American Made Fall Boots

Top (L-R): Frye 'Jet Engineer Limited Edition' // L.L. Bean Women's 6 inch boot // Vintage Shoe Company 'Erin' 

Bottom (L-R): Monro 'Robyn' Boot in Leopard // Steven Alan 'Suede Chelsea' Boot // Modern Vice 'The Bond - Python' 

There's just something about skinny jeans and boots that goes together like lamb and tuna fish. They're just perfect with each other. Whether you need a classic fall boot for work or play this season the six boots above have got you covered. Tall, short, heavy-duty, flashy, yeah, they're all represented.

The best part is that they're all made in the good ol' USA. Now go finalize your apple picking outfit  and I'll meet you in the orchard. Or meet me at the bar with our booties on and have a fall seasonal brew waiting for me. Honestly, that sounds like an amazing Saturday if you ask me!

While we're talking boots? What is your height preference? I used to be tall all the way, but I'm slowing inching my way down to ankle boots and booties.

Jimmy Choos

Yay for trying to take an outfit photo in windy conditions while wearing a billowy skirt! 

Shirt: Youth Monument (made in USA!) // Skirt: Banana Republic old // Purse: Coach (22nd birthday present from my lovely sister - so super old) // Shades: Ray Ban // Necklace: Nordstrom Rack // Bracelets: BaubleBar, InPink, Isanctuary // Shoes: Jimmy Choo via Net-a-Porter 

Random story about these shoes:

I pinned these Jimmy Choo Private sandals in silver glitter over a year ago. Yes, over a YEAR ago.  I've been obsessed with the shape of these shoes ever since I saw them in a magazine in 2010.  So they've been around for quite some time. They're part of the Jimmy Choo 24:7 collection and will be around, in various colors, for years to come. 

Every year my mother-in-law gives me $200 for Christmas for the sole purpose of buying myself something pretty.  Net-a-Porter was having an insane sale after Christmas and I showed the hubs a few pairs of shoes and he picked out the ones above even though they were the most expensive.  I think they were on sale for $380 (seriously, I hate myself for saying that "on sale for $380" #firstworldproblems). That was above and beyond the most I've ever paid for shoes and I felt guilty about it. I promised the hubs I would take money out of my personal savings account to pay the difference because I hated splurging on a pair of shoes. I loved them, but hated the price at the same time. 

Hell. I told my best friend I felt guilty about it and I lamented that I took advantage of the hubs in his post-surgery, drug-induced, state of mind.

Then, fate happened. 

The next day Net-a-Porter called me to apologize for an error, but the shoes had sold out in my size and they had to cancel my order.  They put me on a waiting list, but I thought nothing of it.  As a gesture of their oversight they also gave me a $50 credit to use towards a future purpose.  

Honestly, I thought they went above and beyond the normal scope of customer service.  I think I recommended them to every single person I knew and I didn't even get an order from them. I truly figured it was the shoe gods telling me that those babies, while gorgeous, were out of my budget. 

Two days later, Net-a-Porter calls me again to let me know that the shoes are back in stock, in my size, and reserved in my online cart for 24 hours.

Shut.the.front.door.

Oh, and they've been marked down an additional $100.  The post-holiday sale had been increased to an even crazier level. 

I really thought there was:

A. No way this was real life. 

B. No way that Net-a-Porter reserved a pair of shoes for me.  I thought wait list meant they emailed you when the shoes were back in stock, but said shoes were fair game to everyone in the world with internet access.

C. No way said shoes had been reduced even further and were "only" $280. 

D. No freaking way I could use my $50 credit on these shoes.

Yup, A-D were true.  The shoes I had coveted since 2010 were now mine.  I got them for $230 which makes them the second most expensive shoes I've ever purchased for myself. Disclaimer - the other pair were boots, so I think that's an unfair comparison.

My mother-in-law is a shoe fanatic as well and it made her so happy to hear that I was able to buy my first pair of Choos with the money she gave me for Christmas.  From one shoe addict to another - she totally got it. 

