Women and shoes

Fake Tom's and the view from my office :)

I love shoes. I used to have more than a hundred pairs. None of them cost more than $25, but I loved them all. Over time, many of them have left my life. Some I wore out, some I outgrew, some of them... my pet rat Wesker chewed up. I miss that rat....

But as I have gained weight, my obsession for shoes has waned. I find a pair that I love, try them on... and look fat in them. Sometimes I buy them anyway, because they're shoes. I'm a bargain shopping kind of girl, though. I usually can't wrap my head around pricey name brands, especially for shoes that I'm just going to wear to work. I used to work in an outlet mall, so I did own several pairs from Nine West, Clarks, Nike, and other such places, but most of those shoes are no longer with me.

My shoes are mostly more practical now, and I have started to drift toward name-brands, particularly if I'm going to be doing anything in them (running, hiking, etc). My old running shoes are Ryka's and were a gift from my grandmother. They have served me pretty well, being lightweight and breathable, but it's getting close to time for them to retire. I've had my eyes on Vibram FiveFingers for the past four years or so, but with their $80 and up price tag, they were quite a bit out of my range.

I had planned to wait patiently until our house (read- singlewide) was paid off, but I had a stroke of luck today! We went to the skate shop to pick up a new board for my oldest as an early birthday present (more on that later) and I asked my hubby if we could step down to Running Outfitters just a few doors away. He begrudgingly agreed, and away we went. I originally went in to show him some of the shoes I had seen on the wall- all of which were way more than I wanted to pay, but I turned around to find.... a table full of 1/2 price Vibrams! I slipped on the SeeYa's:

 ... and I knew they had to be mine! It was like slipping on a second skin! I love them!! My husband grinned at me sheepishly and said, "You wanna get 'em?" Of course I want to get them!!!
Then he asks, "Since they're half off, you want to get another pair?" Can you guess what I did?

Yup. Just scored two pairs of Vibrams for the price of one ;) Still a bit more than I would usually pay for shoes, but you just don't see a sale like that all the time. I had to promise not to buy any more shoes... for the rest of the year.

*Gulp*... that's not going to be easy. I heard they have knock-off Tom's at 5 Below....