…where my ankle acts up and I can only wear flats (or kitten heels on good days).
Unlike a few years back, when I attempted to murder my toe, my collection of flats has grown quite a bit and I’m no longer restricted to these 3 strappy Le Routard numbers.
Or these 2 pairs of Mary Janes, that look exactly the same but really are a navy blue and black pair (and yes, I have at one point turned up at work wearing one of each because my blurry eyed self hadn’t noticed the difference in the morning… That ‘ll teach me to leave my shoes lying around instead of putting them back in their boxes when I take them of… Or not…)
And of course my silver “princess” sandals and their replacements, because the Tamaris silver strappy sandals arrived last week and they were indeed silver and strappy and a perfect fit, so my Silver Sandal Search is over (for now…)
So, even though I do miss my heels, this time around you won’t hear me complain (very much) that I don’t have any shoes to wear for the occasion…
Shortly after entering the Shoeper Shoe Challenge back in 2011 I decided to start keeping track of a shoe wishlist.
Since I last updated the list some things have changed, while others have remained the same.
Wishlist update
– Up until today I haven’t found a pair of brown court shoes that both please me and are available in my size. Since I’m an autumn type and brown is a typical autumnal colour, this kinda worries me.
I did find a pair of leopard print court shoes that work well with most of my outfits that feature brown as a primary colour and for the rest I made do with cognac or tan boots during winter, brown sandals and nude peep toes during summer and nude slingbacks in spring and autumn, but it is still making do…
– The fact that I still haven’t found any grey suede boots worries me less, since they are more of a nice to have than I must have in my book;
I’ve added a pair of brown boots to the boots-search since I have such a hard time finding a pair that suits me and I would like to have a new pair before the current pair is no longer fit to wear. Luckily I take such good care of my collection that I don’t have to replace them every single year.
– Still no red or back slingbacks, although I must admit I haven’t really looked for slingbacks anymore. I kinda forgot about wanting to add these to my collection… I might still add a pair of red ones for the in-between-seasons weather, but I’m going to throw the black ones from the list
– I found a gorgeous pair of court shoes with denim uppers and a cork stiletto heel from my (still) all time favourite brand Tamaris and they are even prettier than the ones I had been chasing down but were never available in my size.
Turns out they only started at 37, which isn’t uncommon with shoes with a significant heel or platform.
– I managed to buy two more pairs of summery wedges: a lilac one and a black peeptoe one. Since wedges are so comfortable I expect that some of my future summer shoes will be wedges.
– I’m looking to replace my silver sandals, since they probably won’t last more than another summer. I used to have an aversion to metal coloured sandals, but I can now appreciate their versatility
New addition
Since I changed jobs, I no longer have about 700 shoe stores at lunch break distance, so my collection hasn’t grown as much over the past few years as it would have a few years back.
I do hop by the two local little shopping areas to check out new collections, sales, special actions,.. but between those two shopping areas there are only 5 or 6 shoe stores…
My latest additions are
– a pair of black Mary Janes and nude sling backs, both from Tamaris, bought at the Torfs stock sale. Torfs has a similar sale in their warehouses twice a year and I try to pass by them if it fits my agenda. You have to have luck at your side in finding something during those sales, but so far I have found 2 pairs of shoes about once every second time I go there.
Both pairs of shoes were bought to replace similar shoes that have served their time.
– the jeans and the white flats in the below picture. They are ideal for when my ankle acts up in summer and I’m stuck with wearing flats only. They are cute enough to work with a dress and are ideal for summer festivals and such. That is why each year I go to the store where they sell them to make sure that I have at least one white and one black pair and to add any other colours that I fancy and they have in their collection for that year.
Right after taking this picture and storing all shoes again in their boxes in the cupboard, I realised I also have a lilac pair. But I couldn’t really convince myself to go to the attic to go and find them and redo the picture, so you’ll just have to believe me on that one 😉
Two weeks ago on Sunday Pentatonix came to Belgium for the second time and for the second time me and my newest housemate (who I am eternally grateful for letting me discover this band) were present.