So yes, I know these babies were an extravagant indulgence.  I could have bought a ton of stuff for the same price, but honestly I didn't want a ton of stuff. I wanted amazing shoes that I can wear with everything and prance around in my house. True story, I broke these babies in while vacuuming. 

How about you? Any crazy shoe buying tales? What was your first extravagance? 

For my friends and family - please be advised that you'll be seeing me in these shoes just about every day this spring and summer :) 

I'm linking up with Shanna, Because Shannon Said So, today for her Random Wednesday series.  Random story about shoes? Definitely! 

Fashion Orgasm

I'm a bit behind on this post, but I wanted to share some of the amazing deals I got recently on Bluefly. Two weeks ago I was cleaning up my email inbox and an email from Bluefly caught my eye because the subject line read, "Believe It: EVERYTHING is $29.97 (10-hour private event!)."

Are you freaking kidding me? There has got to be a catch.

So of course I clicked over and I saw that shoes from Prada, Dior, Jimmy Choo, etc. were in other member's carts for $29.97. Yeah, right.

I started looking through what was available in my size and thankfully due to my big feet a few things were left in my size. With the rest of my birthday money I was able to pick up the following beauties.

Um, yes please! I can't wait for the summer sandal season.

Why yes, I did wear these while washing dishes the first night they came. The hubs looked at me, but I just told him, "I have to break them in!"

This blazer fits like butter. It's also made in NY!

This is by far my favorite LBD. It's super structured. The belt is detachable and I plan on wearing it with tons of other outfits. Entire outfit is made in the USA!

Total Retail Cost of four items: $1480

1. Tod's Sandals - $475
2. Pour La Victoire Boots - $310
3. Alex Lane blazer - $365
4. Mark & James by Badgley Mischka dress - $330

Oh wait, did I have a coupon for free shipping? Oh, yes I did!

Total cost to me: $119.88

Yes, I saved 92% off of retail costs.

Point. Set. Match. - GINGER

I even wore my new blazer down in Puerto Rico last week during a work trip.

However, I am officially on shopping lockdown. We're planning some major home renovations and funds are being siphoned off to those projects. BOO!!!

Any other great shopping deals you've scored lately?

The difference between men and women

Way back in early September the hubs was getting ready to begin one of his fantasy football drafts. Unfortunately, this was a draft with real live people and not random strangers on the internet. One of the dudes couldn't join in at the last minute and the guys were about to lose their draft time slot if they didn't have someone else join their league.

Enter: hubs' red head and tom-boy wife, who has never played any type of fantasy sport.

I won't go into details of how the hubs was guiding me through my draft choices and he said, "no, don't take that guy." Then, he proceeded to take that guy .2 seconds after I picked someone else.

All is fair in love and fantasy sports it seems.

Flash forward 14 weeks and I beat my own hubs in order to secure the fourth and final spot in the playoffs. The hubs didn't even make the playoffs :)

First week of the playoffs I take on the #1 seed, who just happens to be my brother-in-law. Yeah, I squeak out a nail biter and beat him by 1.28 points. There was some play in which a penalty that is never called on a field goal was called and the team received five yards and later drove down the field to score a touchdown, which took points away from the kicker, but gave me the victory.

Weird stuff like that happened.

Then, the during the final days of the championship week I ask the hubs, "do I get anything if I win this thing?"

"Yeah,, $160."

Buddy, that changes everything! That's some serious coinage for my shoe budget!

In a very odd twist of fate, I had to play my own brother, my ginger blood, in the championship. He actually beat me, until I checked a few days later and there was a stat correction and it turns out I beat him by .44 points. Yeah, it was absolutely ridiculous.

At the end of the season, I was the only girl in the league and I took down all the boys.

Not too shabby.

Now what did I do with my winnings? I bought a pair of Hunter Boots! I've wanted a pair for years, but could never stomach the $125 price tag. So two years ago I bought a pair of $25 rain boots from Target and called it a day. Yeah, they sprung a leak after a season and then when I kept wearing them it looked like I wasn't even wearing rain boots on my one leg.

