Shopping Success

Gone are the days when your best gal pals rush over to your house to see what you've purchased.  Now, I get a "you need to blog that so I can see it".  Well okay then,  friend who didn't know how to e-mail back when I met you in 2001, this blog is for you:

I have been needing some new work shoes for a while.  But it seems that whoever makes heels has decided that they all need to be 6 inches with platforms.  Such high heels with the platforms are not feasible for me, nor have they been since 2002, when I got to have two screws placed into my left ankle following a graceful fall down some stairs.  That being said, the kitten heel isn't always a great option either because I think they look odd with my dress pants.

So I've been on a search for a while for what has seemed to become the Holy Grail of dress shoes.  A 3ish inch heel, no platform and to add to the difficulty, a size 10.  My gargantuan foot causes problems too, because here's the scary statistic:  most places get 1 size 10 in each style.  There are more of us "Big Foots" out there than that statistic indicates, thus making the location of a size 10 difficult, but to locate a pair on sale, is an almost impossible situation. 

Then last week I wondered into DSW and located, not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but 5 pair of shoes in my size, meeting my specifications, and get this...ON SALE!  How could I not buy all 5 pair?  I mean, who knows when I will run across the Holy Grail of shoes again, right?  I called my friend Lisa for an intervention, but honestly, she just bought into my theory that I should stock up because it could be another several years of drought without finding the perfect shoe, and encouraged the purchase.  We even likened it to people who stock up on food for fear of hard times ahead.  It made perfect sense to us. 

I got all 5 pair for $125, and the best part was my savings was $190!  Here is my bounty...

The heel is a little low on these, but the pointy toe makes it not weird with my dress pants.

These were kind of the wild-cards, but they were $15 and I thought they'd add some punch to brown pants, or you know, come in handy if I had to start walking the streets.

These are crazy comfy and the only ones I've christened as of yet (twice).

These were the most expensive (still in the $30's), but they just made my heart sing

These were purchased with the purpose of replacing a similar pair that I have owned for 4 years, worn extensively, and had to sharpie in a huge gash on the heel last week.

Then I made a mistake.  A mistake I commonly make when I feel like I'm on a real shopping roll.  I kept going.  I popped into Stein Mart because they were having a sale, and hey, I had a coupon.

I found these guys.  They weren't a great deal, though they were about half of what this brand runs at Nordstrom.  I also really needed new black flats, because I had blown out the sole of mine early last Spring.  And they feel like house shoes.  'Nuff said.

And have I mentioned that I'm traveling to a beach local in a couple of weeks?

Yep!  I I thought I needed a new swimsuit.  I've had an identical black one for 4 years now and I love it.  Plus this $100+ suit was a mere $15!

Then I ventured to the vet and bought sweet Lola a $70 bag of dog food, so my shopping spree stopped there, but I'm so happy with all my great (and bargain) finds!