New Sandals

Cognizant of the fact that the compensation we receive as expatriates could lend itself to significant growth in our personal savings, I have placed myself on a bit of a "spending freeze."  With the spending freeze in mind, and the onset of lovely spring weather, I searched the house this afternoon for my sandals. Last summer I had two pairs of sandals, both purchased on a dime in the states, which served my every need.  They went from the playground in shorts to dinner in jeans to a wedding with a skirt.  For a dime, my summertime footwear had been covered.  Remembering the happiness granted by these sandals, I sought them out this morning to begin another year.  And another year in sandals would make bring them to having been bought on a nickel - a very thrifty nickel.

The sandals were nowhere to be found.

We live in an apartment.  And although the square footage of this apartment tops the square footage of our first house, it is still an apartment with no basement, no garage and no attic for dumping unused items.  Storage must be rather cleverly hidden away.

There were only a few places these sandals could be.  And I assure you, they were not any of them.

Distraught, I headed to the internet.  A girl can not go a warm spring or a hot summer without a pair of versatile sandals.  And since guests arrive in just over a week, I still had time to order some new sandals and ship them to the in-laws' address before they pack their bags.

I jumped to my old stand-bys for affordable, versatile and stylishly sporty clothes and shoes.  Ann Taylor Loft, Eddie Bauer, Old Navy and The Gap all left me hanging.  I found plenty of strappy things which looked none too comfortable, and cost much more than a dime.  I found plenty of flip flops which looked far too sporty to cover all of my bases.  Nothing fit my in between - thick, comfy sole and a suede or leather strap slip-on sandal with the versatility for all (or nearly all) of my potential summer outings.

Distraught at the prospect of ruining my spending freeze, I picked out the top two choices.  Nice enough sandals, the cost of buying them both full price and adding on delivery brought my summer footwear to over $50.  Now I know that many a girl will glad pay that much for shoes - but I am not that girl, and especially when on a spending freeze.

And then I blamed China.

This is a standard resort for me.  If I can't solve a problem, more than likely it is China's fault.  I know how to fix my problems in America.  I know when and how to buy sandals in the states.  But in China, I'm at a loss.  I threw up my hands in frustration and filled Dave's ears with complaints for so long that he decided to search the house for the longed-after summer sandals of a year ago.

I told him it was in vain.  I was positive he was wasting his time.

Five minutes later, he returned to the living room with 4 pairs of sandals.

I didn't even know I had four pairs!  What a lucky girl I am!  And as quickly as that, China is a fine place to live again.