I figured it was probably time to join the big leagues and buy a proper pair of rain boots. I've read the reviews and these bad boys tend to last for much longer than a season. If I can get a few years out of them, then they were definitely worth the investment.

But let's be honest, I don't pay full price for things. Neiman Marcus, of all places, slashed the price on select colors to $80 last week. I called customer service to ensure they were the Original Tall Gloss and once confirmed I placed my order.

Just in the nick of time too! It's been raining all day and the rain is forecasted to continue for the rest of the week.

Dress - Banana Republic

Cardigan - J. Crew

Tights - Target

Boots - Hunter

So really the moral of this story is: Guys, if you invite a lady to join your sports league or whatever and there is money on the line, I suggest you don't get upset when you find out her winnings went towards shoes and not beer. Sure, I only spent half my winnings, so I'm definitely up for buying a round or two at the next happy hour with the guys, but if it's raining I'm definitely wearing my boots and showing them off to the guys.

As the hubs said, "they're the best looking rubber boots I've ever seen."

He was being sarcastic of course!

Happy early 30th birthday to me! (Almost)

Well, not really. I don't turn 30 until February.

In the year 2012.

As in well over a year from now. So far from now that I should take down the mental countdown, delete my birthday list, and just focus on the present. Wait, did someone say present?

In true crazy form, I've not-so-subtly told the hubs that he has to buy me a, "rocking pair of shoes" for my 30th birthday. The heels better be thin and high, you know, everything my legs aren't. They better be from somewhere awesome. Honestly, if Choo, Louboutin, Prada, or Manolo aren't involved, well then I'm not interested.

Oddly enough, the hubs gets it. I mentioned buying a baseball glove one time for him and apparently it didn't contain the right word and he looked at me and asked me if I was crazy. The only minor difference in this story is that the hubs went ahead and bought his crazy expensive glove and well I am still waiting on a cool pair of kicks to show up in my closet.

But that day almost happened yesterday. I was at Neiman Marcus and I still can't figure out why, but there were 10 pairs of Christian Louboutin pumps just sitting out on the sale rack. Like a kid in a candy store I grabbed whatever I could get my hands on and ran to find a nice, secluded bench to caress my precious loves.

I know sizing can be off, so I grabbed the first 9 and 10s I saw and figured I'd try them on first.

The 9s weren't even close!

Up next I tried the Verde in a 10. It fit perfectly! However, even though the color is Amethyst, it was a bit too pink for my liking. Plus, it's a suede shoe. I have a few pairs of suede shoes and while I love them, I know I'm rough on the material and they won't last as long as a nice leather pair will.

However, it was very difficult to leave them when they were on sale for $402. Yes, that's a TON of money for a pair of shoes, but they're on every major website right now for $945. They had the smallest scruff in the sole on one shoe and that's probably why they were heavily discounted. Seriously, if you didn't have your soles treated that scruff would have happened in two seconds on any hard floor. Sigh!!!

Then, while I was heading out I saw these.

I die. The shoe of all shoes. The Christian Louboutin Very Prive. I want her. I need her. In nude patent leather. An absolutely timeless shoe.

They were a 40.5 and the tiniest bit too big. But, I didn't care. I had them on my feet and I wanted them. I immediately did what anyone would do in a situation like this.

I called for backup. Thankfully, I know a semi-rational fashionista and we've been lusting over a pair of Louboutins for years. She said exactly what I didn't want to say aloud.

"How high is the heel?"

(in a whisper)

"They're the 120mm. So a bit higher than the Simples I really wanted."

After a few agonizing minutes I knew my friend was right when she said it. "Are you going to be comfortable in them? In that color these are an everyday shoe. Something you're going to wear every where. Can you walk in them that much? If they were black or had spiked heels they'd be going out shoes and then completely appropriate. "

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, I knew what she was saying was true. If they were in purple I would have easily thrown down my Visa card and called it a day.

