The Louboutins

My shoes, my husband's handiwork...we make a good pair (pun sort of intended).

Next week we'll be doing a photoshoot with the new shoes (before the perfect red soles get scuffed - which I so canNOT even think about)...stay tuned!

-Shannon

Blog And Dash

I'm on my way out to meet Aurelie at Brasserie Lipp, but thought I'd stop in for a quick update.

Yesterday, we had lunch at Deux Magots - a very quaint little place packed with folks just like us (only not as tall).

I tried escargot for the first time last night. It didn't kill me.

This morning, I came across a cute article on Christian Louboutins. I've not been especially creative with my Paris diaries (my apologies), and I'm out of practice enough that I couldn't quite hit the mark with my own post on the Louboutin experience - but this reporter does a nice job infusing the crazy emotions that churn in the hearts and minds of Louboutin women in New York's Upper East Side.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/fashion/01CRITIC.html?partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss

Happy May Day!

-Shannon

Her Name Was Lola; She Was A Shoe Girl

I came. I saw. I bought a pair of Christian Louboutins.

Late yesterday afternoon I asked the girls if they were up to a trip to 38-40, rue de Grenelle. I've been near to Monsieur Louboutin's salon several times in the eleven or so days since I've been here. As I'd wander up and down Boulevard Saint Germain, I knew it was just a couple of turns away (beckoning me!), but I've been savoring the excitement of that (first) visit and didn't want it to be over too quickly. Even writing about it now, my pulse quickens...

The weather has been yucko - cold, windy, rainy - blech. It had been a particularly blah inside-day for me, so I decided that the time had come. Nothing cures the bad-weather blues like some shoe shopping. And if shoe shopping cures the bad-weather blues, Louboutin shoe shopping could cure...well - a lot!

As we slowly approached the atelier, I started having an out of body experience. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go in. I didn't want to go in too quickly; didn't want to rush the moment, you know? Somehow, I managed to open the door and was instantly transported from one corner of heaven to another. Yes, there were angels. Yes, they were making that "aahhh" sound.

Anyway, I looked around for the perfect Louboutin. Who am I kidding - they're all perfect.

There were so many beautiful choices; bright blue, cork, hot pink, white, shimmery white, nude, red, satin, buttons, feathers, bows, snakeskin - sensory overload! That's when I saw Lola. She was in her own enclave behind glass and a gilded frame. A simple, elegant, black, patent leather shoe with a four-inch heel that looks as though it had been dipped in gold.

I slid my foot into the first pair and they were a bit too big; the second pair fit like a glove. In fact, I felt as though I slid my foot into warm, softened butter. I won't say that this particluar moment was better than sex - but it came awfully close. The girls were so awesome - I can't tell you! Thank you for being there - for sharing my bliss with me - for taking pictures and oohing and ahhing at all the right times. It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun to have done this alone.

If you are a shoe lover - or have any type of crack habit whatsoever - then you totally get why I'm so over the moon about this experience. I could have purchased a pair of Louboutins at home - but to actually have an opportunity to come to Paris and buy them here? Like there was even a choice to be made.

Here's the website if you're at all interested: http://www.christianlouboutin.fr/

I have a handbag addiction that rivals my mad shoe love so, I may have also adopted a new handbag from Monsieur Louboutin as well. Go big or go home, right? I went extra large.

After Louboutin, we went to the market, came home, had some dinner, drank some wine, and there may have been a little Christmas karaoke involved. It was just that kind of night...

Oh yeah, we went to the Louvre today; that was nice, too. :)

-Shannon

Here's To Being Naked

I recently watched an episode of “How to Look Good Naked” on Lifetime. Carson Kressely (from Queer Eye) is the host, so I figured it would be fun, right?

The premise of the show goes a little something like this:

Images of the woman’s headless and nearly naked body are projected onto the side of a building in the middle of Time Square and random people on the street are asked to rate the woman’s body on a scale from 1 to 10.

Cut to the studio where Carson is talking with the woman.

Carson: So, tell me what it is you hate about your body.
Woman: I hate my butt (thighs, stomach, breasts, etc…), it’s too big (fat, flabby, large, etc…)! (woman cries)
Carson: I’m going to show you a tape of what America had to say about your body – let’s watch! (shows woman clips of people saying all positive things)
Woman: Really? They said that?
Carson: Yup! Now, come stand in front of these 27 mirrors and take off all your clothes so all of America can look at your big butt (thighs, stomach, etc...)!
Woman: Okay. (more crying)
Carson: Now, take your clothes off again in front of these eight or nine other women and put yourself in line next to them so we can see how you compare yourself to other women.

By the end of the show, the woman has gotten a fabulous new outfit for her photo shoot, a new hairstyle and a fabulous, glammed out make-up job. At this point, when she’s feeling pretty good about herself, Carson walks into her dressing room and tells her that she will be doing her photo shoot naked. (Insert sound of screeching brakes here), “What?!”

She does the shoot with a strategically placed scarf and subsequently professes that it was an incredibly liberating experience and her self-esteem has been completely altered. Then Carson takes her out in the middle of Time Square where her naked body is once again projected onto the side of a building and then she’s forced to ask passers-by, “Do I look good naked?” Of course they all say yes.

Needless to say, there are many, many uncomfortable moments during the hour-long show – like many, many moments when I can imagine exactly what the woman is feeling the absolute horror of it all. I mean, seriously, can you see yourself stripping down to your bra and panties in front of a stranger, under bright studio lights, surrounded by mirrors and on national television? If there is a hell, that is clearly it.

All that said, I must confess that I actually cried a little bit at the end of the show because, in spite of the horrible things she had to endure, the woman was so happy and confident after her physical and mental transformation.

I really love the image I originally chose to use for this website (above) – with those gorgeous Louboutins – so, sort of along the lines of this crazy show, I asked my husband to take a picture of me loosely mimicking that photograph. It may not seem like that big of a deal – they’re just legs, right? For me, though, it was a very big deal! I’m not wont to plaster it on a building somewhere but I’m happy to share it with you here. Voila! The finished product – photo shop and airbrush free:

So I did this and it didn't kill me, in fact, I actually *liked* the image. I guess the moral of this story is that I'm beginning to feel a sense of confidence at 40 that I've not had before and it's a fabulous, fabulous thing!

-Shannon

**UPDATE**

Here's another version after Gary played with the coloring a bit. I like it so much that the original picture has been replaced!

There's No Cure for Google Ads...Or Is There?

While I loved the title, "There's No Cure for Cel*ulite," these crazy Google Ads kept promoting cures for cel*ulite. I'm hesitant to type the full word out knowing that the Google Ad sensors will pick up on it and - ACK - it'll be more of the same!

Anyhoo - nothing has changed except the title. Though this new title will no doubt unleash scads of com*at boot ads - it's still better than cures for something there are no cures for.

Gotta love Go*gle!

-S

100 Days And Counting...

Je vais à Paris dans 100 jours!