Three Things: Shoe Websites.

So, it's probably not a shocker to you that I love to shop for shoes. Unless you're a stranger that stumbled upon my blog, and then it might be, I suppose. If you care nothing about shoes, I suggest you just skip this one...


People often ask me where I buy my shoes, since I seem to have a never-ending supply, and I almost always recommend the following three:


1. Heels.com
I can rarely afford all the shoes I want here, but they have an amazing selection! It's a great website, it the way it's displayed, ease of use, and how you can narrow down what you're looking for. As the name implies, they have pretty much only heels (also some boots, flats, and sandals, but you won't find, say, athletic shoes...) A bonus though: (if I'm not mistaken) 2nd day free shipping.


2. Zappos.com
I've only recently made my first purchase from them, but again, a GREAT selection. Unlike Heels.com, they have a wider variety of types of shoes, and the pair I just bought there was a pair of Nike light weight racing shoes and the prices are a little more competitive. They have free shipping both ways (always!) and you can return them up to 365 days after you've bought them. Amazing! I know I'll be using this website a lot more in times to come.


3. DSW.com
Most of their shoes are actually in my price range, which is nice, and you can accumulate points towards discounts, too. Their selection isn't as big as the first two, but they have everything from women's formal to men's casual. The best deal I ever got was from this website, when last year on St.Patrick's day, I got to have 50% taken off everything I bought that day (6 pairs of shoes later....) which was just in time for my birthday :)


4. (a bonus...) Macys.com
I love Macy's in general. Being a card holder I get a lot of discounts and coupons, so I can usually get what I want for a minimum of 25% off, which is always enjoyable. Their site is great for reviews, and you can always return things to the store if it doesn't work out for whatever reason.


Now, the place I buy most of my shoes is split pretty evenly between Macy's and Nordstrom Rack, but unfortunately, NR doesn't have a website, but you can get things there for SO CHEAP! Or, at least, a lot cheaper than they were originally.


Anyways, in case you cared, these are my favourite places to shop, even it's only window-shopping.

*Something witty, upbeat, and humorous*

I couldn't think of a good title for this update. That's pretty much all this is: an update.


Re-started Oakley on his potty training this morning. We learned the reason he didn't want to do it before is because he thinks the undies belong to Oliver and the toilet belongs to Oliver. So I went out and found him some teeny boxers (the cutest thing ever, by the way) and brought the little potty back upstairs out of storage. It's been going okay for far this morning...Of course, it's only 9:24 right now, but I'm calling it a success that he even was happy to sit on the potty and read books for fifteen minutes this morning.
He had an accident already, but it was literally three minutes before I planned to put him back in the bathroom to try again, so...


The downside of all this? Elliot is being so clingy and fussy this morning! I don't know what his deal is. I put him back in his bed hoping he would go back to sleep for a bit, and from the sounds of it, he finally gave into his exhaustion. He is very curious about what Oakley is doing in the bathroom.
Oliver was too, and decided that since we were already in there, it would be a good time for him to go as well. I almost got peed on and some books needed wiped down. Gross. The first few weeks of potty training are not my favourite in the world.


Just took a quick break to clean up a poop mess. *Sigh*


I for sure need to go buy Oakley more boxers. I only got one pack of three not knowing if he'd go for them or not... Two are already dirty, and there's bit of time before the first pair is done washing and can be put in the dryer. I guess it's kind of a good thing we caught up a bit on laundry this weekend.


I'm feeling a little the opposite of the "title" of this entry.


For other news, I started working on my dollhouse this weekend. Phil had gotten me this really beautiful dollhouse kit in October (I asked for it) but I hadn't really had the time to do anything with it with all the holidays and whatnot. So Friday night I (with Phil, and then unexpectedly his dad) stained all the shingles, which is a lot more work than one might think, and yesterday afternoon/evening, I painted the pieces for the porch/railing and put those together. Also A LOT more work than it seems. I knew this wouldn't be an easy project and it wouldn't be a fast project, both things I appreciate about it, but I didn't think it was going to be this time consuming. I will for sure be needing Phil's help to put the actual walls and roof together since when I was reading the instructions last night, I had no idea what they were talking about. The writer of the manual assumes you do this for a living and uses all the builder lingo and, well, some of the terms I think I know or could figure out, but I think it will be fun to work on it with Phil and thereby increase the possibility of it actually looking like a house when we're done.


