Glimpses

Just a brief post about things that I'm enjoying right now.  :)

A gorgeous red rose in a cracked glass holder. Sent two weeks ago (as part of a larger bouquet)  from one of my best friends and STILL thriving. Which is practically impossible in our chilly house in the middle of winter. I smile every time I pass by it in the living room.

Slightly blurry shot of NYE silver crackle nail polish (since removed, because I can only stand to have my nails done for like, two days). One of my other friends applied this just outside the restaurant - I had forgotten to do my nails, so we went to a CVS and bought this, sat down at tables outside a restaurant and she painted my nails. Then one of our other friends showed up and she painted her nails. Never underestimate the value of an impromptu manicure!

And while I'm on the subject of hands and hand-related things:

This ring was a gift from one of my best friends (the down-n-dirty manicurist referenced above). She makes jewelry and I fell in love with this...and it showed up on Christmas day.  Two glorious pieces of chrysoprase and her own metal work.

And last but by far not least, one of my Christmas gifts from my husband. Purchased from another jewelry artist at the Tempe Arts Festival in early December. It was the stone that sold me - such gorgeous color! And green is something I wear often, so this and the ring above will get a lot of outings. Plus, though I didn't know it at the time, this ring is a great counterpart to these:

They'll be gorgeous with white pants, chocolate brown, black (of course)...I love rich colors!  :)

2011 in Shoes

I've already written a little about how my 2011 went...the second half of the year was (or at least, felt like) a near-total loss. The jaw surgery in June started the downward slide, especially since the recovery is taking waaaay longer than expected. Then my Dad's illness, and now (as of two weeks ago), a second surgery for me...and this week I will be starting PT on the mouth since I can't open fully. It's more of a problem than you'd think! Sandwiches are out, as are steaks and the like...I'm still eating mostly soft foods. And since it's been almost 7 months since the original surgery, my doctor says PT is necessary. Boo.

So...I'm going to just focus on the surface stuff and recap my shoe purchases from last year, while I try to get  life back on track.  :)

I own a LOT of summery shoes and sandals, (that's what happens when you spend 25 years in a super-warm climate) so I didn't buy much early in the year. The first shoe purchase was totally unplanned - I was in Arizona for a festival and went shopping with a friend. I was debating these (forgive the quick and dirty sink shot):

Until my friend mentioned that she had bought these:

 
Just the week before. And since SHE had a pair...well, I wasn't going to leave that brightly colored goodness of a wedge on the shelf any longer. :)  They are Qupid brand, which I've never heard of. But they're easy to wear and didn't cost a fortune. A good impulse purchase. :)

TThe other spring purchase was these:

Seychelles. I'm still trying to build some sort of black shoe wardrobe, so they were practical as well as fun.

And then shoe shopping came to a halt (as did everything else) until the fall. First up were these gorgeous Nine West heels:

Gorgeous, comfortable, and sexy - possibly my favorite shoe purchase this year.

But possibly my second favorite purchase this year was the Badgley Mischkas (it's very, very close):

These lovelies had some great fun out to dinners and also on New Year's Eve.  :)

And then there was the little run of buying very late in the year

Nine West again. Just as comfortable as the suede in the same style. First worn to my husband's birthday dinner...and we both enjoyed their initial outing.  :)

And these:

Which were lovely, and quite comfortable, but just a little...off. The pointy toe was almost *too* pointy, and the heel was probably only a half inch lower than my other pointy toed shoes, but that was enough to make them not quite right. So back they went. And these came home instead:

I've really been wanting color-blocked shoes this year, and finally found some in the right colors! I can't find these online anywhere, and I suspect they might be made just for DSW (which is where I bought them). As with most Nine West, they are supremely comfortable and easy to wear. They haven't been worn yet, but I'm thinking maybe next week. I'd wear them this week but the weather is in the 30's right now, so boots are trumping any kind of open-toe shoe.

And these showed up for Christmas, from one of my best friends:

They are actually a lighter and brighter purple than the photo shows. And you know I've been looking for purple shoes...I'd actually seen these back in September and my friend got them for me for Christmas. She is a good Santa.  :) 

So not a bad shoe year at all. It's been hard to find styles I really love since the "stripper shoe style" took over (more about that in a future post), so I was glad to at least see that color and animal print held their own this year.

Next on the list are some cute but practical boots!