alegria.

I played softball for 14 years, most of the time spring and fall.  My position alternated between third base and catching, but 95% of my time was spent catching.  Guess what that means?  Yup, at 22 I have horrible knees.  Whenever I squat down, they pop.  If I stand for too long they get really stiff and sore.  If I stretch, they strain.  My left ankle is bad from being a stubborn dumbass and catching anyway while it was double rolled.  I'm also a rather chesty girl so my shoulders and back constantly hurt.  And I have bad posture from that.  Constantly I hurt.  Constantly I limp.  Constantly when I move I go "Oooh!  That hurts!"  Constantly I'm identifying with my 85 year old Grammie.  On top of this I managed to pick a career where I will be on my feet for eight or more hours a day. 

So, yesterday I broke down and bought my first pair of comfort shoes.  I know, I know.  But seriously, they're super comfortable.  And you know what?  They're actually kind of cute.

These are mine.

They're called Alegria by PG Lite.  This is the Paloma style, in soft black.  They have several other styles, including sandals, clogs, boots, and a professional line for nurses. 

The shoes have a Mild Rocker Outsole (Sketchers tried to do this with the ShapeUp) that roll with you in a natural walking motion.  The Rocker helps with your posture, and reduces stress on your muscles, joints, and back.  The foot bed is called a Perfect Fit Footbed, and is anatomically correct and molds to your foot, giving you a customized fit.  They also have their Color Therapy, giving you a color for every mood, and lots of patterns.  They firmly believe that shoes should make you happy.  They're a little pricey, but worth it.  And they're coming out with a 'Mini Rocker' for Fall 2010.  You better believe I'm gonna be all over those, I'm tall enough at 5'7" and the ones I have make me 5'8".  They come in lots of pretty colors and fun patterns.  The shoes are in European sizes.  Mine are a size 38 European, which is 8 - 8.5 American.

If you're anything like me, you won't wear it unless it's comfortable.  And I don't mean you feel comfortable wearing it, 'cause there is a difference.  I won't wear things that are uncomfortable.  This is why I wear dresses, and like loose clothing.  This is why I almost never wear heels, and when I do they are wedges, only an inch and a half tall.  I can't do heels.  Years of running around barefoot (I am from Georgia, after all) made me hate wearing shoes.  So when I had to wear closed shoes I wore those super flat Target ballet flats (y'all know what I'm talking about).  And I have a lot of them.  And I do wear them.  And they are comfortable when I'm not running around everywhere and standing a lot.  However, wearing something with no support is not a good idea for me spending 8 hours on my feet at school.  The days that I was really in severe pain were the days I wore those shoes.

Andrew told me I needed to get some comfort shoes, and I balked at the idea.  Lets face it, most comfort shoes are not cute.  At 22 I still care about looking cute, and I'm in a fashionable industry to boot.  I was content to wear my purple mocs because they were the only flats I had that had any kind of real sole to it.  However, last Friday I did a full highlight and my back and knees hurt so bad when I came home it was painful to move.  At all.  Andrew was right, but I didn't know where to begin.  I've watched my Mom get frustrated for years trying to find cute comfort shoes.  I had noticed a few girls around school wearing these shoes, and my favorite instructor wears them all the time.  I finally asked my instructor about them.  She gave them a glowing review and told me she loved them so much she had quite a collection.  Then she told me where to find them.

Here are a few of my other favorites.

Paloma Eden.

Paloma Purple Tortoise.

Paloma Fantasy Tattoo.

Paloma Leopard.

Paloma Floral.

That is just a taste of the colors and patterns they have. 

Seriously, I love mine.  Obviously, seeing as this post has gotten rather long.  Wether you're a hair stylist, nurse, teacher, whatever, if you have a cereer where you're on your feet a lot, I highly recommend these shoes.  Even if you're just looking for comfortable shoes, I recommend these.  I even told my Mom about them.  If you're in Gwinnett County GA, they can be found at The Foot Traveler at the Mall of GA (there are directions on the site).  To anyone else go to the Alegria site and they can help you.

in the closet.

This is our closet.  Yeah.  Makes me miss the nice big walk-in I had when I lived in Snellville.  That closet was totally wasted on 7 year old me.

I get the bottom rack, and that shelf for my jeans.  All my shoes are under the clothes on the floor. 

Yeah, those awesome cowboy boots are mine.

I really don't have that many clothes, which I guess is why I've never done outfit posts (other than being too sheepish to get Andrew to take my picture).  Most bloggers seem to have an endless supply of clothes (jealous!), and if they wear something again it always looks fresh.  I don't think I'm that creative.

