When blue foam just doesn't cut it...

I am at work. It's a blessing and a curse that summertime is our slow season: a blessing because it means I don't have to put in any overtime, and there's a relaxed atmosphere in the office, and a curse because it means that there's absolutely and painfully nothing to do.

So here I am.

The other thing that's great about summertime in an office (besides air conditioning...) is that the dresscode get a little less... professional. We still look sharp (I'm in a blue sundress right now, with a little shrug), but there's no need for blazers and tights.

Which means that I also retire a good portion of my work shoes for the summer. It's the season of slapping around in sandals. But, of course, the blue-foam-not-so-beauties get left at home. I don't work at the beach, afterall.

That being said, there are lots of beautiful options for easy, throw-them-on-and-run-out-the-door sandals out right now, and they still look very put together (although the post-Vegas state of my pedicure leaves a lot to be desired... oops!)

Today, I have these darlings on:

See? I wasn't kidding about the toenails...

These guys came from Square One in the Mall of Manhattan (of course), and they unfortunately don't have a website, but they do have a great selection of ridiculously inexpensive shoes. It's a great spot if you're looking for something trendy to wear for one season. I think these were $10.00...

Anyways, these are a little less flashy and trendy than some of the others I picked up on that trip, but that's what makes them great for the office.

If you want to wear something like this in a professional atmosphere (we're talking about business casual here, they just won't work with a suit, I'm sorry!), look for something with gunmetal or brushed metal accents, in a neutral colour, and then have fun with your pedicure, so you can have some colour down there without looking like a paint store exploded on your feet. Save that look for the weekend.

These Louboutins would be perfect:

But, then, aren't Louboutins always perfect?

Sea legs and "athetics" shoes.

This past weekend, as anyone ought to know, was St. Patrick's Day. And, this means one thing for weekend warriors such as myself... Time to get your party on.

Now, I'm a self proclaimed weekend warrior (emphasis on the weekend, here, I'm decidedly dull during the weekday evenings, getting to bed around 10 and staying there until my alarm jars me awake around 6am) and proud, but this doesn't make me a train wreck, by any means. I'm still a classy lady. There's no Snooki-esque indecent exposure, or wobbling about like a baby giraffe taking her first steps. It just means that when Friday afternoon hits, it's time to crack a bottle of wine (as is the Friday ritual in my office) and when it's suddenly Sunday morning, my hot pink slippers are the only thing to touch my feet, as I watch terrible horror movies with my partner in crime and drink tea, attempting to rehydrate after the weekend's escapades.

Of course, footwear etiquette is part of the package. If you're going out dancing, heels (followed by Rollasoles, of course) are customary, but, I learned about a new kind of going out shoe this weekend, "athletics" shoes.

By this, I do not in any way mean dirty white sneakers that you wear to work out in. I've said it 100 times, I think running shoes should only grace the feet of those who are running, or in an actual gym. And, really, if it's the latter, bring a pair of something cute to wear to and from the gym. No one needs to see your ratty New Balance.

No, when I say "athletics" I mean that you utilize them for "sports." The best example I can give is exactly what went on on St. Patrick's Day. Dominique and I, along with our good friend, Estee, went over to another friend's place to play various-alcohol-pong.

Let me explain. The night previous to this, we had been extended an invitation to play beer pong, but, I had declined, on the grounds that I'm allergic to beer (and it's gross... yuck!), so the host had most graciously offered to procure a bottle of wine so I wouldn't have to die, and we could play with that. It sounded like a good idea.

Now, beer pong sounds a little like a frat game, and in a way, it kind of is, but it was such a blast! We only played one round, as it was getting chilly, and we weren't very good at it, but it was the precursor to a great evening of drinks and comradery. To be honest, we spent most of it playing Rockband.

This was definitely not a typical night, and we discovered that our shoe choices were a little... off. As the plan was initially to run downtown after a round or two and meet some friends for a birthday party, we had all worn stilettos. The ping-pong table was on the grass. This was not going to work.

Thank god for Rollasoles! We were saved! But, now we're far more aware of the sorts of shoes required for playing weekend "sports," which look a lot more like this:

I have these guys, they're Vera Wang, and so comfortable. They also don't sink in grass! An elasticized flat is also more comfortable because they're more likely to hold onto your foot without rubbing, meaning you'll avoid getting blisters. Plus, the beaded bows are just ridiculously adorable!

They qualify as "athletics" shoes because you could probably run in them, if you needed to (god forbid), you can wear them on grass, and, if you should be in a crew of men, you're not going to fall behind because you're taking 3" steps to avoid falling off your stilettos.

Most flats, low wedges and sandals will work, but make sure you're going to be warm enough! I wound up having to borrow a pair of very becoming socks from our host to keep my toes from freezing right off my feet!

So, there you have it, "athletics" shoes for the weekend warrior. These are not, of course, to be mistaken for a very different kind of "sport" shoe which looks a little something like this:

Remember, we're still classy ladies. Get your mind out of the gutter!

Sad toes.

It's been a hectic week! I had to help move my office (we're settling into our new digs quite nicely!), which included coming in on Sunday after having never gotten to bed on Saturday night. It was an evening/early morning of country bars, cowboys and long island iced teas.

Unfortunately, in all this hustle, bustle and line dancing, I have sustained an injury! Horror of horrors, I have a wound between my last two toes on my right foot.

