Barking Dog Shoes

Back to Comfortable Shoes: Keen Coronado Mary Jane

Enough already with my thyroid, let's talk comfortable shoes! Especially pretty-in-pink floral Keen MJs. These lovelies belong to marathon runner, Molly who I found on Flickr. I'm telling you, if you post terrific photos of your comfy shoes on Flickr, I will find you. Just wait.

Molly gives her new Keen Coronado mary janes an 8 for comfort on the Keen scale, with her Calistogas being a 10. She states that they're comfortable, just a bit flatter than the Calistoga model which has a more supportive footbed.

Head over to Zappos for more reviews and you'll see two currently (as this is a new style): one positive, one negative. My gut reaction is to recommend this shoe for those that don't need tons of arch support and have a medium-wide width foot.

Where to buy (available in sizes 5-11):

• Zappos: $60, free shipping both ways.
• OnlineShoes.com: $59.95, free shipping and exchanges.
• Keenfootwear.com: $60
• Shoemall: $59.95, free shipping.

Molly is wearing Smartwool socks in the photo above. If you have chronic cold feet or Raynaud's Phenomenon, try a pair of Smartwool socks. Jenni at ChronicBabe.com reviews them here.

Both Smartwool.com and Shoebuy have a great selection. 

Radioactive Iodine, Lemonheads and Olympics

Yesterday I was given a tasteless cocktail of iodine isotope 131 and water, better known as radioactive iodine. My endocrinologist and I agreed that zapping the gremlins out of my thyroid was the best way to treat my Grave's since I've been unresponsive to meds lately. I was given a sheet of directives upon leaving the hospital explaining how I should minimize exposure risks by isolating myself for three days. So here I am at the Holiday Inn feeling perfectly fine but knowing my thyroid cells are being bound, gagged and expelled from my body as I drink liter upon liter of water and suck on lemonheads. I was told by the Dr. that sour candy draws the radioactive isotopes out in the saliva. Nice.

My folks came in from West Virginia to take care of the kiddos; no doubt they're having fun with their Bama and Bumpa.  I miss my boys, but how often do I get a hotel room to myself, eating all the sour candy and Q'doba tacos I want while sitting on the bed watching sparkly Johnny Weir glide across the ice and Evan Lysacek bring home the gold! Way to make the western suburbs proud, Evan.

No shoe reviews today, just a quick update to let you know I'm feeling fine for the time being. I've heard all manner of radioactive jokes already, but feel free to add more...

Signing off,

Fall Out Girl

Win a Foot Petals Stiletto Rescue Pack from Shoeline.com and Barking Dog Shoes

Stiletto Rescue – FootPetals Giveaway

Shoeline.com likes to boast about the incredible built-in comfort of brands they offer like Born, Sofft and Softspots, but every woman has a shoe in her closet that was designed to please the eye...not the foot.

So Shoeline.com happily has announced the addition of FootPetals shoe cushions to their product line. Designed by fashion-industry insider Tina Aldatz, FootPetals uses a unique foam that absorbs shock (instead of pushing it back onto your foot like gel can do) and comes in eye-pleasing colors and shapes that easily adhere to the inside of your shoes.

Through a special arrangement with BarkingDogShoes.com, Shoeline.com is giving away 3 FootPetals Stiletto Kits (retail value $40.95) that will give you everything you need to rescue your Stilettos (or any uncomfy shoe for that matter – some of us could use a little extra cushioning even in our so-called comfort shoes!)

To enter:

• visit Shoeline's Foot Petals collection

• leave a comment below telling us your favorite uncomfortable shoe that could use a rescue (and which Foot Petals product you think would make it bearable!)

Extra Entries:

- Tweet about this contest. Leave 1 comment for each tweet with the link to tweet. Copy and paste the following:

GIVEAWAY! Enter to win 1 of 3 FootPetals foot cushion special edition bundles to rescue your Stilettos from @Shoeline Please RT!

Three winners will be randomly chosen on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 9 pm central.

Crave comfort?  Join Shoeline.com on Facebook  or follow them on Twitter  to receive exclusive updates, news, style advice and promotions from Shoeline.com!

Now that you've entered the contest, tweeted and joined Shoeline on Facebook, let us show you our favorite spring heels over at Shoeline.com.

 

 

Aravon Sandal for under $30

The Aravon Kira is on sale for $29.45 at Shoebuy with free shipping and returns. This is one humdinger of a deal since the sandal started out at $145. Aravon is owned by New Balance and has all the comfort technologies you'd expect from this leader in comfort footwear:

• Primalux™ Comfort Cushion--high density, open-cell foam that gently conforms to the foot and disperses pressure.
• Stability Cradle embedded in Velocor™ footbed supports the arch, cups the heel, and helps provide motion control.
• 3-Point Hook and Loop closure provides a custom fit without laces
• Removable Velocor™ Footbed made of soft, lightweight EVA foam features an understated metatarsal bump for support and full-length ABZORB® cushioning.
• Comfort wedge sole for full ground contact.
• Available in medium and wide widths.

Also available in black and dark brown from NB Web Express for $28.99; limited sizes--search on Aravon Kira.

Naot Believe: Environmentally and Foot Friendly

At first glance, you might think these are Keens. Or maybe J-41? That's exactly what I thought when  browsing new arrivals online and came across these sporty cuties. But they're naot (sorry, I had to attempt the pun).  Thank you to the friendly folk at Naot for sending me a pair of their environmentally friendly and oh-so comfortable shoes from the BE collection.

I chose the Believe style because I can wear it now in the cold with warm socks or go sockless in the summer. The charcoal gray leather is a nice change from basic black and yet still goes with so many outfits. And would you believe these are my first Naots?  I'm so thrilled to own a pair because you truly can't beat Naot for comfort. The anatomic footbed supports my rather high arches, but I can easily take out the footbed and insert my custom orthotics if needed (the only problem is I have blue orthotics and they look tacky in open-backed shoes). But I'll repeat what many Naot customers claim, the footbed is so supportive, I don't foresee needing my orthotics.

For anyone with arthritic hands and fingers, the Naot Believe is so easy to fasten and adjust. The back heel strap has a small amount of elastic for a customized fit and the instep strap is fastened with velcro. I also like the slight elevation of the 1 1/4" heel which is recommended for plantar fasciitis. All in all, this is a very walkable shoe.

What makes the BE collection environmentally friendly?

• Vegetable tanning of leather uppers: less pollution
• Less glue, more stitiching: significantly reduces use of chemical adhesives.
• Handmade: less machinery, less pollution.
• Soles made from latex, a natural rubber from the Caoutchoua tree.
• Natural cork insoles: recyclable

The photo above shows that you don't always have to wear sporty shoes with cargos or jeans. I had fun putting this together. The scarf is from Old Navy and I highly recommend picking one up for around $10--I think they're still in the stores. It's made of cotton so not itchy, and can be worn many different ways.

A word on sizing: I ordered the 41 as I'm closer to a 10 than 9. It's a tad roomy, but perfect with socks.

Where to buy the Naot Believe and other shoes from the BE collection:

• OnlineShoes.com: $169.95, free shipping and exchanges.
• Zappos: $169, free shipping both ways.
• PlanetShoes.com: $169 (limited sizes currently), free shipping, free returns.

Hopefully more shoes from this collection will be available soon, but in the meantime, browse Zappos extensive selection of Naot.