Finally! Big girl heels!!!

I've complained a few times before about my tiny feet.  I wear a child's size 2/3 and a women's size 3.5/4.  Finding shoes for myself has always been a difficult task.  Four years ago, I discovered an American company that offered petite shoes for women, Cinderella of Boston.  It was great because it was the first time I was able to get adult heels that actually fit.  However, over the years, I've been frustrated with Cinderella's behind-the-times styles.  I attribute it to the fact that they have a very small consumer audience - women with tiny feet.  And of all of the women in the United States with tiny feet, there are probably more older women.  So, many of their styles are more matronly, and the highest heel they make is a 3.5 inches.

My sister, on the other hand, is a perfect size 6.  And she is best friends with the men who work in the shoe department at the Dillard's department stores in both Anderson and Greenville.  Rachel rocks the sexy designer 5-inch heels.  And I will always be envious.

This weekend was Mother's Day.  After the rainy weather put a damper on our lake plans, Mom decided that we should go to the Mall of Georgia for some afternoon shopping.  We didn't have much time, but we had our priorities.  First, we took a much-needed trip to H&M.  Then Mother said that she really wanted to go to Nordstrom and see if they had any size 4 shoes.

Someone on a message board had suggested Nordstrom for tiny women's shoes.  I was able to find many size 4s online, but the one pair we ordered was a bust (it had really bad reviews - they messed up with the ankle strap and made it too short).  I figured our trip to Nordstrom would be a bust.  Size 4s?  Surely they didn't have many of these in stock.

Well, we had a wonderful sales consultant help us.  It was tricky because I didn't have an occasion or a certain dress I needed the shoes for.  At first I requested nude or gold heels, as high as I can get, in size 4.  It was a little frustrating because the first few shoes I put on were still too big.  Rachel was telling me that if I wanted to wear sexy shoes, then I needed to suck it up.  I can walk in them, but if you look down at my feet, you can tell they are too big!  Mother has always been a stickler for fit - It looks like she's playing dress-up.  The sales consultant didn't really understand how difficult it was for me to find shoes, and that I was willing to stock up, no occasion necessary.  "Too bad you don't need black.  We have a lot of black shoes in size 4."  Well, that will work too - bring them all!

On the second trip (must've missed this on the gold run) she came back with....





Beautiful gold Enzo Angiolini slingbacks!









I WAS IN LOVE!!!!!! We also ordered a nude patent pair of pumps (not slingback). Hopefully they will fit! They were one of two pairs left in the United States. The sales consultant had to search for the shoe, then call the store directly and get them to send me the pair they had left. I am so excited!!!

Ventures in Self Photography

So, I read an awesome how-to on self photography on iheartfaces.com.  I follow a good number of fashion bloggers who do their own self photography, and it's just beautiful.  However, I'm still learning on getting the focus right... and I can hardly take myself serious in front of the camera.  That, and I'm the furthest thing from a model.  But, since I was feeling especially cute in my new sandals and skinny jeans tonight, I decided to give it a try.


My first attempt... you can tell I'm not quite feeling this.



Better focus, but cut out my feet, and awkward pose...


Model? Uh, no...


I deem this my most successful shot with the timer.


So I gave up and went to the mirror!
 



The shoes are a little large, but I don't think it's too obvious. They were the tiniest 5.5 I could find. I can rarely wear 5s, let alone 5.5s (normally, I'm an adult 3.5/4, children's 2/3)


And my "model" face.

Top Delia's, Jean Leggings Express, Sandals Target

 



























I'll have to try again with the self photography another day.

Day 2 - A Little Bit of Shopping

After breakfast, we stopped by the Sundries shop. This is where my parents bought my WDW luggage, and we wanted to add another piece to the collection. I chose the large rolling suitcase (for long trips ). Rachel bought a toothbrush (she forgot hers). She was quite disappointed to find that their toothbrushes were just regular old toothbrushes without Mickey Mouse designs. She told me she really wanted a Mickey Mouse toothbrush and asked if I thought she'd be able to find one somewhere else. I told her to get the toothbrush and brush her teeth.

Mother asked if they did resort to resort delivery, but we were told that it takes a while. Park to resort delivery is quite fast, but they typically don't deliver items from one resort to another and that it has to go somewhere else first and can take three or four days. So, we decided just to take the suitcase with us since we were going back to the resort to drop off our cakes and posters (and let Rachel brush her teeth), anyway.

Day 8 - Destin Commons and Johnny Rocket's

We needed to swing by Bass Pro Shop to see if they had any lifevests (mine is beginning to show some wear). They did... there just weren't any cute enough for me.

They were having a Fourth of July sale. Rachel got a $5 tee-shirt with the American flag and a bass in front of it. It's so redneck.

