if they're not for walking, what else are they for?

i'm a notoriously bad shopper. 

somewhere along the way when people were lined up and instilled with the strong desire to crave things, i stepped out of line. probably to peruse the snack bar.

shopping brings out my worst character traits:

a. i don't like spending money. okay, fine. i'm cheap.
b. i can be highly, horribly, indecisive.
c. i will worry about the rightness of my purchase days after making it.

that being said, i've been eyeing these boots because even though i'm a bad shopper, i am the queen of eyeing things. two stores in my neighborhood have had the boots since the fall. both stores now have them on sale.

sale! how i love that word. it's quite possible that, other than food, i've never purchased anything at regular price. no, seriously. even with food, you should see my eyes light up when i see the words "managers special" on a carton of orange juice. how many days until it goes bad? i wonder gleefully as i check the expiration date.

ew. what's wrong with me?

anyway, the boots. the problem with shopping sale, is you often have to deal with clothes that don't fit quite right. since i waited so long, the first store only had them in a size 6. the second had them in a... size 9. yes! i wear an 8. a 9 is only one number off.

trying them on, all the talk-myself-out-of-it began: i could probably get an 8 online for half the price. they stick out kind of funny at the top, don't they. and i don't really need these. (the other two pairs i own have been re-soled twice and are currently ripped up again). i debated . i looked at them in the mirror from this angle and that. i made my usual scrunchy-faces as i was about to put them back. 

then something marvelous happened. another shopper stepped over and said, "those boots are great. they look like you. get them."

after a little pleasant back and forth with her, i heaved a sigh of relief and bought them.

i know. important culture changing protests are going on in Egypt and i'm writing a blog about shopping. but i couldn't help think about all the other things i don't do, even though i would like too, because my cheapness, worry, and indecision opt me out of them.

tomorrow i'm attending a writer's conference that i almost didn't sign up for because of the very same reasons i'm a terrible shopper. a little voice also had to convince me to go and over the course of a week it almost got talked down a bazillion times. this time, that little voice was mine. i've had enough of my worst traits. for all my talk about ending the shoulds that society has placed on us, in terms of success, timeframes, and appropriate jobs and lifestyles, what about ending the better-nots that we inflict on ourselves?

no mas para mi. i'm done with that. and i've got the (slightly too big) boots to show for it.