Sports Sandals for the Grand Canyon

When you own a business, it seems that everyone invites you to their fund raising auctions.  One of our fund raisers offered a whitewater rafting trip down the Grand Canyon, which Mr. R5 and I won.  I am quite excited about it because this is my first rafting trip down the Colorado River.  I am a little concerned because this is the hottest time of year and next week is supposed to be really hot, so I am not looking forward to a week of 105 degree weather.

I have been to the Grand Canyon several times.  I hiked about half way down, a couple of years ago, which was fun, but the altitude on the South Rim averages 7000 feet.  After about 4 heart attacks (not really, but it felt like it),  we had to turn around because our friend had to get to the airport.   I love The Canyon.

Anyways, I had to pick up some hikey, watery, sportsy sandals, so off to Cabellas I went.  I wanted something functional, comfortable and stylin’.  What I wanted was something like this:

Stuart Weitzman Trustee $395 at Nordstrom

Right.  Next option:

(more…)

Dsquared2 Shoes for Canada Day

Happy Canada Day!

Holiday wishes from all of us at Shoeblog  to our readers living ‘next door’ .

And, as usual, your clever Canadian twins Dan & Dean Caten have your patriotic soles covered (gratuitous pun is wholly intentional) with a maple-leaf Maryjane-esque appliquéd sandal.

Dsquared2 Maple sandal (was 584.95) now $321.72  via  Endless.com

Head Over Heels Cards

In Prescott, AZ there is a boutique called Fancy That.  It’s a fun place that sells antiques and made to look antique items. The owners are friendly and remember you, which is unusual in a town that has tons of tourists.  I go there periodically to see what they have, and sometimes they have something I can’t live without.   I found something.

How cute is this?

They had a whole section of cards that were shoe related.  This is the get well card.  The inside says, “A pair of new shoes…the best medicine for what ails you.    Feel Better Girlfriend.”   Sometimes after wearing heels all day,  my feet feel like they need a pair of shoes like this.

This comes from a line of cards called Head Over Heels designed by Barbara Music.  There are monogramed cards, greeting cards, note cards and sticky pads with shoe drawings.  They are all quite elaborate drawings. The web site has more than just cards.  She has t-shirts with shoe designs makes custom wedding shoes, and has classes that teaches how to make sandals.  I am still trying to figure how to get myself to New York  to take classes from Llorraine Neithardt.

May the Fourth be with you: Happy Star Wars Day

Bad puns abound when a property has been around as long at the Star Wars Franchise.  But, I’m not making this one up.

Today is Star Wars Day.

One simple phrase “May, the fourth, be with you” + an enthusiastic fan base (All Jar Jar hating aside) embracing a corny pun, and a quasi-holiday is born.

So, what more appropriate footwear to celebrate “Star Wars Day”  than the Adidas Originals “Star Wars” line of shoes that were released earlier this year?

Styles are inspired by Tie-fighters, the Millenium Falcon, Princess Leia, and of course, Darth Vader – among others:

I’m going to admit here to being slightly bummed that the Millenium Falcon & Vader shoes get cool nerdy poster photo ops while the Leia shoes get stock shoe-photography treatment.  I’ll assume that someone just decided that another angle on the shoe was needed …. ’cause you know there are plenty of shots of Leia armed for bear and taking no prisoners – and I’d hate to get all feminist on somebody in marketing, makes me all cranky-like.

Adidas Star Wars shoes and athletic clothing are available at Adidas online and authorized brick-and-mortar Adidas retailers and range from $80 – $120.

Related web articles here , here, & here.

Not shoes! A shoeblogger’s weekend shopping finds.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not just a shoe-lover. I’m also an avid reader of science fiction and urban fantasy as well as a big fan of fashion of all types – from runway to weddings to alternative fashion. I also dabble in sewing (I even made my own wedding gown, lo these many years ago) – in which pursuit  I’ve discovered that I have a basic inability to use a sewing pattern without altering it in some way from it’s basic design.

But, I digress.

I’m always busy on the weekends with various family errands, grocery shopping, et. al.  Thank goodness we are done with soccer until the fall; this season nearly wiped me out. Anyway, among my essential weekend ‘musts’ is a mandatory visit to our local bookstore.  And, when I am able to go to said bookstore on the day after payday, armed with a 40% off coupon….well, that’s a recipe for lightening my bank account without adding a single pair of shoes to my closet.

So, I may sometimes say that I’m all about the shoes. But, I’m certainly not only about the shoes.

Here’s a quick peek into one shoeblogger’s weekend shopping bag:

1.) Yay! I finally got me that copy of Neil Gaiman’s “Absolute Death” that I’ve been wanting - and at a 40% discount, too.  No way I wanted to spend $100 on this, no matter how pretty and glossy it’s pages may be.  By the way, if you are interested at all in urban fantasy or just plain original storytelling, I highly recommend picking up anything by Mr. Gaiman.  His is truly an original storytelling voice.

2.) WWD Accessories. This comes out twice a year, I think. This issue is supposed to stay on newsstands from February-July in most metro areas. I finally picked myself up the current copy. This is on of the ultimate coffee-table magazines for accessories lovers.

3.) WWD Collections: Fall 2010.  ‘Yay’ to the bookstore for updating from stock from the Spring ’10 issue to Fall ’10 issue of this magazine. While this magazine is nowhere as complete in it’s fashion and photo coverage as the Style.com or NYMag.com are able to be, this twice-yearly publication provides an enjoyable fashion overview  – All wrapped up in a decadent, over-sized, format that is perfect eye-candy accompaniment to the fresh-brewed caffeine beverage of your choice.

4.) Gothic Beauty,Issue #30. I’ve mentioned this publication before. The photography is outstanding and it provides a great window on alternative fashions that are likely to be reflected 9 months later in at least one mainstream runway show.  (My opinion, obviously, but it’s been eerily true for several seasons now). By the way, the GB website has a nice Alexander McQueen retrospective on the site right now; it’s definitely worth a read.

5.) Charles Stross. “The Revolution Business” -  Book 5 in The Merchant Princes Series.  This series is a little tricky to describe. It is sci-fantasy which follows a determined heroine’s experiences and challenges as she moves back and forth through multiple co-existing dimensions/realities which include a modern and recognizeable USA; a low-tech, post-feudal clan-centered North America; and a Neo-Victorian America which never threw off  British rule.  It is an enjoyable read if you like the sci-fantasy genre and has definite echoes of steampunk in it’s quasi-Victorian America scenes.  Of course, since this is the 5th book in the series and a sixth book is now available in hardback, I am crossing my fingers that this series does not play me false the way Robert Jordan’s never-ending Wheel of Time books did (It’s been going on nearly 2 decades waiting for that series to finish..not just *sigh*, but *heavy sigh*).

Oh, and not shown in my shopping bag? Any results in my on-going search for a web-browsing phone that won’t break the bank in monthly charges.  Once I figure that out, I’m hoping to add occasional seen-on-the street live photos to Shoeblog’s twitter updates. But, we’ll see how that fits with my ongoing personal and family budget considerations. Wish me luck in finding a nice phone solution before fall.

Anyway, shoes and books – definitely twin vices in my life.

How about you – what else do you collect, shop for, or obsess over when not indulging in your shoe habit?