We went into Build-A-Bear to get a Destin bear tee-shirt for Rachel. I don't know why she wanted it. I suppose to dress a bear (that would make sense, wouldn't it?).

We wanted to eat lunch at Johnny Rocket's - it's tradition. Johnny Rocket's didn't open until 11:00, so we had about 40 minutes. I had been asking about a Disney store, and there's a Disney Character Outlet at Silver Sands, so we decided to drive to Silver Sands, then come back for lunch at Johnny Rockets, then hit the road.

The traffic was fine until we wanted to get into Silver Sand's. Dad was in the left turn lane, and the light was very short (not to mention the cars were taking their sweet time turning). Only four cars made it through each light. We sat there about twenty minutes until we got into Silver Sands. We headed directly to the Disney Character Outlet and... in it's place was a Levi's. What the heck? I don't want Levi's! I want Disney! We circled Silver Sand's just to make sure it hadn't moved to a different location. Nope.. wasn't there.

So, we went back to Destin Commons, and stood right in front of the door to Johnny Rocket's until they let us in.

We were the first seated, and we all knew exactly what we wanted to order (for me this was the Original - no mayo). Our food was brought promptly, and we ate in good time.



We then loaded up and headed back...







As you can see, everyone fell asleep but me.

We made good time (with few stops) and got home in time to go out on the lake and watch fireworks.

Downtown Charleston

After dinner, we walked over to the marketplace. While there, I was uncertain whether or not you could barter. A lot of trinkets had set prices written on them with stickers. I wasn't sure whether or not I could suggest a lower price. Therefore, I did not buy anything (nothing was too appealing, anyway).


I don't know what this building is, but it was pretty, so I took a picture.


These horses smelled disgusting. I don't know how you could go on a carriage ride due to the terrible, overwhelming smell.

Day 7 - Back to M&M's World

We didn't get to watch the 3D movie the first time we were at the M&M's store, so we went back (plus we needed some more M&M's!).



















We ended up having to wait an awfully long time to see the movie. The theater is not nearly big enough. This part of M&M World could use a remodel. It's still cute, but it's showing its wear.

Day 7 - Forum Shops at Ceasar's

Dad needed to reserve our seats on the flight, so we went to the Mac store at the Caesar Forum Shops.

Day 5 - Miracle Mile Shops and Planet Dailies

We didn’t get to do a lot of shopping the day before at Fashion Show Mall, so we headed across the street to the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.








It "rained" here periodically.



Our first stop was Urban Outfitters. It was an amazing, huge, multi-level store. We probably spent an hour or so in there, and came out with three dresses each. However, Dad obviously wasn’t familiar with the price tags at Urban Outfitters and flipped out at the receipt, saying that we didn’t have $300 dollars worth of clothes in the bag (pfff… he knows nothing about clothing value!). So, he cut us off… when we were in an inexpensive store (Poppy something or another)! He later apologized and said we could still shop, but the guilt was enough to hold us back. I bought a cami from H&M, but that was it.

While we were shopping, Dad, of course, visited his favorite store, Tix 4 Tonight, and bought us dinner at [b]Planet Dailies[/b] (he bought us tickets valid for half-off all entrees). It was late (nine, I think), but we still hadn’t eaten dinner – we hadn’t eaten since breakfast!



It turned out that Planet Dailies was AMAZING. It was a contemporary restaurant with a lot of entrée choices. I opted for Mexican (forgot the name of my entrée), and it was SO GOOD. We were all very happy with our dinner. It was the best meal we ate all week.

Day 4 - Shop til... Dad buys Tix

We didn't really bother getting up early at all on this trip. We got up around 10ish, again. Dad brought us breakfast - more pasteries and keesh. We decided to walk to Fashion Show Mall. Dad lagged behind to check out Tix 4 Tonight.

I took a lot of pictures on the way over.




CityCenter construction
















must be working on the volcano...











Our first stop in Fashion Show Mall was Betsey Johnson... we just browsed - love her stuff, but out of my price range. Rachel then felt the need to buy things, so we went in Wet Seal. Then I needed some necessities. And then we barely squeezed in Forever 21. See... Dad had been hanging out at 1/2 Price Tix/Tix 4 Tonight, and he decided to go ahead and buy tickets to Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum. It wasn't the plan for the day, but we worked to incorporate it. We had to put a stop to our shopping (Dad must've been bummed!) and head to the Venetian.



Now, our original plan was to eat lunch at Margaritaville, but we were grumpy, and we'd have to backtrack to get back to the Venetian. So after griping at one another, we decided to eat at... gulp... the food court at the Venetian. I got a Johnny Rocket's (overpriced) grilled cheese sandwich, and dad got Nathan's hotdogs for Rachel, Mom, and himself (he paid with a $50!).


We saw Blue Man Group the last time we were in Vegas - I highly recommend.