Shoe Shopping!!!!

I have been trying to be good with my shopping addiction, but for the past couple of weeks all I have been thinking about besides redoing my apartment is that I want new shoes for work. I know...blah blah BORING! But I am at work all day, 6 days a week and try and look my best.

I run into a couple of problems when it comes to shoes for work. I'm not getting any younger and my flat shoes and sandals just don't cut it for every day attire. I am on my feet all day and have come to appreciate a good arch support and cushion. I recently purchased a pair of Merrell sandals/sneakers (don't throw up fashionistas), but sometimes I feel so dowdy in them. They are not my style and are primarily used when I cant take it anymore and my dogs are a barkin'.

Since my job is in NYC and I do love me a good outfit, I try to dress as fashionable as I can and as my job will allow. Being backstage on a Broadway show means no long beaded necklaces that can get caught and dispense beads everywhere, no white shirts or pants because they glow in the dark and may distract an audience member, and this is just a general rule...no short skirts without leggings or tights when kneeling down. As soon as I put an outfit together, the shoe situation is always a task and I have been known to ditch an outfit just because there is nothing to wear on my feet that would go well.

When I get dressed and this ditching of the outfit happens, I try and imagine what I would want to be wearing on my feet so when I have some cash to shop with I can try and find exactly what I would want. Well, my lucky day came. Not only was I in the mall for an errand, but I just so happened to walk into Lord and Taylor to find a shoe sale!!! I told myself..."OK Midge, now is your time to find a pair of sandals with a wedge that you have been fantasizing wearing with those new linen pants from gap (bought on sale!!) and your green Anthropology pants (awkward hem, can only wear with heels) and all the cute dresses that you can only wear on days off (thank God for those).

As I said before, I wanted a pair of wedges. What I had in mind was something in the skin color range of nude with an ankle strap to hold my foot in while walking around the theatre. I figured nude would be the best colour to wear with both gold and silver jewelry as well with any colour pants or shirt. Nude just blends in, you always hear about how they elongate a woman's legs when worn with a dress. So walking around the store I saw beautiful shoes that I would gladly spend money on but I was forcing myself to stay focused. Then I found these...

...and I have to admit I wasn't blown away at first. I gave them a shot and bought them and quickly grew to love them as soon as I got them home and tried them on with all the pants and dresses I mentioned before. They go with everything and are comfortable enough that i can get a few hours in them during the show and casual enough that i wont feel awkward at work.

Pictures to follow in a few days of all the things I can wear them with,

Midge.

"Munchkin" Cork Wedges, AK Anne Klein, Lord and Taylor

Flower growth

Update: My flower on the left if the one I posted about in my blog "Becoming a women" and since re potted and re soiled is doing well, but still nothing has bloomed.

The pansy's growing on the right are new to my windowsill. Pansy's are actually my favorite flower, maybe it dates back to the movie Alice In Wonderland when they spoke to Alice in the garden but what I love most about them is all the colours they come in. There is no way to tell what colours you will get when buying packages seeds, so I am very excited to see what sprouts.

Hope everyone is OK in Canada with the earthquakes that happened and the storms now coming in.

Sending my love, Midge.
xoxo

My lunch

Drink: Water, Trader Joe's Cranberry and Apple Juice with 3 ice cubes

Food: Trader Joe's Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage, yellow pepper, cucumber, Trader Joe's multi grain pita chips, Trader Joe's hummus, and Trader Joe's black bean and corn spicy salsa.

Trader Joe needs to be my boyfriend

Home Decor

Browsing sites online to help me with starting to decide how I want to re-do my apartment I found this great website: Apartment Therapy and quickly became obsessed. Checking out all the beautiful apartments of people I don't know got me really jealous. I want a beautiful home too!

I don't really have the money to blow so when I start working on my apartment its defiantly going to be budget friendly stores like Pier 1, Home Goods, TJ Maxx, and Ikea. I just want the place to be breezy, fun, colorful, happy, and comfortable. I do have a roommate so he has to like it too and it needs to be some what dog friendly since I always have puppies visiting.

I know what room I want to start with, it the TV room but I don't know how I really want it to look or what could work in the room since its long and awkward in a way. I think my first purchase should be a couch, right now I have a futon but its such an eye sore to me. I also want to lay a cool rug down over the indoor/outdoor rug my landlord installed. Something with a pattern that my roommates black coffee table with the chewed off corner (from my lovely puppy Ty) will stand out on.

Anyways, here are some pictures of homes and apartments I loved.