I'll be posting pictures of the finished product at some point, and maybe some along the way if I remember...


I worked some more on my quilt leading up to Christmas, and was taking pictures along the steps, so at some other point, I'll also be posting a blog to have a very rough demonstration of how to do it if anyone is interested.


Happy Monday!

Half way there!

For those keeping up with my running and training for the half-marathon, you will be happy to know that I got off my butt tonight and ran on my treadmill!

I had tried to run a little on Saturday, but only had time to run a little over three before I had to shower and get ready for a birthday party. I was feeling pretty discouraged that that was as far as I had gotten when I need to be able to whip out 13.1 miles. I was totally wiped after that three and a quarter mile run.

At Winter Warriors on Tuesday, we ran just under four, but it was about ten degrees out, so it was a tough run (I thought anyways. Some of the crazies still run about fifteen miles in this weather) I needed a motivational boost.

So, tonight, I decided that I would hit up my treadmill after the kids had gone to bed. Oakley didn't fall asleep for quite some time, so I didn't get started until ten, but my goal had been to run at least four miles. At about two and three quarters, I decided I should up it to five miles since I was feeling pretty good. At about four miles, I decided I should up it to six and run basically half of the half-marathon. Then, about five miles, I decided, "Well, that's dumb. I should just run the extra half mile and then really have done half..." 

So I did! One hour and thirteen minutes (and fifty one seconds) it took me, but I burned 1069 calories, so I'd say it's worth it.

My pre-race goal is to be able to comfortably run ten miles, and let the adrenaline of the race make up the last three miles. If I make it to more than that, great, but that's my goal.

If you're wondering why I'm writing in this ridiculous colour, it's because it's the closest to the colour of my new light-weight running shoes :) Sometimes I need to get myself some bribes to keep going, and if you know me, I'm a total gear junkie, and you already know of my shoe weakness...

I hate Fondant.

I think I really, truly hate it. Which is unfortunate since I'm trying to get a cake decorating company off the ground for myself.


Fondant is fickle.


The first wedding cake I made, I had a two day notice of the wedding, and I had volunteered to make the couple's wedding cake thinking I had a few months to buy my supplies and practice and whatnot. They felt a week was long enough for an engagement (they're Bhutanese refugees, so maybe that's normal for them?) Anyways, my mom gave me money to go out and buy my supplies a day and a half before the wedding, and I just had a go at it. Leah, my sister-in-law who does cakes, gave me a lot of advice via e-mail and gave me recipes and answered my questions. This cake turned out fairly near perfection. I'm really not trying to brag, really. I think God was guiding my hands in that project and it came together pretty well.

I mean, come on! That's pretty good for a first try, right. 


My second wedding cake I was hired for, the bride wanted a LOT of colour and being so cocky and over confident of my skills in the cake arena, I agreed to do it for her. The lucky streak DID NOT last. I made, I think, three practice cakes for her wedding and each involved a lot of *choice* words and throwing of my large roller or whatever happened to be in my hand. At one point, it was fondant. In the end it turned out pretty well, not as well as I would have liked, but...

So, I haven't done much with Fondant since then... I usually end up throwing things. (for those of you wondering, don't worry: it's very late at night when I get to work on cakes, and the kids are asleep. I try not to have my own tantrums in front of them) I did Oliver's birthday cake this year with some Fondant accents, and I thought maybe Fondant and I were making some progress in our relationship. I didn't throw anything at all, and only had to redo one piece...

Each piece I cut fit just about perfectly, and I was super pleased with the results. My friend was at the party, and our kids' birthdays are three days apart, but we were doing our parties on separate weekends, so I asked her if she wanted me to make her son's cake. Big mistake on my part!
The idea seemed simple enough. She wanted a cake with Andy's bed (Andy as in Toy Story) and have the toys on and around the bed. I found some good ideas/samples on Google, and thought, "Oh, this won't take any time at all!"


It's currently 1:35 a.m.


I've been at this since about 9:30 when the cakes were done chilling.


What was the point of this? Oh yes! So, I made a sheet cake for the floor of Andy's room, and cut out individual floor boards and painted them by hand, which took forever, but it looks pretty good, and I am happy with the results. Although, again, Fondant is tricksy. It went pretty well for those, but come time to make the blanket for the bed, I tried for about 30-45 minutes (though it felt longer!) to roll out the stuff, cut it, and transfer it to the bed. I have now tried in every way I can think, but the biggest problems are:
1. It keeps stretching as I transfer it.
2. It keeps sticking to itself as I transfer it. 
3. I could swear it changes sizes between getting rolled and getting on the cake.


