Pretty, Pretty Shoes

Those of you who know me well, know that I am the world's worst shopper. When my mom and Grammy used to take me school clothes shopping at the end of summer, we all would end up back at home grumpy, tired and a bit weepy. (Well, I would be weepy, the other two would just be pissy.) Mom, you don't have to nod your head so hard, we all get the picture. I was a Bad Shopper. I never knew what I wanted, never knew what looked good on me, and would hate spending the time trying shit on.

You know the saying 'things change over time'? It's a load of crap when it comes to me and shopping. As an example: I was forced, FORCED to get a new pair of flip flops yesterday because I'd worn my only pair threadbare --literally, the thingy that is sewn into the shoe that sits between your big toe and the one next to it? Hanging on by a thread.

A few weeks ago, I decided it was high time I got an actual pair of walking shoes. Ones that weren't 4 years old and had some cushion in them. So I walked my fanny up to the mall and into a Lady Footlocker.

Beforehand, I'd gone over exactly what I needed to tell the salesperson about what I needed in a shoe for this event. I needed something that would breathe, that could withstand 20 miles in a single day, something that would not make me want to take them off and walk barefoot across Western Washington.

I rehearsed my little speech over and over as I walked into the store. But once inside, I could do no more than stand and stare at the, seemingly, thousands of shoes lining the walls. And then I sat down and stared some more.

A saleslady came over to me and asked if she could help me find something and I mumbled something about 60 miles, walking, and help without ever taking my eyes off the immense amount of shoes. Lucky for me, her mom had done The Breast Cancer 3-Day a few years before so she understood what I needed. In a matter of minutes, she had my measurements (my foot is now an 8... I swear they're shrinking.) and I have a tendency to walk on the outside of my feet, thus causing all my shoes to wear more along the outside edge.

She pulled out four different shoes and had me walk around the store in each of them. We then narrowed it down to two and I walked around in one of each of those. They were both very comfortable and bouncy and supportive and... very expensive. At the end, I told her I'd have to think about it and had her write down the shoes I'd liked the best.

Two days later, I'd thought long and hard and decided I really did need to get the shoes, but I could not justify spending so much money on just one pair of shoes. I mean, you're reading a story from a girl who can't remember the last time she bought a new outfit. A girl who bought her last pair of walking shoes FOUR years ago and is just now replacing them because the padding in the heel has started disintegrating and causing blisters.

So, I did what every red-blooded American does and shopped around. I ended up finding the shoes cheaper at a Sports Authority and bought them from a crappy salesman who didn't even look twice at the shoes. I feel guilty as hell that I didn't go back and buy from the lady at Lady Footlocker. I'm thinking for my second pair of shoes, I'll end up going back to her so she can at least get a little bit of commission off of me. Because, seriously. She helped me more than I could have asked for.The shoes? They are pretty. They still give me blisters (my god, are you sick of hearing about my blisters yet? because I am.), but I think it's more of a combo of my thick socks/new shoes thing than anything else.


This week, I'm off to find some thin socks and moleskin to see if I can keep from getting the you-know-whats on my you-know-wheres. Wish me luck!