It's time...

for my american red shoes...! unfortunately not to trudge through mountains of snow, but to avoid wet feet. it has been raining like crazy the entire weekend (as well as friday, and perhaps thursday, i dont even remember), and it will rain tomorrow as well.

while tim suddenly had to come into work for a few hours today, i was deciding whether i would just spend the entire afternoon on the couch or do something useful.. that was until i suddenly saw quite a puddle of water in front of the old-fashioned heater. water? is the thing now spewing water?? hmm, highly unlikely. is it perhaps condensation....but from what... the drying laundry? (i can be a little slow) then i finally looked up and saw it was coming from the ceiling.... buhuhuhuhuh. water was dripping down and quite a bit!! its coming down from that ugly plastic ceiling that tim cleaned back in july. for once it was a good thing we have been extremely slow with filling the cupboards we bought a little while ago. they all needed to be moved to not get wet. it has been dripping all afternoon and evening (worsening a bit). for once i was also happy we werent out all day, i think we would have come back to quite a mess! tomorrow someone will come and check. no, they couldnt come before dark today. and as he said on the phone "you know, its the rain. there is a lot of rain coming down right now, and lots of rain gives lots of leaks, but its just the heavy rain you know". hmppf. great...

(and no, i dont know whether the neighbors really have better stuff. i do hope for them its less wet than in our place..., i also hope the ugly ceiling wont come down or something... you never know...)

Oooops, more....

.... shoes! ah, and another manhole cover. as you can see, this one is in an outlet shopping center. as far as i know, we have only one outlet center in the netherlands (but i could be wrong). for sure this one was the first to ever open, in 2001. its in lelystad, and there is not much else around (except for a nice museum about the history of lelystad; this province was reclaimed from the water, as you might know).

just like an american outlet center, this one has a lot of parking. but.... even here in the middle of nowehere you still have to pay for parking (aaarghhhh!!), just like you have to pay for everything here in the netherlands (including visiting a public toilet). we werent really looking for something to buy, but the shoe shop had very cheap shoes (really cheap!). so i got those pink shoes above (and blue shoes... perhaps i show you those some other time). i really didnt need those... but well....

Nice ad

i was lazy the past 2 days, and i still am... but here is another picture! this is from a while back, when we were in new york... (as you can see by the water tower up in the corner). i liked this ad, even though i do not like such shoes.... i think they are very american! such high heels you never see in the netherlands (or at least, thats what i think. maybe things have changed by now?), but here shoestores are filled with them. i love shoeshopping, and am often disappointed when i see a nice looking shoe, only to take it out of the box entirely, seeing that it has such an impossible heel on it....

ah well, probably better for me. saves me some money... :)

Holiday shopping

a shop window somehere in boston... i just dont know what the sentence on the window means "the woman prepares for the holidays". literally? the woman does all the work? (the cooking, etc), or does she prepare herself by buying this (boring) blue dress? or....? i also seem to see a moustache, at least on the doll to the left... 

anyways, we didnt do much holiday shopping. thats the advantage if you live on the other side of the ocean... ;) i did buy some shoes, yesterday. for myself. and tim bought 2 pairs. the guy at the counter asked us about our holiday shopping, and if we were almost done.... i just answered that it was, with the 3 pairs of shoes... :D

Some shopping

this is the "gateway center", a place with some shops not too far from our house. there is a huge, gigantic parking lot, and several shops. every so many miles, you find such a shopping center here in the us. often you can only get to them by car. the shops are more or less the same, and they are huge. i always wonder how so many shops, the same shops, can coexist so close to each other. usually there is a "home depot", which sells everything for your do it yourself (DIY as they call that here) home improvement and construction (like a dutch "gamma", but then 10 times bigger). there is a paper store, for all your office needs, also enormous, an enormous toy store, a crafts store (we were there this weekend for the first time; my goodness, i didnt know that they could fill such an enormous store with... well... that kind of stuff), and usually there is a target, a retail store. perhaps comparable to the dutch "V&D", but ofcourse much bigger. then there are some (cheaper) shoe/sport or clothing stores. and i really cannot stop wondering how this is sustainable. within a not too big radius we have a few of these malls, all with the same stores. especially their size is very weird for a dutch... :) even our supermarkets arent this big, or numerous (i also imagine that the tiny size of all stores in the netherlands must be a shock for americans! haha.... also, dont expect to buy your stuff in as large quantities as you can here; most beverages (milk, orange juice, etc) are sold at a max of 1 ltr per bottle, shampoo and stuff is in at least 2 times smaller bottles than here, and i guess double the price etc etc.).

anyways. we sometimes goto target, although we never need anything. and then we come out having bought all kinds of stuff. or the shoe store (although not the above one, im a fan of DSW; shoes can be so deceivingly cheap there! i cant go there too often, as i always buy a new pair of shoes. even after more than 2 years in the us, i still tend to think in dutch/european prices when it comes to clothing and shoes, and its soooo much more cheaper here!!). this time (sunday) i got some clothes; a trouser, a shirt and a dress, together for just 30 dollars..... :)

Winter shoes

i was so happy when i found those! then i had to decide, get them in red, black or blue.... black was too boring. blue too blue. so it was red. and then there was hardly any snow... :( i was really looking forward to the mountains and mountains of snow we surely would get, just like last year. but this time i would be really prepared with a nice set of snow boots...

today it was 20 degrees celsius!! (above 65 F, i guess). and yesterday it was warm too. 

now i just hope we dont get a cold crappy summer..