I do love that a lot of bloggers actually take the time to thrift and find great deals on things and be creative.  So even though they may have a lot of clothes, they may not have spent a ton of money.  It gets old to see the bloggers that have one expensive thing after another.  Not that they aren't pretty to look at, and not that there's anything wrong with having a few designer pieces.  I just think it takes more creativity to put together some thrifted pieces, some vintage and maybe one designer piece, instead of piling on the designer stuff.

Just an opinion.

lucky you.

I got my first pair of Lucky Brand jeans today.  Actually, Kim (mother-in-law) bought them for me.  They were at T.J. Maxx for $32.  They were originally like $150.  Exciting!

She also bought me this adorable Lucky Brand purse for Christmas.  It was marked from $120 down to $59.  It's small, leather, has a long adjustable strap, and is the prettiest shade of blue.  I would post a picture but I didn't take one and can't find it online.

I was happy a few weeks ago when we (I have an awesome mother-in-law) found my Lucky Brand sandals.  They were $68 marked to $45 and we got them for $20.  They're so comfortable, which is important to me, partly because of my career path.  It was awesome because I wanted a black pair of sandals and I wanted to spend the same amount on them as I did when I got my brown Reefs.  And I did!  For a better brand!

These are the sandals.

This is the other Lucky Brand bag I want. 

crystal.

A few months ago I read the book Hungry by Crystal Renn.  It's very inspiring, has a good message, and is a good read.  Crystal goes from curvy 14 year old to super skinny model to a healthy size 12 and a fantastic career as a plus-size model.  The girl is awesome, and gorgeous.

queen of fashion.

For the last week or so I've been reading Queen of Fashion:  What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution.  It basically sums up her life through clothes, leading to her downfall and it's quite interesting.  I love history, so that's mostly why I'm reading it, but not too many history books I've read talk about clothes too much.  And I do love hearing about the clothes.  And if it has pictures, all the better.  Clothes back in the day did separate class, but to Marie Antoinette they were something else.  A way to fake her power, a way to express herself, like they are to lots of other people.  They were also a way she got into lots of trouble.

This portrait by Jean-Baptiste Gautier-Dagoty was done in 1775.   It shows the Queen in the grand habit de cour, and wearing the royal fleurs-de-lys embroidered, ermine lined robe.

The above portrait of Marie Antoinette was painted by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun in 1783.  It shows the Queen in her signature look, the white gaulle.  When this portrait was displayed it caused such a scandal (the similarities between the gualle and chemise made people feel their Queen had been painted in her underwear), that Vigee-Lebrun had to replace it with another more 'queenly' portrait.

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves history, clothes, or just has a fascination with Marie Antoinette.

headgear.

Lately I have become obsessed with headbands.  You know, the cute patterned ones.  The decorative object is on the side.  The ones that little scene girls wear.  Oh, and clip in bows, too.  Yeah.

I guess the reason for this is I got my hair cut last week by my instructor, Kristin.  And I guess it falls into the category of a scene kid haircut.  I did Google 'scene hair cut with bangs' to find it.  When I showed Andrew the picture he made a face and said, "I don't want you to look like a 14 year old MySpace whore."  But now I have supershort layers and these awesome bangs and headbands and bows just look so cute! 

This is what it looks like all the time.  Just some volume at the crown.  However, today at school we had a photoshoot.  The class went a little nuts on me and turned me into a little rockstar scene girl, teased hair, lots of makeup, headband and all.  By this point my hair had deflated just a wee bit.  Here's a picture of that...

Obligatory MySpace pose.  I guess I have to go make one now.  But I won't.

achromatic.

Black.  I used to love black.  When I was 15 and 16 that was pretty much all I used to wear, occasionally mixed in with hints of dark red, deep purple, or neon green.  Some called it punk rock, some called it Goth, and my Mother called it stupid (she was right).  At 17 I discovered the wonderful world of color!  And I have never gone back!  16-year-old me had a predominantly black closet. This me had a mostly color closet with a few black shirts reserved for certain things.

Black evokes many emotions.  It can be elegant and sharp.  It's slimming.  It's classy and classic.  It can be worn for neraly any occasion.  On the other hand it can be depressing, gloomy, and makes you look pale.  It's also worn to funerals.

The reason I bring this up is because I am sick of wearing black clothes all the time!!!  Not that I find anything wrong with someone wearing black a lot.  Some people pull it off.  This is a personal thing.

Sorry, venting.

crazycrazycrazy.

School is crazycrazycrazy.  I feel like there's not enough hours in the day.  I get up at 5:30 a.m.  I leave my house by 7:10 and get to school by 7:30.  Class starts at 8.  We get a 15 minute break at 10, a 30 minute break at 12, and another 15 minute break at 2.  We leave at 4.  And it's not that it drags on.  Time goes by really fast there.  You look at the clock at 8:15 and you look back what you think is 30 minutes later, but suddenly it's time for your 10 a.m. break.  But, yeah.  Up at 5:30, school at 8.  Out of school at 4.  Home by 4:30.  Study, study, study, possibly see Andrew, try to go to bed before 11, repeat next day.

