Vibram Five Fingers - Speed!

This is my first pair of Vibrams.  I had been wanting to buy a pair for a long time, but was nervous about breaking myself into them, as I had read and heard a lot about the adjustment required to get your body used to running without the cushion and heel height that a normal pair of running shoes gives.  There is definitely a break in period.  Go slow and be patient!

I bought mine at Poulsbo Running.  It was great to be able to try on a whole bunch of different styles of minimal shoes and run and hop around in them for as long as I wanted.  Sizes are different, and I highly recommend trying them on before you buy.

The style of the Speed appealed to me, because I felt like I had more control over how tight they were, since they lace up like regular running shoes. My only complaint is that the tongue isn't connected on the sides to the shoe, so sometimes it pinches... I have to wiggle it around to get it just right.

I don't generally care what my running shoes look like, but the bright blue is just a bonus!  So far, I really like them. I didn't buy the toe socks, so I have just been throwing them in the wash and hanging them to dry.  They are holding up really well.  They are sturdily made and the most comfortable shoe I have ever worn.

If you have been thinking about a barefoot shoe, I recommend the Vibrams.  You can feel every little rock, but that's part of the awesomeness of running in barefoot shoes! Right? Right!

**Update:  I have put well over 200 miles on these shoes, and they are still in decent shape.  I see some wear in the sole (which is to be expected) but the uppers are extremely durable.  They did get a little bit of a funky smell after getting wet one too many times.

I also must say that they are a fair weather shoe.  Since it has started getting colder, I definitely need to add some toe socks.  Not being able to feel my toes when running has kind of sucked.  I plan on getting a pair of Ininji or Smartwool toe socks, but even my generic Christmas toe socks held up well and fit.

Doesn't look good.... but they felt okay!

I'll definitely be buying a second pair of the Speed, but I am holding out for the tougher version.  I found out that they have the Men's style out... so I am just waiting patiently and trying a pair of Saucony Hattori and Vivobarefoot Breatho Trail in the meantime!

Oops, I am a Contradictor

Well, I guess I am a contradictor of myself... I just read this review that I wrote on Amazon about the Nine West Women's Nuri Knee High Boot on June 27, 2010.

"These boots are fantastic! True to size, well made and so comfortable. The first time I wore them, I was in them for about 10 hours and my feet didn't hurt at all! I don't recommend wearing them in the rain though. They aren't waterproof and they get water spots on them very quickly." http://www.amazon.com/review/R2JZVAM5NXDVTQ/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Oops, and I just dissed Blowfish earlier about making a boot that wasn't waterproof.  So, I had to revise my theory on boots.  If they are super hot, like the Nine West Nuri... then they can get away with being non-waterproof.  But if they are built to look cute and somewhat durable, like the Blowfish boot, then they should also be a decent amount of water-resistant. 
 
But, it could also be all my bad for not treating my boots.  I guess if I loved my shoes as much as I say I do, then I would have treated them with some water-resistant stuff, right?  I guess I just haven't thought about it until now.  Ironic, I know, since I live in a rainforest.  Any recommedations on water resistant stuff out there?
 
Oh well.  Back to the Nuri boot.  I wrote this review over a year ago, and I still totally love these boots.  They have stood up well to my wear and tear and are still cute and in great condition.  I don't wear them on rainy days, because I don't want wet toes, but as far as durability and comfort, they are at the top of my list. 
 
I also get tons of compliments when I wear them.  They go great with skirts and skinny jeans, and they are slim enough that you can tuck them under regular jeans as well.  I did that for a really long time until I worked up the nerve to wear skinny jeans again.  Now I love them (the skinny jeans).
 
Anyway, Nine West can do no wrong in my book.  I haven't found a pair of Nine West shoes that aren't true to size, comfortable or amazing... so they are my fall back brand.  Boots like the Nuri just reinforce that opinion for me. 
 

