I'm Coming Home!!!

What a rad trip to China! And I'm not even being sarcastic. We have a new designer doing our newly acquired Jill Stuart license and she is so much fun!! It is so nice to have another girl around in the China office to hang out with and bounce ideas off of. :) Plus we laughed more than we worked so it was a nice change of pace. We actually ended up missing our husbands so much that we slumber partied in order to have some company. Sleeping alone sucks!

Anyway, it was a quick trip and I was only in the office 3 days. It's nice to not stay long, but it's also a little stressful as you have to work super fast. I'm really excited about this JLO collection- I found some really cool leathers and my shoes looked pretty awesome in the sample room. Woo! Now the best part... time to go home.

I'm sitting in the airport, waiting for them to call my flight number. I've decided not to be terrified of flying anymore because it's silly and irrational. My goal is to not pop the xanex thats waiting in my handbag so lovingly incase I should need it. It's crazy that I've been coming to China for about 4 years now, and I'm always scared of the flight. Not anymore. Time to get over it. 

Ding ding! United flight 63 to Los Angeles! Thats me! See you guys soon

-Celine

Time to Go to China Again...

See you guys after May 1st... don't miss me too much

;)

Yummy As a Candied Apple!

I did some MAJOR shopping today and I'm exhausted! I know, poor me. But seriously- I felt like I saw so much good stuff out there, including this amazing platform wedge from Giuseppi Zanotti (which I can't find anywhere online).

It's way more amazing in person. The red is a high-shine red Japanese lacquer. The yellow bit is a separate plastic piece and they look so cool together! The upper is mirrored metallic leather... I'm telling you, this is one of the coolest shoes I've seen in a while and I highly recommend you go see it in person. It's that good.

They're so super high too. They make me like 6 feet tall! haha I'm taller than my husband, but he seems ok with it. Thank God, cause I love high shoes. In fact, the higher the better in my book. 

A Little Off the Subject, but...

Every shoe girl needs her down time, right?

So I totally ditched work today and went and got a facial. Not just any facial, THE absolute best facial ever! And I swear I'm totally not exaggerating. If you're in the Southern California area... any part of it... it is worth your time to go and visit Jennifer Smith over at Cody Rose Salon. I have had many facials in my life but none compare to hers. I told her that her hands are magic, and I really think it may be true. There's no other explanation! ;)

How does this relate to shoes you ask? Well... it really doesn't, BUT while a mask is doing it's work on your face, Jen gives a killer foot rub. So there- it relates!! So go treat yourself cause The Shoe Girl said so! I love giving my best girlfriends gift certificates for these "magic" facials too. Who wouldn't love 90 minutes of bliss?

Do These Remind You of Anything??

Suuuuuuure, I'm a little biased. I mean, I do work on the line- but I had nothing to do with these shoes. 

That said, I love these shoes! They're so cute and sassy. Ok, but do they remind you of something? Something maybe that you wore in the late 80's? Something that you might have worn with two or three layers of brightly colored tube socks while dancing to Olivia Newton John's Physical?

Yea... thought so.                                                                      

So for a throwback to your younger years in the form of a hot peep toe pump, head over to zappos and get these babies from L.A.M.B. while they last!

Is it Just Me, Or is This Getting Ridiculous???

So, it's no secret that shoes are expensive... but they are getting more and more expensive every season! When I was browsing net-a-porter for their new arrivals, I saw these Roberto Cavalli wooden wedges for $1,850!! Almost 2 grand for a pair of shoes?? AS IF!

I'd guess their reasoning for the outrageous price tag might be that huge chunk of metal on the back, but I say keep your 50lb shoe, and I'll keep my $1,800 thankyouverymuch.

You likey??

My AMAZING talented hubby made me a logo for my blog! What do you guys think??

I DID IT!!!

I totally rocked my creepers today! ...I have the blisters to prove it too. I wore them with my new latexy looking black leggings and a super long Harajuku Lovers wife beater. I felt pretty good about the outfit, even after I got a dirty look from my husband as I left for work. ;)

Nearly everyone at the office had something to say about them, and I was glad to hear that it was all good stuff! So to Ben, I'd like to say "HA! I win."

The Perfect (almost affordable) Flat Sandal...

So as you all know, I was shopping LA this past weekend. I saw a LOT of great shoes and spent over nine-thousand of my company's dollars on designer shoes! What a great feeling!! Talk about retail therapy. ;) All the shopping, none of the guilt or buyer's remorse.

