Boots and Scarves A-Plenty

Looky what I scored:

I pretty much fell in love with these Born Concept boots the moment I laid my eyes on them.

The spousal unit and I went shopping at the 16th Street Mall in Denver for our anniversary. I love this time of year because there are boots and scarves a-plenty! I swear, I wish I had a closet that looked like this:

I'm a sucker for boots and scarves. They're kind of my signature fashion statement. I wear a scarf almost every day from fall to spring - unless it's warmer than, say, 70 degrees. At that point, wearing a scarf in 70 degree weather seems a little ridiculous. Unless, of course, the scarf looks like this:

 Scarves are so versatile.

This is one of my favorites:

Green: my favorite color.  And I love it with this New York & Company trenchcoat (which I scored the day after Christmas last year for about 75% off.) What a bargain!

**Side note: The buttons were not sewn well onto the jacket. Four buttons have fallen off...  Luckily for me, button-sewing is a skill I learned way back in the day. Fallen buttons do not sway me. However, I have yet to sew one button back on. So, now my jacket pocket is full of buttons. While fallen buttons do not sway me, my lack of motivation does. There. I said it.

Here's another scarf I love:

RED! (With a green jacket, of course.)

I'm passing on these girly tendencies to my daughter, who flips out at the sight of shoes and little hair things. I have a feeling I'm going to be very poor when she is a teenager. I hope the spousal unit can score another job to support her impending shopping habit.

All's well that ends well

After a long, tough, emotionally draining week (for a number of reasons), I was looking forward to today. Not just because it's Friday; the day before the weekend. But also because I had some fun things on the docket for the day.

Plus, God blessed me with some little pieces of joy.

The morning got off to a rough start. I was awakened to the sound of some obnoxious beeping, which I soon discovered was Scott's alarm on his iTouch. (I just so hate... no... passionately dislike beeping alarms.)  I forgot he was meeting up with his buddies for coffee at 5:30. I laid there for a little while but considering it was so close to my alarm going off, I just decided to get up.

At 4:45.

I woke Jeffrey up at 5:50... knowing that this would likely be a challenge considering he finally whimpered himself to sleep around 9:45. And if you know anything about toddlers, you'd know that 8 hours is not enough sleep. They need closer to 12. Just sayin'.  So... yeah... You can see where this is leading already.

Immediately the whining began. There are few things that grate my nerves the way that whining does.

I had to literally hold him down to brush his teeth. That was fun. He cried (really loudly) all the way to our car, which pretty much echoed in the courtyard... which I'm sure our neighbors really enjoyed before sunrise.

He whined all the way to school.

He refused to get out of the car. I pulled the baby out and started walking toward the door. Jeffrey jumped out of the car, screaming thinking I was leaving him behind. He cried all the way into school.  Then, like magic, he perked up and all evidence of the little terror-toddler was gone.

Unfortunately, by this time, I was at my breaking point. Jeffrey's regular teacher was in the baby's classroom, so I used it as an opportunity to ask a few questions. She assured me that he has never had a tantrum at school and was pretty much shocked to hear that he was acting out in this way.  (Lovely to hear, really... I'm SO relieved that he's so happy and compliant while in her care. However....)

We started walking towards Jeffrey's class. The center director stopped us to say hi to Jeffrey. She asked me how I was.

Now... ladies, you know how this goes. When you're sleep deprived, stressed out, emotionally drained, and sad, what happens when someone asks you how you are?

Oh yeah.... She hit the cry button.  I completely lost it. Bawled my eyes out right there in her office.

So not cool.

But she felt my pain. So much so that she started tearing up. Through my tears, I explained to her what we've been dealing with these last few weeks and how it has just completely broken my heart. I can't stand seeing my babies this way. Never mind the disobedience and tantrums. It's just a symptom of a deeper problem - most likely due to the fact that I have, at best, two hours a day with him before it's bedtime. And, worse, those two hours are not really quality hours. As soon as I get home, my attention is on the baby. Jeffrey no longer has his own space and stuff. He can't tackle the baby (I protect her). He has to share with the baby. Everything is about the baby. He's kind of left on his own. It's no wonder he's acting out. Any attention is better than no attention. He's three. He doesn't have the words to express how he feels. He just knows that he needs mommy and he never has mommy's undivided attention.

