new shoes! oh, and snowboarding.

i’ve been looking for a new pair of closed-toe black work shoes. closed-toe because i’m too lazy to pedicure right now; black because, well, i wear a lot of black; and “work” because i need it to look moderately dressy and have a slight heel so my slacks don’t drag on the ground, but not too much of a heel where i employ the walk-seven-steps-pause-for-balance method of locomotion.

so after saturday snowboardy times, we stopped on our way home at the leesburg outlet stores, specifically the Kenneth Cole store, so Pants could pick up some new work shoes just like his old work shoes (if it ain’t broke...). and whilst we were there i scored this cute little pair, perfect for all my immediate shoe needs, for only $30. hurrah!



oh man, i’ll never be a foot model…

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we also went snowboarding at Roundtop again. it was a balmy 70° at the mountain, so there was some sweating going on, because you can only take off so much. i wore a t-shirt, and decided at the last minute to also bring my jacket, just in case. i was very happy i did, because i learned that sweating is highly preferable to having your flesh mangled by the snow when you fall.

i am still a beginner, but i’m getting better, and the key part of getting better is trying things that are more difficult than what you can already do. so while i managed to falling leaf and slideslip the bejeezus out of a slope, i needed to work on toe-side turns and linking turns... and true to my demanding nature, i did. i got bruises on my knees, tender palms, a scrape to the elbow, and some seriously deep scrapes to the left arm (this is from snow???). the bad scrape came, ironically, after i had decided wearing my coat sleeves down was a good idea -- i hit the snow hard & fast enough that it pulled my sleeve up for me to expose my tender flesh to the apparently carnivorous ice & snow granules. at one point, before i swallowed my pride and took Pants’ gloves, my hands were so sore from the snow (being cold and being abraised) that i nearly cried trying to stand up. of course, if you know me, you know i cry because the traffic light changed so my lachrymosity is not much of a bellwether for how things are going.

i survived with no major injuries (“looks like a laceration.” “just rub some snow in it, you’ll be fine!”). the next day i was a bit sore, but i felt good about it. i skipped the gym on friday so i needed the workout.

so tonight, at my gig, i’m going to look a bit like i was in a brawl, but in the end i’d rather the challenge than complacency...