Will Drool For Shoes!...

So, I admitted my slight liking of shoes a few weeks ago.  Well, last week I saw this picture which made me drool--look at that lovely shoe storage/display!

(wipes drool off keyboard AGAIN!)  Anywho, as promised, here are some of my favorite fall shoes from my closet.  Starting with Round Toes!  There's something about fall that makes me want to wear round toes way more often than any other season of the year.  Here are my current favorite round toes!

 Macy's Find!

Absolutely Enjoy these!! Wear them with black tights!

 Classic Black Round Toe a la Jessica Simpson!

Yet Another Macy's Find

 Rampage Shoe That is SOOOO Fall!

You Guessed It...From Macys! 

Next up, my "witch shoes" as Troy calls them.  He thinks they look like shoes witches wear! LOL! But I think they are fabulous!! Especially the black shoes!! I can wear them with like 55% or more of my fall skirts! 

 

Ann Marino oxford pumps! 

LOVE wearing these with black tights, pattern pencil skirt, & black turtleneck!

TJ Maxx find (I am such a maxinista)

And guess what...

Paid LESS for the same shoe in gray at DSW!

GASP!

These are suede, the black shoes are not.

Anywho, these are some of my most worn fall shoes!! Share some of your favorite fall shoes!!!

Yay for shoes,

SG

So I Think I Can Dance...

Remember the last time I stopped by Johnny Rockets when my family visited?  Well, I happened to go back again a few weeks ago and the staff let me dance with them yet again!! And yes, this time I knew ALL the choreography!!

Did you catch the TV show reference in the title?,

SG

5 Years Already!?!

Last weekend was Homecoming time again at good ol' FU (Furman University)! Last year was my first year back on campus in a while and it was good to get back again!  Particularly because this year was my five year reunion.  I can't believe it's only been five years since I graduated from college.  It seems like it's been 10!  Got to see lots of people including those super smart students...

 Charity, working on her PhD in something hard that I don't fully understand (MATH!)

 

Christina who is getting her Masters from Princeton!

...and I showed Troy the Class of 2005's senior class gift (designed by the lovely Anna Winter, my junior year roomie!)--the September 11th memorial wall where I am quoted!!  You see, my first day of college was September 11, 2001.  Date ring a bell?

 

the memorial sits outside of Furman Hall and selected members of our senior class are quoted, reflecting on our first day of class--September 11, 2001.

 that's my quote! and me pointing to it with Furman bags in my other hand! (the bookstore had a great sale! )

 so cool, one day we can show our children where mommy was quoted! With a slightly different name!

 The Grants in front of Furman Hall!

Oh, one more thing! I was super sad to see that Furman now has a Moe's on campus!! So unfair!  I needed that when I was there!! 

Fun times at F-U yet again,

SG

TEMPTATION!

So, only ONE day after I share my semi-obsession with shoes, I get this in my email from DSW:

And not only are they giving you $15 off a $49 purchase today, guess what else....

FREE SHIPPING!!!  AGH!!!  So, I said to myself, if I find a pair for $49.95 I will get them.  But guess what?! I fell in shoe-love with three pairs of shoes which don't fit the $49.95 criteria!

This super cute black and white shoe was too low to get the $15 off!

This shoe is my favorite!!  But it's $20 more than I wanted to spend!

This oxford bootie was also too much! 

So, I'm convinced it wasn't meant to be.  Although, that Jones New York Oxford Pump will probably haunt me in my dreams for at least a week! I really want it!!!

I hope someone finds an excellent DSW deal today!  Maybe I'll go back and look some more!  I just did a quick 5 minute search and found those.

temptation 0; Shunta 1,
SG

140 and counting...

Giving the Duggars a run for their money!!! JUST KIDDING!! I'm not talking about babies.  I'm talking about SHOES!!!  With the weather getting cooler I have began switching out our clothes and shoes and today I worked on shoes!  After making 2 huge piles of shoes and boots to give away, I was left with 140 pairs of shoes!  (shhh....let this be our secret!) 

So, the trick is, how do I store my spring and summer shoes while pulling the fall/winter shoes and boots to the forefront.  Well, today I tackled everything but the boots and here is a sneak peek of what went down...

