325th Friday Blog Roundup
Apparently — I’ve been told — that people don’t care about the DC snow storm. I’m not sure how this is possible. How could something that we love to talk about this much be something that is annoying for others to hear? That’s like telling me that the chocolate bars I love make you feel like someone has taken a dump in your mouth. Talking about our snow storms is what we do; just as a Jewish mother must feed her children. You cannot deny Washingtonians this facet of our personalities.
We, first and foremost, need to Tweet whether or not we have power. It used to be that you knew who didn’t have power merely by the fact that they weren’t on Twitter. But thanks to technology advancements such as Twitter apps on phones, we now know EXACTLY who doesn’t have power and who is taking time to Tweet about all the things they are worried that they won’t get done because the power might go out (and because they Tweeted instead of doing them).
Secondly, we need to curse people who can’t drive in snow. Even if we’re not on the road. Even if we’re warm in our homes. We need to think about people who we’ve seen in the past who can’t drive in snow and we need to talk about those people. We need to write snarky Tweets about them.
Lastly, we need to look at pictures of people having snowball fights in Dupont and we need to then either (1) call them idiots or (2) talk about how we wish we were there. We need to talk about what we would do if we were the ones throwing the snow balls. We need to talk about how we pack the snow just so in order to have the snow ball do maximum damage when thrown against the back of a coat.
If you deny us talk of snow, we literally can’t function. We are unable to come up with any other topic of discussion even if there were 3000 things we wanted to discuss the moment before the first flakes started to fall. Our minds go as blank and white as … well … the landscape outside.
Hence why I am writing right now about snow.
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Instead of the Weekly What If: Since I am waiting for my new shoes to arrive, I want to hear about the best shoes you’ve ever owned. Describe please, as well as where you got them (or the best place you wore them).
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Next week, The Grateful Said goes up. So far, it rocks. It could rock even harder if you participate too. All you have to do is honour one comment that was left on your blog. It will go up next Tuesday and remain open for entries until the end of February.
And yes, I have big plans to plow through the rest of the Creme de la Creme list this weekend. Will post whenever I update.
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And now, the blogs…
The Unfair Struggle raced in the US Nationals for speedskating last weekend and wrote about it on her blog. I love her description of the camaraderie that exists amongst speedskaters, but I also love that she gave us a window into that world. That she let us onto the ice with her. And I think that it’s amazing that I read a speedskater’s blog.
The Unbroken World has a post comparing infertility to a show that nobody comes to see. She writes: “Infertility is a state of being, always simultaneously in the background of your life and surrounding it like a vapor. It hangs above you and around you like the stillness of an empty theater, and as much as you describe it to someone, they can picture it but they can’t understand the complex spiderweb of feelings that form it unless they’ve been there.” The entire post is a gorgeous analogy and for anyone who has ever created art — truly, any form of art — they will nod their way through this saying, “absolutely; I see.”
On the three year anniversary of the death of Zoe, Our Own Creation wrote a beautiful post about missing one daughter while raising another. It is a brief, sweet post, and this thought made me cry: “It is because of you that I remember to take the time to be in the moment with her. Dishes can wait; laundry will still be there later; this minute in her life only comes once.”
Lastly, Things Get If’fy had a post that made me laugh. Especially since I sucked in my breath before I clicked over.
The roundup to the Roundup: What? Don’t you love it when Washingtonians speak about snow? Answer the Instead of the Weekly What If. Submit to The Grateful Said. And lots of good posts to read.
21 comments
Best shoes – a pair of Steve Maddens with a lovely platform that wasn’t really very ‘high heely’ but was platformy throughout. And there was a dragonfly stamped into the leather on the top of the arch. They made me look 10 feet tall and thin, neither of which I am.
About the snow… if others get tired of hearing about it, you are welcome to gather up all your snow musings and send them my way. Kind of like how Cali used to wish for sweater weather, I actually long for snow… the kind that shuts down non-essential workplaces and keeps us in our snug little home perched atop a super steep hill.
Best shoes ever were a pair of patent leather Kenneth Cole mary janes. I wore them almost every day in high school and for quite a while in college. I wore a uniform in high school, lest anyone think I dressed up every day…
I can’t even think of the snow right now. I just posted yesterday about how I’m over it. We got another foot the other day. I have snowbanks taller than me.
My other best pair of shoes were Skecher sneaker-shoes. Dressy enough to wear to school as a teacher, and comfortable enough to wear to be on my feet all day. I liked them so much I got 3 different pairs, just so I could wear them with almost everything.