They're too high for me. There I said it. I wore them for 10 minutes and I can't get them out of my head. However, they did make me almost six foot tall, which is far too tall for me! I wanted them so badly. Did I mention the price? They were marked down to $380. I know, they were practically FREE! I couldn't find a single imperfection on the shoes anywhere. On the other hand, their box was ripped. Yeah, ripping a box causes the shoes to drop for $785 to $380. It was insane.

Sigh....

I even sent the hubs a text asking him if I could get my 30th birthday present in advance. I think the hubs needs to send flowers to Miss M over at District Sparkle for rationalizing with me and allowing me to walk away from those shoes.

I'm fighting off every form of temptation to drive back to the store and see if they're still there. If I see them again, I might not be able to walk away! One day my precious ... we'll meet again.

Who says red heads can't wear red?

There are numerous fashion rules in this world. I'm not the biggest fashion risk taker in the world so it's safe to say that I generally stay within the confines of the "rules." One rule in particular is that I've followed semi-religiously over the years is the rule that states red heads don't look good in red. If you looked in my closet, you'd probably think I followed that rule because there isn't a lot of red in my closet. What is red in my closet is a Caps shirt, running shirts, and a few old school pride shirts from my black and red high school days.

However, when I saw these Cole Haan Air Violet pumps on sale at Nordstrom's for $95 I had to have them. They were deemed a necessary purchase and part of my Shoe Upgrade project. I have the Target Pearce shoes and while they are indeed comfy, they don't even hold a candle to the real deal.

I've had them safely tucked away in my closet for a few weeks and I've been saving them as a personal treat after running my latest race. It might be weird, but I like to give myself a little treat after running a race and shoes are usually the best way to go. One thing I absolutely adore about running is how strong my legs are and I don't have a problem clicking away in high heels for hours on end. Now, I don't break out the new shoes immediately post race, rather I like to give myself a few days to let any lingering soreness subside.

Dress - Target.

Cardigan - Jackie from J.Crew

Belt - Target

Necklace - Ann Taylor

Shoes - Cole Haan "Air Violet" from Nordstrom

Adorable Boston Terrier - Private breeder in Delaware

The hubs was having some difficulty with the white balance and by difficulty I mean he said, "you look blue in these pictures." I'd also like to point out that I'm not in focus in the picture either, but I'm fully prepared to only fight one battle at a time.
Gotta love my chubby boy.
Sure fire way to make any outfit look better - pose with adorable dogs of course!

How about you: what are the fashion rules you like to break?

Shoe Karma

Last week started off with the great news that I won a pair of Starla Sandals courtesy of the awesomeness that is Stacy from A Girl's Guide to Shoes.


In all seriousness, I've been an avid follower of Stacy's blog for years. It's a constant source of shoe giddiness and delight all wrapped up in one neat package. Being that I have a limited shoe budget, I especially like that she highlights fantastic deals all the time. It gives my closet hope for brighter and future packages.

My mid-week got a boost this week when those blinged out sandals above showed up at my doorstep. I've been prancing around my house, blinding my dogs, and fantasizing about warmer (and drier) weather so that I can wear my shoes. It's only been a day, but in that short amount of time I can say that these sandals are going to get some serious wear and love this spring/summer and beyond because they're gorgeous and comfortable. My head is already spinning with how many outfits I can spice up with them :)

Thank you Stacy and Starla Sandals so much for the shoes. They are loved and will be continued to be loved by this red head.

And so, it is only fair that since I was gifted an amazing pair of shoes, that I gift an amazing pair of shoes to someone who deserves some good shoe karma. You see, I was out and about looking for a baby shower gift and ran into TJ Maxx to get more baby clothes when I found these lovely shoes just sitting on a table.



They weren't even in the shoe section! Someone clearly picked them up, carried them around, and then ditched them at the last minute due to a poor moment of indecisiveness. I instantly picked them up because their silver metallic patent leather just called to me. I saw that they were a size 7 and thought, "ugh, why don't they ever have cute shoes like this in my size?"


