miscellany monday

happy monday everyone – i’ve added my random ramblings to carissa’s miscellany monday party!  check out carissa’s blog here and join in on the fun.  

{one} memorial day.  i’m extremely grateful to all the men and women who have fought and those who are currently serving our country so that we can be free.  we should take a moment of silence today to remember all of the fallen soldiers and to keep their families in your thoughts/prayers. we truly do owe them everything. thank you!

{two} a j.crew giveaway.  molly over at my closet travels is hosting a giveaway for a $25 gift card to j.crew.  check out her blog here for all of the details on how to enter.  this contest ends tonight at midnight.

{three} couponing.  have you ever watched extreme couponing on tlc?  i watched it for the first time the other day with my sister and i was amazed.  i sadly realized that i have been missing out on saving lots of money.  these families save hundreds of dollars in trips to the store all due to discount coupons.  i’m going to start paying attention to saving in the grocery stores and start clipping some coupons.  do you coupon?

OXOX Natasha

Fresh Picks to Follow: Espadrilles

I hope that you all are having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend so far.  Unfortunately, my weekend is pretty uneventful.  My only day off that I have is Memorial Day and I plan to run in a 5k race on Monday morning – I’m really looking forward to it.   Anyways, I’m late as usual in posting my Friday Fresh Picks to Follow, so here we go. 

Espadrilles are the ultimate spring/summer shoe 0f 2011 and it’s the perfect shoe for the 70’s inspired clothing for the spring season.  A classic espadrille style is made of canvas or cotton fabric upper and a flexible sole that is made of rope or rubber material molded to look like rope (info from Wikipedia).   The jute rope sole is the defining characteristic of an espadrille shoe.  Did you know that jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that is spun into coarse, strong threads?  I didn't know what jute was before I looked it up today.  The sole of the shoe may be flat, platform or wedged-shaped and the upper part of the shoe may be open-toed or closed-toe, open-back or they come with a wrap-around ankle tie.

I currently own 4 pairs of espadrilles that I bought several years ago and I never got rid of them.  All of my shoes are either platform or wedged shaped and one of them has thin straps to tie around my ankle – it’s very sexy.  I don’t own any flats yet, but I think that I’ll have to buy a pair this summer.  You will find that espadrilles come in several exciting designs and styles this season.  Check out my top 10 Fresh Picks for the week.   I'm personally obsessed with #'s 6, 7 & 10. Do you own any espadrilles?  Which ones are your favorites? 

1. Anthropologie – Beaded Mercury Wedges…$120.00

2. Toms – Red Canvas Women's Wedges…$69.00

3. Anthropologie – New Wave Espadrilles…$138.00

4. DKNY – Krista Multi-strap Espadrille Sandals…$150.00

5. J.Crew – Canvas Espadrilles…$98.00

6. Kate Spade – Lido…$99.00

7. J.Crew – Sardinia Wedge Espadrilles…$118.00

8. Stuart Weitzman – Alex…$365.00

9. Nine West – Braxton…$99.00

10. Coach – Ireena…$79.00 (was $148.00)

OXOX Natasha

miscellany monday

happy monday everyone – i’ve added my random ramblings to carissa’s miscellany monday party!  check out carissa’s blog here and join in on the fun. 

{one} anthropologie tag sale – part 2?  did you buy anything at the tag sale last week?  i was able to make it to the store the day on the sale after all and i got everything that i wanted.  i’m curious to see if the store is going to markdown any more items.  fingers crossed!  

{two} the bachelorette.  so a few months ago i wrote  about abc’s the bachelor, brad womack, and some of the girls in the finale.  well if you didn’t know this already, abc brought back miss ashley h. to prime time for her chance to find love again on her own show – the bachelorette.  the season premiere aired tonight with 25 really good looking men vying for ashley’s attention.  i think that she’s going to have a real tough job over the next several weeks finding “the one.”  ashley is super lucky to travel to some amazing countries too – i’m looking forward to see the footage in hong kong, thailand, fiji.

{three} running.  my co-worker and i ran 3 ½ miles today after work today.  we are gearing up for another 5k on memorial day.  i’ve been a running fool lately, but this florida heat may change things a bit.

{four} oprah.  i just got finished watching part one of the surprise oprah - farewell spectacular.  did you watch it? her team did an amazing job so far.  i really enjoyed beyonce and rascal flats’ performances.  oprah is truly an amazing woman – it’s kinda hard to believe that she won’t be on the air everyday.  she’s been in our lives for 25 years and she is an inspiration for so many people.  she’ll be missed more than she can ever know.  what do you guys think about oprah retiring?

{five} tornadoes and floods.  as you know, the midwest and southern states have been hit hard by harsh weather over the few weeks.  tornados have destroyed parts of alabama, kansas and most recently, missouri.  and of course we know that the mississippi river is close to flooding parts of louisiana.  if you want to help out by volunteering or making a donation to those in need in the affected areas, please check out these links to the red cross and the humane society. 

OXOX Natasha