 

The Best but Wussiest Boots Ever

Below is the review I posted on Amazon, complete with link.  I totally hearted these boots, and I am still really sad that they were so cheaply made.  And now that I think about it, they leaked.  And, being from Forks, where it rains 300+ days per year, waterproof boots are kind of important and it is especially important that your boots actually be waterproof.  Silly me.  I miss them, but they are now happily (or unhappily) on a shelf in a Goodwill somewhere.  Maybe someone will get them and invest in a second re-soling.  Haha.

Blowfish Women's Wildlife Boot,Chocolate Leather,7.5 M US

I adore these boots. They are so comfortable and get tons of compliments... BUT I had to rate them a three because of the poor quality. I expected a slightly better product for the price. The soles are very thin, the heel is cheaply made, and the toe was separating from the sole after only a few months. I am pretty hard on my boots... they are worn a lot. After only 4 months, I had to have them resoled, which wasn't cheap. He didn't recommend it because they weren't leather and weren't well made, but I went ahead anyway. That has extended their life to almost a year. What a bummer... because I love them!!

http://www.amazon.com/review/R3APWYQHVGLEN8/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm 
 
 
 

Of pink boots and pent-up frustrations... where it all started

Below I have included a blog post from a long time ago.... because I have obviously taken the wrong approach in regards to my "sole" mates. 

I still mourn for the shoes on the side of the road, don't get me wrong.  But if I don't have time to put my own shoes away, how can I justify worrying about the ones other people have lost? 

Beginning with the immortalized "pink boots", I began my own love affair with shoes.  I am the cool, funky lady with LOTS of hot shoes now... and I blame it all on ebay, Amazon and my need to reward myself for mediocrity.

Soooo - I review books alot on my other blog, and I think I would like to review shoes here... as I buy them of course.  Or pine for them...  You should see my Amazon wish list.  *sigh*

We'll see if this goes anywhere. 

But, while I decide, enjoy the story below.

Where to start. Over the course of the past four months I have done two entirely unrelated things (I have also done LOTS more unrelated stuff - like deep clean my refrigerator, clean, grind, cut and wrap 70 lbs of deer meat (with Jason ), sew a merman tail and learn to make cedar roses - but those are not part of this particular story).
So the two things... begin my Christmas shopping super early (in order to avoid stress, relax and enjoy the Reason for the Season) AND slowly let frustrations regarding events mostly beyond my control pile up and stress me out until I sometimes want to scream and run down the street pulling my hair and basically making a complete fool of myself. Soooo, all stress that would have been relieved by Christmas shopping early, has now multiplied much beyond what it ever would have been EVEN if I had waited until Christmas Eve and marathon shopped.
Every night and every weekend I have told myself - now is the time to relax, let it go, in the grand scheme of life - what you are stressing about DOES NOT MATTER. In fact, you are not supposed to become bitter and frustrated! OMMMMM.. I pray, I vent, I try to remove myself from the situation, I pray more... And on the weekends I go to PA - or wherever and keep my super thrifty eyes out for any Christmas presents to be snatched up EARLY. I keep a list, I check it twice, I go shopping on Ebay to try and find more deals. And here is where things get really fun.
THANKSGIVING! A four and a half day weekend. I need it so bad - I can decompress, enjoy my family... NOT shop because I am already almost DONE!! Woohoo! So I go on Ebay, ahh ah AAHHH - EEE Bayyyyy.... (That part is to music, folks, think Little Mermaid/ Madame Blueberry). I love Ebay.
I find the funkiest boots ever for my dear shoe loving sister - I think, okay heels are a little high, especially NOW (you know dear sis) - but they are funky. She will like them! So I bid... and slowly wait. I send her a random question regarding shoe color preference (these sweet boots happen to be pink). She doesn't reply, time is running down. I nonchalantly give her a call. She casually says - oh, I don't really need boots... eww, pink?! But they're cool, I say... (I've been caught up in the game - I want to win, those are MY boots!) I can't pressure her into them.... Besides, she says, I am looking for shoes with a lower heel these days. Bugger. So I am outbid; I should be relieved. A sick part of me bids just .50 higher - just to raise the price for the phantom bidder - out to do ME harm, of course. I'm outbid again! My sister laughs. Watch out, you might win them and then be stuck with them! I am now caught up in the moment, invincible, yet sure I will be outbid and successfully have made the phantom's price higher. Ack! Now I'm the highest bidder with 8 minutes left. Oh for crying out loud! I win the boots. The present my sister shunned I now have to pay twice the price I intended and wear them myself... I am torn - they are super funky, like nothing I would ever wear - yet wish I would. I envision my shoe tastes changing. I will now be the cool, funky lady with hot shoes. Cool funky ladies with hot shoes have little time or care for stress, maybe I will become carefree!
Uggh - my sister is still presentless and I have new boots, right during the time of year when it should not be about me. I am forced to justify this ridiculous purchase... So, I've thought about it a lot. I've compared it with my other stressors, and I have come to the conclusion, that, in the grand scheme of life, it really won't matter if I own pink boots or not. Maybe these pink boots will be magical, and I can click my heels and go home! (If so, I know where I'll be wearing them) In fact, there's no point in stressing about it... I have allowed myself to do enough of that already!

