Can a girl survive with only 4 pairs of shoes? The answer is, apparently, yes.

Mojito shoe by Julian Hakes from Dezeen

I love shoes. I love them with all of my soul. I own many pairs. Truth: I don't know how many pairs I actually own. The Irishman will say here "too many" and I will disagree. A lady can never have too many shoes.

Or can she?

Ever since The Incident, aka my injury, I've restrained myself from wearing heels. We all know and disregard the fact that high heels are really bad for your joints and overall locomotion, but in this case since I really want to run this marathon I figured it was best to just lay off the stilettos until after the race. But that left me with the following footwear options:
- Marimekko Converse low tops
- Liberty print Nike high tops
- black ballet flats
- boat shoes

And you know what? It's been okay.

I mean, don't doubt that there haven't been moments that I didn't wish to reach for my snakeskin peep toes. Or my taupe platform stilettos. Or my black heeled ankle boots. But I've been good. And my outfits haven't really been compromised. Sure my legs would have looked longer with a bit of height but in this case, my running dreams were more important than impressing my colleagues.

So I'm feeling quite smug about this feat (pun absolutely intended!) at the moment, but seriously? I cannot WAIT to raid my own shoe cupboard the minute I can walk properly again after the marathon. I think it might feel a little bit like Christmas Day without the looming credit card bills.

Blitz London

Image via Blitz London's Facebook page - I hope you guys don't mind, I was too overwhelmed to take my own shots!

Saturday was supposed to be my day outside, in the sun, loving the weather and reading my book; I'm currently in the middle of The Shadow of the Wind, which took me a little while to get into but I'm now 100 pages from the end and can't tear myself away. I couldn't wait to take my book and my blanket to the park and bask in the sun and the end of the novel. Instead, Saturday was changeable at best, chilly and cloudy with intermittent bursts of sun and showers. So how did I spend my time? I called up my friend Maya and we met in Brick Lane to make our first visits to East London's newest – and best – vintage temple. 

Blitz London is by far one of the most enjoyable vintage experiences I've ever had. Calling itself a Vintage Department Store and housed in an old warehouse, it boasts spacious rooms, high ceilings, artful displays and QUALITY CLOTHES. Nothing is falling apart, everything is clean and EVERYTHING passes the sniff test. There is nothing worst than having a fabulous vintage find that reeks of old despite many washes. We found Vivienne Westwood, Comme des Garçons, Yoshi Yamamoto, an entire vitrine of 90s Swatch watches (Maya swears they had one she rocked for several years), racks of Converse, and tons of great furniture and home decor. Maya snagged a late 50s silk dress suit with a velvet collar (hello, Joan) and I picked up a brilliant blue mid-century wool blanket probably from the French Navy, with an anchor woven into each corner. I was trying to be good otherwise I'd have probably bought about 25 more things.

Blitz will soon have a coffee shop inside as well, and has an excellent selection of bargain paperbacks. Perfect place to escape the hubbub of Brick Lane for a browse and a brew. I will definitely be taking my next book obsession there - and my credit card. Read more about Blitz here, here, and here.

Blitz

55-59 Hanbury Street, E1 5JP 

020 7377 0730

I MUST HAVE THESE!

I discovered this latest designer collaboration last night, probably a little late to the party but I must have a pair of these:

!!!!!

If you're not familiar with Marimekko (or even if you are) this video will give a good idea of their ethos:

Converse ♥ Marimekko | Converse Blog

Image courtesy of Hellosinki

English Outlet Shopping

On Saturday, The Irishman and I ventured out of London in our favorite Streetcar Polo and headed towards Oxford to visit Bicester Village. It's sort of local legend here in London, being nearly 1.5 hours away by both car and train - a mecca of shopping where bewildering deals can be had if you're brave enough to face hoards of Asian tourists and girls from up North.

I've known about Bicester Village for a while now and really haven't ever had the desire to go. It was actually The Irishman who wanted to go - he has a new job now that requires him to wear more suits, and all of his dress shirts look a mite raggedy - and I think he figured that if we went there and he was forced to shop in a confined area, it might not be that bad.

And... it wasn't really, but it also wasn't pleasant. I haven't been outlet shopping in a long time, but I never particularly liked it. I'm a pretty average size in clothes and shoes, so anything good that's a good price is rarely available in my size. Yes, it was crowded - for some shops you had to wait in line just to get in! But on the upside, there were some seriously good labels there: Diane von Furstenberg, Vivienne Westwood, Bally, theory. Which brings me to my biggest turnoff: clothing in the UK is expensive, full stop. I am often turned off from buying anything really expensive here from the high street or a designer because I'm convinced I can get it 20-30% in the US with the exchange rate. Sure there are exceptions, but a silk DKNY dress for £65 at the outlet is no bargain; I can probably go to Macy's with some coupons and get it for $40. The prices at the outlet weren't that great on most things, and obviously most of the fashion was last season. So towards the end of the day, I was pretty much over it.

