I have mentioned before that I have freakishly small feet. It’s a problem. Not for walking and all that because they function just fine. It’s the buying shoes for my peg feet that is the problem.
What. A. Pain.
Seriously, apparently I am a rare breed. Because it is sooo hard to find shoes in my size. As much as I love shoes, I detest shoe shopping because it usually ends in frustration. I find plenty of shoes I think are adorable but they’re all in normal human feet sizes instead of elf sized. Lame.
I needed a pair of sandals for India. I have plenty of flip flops and a couple of cute but not comfortable pairs already but, I really wanted something I could walk around in all day. I certainly didn’t want to pack a backpack full of socks in order to wear tennis shoes.
I checked out a couple different outdoor stores but didn’t see anything in particular I liked. I’ve been sort of kind of looking for awhile but put off any serious search because of the size issues. Then suddenly today is here, my trip is in two days and I still have no shoes. Oops. Off to R.E.I. Joel and I went.
I was really excited when I realized that it’s the end of sandal season so they were all on clearance. Still not all that cheap but at least more reasonable. I searched through dozens of shoes and started to get sad when I realized I had very few options. I’m not really into the hiking sandal look as it is. Kind of reminds me of my dad. Only he’d wear them with knee high black socks. Oh yes he did. Anyway, when it’s narrowed down to three or four choices it’s even harder. I decided to try a couple on hoping they’d look better on my feet.
And then I found out R.E.I.’s shoe sizes run a little big.
That’s a size 6. Yeah. See my problem?
At that point I about burst into tears. I looked at Joel and bemoaned my itty bitty feet.
“Why oh why am I cursed with child sized feet?” I asked.
And then, basically as a joke, I walked over to the kid section and picked up a shoe and said that I bet it’d fit me. So I jokingly tried to put it on my foot….
And, like Cinderella. the freaking shoe fit.
I then started giggling hysterically and as the salesman walked by I pointed out the fact that I fit in a child’s shoe.
He just shrugged and said,
“Hey, they’re cheaper.”
Holy crap! He’s totally right! In fact, they’re about 50% less than adult versions of the same exact shoe! Jackpot!!!
The only problem with kids shoes is they’re so…. childish. Bright colors, silly patterns. It’s as if they expect children to wear them instead of full grown adult women with circus freak feet.
The pair I picked is brighter than I would have preferred. I also am not super crazy about the color pink. But it’s better than frogs or hearts or no shoes at all so I’m not going to complain too much.
Plus they were way cheap. Not too shabby, huh?