Give Peas a Chance!

We grew peas in our garden this year, and we picked them and ate them last Saturday. Here they are in all of their plump glory hanging on the vine. Brett is totally crazy about fresh peas, so he was super excited.
And here is some pea shelling action for your viewing pleasure...

An aerial view of the whole system at work:





We steamed them and served them with grilled scallops and corn on the cob...mmm summer!

Lemme upgrade ya....Part 2

I know this is a departure from my usual topics, but for those of you who know me, I am a shoe fiend. FIEND. And I am just so excited about my new comfy, exuberant flats that I am living in!

for the next installment of Lemme upgrade ya, I bring you these flats from Restricted. They have replaced my old brown tweed ones. These seriously lift my spirits when I look down! They also come in black and tan, but why would you pick those when you can have ORANGE?? I think the only way I can get away with wearing these all the time is because they are flats. With a rounded toe. Just imagine pointy toed heels that are orange suede with studs. yikes! Ok, dad, you are saying yikes right now about these, I hear you.

I think they look mighty nice on Eileen's blue porch furniture, no?

Lemme upgrade ya....

Ok so not so much Beyonce style like Hermes belt and Gucci cuff links, but I AM upgrading my flats.

I have learned that just because a shoe is flat, it does NOT mean its comfortable! A few of the things that really count in cute flats are breath-ability, stretchability, and padding. I know this isn't very PC, but I totally think its worth it in a shoe to get leather. (sorry cows!) If you have pleather, you probably won't get any breath-ability or stretchability.

I had a gold pair that I REALLY wanted to like, that I bought to take the bar exam (in Virginia, you have to wear business attire while you take the test...and I didn't want to wear heels), but they got really scuffed up. So I went over the scuffs with a gold paint pen, but it turned out being the wrong color gold...anyway, they have been sitting in my closet for a few years now. So I decided to chuck them and replace them with....

TAH-DAH!

These beautiful new metallic, breathable cutout flats from Dolce Vita! I am really liking them and they go with absolutely everything. They also feel like sandals because of the cutouts but have a little bit of a dressier or more proper feel because of the closed toe and heel.

Stay tuned for more upgrades...from plain black pvc ballet flats and brown tweed that hurt my feet to the new, more fun and young versions! Did I really mention my new, younger and less formal work environment? :-D