all-year gift guide for the girl with everything

original image of Erté's artwork from here, quote by Friedrich Nietzsche, image by Devilishly Pleasurable.

I love giving presents. And I pride myself on giving awesome presents from the heart, unless all the people I've given things to are fantastic actors with their delightful responses and faces that light up being practiced masks. But, I prefer to think better of the near and dear ones (i.e. the only people I bother giving things to, most of the time) and that my Lie Detector Skills are rather sharp. When it comes to the holiday season, often do we associate it with gifting. But, I think that The Art of Gifting should extend throughout the year, whether in terms of dropping in a tiny piece of jewelry in the mail for one of your friends for no rhyme or reason, as a celebratory gesture or for their birthdays. Amongst my friends, I am notorious for receiving this line in all my cards and tags-- What do you get for the girl with everything? But, to be honest, even though I have loads of stuff, I often retort that I am faced with the same headache too. . most of us seem to have everything. Here are some gift ideas for a range of different budgets, which will hopefully inspire or guide you to give a gift that is beyond the toiletries basket (even if I secretly love them) or a generic gift voucher at the mall (even if I love them too). For The Girl With Everything, or The Girl Who Does Not Have Everything, there is always something to be had. Otherwise, you are your own friend. . so give yourself a little treat-- draw up goals and plans to achieve, and reward yourself everytime you meet them!

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a guide to orthotics-- pretty shoes despite foot problems

Hello there! Today on Devilishly Pleasurable we have another guest blogger, Colleen of Scrap and Run, continuing the series on shoes. For those of you who are new here or haven't been here for a bit, I ran two earlier features on shoes, one where I celebrated my collection of shoes through the years, and a guest post by Megan of Two Birds Boutique on indispensable tips on wearing your shoes all year round regardless of seasonal changes. That was the first time DP featured a guest blogger, and this is followed by Colleen, who dispenses advice for those of us requiring orthotics to deal with foot problems, allowing you to stay comfortable without sacrificing aesthetics. So often are we bombarded with images of the beautiful and pristine, yet the pursuit of fashion, style and beauty is not as straightforward for all of us. As Colleen puts it, her confidence has increased; and let's hope that you too can pass this information to your family, friends and colleagues who might be plagued with similar problems, spreading a little (shoe) love. . .

 

365 days of shoes-- how to wear ALL your shoes ALL year round!

Last week at Devilishly Pleasurable, I unveiled seven years of Dearly Beloved Shoes in my post To All The Shoes I've Loved Before. As a woman who finds shoes devilishly pleasurable (and making more time on my part for this site), I am launching a series of shoe-related posts. The following is by the lovely Guest Blogger Megan of Two Birds, dishing out her fabulous tips on how to maximise mileage on your shoes and letting them see the light of day all year round. Living in a country with four seasons? No problem! There's always a way out, and a stylish one at that. Not to mention, cost-effective. Life couldn't get better!

original image source here

It looks like it’s Shoe Week here at Devilishly Pleasurable…and I couldn’t be happier. Who doesn’t love shoes? They add to an outfit, sometimes even make an outfit. I have been known to plan a whole outfit based on just my shoes. They are probably my favorite accessory. But, here’s my problem – I live in Minnesota. About three months out of the year, it’s nice and warm – the other nine months, cold and colder. I have all of these beautiful summer shoes that I can only wear three months out of the year, and a ton of fabulous boots that I miss by the time summer rolls around. So I decided to think outside of the box, and luckily, fashion has been right beside me. I have found that there are so many stylish ways to wear “summer” shoes in the winter and “winter” shoes in the summer. I never have to store my shoes away; I can wear them year round!

baby steps to better blogging-- graduating to new heights!

The emergence of the blogosphere as a considerable force needs no introduction. It used to be the question, how to be a better person, that philosophers such as Epictetus, Balthasar Gracian and Marcus Aurelis would meditate upon-- a contemplation that remains even more relevant today. Hyperfragmentation in post-modernity, however, dictates that separate, distinct pigeonholes of categorisations, and guides on how to be a better (insert title) abound. And so it is for fashion bloggers in this week's Friend Friday, focusing on the blogging process and evolution, best encapsulated as 'Baby Steps to Better Blogging-- Graduating to New Heights!'

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