Silver Lining

A funny thing happened on the way to my sister's wedding. I actually found myself stressed out about buying shoes. First time for everything, right? Here was the dilemma: my sister made silver the mandatory shoe color for the wedding. As someone who has shoes in virtually every color, style, and height, it is embarrassing to admit that silver was the only color in the spectrum I did not have. Gray? Sure, but no cigar. Other metallics? You betcha, I have coppers and golds galore. Basic black? Of course, these are the LBD of the shoe world. Neon pink and yellow? Yeah, why not?! But silver???? Not so much. 

After realizing that my sister wouldn't bend on her decision, I set out to buy silver shoes that I could reuse and silver shoes only. But of course that didn't happen. I set aside a Saturday to concentrate on this shoe quest at the newly refreshed Outlets at Orange. My new favorite discount store, Neiman Marcus Last Call  was my first stop. To my surprise, I found a great many silver shoes ... but I found a lot of other shoes too. After finding that the silver ones weren't my size or special enough, I gave in and allowed myself to try on some of the other shoes I found, which included Charlotte Olympias and Jimmy Choos. Forcing myself to still have money for the shower and bachelorette party, I decided to settle on some amazingly discounted Charlotte Olympia poodle slip-ons with feathers up front. And though I love cats, the poodle faces on the front were just too adorable to pass up. I picked up a couple of tops too and was prepared to walk away, but I was mesmerized by the limited edition crystal embellished Jimmy Choos. The problem was they were a tad big and well beyond my budget. It took a lot of will power, but I left them behind. On one final sweep of the store I made the discovery of a lifetime in the clearance accessories bin. I found a Charlotte Olympia perfume clutch that I had pined over for months. When I realized that the clutch was a better deal than the wine colored shoes and that I would probably never see it again, I picked it up and took it to the counter. Lesson learned: always do at least three sweeps of Neiman Marcus Last Call. 

My visit to Nordstrom Rack at the same mall on the same day yielded the perfect result for the wedding: silver snake print Burberry heels. While not as fancy or as cheap as I would have liked, the shoes were undeniably comfortable and were the right height to be worn again and again, especially at work. Satisfied with picking up heels for business and pleasure, I returned home.

But as any bargain shopper or shopping addict will tell you, second thoughts can be strong motivators. While I was over the moon about my perfume clutch, I was questioning why I put back the crystal Choos (especially after learning that I would be going to Fashion Week). So one weekend I set out to reclaim the shoes (if they were still in store). Much to combined disappointment and relief, the Choos were gone, but after three sweeps of the shoe section I stumbled upon these Charlotte Olympia poodle heels. I think these shoes are an absolute work of art! Since they were cheaper than the Choos would have been I picked them up.

In order to try and make amends for buying the poodle heels, I tried purchasing silver and rhinestone Betsey Johnson heels for the wedding (much more affordable than the Burberry). But alas, the heel was way too tall for standing in and dancing in, so I returned them.

But things all worked out for the best. My boyfriend was so charmed with the Charlotte Olympias that he drew me a cute sketch of my shoes. Laura from Pedi Princess gave the bridal party cute sandals to wear for our pre-wedding pedicures, and I bought my sister these I Do decals for the bottom of her silver Michael Kors that served as her something blue. And while no one probably saw my shoes at the wedding, it's OK because now I officially have every color shoe under the sun. It takes a lot of work to make it down the aisle and get every detail exactly right, but sometimes the journey and the slight detours we take can be equally as fun.

Cat Lady

I started considering myself a cat lady only a couple of years ago. We had one cat (my former roommate's) but then we adopted one from Lisa and I absolutely fell in love. (My Instagram is full of pictures of both cats.)

My mom says she isn't surprised I am a cat lady, because growing up, my grandmother (my dad's dear mother) always had cats. I loved seeing those cats and when I was little I really wanted one for our house, but my mom was allergic. My household became a dog-centered one, and while I still love dogs, I want a cat in my house for the rest of my life because they have become so important to me (and maybe because they remind me of my grandma just a little bit).

My parents were into seeing plays, and I remember when they saw "Cats" when I was a young child. I wanted to go really badly, but they didn't take me. It has taken 20 something years and I finally got to see the production last night in La Mirada. I took my boyfriend (very much a dog-person) and we both enjoyed it so much. I want to commit to seeing more theater in the coming years. There's nothing like getting dressed up. I broke out some special pieces like my new cat midi ring from Birdie Boutique,  feathered Elizabeth and James blazer, Charlotte Olympia nail decals  (not my best nail art work because I broke a nail and therefore had to file them all super short), Charlotte Olympia cat shirt , and Gatsby clutch from Kate Spade. 

One of my favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber songs has always been Memory. It is so heartbreakingly beautiful. I used to play it as I would do my writing in college. I suppose that's because doing a lot of nonfiction writing (my concentration) meant relying on my memories. Since my sister is getting married in less than a week (!) I have been combing through many memories to mentally prepare myself for the event and the speech writing. 

As my memories lead me back, I have been thinking of the meaning of happiness. For my sister that means getting married. For me that means shoes, jewelry, writing, my parents, etc. It is always tempting to think if we could just go back to a certain time we would be happier or rather, we would be happiest. It is scary to think of a new day; to imagine a new life. But the song teaches to not give in to that thinking, to not hold onto our memories as the sole definition of happiness. I don't want my memories to ever fade, like my grandmother's did before she passed away, I don't ever want to think that there was a time I was more beautiful, and it stings me a bit to think that there was a time I was a better writer. I make the excuse that I had more time ( when I was in college, when I lived closer to my job), but I was meant to go down this road, to have this be my life. I hope that I can be a better sister, a better writer, in the present and in the future. I have to look forward to the dawn of a new day; a new beginning.