Anyway, among all the amazing shoes we saw, this Givenchy leather flat stood out as one of my favorites. It is the perfect Spring to Summer sandal, and at only $380, it's at least semi-affordable as far as high end designer shoes go. If you have a hard time imagining summer without wearing flip flops, this is a great alternative! You'll look a lot more put together with a leather version of your old fall back. TRUST ME. Plus, I have it on good authority that miss Gwen Stefani herself will be seen running her cute pregnant ass around town in these!

A side note: If you're ever in LA shopping for shoes you MUST stop in at Barneys and ask for Jason. He is the sweetest (not to mention cutest!) salesmen on the floor, and he'll help you find the perfect shoe. Tell him Celine sent you ;)

Thank You Dwell Magazine, for Ruining My Sunday...

It's a warm sunny Sunday, and I'm still feeling a little sick. Bummer, but it's still a nice day. I was relaxing on the couch with Benjamin and flipping through our new Dwell, hoping to find some new ideas for the house, when a full page ad caught my eye with the caption "What a Croc!" and I think, ohh! some Croc bashing! 

...wrong.

The ad goes on to say "It's hard to believe the parents were so ugly, but it's not hard to believe that these might be the most comfortable four-inch heels in history."

My hands start shaking and my right eye begins to twitch. 

"Ben! Oh my god, do you see this!?" He knows, and shares my hatred for crocs.

"I've got to go get my computer! this needs to go in my blog!"

So here I am. And I need to rant.

First, I'd like to say that I'm glad the people at Croc are willing to admit that the croc is "ugly". They say it themselves. But to try to call this monstrosity of a nasty beast a four-inch heel??? I mean come on! Technically, this thing may measure 4inches, but how DARE they call it a heel!? I am outraged! Would you call a Hershey bar gourmet chocolate? NO! Who do these people think they are? They know nothing about footwear! Let's call a spade a spade. This shoe is an effing kitchen clog for short chefs that cant reach the grill! NOT A FOUR-INCH MOTHER EFFING HEEL!

I am insulted. This is a new low for the footwear industry. It's bad enough when you see people wearing crocs out in public, but if i have to see people wearing elevated crocs and trying to pass them off as fashionable, I may just loose it. Comfort is NOT everything people! We women can not forget our duty to mankind! We are one of the only cases in nature where the female of the species is more attractive than the male. We should be proud of that, not hide it in ugly clunky comfort shoes! Our RIGHT as a woman is to wear a pair of killer sexy shoes! I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!!

Putting glitter on dog poop doesn't make it prettier. Croc people, I beg you... Please stick to what you know and stay out of my world. You don't know who you're messing with.

What the FUG?!?

Ok, back on the Negative Nancy train. These are for sure the most hideous things I've seen in at least... oh... 5 or 6 hours. (lots of not so hot samples came in the office today)

Anyway. Total hideosity. When I think of Givenchy I think of sexy, fashion forward footwear. Um... not so much with these things. 

First off, I hate jellies whether or not they are a kick ass designer brand. They need to go away. They look like some manly shower shoes that escaped from some gay men's day spa. I don't see how these are supposed to be fashionable. Am I alone here?? US Weekly featured them as one of their favorites, though what the hell do they know about fashion? They should stick to celeb gossip, which they DO know about. ;) Apparently fashion know-it-all's Cameron Diaz, Kirsten Dunst, and Ashley Olsen are fans of the shoe. Another thing they have in common may be fashion stylist Rachel Zoe? I could be wrong. I digress. 

The point is I'm not a fan. I think I've made that clear. Any arguments? Along with the black seen here, they also come in a shitteous pink color- both available at Barneys for a mere $165. A certain shoe blog, which will remain nameless, is reporting that these are "cute". Yea, sure. And so were those Nine West clogs they were lusting after last week. HA! Maybe I should re-name myself the shoe blog snob? 

I'm sorry...

I haven't forgotten about you oh dear blog of mine... You are always on my mind. It's just that this week at work is insane and so super hectic that I can barely think. I am so stressed right now!! On top of that, I'm starting to feel sick. You know- that achy feverish burning hot eyes, sore throat kind of sick. Yuck is right. 

I've got a big week and an even bigger weekend. Our LAMB designer is flying in with samples Thursday. As soon as he gets there it will be a mad rush to get all the samples photographed, and put onto linesheets to go out to salesmen in time for the shoe show. Then, he and I have to go shop LA all day Friday to find inspiration for our meeting with Andrea Lieberman that will take place all day Saturday and Sunday!! 

Andrea is AMAZING. If you know who she is you'll understand why every time we work with her it's super intimidating!! (here's a little bio) She's awesome to work with, but no matter how cool she is, it's hard not to feel like you don't know shit about shit when you're around her! So anyway, needless to say, I'm a bit stressed. Oh, did I forget to mention that's not even my full time job? Oh yea!

