the quest

On Saturday, my friend and I set out to spend the $100 we're given to claim from our company each year for anything health-related, sports-related, stuff generally to improve our well-being. Naturally we forgot about it, until the final date for claims rolled around. My first choice was stress management. But $100 didn't really cover it.

I decided to buy a new pair of running shoes. We trooped down for an Adidas warehouse sale. Total washout for me. We lined up for 45 minutes, spent 20 minutes surveying the sparse offerings. My friend found a pair of shoes for $60. I tried to find a workout clothes for my mum. Nothing. Not even a towel. 

So we went elsewhere. To cut a loooong story short, I found NOTHING. It wasn't my day at all - nothing fit, nothing was the colour I wanted, nothing seemed right. Not a sports bra, not a running jersey, not a bleeding pair of shorts. I was definitely being choosy, but when to comes to running shoes (and exercise gear in general), they have to be right, or it'll be hell on those long runs. (There were a lot of sales going on, which might explain the limited offerings.) 

I had no other time to shop before Monday, because I had to work on Sunday. It was getting late and I had to be somewhere else. Frankly, I was sick of shopping. 

I was on the verge of buying a polo tee for my dad, when I found these at an Adidas boutique -  

They're not sports-related at all. But they came from Adidas which should make the cut. I'm more in love with the pretty blush satin lining on inside of the shoe - 

The kicker was the extra bit of cushy padding at the heel, which made the shoes really comfortable.

I felt a bit bad for buying these instead of buying the shirt for my dad. It also occurred to me after I bought the shoes that I should have bought some gift vouchers and donated them or something. Now I do feel a bit like a wasteful idiot. How can shopping come with this much guilt? I haven't felt this in a while. It must stem from feeling compelled to buy something when I didn't especially want to, and then buying something for myself I didn't need very much (though I liked very much), when I could have done something useful. 

But at least these shoes, while not something I actually needed, are very handy, being the sort of everyday thing I need to pad around in. I should really enjoy them since I've already bought them, rather than overthinking this...