LucyRicardo member for 22 weeks 6 days Send a message

I'm a girly-girl. I love purses, jewelry, hair diddies (headbands, barrettes and the like in case you are unfamiliar with the oh-so-technical term "diddie"), shoes, make-up, etc. Out of all of these though, I really love shoes. And I especially love beautiful high heel shoes. And until recently they have always loved me back.

But a couple of years ago I started noticing that I couldn't wear heels all day like I used to without really feeling it. I couldn't traipse all over town in uncomfortable shoes and experience just a minor twinge. Nope. As I've gotten older (God, I hate that phrase!) my feet have gone all wussy on me.

Now that does not mean I've given up cute shoes. Hell, no. I've just readjusted a little. My heels are saved for days when I won't be walking as much or when I can change shoes at some point. I've bought some really cute flats. In fact, you might say that this new wussiness of the feet has expanded my shoe wardrobe. Now I have beautiful heels AND flats! I have managed to keep my feet from screaming and still be fashionable. I have avoided the Birkenstock, Croc, Teva section of the shoe department.

Until last weekend.

You see, our 16 year old niece came to visit and we had a couple of whirlwind days planned. The Art Institute, shopping on State St. and Michigan Ave., Wicked, Chinatown, Navy Pier, Sears Tower--you get the picture.

We started the trip off with a few hours at the Art Institute on Friday night. This is where it all started to go to hell in the feet department. The Art Institute is lovely, but its not made for cute shoes. The floors are MARBLE. No spring, no padding, just hard-ass marble.

I was wearing something that looks a little like the black sandals above. Cute, huh? And smart, or so I thought. I knew we'd be walking so I chose a flat.

But notice how flat they are. Notice the lack of any real padding.

Now let's do a little math. Hard-ass marble floor for 3 hours + really flat, non-padded (cute) sandals = MASSIVE PAIN!!

The next morning I was still in a little pain but figured I could handle it if I was smart about my footwear choices that day. I knew we'd be walking even more that day and I knew that we were going to the theatre that night so I'd be in heels then. I wanted to make sure I wasn't dying by the time I was ready to put on those heels so I donned some Chuck's complete with Dr. Scholl's padded inserts and off we headed.

For a few hours I was okay. Sore from the night before, but okay.

And then I sat down for lunch.

Why is it when your feet hurt it is best to just keep going? The minute you sit it all goes to hell. You'd think a little rest would help, but NO!

So we eat our lunch, I stand up and

OH

MY

GOD!

Not only are my feet screaming, but my calves are now cramping up as well. (I completely blame the cute sandals and the hard-ass marble floor from the night before.) Had it just been Ricky and I out and about, I would have called the nearest cab and gotten my sad little feet and legs home. But remember, we've got the niece in town and she is on a shopping mission! No way could I beg out now. Off I limp to the next store and the next and the next...

And then we pass the Croc store. Remember I like CUTE shoes! Not those plastic boats that the original Crocs were.

But I was in pain. Lots and lots of pain. So I decided to give the Crocs store a whirl and I was pleasantly surprised.

They still have the big plastic shoes, but they also now have flip-flops, cute little flats and HEELS! Crocs has heels.

Some ugly!

Some CUTE!

They even had BOOTS!

But I was looking for casual, walking about town shoes, so I decided to try on the brown flip-flops.

Not terribly fancy, just a basic brown flip-flop. Can't really go wrong there.

I try them on and again,

OH MY GOD!

But this time it's a good OH MY GOD! I don't know how those Crocs folks do it, but wow, these shoes were comfortable!

Then I decided to give the blue slip-on sneaker a whirl.

Also mega-comfy and cute with my jeans and little top I was wearing that day. (I wanted them in black but they were out of my size. Perhaps I will have to go back...)

I ended up buying both the flip-flops and the blue tennies. I wore them for the rest of the weekend (except for to the theatre; I was willing to suck up my pain for Wicked!) and they were AMAZING!

Now I am something I never thought I'd be--a Croc convert. But only the cute Crocs! And even my cute Crocs will only be worn on serious walking days. After all, I have a closet FULL of shoes and I don't want them to feel neglected!

However, the next time I am in the need for heels and boots (and really, when am I not in the need for heels and boots??) I will definitely take a look at their You by Crocs line. Super cute and super comfortable!

What more could a gal want?!?!?