Wednesday, 25th December 2013: Christmas Day

Yes, another year has passed and it's Christmas Day once again.  The Earl has just opened his presents and declared the Mario game we bought him for the Wii as the best gift and I'm currently setting up my new Nike+ fuel band.  It's rather snazzy so I look forward to counting the sheer amount of activity I'm planning in the coming months.  I bought The Duke a selection of CDs and books and he seems very happy, especially with the Viz album.

I normally do a bit of a Q&A session at such times, but I think regular readers will already be more than aware of my motivation, so I'll just take the opportunity to wish you all a Happy Christmas and upload a picture of my splendid toes - they're wearing a Nail Inc colour I received free as a result of purchasing a tube of Colgate toothpaste.

Oh well, that's about it for now - have a good one and don't eat too much turkey!

Wednesday, part two - Doctor Martens

Oh Duchess why are you so obsessed with banal things such as comfortable footwear?  Well, that's just my unique personality to be honest and as a result, it's intrinsically part of me.  To be honest, I think there's a good explanation for my behaviour, but I won't share anything on the interweb until I'm absolutely sure.

Why Doctor Martens?  I suppose it's because they sell their ladies styles in a size 9, which I always appreciate in a footwear manufacturer.  I now own four pairs: a mary jane shoe in red leather, a knee high flat boot in a style named 'Elena' and my red patent eight hole boots in a style called Clemency, which I've written about recently.  Oooh, anyway, after much humming, harring and general fiddlyfadding I have purchased a pair of these from Amazon today:

As you can see from the picture which I have copied from the website beautypea, they are a tan rough leather chelsea boot style with the same 5cm stack heel as I have on my pair of Clemency.  The reason why I opted for an elastic gusset instead of laces is because it takes me ages to fasten them and I have to leave the house in a hurry sometimes (for the school run - I'm not being chased by unseen assassins!)

Of course, I could have waited until the sales hit the official Dr Martens website and saved myself another tenner (they tend to mark their boots down by £20) but I saved £10 with an Amazon code anyway and I know that I can return them for free if they don't fit.  To be honest, the only sizes they had left in stock on the DMs website were 7 and 9 and it's just my luck that someone will purchase those before Christmas, so I'd have no choice whatsoever.  I now ensure that once I've bought something that I don't check back to see whether it's been discounted - life's too short and there's very little point worrying about such things. 

Wednesday: Stripey socks and Birkenstocks

Obviously regular readers will be aware that I always pen a festive message for all of my fans but I thought I'd draft a 'teaser' post for your delectation.  So, how are things going for you Duchess?  Well, thanks for asking, they're still a bit rubbish because my husband, the Duke remains on crutches and our son, the Earl was diagnosed with ADHD yesterday, but slowly and surely I'm getting there.

I bet you're all wondering what I'm wearing on my feet right now aren't you?  Well, wonder no more - here's a candid picture:

Yes, stripey socks and Birkenstocks - what a visual treat for you all eh?  No, you say?  Why not?  After all, I have read that German people like to wear Birkies around the house in the winter.  Actually the socks are not only just providing warm tootsies, they are also hiding my naked toenails which I removed the silver toenail polish from last night.  Apparently your fingernails and toenails need time to breathe without anything impeding this, so with this in mind I have no polish on whatsoever.  Mind you, my toes are so darn ugly in their natural state that I'll be painting them in a festive hue in the next couple of days. 

December 2013: AKA Black Monday + Tuesday

Regular readers will know that I'm not one to moan (well I am really, but people are probably too scared to remind me of it...) however 2013 will always mean a completely shit year as far as I'm concerned.  The Duke rang me last night to tell me that he'd slipped over on a discarded burger wrapper outside NikeTown in Oxford Street, London and he'd be heading for the local A&E in an ambulance as a result.  Oh bloody hell - he was fine though, bruised and is now walking with crutches, but otherwise unscathed.  This means that I'm home looking after him and have missed out on my work Christmas Lunch as a result, therefore the £5 I spent on the deposit is wasted forever.  Saying that, I guess I've saved on the fares (£4.50 each way) plus the cost of the rest of the meal (£19.50), allied to the wine top-ups to make up for the sheer tightfisted nature of senior management's contribution (££?).

