Merona -Aimee

Ciao a tutti!

My fellow Shoe-A-Holics, I love shoes!  And sometimes, my love for shoes turns into an obsession, and all I can see is acquiring the next pair.  Which, on occasion can be a good thing, but rarely is not; case in point, these Sketcher-look-alikes. 

When I bought these, I had already purchased my Step-Up Maryjanes in Brown, Grey and Black; loving the fit and feel of a well made shoe, led me to a pair which was beautiful to gaze upon, but very painful to wear.  So my advice to you, all ye lovers of footwear is: Stick with established brands!

Long gone are the days where you can find a well made pair of shoes from a discount retailer, and often, buying shoes from shoe stores which carry a variety of brands, won't usually guarantee a better quality shoe either.  If you can find a great pair of shoes, and better still, those great shoes at a great price, get them or even a couple of pairs.  People joke about suffering for fashion, but damaging your feet are hardly worth that price!

Baci a tutti!

Stella Notte

Day 330: Wednesday May 1st 2013
Designer: Merona from Target
Name: Aimee
Color: Bronze
Style: Sporty Maryjane
Heel: Flat
Material: Leather and mesh upper with zig-zag straps crossing vamp

Philip Simon -Peyton, Black

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

 

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

 

 

Baci a tutti!

 

Stella Notte

Designer: Philip Simon
Name: Peytoon
Color: Black
Style: Wedge Athletic Shoe
Heel: 4 inches (10.16 cm)
Platform: 0.75 inches (1.91 cm)
Material: Suede, Leather and Pebbled Leather Uppers, leather lining along with metal eyelets and D-Ring details

 

Privo by Clark's -Kiva, Purple

Ciao a tutti e Augurissimi!

My fellow Shoe-A-Holics, Seasons's Greetings!  I hope that Babbo Natale, Père Noël, Kris Kringle, St. Nicolas, Santa Claus or any other jolly individual who shares good will and brings cheer to your part of the world was generous to you yesterday (or is at least in the coming week or so); but for those us who may have ended up on that proverbial 'naughty list' and woke up to coal (or some other undesirable object) in our stockings yestermorn, hark and fear not! 

For many of you who are: 'Across the Pond', 'Down Under', inhabitants of the 'Great White North' (that is the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada respectively for those of you who do not live in those parts of the world), members or former members of the British Empire and/or Commonwealth...Happy Boxing Day (what is essentially known as a shopping holiday)!  And for my American readers, not to worry on this Feast of Stephen; while it may not be the biggest shopping day of the year, bargains still abound, (even for the naughtiest of us).  So slip into your comfortable shoes, (make that your most comfortable shoes) and venture forth; because in power-shopping, there is no room for weary feet and no time to stop for tired tootsies!

Auguri!  Buon Natale a tutti!

Stella Notte

Day 294:  Wednesday December 26th 2012
Designer: Privo by Clark's
Name: Kiva
Color: Purple
Style: T-Strap Flat
Heel: 0.75 inches (2 cm)
Material: Perforated Nubuck Suede Upper with leather trim; T-Strap vamp and decorative studs

Beautiful in any color; click here to see these beauties in grey the first time I wore them,

 and here to see them the second go 'round!

 

How I Styled It?

Just because it's cold, one shouldn't have sacrifice style for warmth!  Cold weather dictates warm accessories, and with the frigid weather here (I consider anything below 65 degrees to be cold), I can extend the life of my warm weather clothes like this corduroy mini I bought from Old Navy a few years ago, with these fabulous tights I got from a market in Sicily.  Shopping Tip: When you find something that works, get several!  I bought these tights and several others in various colors (click here to see the grey tights I paired with brown clogs) for 1-2 Euros a piece (that is $1.50 - $3.00), like the wool scarf I'm also wearing.  The Coffee Shop military jacket I got at Target, while the bronze tote was a gift.  Buon Shopping!  SN

Philip Simon -Peytoon, Grey

Ciao a tutti!