Shoe Trees and Fish

So, as no idea or thought is original... there is nothing new under the sun, neither is my desire to learn more about the poor, unfortunate "soles", if you will, on the side of the road. Check out this link to a guy in Canada (I am assuming) who has a similar dream -

http://lukemaingot.tripod.com/id6.html

The neatest thing I never knew that I learned about from Luke's site is the existence of shoe trees. 'A what?' you say. A shoe tree - where shoes go when they die. I picture them serving as homes for birds, hideways for squirrels, and catch-alls for whatever else happens along. This amuses me, in a nostalgic sort of way.

When I was a little girl, we were all down at the "crick" (as we called it), having a picnic. As kids do, my brother and cousins were throwing sticks and rocks in the water. Well, I saw those poor little alder twigs floating away into the great unknown and I about freaked out. Of course, I was too small to go in and save them, so I remember just standing on the bank crying. My dad came over to calm me down and told me a story about how the fish love it when sticks float down the river because then they get to play with them and jump over them. Since then, I have been able to inwardly repress the desire to swim after the sticks I see floating down the river, by replaying that story in my mind.

Since I am in the Pacific Northwest, home to vampires, werewolves and possibly the most trees in the United States - oh besides all the ones we have murdered for paper towels - you would think it would be unthinkable that I could go my whole entire life never seeing a shoe tree. But it's true; I had no idea. Maybe it's because we have so many trees around here that we don't get the incredible urge to hang random things on them, unlike those poor people smattered around the rest of the continent with hardly any trees at all. So anyway. I now wish I had had a shoe tree with which to lay my boots to rest, but I suppose a landfill works just as well and isn't considered littering.

The idea...

All too often I have been driving down the road and noticed a shoe... never a pair of shoes, always just the one. I always wonder, "What the heck?" How, praytell, does a shoe just end up on the interstate? It makes no sense.

The hardest thing I have had to do, okay, not really... but one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, is give up and admit a pair of shoes needed to be thrown away. It hurt. A lot.

I've lost the heel on a pair of boots before. They were irreparable. I knew it. I even took them to a shoe doctor, all in vain. He told me the boots needed to be put down. They had lived their life. The intact mate was doomed to go on alone. Best to put them out of their misery together. They remained in my closet for almost a year before I stuffed them in the trash, slammed the lid and forced myself to walk away. I may have shed a tear that day.

Do the people who lose their shoe on the side of the road feel the same way? Was that shoe loved as much as I love mine? Perhaps we will never know. But their story deserves to be told. They deserve a chance to let their mate know where they are. They might be flattened and unrecognizable on the shoulder of the road - but they are out there. Maybe they are even wearable. But how can a shoe go on without their mate?