Pentatonix
An a capella band from Texas that originated in 2011 when the 3 founding members (Kirstie Maldonado, Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying) decided to enter “The Sing Off” and needed at least one extra band member.
They met Avi Kaplan through a mutual friend in the a capella scene and contacted Kevin Olusola after a video of him celloboxing went viral. (Celloboxig is a wonderful mix of playing the cello whilst beat boxing and Kevin now has his own solo album out).
They met the day before the audition, did a great audition and became that year’s winners.
They unfortunately lost their record deal quite quickly to sing on with a Sonny record company afterwards, but they never let it get it to them, launching a very succesful Youtube channel (with over 8 million subscribers and over 900 million cumulative views).
Their most viewed number must be their Daft Punk medley, for which they received the Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and A Cappella earlier this year.
They mostly bring pop songs, but are not afraid to tackle jazz, classical music and so much more. Their repertoire consists of covers, regularly in a medley format, in their own unique arrangements as well as more and more original songs.
What makes their style so unique, other than the arrangements, are their use of vocal percussion not only through Kevin’s beat boxing but through Avi’s gorgeous Basso Profondo voice, which makes me go weak in the knees.
VIP arrangement
Just like last year there were VIP arrangements and this year we chose a slightly bigger one than last year including:
– private sound check of one song
– a Q&A session
– photo opportunity with the band
– short meet&greet during a signing session
– goodie bag
– early access to the venue and the possibility to shop in private (I bought a t-shirt and my housemate bought a t-shirt and a hoodie)
The concert and it’s highlights They played in quite a bigger venue in another part of the country this year, resulting in a bigger and a slightly rowdier audience this year. Lucky for me I had my bear of a housemate with me, securing our front row places and making sure I wasn’t trampled or squished.
I enjoyed a concert that was a wonderful mix of covers and original songs, up beat songs as well as more timid ones that moved me to tears.
It’s hard to choose highlights from such a delightful show, so I’m sharing with you the two songs that left the biggest impression (two original songs even):
Standing by – a song in which Avi takes up the lead vocal proving that he is more than a very low bass and during which we were all asked to light up the venue with little stars by shining a light with our cellphones.
Fun fact: this song was written on tour last year, in Antwerp.
That’s Christmas to me – a song that gives me goose bumps every time, but now moved me to tears when they decided to sing it “off mic” and got a venue with 4000 people so quite you could have heard a pin drop
(a crowd that only seconds afterwards exploded when they finished their set with their Daft Punk Medley)
The outfit
I stress over my outfits for any given occasion and for this concert it wasn’t any different since I wanted something comfy (had to stand for hours) yet something nice too, as I was going to have my picture taken with the band!
So I asked some help from the ladies and gents at Go Frock Yourself and aside from some very nice compliments they came up with the following advice:
– pumps or flats and a cute tea dress with a cardigan
– flats, a dress and tights
– pumps or flats, skinny jeans and a nice top
In the end it became flats, a red skater dress with a cross-over bodice and a cardigan for the cold. And I think it worked just great!
It’s no longer a secret that I’m a geeky girl. But up until now it was a secret that I also have geeky feet…
Recently Teefury upped their game by launching ShoeFury: a brand new line of digitaly printed geeky shoes.
Not only unique in their geekyness, but also due to the fact that the tops of the shoes can be separated from the base… Sooo, once you’ve bought a full pair of shoes ($79,99 or $69,99 depending on the model), you can just buy any additional top (at $54,99).
Wanna know more? Check out their cool introduction video.
I’m wearing my uber cute pair of Cheshire Cat shoes this week for Geeky Friday.
Last week I was grateful that Shoeperwoman changed the rules of the Shoeper shoe challenge and we don’t have to include a full length shot of our outfit anymore.
On Thursday morning I had taken advantage of the Indian summer we were enjoying (and which should lasted till Monday, giving me enough time to save the last 3 pairs of summery shoes that needed saving) to save my white strappy sandals.
Was planning to have my picture taken in the evening, but I managed to spill most of the vinaigrette I got with my salad when I was trying to open it, effectively making sure my outfit was no longer suitable for a shoe challenge picture.