My fellow Shoe-A-Holics, after two days of indulgence (Thanksgiving and Black Friday respectively), I spent they day giving back to my community; during Small Business Saturday (the Saturday after Thanksgiving) holiday shoppers are encouraged to shop locally, supporting the small businesses which are the foundation of local economies.* 

When one thinks of Toronto, the glitz and glam of downtown often come to mind, but before Toronto became the metropolis that it is today, small businesses are what drove the city.  It was a nostalgic day for me as I recollected times from my own childhood when I would escort my mother to the local businesses she patronized; not one for shopping (then), I relished the opportunity to go because it usually meant I would eat breakfast at the lunch counter while she shopped...and I always ordered hot chocolate and toast with butter.

My first Small Business Saturday started off with breakfast (be forewarned, everything we bought had to to with food!).  At Goose Feathers, an Express Cafe & Bakery, I enjoyed a grown up version of my breakfast of yester-year, I ordered a double shot of espresso-cappuccino and a sticky bun.   Next  stop was the Savannah's Candy Kitchen where I indulged in a giant white chocolate peanut butter cup and chocolate covered English toffee.  I made a quick stop by the Globe Shoe Company and realized that although I love shopping locally, I do not have the funds with often accompany this little luxury.  So there were no shoes for me...or so I thought, until I ran into the only man I have ever met who actually looks good in a red suit!

 

 

One last stop had me entranced, much the same way I was as a girl every time I passed a toy store; Super Nintendos and He-Man figurines to the original Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony Planet Fun had retro toys for the kid who lies dormant in every adult, which, funny enough, the store was packed with adults who fawned over toys they once had or had wanted.  With the morning officially over we headed off to the second half of our Small Business Saturday, which you'll have to come back and read on Friday!

 

Baci a tutti!

Stella Notte

Day 282: Sunday November 25th 2012
Designer: Philip Simon
Name: Peytoon
Color: Grey
Style: Wedge Athletic Shoe
Heel: 4 inches (10.16 cm)
Platform: 0.75 inches (1.91 cm)
Material: Suede, Leather and Pebbled Leather Uppers, leather lining along with metal eyelets and D-Ring details

To see how I rated these shoes, check out my review of them here on Tumblr!

*Amex, Small Business Saturday

 Beautiful in any color; click here to see these beauties in Black!

 

How I Styled It?

It was a cold morning, and knowing that we were going shopping, I decided to layer on thinner items of clothing instead of wearing a bulky coat; so I started with an oxblood-colored oxford under a grey sweater.  I layered that with a cashmere blend cardigan I got from the market.  I hadn't worn this lovely capelet from Newport News (several years ago), in quite some time.  The scarf is also from the market, the bag is Bongo, the jeggings are Hue and the socks are Old Navy.   SN

Sketchers -Straightaway

Ciao amici!

With so many things going on this past weekend, I had the opportunity to join in on an event for a worthy cause -the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk.

Leukemia and lymphoma are two types of cancers which affect the blood and/or bone marrow (where red blood cells are formed). With approximately 662,789* Americans living with lymphoma and an additional estimated 44,000* to be diagnosed with leukemia in the next year, Light the Night is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)'s national campaign aimed at not only raising funds for research and treatment, but to raise awareness about these diseases in the hopes of improving the quality of life of patients and their families, and eventually finding a cure.

The crowd that came out to Light the Night was incredible!

Participants that came to walk, did so, for a variety of reasons; many with stories of love and hope, others with tales of heartache and loss, but united in our goal we put on our walking shoes, and with the lighted balloons we were given to commemorate our reason for walking, we stood tall and walked proudly through the downtown streets to show our support.

 

 

And there was was this lively group with their own compelling story!  Chatting away, I noticed their sign and asked to take a picture of them with it.  They asked me to wait for them to get in alphabetical order, which confused me until I looked at what they had spelled: Go Larry! :)  And here's what Andrew (the organizer of this group of enthusiastic walkers wrote me when I sent him the picture:

Larry is my dad, who was just diagnosed with Leukemia a couple of weeks ago. He's being treated up in the capitol area right now, so I participated in the Light the Night Walk because it felt like something I could do to really show him some support while I'm here attending college. I happen to have some amazing friends who were more than willing to join me for the event and let him know how much we're thinking of him! (As a nice bonus, we were able to raise a bunch of money for LLS, which means a lot since their research is what's helping to save him right now.)

 

 

Stopping traffic where we trod that night, onlookers could not help but see our message.  Thousands strong, those that walked or those for whom we walked know that this is not a journey they ever have to walk alone.

 

Ciao, amici!

