Old Brown Socks

DG came home the other day, handed me a pair of brown socks he had found in his car and asked if they were mine? Though it was no bra or lace panties, my first response was, "who was stripping in the back of your car?" said with indignant indifference. Then I realized that when Joy was here, she had mentioned changing her socks in the car. I tossed them in the laundry and figured I'd give them to her when I saw her again.

Until the other night, when I needed a warm pair of socks to wear to bed, and I chose the clean brown ones in my drawer. As I put them on, I wondered what it would be like to walk in Joy's socks. Where had these socks been? Was the spirit of Joy going to be with me when I slept? Was I going to be a more compassionate and caring friend? What made Joy buy these socks? Did she miss them? I know none of these things.

Do you pay to mail socks back? If they are your absolute favorite socks, Joy, I will mail them back!

Mama needs a new pair of shoes

I got an email from Banana Republic the other day regarding a new Shoe store that is part of the Gap, Inc. family. It is called Piperlime and it looks promising. I personally buy 80% of my shoes at DSW and the other 20% at REI, and have never purchased shoes online. Is it the new fun name or this hip website that is luring me in? It would seem to me that buying online could be difficult. I'll go try on 10 pairs of shoes before I find one that has the right fit, style, and comfort level.

It's only been recently (in the past 3 years) that I've changed my idea of shoe buying. You know it's bad when you refer to half of your shoes as Hooker shoes. I used to get only the highest, prettiest looking heels I could find and comfort was not at all a factor. This equated to foot binding pain after walking 1 block in them. I specifically remember wearing white platform heels on a trip to NYC to see Joy. I proceeded to not only wear them all day, but also out drinking all night. I was like so hot (uh huh) and I can still feel the sweet relief of taking them off at 2:00am. Sometimes beauty is PAINFUL.

After years of torturing these old dogs, I finally decided to try and buy shoes for comfort. My first comfort shoe was a pair Dansko. They hurt in a different way than my hooker shoes. I have come to realize they were not made for my foot. I have since moved on to Keen and Merrills. It's like on the 7th day God created little pillows for me to walk on. Love them, not so cute in them, but it is the sacrifice. Sometimes comfort is UGLY.

That doesn't mean that I still don't want the 5" Kenneth Cole knee high boots, but only when I just have to sit around and look pretty.