Shoes, Beautiful Shoes!

"Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world." - Marilyn Monroe

Do you remember the advice for photographers that I posted on my 300th blippiversary? It included this little bit of nonsense:

3. Wear sensible shoes.

I do believe in this adage when taking pictures, especially outdoors, where you might have to walk through muck (or worse) to get the shot you want. And what girl wants to ruin her beautiful shoes? So all of that is true. At least some of the time.

But the truth is also this: not unlike the character Carrie Bradshaw played by Sarah Jessica Parker in the popular HBO series Sex and the City (which ran from 1998 to 2004, and yes, I own every season of it on DVD), I am a woman obsessed by shoes! I own several hundred pairs, from functional hiking boots to sneakers to sandals to high-heeled beauties in many styles and colors.

Thursday was just an outstanding day. Yes, I had to work. But after work, I stopped by C.C. Pepper's, a local restaurant that's been around since the 80s (if not earlier), and had a coast-to-coast cheesesteak. (I took a picture of that too, and it WAS beautiful, but the shoes won out; sorry, guys.) Coast-to-coast style is a cheesesteak that is a combination of the best of both worlds, merging aspects of Philly style (beef cheesesteak covered in tomato sauce) and California style (beef cheesesteak with tomato and lettuce).

For my international friends . . . not know what a cheesesteak is? Check this wikipedia entry, which includes a photo of one that is not nearly as beautiful as the one I had, and a description. Well, I'm from Pennsylvania, and we know all about cheesteaks here! Philadelphia is particularly famous for them, but I admit I've never had one there. Not yet, anyway.

And from there, I went to T.J. Maxx, my favorite department store, and I bought two other things that I love: ridiculous purple shoes (see above!), and some adorable containers. (Some other day I'll share a picture of some of my favorite containers. My personal philosophy is that if I can find just the right containers, all of my world will fall into perfect order! A girl can dream, can't she?)

The shoes, I had visited before. My general policy is that if I visit them twice, and then the third time, they are on clearance, this is a sign from God that the shoes are meant to be mine! On my first and second visits, these shoes were $35 U.S. On Thursday, they were $20 U.S. on clearance. So I bought them! Simple as that!

Could my day get any better? Well, yes, it could! From there, I went to see Bruce Springsteen in concert and it was beyond awesome! (Read all about that in yesterday's blip.)

A cheesteak. New (and slightly ridiculous) purple shoes. New (and adorable) containers. Bruce Springsteen! What a glorious day! :-)