I know that you have all been dying to know how I am (kidding), but I am finally beginning to kick this cold–two weeks later–and I am returning to the world of the living.  I even managed to peel myself of the sofa on Monday (three day weekends are the best thing, EVER!) and attempt a shopping trip.  Feeling sicky has actually helped me to save money and conserve a bit, I have hardly done any shopping for myself in the past two months, but the Christmas gift cards were finally burning a hole in my pocket.

I set out to purchase a new winter coat to accommodate my swelling waistline–to no avail.  I think I waited to long, but in reality I hadn’t even thought about it–that is until the inside liner of my coat completely ripped last week because my body was taking up more space than the coat was willing to give.  ha!

Next thought was jeans–I don’t need maternity jeans right now, but maybe just a larger size?  Yes, well I am 5’2 and if you start to buy too large and your legs don’t fill the other space you start looking like a really bad 90′s hip-hop video, so I aborted that search as well.

Onto the shoes–shoes always fit, right?  Well now the question was “What do I NEED?”  The answer was very obvious that I NEED comfy shoes to commute in and to wear on the weekends.  Blah–who wants to spend money on that?  I explained to my husband who has been sending me links to comfy shoes and trying his hardest to convert me, that “I’m just not that kinda girl”.  I said it felt like I needed to wear a juicy couture jumpsuit with the comfy shoes–they weren’t my vibe.  I also had to tell him this horrible story from my first year in NYC (apologies for my digression).  I used to walk to my first job in New York, it was about 1.5 miles from my house and I was on a HORRIBLY tight budget, so it helped save money.  I originally tried to make the walk in my cute shoes–bad choice, then i switched it up to my converse hi-tops and they gave me blisters on the bottom of my feet!  Then my dad purchased me a pair of very white Reebok’s to walk in.  They were hideous, but they were like walking on pillows of air.  I could make the walk in no-time and completely pain free.  The only downside to these new found pillows of air was that they looked ridiculous and I had to walk through the East Village to get home.  I felt moderately dorky, but because I had very few friends it didn’t matter at the time–that is until walking home one day in my 9-5 clothes and my white Reebok’s I was spotted by an old friend I hadn’t seen in ages and asked to join them in a pub for a drink.  The group looked effortlessly cool and I looked like Ugly Betty.  I swore never again would I be caught looking “that” comfortable.

Fast forward “some” years and now I try to balance cute and comfortable–I wear kitty heels and flat boots and I can get away with wearing mountain boots on my winter commute (gotta love Chicago!).  If I need to wear comfy shoes I usually opt for my saddle shoes or Jack Purcell’s.  But the times they are a changing and to be frank, my feet hurt!  After lots of painful thinking I decided to get two new pairs of shoes and both needed to fall in the “I can totally wear these all day” category.  Please see my choices below and try not to point and laugh.  The Pumas were the least offensive running-type shoe that I could find and I have been looking for about 8 months and the Born shoes are totally the cute t-strap that I love, but they are filled with pockets of foot love on the inside.  They are like grandma orthopedic shoes, disguised as casual chic.

Thoughts?  Did I do good or I am on a slippery slope to mom shoes and leaving the house in gym clothes?