All the reports of “Snowmaggedon” in the eastern U.S. reminds me of the big snowstorms of 1999 (I think?), where Toronto got a couple of huge dumps of snow within a couple of days. The mayor called in the army to help clear the streets, something that the rest of Canada found ridiculous & has never let us forget. Coming from a part of the country where the largest urban centre is fondly known as “Winterpeg,” I did think that the collective moaning & wringing of hands was a little over the top. (It’s Canada. It’s winter. Deal with it.) I think because some of the past few winters have been so mild (thanks or no thanks to global warming), we’ve forgotten what winter can be like. It’s also hard when you get hammered with several major storms within a short period of time.
My most memorable pair of shoes were a pair of light brown, woven leather Bandolino flats. When were first married, in 1985, we lived in a yuppie part of midtown Toronto, with a Town Shoes store near the subway. (It’s still there.) I don’t think I’d ever paid more than about $30 for a pair of shoes before, but I saw these shoes there. They were $89, which was pretty expensive back then, especially for someone who was barely making ends meet on her unemployment insurance cheques and dh’s small starter salary — but I HAD TO HAVE THEM. (Even better, for someone with very wide feet, they actually fit.) I bought them & wore them to pieces. Eventually they went out of style & I stopped wearing them, but they sat in my closet until just a year or two ago… I had a hard time getting rid of them.
Best pair of shoes – Jessica Simpson (yes, I know) blue suede peep-toe pumps. I love those things. When I lived in Nashville, I had to go to a conference one weekend for work in Memphis. I wore them on Beale Street. 🙂
Best shoes – Ok, keep in mind that I am absolutely NOT a heels girl. Mine are a pair of no-name skate shoes, black with white laces that came from a discount shoe store. They aren’t anything spectacular to look at, but they are by far the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned. They were the shoes that I wore during our trip to NYC and my feet loved me for it. I adore them.
Snow – Being Canadian, I have a love/hate relationship with the white stuff. I love how the snow looks, the quiet it causes, but I hate having to function in it. And having lived in places that get no snow at all, I know that it affects me negatively to go through winter without it. BUT I confess that I have mocked those who make a big deal about it (like friends in Toronto or Vancouver). I think it helps make the long cold months bearable to know that others are suffering right along with me. 😉
I love hearing about snow from anyone because we don’t get it where I live (Phoenix). I can bask in the glory of my 72-degree day and feel smug about our weather. (Makes up for the 110+-degree heat of our summers.)
I’m not much of a shoe girl, truth be told. Comfort is much more important to me than fashion or style.
My most comfortable shoes ever were my white Birkenstock nursing shoes. I wore them to work for nearly four years (had them resoled twice), and they magically made the backaches I used to get from 12+ hours on my feet disappear. If they weren’t so butt ugly, I’d have still worn them even after I stopped working as a nurse.
OMG, my street this a.m. was a car graveyard. Excuse my rant here but I am sick to fucking death of people with two wheel drive thinking they can do snow and ice. Unless you’re wanted in the emergency room, please stay home. Businesses, that’s you too. That’s you, fucking big Pharm who made my neighbor’s sister cry yesterday because you insisted it was “her problem” to get to work when her street had 15″ of snow on it. No. There is absolutely nothing that couldn’t be done at her home, I’m sure of it.
Ahem, where were we: Shoes? Shoes. Tough. I had a pair of Patricks (do they exist anymore? Soccer shoes?) that was really my first pair of shoes that cost north of $30 (I think they were about $70 or something, which was outrageous in the 80s) and I lovingly rubbed leather stuff into them every weekend and they were as soft as butter. Ahhh. Mr. ABF got me a pair of Frye clogs for xmas and they may just oust the former if it quits snowing and I get a chance to wear them.
I just read about people getting stuck in Reston (!) for 10 hours. That’s insane. I’m sorry for y’all, I truly am.
Talking about snow gets boring if you’re used to having it every winter. Unless you’re getting a foot a day (which you apparently are), it’s not worth mentioning. However, mention to your anti-government-spending friends that cities need parks because, aside from the obvious reasons, they make fine places to dump all that snow that needs to be plowed off your street. You know, so you can get to work.
Favorite shoes…right now, it’s my Ugg boots for three reasons: first, they’re not the standard shapeless ones. They have straps across the ankles. And slight heels. And, most importantly, zippers. Second, they are comfortable, warm, and very pleasant to wear in snow. Finally, I bought them at 20% off, which made them almost reasonably priced (if I wear them for the next 10 years).
