Farewell!

Dear deputy shoe fairies,

Here it is: my 423rd and final post.

Four years ago, on May 3, 2011, my very first post went up.  It was the first of what was supposed to be ten: two posts a week for five weeks for my grad school Online Publishing class.  I might have been happy to leave it at that, but enough people said, "No!  You have to keep going!" that I found myself going... and going...

But things aren't meant to last forever--even good things.  And so I come to say goodbye.  I'll still be around, of course (magical creatures such as Shoe Fairies never really disappear), so you can always call for help when you need it.

I've met some wonderful people along the way, stretched my brain in different ways, and even surprised myself with the seemingly limitless kinds of shoes that are out there.  I recruited 29 Deputy Shoe Fairies, who assisted me with this blog in one way or another.  I got to be silly, smart, and fabulous twice a week.  It was a lot of fun.

Thanks for everything.  It's been a helluva ride!

Love and sparkles,
The Shoe Fairy

Party Redux

Happy fourth birthday, Philly Shoe Fairy!  (Or blogaversary.  Whatever.)  The DSW in King of Prussia opened early just for us, bless their soles!  There was food, fun, and shoes of course!

Rosie and Payton took home the Mirielis by Aldo in a springy, shimmery green.  Those’ll look perfect for that summer wedding you’re going to, Rosie!  They also come in black, coral, and champagne; your choice for $33 at DSW.

Danielle took home the Collins from Lauren Ralph Lauren.  So perfect for summer, with its black canvas upper, nude canvas heel, and 2.5-inch raffia wedge!  Matches everything, versatile for work or play… and comes in navy and red, in addition to black!  Yours for $60 from DSW.

Pam needed new shoes for Zumba, and the Vida RZX by Ryka passed the test!  In fact, they won Shape Magazine’s 2015 award for dance-cardio.  (Wow!)  Also available in gray with yellow and purple touches, but Pam definitely had the right idea with the blue. Find them at DSW for $65.

And of course, the High Heel Walk Off!  Four fierce competitors took the floor, but the one who came out on top was…Veronica!

She looked like a model.  She’s a natural.

All in all, it was a wonderful morning.  New friends, old friends… and SHOES!  Birthdays don’t get better than that, and what a way to say goodbye.

Love and thanks to everyone at the DSW in King of Prussia.  You guys are amazing-- not just this year, but EVERY year!  Coming in on a Sunday morning and being so kind and helpful and spirited… you are the best friends a Shoe Fairy could have.  You guys rock.

Philly Science Festival

Did you have fun during Tech Week?  Well, good news: you can continue the nerdy fun at the Philadelphia Science Festival, which starts today!  So many things to do… what to pick?

Kick the festival off right tonight at Astronomy Night!  What’s something universities, community centers, cemeteries, and wildlife refuges all have in common? A beautiful view of the starry night sky! Join the biggest stargazing party in the region as local astronomers at 25+ sites provide a tour of the cosmos. Grab a blanket, take a seat, and look up at the stars!

The Lo Pro by Vans is so out-of-this-world lovely, with its starry canvas of blue and purple galaxies.  (And can we appreciate the purple soles for a moment?  How perfect are those?)  Available in 17 other options (including a second galaxy option!); your choice for $55 from Zappos.

Sunday morning, head to the University City Science Center for selfies like you’ve never seen.  Use a digital microscope to examine and photograph your cheek cells, hair follicles, and even your DNA! Walk away with pictures that capture the real you after viewing yourself in a whole new way!

Look at these double helix shoes!  Hand painted with twisting strands of DNA, they’re the perfect thing to wear as you explore your genetics.  Yours from Etsy seller B Street Shoes for $159.

Later that day, head over to Fairmount Water Works to take a closer look at some of the local inhabitants of the Schuylkill River. Dig, determine, and divulge to discover how healthy your river sample is by the examining the different species. There’s no better way to conserve a river than by learning from the fish that call it home.

Hmm, I’m no scientist, but I’m thinking the fish specimen on the Fish Bone Sandal by Giuseppe Zanotti isn’t too healthy.  But boy, is it shiny!  Gleaming silver bones, head, and tail adorn this black leather sandal, which also sports a half-inch stacked heel.  Catch a pair for $950 from Bergdorf Goodman.

On Tuesday, head to the Chemical Heritage Foundation raise a glass to the alchemists, who promised that their philosopher’s stone could transmute lead into gold, heal a multitude of diseases, and provide an exceptionally long, youthful life. Explore the fascinating world of alchemy, its surprising importance in the history of science and medicine, and the way alchemy’s values are carried on by modern scientific research.  Admission includes soup and two drink tickets!

Lead into gold, indeed!  The Paisley by Charles by Charles David starts out as black suede at the four-inch heel and turns to metallic gold leather at the pointed toe.  Sleek, sophisticated, and definitely less likely than alchemy to get you hung on the Iron Gallows of Stuttgart.  Yours for $76 at Lord & Taylor.

Go and get your science on!

