I do to THE shoes!

Happy Tuesday SHOESday! :)  As you can probably imagine, picking my wedding shoes was of extreme importance to me, almost more so than the dress and the groom (hehe kidding, sort of...)!  Once I got my dress picked out it was time to find the perfect shoes, this process took far longer and was much more painstaking than the dress part (mainly because of my pickyness)!

I had the following requirements for the shoes that would play a big part in the best day ever!
1) Comfort - I needed to be able to wear them all day with lots of walking and dancing!
2) Style - They had to reflect me! I wanted a colored shoe (pink or red, preferably pink) but something classic and girly without being gaudy (heel to toe rhinestones? - no thanks).
3) Height - At 5'2", I was the shortest in the bridal party, I needed a little boost!
4) Fabulous - with a passion for kicks like me, the deeply fabulous requirement was nonnegotiable
5) $$$ - Needed to stay reasonable on budget, after all they would only be worn once and my mom kept mentioning she struggled to understand spending more on the shoes than the dress.

So after many, many days spent obsessing I found my perfect fit via Milk & Honey Shoes (now Upper Street London) a custom shoe design website that let's you fashion shoes to meet all your needs and requirements (#alleluia!)!  So I picked my style, height, fabric, color, embellishments, etc. and Viola! 

Hot pink satin with rhinestone bows, half inch platform with three and a half inch heel

 I did my best to take these for a spin around the house to break them in before the big day but most of my standing activities have a tendency to be messy (cooking, cocktail making, ya know) and we couldn't risk ruining the shoes before their big debut!  But they were fine throughout the day and ran true to size.  They came with ball of foot cushions and heel grips so that helped make them fit even more comfortably.

Milk & Honey had great customer service!  The shoes came in time, exactly how I wanted them and without any damage or blemishes.  I had utilized their chat with a stylist option to get a better idea of what the rhinestone bow would look like and they were very helpful.  They sent pictures of other shoes with the bow, etc. to help me make my decision.

I will warn you that the shoes take awhile to come in but that is to be expected for custom designed shoes.  I believe mine took four or five weeks but I got them expedited just in case and had them in plenty of time.

It was so fun to design my own shoes and get exactly what I wanted!  There are other designers out there that have similar design your own options, Nina and Shoes of Prey to name a few!   

Some new shoes just came my way and Restaurant Week is this week so stay tuned and keep cool (finally some scorching days of summer)! 

Cheers!
Steph

Patriotic Boozing: Red, White and Blue Jello Shots!

Let the 4th of July festivities begin!  I figured it was only fitting to share these patriotic jello shots with you before all the fun begins.  I shared these last year so it's a little bit of a repeat but these are too fun not to repeat!

Red, White & Blue Jello Shots
(Makes about 32 shots)

 Ingredients:
- 2 c. berry vodka ( I used 1 c. UV Blue Raspberry vodka for the blue and 1 c. Three Olives Berry for the red)
- 2 c. water
- 1 pkg. red raspberry jello
- 1 pkg. blue rasberry jello
- 1 pkg. Cool Whip
- 1/4 c. or less, vanilla vodka
- small shot cups (I like the ones with lids for easy transport and easy stacking)

Instructions:
- Make the blue raspberry jello first.  Boil 1 cup water then pour over jello powder.  Stir until sugar is dissolved and let cool a little bit so when you add the vodka it doesn't steam off.  I'm entirely too impatient so I create an ice bath for my jello bowl to help cool it down faster.
- Pour in 1 cup vodka, stir until well combined then distribute into cups, about a third of the cup.  Place in refrigerator for at least a half hour or until firm.
- Take thawed Cool Whip and mix in vanilla vodka.  You want it to stay fluffy so just add a splash of vodka at a time and mix until desired strength.
- With a spoon, scoop spiked Cool Whip into cups, leveling it out on top of the blue layer.
- Put cups in the freezer to make sure the Cool Whip is solid, about a half hour.
- Make the red raspberry jello. Boil 1 cup water over the stove, remove then pour over jello powder.  Stir until sugar is dissolved and let cool.
- Pour in 1 cup of vodka, stir until well combined.
- **This is an important step!!  Let the jello cool until it becomes thicker but not to the point of setting up.  Once it is cooled down, pour over the other two layers in cup.  If the jello is too warm it will cause the Cool Whip to melt around the edges and float up and ruin your patriotic creation.
- Put in the fridge until red layer is set up.
- Share and enjoy!

We've got a fun weekend with family and friends planned starting with Red, White and BOOM downtown!  What are your 4th of July plans?  Hope they are fun filled and very safe!

Cheers!
Steph

Mrs. WWSV!

Ciao friends!  Finally time to catch up!

Well after what seemed like the longest engagement ever, Chris and I are officially Mr. & Mrs.!  We had the most wonderful wedding day, we are so incredibly blessed to have had so many of our friends and family with us!  I'll just share a few pictures today then I'll do a rundown of some of the details including our AMAZING vendors.  And of course we'll have a post about the shoes!

With our families

Me with my pretty gal pals!

Chris with his guys, what a handsome group!

The whole bridal party

Then we had a dream honeymoon in Italy visiting Rome and smaller towns on the Amalfi Coast.  We MET THE POPE (yes, for real, we met him)!  We had amazing food, fabulous views and even went to a cooking class!  It was the perfect start to our happily ever after.

Dinner at Rossellinis in Ravello, recently featured in a BuzzFeed article on spectacular restaurant views!

Views in Sorrento, Vesuvius in the background!

Cooking class in Sorrento with Chef William, Bruschetta, Gnocchi, Tiramisu and Chicken Scallopina!

Lilly dress, a glass of wine and a beautiful view with my new husband, couldn't be better!

I can't believe the wedding process and honeymoon are all over but its good to be back.  I have A TON of posts to come, local foodie moments, SHOES, cocktails, you name it, its going to be a busy summer of blogging!

Cheers!
Steph