Step One: Under bed bins.  First, we have six of these little fellas hiding under our bed which holds a ton of my out of season shoes. Rubbermaid storage bins from Target.

the six categories labeled and stored under the bed are: (1) tennis shoes (2) formal dressy shoes (3) spring/summer heels (4) spring/summer flats (5) least worn heels and (6) year round flats.  Any remaining spring/summer heels are in individual shoe bins (picture later in post) and stored in our 3rd bedroom closet.  Here are a few pics...

After prepping each bin, I slid them under the bed.  Now you see them...

 Now you don't!...

So that's step 1 of bedroom shoe storage.  Step Two:  Side Storage. I keep a small storage thingamajig to the side of my night stand with my most popular fall flats.

Step Three: Individual Bins.  All other shoes are kept in these shoe bins from Bed Bath & Beyond.

when shoes come in, I take them from their original box and put them in the plastic bins.  Then the shoes are placed into the shoe closet in our room.  Step Four: Hanging Shoes.   My most worn black and brown heels make their way to the door because they get worn the most often (sometimes!)

Last, but not least.  Step Five:  Front Door Shoes!  We keep a cute basket at the front door to hold our guests' shoes and I keep a pair of flats there for running to the car or mailbox.  Another way to store shoes!

(I have a folded mat in the basket to keep the basket from getting yucky from shoe bottoms)

So, there ya have it.  That's how I manage most of my shoes!! All 140 pairs and counting!!  I must say, of all items of clothing, I am a sucker for shoes!!  

Storing boots is a bit trickier, so that's on my to-do list for tomorrow!... Stay tuned and I'll share some of my favorite fall shoes with you!!  In the meantime, what are your shoe storage secrets? Do tell!

Ready for fall (so I can wear tights & cute shoes),

SG

Recipe: Lemon Glaze Bundt Cake

Well, I told you a few days ago that Annie and I were about to have some baking fun!! I'm SOOOO excited to say that today I did two things that I have never done before--made my own recipe and made a cake from scratch!  And we had friends and family over for a Glee night and the verdict is in--the cake is DELICIOUS!!! Moist, tasty, and lemony!  Here are the details...

Cake Ingredients:

1 cup butter @ room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups of cake flour
zest of 1 large lemon
1 cup evaporated milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 box lemon pudding

Glaze Ingredients:
3-5 teaspoons lemon juice
2 cups confectioners sugar

Step by Step:

1.  Preheat oven 350 degrees.

2.  Cream butter until fluffy. 

3.  Add sugar and continue to cream well with butter. 

4.  Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour.

6. Add vanilla & lemon zest & lemon juice and continue to beat until just mixed. 

7. Add baking powder and salt.

8. Add pudding mix.

9. Place batter in bundt cake pan: Bake 35 minutes.

10.  Cool in pan 2 minutes. Invert cake onto cooling rack. 

11.  Make glaze.  Mix sugar and lemon juice adding more juice for tart glaze and more sugar for sweeter/thicker glaze.

12.  Place cake on plate and glaze cake.

Pictures: 

Like A Child In A Toy Store....

I purchased a fun new toy today!! A baking toy!  My first bundt cake pan!  I went into Macys with hopes to purchase this one made by Calphalon since all of our bakeware is made by Calphalon, but then I saw this beauty...

Meet Annie!  She has really cool silicon handles that will make removing the cake from the pan super easy!!  I'm pretty excited!! In fact, Troy had to eventually shoo me out of the bakeware section of Macys because it really is like a toy store for me!!  So many fun things that I want!  But, for today, one of the many items from my "baking wish list" can be scratched off!!  

And why did I purchase this lovely cake pan today you ask?  Well, this week I plan to venture into the unknown--making a cake from scratch!!  The plan is to make a lemon cake with lemon glaze!  I finalized my recipe this afternoon after weeks of looking at other recipes and talking to other bakers.  So stay tuned for the adventures of Annie and I! 

Also, anyone out there know much about Anolon compared to Calphalon? I played around with some of the Anolon bakeware and found it to be better quality than Calphalon.  This is my first venture with Anolon, so wondering if anyone out there knows more?  Holler at me! :-D

Way too excited over here (like, really!),

SG