Here are the boots I was planning to wear:

Anyway, I thought I'd pour myself a nice glass of wine to make up for the sheer misery I'm feeling, but unfortunately I cut my thumb on the foil thus:

Oh well, I'm enjoying a medium glass of french white wine anyway:

Of course, the photograph was taken the right way up (otherwise the wine would pour out of the side) but I cannot work out how to rotate the picture.  Story of my life really. 

Hopefully 2014 will prove to be a much better year?  I live in hope.  Actually I live in London but that's by the by.

Just How Many Pairs of Shoes Do You Own?

That was a question posed to me by my husband, The Duke*, yesterday and I answered "er, about sixty I guess, although a more accurate guesstimate would be more than fifteen and fewer than fifteen thousand."  I really don't know to be honest and they're stored everywhere around the house: under the bed, under the hall table, on top of the wardrobe and other places which defy logic.  Why so many you may ask and I cannot answer that question - I just own loads of shoes, nuff said.  Actually were were wandering through Covent Garden yesterday en route to visiting the Central London Masonic Temple** and had a look in the Doctor Martens shop which contained a myriad of lovely shoes and I've already worked out which boots I'll purchase next.  Arrggghhh.

It got me thinking about these boots which I rarely ever wear because they feature 3 inch heels.  Yes, they're snake print and I absolutely adore them, but cannot walk far in them.  I may wear my Clarks Zebra print boots to the Christmas Lunch at work on Tuesday, but the last time I donned them they scraped all of the skin off of my left foot.  Eek. 

* I am not married to John Wayne for two reasons: one is that I don't enjoy Westerns and the other is that he's dead, which doesn't feature in the modern marriage Act.

** It was a really odd place; however they do free tours though if you're stuck for stuff to do in central London. 

Silver Toed Wednesday

I have painted my toenails silver - the colour came courtesy of my friend who regularly buys Glamour Magazine (mainly because it's only £2 per month I'll warrant) but who am I to complain when she passes their wonderful free gifts onto me?  This month it was a Nail Inc Kate Spade special edition in Kensington Silver as the company always name their colours after London postal districts.  A while ago I received a deep purple colour, area unknown, although it was probably very expensive indeed (the area, not the polish, although retailing at £11 it's out of my price range.)

Actually, pictured in the evening it's clear that my feet swell quite a bit during the day.  That said, I do walk quite a lot and my neighbour commented earlier that I'm like Speedy Gonzalez.  That's just me, I don't tend to amble along a great deal, especially when commuting, oh dear no. 

Doctor Martens Clemency Eight Hole Red Patent Boots

Yay readers - I'm back!  I bet you've all missed me, haven't you?  Well, I've been out and about enjoying the winter weather, but not sadly the sore throat that's marring my enjoyment of life at the moment.  Footwear?  Yes indeedy and what better to beckon the brutal English winter head on but a lovely pair of DMs huh?  I was searching through their site and noticed a red patent heeled eight hole pair of lovelies in a style called 'Clemency' which I researched online and decided to purchase from Amazon.  To make way for a new pair of boots, a redundant pair must go and I decided to sell the DM Darla boots I own on eBay because at 3.5 inches, the heels are far too high for me to cope with and now they're being enjoyed by a fellow fan up in Scotland.

So, here are the beauties, pictured in their full patent glory; they look pink, but I can assure you that they're bright red in reality.  They are wearing in nicely too and I'm enjoying their patented bouncing soles and the grips are rather wonderful too.  I especially like the heel and at 6cm, it's perfect for everyday wearing.  I've put on a bit of lumber recently, so I'm pairing them with leggings and tunic tops until I can slim back into my skinnies.