Sales this weekend:

Bakers: 40% off all clearance
Bloomingdales: $25 off every $100 you spend with code SHOP25
Bus Stop Boutique: Fourth Friday party tonight!
Lord & Taylor: 25% off with code FRIENDS
Macy's: 15% off with code STOCK
Payless: Buy one, get one half off
Saks: 30% off with code FRNFAM

Philly Tech Week

We are smack dab in the middle of Philly Tech Week!  There are dozens and dozens of events, from networking receptions to game nights.  I was going to feature a handful of them, all with shoes, you know, but then I fell down this rabbit hole and couldn’t pull myself out.

What rabbit hole, you ask?  ROBOTS.  Yesterday was the Philly Robotics Expo.  Central High School’s RoboLancers unveiled the newest and most exciting advances in the field of robotics. You didn’t have to be a science geek to have a blast playing with real robots and learning from local business people, engineers and students who are transforming science fiction into science reality! Kids, parents and professionals were all a part of this exciting look into Philadelphia robotics.

ROBOTS!

High heels!  With robot faces!  And the shoes are shiny gold, and the robot faces are shiny silver… definitely the most sophisticated robot I’ve ever seen.  The shoe itself comes in gold or silver; your choice for $23 from AliExpress.

Don’t fancy the heels?  Try the flats!

Ooh, I think I like the flats even better.  This is the silver, but these come in gold too.  Come on, they’re too adorable.  Yours for $17 from AliExpress.

Oh, and one more version too:

Oxfords!  How cool are these!  Silver and gold available here too; your choice for $118 from AliExpress.

Robot sneakers!  Look at that cheery robot.  Not planning world domination all, just planning to be your friend.  And he brought lots of spare parts, just in case!  Yours for $67 from My Painted Shoes.

Aah, it’s a shoe that transforms into a robot!  Awesome!  Comes in a black and gray version too, but the red, white, and blue one will run you $21 from AliExpress.

There are plenty of other things to do during Tech Week, but…ROBOTS.

Favorite 10

On Tuesday I shared the ten posts that have garnered the most hits on Philly Shoe Fairy over its four-year life.  But with over 400 posts, which were my favorites?  I tried to pick 10, but since I often used things I liked more than once, you’ll just have to settle for ten themes instead.  And in no particular order, they are:

1. Anything with dinosaurs

I love dinosaurs.  In fact, I’ve written three dinosaur posts: one in 2012, 2014, and 2015.  If you don’t think dinosaurs are awesome, I’m not sure we can be friends.

2. 3D Printing

During last year’s Science Festival, a friend and I learned how 3D printing worked, since it’s all the rage on the runway now.  I had the nerdiest, awesomest time.

3. PMA Fashion

We’re lucky to have one of the country’s greatest art museums in our town, and one thing they do excellently is exhibits on fashion.  One of my first posts was on their Roberto Capucci exhibit (which may be the greatest thing I’ve ever seen there), but in 2014 I covered their simultaneous exhibits on Silver and Gold Fashions Since 1960 and (even better) Patrick Kelly.

4. How to Outsmart a Zombie

Thinking about the shoes you’d need to outsmart zombies was just fun.

5. Miss America Shoe Parades

Sure, as a feminist I have some trouble with beauty pageants, but what I don’t have a problem with is sparkly, state-specific shoes that have their own parade.  In fact, I so don’t have a problem with them that I featured them in 2013 and 2014.

6. Awesome Philly Women

I always say I’m a New Yorker by birth and a Philadelphian by choice, so learning about the extraordinary women that have lived in this city before me made me so proud of my adopted hometown.  Three times during Women’s History Month (2012, 2013, and 2015) I profiled a handful of them.  My favorites?  Hearing Marion Anderson sing on her website while doing research, and matching that shoe to Ethel Barrymore’s beautiful costume.

7. Glass Slippers

I’ve featured glass slippers a number of times, but give nine masters the chance to reinvent them?  Unbelievable results.

8. New Years, PA-Style

Have I mentioned how proud I am to be a Pennsylvanian?  It’s things like how we drop crazy, random things on New Year’s Eve.

9. April Fools!

Kobi Levi is the master of shoes that look like other things.  That banana peel still gets me.

10. Spy Shoes

Ugh, I want to be a spy so bad.

There you have it: my top favorites after four years!

Sales this weekend:

Bakers: All dress shoes 30% off

Lord & Taylor: 25% off with promo code FRIENDS

Macy's: 25% off one pair, 30% off 2+ pairs

Nine West: 40% off most expensive item when you purchase $100+

Payless: Buy one get one half off

Top 10

According to Blogger, this is my 418^th post.  And with only a handful to go, I thought it might be interesting to look at the posts that have garnered the most hits over Philly Shoe Fairy’s lifetime.  Here is the top 10 countdown of most popular PSF posts:

10. Anchors Aweigh!

August 9, 2013.  “You guys already know I love nautical for summer.  There is just something about summer that makes me feel like I should be out on a sailboat, eating cheese and drinking wine.  But since I don’t really enjoy being out on sailboats, I’ll just get my seafaring touch from my shoes.  And anchors, especially, seem to be everywhere right now!”