And then God blessed me. Jeffrey, in his typical tender fashion, looked into my eyes and asked, "Mommy, why are you crying?"  All I could muster to say was, "Honey, I'll explain it to you someday."

She was incredibly gracious and sweet. She told me how she's been there, and how it was that much worse considering her profession. She encouraged me that this will, indeed, be a passing phase, and offered to find some resources for me about raising such a willful, stubborn boy.

Eyes now red and puffy, I thanked her for her time.

And then God blessed me again. On our way into Jeffrey's classroom, he came running up behind me, his arms around my waist, following my footsteps like a little train. Once in the classroom, he wouldn't let me go. He hugged and kissed me repeatedly, until I finally said, "K... Meet me at the window!"

This is the highlight of my weekday mornings. He runs to the window and waits for me to go outside and kiss him through the glass. He smiled his big toothy smile, kissed me through the glass, and waved excitedly. Oh, how I love this kid!

I got into my car... and cried for the next 10 miles.

And then God blessed me again. The sun was just coming up, casting a beautiful purplish glow over the entire Rocky Mountain range. Oh, my goodness.... What a sight to behold! I never get tired of that view driving into work. I just longed to be closer to them... To touch them... To experience them... To listen to them...

But instead, I hit the drive thru at Starbucks and ordered a grande nonfat pumpkin spice latte. Yum.

Once at work, I fired up Pandora and found my mellow.

My coworker SHREEE! and I worked out together late morning. I had a good, healing sweat. (Oh, how I have missed taking out my frustrations in the gym!)

Rather than eat lunch, I ran to DSW and scored these little beauties:

New shoes have a healing quality about them, don't you think? And, bonus, they are closed toe and totally no open-toe shoe policy appropriate.  Hell to the yeah.

Dear Fire Chief: Never mind about the no open toe shoe portion of the dress code. I'm cool with it. Cuz, seriously, look at these shoes! I mean... they don't compare to my fabulous red suede pumps with peek-a-boo toes, but... these are pretty great.

At quittin' time (aka 5 o'clock pm, mountain standard time), SHREEE! and I agreed to meet for a drink. All well and good, only I was wearing the fire department polo. (Kinda not an ok thing to be wearing a fire department patch in a bar... It's an image thing.) So, oh darn, I guess I had to go buy a new shirt really quick. Which I did. And it's cute. And SHREEE! loved it... and my new shoes.... So, yeah... I strutted some new stuff.

And I had myself a Stella, y'all!

On my 40 minute commute home, I enjoyed some great tunes and watched the sun set over the Rockies. I just wish I had been in the middle of them, rather than admiring them from afar.

I arrived to an empty house. Another score. I did a quick clean up in the bedrooms, living room and kitchen. (I hate clutter and mess! So, yeah, just another opportunity for my anal retentive fix.)

The family arrived shortly after. Gotta hand it to the spousal unit. He took one for the team. He had the kids out running around for an hour and a half.  Eden was completely worn out. A big ol' bottle, some rocking and a few butt-pats and she was out.

The focus was now on Jeffrey. I have to admit, I was nervous. I just really didn't have it in me tonight to deal with another 2 hour tantrum.

He had our full, undivided attention.Wouldn't ya know it, he ate dinner without a fuss. He brushed his teeth without a fuss. He peed on the potty (like a big boy!) without a fuss. (Ok... we bribed him with gummy vitamins.)  It still took until 9:30 for him to finally fall asleep, but there wasn't a fit to speak of.

It's Friday. So... what else did we do? We enjoyed a Chicago pie and some suds... as we do every Friday night. It's a tradition that just simply cannot be broken.

And my spousal unit just handed me a Long Island Iced Tea. He loves me. He really loves me. (Actually, what he said was, "If you finish this, you'll feel like a new person."  He's right. And I'm not even a third through it. I love these things.)

Today didn't start well, but it ended pretty well. I'm enjoying my cocktail next to an open window with my mellow tunes rockin' on Pandora, Bose style, in the dark with only the light of a few candles and my computer screen. The spousal unit is... over there.  And I am over here.

I think I'll go over there.

Death to the "no open-toe shoe" policy!

Adidas Running Shoe - Beautiful!

I have a love affair with shoes. I always have. The irony is that I actually prefer to be barefoot (or bear toed, as my Picklebean would say). But it doesn't stop me from admiring great shoes. 


