

I've already got a link to Apartment Therapy along the side to the left, but I am going to plug them again because they featured yours truly on the site today. Okay, maybe "featured" is a too grand, but they did mention me and my now-lovely dining room. Enjoy! And bookmark them, they really are a great site. :)

to do #4: shamelessly plug AT and my dining room.

The Bistro

We've taken to calling this little area outside the back door "The Bistro". It used to just be an empty and sad-looking stoop, a place we barely paused at on our way into the house. But, considering it is a part of the house, as small as it may be, we want to make good use of it!

First there was the addition of the barbeque grill. A cheapie charcoal version is what we opted for, and amazingly we had to put it together on our own! Quite a project. We're still working out the kinks though, as I'm accustomed to the flavor of a gas barbeque, and he prefers charcoal. We compromised and bought natural charcoal bricks which I thought imparted an excellent flavor, but he didn't like the burning quality. So we tried the regular commercial brand charcoal. He loved the burn, and I hated the flavor. We even nick-named the resulting chicken "lighter fluid chicken" because of the overwhelming chemical flavor the charcoal & lighter fluid gave the chicken. So, like I said, we're still working out the kinks, but it's always fun to experiment with cooking outside of the kitchen.

Next came my little garden gnome I had been lugging with me from apartment to apartment. He was a gift from my gran and while I haven't had a yard in ages, he's just too cute to part with and he adds charming to otherwise un-charming spaces.

I've got big ideas for the greenery in this little area, but I decided to start small with a huge coleus. I figured since I didn't have a lot of space I needed a big plant! And at 8.99, I felt like I got my money's worth. I transplanted it from a small hanging basket into a larger pot, and I think it's doing relatively well!

Last came the table and chairs. The table was recently exiled from the dining room when it was replaced with a larger version. While the table is itself a bit too large for the small stoop, I thought it better to re-purpose the table than go out and buy something new. The chairs were a bargain find at a rare Ikea sale for 9.99 each (you'll find more around the new dining room table!).

While it's not much, I feel like we added another living space to our small place, which is invaluable! The Bistro is a great spot for reading or chatting or waving at the neighbors. I'm sure it will evolve in the coming months as the weather cools off and the wheels in my head keep spinning. I can already see a few more containers out there with herbs & flowers, and maybe a few hanging baskets, I've always loved those cute tiki torches, and maybe another garden gnome or two...

to do #3: open a bistro.

Labels

A lot of things have changed since I was blogging last! One of the things I'm most excited about is the addition of the "labels" field in the post creation template. I always longed for a way to organize my posts in the past, and now I can! I spent waaaaaaaay too much time going through all my old posts and adding labels, but I just wouldn't have been able to sleep at night if I didn't. So, now you can re-read old posts by topic, I know this is just music to your ears! Anyhow, I've exhausted myself with that task and am calling it a night. I have several posts in various stages of composition though, so stayed tuned. And in the meantime, feel free to browse my new labels section to the left.

to do #2: label my old posts

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack...

Hi all, just a quick post to let ya know I'm back to blogging again!! I'm still trying to figure out my angle & my format this go around; but, I've got lots going on and instead of staying up 'til all hours of the night with random thoughts keeping me awake, I thought it might help to put them out there. So, get ready to get in my headspace!

And p.s., don't forget to show me some love! I want more reader participation this go round---that means You. :)

to do #1: get my blog going again