11 Years Ago

I started this blog 11 years ago. 

Mainly to talk fashion and shoe design influences without boring the people around me.  

I don't post here nearly enough due to work and time... 

but I'm still thinking about shoes, even when I should be doing other things. 

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter and want to chat shoes, I'd love that!

Lucky Seven

I can't believe it's been SEVEN years for this little blog.

Although my posting has wound down quite a bit, my love of shoes has not.  Still out there daydreaming about gorgeous shoes all the time.  I'm so glad people keep coming by and saying hello too!

If you want more shoes and beautiful finds, I'm on Pinterest and Instagram all the time!

Ensemble du Jour - Six Years!

I hope you had an awesome 4th of July weekend.  I took off Friday and was able to get a bunch of errands done, including finally dropping off the huge pile of clothes and shoes I had to go to the consignment store and Goodwill.

We also went to see a ton of movies  - 4 in total with one more tonight.  As we were in chilly theaters all weekend, I threw a cardigan of the ModCloth At The Dog Park dress I wore out.  I was going to pair this with the Bass x Rachel Antonoff black/clear Maebird oxfords and sheer/black polka-dot socks but when I looked in the mirror it was a bit ridiculous, so I had to quickly switch to my sequin ballet flats.

I'm also considering having this dress hemmed shorter.

Other than nap all weekend, watch movies and eat out,  we had ourselves a small tea party in the library.  Our chess table is the perfect size for a two person tea so we think this will be our new Sunday afternoon tradition.

I made Lavender Sables (a French butter cookie like shortbread), tomato-basil and cucumber sandwiches and we also had berries sprinkled with vanilla sugar. We're like the Finer Things Club over here.

Oh yeah, and just one small thing... Shoe Daydreams turned SIX this weekend.  I know posting has slowed down some since those early days, but we're keeping on.

Because there's always more shoes to dream about!

Wish I was a boy

It's not often that I say this, but looking at these sweet Prada monkstrap oxfords in deep violet,  I wish I could wear them.  I love the straps, color and distressing.  

There are 3 designs in this special collection from Prada for Bergdorf Goodman's 111th anniversary. I can't fit into them and they're not really my husband's style. So sad for me, because these are sharp!

Shoe Daydreams is FIVE!

Shoe Daydreams is Five!

It's hard to believe that I've had this site for five years already!  It's been a time filled with fun and friends and amazing experiences.  Thank you to everyone and I look forward to more years of day dreaming together. 

Much luv,

Poochie

4 Year Blog-o-Versary

Today Shoe Daydreams is 4 years old!

Thank you so much to everyone who reads and comments and all my friends online.

I'm planning a special giveaway/opportunity later this month in celebration so keep on the lookout!

Much Love,

Poochie

15 Years

Today is me and my Sweetie's 15 year "Meeting-versary" which to us, I think, is even more important than our wedding anniversary.

I wanted to share some of our shots over the years, starting from an image just after we met to present day...

Love ya, darling!

Three Years into the Journey

I hope everyone one had a wonderful weekend. And if you are in the US, I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July. This weekend marks another milestone for me... three years writing Shoe Daydreams!

I feel like, even though it is three years in, that I'm still finding my way and new things to write about. And best of all, connecting with new people all over the internet and around the world. Frankly, that is my favorite part and what keeps me coming back here.

I hope you all feel there is value and fun here as well. I want this to a happy space. A bit frivolous at times, often silly and, hopefully, a place to share ideas.

I'm not sure where exactly we will be going tomorrow but I want to have fun along the way. I want to hear more from you all as well, so don't be shy about commenting or giving feedback!

I'm still excited to be here, so stay tuned for more!

Luv,
Poochie!

Happy 2nd Blog-o-versary!

I hope you all had an amazing holiday weekend. July seems to be a great time to take stock and get things done! Apparently it worked for me because today is

Shoe Daydreams' 2 year blog-o-versary!

Thank you all for being great readers and friends. This site has created some wonderful connections for me and been way to meet so many new people. I just wanted to express how much I love talking with you all!

Thank you again!

Smooches!

Poochie

Image via flickr from Carrie and Brian

A Perfect Pairing

This may not be news to everyone because it hit a day or two ago, but I'm still catching up!

It seems, to celebrate Barbie's 50th birthday, Mnsr. Louboutin will be creating a pair of special pumps in the Barbie Pantone 219 Pink.

Barbie in one of her many fashionable guises - © Rex Features via Vogue.com I actually have this orginal bathing suit, along with a number of other outfits, handed down from my mom

"Barbie needs to wear great shoes because every girl needs to wear great shoes," Louboutin tells WWD. "I guess I always had a little 'girlie side' who liked Barbie."

Mattel is also planning on hosting a special runway show during New York Fashion week featuring 50 other designers creating Barbie-ispired looks. According to Vogue.com -

Fifty designers will produce life-sized outfits inspired by the doll, setting off a string of celebrations. In 2009 a new range of beauty products - boasting such names as All Doll'd Up - is planned, while collaborations with the likes of Vera Wang (a life-size wedding gown which includes a Barbie wearing its own mini version too) and Jeremy Scott (a capsule collection inspired by her), as well as the opening of an House of Barbie in Shanghai, are among other fun and games.