I discovered Adidas running shoes. I used to be a Nike girl. But... recently, when I did the side by side bounce test, I found that Adidas just fit me a tad better. A running shoe, yes, but I also wear them for just about any type of activity. They're that great.


A couple of years ago, I purchased an uber comfy pair of Rockports. An attractive shoe it is not. Well, at least not to my tastes. But nothing beats its comfort. I can walk all day and night in those things. And thank goodness. For $120, they better wear well. 

Black Boots - Fabulous!

I'm also a sucker for a great black boot. Look at these. Aren't these great? I wear my boots with skirts, jeans and slacks. I wear them to work. I wear them on weekends. It's just a great lookin' boot. Sassy. Sexy (if worn properly). Classy. Conservative.


But nothing, I tell you nothing beats my red suede pumps.


I'll tell you a little story about my red suede pumps. Our trips to Chicago aren't just for vacations. They also mark massive shopping sprees. I've never found such great clothes as I have in Chicago. For whatever reason, everything looks, feels and fits better in Chicago. I don't know why.


We found ourselves at the Water Tower - which is kind of an upscale mall. As we were meandering through one of the department stores, I discovered, to my surprise and delight, there was a colossal shoe sale. For someone who loves shoes, this is an impossible temptation to overcome. My poor husband... The things he endures for me. I soon was lost in a sea of sandals, pumps, boots, mules, slippers, you name it.  Shaking his head in utter disgust at my lack of self control, my husband just walked away, pushing Jeffrey in the stroller far, far away from me - so as to shade our son from such  gluttony. 

THE Red Suede Pump

Minutes... perhaps hours (who really knows for sure) passed, when eventually I saw Scott's head over the top of the shoe rack, making his way through the maze of shoes back to me. When, lo and behold, a pop of color caught my eye: a gorgeous pair of red suede pumps with little peek-a-boo toes. Nuh, UH!!!! And in my size!


Oh, my beating heart. 


Quickly, I tossed my tennies and slipped on these exquisite pieces of heaven, just as my husband rounded the corner towards me.


In as calm a voice as I could muster under these dire circumstances, I looked at him with big puppy eyes and said, "I don't know.... What do you think?"

His eyes shifted to my feet... and then ever-so-slowly up my legs... and ssssslllllooowwwwlllllyyyyy back to my feet. He swallowed hard. And then in his always composed way, he remarked, "Oh, yeah... You need those."




Ladies, when a man tells you, "you need those" shoes, trust me, you need those shoes. 


I made my purchase. And I've been in love ever since. With those red suede pumps with the little peek-a-boo toes. (Oh, I love my husband, too. He totally earned a few points that day.)


These shoes can be worn with just about anything. They look great with jeans. They look awesome with a skirt. They look amazing with slacks. They're appropriate for a night out. And they are, in fact, appropriate for the workplace. (Although if you ever have to negotiate stairs, pay attention! Every time I make it to the top or bottom without incident, I have a private celebration in my mind because, really, that could have easily gone another way.)


There is not a day I wear these shoes that I don't get complimented. Women everywhere love them. (And why wouldn't they?) They're FAH-bulous, dah-ling!


Do you want to know a heartbreaking fact? (I've had to come to terms with this little tid-bit of information that I'm about to share with you. And, yes, I have had a few bad days over it.) My current employer has a "no open-toed shoe" policy. 

**GASP**

**SHUTTER**

Say, wha?

**Hyperventilate**

**Hold breath**

**Blood curdling, classic horror movie scream**

NnnnnnnNNNNNOOOOOOOOOoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

**Someone hand me a box of tissues and a paper bag, please.**

This, my friends, is a tragedy. A TRAGEDY, I tell you! 


I would totally contest this. But... this is a conflict of interest for me. I am, after all, an HR professional. It is my job to uphold and enforce company policies. I actually get paid to do this. 


But, oh dear Fire Chief, if only you knew how adorable these shoes are. You might change your mind. At the very least you could make an exception to the rule... for amazing red suede pumps with peek-a-boo toes. 


I'd be thrilled to re-write the policy. Just let me know when you're ready.  (Is now good for you?)


Please don't make me beg. (But I'm not above that, if necessary. Just sayin'.)