So verdict? The Irishman got a lot of stuff, exactly what he was looking for: suits, shirts, ties, a pair of shoes. Me? I got some baby and birthday gifts. Was it worth the trip? If I had a really fancy event to go to, I might consider it to splurge on a Matthew Williamson floor length gown (RRP £1,000, sold for £555) or maybe to get an Aquascutum raincoat (I tried on a few lovely raincoats, but nothing was in my size, of course). Would I go again? Maybe, in like 2 years, or as part as a weekend away in the country - it's near enough to Oxford, Cheltenham, and the Cotswolds that you could definitely fit it in if you have a car. But like any discount center, you have to be crafty and shrewd to sniff out the best deals - otherwise it's just a big mall.

Candy Candy CANDY!!!!

A new shop called Cyber Candy just opened on Upper Street in Angel, and it is already doing a brisk trade. It sells import candy and junk food from the US and Japan, stocking such delicacies as Lucky Charms, PopTarts, and Mountain Dew at exorbitant prices - a 12 pack of Mountain Dew is £28 and a box of Lucky Charms is £6.50! PopTarts are a staggering £4.40! But beyond wildly expensive American candy, they also stock a wide selection of the amazing Japanese Kit-Kat variations and my personal favorite, Men's Pocky!

If you go, the shop is pretty much always mobbed with preteens (as all candy shops are), and be expected to freak out over how many old favorites they stock - DoubleBubble, Airheads, Lifesavers, Jolly Ranchers... I got particularly excited about Dark Chocolate Milky Ways. Warning: don't cause a scene like I did!

The shop is located on the west side of Upper Street just past the N1 Centre.

Spotted: The Ghost of Christmas Presents

Shop West End VIP Day (Oxford Street and Regent's Street closed to cars all day)
Regent's Street at Oxford Circus
December 5, 2009

London Christmas Markets

Are a big sham!

I love a good Christmas market, and in Europe they are really popular. Flights to eastern European cities like Vienna, Salzburg, Berlin, and Prague (to name a few) skyrocket during the weeks before Christmas as each city puts out handmade craft and food stalls. Nigella even filmed part of one of her episodes at the Salzburg market!

Of course London tries to get in on the game, with Christmas markets set up in and around its existing markets. But I'm here to tell you that they stink. They're all the same vendors selling the same junk, and the same food. The Irishman and I went to the Cologne Christmas market at Southbank last weekend, and I was highly disappointed in the lack of actual GERMANS that were working the stalls - as well as the lack of GERMAN ITEMS for sale. How does the genuine wooden tie count as a German Christmas craft? The most authentic thing for sale was the bratwurst!

We also stumbled upon the Slow Food Market, which was disappointing as well because it was the same vendors as in Borough Market and Spitalfields. At some point one has to ask, what is the point of having all of these markets, if the people selling in them are all the same? I wonder if there is a market mafia in London, like the street fair people in New York, making millions off of produce and gift markets. If so, then I say FEH and I boycott them all out of principle!

End of an era

The New York Times is reporting on the biggest retail closure in England since, well, I don't know if there has been a bigger bankruptcy than Woolworths. I posted earlier in the year about how much of my home was outfitted courtesy of Woolies and my relocation budget, and, I felt much like some of the people interviewed for the article: Woolies has everything you need - and don't know you need - cheap, and is always there when you do need it. I got hangers, soup bowls, a bill/paper/file folder organizer thing-y, a spoon rest, kitchen rags, a coat rack, orange juicer... and I probably spent no more than £20 on it all. But Woolies was a nightmare, a complete and utter disaster of a store. If I wasn't tripping over little old ladies with their shopping trolleys, I was avoiding 12 year old school kids flirting by the bulk candy. I'm sad to see it go, because when I need a new drying rack for clothes or more hangers, I'm going to have to trek up to IKEA or take my chances at a pound store - neither option being particularly enjoyable. The Woolies in my neighborhood is slated to become a Waitrose, which will be nice for gourmet treats, but nothing compares to a cheap homegood that serves a negligible purpose but makes you feel like you really found a bargain.

Food, glorious food!

I've written a bit about my cooking fiascos and interest in most things culinary. I wouldn't necessarily say I'm a foodie like the Irishman, but I do enjoy preparing a good meal and conquering a new and exciting recipe. And of course, reading food blogs to find those recipes is an excellent way to waste - um, I mean, spend - time.

Another aspect of food I enjoy is eating in places I've never been. When I was in Amsterdam with Riejte, we ate some amazing pancakes in the Negen Straatjes neighborhood; in Spain, I couldn't get enough cured meat and sauteed vegetables. Culinary exploration might be the best kind of travel.

So I was thrilled to see that one of my favorite food bloggers, Clothilde at Chocolate & Zucchini, recently marked her blog's fifth anniversary, and celebrated by posting online maps of her favorite food and shopping destinations in Paris. Wheee! She has managed to get 3 of my favorite things into one: eating, shopping, and Paris. Now, I just need to scrap together a few pence for a Eurostar ticket to use those handy guides!

The credit crunch gets crunched back!