But the power of Barbie doesn't stop there - Mattel will embark on a three-year partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America from next February (the first toy company to do so) as well as sponsor New York's IMG organised Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.

If you've seen some of the Designer Barbie collector dolls, I'm sure the fashions will be fabulous... and not all pink. I just wonder how many will look back to some of the original outfits, which were amazing, and which will come up with more modern designs. Personal I love the old outfits, of which I have many from my mom and aunts - they had the original blonde Barbie and the Barbie with the black hair in the bubble-cut. They were amazing.

They had great accessories too, including quilted metallic gold clutches and white and cork wedge shoes. Not the plastic junk you see now. So, there are a lot of directions Louboutin could go with his Barbie shoes. He could do a frothy sandal, like the ones from the Resort line (which I love!)

Of course these bright bright pink wedge sandals would be perfect for Barbie's California girl lifestyle.



But I like the more modern glam Barbie. Wouldn't these Clichys be perfect? I have these and they are HIGH! So they would work with Barbie's tippy-toes.




But, of course, what could be more iconic or classic than the Louboutin Simple Pumps in super girly pink? I mean, I know I had Barbie in mind when I bought them!

Barbie pink shiny heels and Louboutin red soles. Yummy!

I hope they sell them too!

More Reading:

- Vogue.com - here and here

- WWD - here

- StyleHog - here

- Barbie - EverythingGirl.com

- Barbie for Grown-ups
- Barbie Collectors

Updates and Reminders

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to send you some updates on how Mr. Napoleon is doing. Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and good wishes. Here's how he normally looks. As I mentioned, he lost almost all the feathers on his back and tail. Frankly, he's a bit of a mess right now. If you want to see how he's doing, you can click here.



But, he's still alive and that's what matters to us. Were working out a system to keep him calm and for giving him his shots and the meds. We decided to give him his pain shot in the morning so it calms him down during the day.

Yesterday, we had our webcam on him and I was able to peek at him throughout the day. He spent a lot of his time looking out from the porch over to the coop. When I got home I saw that the two girls were up next to the coop yard fence looking over at him. Sweeties! I know they miss each other but we have to keep him safe and clean right now. So they must be apart of a while more.

I also wanted to send a quick reminder that I'm still looking for your shoe story! The anniversary celebration is on through Sunday! So drop in a comment or send me an email at princesspoochie (at) shoedaydreams (dot) com.

Shoe Daydreams 1 Year Anniversary Celebration

Pink Explosions by tzatziki

Today is a very special day around here because today is the 500th post and the 1 year anniversary of Shoe Daydreams!!!

I can't believe that a year has already flown by since I did my first post. Back then I had been reading several blogs and was inspired to try my own. Little did I know how much I would enjoy it.

Part of writing this blog came out of my sheer love and enjoyment of shoes and fashion. North Carolina is a great place to live but, where I am, is not a high fashion capital. And, frankly, I think some of my office mates were getting bored with all the shoe talk!

Online I found some amazing friends who are great writers, hilariously funny and amazingly inspirational all around, not just in the fashion department. Just a few to mention are:

Manolo was very supportive and added me to his blog roll right away. I was so excited.

Miss WendyB has made me laugh my ass off and taught me a thing or two about crazy monarchs, something I already loved but now know lots more about.

Winona has also been so funny it's almost wrong. I've embraced by shiny addiction with Martin's support and learned to fear what five guys could be thinking about some of my crazier choices.

Style Spy is too ready of an enabler and entices me to get more red patent leather in my life... as if I needed more!

Susie Bubble - Her layered masterpieces and overseas selections help me keep my eyes and mind open.

The Queens' style has made me want to add more toughness to my selections. And more adorable jewelry choices.

Lady Coveted's vintage selections make me wish we lived closer so I we could share closets.

And Miss Gala - it was great to meet her in person and I'm glad she's online so I can get my fix each day. I'm sure there are tons of loyal nonpareils who feel the same.

Of course these are just a few of the people who keep the blogosphere running for me. I can't say how obsessively I check back to all of my favorite sites (and Tweets and Flickr) because it might be a little scary. Only their analytics programs know for sure.

I also love love love that you all come by to read my ramblings and listen to me babbling about new shoes or a designer I just found. I love the comments I get on here and via email. It totally makes my day like you would not believe.

To celebrate and to show my love and appreciation for you all, I'd like to give a little a little present back to YOU!

Since I love to hear your stories, send me a story (or a photo or a collage or anything) about your favorite/funniest/most mortifying/happiest shoe or fashion-related moment. You can send it to me either in the comments here or to my email (see up there to the right). I'm on Flickr, Polyvore, and Twitter - so any contact method is cool.

And what sort of a prize will we be having for this Celebration??? Well, you have two choices -

Option A: $50 Zappos Gift Certificate

Option B: Two amazing books - Manolo Blahnik's Drawings and Blahniks by Bowman book of photos.

The Shoe Daydreams Share Your Shoe Story Celebration contest will run through July 20th. I'm looking forward to some fun stories for everyone. I'll have this button up on the left so it will be easy to check back.

If you want to share the contest with anyone, please feel free to do so. You can grab the image here or I can even send you the html code - just drop me an email.

Thank you all again for being here and for making this so much fun. I was asked when I started this if there was really that much to say about shoes and all, I would have to say, resoundingly, YES! And I can't wait to keep going into the next year.

Luv,

Poochie