Consumerism!

I'm feeling a little consumeristic right now. Seth and I went to several stores tonight and, I might add, were very successful in our shopping. We hit up GNC for free vitamins, Thrift Way groceries for lunches produce, Family Store for jersey bedsheets for Seth, and the Dollar Store for candy and envelops. Later tonight we went to Target, too. We shopped shrewdly and swiftly, and it made me feel excited about the ordeal--a rare occasion for those who know my violent history with shopping! It just felt really good to be productive, spend money wisely, and hope for things to come. We got some great deals on cereal and heavy duty trash bags (we're hoping to start picking up trash around Fishtown to improve the neighborhood). It was great!

This weekend my shins started hurting from my recent running (I've ran 8x in the last two weeks). The shoes I was using were over two years old cross trainers. After several people advised me to invest into new ones, especially since I'm really committing to this Kids Run Philly Style program, I decided to get input from my running consultant, Scott Parrott, and get some new sneaks. I went to Philadelphia Runner, which I found on Google today as I was looking for running shoes. The store was AMAZING..perfect for what I was looking for. I told the sales woman what my situation was, my recent shin pain, that I was a teacher in West Philly, etc. She said I would get a 10% discount on anything I bought since I was in the program. She had me take off my shoes and walk down the carpet so she could analyze my arches for what type of shoe I'd want! I felt like my shoes were being personalized to me (for those of you who are interested, I have a high arch that doesn't flatten out when I walk)!

I tried on several pairs, all of which felt really good. Finally, I decided on some Asics, which turns out to be the most popular brand of running shoe. They had a good return policy, so I decided to buy my first pair of running shoes. I love them!

What made me happier was when I got home and did a search for a cheaper pair of the same shoes. With the 10% discount, I could only find a pair for $2 less--certainly not worth the time and shipping...and plus, I wanted to give Philadelphia Runners my business for their personalized service. I'll have to send pictures of me in the shoes in future posts.