To be honest, it's been there a little while. Maybe a couple weeks. But, I thought things were healing up, and I had nothing to worry about. Apparently, I was wrong.

Upon arriving home on Monday evening, I decided to show my toes a little R&R, and gave myself a footbath with some anti-bacterial soap, and then showed it to my roommate, Rosemary, who is a nurse. She said there was probably nothing to worry about, but to be aware of whether or not it started to feel hot because that might mean it's infected.

Of course, being the theatrical person that I am, I started to worry. This didn't stop me from wearing all realms of fabulous shoes on Tuesday, but I was very aware of the warmth that had begun to radiate from under my desk, and when I woke up this morning, my poor little piggy was swollen and angry.

Please ignore the expired pedicure...

Poor little guy! I walked around in my socks a little this morning before I was brave enough to attempt the shoes I had brought for today. Thankfully, I've since put them on, and I haven't died yet.

If you have a flesh wound on your feet, open toes are best. You want to let it breathe, and these will cause your feet to sweat less, and let more air get in there.

They're also putting less pressure on my swollen digit, because I can move the straps around.

I made an appointment to see my doctor tomorrow, so all should be well after that, but tonight, I'll be resting up and taking it easy! If nothing else, this is a good excuse to pamper myself (because it doesn't happen near often enough)!

The clock strikes 3am, your feet turn into pumpkins.

This has happened to us all. Don't lie, you know there's that one pair of insane stilettos that you bought because they make you legs look a million miles long and your ass go POW, but if you wear them for longer than 6 minutes you'd think that you were stuck in a furnace wearing these:

See? Now you remember. Or at least your feet do. Think New Years. We're notorious for wearing ridiculous shoes on the one night of the year it's nigh impossible to get a taxi in any city.

But, fret not! There's an answer! Enter Rollasole!

Matt Horan was struck with genius after one too many nights of having to carry his girlfriend home on his back as the result of her sadistic (though gorgeous, I'm sure) choices in footwear. Since that night in 2008, he's been the saviour of shoe-anistas everywhere!

In fact, they're so popular now, some clubs are selling them in vending machines on-site:

Let me explain how they work. They come rolled up inside a drag-string bag, and the idea is that you can cram them into your going-out purse and forget they're there.

Until furnace-feet kick in. Then, you will gleefully recall that they're hiding in the recesses of your bag, between the lipgloss and your cell phone, and you unroll them and swap them for your metal-fire-torture shoes.

And that handy little bag they came in? Big enough to fit your skyscraper stilettos and you can use the drawstring as a wrist strap!

I had seen them at various drug stores around various cities, but was a little unsure of the necessity of such a thing (plus all the ones I had seen were black and boring-looking). Like Jenna Marbles (as seen here at 4:42), I feel that when one walks out of the house in a pair of shoes, she is married to them for the evening. You made your bed, girl, now limp home on it. But, when we were in Vegas in October, my partner in crime, Dominique, came back from a toiletry run with these bad-boys:

First of all, they're gold. Come now, how can anyone say no to that? Dominique's are metallic pink, so they're just as adorable.

So, I gave them a shot. That night, we went out dancing like the crazy glamazons we are, in our very own version of the glass slipper (read: ticking-toe-time-bombs) and when the champagne began to wear off, I could feel the first few flames licking at the soles of my feet.

Of course, I had forgotten that I had them, but when I went to sit down for a moment, Dominique reminded me, and, lickety-split, I flipped off my heels, slipped on my little flats, and was back on the dance floor before the song was finished.

And my foot-fire was extinguished!

The best part was that when my Vegas-boyfriend (a charming Brit named Luke) came by, I was ready to pop my heels back on and keep dancing til dawn!

Cause we need to keep those tootsies ship-shape!

I found this article in today's Vancouver Sun. The first part is almost an attack on wearing high heels and fancy shoes, but the second part details a few stretches and exercises that you can do to undo any damage caused by wearing the daring footwear we love so much.

While I disagree that wearing high heels is so bad that you should never do it, I think that being conscious of your foot health is a really good idea, and we should all do a little more for ours, cause without them, we really wouldn't have a leg to stand on. And then what would we do with all those hard earned stilettos?

I've pulled the stretches for you below, so you can get the benefits without the discouragement. If you want to read the rest, you can do so here. Thanks to Karen Gram for the tips!

Calf Stretch: Put your hands on a wall, place one foot in front of the other and keeping both heels on the ground, bend the front knee until you can feel the stretch in your back calf. Hold 30 seconds. A second calf stretch can be done on stairs; hang one heel off the stair until you can feel the stretch. Hold 30 seconds. Switch.

"A calf stretch is what anyone who wears any shoes should do, because even your general athletic shoe is technically 1½-2 inches (3.8-5 cm) in the heel, so that is a high heel, too," says Bowman. "So calf stretch, calf stretch, calf stretch."

Toe spread: Sit in a chair and rest your feet on an ottoman or low table. Spread your toes so that there is a space between each one. Repeat. (if you can't do this, start with wearing pedicure spacers).

Toe lift: Standing straight, lift your big toes off the ground while keeping all the other toes on the ground. Then lift the other toes one by one.

Tennis ball massage: While seated, roll a tennis ball under your feet to stretch your plantar fascia. If your feet are inflamed or tired, roll your foot over a bottle of water that has been frozen.