I would like to introduce you to some of my dear friends.

Meet my running shoes. Now these babies are friends you can count on. My old running shoes caused me to injure my hip. These ones make my joints happy. They don't really have a name, although I suppose if I really considered all that my shoes do for me, I would take the time to think up a respectable name for them. Their formal title is Brooks Adrenaline.

I'm not sure that they always help me live up to their name, but they have brough me a long way already. I would guess I've put about a hundred miles on them so far. Last Sunday they carried me five miles, and they didn't even bother the blister I'd gotten a few days before. I am very happy with them.

Now, this picture is how they looked when I first took them fresh and clean out of the box; today, they are a little more worn, and definitely dustier. But to me, they are even more beautiful than the day I brought them home from the running shoe store. Now, we have history.

I also have some new friends. Their name is Marissa. While I have a love for Brooks running shoes, when it comes to dress shoes, Unlisted is my old standby. I discovered them at Marshalls, where they were gracious enough to be quite a bit more affordable than nice shoes often are. Yet I still couldn't scrape together the pennies to bring them home. I was sad--I was sure that these shoes would be good to me. I actually needed a pair like them, and finding a good, needed pair of shoes (with a smiley price tag) is a hard thing. Knowing that I didn't have a casual pair of shoes (my closet only held sneakers and high heels) I mourned the loss of my brief discount-store acquaintances.

But not for long. Today a box came in the mail. I was expecting my mom to send me my razor (which I forgot at home). This box was too big for just a razor. When I opened it, voila! Marissa(s). We are still getting to know each other, but I think the relationship has potential.

Moms are a cool thing; you see, my mom bought me both of the above mentioned pairs of shoes. The running shoes were ridiculously expensive. Ick. And the Marissas were a complete surprise. Really, it doesn't get much better than getting a surprise box in the mail, except if it was supposed to only have a razor and also had candy and chapstick and shoes. That you like. And need. How often does that happen? It was pretty much the best box ever.

For those of you who know me, you know that I hardly have a shoe fetish. But I would say that my feelings about my Brooks running shoes definitely border on love. The new brown shoes and I are not nearly so serious; but they made my day so happy that I had to tell you about them. Sometimes you just have to love the simple things in life.