 

Stella Notte 

* Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 2011 statistics

For more information on how you can Light the Night click here
For more information on Leukemia and Lymphoma click here

About the shoes:

Day 266:  Thursday October 18th 2012
Designer: Sketchers
Name: Straightway
Color: Charcoal/Black
Style: Athletic Biker Fashion Sneaker Slip-on
Material: Leather and mesh upper with bungee-style lacing along vamp

Festival Special, Tybee Island Pirate Fest: Privo by Clark's -Kiva, Grey

Ciao amici!

Ever since the Tall Ship Festival in May and my brief encounter with the rum-running, booty-hauling buccaneers of the high seas (pirates), I have been looking forward to the annual event on Tybee Island which draws seafaring mariners from across the country, all in celebration of the islands own pirate history.

As one of the larger barrier islands off Georgia's coast, Tybee Island's pirate roots reach back to the early 16th Century when Pirates would navigate the state's interminable waterways for sources of fresh water and would frequent the island, utilizing the lush vegetation to hide from those who pursued them. 

A little known fact, pirates played an integral role in aiding the English during the early 1700's in their efforts to capture the land from the Spanish and colonize Georgia.*

For the eighth year running, lovers of all things pirate have converged on this island town for food, fun and festivities.  With activities to delight the young and old alike, Pirate Fest 2012 had something to offer the entire family!

Kicking off with a Buccaneer Ball, there were events to amaze and thrill pirates of all ages; the three day event (for which we attended two) had us captivated from the moment we arrived.

Our first stop was the Faire Wynds Circus! Now to be honest with you, I had long given up on the 'magic' which magicians profess to bring during a performance. But after witnessing this amazing spectacle from a true master of prestidigitation, I am a believer again!  Circus Master Eric Scites and his lovely assistant/wife, Penelope/Susan (you must see the show to understand the comedic value in her name), delivered entertainment that was not just a show for the children, but for the entire family alike. Regaled with fire eating, slight-of-hand, and awe-inspiring magic tricks, the Faire Wynds Circus brought history alive through stories, poetry recitation and of course, humour.  My only regret was that we were unable to catch subsequent shows!

Here are some shots from the show!

Yes, his tongue is on fire!

And what would a festival of pirates be without pirates? And boy, were there pirates!  

Consider yourself warned!

There was a King and Queen Pirate...

Captain Mike and his wife Iris of Captain Mike's Dolphin Tours

Pirates both old... and young

There were Pirates of all shapes and sizes: singing pirates,

dancing Pirates, and Pirates in bikinis!   

There were Pirates on bicycles,  

 

 Pirates for a cure...

 

 

and some even a little tipsy!

 

 Zombie Pirates...  

SavannahZombieWalk.com

 

Pirates with candy and even a cameo from Captain Jack! 

And what would Pirate Fest be without a swashbuckling sword fight?

 

And we mustn't forget the Pirate Ships!

And my favorite place? The Thieves Market, where I could shop! Check out some of these goodies that vendors had for sale!

Hemp sandals!

Always the Shoe-A-Holic, you know I had to stop when I saw Pirate Becca and her lovely shoes!  Local artisan, Becca Cook handcrafted her outfit (and yes, the hat as well!).  Check out her artistic creations on Zazzle and Etsy, key word beccasboudoir!  You can view the links in green or red to some of the Pirate Fest participants I have highlighted!

Baci a tutti!

 

Stella Notte

 

Tuesday October 9th 2012

Designer: Privo by Clark's
Name: Kiva
Color: Grey
Style: T-Strap Flat
Heel: 0.75 inches (2 cm)
Material: Nubuck Suede Upper with T-Strap vamp and studs








Just a note:  If you are wondering if or where you have seen these Kivo beauties before, I wore them last on Day 16 (here).  Due to the lack or foresight on my part, I am left with an abundance of dressy sandals which didn't exactly fit the bill with respect to the event which I attended. I have made every effort to wear all colors of a particular style of shoe before duplicating a shoe, with the exception of these grey Kivo's and their purple counterparts.  I needed something flat and comfortable as I was unsure of whether I was going to be on the sandy beach or not.  Forgive me, I shall wear the purple pair soon...I would have today, but it didn't quite fit with my denim tunic or white shorts.  SN

 

*Info on Tybee Island from Wikipedia