Rain Clouds

Sweater: Gap (similar save, similar splurge); Top: Forever 21; Pants: Target (similar save, similar splurge); Bag: Vintage Coach; Coat: H&M (similar); Boots: Macy's (similar)

Last night Ben and I were woken up at about 4 a.m. by blaring gospel music from the bar across the street. It carried on for a good hour before I fell asleep, earplugs firmly in my ears. We still don't know why, or how, and it seems like a fuzzy waking dream. Regardless, it set the tone for my Saturday so far - nothing's going as planned and it all seems rather weird. It has been on-again, off-again raining here (yet muggy), there's some kind of construction going on upstairs that's fueling my headache, and we plan to get Ben and iPhone today but I've developed a raging store stomach and we've already had to go to and leave the Verizon store once. Ugh! Today is supposed to be my slow-carb cheat day (hooray breads), but I don't feel well enough to eat crackers and cheese as I'd planned. Boo! 

I'm ready for a do-over weekend. Is that possible?! I hope you're all having some more success than I am today. Perhaps Sunday and the evening will have some better circumstances in store!

Shoe Envy

Jacket: H&M (similar save, similar splurge); Dress: Gap (similar save, ); Belt: H&M (similar); Shoes: Bandolino; Bracelet: Tiffany & Co (similar save)

I've always been envious of people with awesome shoe collections. When I started this blog I had one pair of black heels for work and a handful of flip flops, a pair of flats, and a few summer sandals from Target. Since blogging my collection has certainly expanded, but I still find myself hunting around in the closet every morning because I don't have the perfect shoe for every outfit. I adore the Bandolino heels above that my Mom handed down to me and needed to wear a low heel with this shirt-dress to work the other day, but didn't have a matching black low-heel and had to settle for these in dark dark brown. This makes me weirdly think that having your shoes dyed to match your suit in the old days was a genius idea! These are clearly small-change problems in the world, but I've always wanted a fantastic shoe collection.

I've seen many online shoe shops on the web and have never taken the plunge into uncharted sizing territory but I think I'm ready. I can never find my size in stores (I am a colossal 10) and by the time the shoes are in a 10, they're ugly left-overs. I was totally fed up with my shoe rack today, so signing up for ShoeDazzle today was a breath of fresh, personalized shoe air (that sounds kinda gross, but new shoe air!). Below are some of my top choices of my personalized ShoeDazzle collection (the chief stylist of ShoeDazzle is Rachel Zoe if you weren't inspired to join already).

 Sign up here! I'm definitely purchasing some tonight with my 20% first order and free shipping What shoes would you buy?

                                       

This post is sponsored by ShoeDazzle. All opinions in this post are my own and not affected by the sponsorship. Thanks for supporting the companies that make Ladies in Navy able to sponsor other fashion blogs and giveaways!

Linking up with Friday's Five, Favorite Friday, Coffee Date Friday.

On the Menu: Wasabi + Goma Deviled Eggs

You likely all already know about my slow-carb/low-carb diet from following my whining on Twitter and Instagram, so I wanted to share a recipe that's not only low in carbs, but is delicious, protein-heavy, and a great appetizer today! It serves as a delicious replacement for the french bread and cheese I'm craving.

Wasabi + Goma (black sesame seed) deviled eggs

6 eggs (see below how to boil the perfect egg)

1/4 c. olive oil mayonnaise

2 tablespoons wasabi paste

1/2 tsp horseradish

A few dashes hot sauce

1-2 tablespoons lemon

1 tsp pepper

dash of salt

Black sesame seeds (garnish)

Step 1: Hard boiled eggs

First, you'll need to cook the perfect hard-boiled egg. I learned this technique in Bon Appetit and now cannot get enough of hard boiled eggs. Did you know that when an egg is overcooked the yolk starts turning green? To avoid this, follow these directions:

Place 6 eggs in a saucepan cold water. The water should be a knuckle over the top of the eggs. Bring the eggs and water to a rolling boil. Once the water is boiling (and no later!), remove from heat, cover the pan, and set a time for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes rinse the eggs in cold water, peel and proceed. This will make a perfect, soft, cooked through, beautiful egg!

Step 2: Filling

Peel the eggs, slice them in half and remove the yolks (check out your beautiful yolks!), placing them in a small bowl on the side. Mix in mayonnaise, wasabi paste, horseradish, hot sauce, lemon, salt and pepper (all to taste). Mash the yolks and mayonnaise mixture until the right consistency. I like to leave the mixture chunky rather than smooth. Use a spoon (or even a bakery tool if your mixture is smooth) to fill the egg whites with the egg yolk mix. Garnish with black sesame seeds and serve warm!

Don't forget to enter the $150 Hazel's Haven giveaway and Datevitation giveaway!