We can only wear black clothes.  We can wear colored shoes and accessories, but other than that it must be black.  Which kind of sucks.  I don't really wear black.  I really had no black clothes.  I guess I will at the end of school.

The girls are awesome.  I have my favorites, of course, but I pretty much like everyone.  There's a few girls I'm not really warmed up to yet, but I don't dislike them. 

Andrew and I are having dinner with my parents tomorrow night.  I hope it's not going to be a witch hunt. 

I want.

anthropologie c'est bon dress

wedding... again.

Seriously sorry about all the wedding stuff, guys.  I think because I've just started looking ya'll are going to get overloaded with wedding planning for a while.  It'll slack off after a while probably, I do have 11 months to get it all together.  So far it really has just been the fashiony girly aspect of it (dresses) but in this post be prepared for talk about flowers, locations, invitaions, vases, colors, vests, decoration, theme, cakes, ribbons, food, and music.   Well, maybe not all that in this post, but be prepared for them to be in posts in the not too distant future.

I've changed my colors (again!), and found my theme.  We've decided on Labor Day weekend 2010, and that's still summer.  The colors I've decided on are purple and blue.  And depending on the dress I get the accent colors will be cream or white, and gold or silver.  I hope I can go with cream and silver.  The theme we've decided to go with is kind of antiquey, vintage, old south.  Very relaxed, very simple, very pretty. 

I still do like that Justin Alexander dress in the last post, and I don't mind the gold on it so much, and the price wasn't too bad.  But since then I've looked at other dresses and fallen in love.  And the new dresses do not involve gold, thank God.  And they go with the simple theme much better.  And they're cheaper.  And they're J. Crew (!!!).  Even the bridesmaids dresses I want are J. Crew.  They have the perfect color. 

From left to right: Sophia dress, and twist tank dress.  Both in Hazel Blue. 

From left to right: Marlene, Sabine, and Erica.  Marlene is my favorite.

The flowers I want are blue hydrangea and lavender.  I was thinking bridesmaids have small bouquets of lavender and I have one with hydrangea and lavender.  These are my favorites out of all I've seen, but I could not find a hydrangea and lavender bouquet, so try to imagine it.

That's all I'm going to do for now.  I start school tomorrow and I need to get ready for that.  I also need to shower.  Be prepared for more wedding stuff.

All dresses found here.

american gothic.

So now I'm thinking purple and green for wedding colors.  But rich colors!  I figured out my friend is doing green and brown, and I don't want to do the same thing she is.  And a September wedding.

And I think I have a new favorite dress...

It's Justin Alexander, #8453.  It's layered cream net with Swarovaski crystals, pearls, and gold embroidered lace.  And it's only $1,200.  They described it as American Gothic goes glam.  I saw it in the "American Beauty" spread in Brides Magazine and it makes me want to get married in the country wearing a cameo necklace like she is in the magazine.  I even love cameos.  I'm not sure why she's in a box in this picture, but I desperately want to see the dress in person.  Obviously because I want to try it on. :)

wedding.

I've been looking at wedding stuff... I've decided my colors are going to be moss green and a copper color.  I figured that would work for a fall wedding.  And green is my favorite color.  Anyway, some bridemaids dresses I have looked at.

These two are my favorites.  I want my dress to be lacy, and these tie into that.

These are my three favorite dresses.  Especially the first two.  Very lacy, a little vintage feeling.

And if I could afford one of these I would get one.

rattling the panes.

The thunder is rattling the glass in my windows.  I wish I had rain boots.  It's supposed to rain til next Thursday.  It's Georgia, so we'll see if that happens.

And I wish I could get the other boots I want.

I hate not having a job.  I realized for the first time yesterday how much it pissed me off. 

And I'm stressed about getting everything done for school.  I wish I'd filled out the FAFSA a long time ago for this very reason. 

And I have to see my Mom today.  I've avoided her for about two weeks.  Not looking forward to that.  My plan is to see her for about 30 minutes, be as nice as possible, then leave.  No arguing.  Which is going to be pretty much impossible.  She won't let me not argue. 

eclectic eccentricity.

This jewelry is fabulous!  I love the vintage look and uniqueness of every piece.  The woman who makes these has a good thing going.  Everything she makes is limited of course, but she has certain pieces that are editions which are actually advertised as limited.  There is also an exclusive section, and those are the one of a kind. 

These are three one-of-a-kind pieces that were recently sold.  The watch is really something, isn't it?

