It's as if these shoes were made with me in mind.

I am just so ridiculously giddy right now -- both over the shoes and the adorable faux cat ad in the box. How freaking adorable is that! I insist you click on the image to enlarge it, so that you may be able to read the hilarious little blurbs. I'm going to cut it out and find a place for it on a wall in this room.

Trying them on, I was about as tall as Kathryn -- and she's 5'6"! (Yeah, that's a big deal to me.) I know exactly what I want to wear these with, but it's a pretty fitted black dress, and I've been feeling loathing toward my stomach lately. (I've brought it upon myself, I'm sure. I've been eating s'mores religiously lately. I think it's a summer thing.) That, and I'm not sure where I'd go to justify what I'd be wearing, so give me a bit to figure out when to wear them -- though I may just crack and wear them with something else. Gah, I can't decide!

In the meantime, I'm just going to curl up in bed, clutch these to my chest, and watch some Mythbusters to pass the time before I have to go to work. ♥

When We Was Fab

 

I do love any excuse to make George Harrison reference.

I did some research. I'm well under the impression that the Lita Fab Tapestry shoes were released last November, after reading it twice on two seperate sites (though I wish I had the links to double-check), and the last time any site restocked them, it was between May and June on a website that no longer has the black in stock. I downloaded a .pdf of Jeffrey Campbell's fall lookbook, suggesting there won't be more of the black tapestry in the future.

I found one site, ShopAKIRA, that had two pairs of the black tapestry in size seven. It's taken me since June 6th to save up about $80 in my tip money, which is how I was hoping to pay for a pair of Litas, if you recall. However, that is well over a month of time, and that was when I was working more than two days a week, so if I wanted to have any chance at buying a pair of these shoes, I was going to have to buy them soon, and probably not with the tip money that I won't have for a very long time.

So...I bought them!

I waited until Kathryn got home from work and when she read my ramble on Livejournal about me simply explaining these points and scrambling around for what to do, and asked her what she thought.

"Well, it's your money... I mean, so long as you're okay with me spending $130 on a new fish tank?"

"Psh, of course!"

With that, I jumped for the computer and went through checkout as fast as my fingers' relationship with the keyboard could allow. By just nine dollars and ninety cents, even qualified for free shipping.

Here's hoping ShopAKIRA is a good, trusty site (they look like it) and I'll let you guys know the moment they arrive in the mail. (Hey, do you suppose they'll look any good with the black American Apparel double U-neck dress? I just bought one recently and am eager to wear it with something amazing.)

Reduced to Hysterics (a Jeffrey Campbell appreciation post)

 So I have this dinky two-liter soda bottle that I dump my tip money into when I get home from work (save the dollar bills, as I usually just lug the thing to the grocery store to drop into the CoinStar), and I designate at points what I'm going to do with the money. It's about 3/5 full and last I counted, it was at $77. Last time it was to help buy my new camera. This time, I'm saving up for my tattoo. (God knows how much that will cost.)

Already, I'm planning on what I'll want to save up for next. Kathryn likes to plan far ahead and I'm sure she'd rather that I just throw it all in my savings, which is reserved for when we move out (we estimate about a year from now) and have to pay our own way. I am always conscious of how precious money is in a situation like that, and I've been stocking cash away for when that day will come, but I'm also in the mindset that in the present, we have a secure place to stay and the most we pay for is our luxuries, our own pet food, and the regular $20 towards groceries when Kathryn's mom goes out. If any time is a good time to save up for a big splurge, it's probably now.

Right now, I'm really dying for a pair of Jeffrey Campbell Litas. My fallback choice will probably be black, in whatever material that is available -- mainly because I can't decide between the default leather, suede, or velvet.

I recalled Annika mentioning a website that I visited immediately at the time that I used as a reference point in my first Friday/Love post. After hitting Nasty Gal for Lita options, I tried there -- Solestruck.com.

Oh my good lord, I had no idea Litas came in so many breathtaking flavours.

Unfortunately, I read a review that the Cosmic Litas are poorly made; the screened image is cheap and the customer said they were returning them immediately. What a letdown.

I, however, go weak in the knees at the sight of some nice antique style furniture upholstry material...

...so it's fortunate for me that I'm sitting at the computer as I type this post.

I can barely wrap my mind around what I'm seeing. I can't even begin to figure out which one I love the most! Though it hardly matters, as the first two are sold out of most sizes, and the latter is completely out of stock. Granted, this is only on Solestruck, so these beautiful things might still be elsewhere online. I am under the impression that Solestruck will be restocking eventually, or else they 1. wouldn't continue to show these designs on their site, and 2. wouldn't give me the option to get an email the moment they restock my size. (Which I did for all three of these designs. Don't judge me.)

I can't decide what would be a better move. It seems that plain black Litas are a staple piece, and are always available. Would it be wiser to buy one of the three designs above to secure having them, despite the fact that they won't go with everything by any means, or buy a pair that is assured to go with most of anything that I wear? Or buy the more unique of my desires first, and dare to buy a pair of plain black sometime later? (I think Kathryn would kill me, though.)

