Creative Shopping

So as a 5'3" gal I may not be super model status in height but I do have an advantage when it comes to shoe size! A few weeks ago before taking my annual summer vacation, I noticed my niece wearing a pair of adorable flip flops...Being in need of white nice looking summer sandals I thought those would be perfect for me! I asked my neice if I could try on her shoes and her response was..."No way Alyah, you'll stretch them! Your feet are so big! They're grow-up feet!" Grow-up feet??? Normally I would be offended at an insult to my feet however, coming out of my niece's mouth, it was adorable...Plus I too would hate it if someone, who had larger feet than I, tried on a pair of one of my favorite shoes...So I decided to venture to the kiddie department of Nordstrom and see if I could find a large kiddie size that would fit me and my >ahem< smaller "grow-up" feet...

I went shopping with my sister and since she has 2 kids she's always looking in the kiddie department. I pretended to be helping her find stuff but in reality I was trying to work up the nerve to ask to try on my niece's shoes in my size. Did you know that Kiddie Departments carry designer shoes???? I felt like I found a long lost treasure! Not only do they carry designer shoes but there are some kids with some pretty large ass feet (Thank God) b/c I found out that my size is not the largest kiddie size they have! In fact I'm about 2 sizes smaller than their largest shoe size! Whew!

Anyway, I was casually browsing the shoes of the kiddie department and a sales lady asked me if I needed help...I didn't want to look like a creepy lady browsing the kiddie department with no purpose and I quickly went through a number of reasons in my head to ask for a certain shoe size:
"My baby cousin is about my shoes size, and I need to get her a gift, can I try these on?"
"My neice loves these shoes and I wanna surprise her with them, do you have them in my size - ummmmm we uh, wear the same size"
"Can I see these in your largest size? They're a gift for someone" UGH!

What actually came out of my mouth was. "Ummmmm I feel a little silly, but do you have these in my size, I think they're adorable." And instead of a response of disgust from the sales lady, I was happy to hear her say. "They are really cute, I think we do...I'll be right back."

Immediately I felt overwhelming relief and I sat down with a huge grin and unbelievable satisfaction that it is in fact perfectly normal to try on kiddie shoes! With my new found confidence in the kiddie shoe department, I felt a sense of ownership and my shopping instincts turned on...I scanned the shoes and immediately noticed a glittery pair of Converse sneakers. Ever since Pink's grammy performance, I've been all about the shimmery glittery be dazzled look. So when the sales lady came back with my white sandals (which are super comfy and super adorable and totally matchy matchy with my 6 year old neice's - We are soooo cool!) I decided to ask her to bring out a couple more shoes for me to try on. Which according to her, was perfectly normal and she too would try them on if they came in her size and I wasn't the only "grow-up" who shopped the kiddie department...More reassurance never hurt anyone :)

I put on the glittery converse sneakers and I knew they had to be mine. I felt like a little kid - shocking I know! And I felt super cute and like one of the "cool kids"! I couldn't wait to wear them out and show them off...Plus I felt like I discovered a gold mine - kiddie shoes are waaaayyyy cheaper than "grow-up" shoes!

It's amazing how a pair of shoes can transform my spirits...Who knew little rubber and leather had so much power over making me feel like a superstar!