Shoes

I have a love/hate relationship with the whole concept of buying shoes for Annie.  The love part is pretty self explanatory.  I can't believe how many ridiculously cute shoes there are out there for little girls.  Like CRAZY cute!  I love looking at them.  But then I want to buy them.  ALL of them.  I don't of course because they are expensive.  That's where the hate part comes in.  

I was at Target today with Annie while Mason was at preschool.  She has been needing new shoes, especially for church.  She has a pair of crocks and I love them but I just need another option, you know?  She has a pair of soft shoes that she got from Grandma also, but she wore them every single day for over two months and so they started falling apart.  I have some hand-me-down shoes from my sister but they're all still too big.  Basically, I was excited to have an excuse to go Annie shoe shopping.  

They had some super, super cute brown boots with some ruffly things on the sides at Target.  When I saw them I immediately imagined Annie in them with some cute striped leggings and a fluffy tutu and cute top.  Oh I wanted them.  But they were $25.  $25 might not sound like a lot of money, but when you're on a budget and when you know her feet will be too big for them in 2 months, I just can't justify the cost.  So I took a deep breath and continued on.  The cheapest pair I saw was $10 and they were not very cute.  Most of them were at least $13.  I'm sure I'm sounding like a complete cheapo right about now.  But I'm glad I refrained.  We moseyed on over to Payless across the parking lot.  

I actually wanted to go in there for myself because I could use a new pair of church shoes.  When I walked in the store worker asked right away if I wanted her to measure Annie's feet.  I thought it was funny that she assumed I was there for Annie and I almost said, "No thanks.  I'm here for me."  I didn't even think about the fact that Payless might have shoes Annie's size and maybe they're cheaper than Target!  So I said, "Sure."  I got her official size and headed to the toddler shoe section.  Their selection might not be the absolute cutest selection I've ever seen or anything but they were definitely cute.  After about 20 minutes or so of just enjoying looking at these adorable little people shoes, I grabbed a pair for $5 and Annie LOVED them.  She wouldn't let me take them off.  She marched around and around the store staring at her feet.  We went to pay and the girl asked me if I wanted to get something else...anything else in the store for 1/2 off.  I needed to go get Mason but how could I not take up an offer like that?  

I ran back to the toddler section and grabbed a cute pair of black boots.  They rang up for $2.50!  Now THAT is what I'm talking about.  $7.50 for 2 new cute pairs of shoes.  That's cheaper than the resale stores around here.  I've been to all the local ones recently looking for a pair for Annie (Spin Again, La Costa Kids, Cute as a Bug) and no luck.  And none were as cheap as these anyway!  SCORE.

So now Annie has a reasonable selection of shoes for every day wear as well as church wear.  Can't wait till she grows a little and needs me to go shopping for her again.  ;-)