I have too many shoes

There are days and places where heels just aren't suitable and you have to find a compromise between style, comfort and the dreaded word...practicality! Some forward planning for city breaks in 2016 (New York, we are coming back!) resulted in a birthday purchase of these Stan Smiths for me. Perfect for a casual look while exploring the city while saving your feet from exhaustion ensuring those precious hours available for retail therapy are not wasted!  But these are also great to dress up a bit for night and looked great with turned up Levis and a classic white shirt.  The best excuse to swap my heels for trainers during the rubbish weather this Christmas,

Just a couple of shoe purchases from earlier in the year, haven't had chance to post them before because of my IT problems - no hard drive meant limited blogging chances. 

Just a couple of pictures from my Instagram account, I seem to take pictures of shoes, my dogs, drinks or food, what are you instagramming? My boy Jasper sad because its a rainy day Inspired by Dirty Dancing, 'nobody puts the Louboutins on the shelf!' Jamie Oliver's ultimate steak sandwich - made by my husband...not Jamie Harvey Valentine - the destroyers of slippers and socks Jasper loves his bed from TK Maxx just as much as he loves his treats! Random Star Wars moment waiting for a train from Manchester to Sheffield Most recent shoe-related purchase to start me on the way to a new fitness regime

There are a couple of things that I love about shoes...they need to be high,,,they need to be bright...and I love a buckle detail. These shoes from Aldo tick all my boxes and the red makes me feel a bit festive.  Perfect for Christmas party planning!

Buying sandals in the autumn sounds like a crazy idea and I have definitely not made plans to wear socks and sandals in the colder months.  These are a sales purchase from Clarks that I am putting away for a planned trip to New York in May. My lists for the trip have already begun! 

My blogging has taken a backseat while my focus and priorities have been elsewhere. Its been a difficult year, juggling a new job and bereavement with the loss of two close relatives.  But its time to re-focus and re-assess my work life balance to ensure that I am making the most of my life, as its too short for regrets and if I love doing something, then its worth not giving up. So its back to blogging and re-discovering my love of shoes and perhaps some other things worth blogging about! See you soon x photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/87310047@N05/9517799089">Benjamin Franklin - Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)</a>

I'm looking for a shoe that will be perfect for the in-between seasons stage. Do you think these would do?

My husband and I had a recent city break where we got the chance to take in two cities; London and Bruges.  Travel was by train and we worked out that Blackpool to London, and London to Bruges (via the Euro Tunnel) took about the same travel time, based on transfers, etc. A sunny London was as you would expect, fast-paced, busy and hot,hot, hot!  We mooched about our capital like the rest of the tourists.  On Sunday, we visited Camden Market, having lunch at Porky's  and a cold beer at the World's End pub. We ended our day with a couple of drinks near our hotel including Japanese lager at Mabel's Tavern . The next day we hit the 'high street' with a trip down Oxford Street, visiting the Liberty store, Selfridges and the Primark flagship store to experience shopping at both ends of the scale.  Then it was lunch and a stroll down the Southbank, ending with a meal and cocktails at the Arch Duke near Royal Festival Hall watching the world go by. We...

Bring on the summer! There is something about this time of year, when you can finally shed the tights or socks, release those toes and pack away your boots.  It's time to put some fun back into your shoe collection, whether its a bit of sparkle or a pair of shoes with a feathery touch added.  These would be perfect for the May Bank Holiday weekend.

No shoe collection can be complete without the obligatory black stiletto. Purchased these black heels ready for summer. These metallic heels from Tesco were my bargain of the year so far...£5 Inspired by an outfit I found on Pinterest, I bought these shoes in the New Look sale and they look great with some turned up jeans and a brocade white and gold coat I've had for years. These £20 boots from New Look were perfect for walking around Manchester and Bristol, they literally saved my soles! I bought a basic selfie stick, this is one of my first pictures at a local restaurant with the waiters and my sister and niece.  No more pictures where I am stuck behind the camera.  A little bit of vintage, purchased in one of our good local vintage shops. I had to share this picture of my dog Jasper, this totally sums up what kind of Sundays we have at home, I wish sometimes I could feel that chilled out.

Do you find that the majority of photos on your phone are mostly the same type of things? Lately, I seem to have taken a lots of pictures of food, drink, shoes and not much else, Even a long weekend in Bristol resulted in just two pictures of food. These two images are from a visit to True Reds BBQ in Manchester. A Smoked Brisket and Burnt Ends S'Wich accompanied by a Honey Berry Smash cocktail and some Brooklyn Brown Ale. Absolutely lush! A fresh spring day gave us the opportunity to explore the Harbourside area of Bristol a couple of weeks ago. Walking around the city gave us an appetite to enjoy some BBQ at the Spitfire BBQ restaurant.  Above is a picture of our starter Pork Rashers [ Pork Belly strips dusted with the pitfire mix and grilled until nice and crispy and then served with chopped tomatoes, onions and basil.]  It was too nice to share! Naturally I had to indulge in a cocktail and had a Seductive Strawberry milkshake that was recomm...

Its been a long time between posts, life has been a little hectic but I am trying to improve my work/life/shoe balance starting with getting back to blogging. So, without further delay...let me introduce my latest shoe of the week post ,  Metallic, pointed, block heel and sparkle,  these shoes seem too pretty to wear but I definitely would if they weren't out of stock ;(

There are moments when shopping when something catches your eye and stops you in your tracks. These shoes were sitting on a shelf in my local Debenhams, they are probably still there too, waiting for me :(  Perfect for the in-between seasonal weather, perfect for me.