Tis The Season.... for SANDALS!!!

YES... YES... YES!!!! It's time for sandal wearing again!!!!  The grin on my face goes from ear to ear now that Spring is here and Summer is approaching on it's heels!  I have been living in boots for the past several months... and while I do LOVE me boots!.... I LOVE me sandals ooohhhh sooooo much more!

Yesterday I actually went sandal shopping, and am delighted to announce I have bought my first pair of sandals for the 2011 Spring season.  They were on clearance and from Target!  For the most part I'm a 'cheap' shopper.... always looking first for clearance items in my favorite stores of Target, Old Navy, Payless Shoes...etc.  Then I go for the "new arrival" selections to find a new favorite sandal(s) for the current season.  I have such a teeny tiny foot (teeny maybe... but thick and wide like Fred Flinstone!) that my best and favorite place to find shoes that are currently in style, and trendy for the season... whether it be Summer sandals  or Winter boots... is Payless Shoes because their shoe sizes typically run wider than most shoe stores, and I can find children's shoes... that believe it or not... actually fit my foot better than adult shoes.  However.... on those rare times I need a "big girl" fancy shoe for a fancy dinner party or party event... I have to shop on-line to find a high heel that will fit my Fred Flinstone short, fat foot!

I actually would go barefoot all Spring and Summer if it were socially acceptable... nothing better than fresh soft grass that feels like walking on a sherpa blanket under foot, or feeling the warmth of the sun baked into blacktop/concrete areas!  As children... me, my brother and my cousins pretty much lived outside from the first day that school ended, until the first day that school started again... and we were usually barefoot everyday.... except for when we had to put those dreaded shoes back on for Church!  Heck I could walk on the hottest blacktop surfaces, and run across rocks without ever feeling a thing.  However... us kids usually had constant bee stings on the bottom of our feet... but even that couldn't stop us from scampering right back outside barefoot once the stingers had been removed and pieces of wet tobacco under a bandaid applied to the sting.  By the end of Summer my Mom and my Aunt would have the hardest times getting us back in to wearing shoes for school.  Thus the reason for my love of sandals... because sandals are the next best thing to going barefoot when shoes MUST be worn in public!  My feet get to feel the freedom of the fresh air surrounding it, yet also being stylish and socially acceptable by being covered at the same time!  The reason I need to go sandal shopping at the first sign of Spring each year is because by Summer's end, I've absolutely worn all my sandals to near shreds... with their straps barely hanging on the shoe, and the tip of the shoe scuffed and peeling.  Yet... it always makes me sad when my favorite pair (and there is ALWAYS a favorite pair) have disintegrated beyond wearing.

My husband tho is a different creature altogether... he and his siblings grew up NEVER going barefoot and always wearing socks with their shoes!  When Joe and I had our children and I would allow them to run outside barefoot like I used to do as a child... he would call them back in and insist they put on their shoes AND socks!  It was a battle waged in our household for years... and of course like all good wives.... I would encourage them to wear their socks and shoes when Daddy was around... but once Daddy left for work... off came the shoes and socks and scampering barefoot was enjoyed until time for Daddy to come home from work and then back on the socks and shoes would go!  To this day he still insists on household members wearing both socks and shoes in the Fall and Winter months... but he has finally come around to wearing flip flops and shoes without socks during the Spring and Summer... but never ever does he go barefoot!  He claims the bottom of his feet are soooo tender.... and I always say it is because they were never exposed to toughen up.

Dear sweet Joe has finally learned when it comes to me... there is just no keeping shoes on my feet no matter what the season is.  In cool/cold weather I wear footie socks and sometimes sherpa lined slippers... but it has to be really cold for me to don the slippers.  Mostly I walk around barefoot in the house and outside as much as I can.  Even when I HAVE to wear my 'fancy' and/or high heels shoes for dinner engagements or business events... unbeknownest to anyone else at the table... my shoes usually come off under the table, and stay off until I HAVE to put them on again to leave the table.  When we are at weddings and parties where there is dancing... again... off come my shoes the instant I hit the dance floor!  And he knows the instant we return home from any outing... the first thing I do is to take off my shoes!

My Grandmother LOVED shoes... she was always buying herself new and stylish shoes... it was her one and only vice she had for herself.  My Daughters have inherited the love of stylish shoes from her.  While they too enjoy going barefoot a lot... they also LOVE and enjoy shoe shopping and have closets full of shoes!  Grandma would be proud!

Let the flip flopping and slap slapping of sandal/flip flop wearing begin as our feetsies and toesies rejoice in full exposure!