Here is the link to the website.

Eclectic Eccentricity Jewellery- jewellery with inspired kookiness.

fossil love.

I was never a huge fan of Fossil. My brother is obsessed with their watches, but I didn't even know they made clothes until a few years ago. But even then, when I looked at them they didn't have much I liked. That has changed now. I still don't love all the stuff but these pieces are awesome. I love the vintage look and the almost western feel that some of the pieces have. And I love the plaids. They also make shoes now (I want most of them, too). The heels are adorable and have a vintage feel to them. The leather and suede... Chunky heels... Peep-toe and t-strap. There's even a Mary-Jane and a wedge style one. There is one flat called the Roxanne that has an open back on it. Adorable. However, not so much a fan of their boots, I was rather disappointed. Can't have it all, I guess.

new things, possibly old things.

This has been a good weekend, and a good Monday.

So I went to some antique stores with Andrew's Mom yesterday. Found a few things, including my Dad's Christmas presents. At Treasure Mart I found a badass purse and some bracelets.

I'm not sure how old the purse is, or if it's even vintage, but it's vintagy and when I saw the strap was adjustable I HAD to have it. The tooling is awesome, and it's in excellent condition. There are two little pockets on the inside, and it's clean. Can't fit very much in it though, which is good because I did need to downsize.

Bracelets. The two skinny ones on the right I already had, but I love those style bracelets. And of the two on the right the one on the inside was my Grandmommy's, so it's special. The biggest bracelet had another one that looked like they were supposed to match, but it's was really ugly, and they weren't priced together, so I let it go. I spent $14 on the purse, the three bracelets on the left were together and $4, and the big one was $2. So a grand total of $20.

The whole weekend was just good. Friday I hung out with Andrew. Saturday we went to Ron's house to grill out with him and his girlfriend (Melissa), her daughters (Anna and Ashley), and her roommate (Sara). I stayed at Andrew's Saturday night. He suprised me with the magazine LIFE put out on Marilyn Monroe. Then Sunday after church was the Treasure Mart extravaganza. We also went to My Favorite Place and he bought me a cool cigar box, and a tiny wooden box inlaid with brass. He spoils me.

I had orientation for school this morning. The teacher is awesome, the people in there with me seem cool, one girl I already know, and the classes are going to be great. It's going to be awesome. :)

funky, funky.

I've only dyed my hair a funky color once in my life. I was 15 and dyed it blue. My Mother was very pissed and made me wash it out as soon as she realized what I'd done. When I was still around that age I did want to do funky things to my hair, dye it a crazy color, something. But I never did seeing as I did not want to sign my own death warrant. Now as I've gotten older I've stopped caring about dying my hair strange colors. But every now and then I see a really cool color job involving teal or purple and it makes me want to do that to my hair. I've always loved the cool blues, purples and greens.

Even if I just did one chunk, I think I'd feel better. Like, I finally got to do it.

On another note, I bought my denim sweetheart dress from AE yesterday. I'm very pleased with it. I wore it with a Converse button up plaid shirt. It's going to become one of my favorite articles of clothing. I also bought another dress. It's blue plaid and definately a summery dress. I'll post pictures sometime. I also bought two necklaces. The jewelry this year is awesome. Very vintagey with lots of lockets and cameos and pearls. Lots of clustering the charms. Very pretty.

ae love.

I used to HATE American Eagle. Read that: HATE. In middle school/early high school I had a pair of jeans and a few shirts that I found at TJ Maxx. American Eagle was just not my thing. They didn't have anything black, and they were a little too expensive for me. And the cool kids were wearing it.

That changed my junior year of high school. Some stuff happened, my closet was purged of all things black (which was ALL my clothes), and I showed up to the first day of school in a yellow shirt. Thus begun my turn away from the 'dark side', and for a while I pretty much wore what my Mom wanted me to. I just didn't care.

Shortly after I graduated high school I got a job at American Eagle. I'm not even going to lie: I loved that job. I still do. It's still one of my favorite jobs I've ever had. Most of the people were cool, and the discount was frickin' fabulous. You got 40% off, and then depending on what the item was (like if it was on the sale rack) you got an additional 25%. Needless to say most of my paycheck went straight back to the store, and they actually got me caring about what I wore again. Some of the things they have out now are making me wish I still worked there so I could use my employee discount.

These are the things I'm currently lusting after...

The strapless dress I also want in the railroad stripe pattern, but since one of the dresses is already that pattern I'll get it in denim first. And the ballet flats I want in pretty much every color and pattern they have. And the motorcycle boots come in suede. I want those, too. There is also a white pin stripe vest and a denim western shirt I want. And all the jewelry is fantastic this season, and I want it, too. I'll never be able to afford all that, haha!