Your friendly Londonista is feeling the wrath of distressed debt and derivatives. Everything costs more, taxes seem to be enormous, and every other day on my way to work the newspaper broadsheets proclaim more job cuts in The City, London's financial center. Despite scrimping and saving, paychecks never seem to last the month. But today I won a small victory over inflation and the uncertain economy: an absolute steal at the Ted Baker sample sale.

I rarely went to sample sales in New York; they stress me out and I never seem to have the luck that other ladies do in finding something amazing for $25 – usually I end up leaving empty-handed after getting elbowed in the ribs or having my toes crushed by someone's stiletto. But today I braved the crowds and walked away with an angora sweater, silk dress, and 2 pairs of gloves (one grey leather!) for £20! Ok, so the silk dress is a size too big, and the sweater has these sleeve puffs that would be at home in The Tudors, but I'm pleased with my purchases. Take that, Henry Paulsen and Ben Bernanke!

I found Les Shoes.

So, after weeks of searching, including miles walked all over London and hundreds of stores perused, I gave up and gave in and purchased shoes to go with Le Dress. From a shop next door to my house. Yes, I know.

I'd see these shoes all summer and thought they might be a good fit, but on a whim today I took Le Dress with me and tried them on. They fit perfectly and, since they're a wedge, I can walk for miles in them. They were the last pair and on the third price reduction, so I just took them.

I spent more on them than I wanted, and am a bit peeved that they're shopworn (and that the shopgirls wouldn't give me anymore ££ off for that reason), but I'm content that I found shoes for Le Dress and can now spend the next 2 weeks getting excited for my trip, rather than scurrying around hating everyone in my way while I tracked down an elusive £25 pair of perfect heels.

This Jersey Girl has met her match.

Every Jersey girl prides herself on her ability to maneuver a shoe sale. Cutting your teeth at Macys, moving up to Lord & Taylor's, culminating with Saks and Bloomie's, by the time you're my age, you're a seasoned pro at spotting the best items, elbowing your fellow shopper out of the way, trying a shoe on by balancing on one foot, and maximizing coupon sales.

London, however, is a whole new ballgame. I went to Selfridges last weekend to try on shoes for Le Dress, and was confronted with the biggest shoe challenge of my life. The Selfridges shoe sale is not just random brands; I had Marc by Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood, and Prada shoes on my feet. It wasn't just Londoners; I was angling for the shoes and grabbing items amongst a host of women of myriad nationalities - there were so many languages being spoken that it made my head spin. Just as a New Jersey department store shoe sale might have haphazard disorganization (size 9s randomly in the 7.5s), this shoe sale had the added water feature of shoe size conversions - I've found that I can fit in anything from a 4 to a 5.5, and if its a European brand, a 37, 38, or 39, depending).

I gamely held my own in the fracas, but left empty-handed; a Jersey girl's golden shoe rule is to never spend more on the shoes than on the dress, and despite a gorgeous pair of Fendi strappy sandals, £150 (on sale) was just a little too much to break the rule for.

My Best Friend's Wedding

Some of you may know, others not, that my first trip back to the states since moving to London will be to attend my best friend's wedding in Chicago. I know that it's somewhat trite to say you have a "best friend," but Rick is pretty much exactly that. We've been friends since we met in French class in 1996, which means about 12 years now. He knows everything about me, doesn't judge, fields tearful phone calls, and despite our distance he's done a good job of making sure we're still as close as possible.

All this means that of all the weddings I have, and will in the future, be invited to, I cannot miss this one. It's costing a small fortune in dollars - hardship in pounds - for me to get there, and once I'm there I'm going to use it as an opportunity for me to stock up on non-liquid American items (hello, Kraft macaroni and cheese!) But before I even get on a plane, I have to acquire a very important item: the dress.

Now. Rick and his fiancee are Indian, and their wedding is going to be something out of a Bride and Prejudice-esque Bollywood spectacular. I need not only 1, not only 2, but 3 different dresses for the weekend (in addition to clothes for other events, like a Cubs game). Since shopping is one of my favorite past times, I've already been looking for a dress mock-seriously; during my travels down Marylebone High Street and Oxford Street, I've kept an eye out for good evening dresses that are appropriate for a special shindig. But now that Rick told me what I'm supposed to show wearing, the search kicked into high gear.

Coinciding with the search is the summer sale season. When I lived in Italy for the summer, the best month of the year was July when everything went on sale. Same thing here. Camper Shoes are all cut by 30%, all of the stores slash prices on all the summer stock, and there are lots of bargains to be had. Today I ventured into Selfridges for their sale, and it was worse than the big Barneys sale. Of course everything on sale was not in my size, and if it was it wasn't very pretty. So after about 2 hours I nearly lost my mind, and decamped for Regents Street. There, in the big Ted Baker, I found the Perfect Dress. Dove grey, iridescent beading, cut outs on the back, perfect length. It wasn't TOO expensive, but of course it wasn't on sale.

Rick's instructions were "sexy dress" for his wedding reception, so that's what he's getting!