An Ode to my Jeffrey Campbell Shoes

Perhaps you remember my blog post,
about how I had discovered the most,
Muchy shoes on a website,
that made my heart delight,
J. Campbell of my town you’re the toast.

The shoes are gold and pretty,
with platforms that are witty.
Sarcastically high,
with stripes to the sky,
Increasing my view of the city!

The box, it was too big for flats,
with a cool chic who’s shirt sported cats.
I took them out and I cried,
these are cooler than I
had envisioned from pictures and stats!

I slid my feet inside,
and nervously I tried,
to tell myself
they fit so well.
But the truth is that I lied.

They kinda pinched my toes,
and that ankle strap, who knows?
I worry that it’s not secure,
and running for the  bus I’m sure,
my foot will twist,
I’ll lose my cool,
I’ll hit the ground,
feel like a fool.

If I’m going to return them,
I can’t test them out outside,
to see if on the pavement,
I’d fall upon on my hide.

I wonder if it’s a mistake
to keep these shoes–
but they look so great!

I also bought these others,
and they were much less pricey,
but it’s not the same,
though they’re far from lame,
they’re also much less dicey.

And so…

My question, dear reader, Do you think I should keep,
these shoes though they aren’t great friends with my feet?
You know how I love a Jeffrey Campbell shoe,
They make me feel fierce, I don’t know what to do!
Will I ever get used to the height of these stems,
As I did with these others, My makeover gems?

I’m not much of a poet,
just been reading Seuss,
to my daughter who certainly
loves all my shoes!

Let me hear what you think,
I look forward to know,
If in fact I should keep them,
Or if they must go.

To you, they are tacky pants. To me, they’re hypnotic happy light makers

I’m sure after this post some people are going to wonder if I’ve gone off the deep end. I wore my gold Sequin Pants today. (What. you DON’t own gold sequin pants? Here‘s an easy fix for that problem.) I love how the light chases me in these pants. Seriously, I’m like a 7 year old, but this never gets old.

On the dreary morning bus ride:

On the sidewalks:

On the lawn:

Walking in my front door:

It’s completely Muchtastic! But here’s the best part. I made a self-hyponosis video for you to watch. It’s called “Sequin Pants In The Tunnel. (All rights reserved. Ha!)

[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9XL8BG9dR8&feature=youtu.be”]

Inspiration for a Tuesday, Via Marie Forleo

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I made this sticker for my work computer about three weeks ago. (I made a duplicate as a magnet for my fridge too.) Since then, I can’t tell you the countless times I’ve thought to myself “Remember Tova- Everything is Figureoutable” and it’s helped me keep my cool.

For Example: Today this quote helped me figure out how to get out of the office for lunch just long enough to write this post and share a MuchnessPicOfTheDay of my muchy skirt and shoes!

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The first paragraph above is 100% serious. …it’s possible however that the example part should have been written in my official “sarcasm font” and was just an attempt to sneak in a picture of my muchy outfit… But it’s also possible I’m completely serious. Even I’m not sure.

….anyway, Marie Forleo is awesome. She offers business and personal coaching to women, teaching them how to use their Muchness (my word, not hers) to find success! Seriously, this chic knows what she’s talking about and is therefore my first official

MUCHTASTIC CHIC OF THE WEEK!!!

(***in the interest of full disclosure, Marie Forleo has absolutely no idea who I am. I came across her video series on YouTube and decided I <3 her and want to be her BFF, or maybe just join her for tequila shots on a random Tuesday to discuss how an awesome pair of shoes can make you feel invincible. I’ll settle for either scenario.)

(*** also in the interest of full disclosure, I have no actual plans to have a weekly Muchtastic Chic of the Week, I just used that line to be cute. But the more I think about it, I’m kinda digging the concept. Yay! Another exciting idea to toss around in my ping-pong machine of a brain!!)

How Being Muchy (sorta) inspires others to be Muchy!

Today was a pretty craptastic day at work. Stick around and maybe I’ll blog about it. It was so stressful that I didn’t have an appetite and skipped lunch. Then I got drawn into a meeting which ran late and I had to call my sister to pick up the kids. By the time I left my office it was close to dinner time and I was starved.

So, I went into some overpriced chic deli-like place near Port Authority and bought something to eat. I was not feeling particularly Muchtastic. In fact, I was feeling rather pissed. And then, this woman caught my eye.