Gold Ballet Flats

I have been on the hunt for the perfect gold ballet flats for 2 years now. The pair I had were perfect: cheap, dusted gold, easy and comfortable. Gold flats I feel are perfect for summer, they look great with boyfriend jeans to the prissy summer dress. I wear mine usualy with gold accessories like hoops or studs as earings and my favorite gold ring.

Here are some flats I am looking at now:


Old Navy $7.99 OldNavy.com



Michael Kors $165.00 Shop Bop


Maria Sharapova Collection by Cole Haan $137.95 Endless.com


Tory Burch $150 Shopbop.com


Ciao Bella $78.95 Endless.com



Osklen Ballet Flat $175.00 Marissa Collections

Terrariums

Do you know what a Terrarium is?

I didn't, and them my mom sent me this link: Terrariums

After looking at all of those pictures I started to want to make a Terrarium. Wouldn't one look cool on a dining room table? Or next to a stack of books?

I have started getting into wanting to decorate my house in a whole new way. I want the vintage feel with bright colors and soft fabrics. Flowers, books, blankets, and interesting art are what I in vision. I think I am gonna scout out some flea markets in my area and take a look around for pieces I find interesting one day.

Does anyone know of any good flew markets in NYC?

Love Midge xoxo

Puerto Rican Pride from a Canadian white girl

Hey guys,

I decided because it is Puerto Rican day on Sunday that I would make a recipe that I ripped out of Rachael Ray magazine, Tamarind-Glazed Chicken Thighs.

I had never heard of tamarind, but its actually a plant that can be grown in your yard and is sweet (learning new things every day kids!). The recipe called for tamarind pulp and the brand Goya is the best to buy so the recipe says, so off to the grocery store I went and quickly back to my tiny kitchen to make a lil' dinner for myself before I head into Manhattan for work.


First step was to marinate the chicken in apple cider vinegar and leave in the fridge for a few hours. I made the sauce next, here are some pics of the tamarind cooking on the stove with brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and 3 cloves:



After draining the chicken I coated the thighs in the tamarind sauce and put them in the stove. I quickly jumped in the shower (tmi) and came out smelling what I think is one of the greatest smells...vinegar. I know, call me a freak but I grew up with all types of vinegar everywhere around me. I started young with vinegar, in Canada we put it on our french fries, then it was the family recipe of Greek salad with a balsamic vinegar dressing, and lastly my Dad decided one day that a TBSP of apple cider vinegar was what every kid needed once a day. So pretty much I heart vinegar. My whole kitchen smelt like wonderful vinegar :)

While I had 10 more minutes on the stove, I popped the orzo whole wheat rice in the rice cooker, cleaned and trimmed the asparagus, and tasted a bit of the tamarind sauce once it had cooled down. Wow, its sweet but tangy and the orange I peeled and put in the sauce is really flavorful. Its unlike any marinade I have ever tasted before, you can really taste all the flavors.


Once the chicken was done cooking I pulled it out, put my plate together and voila!


I really recommend this dish, its delicious and wonderful as a new chicken dish :)

Midge xoxo

SWAGGER WAGON

I am so in love with this song and video!

Netflix Origami!

I heard about this fun site that you can take your left over piece of netflix paper and make origami with it! I tried making the shirt, but mine did not turn out so well:




make your own shirt :)

The Campbell Apartment, NYC

I attended my friend and coworkers birthday party the other night after work and wow, can I say this place was quintessential New York City.

If you don't know about Campbell Apartment you really should. Its a great place to take visitors to NYC. The bar and jazz club was actually the real life apartment to John W. Campbell. The apartment is situated in Grand Central Station and he chose this apartment because he found it to be " the biggest single room in New York".

"When he rented it, back in 1923, it was a bare barracks of a room, thirty feet wide by sixty feet long, and with a ceiling twenty five feet high." He covered the floor with one large Persian rug, hung paintings on the wall and installed a pipe organ and a piano. He used this space as his office, a museum of his paintings that were considered of high collection, and a place to entertain his friends and family at night. While entertaining he would have famous musicians come and play for all to hear.

Now the apartment is a bar, dressed in 1920's swagger with a jazz band that plays. They have a great cocktail list (I recommend the punch) and cute banquet seating. The light fixtures have tassels hanging down and when sitting across from someone on the banquet you can rest your rear in a plush oversize chair.

Here is a pictures of the apartment when Mr. Campbell owned the place:



Here is the Campbell Apartment now: