Some Spring in Your Step!

Wait, didn't it just snow on Sunday?

Yeah, our weather is wonky. Yesterday, I drove with my sunroof open on my way to meet a friend for lunch. And today it's supposed to get up to 75 degrees. So of course I can't help but to start dreaming about spring sandals and open toed pumps!

Not that I have room in my budget for new shoes at the moment (hello, closing on our house in a couple weeks!), but I can dream. And drool. And mmm over nude color palettes and color blocking!

These are some of my favorite spring heels I've been lusting over:

1) Eben by L.A.M.B., $225.24 (out of my normal price range for shoes, but oh, how I'd love to pair these with a short tweed A-line skirt and white button down blouse!)

2) Rhys by Jessica Simpson, $71.99

3) Sperry Top-Sider Women's Santa Rosa Wedge, $39.66 (I actually really like all three colors/patterns these comfy looking wedges come in)

4) Rosale by Steve Madden, $149.99 (basically, the perfect nude pump!)

5) Chantal by Bebe, $109.99

6) Color-block Elastic Sandal by Colin Stuart, $88 (I need a flowy white beach dress with these, or maybe some white linen slacks, with a teal tunic!)

7) Daron by N.Y.L.A., $93.49 (perfect for pairing with capri pants)

8) Barcia by Promise, $52.99 (they come in yellow too!)

Have you started dreaming about spring clothes and shoes yet, or is it a little too early in your neck of the woods? And how is it almost March already? This year is flying by!

The Best Shoe Rack I've Ever Owned, and Outfit Planning

Guys, I just got this new shoe rack, and I wanted to share it with you all, because it's seriously the best rack I've ever owned!

If you remember, in my old walk in closet bedroom, I never had enough space for shoes, so ended up just lining the perimeter of the room with several rows of shoes on the floor under my garment racks, like this:

I still have a lot of shoes on the floor in my new closet bedroom, but now that I bought this new Whitmor shoe rack (for $35 from Amazon), I got 50 shoes up off the floor, saving me a ton of room.

And not only does it hold 50 pairs (or there's also a 30 pair version), plus a few flats can sit on the floor under it, it is the most sturdy rack I've ever owned! It's due to the thick plastic sides, it really resists shaking when you're loading and unloading shoes.

{Side view from the Amazon listing}

It completely blows this other shoe rack I have out of the water, because this other one is flimsy and was a pain to put together, holds less shoes, and overall was just a lot less well built than the above rack--for about the same price.

 {Photo from the Amazon listing}

Here is my awesome Whitmor shoe rack in action:

(I know it's cuter to have the toes of the shoes face out, but it's so much easier to store high heels with the heel facing out--easier to pull them out and put them away)

And the flimsy rack. I really wish I'd just gotten the 30 pair Whitmor rack instead of this one, but that's part of why I'm writing this, to warn you all to look at the construction when buying shoe racks; the side rails are the most important part when it comes to sturdiness.

Luckily, for the next few weeks, I only have to worry about shaking and knocking shoes off my flimsy rack when putting them away, because for now, I've piled up the next 6 weeks of weekday shoes in a corner of my closet bedroom.

Why? Well, I'm all about planning ahead and saving time! And on my mission to wear more than just PJs everyday to work from home AND try to go as long as possible without wearing the same clothing item more than once, I spent my lunch break yesterday laying out my next 6 weeks of weekday outfits, and the corresponding shoes (heels don't stack very well, but in the above picture the shoes are lined up three weeks high and two weeks deep, in order with the outfits hanging above them that they go with).

Now I don't have to stare at my clothes for 10 minutes every morning and try to figure out what to wear! It took me about an hour and a half to put together 30 outfits (including hanging things up, finding the jewelry and shoes, and reorganizing the outfits so I'm not, say, wearing 4 pink tops in a week). But that's saving me about 50 minutes each week in time spent trying to put together outfits daily. And this way I also know for sure there will be no repeats, since it's all laid out! (Well, I'm repeating some accessories and a pair or two of shoes, but no clothes.)

Some might think this is too much work, but really, it is pretty fun to put together outfits all at once. And when an hour and a half of planning saves me 5 hours over a 6 week period (10 mins each day of trying to find outfits), it's a no brainer in my book! But then, I like planning out our meals in a similar manner too!