Impossible heels

i like shoes. at home we have this cute bench of which you can lift the seat, revealing a lot of storage space. many of my shoes are in there (although not all.... it didnt fit). sometimes i look in it, and see a pair i had forgotten about... yeejj! i also like to try on shoes. especially here in the us, where the heels seem higher and the shoes more ridiculous. i dont own a pair of high heels as pictured above, but i have tried on many models and had tim picture it (here another example). this furry model was in the sales section, there were many of them. i guess they were just too weird....

when we were in miami during new year's eve, we saw many, many dressed up ladies. heels like this or higher. and most ladies were not very well trained in walking on them. it was fun to see... 

when we were about to return to our hotel, we saw 3 girls. it could have very well been the girls we saw earlier that day on the beach. they were all wearing a super short skirt and killer heels. then... one of them dropped her phone. she reached out her hand to pick it up, but at the same time the other hand went to the back of her skirt, and she realized she could not pick up the phone. there they were, standing on the sidewalk like 3 bambi's, just learning how to stand on their hoofs. she reached out her hand again, but the pavement was really far away! i was about to walk back and pick up that phone when another passerby did just that. and guess what?! right after that she dropped it again, and the entire scene repeated itself. standing there helplessly on their impossible heels. but being oh so pretty....

i wish i could have taped that!! most certainly, if i ever were to make a movie, that would be one of the scenes i would include... :)

Shopping fever

the day after thanksgiving is called black friday... most stores have lots of discounted goods for the real americans. some stores opened at 4 this morning, others already at midnight... and some fanatics just skipped their thanksgiving to camp out in front of whatever store has whatever discounted product they want to buy. as you can see here; those people planted themselves in front of a store at 1 in the morning of thanksgiving, and spent 24 hours just to be the first allowed inside upon opening. why? because the most heavily discounted things will run out, and what if you miss out on all those amazing deals?! but well, nobody is harmed when you sit outside a mall for 24 hours, while everyone else is enjoying a nice thanksgiving.. :) on the other hand... in los angeles there was a lady who pepper sprayed 20 people as to prevent them from getting stuff she wanted to buy. other than that, there were some shootings and burglaries, as you can read here. we were briefly thinking to go and check out some mall at midnight yesterday, just as observers... but the thought of so many shoppers gone crazy... made me tired and we just went to sleep.. anyways, i found some pis of crazy bargain hunters here..

of course, occupiers around the nation had some opinion about this day too (actually the pic above i took at occupy boston; this is the tent where they make signs, to state the obvious). i just saw on the occupy boston facebook page that some occupiers went to meditate in some mall, apparently around a vending machine (to prevent shoppers from buying something to eat/drink?), and one got arrested.

they are all crazy!!! the best bargain would be when staying at home, buying NOTHING!! but i have to admit, this evening we went for a little shopping ourselves. it was quite crowded, and the discounts not that amazing, so i only bought a pair of shoes... as if i needed those... ;) (but they were only 14 dollars!! from 55 originally...)

99% clumsy

1% fancy shoes....

this looked rather clumsy to me. they were about to do some filming of the occupy boston-circus. dont know whether they were outsiders or there to make some propaganda for the 99%.

i wanted to write more today, but im too lazy! perhaps tomorrow.. :)

Charlestown photoshoot

tim picked me up from work in charlestown. it was suddenly rather sunny out and not too cold, so i wanted to test 2 filters i bought yesterday. slowly i am finding out that taking pictures is no magic, you just need some stuff.... ;) but especially you need objects. there were some desolate buildings, some graffiti. pretty standard. pictured it all, and then we drove off to go home. turns out right on the other side of the building there was a photoshoot going on! while driving by i took some photos, which were all crap... :( only this one is kind of ok. but it is missing the girl watching with a little dog. and its missing the red ballerina-shoes that were on the ground, most likely the ones the girl being pictured was wearing before she got into those impossible high heels...

taking pictures takes time, patience, a steady hand and.. you need to think before you shoot! too bad i usually realize that when at home, going through my pics, and they all turned out.. not exactly as i wanted.... perhaps if i were a magician i could construct the entire scene as i wanted from the 5 crappy pics i took... hmmm, maybe better next time!

