So back in April, I put my house on the market & decided to go on a shoe buying hiatus.  Other than my 2 children, my shoe habit was my biggest expense so I decided that if I were going to have any money saved up for my inevitable move, I needed to be wise & frugal.   Well, little did I know how deep seated this luxury was for me.  As explored in the upcoming documentary God Save My Shoes, for me, it was more carnal.

At the beginning of each year, most people set resolutions for weight loss, I set resolutions for designers I’d like to add to my closet on a dime & set shoe quotas (I was supposed to acquire 4 pair per month this year) but life said,”No sweetheart” like so many others who fell down on their New Years Resolutions, I fell into this sad statistic.

What I was not prepared for when I decided to dedicate myself to this hiatus was the mental fallout that would follow.  The first thing I learned was I had a hard time going into the shoe stores, partly because when I would go, the sales people would literally welcome me back.  They knew my size & what my tastes were.  Its hard to go into a store & have them hand you exactly what you know you would buy & to add insult to injury, they also knew that if it wasn’t on sale, it wasn’t for me so every shoe they’d set aside was on sale.  UGH!  Talk about tough to walk away!

The next place it hurt was my blog, after looking online at my favorite retailers & seeing shoes that l know I would have whipped out my debit card for months before come & go without a hint of my UPS man, really hurt.  I did a series on my fan page of shoes that retailed for over $150 but were on sale for less than $50.  Again, more mental pain & strain.  So, the next thing to suffer was my blog.  I basically went on autopost so that I wouldn’t have to look at the shoes that were out there at remarkably low prices.

Liane from Sample Sale Sites & Kellie from Sexy Bags & Shoes

Finally, I became complacent with my fan page.  I asked my daughter & a friend to help me post shoes.  Partly because I really got busy with my “day job” but also because the longer this hiatus drags on, the harder it became for me to even enjoy or feel inspired to share.  Well, a few things have happened recently to reinvigorate me.  One, my friends have obviously seen what a toll this whole hiatus is having on me & they have gifted me some wonderful shoes.  (You’ll get to see those below) and we had Fashion Week here in Tampa & my friend Liane from Sample Sale Sites invited me to a blogger conference that featured fashion & foodie bloggers.  These bloggers gave me some insight & offered a bigger vision than my shoe buying habits.  So I say a big thank you to those bloggers & to my friends who knew I needed a kick in the pants & a fabulous pair of shoes that were new to me even if they weren’t new.

So as you can see, either my friends got tired of my whining & wanted me to hush about not buying shoes or they like me!  They really like me  :-)

Thanks to you guys for looking out for me & my mental health  :-D  The gifts of the shoes & the invitation to the blogging conference has lit a new fire underneath me.

Strappy Nine West

I love buckles

Ralph Lauren Booties

Guess Peep toes with cork heel....ooh la la

I felt artistic taking this picture

The ruffle on this one just makes me feel girly

Sam Edelman Tinsley Wedges

Yes, I was gifted Gucci. I was squealing with happiness! :-)

Even the zipper has flare

My friends love me, they give me great shoes!

Yep, I'm happy, got more shoes in my closet now :-)