9. Passover

March 23, 2012. “Yes, I know, it’s a little early for Passover.  While it doesn’t officially start for two weeks, the Gershwin Y is celebrating early!  This Sunday, from 6:00-9:00 PM, they are hosting their annual Philadelphia Seder.  Music, dance, poetry... it truly will be, as they call it, “a Seder like no other!”  Followed by shoes for each part of the traditional Seder.

8. Spike Heels

July 19, 2011.  “I come across a lot of shoes in my life, but not many make my jaw drop. These did:

Oh. My. Goodness. The Cactus by Ruthie Davis has a leather upper (yellow and bright pink), 1.5-inch platform, and five-inch heel—covered in spikes! Look at those! My co-workers always joke that my stilettos could hurt people, but I think this pair really could. If you like these (and are a size 7.5) they can be yours for around $1,200 from Bloomingdale’s, but they got me thinking—are spiky shoes a thing now?”

7.  Go Phillies!

April 5, 2013. “It's time for baseball!  Hooray!  So our Fightin' Phils may have lost their first game of the season (and another besides), but we all know that it's the home opener that really counts—and that’s tonight!  The Royals are in town for (hopefully) a royal butt-kicking, and you’d better look the part!”

6. Friday the 13^th

July 13, 2012.  “The maximum number of Friday the 13ths that any year can have is three.  Guess how many we’ve had in 2012?  Three!  An especially unlucky year?  Nonsense!  But just for fun, here are lots of unlucky things—in shoe form!”

5. New Store: Dr. Martens

January 10, 2012.  “A new shoe store graces our fair city!  Yay!  Recently opened at 1710 Walnut is a new Dr. Martens store—the only Dr. Martens store in the greater PA/NJ area, in fact!  (The next nearest is NYC.  Other stores between there and here carry their shoes, of course, but there isn’t a whole dedicated store!  We’re special.)”

4. Stretch it Out!

August 24, 2012.  “High heels do many awesome things: they jazz up an outfit.  They make us feel happy.  They make us stand straighter.  They take up an obscene amount of space in our closets.  They drive men wild (perhaps because of the aforementioned lack of closet space).  Unfortunately, they also shrink our calf muscle fibers, and thicken our Achilles tendons.  Don't worry, it's not hopeless!  Some simple stretches after a day in stilettos can help counteract this.”

3. Philadelphia Marathon

November 18, 2011.  “This weekend is the Philadelphia Marathon! A full weekend of runs: an 8K, a half marathon, and the official 26.2-mile grueler through Old City, University City, Fairmount Park, out to Manayunk, back in... god, I’m exhausted already, and I’m not even running. If you are, though, you’ll need proper shoes. I found a really cool find-a-shoe thing at Runner’s World where you can enter info about your feet and running style and it’ll help pick you the perfect shoe. I may not be able to be quite that specific with you, but here are some awesome running shoes anyway!”

2. Book Shoes!

October 19, 2012.  “So on Tuesday I gave you a book about shoes.  Today I give you: shoes covered in a book!”

1. Summer Flats

May 29, 2012.  “Yay!  Summer’s here!  (Well, maybe not meteorologically, but culturally.)  I had a request for summer flats—easy, comfortable, stylish.  Happy to oblige!”

On Friday, I’ll give you my top 10 favorite posts.  Until then, love and sparkles!

Cherry Blossom Festival

After two chilly days, we’re back to warm!  It’s starting to feel like spring is actually here.  I even put my shovel away for the season last night.

Unfortunately, it was another bad winter so the cherry trees aren’t exactly cooperating, but the Cherry Blossom Festival will go on!  Events have been going on since the end of March, but this weekend is Sakura Sunday, the centerpiece event of the festival.  The weather’s supposed to be beautiful, so go and enjoy, even if the trees aren’t cooperating yet.

And heck, since they’re not, here are some blossoms for you!

The Thora by Badgley Mischka is so delicate: the light pink color, the many-petalled flower at the peep-toe, the sweetly curved three-inch heel.  Also available in nude and two very pretty shades of blue; your choice for $195 from Nordstrom.

This flat by Bibi Lu is radiant in orchid satin, and its round toe is topped with a frayed-edge flower.  This color would be too perfect under a pair of jeans, and are nice and low so you can walk around Fairmount Park this weekend without trouble.  Yours for $49 from Yoox.

The Solar Garden Thong by Melissa is such a fun little jelly sandal!  Bright pink, two beautifully-sculpted flowers up the front… oh, and it smells like tutti-frutti bubblegum.  Yes it does. J  Find them at Last Call for $48.

This pair of suede pumps by Charlotte Olympia is just so beautifully classy, isn’t it?  Each pointed toe is topped with a sheer pink blossom and a spray of green leaves.  Ugh, I can’t stand it—they’re too beautiful!  Yours for $845 from Shoescribe.

Well, those make me feel a little better.  And with the warm weather this week, the cherry blossoms are sure to appear… right?

Sales this weekend:

Bakers: Sandals and wedges 2 for $99

Lord & Taylor: 20% off regular and sale with code BIG

Macy’s: 25% off one pair, 30% off two or more pairs