i love shoes.

but then again, i think that comes with having double x chromosomes.

i also have larger-than-the-average-sized petunia (petunia = a name i am giving to petite girls who seem to have the perfect little ballerina-sized tootsies) feet. they also may or may not be wider-than-the-average-sized petunia, too. so you know, they’ve presented their challenges over the years when it comes to finding suede/patent-leather/canvas homes for them. so when i do find a shoe that is a) at least a 9.5 (sometimes that in and of itself is a miracle), b) does not cut off my circulation, c) allows me to walk semi-normally in them (for abnormal walking, please see this post), and d) doesn’t look like something herman munster would wear, i am quick to purchase them, and in multiple colors, too. turns out shoe designers are really good at making shoes appealing to the eye, but not so much with regards to appealing to the foot, itself. for whatever reason chic and comfort do not normally mix. if that were the case then naturalizer would beat jimmy choo in sales ever single year. anywho, since the above mentioned four criteria aren’t always met, especially all at the same time, my shoe collection, though you may think otherwise, isn’t that vast. that’s what happens when you try to follow the quality over quantity rule (not always followed with regards to my clothing wardrobe, whoopsies).

therefore, the shoes that do make it into my weekly rotation get worn. and worn, a lot. like to the bone. or in this case, to the sole. but there’s this magical place that i have recently discovered. where shoes go to be rejuvenated; like a shoe spa if you will. so when my pair of leopard flats was looking a little down and out and was in need of a good pick-me-up (i.e. the right sole had begun to break away from the bottom of the shoe, apparently i go hard on my right foot and not so much my left? does this mean i limp?), i took them to what we have traditionally call a “cobbler” (no, not the peach variety, although that would be delicious) and the magicians of anthony’s shoe repair in solana beach worked their voo doo and breathed new life into my beloved kicks. resoled, re-glued and renewed. all for $18!

rawr! leopard kicks returned resoled and renewed.

and as i trotted (trotting is quite difficult when you’re a) not a horse and b) walk with an apparent limp (see above for explanation) but somehow i managed) back to my car, my rejuvenated flats in tow, i thought about shoe cobblers and how not only is their profession severely underrated, but how their work is kind of a metaphor for life (naturally).

sometimes i feel like those leopard flats, a bit worn down, coming apart at the seams, with little to no traction to the world around me. but then, i simply take myself to my own version of anthony’s -a coffee date with a good girlfriend, a homemade dinner with the fam, some quiet time spent praying and dwelling in the Lord’s promises, even an afternoon filled with writing or cat-napping on the couch -and just like those shoes, i emerge renewed. rejuvenated and resouled (see what i did there?).