Luckily the meeting with my new client was before my lunch break.
I bought these sandals in Malaga, 2 years ago in September, when I was visiting my cousin who lives about 25km outside of Malaga.
It was the same day my wallet was stolen, which caused some distress, but couldn’t counter the happiness I felt in finding these shoes after searching after a pair of white sandals for most of the summer.
By the way, it’s quite impossible to take decent pictures of your own feet, luckily I have my personal photographer
A few days later I saved the last pair of 3 very comfy Le Routard flats (the white ones), but didn’t manage to take a decent pictures since once again a lost a fight with some of my food and ended up spilling it on my skirt.
I think the only reason I managed to get through this hectic week, in which I had to manage the client follow up of 3 of my colleagues (2 on vacation and 1 on sick leave) on top of my own, is because I knew I would be rewarded with going to a spa on Saturday with a good friend.
She had won a day pass and didn’t really feel like going alone so she asked me to come along, which I gladly did.
We started the day by passing by a vinotheque near by, which turned out ot be closed, and then went for a light lunch at the wellness center before we enjoyed a day of sauna, jacuzzi, steam room and more fun stuff.
In the evening we picked up my boyfriend and went for a nice meal and when we came home I went straight to bed (after having my picture taken), relaxing is a tiring business. (Which absolute doesn’t show in the picture, does it?)
In order to easily get in and out of my clothes and to let the relaxed feeling linger a bit when returning home I chose some comfy clotes (the skirt I returned home with after the swishing event) and another pair of Le Routards very comfortable strappy flats.
I had planned to go to Boombalfestival, a very nice and cozy folk dance festival nearby. Would have been the first time in three years I’d managed to go, due to an ankle injury that kept bothering me.
But right after getting ready and getting my picture taken, I managed to twist my ankle (not too bad, but bad enough to prevent me from going because I know I won’t be able to keep myself from dancing).
I think my body is trying to tell me something about this festival, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to listen.
The flats are one of 3 pairs of Le Routard flats I bought during the period my ankle prevented me from wearing heels. They are ideal summery festival and vacation wear and as you can see in the below picture, they have one thing in common that I really like: lots of straps.
A special thank you goes to my two cats who offered up their scratching post for 5 minutes while I posed for my outfit picture.
I’ll never understand how women with only three or four pairs of shoes manage.
Ever since the toe accident I have been limited to wearing the above three pairs of open toed flats and it’s been quite a challenge to get an outfit together in the morning (sheesh, I usually have more pairs of shoes with me if I go on a city-trip) . Especially since it has been mostly chilly and rainy since the accident.
So on Friday I spent my lunch break at the shopping center, visiting my favourite shoe store there, hoping to add another pair of open toed flats to the collection, when I passed these beauties:
I instantly fell in love and when they fitted like a glove I didn’t even look at the price tag and just bought them. They just had to become mine!!
And with that I can strike through the peep toe nudes I had on my wishlist.
Tried to murder one of my toes this weekend in an heroic attempt to prevent the party tent from flying away at the communion party for my eldest nephew.
Luckily the toe isn’t broken, only badly bruised with nasty hemorrhages, but the doctor taped it in anyway to give it some support and make it hurt less when walking.
Good thing this didn’t happen in winter, cause the only shoes I’m currently able to wear are flat open shoes. I’m lucky enough to have 3 pairs I can still wear (in very different colours, so i can still vary outfits quite a lot), but I was less lucky this morning and when I returned from my lunchbreak, when it was raining cats and dogs. Cause if there’s anything I hate, it’s wet feet when it’s not from taking a bath or shower.
After visiting somewhere in between 30 and 40 shoe stores in my quest for THE pair of flat silver sandals, i was starting to give up on the idea of finding them this year.
Until I joined my partner in a quest for new sunglasses that are dark enough for his very sensitive eyes and we passed by a “shoe boutique” I totally forgot was there and I finally found THE pair I had been looking for.
These strappy NR|RAPISARDI sandals with a little heel, will be worthy replacements for the below sandals that I learned to love over time.
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