LOL…talk about the snow? What else is there to talk about? LOL
loved the posts, they made me cry and laugh.
oooh my favorite shoes, why don’t you just ask me which of my children I love most..LOL. I guess lately, it would have to be my 3 inch black patent leather peep toe Mary Jane shoes. I love them and my feet look so pretty in them. They make me feel sophisticated , Tall (lol) and pretty.
I like the talk about the snow. So go ahead.
My best shoes are the ones I copied off of Calliope and bought. Cute, but still massively comfortable- comfortable enough that I wore them to Sea World for a day. Since you stole her, ask her to show them to you.
As a fellow Beltway resident, I concur. And yes, we had power. The entire time. But we did lose a tree. *sob*
I don’t mind the snow talk although it has been 70 all week in CA. Spent last weekend at the zoo watching the animals lounge in the sun, it was a beautiful reprieve in the cold of January. Hope you stay warm.
Oh, I had a pair of strappy black heels once, that every time I wore them someone complemented me on them. I’m serious, every time. I even wore them to my grad-school graduation and an old man leaned over when I was in line to receive my diploma and told me I had beautiful shoes! (they were only $30 at Sears!) I really wish my feet hadn’t spread during my pregnancy becuase I would still be wearing them!
I sense you are making fun of me. I can take it.
Snow banks over my head and school until July. Uggg.
But shoes! My favorites were a pair of flat, closed toe slides I bought in Spain the winter of ’88 when I was back packing thru Europe with a friend. They were black, had elastic sides, and the slightly military look that was popular in Europe but not in the States. This at a time when we had to choose between eating a real meal or sleeping in a hotel instead of a train. Italy was expensive even then, but Spain was cheap, and the leather was fabulous. I spent 2 days of food money on them. I wore those shoes for years – I had them resoled twice, and they still live in my closet. They were comfortable and unique and people stopped me to ask about them every time I wore them. Then I got to talk about back packing through Europe which made me happy every single time (as soon as my kids are grown I’m gonna do it again!)
this is an insanely difficult question to answer for me. Even though I absolutely love all shoes and boots I’m going to flip-flops. I had a flip flop themed wedding shower (a suprise theme) before flip flops all over everything. Every guest brought a pair of flip flops. I still have most of them and some have never been worn. It’s been nearly 8 years.
I live in GA, so if it snows, it is a huge deal. The recent snow that kept most people in the Atlanta area from going to work for almost a week was something to talk about for sure!
I can’t pick a favorite paif of shoes. I like a lot of my shoes because I’ll rarely buy a pair unless I am totally commited!
Cripes, snow – we are expecting a temperature of 104 F in Melbourne tomorrow, will be lolling in the pool all day.
Hmmm, shoes – my favourites are a pair of Scarpa hiking boots that have been all over the world with me – I can’t throw them out – too many memories.
My favorite pair of shows is a pair of Naturalizers – black and cute with a buckle, but still incredibly durable and walkable which is great since I walk or use public transportation for 90% of my getting around. I was thrilled to stumble upon them, purely by chance at a DSW. What a happy find! I’m now in search of the perfect pair of supportive flip flops for summer. I’d rather not wear shoes at all in the summer, but must concede that some arch support makes sense when doing errands, hanging around the park, etc.
Go ahead – tell us about the snow. I’m from upstate NY and snow/ice may be part of our genetic make-up!
The best shoes ever are any pair of slippers. And no I’m not cool enough to rock slippers to wal-mart or the grocery store. Slippers are to be worn at home when in a state of comfort. The only state I like to be in!
Me??? Featured on The Stirrup Queen’s blog?! (In my excitement, I nearly typed “Strip Queen.” Oops.) Thank you– I just found this and have been beaming all morning. And thanks for sending some wonderful new readers my way! It’s hard finding friends who understand this experience.
As for shoes… I’m going to echo Katie and say my Jessica Simpson shoes. Two pairs– one silver, the other electric blue– ballet flats, something resembling but probably not patent leather, suede toe, $20 each. I wore a hole in the blue ones, sadly. I’m still kicking myself for nor buying them in red, too!
Shoes! How fun!!
My favorites (after much mulling and debating with myself) are my Chaco’s. The one with the toe strap. They feel like I have nothing on but also feel so supported in them. I’ve had them for 5 years now and I don’t know what I’d do without them in the summer!
And… I have to mention a close second which are a pair of slip-on Privo’s… tan & dark red. Casual shoes. Sooo comfortable. Great for travel. Can walk miles in them. Loooove them!!