Her cheerfully yellow bag and flats really brightened my day! It wasn’t even a particularly nice weather day (as you can see by her coat) but she just looked spirited and fun and (little did she know) her Muchness impacted me and cheered me up a bit and I thought that was cool.

Another thing I noticed about her was that she had really nice eyebrows. Yeah. Eyebrows.

These are not cheerful yellow chics eyebrows... but they are similarly perfectly shaped and yet approachable and friendly.

I don’t know why but I’ve alway had a thing for nice eyebrows and yet, I admittedly neglect mine and convince myself that they are fine just the way they are. But that’s silly. “Fine” isn’t really good enough, especially since I generally don’t wear a stitch of makeup (we can discuss that another time) and nice eyebrows would go a long way towards making me look more polished.

So that’s my next plan to Muchify myself.

I’m gonna do my eyebrows.

And it’s gonna make me feel muchy.

All because a stranger wore a matching yellow bag and shoes. ‘Cuz I never woulda noticed her eyebrows if her bag and shoes were black. Or worse, tan.

See how that works?!? Muchness is unstoppable!

So…. Any eyebrow grooming tips?

Muchy Shoe Makeover!!! (and a bunch of other ramblings….)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you can’t help but notice the overwhelming amount of neon people are wearing these days. In my head, there is but one association I have with neon…. Please…. Join me on my trip down memory lane….

It’s 1989.

I’m in 8th grade.

This could be the back of my head:

My bedroom walls are plastered with pictures of the New Kids on The Block.  I told everyone Joey was my favorite because he’s the sweet one.  But secretly, I liked Donnie more, because he’s the bad boy.

And this was my Muchness:

[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By86PcLufOU&ob=av3e”]

That girl in the audience with the 4″ tall hair and Fluorecent Pink t-shirt with the smiley face on it…she was my Hero.

But Anyhow. Here we are 2012. Everything old is new again. Except The New Kids. They’re just old.

The nostalgia of the fluorescent trend is really exciting to me. Months back I posted about this Neon yellow bag I saw some chic carrying and how much I adored it. But wouldn’t wanna spend the money on it. And a lot of the affordable neon, well, it looks like something I may have worn in 1989.

And then. Friday, I was at Home Depot and came upon this:

My brain raced… Oh! The Muchness I could make! I don’t have to invest $300 on a trendy pair of shoes… I could get creative! I stood in the aisle for 5 whole minutes, debating between the pink and the yellow. or maybe the orange. or the pink. or the orange. pink. yellow.

I bought the yellow. And I bought Painters tape. Because I knew I’d recently used up what I had on this. Everything else for my master plan I already owed.

OK. Rambling complete.

Here’s the PROJECT!!!!

Materials:

Black Patent heels from target. (I could’t justify buying these new ones until I found something to do with the ones I already own.)
Unworn lace thong panties.
Painters Tape.
White spray primer
Fluorescent Paint
Triple Glaze Spray Gloss
Rhinestones and E6000 Glue

The Process

I cleaned the shoes and then used the painters tape on the parts I didn’t want to paint:

Then I used more tape and lace to cover random parts of both shoes.

I cut shapes out the the tape. It was only after I cut out the heart for one shoe that I realized the inverse would be awesome on the other shoe. I also originally thought I’d make them match each other but then it occurred to me that if they were even a tiny bit off, it would annoy the crap outta me. So I creatively solved that problem by making it a non-issue.

After taping, I took the shoes to my basement and sprayed them white. Twice.

Then I sprayed them fluorescent. Twice.

Then I sprayed them with clear glaze. Once.

Then I brought them upstairs and while watching “The Voice” and contemplating Christina’s Funny hat, cut the tape off. I had to use the blade to slice the paint before pulling the tape. For the most party it came off slick and sharp and clean.

In other places, not so much.

I used a black sharpie to clean up any smudged edges.

I also used the sharpie to recreate areas of the lace that were too misty and unclear.

Then I sprayed the whole shoes again with clear glaze.

Then I carefully placed the rhinestones around the hearts on both shoes.

Then I stared at them because I could not get over how much I friggin’ loved them.

Then I took about 4,000 pictures in different poses.

Then I finally tore myself away from them and went to bed. It was like, 3 in the morning.

Then I wore them to work the next day. Here they are on a bike path in midtown Manhattan

Seriously, Every time I looked down I got a small buzz because I thought my feet looked so muchtastic!!

…Then one of my co-workers told me she thought they made me look cheap.
I’m pretty sure she’s just massively jealous. Right???

 

 

My Muchtastic trip to the Mall

Last week I went to the mall for the first time in, um, uuummm, well…. um…….. that long.

