Category: Success stories

The One Where I Go Shoe Shopping

Let me start by doing what every parent does, more often than they’d like to admit, and that is blame something (I’d have a hard time justifying) on my kid. See, I just had to go to the mall. I did. My kid made me, because he is my kid and he considers going to the mall a social activity. He visits the mannequins. (I am serious.) And when we go to the mall, we have to go to Zara, because that’s where his favourite mannequins reside. And it all started at Zara.

I swear I was not looking. Well, I technically had my eyes open so I could steer one over-excited toddler and a stroller along, but I wasn’t looking looking, if you catch my drift. But, somehow, these caught my eye.

Zara sparkle ballet flats
Zara ballet flats

In my defence, they were very, very twinkly. I also blame the lighting at Zara, for making things extra twinkly.

I was in love in about a nano-second. Now, I already had a pair of rhinestone flats in my closet, but these … were special. For real. I’m not generally a big Zara fan, but honestly, these didn’t look like Zara flats to me. They looked Chanel-esque, if Chanel took to designing for Tinkerbell. They looked expensive. Scratch that. They were expensive. $80 for rhinestone encrusted mesh? No.

No, right? Right?!

The rational part of my brain eventually kicked in, and I steered the troops out of Zara, Tinkerbell shoes-free. (It helped that the biggest size they had was a touch too small. Comfort above all.) I did the sensible thing, and went to SoftMoc to look for the pair of Chucks that was actually on my to-buy list. And was rewarded by finding them on sale. Of course, this story doesn’t end here, because my name is Adina and I like to make things difficult for myself. Initially, the plan was to look for a grey pair. Eminently sensible and practical, yes? But then I saw the red pair. And it looked awfully cute. I like red shoes. My husband thinks red Chucks are awesome. My youngest has a hand-me-down pair of red Chucks from her older brother, and we could do a mother-daughter thing. Cute. So … What to do?

Converse Chucks red or grey
The red … or the grey???

Like any normal person would, I turned to social media. The consensus among my Facebook peeps was “grey”. Naturally, I bought the red. Went home, and promptly reconsidered. And then I made my poor husband drive back to the mall the next day so I could exchange them for the grey. What can I say – he has the fortitude, not to mention the patience, of a saint. But I love my grey Chucks, and they are ever so practical.

The end.

P.S. You didn’t really think that was the end, did you? Of course not. So, one late night not long thereafter, I somehow zombie-clicked my way on to the Zara website, and before I knew it, bam. A pair of Tinkerbell shoes were on their way to me. Sigh.

The end. Fer realz.

Blah, Blah, Blah … Boots!!!

What I Wore: Friday Morning

Josef Seibel Sandra 10 boots
Skirt and top, J. Crew Factory; coat (consignment); bag, MbMJ (via consignment); boots, Josef Seibel

Here goes: I bought the coolest boots ever. The end.

Okay, fine, here’s the rest of the story. I’ve been lusting after these Frye Jenna boots since I saw one of my good friends in Vancouver wear them. I swear, I think I had dreams about these boots, and stalked them endlessly on every shopping website imaginable. It was an obsession, I can’t explain it. And weird, considering that moto-style boots is probably one of the last things you would associate with yours truly. But, the heart wants what it wants … even when the wallet cannot accommodate. And seriously, the wallet cannot. I am generally allergic to the idea of spending $400+ of my very own dollars on boots, but more importantly, I can’t justify doing so at this particular moment, being on mat leave. Especially after recently spending a good chunk of my slush fund on this:

Mulberry Biscuit soft croc bayswater

(It was an amazing deal at a resale shop in Van. That’s my defence, and I’m sticking to it.)

Anyway, I was in SoftMoc one day (on the hunt for my magical Fryes, natch) when I spotted these:

Josef Seibel Sandra 10 boots

I did a double-take because – whoa – that’s quite the lookalike pair. The brand is Josef Seibel, and I think it’s best known for making shoes your grandma would wear. Which makes my new boots just about the most comfortable things I’ve ever put on my feet. Looks wise, they’re not identical to the Fryes … but they were also not $400. More like $100, on sale. Still a stretch for my budget but … a doable stretch.

Phew, that was practically a Bildungsroman.

Here’s a close-up of the rest of the outfit, and my umpteenth poor attempt at a sock bun:

blue collar red lipstick, Raybans

Kismet

What I Wore: Clothing Swap!!!!!

blue collar red lipstick, Rachel Roy floral chambray dress
Dress, RACHEL Rachel Roy (via consignment); cardigan, J. Crew Factory; tights, Joe Fresh

You guys! I’ve been looking for this dress since last summer. I stalked, and stalked, and stalked on eBay, and never had any luck finding in my size and in my budget. I had pretty much given up on finding it when … I found it. At my local consignment store. OK, seriously, what are the odds??!? Yes, that definitely deserves four (4) exclamation marks because … come on … what are the odds? It’s fate, I tell you.

Oh, yeah, and I only paid $25 for it. See, fate.

Although it’s really pretty, and it fits nicely, and I really (really!) like it, I’m glad I waited and not rushed to pay the ridiculous eBay price for which the only size 8 was listed back when I started looking. (For the record, that dress is still available, still at the same ridiculous price, 6+ months later. Gee, I wonder why?) The quality is not worth $100+ (after shipping); then again, few things truly are, these days. So “yay!” for consignment stores.

blue collar red lipstick, rachel roy floral dress

P.S. I will write about the swap in another post.