I have time to consider my options, at least. One way or another, I'll be getting a pair someday...though at the rate that I'm working (two days a week at a total of nine hours, during the shifts where tips are pretty pathetic), I'll probably have to donate portions of my paychecks if I ever want to see a pair of Litas on my feet before I die of old age. Note to self: new job ASAP.

1o; Something of possible importance. (And something that isn't.)

Okay, big news out of the way: a store chain called Maurices (that I adore; it inspired my initial interest in clothes) has teamed up with Lifetime (yes, the television channel) and is having a special kind of model search. They want girls of all body types and want to get their hometown in on the whole thing by awarding the town $7,500 for a 'makeover' of their own. The models selected in the end will model their looks for this years fall and holiday campaigns, as well as for spring 2012. (And a few other things, too.) Applications are being accepted until tomorrow. (More technical info here.)

So, this morning I...sent in my application, which involved two 200+ word blurbs about 1. why I want to become a Maurices model and 2. what I like about my place of residence and how I like to give back, and a YouTube video (no, I'm not linking to it; and no, you won't find it on my channel), among other little things.

Voting will take place April 10 - 24th for the top fifty contestants, who will be announced on April 28th. After that, Maurices selects twenty of them, flies them out for a casting call, and the final twelve will be announced on May 9th.

Oh man, do I want to be one of the twelve winners so badly! I love this store chain so much, both for the style and quality of clothes, and the customer service. The whole experience would be really amazing.


And speaking of Maurices, I couldn't help it: I had to buy these wedges.

Mainly because these were originally $39.00, and were on sale for $19.50, and I also had an online coupon and ended up saving seven bucks off shipping, so the whole thing was $21.55. That's cheaper than the black boots I wear all the time. My sneakers I wear otherwise were $19.99, I think? I mean, I haven't been able to find decent wedges for that much without shipping. I just really had to pounce while they were still around, especially since I've been aching for a pair for months now. Here's hoping they fit when they arrive!

o2; I've Got My Mind Set On You

This is basically my relationship with clothes and accessories right now. Not only is my income a little weak, but I'm having to save up as much as I can for moving out next year, as well as college that I'll be paying for all on my own... Which really sucks when the best thing you can come up with to do online is look at anything involving fashion.

One of the many things on my mind is one of the most beautiful rings I've ever laid my eyes on:




This Lucky Brand Hotel Cali snake ring. I love this for so many reasons -- too many, probably. It's so very glam and boho, the colours are delicious, the design is so intriguing... And as far as I knew, this ring was adjustable as well. I want this for just as many reasons as well. It speaks of the West, where I hail from (even if I feel no real personal connections to any of the many places I lived, it still brings on a nostalgic feeling for me, despite my aversion to snakes when I lived on the other side of the country), it would look good with just about damned everything, and is even symbolic to me of Vishnu, whom I've come to regard very highly in my life lately.

However, this ring is nowhere to be found online. I spotted it on eBay some weeks ago and was bidding on it, but when the price reached $50, I had to step down. (I did instead buy this ring by Lucky, for a fraction of the price for the snake, so I'm pretty happy.)

There's an alternative version of this ring by Lucky, identical but silver and purple toned, but I'm not so into it. It looks bland and cold. This one is bright and warm. I used to hate gold tones, and I rather still do, but I've really fallen for brass tones and this ring just really rubs me the right way.

I'm also very in love with Lucky's "Ranch Inn" Silver-Tone Eagle Ring, and is available (ignoring its steep price), but is something between a size and a half to two sizes too big for my spider leg-y fingers. I'd buy the bangle instead, but I'd rather put that $78.00 toward the graphics tablet that I need far more.


But my main mission for spring at the moment is a new pair of shoes. I have nearly no shoes to speak of. I have a pair of clunky boyish sneakers that I wear to work and all that, a pair of suede boots that are for fall/winter, a pair of Beatle-esque pleather ankle boots, and some knee-high all black Converse that I recently rediscovered. Other than that, I have snow boots. --Oh, and some black canvas tennis shoes for summer.

Over the winter, I bought this dress from ToFebruary.com, that I'm itching to wear as soon as possible:



Pictured: not me

But guess what? I don't have a single pair of shoes that will go with it. I'm wondering if a cream/beige pair of shoes would be best as they would match the belt that came with it...but then I sort of hate the belt. (I'd wear it without, but the dress looks a bit silly without a belt around the waist. Either I can suck it up for now, or worry about buying a belt, and I'd rather not do the latter.) So I'm rather stumped about what shoes to couple this with.

If I had my way, I'd be able to wear it with these bad boys:




...But for $178.00, that'll never happen. (Besides that, they're mysteriously missing from the NastyGal website. I wonder if they're sold out? Hmm.)