Shoe warehouse

it is restaurantweek in boston. eating in expensive restaurants for less money than they normally charge. but the tricky part; also their menu is different. for the cheapo option, that is... you almost feel bad when they ask you: normal menu or restaurantweek menu? (and it does feel as if they say; cheapos or...  are you coming for the real thing?). anyways.... our table was booked for 8.45. i was a little early which allowed me to visit DSW; the designer shoe warehouse for cheapos! :D 1000s of shoes at discounted rates.... when tim came, i tried on some "real american woman shoes.." ;) as above.... see-through heels in 3 different colors with glitter... (too bad you cant see that on the photo). i decided not to buy them when i found out that they actually did not light up when walking... :( a huge disappointment ofcourse....!!

ah yes, another tim-picture...

Lady Fiasco

yesterday i saw large trucks with "monster tour lady gaga" on it. i asked my friend google what it meant, and i found out that today lady gaga was giving a concert in the TD garden. since the TD garden is in north station, where i take the orange line, i packed my camera this morning as i hoped to finally photograph "people going to the TD garden". ~19.000 people fit into the TD garden, so whenever there is an event, its hard to miss when you are in/around the station. tim left work a little later than me, so i was alone at north station, with my big camera, much too heavy bag, and an enormous amount of shyness!! :(( buuuh.. there were sooo many, very interestingly dressed girls (and some guys), much more interesting than these legs i recently posted. that was just child's play. seriously. but i did not dare... i felt so out of place, so obviously an outsider just there to take pictures. it was very crowded, and there were so many policemen and security guards... then tim finally came (usually then i better dare taking pics), but no.. still not... then he took some, and i was jealous, but they were all unsharp (ha! i thought... (how mean!)). finally i took the one above, but i took some time (as thats one of the things i finally learned; if i do take a pic; dont take it hastily...). and yep, immediately a policeman came telling me that i could not just stand there and had to move on. so, that was it. no extreme lady gagas for me..... :(

Ice breaker

have you ever walked on ice that wasnt strong enough to hold you? i never had this desire but the path on yesterday's peninsula was rather icy. or better; it was entirely covered by a layer of ice. actually.. the parts where the ice was breaking were OK to walk, but other, more firm parts were sooooo slippery! when we were about to walk back to the car, an old couple just arrived. they had to return after a few metres.... :(

hmmm, i realize my boots get pictured quite often!

Subway legs

we saw some legs this evening! tiny skirts and high heels... i took 3 pics but they were right in front of me... so i didnt dare to try more.... the skirts were so extremely short and the heels sooo high, the girls had difficulty walking. this is a very common sight here, for girls/women going out. am i glad im not a real american woman! :)

this was at north station, and they had no clue which train to take....
for another leg photo: here :)

Snow boots

it was snowing the entire morning! and its colder again... its predicted to get very cold over the weekend, leaving us monday at -12 degrees celsius..! lets see...

above my boots in the hallway leading to our apartment. these corridors are sooo ugly! the colors, the light... it looks like a hotel and the doors to the apartments are also "hotel style", they slam shut the moment you let go of them. its so noisy and very inconvenient when coming home with a lot of groceries... but of course thats all forgotten as soon as we enter our perfect apartment... :)

anyways, im so happy i bought these boots! they are perfect with all the snow and salt, as all my other shoes (ooh, i have too many!) would be ruined... so on snow days (or rainy days), i wear my boots, with pink boot liners to keep my feet a little warm. at work i then change to ballerinas or something.... ooh.... shoes.... :)

My shoes

oooh, no time right now but still want to post. so a lazy one..

remember i wrote about american-lady-shoes?

here are mine!! the equivalent of the big white ugly ones... :)) but only for walking/hiking... they are a little too big on my feet for normal-day-use.... (i think)
but i did get to like them.... tim found them at marshalls for only 10 dollars, but was soooo disappointed to find them not fitting him, but surprise... they did fit me! and thus he made me buy them (or bought them for me; i guess thats most likely). only recently i really got to wear them. i like the effect they have on kids; they keep staring at them, sometimes then they stare at me.. most likely wondering why such an old person is wearing shoes they should wear! (but maybe thats just my imagination)
oohh, i forgot to add this link of another (dutch) photoblogger showing a cool shoe-work-of-art!!! i guess this unconsiously made me post something about shoes...

On shoes

i am fascinated by the shoes american women wear. either they are like above, super high heels that i cannot imagine ever to be able to walk on normally, or big white ugly sport shoes. i do not see much in between, or maybe only these 2 extremes catch my eye. the big white shoes i never understand. sometimes a woman is so well dressed, but then i see her shoes... everything for comfort?! at the same time, for a party, or wedding, they suddenly are able to walk on impossibly high heels.. :)

the people in the picture above belong to the latest wedding i pictured. they were waiting while the bride & groom got their pictures taken... maybe now the guy has a picture of them at his desk, as to never forget he has a wife... ;)

a few months back i actually had the idea to take pictures of legs/shoes. but then i found out someone i once met at a party already did that, and even got a book published about that. curious? here is the link. is anything ever original? i guess everything has been said and done already before. some are just more succesful than others... :)