I’m not terribly fond of the mall because I kinda hate spending money on finished stuff. Imagine that. I love the art store. The craft store. Love the hardware store. Love Target and thrift shops because everything is affordable enough to muchify and ‘finish’ cooler than it is. That’s not to say I don’t spend money on finished stuff. It’s just to say I’d rather spend it on something inspiring to me rather than something that represents someone else’s inspiration. I think that’s why, at the depths of my loss of Muchness, I felt invisible. Because I was so entirely uninspired by life, but still not interested in spending money to represent myself in a way that felt like someone else’s inspiration. So, instead, I just wore crap I could buy cheap and quick.

***Editors Note*** Even I, at the height of my "wear this crap because it's cheap, easy and comfortable," phase, would not be caught dead in these.

Back to the point. Liat needed shoes. I went to the Mall. And I was honestly pleasantly surprised by the amount of Muchy shoes I found there! I didn’t buy any because the ones I loved the most are a few weeks salary but I took some pics!

These Brain Atwood shoes were just gorgeous. True Story.

These were super expensive but screamed DIY!!!

Neon Hotness that is everywhere this season…. And boy do I have a plan for this trend. Stay tuned!

These were actually super cute and affordable, but if I’m gonna buy shoes in March, it ain’t gonna be booties that I can’t wear ’till September. NEXT!

Ditto to what I wrote above…. but now that I’m looking at them in the picture, it occurred to me that since these are suede and so light colored, they’d actually be a great base to tie-die in a blendy kinda look of turqs, purples and fuschias… but also, I think they were Steve Madden and my feet are allergic to his shoes….aka- they are so incredibly uncomfortable I can’t stand it. No matter how cute they are on the shelf, they always look ugly to me after I come home limping because of them.

I’m on the fence about these. I kinda super love them, but I also feel like something is not quite right and I can’t put my finger on what it is. It’s like they wanna be …something…. I don’t know what… and obviously they’d bankrupt me.

These were cheap. I think they were in Forever 21. I thought about getting them. I thought if I got them, I’d totally glitterize that sole with a Mod Podge Concoction. But then I talked myself out of them. After looking at them for 45 seconds, I could feel the inevitable blisters forming on my baby toe and on the back of my heel.

Then  saw this and thought “Oh, how ironic! I’m gonna snap a pic of it to put at the end of my blog post about all the shoes I saw at the mall!”

Alas. Here we are.

And, As is always the case when I leave the mall empty handed except for a phone full of pictures, there is the “Damn, I shoulda bought these” pic:

No. Really. I shoulda. I guess this makes this an “I’m gonna Make it!” post!

I’m gonna make it!! LOVE this Muchy Dress!

 

One of the best things about the new site is the “Muchness Moment” tool that lets you blog any little muchness Moment that strikes you on online in like, 12 seconds. I don’t even have to be on this site! I just dragged the button to my browser menu bar and now, when I see gems like this I can just blog it. I love it because I can keep all my “I’m Gonna Make it!” inspirations in one place!!

Ok- This dress is AWESOME!!! So Muchtastic. I think I can make this so easily. A tank dress, stretchy sequins by the yard and some fusible tape. Yeah- I don’t even think I need to sew.

That’s my plan. I’ll get back to you with the results…

ASOS | ASOS Midi Dress In Sequin Stripe at ASOS.

Much or too much?

 

I’m thinking I seriously want these. Thoughts? (look- they’re gold! That practically makes them a neutral! I can wear them with practically anything!! I’m thinking they might be among the most practical pieces I will buy this summer. The arch is only 3.75″ which is totally commutable for me. My other Jeffery Campbell Much or Too Much shoes were the same and they were shockingly comfortable. Seriously. Help me justify this before they’re sold out…)

Forget Platform in Shoes at Nasty Gal.

Muchness is in the little things- and gosh I wish I wasn’t so easily distracted!!

Today I had to draw something by hand for work. That is archaic. I write lots of lists and use lots of big fat sharpies in a rainbow of colors to get my thoughts out of my head and onto paper, but pencils? I haven’t done that in a while. So when I went to go look for a pencil, I was surprised to find these sparkly ones. My assistant bought them for me a looong time ago.

Using them made me realize there are so many little things we can do- tiny little seemingly insignificant things- to bring Muchness into our days. And the little bit’s of Muchness Add up. So I made a list. Add your ideas to it! 🙂 Check it out!! Let me know what you think!