Very annoying. 


Well, this was mostly to vent while I cooled off from the last fiasco, but I should probably get back to it since the party is in 15 hours and I haven't slept yet. Not to mention, I only got four hours last night, so tonight is being especially rough. I will post pictures of this cake once I finish it, unless I throw it. :)

Three Things: Shoes.

Since the age of three, I've known I love shoes. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I answered that I wanted to work in a shoe store. Though, to be fair, I thought I'd then get the shoes for free. My dream at the time was to work at a store called Yellows in my hometown.
While I neither own or work in a shoe store now, I still love, love, love shoes. I thankfully married a man who supports my habit, and likes me in heels. Also luckily, I married a man almost a foot taller than me, so even if I wear 5.5" heels, we're good to go :) We often talk about what we would do if we won the lottery (and only buy tickets about once a year) but part of our dream is to open up our own shoe store and carry my favourite brands plus have a small section of shoes for men's large sizes (15+) since my Phil has a hard time finding shoes that fit him.
On to the point, I've been asked to pick out my favourite three shoes, and it was not an easy decision to make. I narrowed it down to heels, and maybe someday will go on to do separate blogs about running shoes, flats, wedges, etc... I have a lot of shoes, so there will be no shortage of what I could do.


1. Steve Madden Caryssa heels in red suede.

I also have these in a few other colours, but there's just something about the red heels. I highly recommend them to anyone who's comfortable in tall heels, as they're a little over 5". My favourite outfit to wear these with is a purple (about the colour of my wall) sheath dress by Halo that has a funky neckline and a red leather skinny belt. It really brings out the belt, and is kind of an unexpected colour combination.




2. Eva and Zoe glittery heels.

I just bought these in Denver last month, but for only $40, how could I resist? I'd been eyeing a very similar pair that was priced at $130, and just hadn't been able to justify it. Now I know why :) I haven't worn them out yet, but I feel they'll be more versatile than they seem at first. I also feel compliments abound. The glitter is multi-coloured at a closer look, so I think I'll be able to wear them with just about any colour dress or jeans/shirt combo and have them really pop!


3. Sam Edelman rhinestone and spike heels in ivory snakeskin.

To be sure, these are the least practical shoes I own. However, they could easily be used as a self-defense tool, which I like. This picture does not do them justice. These are also some of the most expensive shoes I own, so I'm not sure what role logic was playing the day I bought these, all I knew is that they were awesome. They look amazing with an LBD (Little Black Dress) or this ivory sheath dress with skinny black belt I have.


Maybe I'll do a blog about my three favourite dresses next....

Two months and counting...

So, I went to Winter Warriors last night. The first time in almost a month, and I'd been too lazy to run on my own in the meantime. Since the half-marathon I registered for is two months from today, I had vowed to myself that I'd do two laps no matter what loop we were doing that night.
I ran four miles! A small step considering I have to make it to 13.1 comfortably before March 5th, but still... I was pretty proud of myself. Made it in 45 minutes, which normally wouldn't be so great, but there was a lot of snow and ice out and it was around 20F. 
I felt a little bad for the guy I was using as my competition/pacer though. I always pick someone in a race or when running with others to try and beat, and I do not like being passed, so this guy who was relatively new to the group would inch up behind me and finally be able to pass me, and then my competitive side would just take over and I'd zoom out in front of him for another mile or so... It wasn't pretty and I should probably explain to him and it wasn't anything personal. 
My knees starting hurting after my run though, which is bad news. I had to have physical therapy last summer while training for the Spokane to Sandpoint race, but thought my problems had been taken care of since I now know that the problem is/was. (I'm a pronator) But I'm thinking/hoping that it was just because of the snow/ice/slush combo that made it hard on my knees. We'll see. I need to get down on my treadmill and see if that makes a difference.

*sigh*

So, today I'm starting Oakley on potty training again. 
We'd tried this summer, but he just wasn't getting it, and so we took a break. Until now.


I've tried to ease him into it a little by telling him the last few days that we're going to be starting and that they'll be no more diapers and he'll have to use the potty like a big boy.
It must have not sunk in because this morning he's screaming bloody murder about wearing undies and trying to sit on the toilet.
Awesome.


Prayers and suggestions are being accepted at this time.