What Ho!

I know, what a strange title! But there's a reason behind my madness.  I've been having the most fun reading books on my iPad Kindle app and I discovered a wonderfully entertaining book series set in circa 1910 England. It's the Lady Hardcastle mystery series by T.E. Kinsey and each one kept me happily reading from start to finish.  Lady Emily Hardcastle and her diminutive Welsh maid, Florence Armstrong, have stolen my heart and now that I've read all six in the series, I'm going to have to wait until December when the next book comes out.  Drat!! Looking for a good read?  Look no further (with the added plus of all those ridiculously fun British sayings like, "What ho!"). 

Having finished with Lady H and Flo, I went to our overstocked shelves in the family room and set about to look for a familiar read.  Back in the '70s, M.M. Kaye achieved fame with her book, The Far Pavilions and while I do like that one, my favorite of her books is Shadow of the Moon.  

My copy has held up well, but it's old by paperback standards, so yesterday Dan encouraged me to look online for a hardback.  Done, and done.  Meanwhile, ol' trusty and I will once again head to the India of the 1850s.  For those of you who love stories with an historical background, this one will satisfy.   

Meanwhile, I'm excited to announce that I was able to get my haircut yesterday and feel like a new woman! It's amazing what a haircut will do, especially when it's been forced to be put off far beyond normal time.  

I also need to confess that having been confined to home for all these weeks has led me to shoe shopping on line and I've purchased not one, not two, but three new pairs of shoes in the last month.  A new high (or low??) for me!!  However, I am unrepentant and am enjoying wearing each and every pair.  

The pair above matches my new purse and I feel quite coordinated when setting out to the grocery store!!  ♥

Mama's Got A New Pair of Shoes

Oh Zappos!  You know me so well.  They know I love Rieker's shoes.  They know I'm sucker for Mary Janes. And they know I love red shoes.

Yup, I get emails from them and got one on Friday.  Like a fool, I opened it so see what they thought I might like. Oh be still my heart!  Riekers, Mary Janes, in red.  I ran to my closet, checked my other two pairs (grey and black) for size, ran back, entered it and clicked add to cart.  They kindly said they'd overnight ship them in one business day for free, which did me little good since it was Friday, but this morning, when I returned from exercising, there was the box on the porch.  Happy sigh!

And now, without further ado, here they are!!  

And a side view:

I'm reminded of a birthday card from Bruder Bear and Karen a few years ago that went, "Happy new shoes to you, happy new shoes to you!"  It's not my birthday, but I can't stop smiling.  Happy new shoes to me!  ♥

Shoes

(Yes, I know, after weeks of no posts, here I am for the second day in a row!! Go figure...)

For those of you who know me well, it will come as no surprise that shoes are sort of an obsession with me.  I can wear jeans every day of the month (and yes, I wear jeans to church), but I must have cute shoes.  As I get older, finding comfortable cute shoes has become somewhat of a challenge, but I persevere! 

Recently I got a catalog in the mail from a company unfamiliar to me.  It was for clothes, but had some shoes, too.  I must tell you that I judge the quality of the clothes in a catalog by the quality of the shoes also offered.  As I turned the pages, a pair of shoes leaped off the page at me.  Cute!!  Cute, cute, cute!!  And I was familiar the the brand, Rieker, and know them to be quality.  But alas, the shoes were not inexpensive. 

I showed the picture to Dan and he told me to order them.  But the price...  So, intrepid internet shopper that I am, I began my search for the same shoes for less money.  I found them on Zappos for $15 less and free shipping.  Score!!  I ordered the Tuesday before Easter in the evening, and Zappos sent me an email on Wednesday upgrading me to two-day delivery, again for no charge.  On Friday morning, the UPS man arrived and delivered my package.  I tried them on, and I've been in shoe heaven ever since.  Cute?  Check!  Comfy?  Check!  My left knee had been bothering me and it's returned to normal. Double check!

And a closeup:

Dan once gave me a coaster that says, "If the shoe fits, buy it in every color!" In this case, I have. They only come in this color. I may have to buy another pair anyway. (If only they came in faded red or faded navy!!)