Already?!?

Q has proved to be an exact opposite of her big sister at the same age.  Q is VERY girlie!  She loves shoes, purses, enjoys having her hair done (as long as it's quick), loves wearing jewelry, etc.  Every morning she goes into my room selects a shoe box, removes the shoes and parades around the house in them...EVERY morning without fail.

We took her to the Crocs store recently to figure out her size and it was nearly impossible to get her to take the shoes off, we had to bribe her with a trip to the cookie store or something like that.

So you can imagine her excitement when the mailman brought a new shiny pair of shoes to the door!  And for those of you who can't imagine, here are some photos and a video!  I can't believe how well she walks in them already (and they're open-toed AND way too big for her).

Trying to put them on...

She did it...

One happy girl...

She's a lil' pro

 

My Perfect Shoe!

I've mentioned previously that my goal for this year is to run a 5k and so a few weeks ago I decided that it was time to not just use the elliptical but to start using the treadmill again but this time it was to run not walk.  So I started with the Couch to 5k program which should be fairly simple even for me!  But I was never able to make it through the full amount of time.  Yes, I was exhausted after several minutes but I'm pretty good about pushing through exhaustion it was the pain that I just couldn't bare.  And so I'd give it up for the day and move on to the elliptical or weights with the goal to come back and try it another day.  I figured that it was just a matter of getting used to it, I could not have been more wrong.  The pain didn't go away, in fact it started to get worse and I was just about ready to throw in the towel on running completely when I started doing some research.  The conclusion I reached after the research...shin splints!

I found out that there could be several causes of the shin splints but the easiest to fix was new shoes.  Now B told me back before Christmas that I needed new shoes because the ones I had didn't really have any tread left.  But he may as well have been speaking french to me because I grew up 1) in the south and since we don't get a lot of snow or ice we didn't need a lot of traction and 2) my family didn't have a lot of money so we wore shoes until we wore a hole into the shoe and there were no holes in my shoes (even though they're a good 4-5 years old).  So I ignored him and decided I didn't really need shoes.

But in an effort to get rid of the pains in my shin I caved and went into a local running store.  They analyzed my feet on a machine which did a scan of my feet.  It showed them my arch as well as showing them where on my foot I place the most pressure and balance most of my weight.  Then they watched me walk.  Based on everything they observed they concluded that I have a neutral foot therefore I require a shoe with a neutral ride and that I don't over- or underpronate and the best type of shoe for me was a cushioned running shoe.  Then they pulled out a few brands and had me try them on.

I had been told that the shoes at this shop were a bit on the high priced end and that I could find them cheaper elsewhere, but for the type of shoe I require I found that they were pretty much the same price as everywhere else.  Everywhere else except the Nike Factory Store that is!  So that's where we headed and I walked out of there with a pair of shoes that I loved, in a color that I loved - which ultimately was the downfall of the running store.  To me, color matters!!!

Today I was finally able to go to the gym and give them a try and I cannot tell you how amazing it felt to run in those shoes!  They're light weight, they're very well cushioned and I kind of felt like I was bouncing on clouds the entire time.  And yes, I ran today.  And yes, I was exhausted.  But no, I was not in pain!!!  Now just to settle on a date for that 5k...

My Shoes!!

Shoes

Y has had no shortage of shoes either during her short 2 year life.  And no, this is not including her current shoes!  Not to mention she still needs tennis shoes and boots for this winter.  We're setting a bad precedence.  If she grows up to have a shoe fetish, in the words of my mom, "she got it honest!"

I LOVE Summer!!!

I Love Summer! It's hot, it's sticky (well not really here in Michigan but all the people who are from here seem to think it's horrible humidity...they should move to the south) but those aren't the reasons I love it so much. I love it because I love summer shoes...sandals, flip flops, you name it and I love it. I used to love ALL things shoe but in the past several years my affinity for "other" shoes has lessened. I am trying to pass my love for shoes on to my beloved daughter but as you may have read in my previous post she hates shoes. It kind of makes me sad because ever since she was born shopping for myself doesn't give me the same thrill as shopping for her. I haven't let the fact that she hates shoes deter me though, I mean, she has to have shoes, right?!?! Fortunately I have The Children's Place which has many affordable options, plus I shop there so much that they invited us to their rewards program so we actually earn points for every dollar you spend and then they send us a reward certificate for $10 when we reach a certain number of points. Anyway, here's my latest purchase...

I bought both pair but they have even more colors (7 to choose from) which were so hard to resist, so I just stuck to the essentials. Anyway...I'm ready and excited for summer now!

If I Give Y Nothing Else...

...I want to pass along to her my LOVE of shoes. Especially cute sandals and any summertime shoe really. Today, I made a trip to The Children's Place just to buy her a pair of shoes that I saw in the flyer that they mail me. She already has several pairs of shoes but when I saw these, they literally called my name because she did not yet have a pair of white sandals and every little girl needs a pair of white sandals. The picture really doesn't do them justice, I loved them in the flyer but in person I LOVED them! Probably weird that I dedicated a whole post to a pair of shoes, but oh well!!!