Summer of Shoes

Acutally, hopefully not cus I'm abt to hit the triple digit mark and I'm starting to realize that my shoe habit is perhaps...unhealthy??  Or not.  Ack, we'll worry abt this when I actually hit 100.  Anyhow...

I didn't get out of jet lag hell until last Friday so I've been busy trying to catch up with my life.  Emails, blogs, forums, etc, etc.  I've also had to put my life on hold because of Dexter.  Damn him and his charming habit of slicing people up into bits and pieces!  You'll be happy to know my brother and I finally finished season four today so my life is officially back on track.  What better way to get back into the swing of things than with a post dedicated to the newest additions to my ever-growing CL family?

I hinted towards a purchase while I was in HK and its finally time to reveal what the HK CL boutique had to offer me and my collection: Talco python Bananas in "Tabacco":

I guess I was living under a rock cus I wasn't even aware that the Talco Tabacco was part of CL Resort 2010.  Anyhow, CLs are waaaaaay over priced in China.  During my first day in Beijing, my cousin and I went to Lane Crawford and all the CLs were a good $200-300 more than what you would find in the States.  I wasnt expecting much when I got to HK but the boutique had me trying on quite a few pairs and I ended up walking out with these purty babies.  The Talco treatment is almost identical to the Nabuck treatment...in fact, I really cant even tell the difference between the two.  The Tabacco color suggests brown but these are more like a light gray with brown undertones. 

The infamous Banana toe box.  These have the ability to scare off most CL-lovers...me included.  CL is already known for toe cleavage so that tiny strap going over your toes isn't all that reassuring but honestly, you hardly notice when you actually have them on your feet. 

Heres a quick comparison pic between the Ardoise Nabuck python and the Tabacco Talco python.  Notice how both have a sueded texture.  Notice how the Ardoise is like a blue-gray and the Tabacco is like a light gray.  Actually, looking at the pics of these two side by side, I can sorta see the difference now between nabuck and talco.

A VERY special pair...better later (try over a year) than never: Cate Trash:

Cate came out in early 2009 and I really wasn't a fan.  Collage of seemingly random pieces for $1000?  No thanks.  Fast forward to early 2010 and I have a small crush on Cate.  Too bad they've been sold out for  a year...no chance of ever finding them.  Well, unless you happen to be me :)  TN and I were oogling at the F/W 2010 buy book at SCP back in late April when she spotted a pair of CTs just lying around on the floor.  After making sure they weren't actually somebody's shoes, I grabbed them and just my luck, they were a size 36.  Turns out the absolute last two pairs in the entire company had been transferred to SCP...how could I not get them??  I bought them, took pictures, and then exchanged them for the Madame Butterfly booties.  It was a sad day but at the time, I only had eyes for booty.  Pun intended.  I made sure my SA knew that I was still interested in the shoes and would be back for them...better yet, can she try to see if they can be put on sale for me??  So what if the CTs were never officially on the CL sale list?  What are they going to do with the last two pairs?  Give them to sample sales?  Actually yes, thats what happens most of the time but my wonderful SA managed to get approval to sell the CTs to me for 40% off.  I seriously love my shopping gods.  Alright, enough chatter, here are the shoes from the right (each side of each shoe is one of a kind...probably why they were able to mark these up to $995...):

The left:

And the front:

I didn't even know I had scored the Cate Trash on sale until after I got back from Beijing.  Of course, when I went to go pick them up, I just "had" to try on a few of the new styles that had arrived earlier that week and well....meet Alambra: 

140mm espadrilles?  Yes, please!! These are my one and only pair of espadrilles...the fact that they're 140mm makes total sense.  So me.  Gawd, I love Msr. Louboutin.

Dont they look more like leather wedges instead of espadrilles?  Why weren't these out when I was packing for my trip to China?! 


PS: I still have to make up my mind abt two more pairs that I scored during the sales so stay tuned cus there might be another shoe post coming in the very near future.  And the most unbelievable part...one of them is a non-CL.  I know, I amaze me too.  Hah, lets just hope I actually decide to keep it.

Summer Vacation: Month 1, Part 3

I'm not the biggest foodie and this blog has certainly never focused on what I eat for bfast, lunch, and dinner but hell, I went to Napa just to eat so might as well dedicate this post to what I ate.  Part 3: French Laundry.


En Route: 

(Flew to SF and then drove to Napa with IC the day before so we could have at least 24 hours to explore Napa and surrounding areas before French Laundry.)

Carneros:

(IC insisted I take a picture with the vines to prove that I was actually in Napa.  Looking at this pic, I think I'm blocking the better part of the vines behind me...)

(Better pictures of the vines!!)

Bouchon Bakery:

(I'm not big on macarons but these were seriously the best I've ever had.  TN - these are even better than the ones we had at Marche...lol.)

French Laundry:

(Thomas Keller's garden for French Laundry is directly across the street from the restaurant.  I'm pretty sure we saw him gardening but we were too shy to walk up to him for pictures.)

(The infamous blue door.)

(Salmon tartar ice cream cone and brioche.)

(Oysters and "pearls".)

(Cured medai belly.)

(White asparagus salad.)

(Foie gras.)

(Pacific suzuki.)

(Calotte de bouef grillee or the best tasting piece of meat I have ever had the pleasure of consuming...this picture is almost insulting.)

(Lamb rib-eye.)

("Peas and Carrots" is the name but its all about the lobster.  This lobster is serious business and who knew lobster went so well with carrot puree?!)

(Rabbit presse.)

(Comte - this was the one plate I didn't devour.  Not cus it wasn't good but because I knew I needed room for desert!)

(Apricot sorbet.  [Me: Is it good?  IC: It taste like cold apricot.  Me: Oh my god, it really does taste exactly like a really cold, really fresh apricot!!!.]  I know it might not sound like anything special but ask yourself, do you think you can take a fruit, take it apart, turn it into sorbet, and have it come out tasting exactly like how it would had you eaten it fresh???)

(White chocolate sorbet.  I could eat this all day, every day.)

(Blueberry sponge cake with buttermilk sorbet.  Okay, the one thing I hated from this entire meal was the buttermilk sorbet.)

(Citrus tart.)

(Totally forgot what this was...some kind of wafer??  Sorry, Mr. Keller, I am not worthy...)

(Truffles.)

(Chocolate covered macadamia nuts.)

(Take home gifts - shortbread cookies, a copy of the menu, and our left over truffles and macadamia nuts. Oh!!  Almost forgot, also got to take our napkin clips home with us.)

Thomas Keller, I get it, you're a genius.  Thanks for the amazing three and a half hours.  I'll be back.