8 posts tagged “favorite things friday”
Ped's new e-commerce site is up and running! Ped has been my favorite shoe store for-absolutely-ever, and they have two cute new styles from Giraudon, one of my favorite designers.
And speaking of Giraudon, Garnet Hill once again has the fabulous Giraudon Tall Leather Boot in stock for fall. I've been coveting these for years now, but haven't caved yet, due to the near-$300 price tag and the fact that where I live it's too warm to wear them about 364 days out of the year.
Still. I love them. Maybe next year - how about it? Me, Seattle, and some new boots - sounds like a plan.
Just this week I stumbled upon a blog that has skyrocketed to the top of my Favorite Things list: Seattle Simplicity.
The anonymous woman who writes it is just a bit younger than I am, but she has a current net worth of almost $500,000! I, on the other hand, have a current net worth of, say, fifty bucks, and I'm trying to change that.
As I am currently facing the repayment of gargantuan student loans, the prospect of moving (either out of state or to a different housing situation that will triple my rent payment), and the conundrum of loving my job but hating my paycheck, I'm finding Seattle Simplicity to be quite the inspirational read.
It's not about deprivation, it's about making smart choices. And while generally I'm pretty confident about my ability to opt out of the bigger-better-more cycle of American consumerism, I can always use a little extra help.
...is short and sweet, due to the timesucker that is grad school.
Puppies. Puppies are, yes, one of my Absolute! Favorite!! Things!!! and since life isn't fair, I can't have one. So to get my fix, I turn to the Daily Puppy.
All together now - Awwwwwwwwwww!!!
No shopping, just wanderlust - thanks to Lisa's Chicago photos and Lisa S's NYC and NY-NJ-MA photos, the travel bug has bitten me once again.
Of course, the only travelling I'll be doing in the near future is of the armchair variety, but at least I'm in good company, thanks to these photo sets!
Despite my affection for stylish skirts and, of course, all sorts of Mary Janes, my absolute favorite thing to wear is cropped pants with sneakers. It's effortless, it's comfortable, and it takes me where I need to go - which on the weekend might be a hike or the beach. During the workweek, generally that means I'm ready to roughhouse with any of the seven or so dogs that I share my workspace with - risky business in a skirt!
Yeah, yeah, I know - they're a giant evil megacorporation and all*, but right now Gap has a ton of new pants for fall that I love. And both on their website and in their Pasadena store, these pants are all paired with sneakers - mostly Converse or Vans, two of my absolute favorites.
Of course, none of these are on sale yet, and I have a "never pay full price at Gap" policy. The minute they're marked down, though, it's shopping time!
*They're also a homegrown SF company, and I have a soft spot for this. Besides that, they make pants that fit shorty me so perfectly that I'd probably have to shop there even if they were truly as evil as, say, this guy.
I'll admit, I have been seriously remiss in keeping up with posting my favorite things on Fridays. And I'll even admit that today's is kind of a cop-out. But hey, give a girl a break. Between grad school, work, and nursing a teensy-weensy yet annoying summer cold, things have been a bit hectic in these parts.
Remember the Eleanor Grosch Keds I posted not long ago? Well, I caved. A little leftover birthday money was just enough to cover the cost, so - big surprise - I broke the spending freeze and bought them.
I had my doubts, for a couple of minutes anyway. I thought they might be too narrow, but happily, no! And even though they're flats, they do have a nice cushy bit of arch support - not as much as, say, Keens, but not as little as Chuck Taylors either. Don't get me wrong - this girl loves her Chucks - but sometimes you just need something more substantial, you know?
I first became aware of the cute Mary Janes made by Berne Mev via raves on various blogs, particularly those of the "mom blog" variety. Though not a mom myself, I figured this equalled three things: comfort, simplicity, and a nice price. Turns out I was right, but it took a while for me to confirm this.
The thing is, Berne Mev shoes are hard to find, even on the web. The largest selection by far is carried by Englin's Fine Footwear of Muncie, Indiana. But clearly the sizing is a bit weird - so I didn't want to go through the whole trial-and-error by mail.
Lucky for me, my favorite local retailer Koi began carrying a few styles. I was able to pick up the Miss Dasy style in red and black.
When my sad little spending freeze is lifted, now that I know a bit more about the sizing, I'll probably order one more pair from Englin's.
Comfort: yes!!! I have extremely high arches, which makes for a weird fit sometimes, but with these shoes, nothing rubs; the cushioned insole provides support for walking all day long.
Price: at $60 or less per pair, these are a veritable bargain for those of us accustomed to the price point of shoes such as Dansko, Keen, or Camper.
Simplicity: another big yes!!! They go with everything and on hot days you don't need socks - the lining is leather, not synthetic, and it breathes.
While much of what I post here can be classified as "favorite things," I'm planning to write regularly each Friday about things I've recently discovered that I now cannot live without.
I love letterpress, and have long planned to take letterpress classes here. But you know how it goes - time and money are always a consideration, so it'll have to wait until after graduation.
Until then, though, there's port2port Press. Based in Portland, Maine, Maria makes gorgeous limited-edition letterpress cards, available for sale through her Etsy shop. Each month, on the first and fifteenth, a new limited-edition card goes up for sale. I've made it my mission to collect as many as I can - they sell out quickly, so you have to be FAST!
Her current offering is Two Trees, a collaboration with Lisa of A Bird in the Hand and still available at her shop. I'm planning on framing mine - it's that nice!
