My (Blue) Wedding Shoes

Good morning blog friends! Today is going to be a great day, I can just feel it! The Governor is giving the state of the State, which as a general rule means that the commute into Albany will be nasty. So, preparing for that, I awoke at the crack of dawn (6:50 AM is the crack of dawn) and left my house at 7:40, prepared for a stressful commute. Usually I'm just waking up at 7:40 (to leave my house at 8:10- what can I say, I'm def not a morning person!)

The commute was glorious! I feel like such a tool saying that but there was hardly any traffic and I arrived to work over a half an hour early. Loves it! I swear, the sun was even shining differently (which, uh, makes sense, since I left 45 minutes earlier than I usually do). The sky was so pretty! Can you see the hearts and flowers flying around my head yet? I'm practically annoying myself with how happy I am.

Another reason the commute was so great was because I listened to some great music. When I was driving home last night, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" came onto my iTouch and hearing the early chords of the song literally brought a smile to my face. Probably because it is still new to me (I don't really listen to the radio so if I get sick of a song, it's because I have played it to death, not because the radio is playing it every five minutes). I love this song for some reason! Lady Gaga is a hot mess, her lyrics are strange at best and I can barely understand what she is singing at some points but her music makes me happy! I played Bad Romance on repeat for a while this morning. Are there any songs out there that put a smile on your face when you hear them?

Last week at yoga class my yoga instructor said something that really resonated with me. Since it was still the holidays, she decided that she wanted the class to have a "giving and receiving" theme. In addition to various poses that incorporated the theme (ie, partner shoulder stretching), she read some passages that applied as well. One spoke to ways that we can easily give to others. The example that she described and applied to our every day lives applies to something we all do every day- driving (even yoga ties in with my commute!). You know how sometimes when you're driving along and someone wants to merge in or merge over and you speed up so that they can't pass you? We are all probably guilty of this (at least I am!). My yoga instructor said that an easy way to "give back" to people without exerting any effort is to just let those drivers in. Everything is so rush rush these days but really, what do you have to lose by doing this? Not a thing. So, thinking about what she said, I applied this to my commute this morning. It left me smiling to let in other stressed drivers, and my drive did not take any longer than usual. If you practice yoga, do you try to incorporate it in other ways into your daily actions?

Yesterday was a long day. After work I attended a legal clinic and put in some pro bono hours. I really enjoy doing this. Last night I met with two women and they really just wanted someone to talk to and some reassurance. Doing this sort of thing really puts things into perspective for me. I am so... I don't even know how to put it. I don't want to say "blessed", because I think that term is kind of overused. I am so grateful for everyone and everything that I have in my life. I am thankful that I do not have to stress out about whether I can afford to purchase six dollar medication. There are people out that there that struggle with these sort of issues every day.

Okay, anyway, I thought this was a post about my fabulous wedding shoes? Oh, riight. So I'm just going to come out and say it. I hate (hate) white shoes. Yick. I don't know why; I just do. This presents a problem for the traditional wedding shoe since they are, well, white. However, after seeing Carrie Bradshaw get married in her blue Manolos, something must have stuck with me, because after I got engaged, I KNEW that I had to have blue shoes (navy, to be exact).

Source

Thus began my search for the shoes that didn't exist, or so I thought. I googled the shoes that Carrie wore (not that I was trying to buy $895 Manolos) and saw that they were not navy, nor were they peep toe, which is what I was looking for. My hopes sank. I perused various shoe sites (Zappos, I heart you but your blue wedding shoes were fug) with no luck. I was looking on Macy's website at shoes when I saw a red pair that they "suggested", with the always encouraging "more colors available" link underneath. There they were, and under budget ($99, my budget was $100) with free shipping to boot! I hemmed and hawed about ordering my wedding shoes when I hadn't even tried them on, but I just took the plunge and ordered them.

Behold:
Oops, kinda blurry.

Navy blue satin, peep toe, adorable ruffles- what's not to love?! I tried them on and fell in love. The final test was trying them on with my dress. Originally I was going to have to have my dress shortened a little because I planned on wearing 2 inch heels. These babies are about 3.5 inches. The 3.5 inch heel went PERFECTLY with my dress; it needs no alterations! I'm just under 5'8", so with the shoes I'm at about 5'11"ish. Bri is just over six feet tall so they are perfect!

These aren't the comfortable two inch heels that I was originally hoping for, but it's okay. I decided last night that I had to start breaking them in.

Yes, I wore them around my house with my pink pajama pants on. It was super hot.

So what do you think of the shoes? If you are married, did you wear colored shoes? If not, would you on your wedding day? And should I invest in a pair of ballet flats for the reception?

Tonight my training plan calls for a two mile run and my beloved body sculpt class. If the class is packed to the gills, I swear, New Year's Resolutioners' heads will roll. Kidding, kidding. Tomorrow I am going to attempt to revive (okay, begin) my love affair with brussel sprouts with a recipe that Wendy from Give Love, Create Happiness shared on her blog the other day. It sounds really delicious, and hopefully it will will take the bittah out of the brussel.

Sorry that this post is all over the place. I'm random. Have a great day!