New Shoes + Sewing Machine Upgrade

I haven't had too much free time to blog lately....or to visit other blogs (insert sad face emoticon here). I just finished making a few more one-of-a-kind pieces for iNDie here in Springfield and now I need to get back to sewing pants for myself since the weather is finally supposed to turn chilly this weekend!

I'm also finally going to add some new shoes to my wardrobe. I know there are lots of cliches about women being completely shoe-crazy.....I am not one of them. I think I have maybe 6 pairs of shoes in my closet, at least 4 of which I've had for over 5 years at least! I usually try to buy quality shoes that will last a long time, so I don't feel bad investing a little extra money in a pair of shoes. Here are the ones that I hope to get within the next few weeks:

Bass "Gloucester" heels. These are really classic and have a vintage feel to them. Can't tell you how desperately I need a pair of basic black heels!

A couple weeks ago, I finally broke down and tossed a pair of black Nine West Mary Janes that I'd had for 8 (!) years. These are the "Shivver" Mary Janes from Ecco. I tried them on at a local department store last week and they are crazy comfortable!

Yellow Box "Samantha" t-strap wedges in taupe. I really, really need brown shoes too, and I think these are really cute.

I have a pair of tall brown suede boots that I bought from The Walking Company 10 years ago. They are amazing and probably have another 5 years of wear left in them. I really want a pair of black boots, too. These are the "Casilda" boots by Nine West. I love the late-1960s vibe of these, and they are flats as well. I'm not a big fan of boots with heels so these will be perfect!

I've also decided that it's time to save up for a new sewing machine. I've had my current sewing machine for 10 years. It's a late 1990s Singer with a 4-step buttonhole feature and 5 stitches - an extremely basic machine and the motor is really, really L-O-U-D. I will always have a special place in my heart for this machine since it is the machine on which I learned how to sew and I can't even begin to imagine how many garments I've made with it! However, I feel that it's way past time for an upgrade. After lots of research, I think I've decided on the Janome Threadbanger tb30:

Isn't is beautiful? It's still a pretty basic machine, but it does have a larger variety of stitches, 6 different one-step buttonhole stitches, is computerized and, best of all, sews quietly. I do have a Janome serger which has been a really dependable workhorse of a machine, so I'm really confident with the Janome brand. Hopefully I will be able to get this machine before it's discontinued...I think it's been on the market for 2 years now. Anyone else had experience with this particular sewing machine?