I flipped them over and here's the crazy part, they were marked down from the TJ Maxx price of $159 to $39. Yeah, my jaw hit the floor. Seriously, why were these in TJ Maxx and why on earth were they so cheap?



These are Guiseppe Zanotti mirror-like pumps. Yes, they're a few seasons old, but come one! These are designer Italian made shoes. These things are ridiculously expensive! They're Cinderella shoes.


I found these shoes from the 2007 Fall Collection and I think TJ Maxx held the conservative sister shoe.


Most importantly, my sister deserves some flash and sparkle in her life, therefore she needs these shoes. So they're in the mail and should hopefully bring my sister some happy shoe karma in a few days. I hope they fit her, otherwise I'll have to find another home for those beauties because they are not getting returned.

Isn't Carrie Bradshaw a size 7? It figures... when you find something adorable in a size 9, let me know.

Taking fashion advice from a metro-sexual man...

might just work out in my favor.

My hubs isn't really a true, "metro-sexual" as he isn't into hair gel, skinny man jeans, murses, skinny ties, designer duds, or almost anything at Banana Republic. Well, the last one is only true because his massive and broad shoulders barely fit in their polo shirts, never mind any of their fitted shirts! But, my hubs is somewhat a connoisseur of quality shoes.

Flash back six years ago and the hubs had just picked up his first pair of Johnston & Murphy dress shoes. I think he got them on sale at an outlet for close to $100. I thought he was kind of nuts to be dropping that amount on a pair of plain Jane men's dress shoes, but that was my own personal opinion. If I had a $100 to spend on shoes I would have tried to get two or three pairs of Nine West shoes from an outlet.

Spring a head six years and take a peak in our separate closets (yes, you read that right! it's a key to marital bliss in our house) and the hubs still has the same pair of brown shoes whereas the vast collection I had compiled during college and graduate school of Nine West and Bandolino shoes has diminished to just a few remaining pairs. And the ones that have survived... they weren't my "favorites" by any stretch of the imagination. The survivors are those shoes that I don't wear all that often either due to comfortableness or they're strictly special occasion type shoes.

So in my corner was well more than $150 spent on shoes and almost nothing to shoe for it. I used to buy on average somewhere between 4-6 pairs of non-athletic shoes a year. Say the average price tag was $50, (way too low, but easier for math) and I was spending between $200-$300 a year on shoes. And they wouldn't last! The hubs, on the other hand, would buy maybe 1 pair of nice dress shoes a year. He was spending less money a year on shoes and his shoes were outlasting my shoes.

Two important things happened this summer that led me to drastically review my shoe purchases.

1. I started running a lot and I expected a whole lot more comfort from my shoes. Plantar fasciitis then dictated that my shoes be extremely comfortable. I was totally screwed when I only had one pair of flats in my closet and had to plan my wardrobe around flats and flip flops :(

2. The hubs wished for a pair of Allen Edmonds "Park Avenue" shoes for our 3rd wedding anniversary.


They're cute and all for men's shoes, but they're $325. Yes, $325 for a pair of plan shoes. There's no fancy heel, no cool embellishments, no frills, zilch, nadda, nothing! Of course, us being us we found them on sale at Jos A Banks for $250 and used a huge Ebates credit to make them much more affordable, but still! That is a lot of money to spend on ONE pair of shoes.

Well, wouldn't you know that when we were discussing the shoes the hubs went over to his closet and pulled out those ol' Johnston & Murphy shoes and said, "these have lasted for 6 years and I've beat them to hell. Those Park Avenues are the same shoes Obama wears and I bet they'll last longer than 6 years."

I hate it when he's right, especially about shoes. He loves his Park Avenues and for Christmas I gifted him with two more pairs of Allen Edmonds. Don't worry, I found them on sale!

So, in preparation for further bouncing along on this thing called "being an adult" I'm slowly going to upgrade the shoes in my closet. The greatest part is the hubs is fully on board. :)