So I help out with LAMB (lucky for me) but my main focus is JLO footwear. As I am typing this I am in the middle of sending emails to China describing colors and materials for the upcoming Spring '09 collection. Yes... 2009. I just finished sketching the 35 shoes that were needed to make the collection. Now it's on to detailing and checking prototypes and blah blah blah. 

Wow. No wonder my body is shutting down. Anyway- back to work. I just wanted to check in on you. ;)

The Perks of Being a Shoe Girl...

So my awesome friends at the company next door, Hale Bob, hooked me up with this AWESOME shoe today! It's so cute and right on trend. I love it. If it reminds you of the hot Marni pump that was out of your budget last season, you know your shoes! Its the same shape and basic style only, in my opinion, even easier to wear!

 

Best news? They are only $120 and they're on backorder- so you have plenty of time to lust after, and then purchase said shoe. Victoria's Secret will carry them and the girls at Hale Bob Footwear tell me you can pre-order them now! They have a few other styles on there too, including some super sassy flowery sandals. Check it out! If you enter the code "TRENDSVS" you'll get $15 off! Now you have no excuses.

On a totally unrelated subject, I'd like to give a little shout out to my sister Katie who turns 24 today! Yay Katie! I love you sweetie. :)

I Think I'm Feelin' Creepers...

No, this isn't another April fools joke. It's just that sometimes I get these feelings about trends. Sometimes I feel like they come out of nowhere, and sometimes I know they enter my brain subconsciously from all the shopping and research I do. THIS trend however... well, I'm just not sure.

I know that Creepers showed up in men's ready to wear recently, but I don't think I saw them on women. I dunno, even looking at the picture above I can't help but think "hmmmm, I dunno" but a bigger part of me is saying YES! Maybe it comes from the men's oxford trend that I just can't seem to back. They are too masculine for this girly girl. And I realize that these Creepers may be just as masculine, but at least it's in a more punkish and unexpected way. Where women are paring the men's style oxfords with dresses and wide leg trousers, I see myself in these paired with a super skinny jean, a latex legging, or even a high waisted mini!

I haven't worn or even thought about wearing Creepers since my 'I think I'm a rebel' phase in high school. But again, I have a feeling about them. The difference I guess is that in high school I would wear the super chunky round toe high up platform version. I actually hated the low pointy ones. But now, those are the ones I'm feeling. Hmmmm.

Well, anyway, I went out and bought me a pair at a favorite high school shopping spot, Electric Chair. When I went in there was actually a kid who was obviously there on Spring break cause he had an obvious Jersey tan that those boys are famous for, along with the disgusting moose hair do. He was asking about getting a tongue piercing and almost ran the eff out. Sorry, I digress. So now I have these Creepers and I'm not sure what to do with them. Ben (hubby) hates them, which I was sure he would, but I'm determined to prove him (and any of you nay-sayers) WRONG. So when I come up with the perfect "creeper outfit" I'll be sure to take a photo and post it. I have these high wasted charcoal grey skinny pants that I haven't worn yet that I think may work well. ;)

I hope you are all enjoying my little blog. Sometimes I feel like nobody is reading and that the 200 something hits I've gotten are just Ben being super supportive. Please don't be shy about commenting, you can do it anonymously.

xoxo

When Sexy Style Meets Comfort!

Nobody can argue the sex appeal of a mid-heel unit bottom wedge like this strappy Donald J. Pliner number! I mean, come on people... This just screams sexuality! And, lucky for us, comfort too. 

This is a shoe lovers dream come true and at only

$214 this little slice of heaven is budget friendly too! I found them here at Zappos. I mean, sure, you could spend your $214 on a Marc by Marc Jacobs shoe, or a sale priced Chloe or something... but who wants that!? Those shoes are hardly ever comfortable and they are too funky to last more than one season. 

This sandal is a timeless classic and will be a staple in your wardrobe for years to come. This shoe is rated 5 stars on Zappos for all 3 categories: Overall, Look, and Comfort. WOW! 5 stars! And if you look under womens dress, then sort by popularity, this shoe is #1! Can you believe it!? Of all the shoes on their site, THIS is #1. So awesome.

Anyway, I just ordered mine in black AND in red (the red I'll save for a special occasion like a sexy date or a night out on the town) and I'm counting down the days until my package arrives!

Oh.... one more thing... APRIL FOOOOOOOLS!!!! hahahahahhaa. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I wouldn't be caught dead in this hideous mess of a shoe. HA! Ok shoe lovers, enjoy your day. My work here is done. ;)