{Sidebar: when I posted about planning out our meals and grocery shopping only once a month, I got a few comments from you guys saying you were amazed our produce and stuff lasted so long. So I thought I'd clarify and say that they don't! But I plan our meals so that the first two weeks of the month include a lot of fresh veggies and fruit, and the last two weeks of the month are usually casseroles that call for things like frozen broccoli and spinach. That way, we always go through the perishables before they spoil, and still have the frozen items to fall back on later in the month. It's all about planning ahead!}

Do you ever plan out your outfits in advance to save time later? And why are most shoe racks so dang flimsy?

Inspired By Shoes From A Commercial

For the last week or so I keep seeing this American Express commercial that has the cutest little strappy back heels with little bows on the backs. I've even been dreaming about how cute these shoes are, and went so far as to Google "American Express commercial shoes" to try to find out what brand they are, but with no luck.

Basically, I've been thinking about these shoes a lot.

So last night when the commercial came on again, I paused it on my DVR and grabbed my camera, so I could at least get a better look at the heels in some photos, to maybe help me in my search for them. But in looking at the photos this morning, I discovered something. The little straps with the bows in the back that I've been so enamored with appear to just be strings tied behind the girl's ankles, and are not really straps at all.

Here's the photos I took, so you can see what I'm talking about:

See what I mean? It just looks like there are little black strings wrapped around the T-strap on the front, and just tied in the back into bows. I don't even think the strings are attached to the shoes themselves, and it's a super cute and easy way to add some extra oomph to basic T-strap sandals!

I actually don't have any T-straps like these, but I dug out an old pair of pink shoes that have a similar "scoop" on the ankles to try to see for myself if it was really that easy to create this extra strap + bow look. And it totally was!

(Please ignore my very dirty mirror, and floor!)

I am definitely inspired now to find some cheap black T-strap sandals, and add my own strings to recreate this look from the commercial myself! And it will be way easier than trying to track down some elusive brand of shoes I saw on TV!

Have you ever been inspired to recreate something you saw on TV for yourself?

Inspired Repourposing = New Purse!

A while ago, when I showed off my walk in closet bedroom makeover, Kristen, aka Mrs. Glasses suggested that I deserved a reward for all of my hard work.

Well, I made a promise to myself to not buy any more shoes for the entire first
quarter of the year. Nothing until early April. I think this might be the longest time period in the last 5 years without buying shoes! I know, I know, I have a problem—I’m dealing with it.

But! That doesn’t mean that I still don’t deserve a reward. After all, I’ve been being really good about keeping our house clean. So I set a limit of $100 or less, and just bought a new purse.

What, you don’t think I need another one?


No, really, I did! I swear! Look at the straps on my everyday purse, they’re about to break!


So here is my new bag, which I can’t wait to arrive in the mail (although I will be removing the "chocolate" tag from it). I got it from ebags.com, and I Googled for a 20% off coupon with free shipping.

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But ANYWAY. All of this doesn’t really have much to do with the point of this post, I just wanted to show off my new purse! :)

So while I was browsing ebags (and I’m one of those people who can browse online for hours and hours if I’m bored), I started noticing there were quite a few handbags with rosettes on them, including my new bag.

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It must be a trend.

Which got me thinking….I was already a fan of rosettes about 8 months ago….on my DIY wedding shoes!

(By Shoot Me Now Photography)

I’ve since removed the ankle cuffs from the shoes so I can wear them in everyday settings, since with the cuffs they were a bit over the top (although perfect and exactly what I wanted for my wedding day!).

So the rosette cuffs have just been sitting in a drawer, with no use for all of these months. Until I was inspired by ebags to attach them to the front of a little black evening bag!


And now I have a gorgeous rosette evening clutch to match my shoes!


Of course, I took the easy way out, and only attached the base of the flowers to the purse with safety pins. Not that pretty on the inside, but I wanted to leave myself open to the option of still using this as a plain black clutch if I need to.


I’m so happy I finally found a use for these ankle cuffs; repurposing feels great! Now I just need an excuse to dress up in a little black dress so I can wear my shoes with my new clutch!

Have you found ways to repurpose any of your wedding attire or decorations?