The Photo Gallery: New

This post is for Week 126 of Tara's Photo Gallery, and the theme today is 'New'.  Click here to see the other entries.

I'm not going to lie to you.  One of the best things about visiting the UK at Christmas (or indeed, the UK at any time of year) are the shopping opportunities.  Brand names and products that would cost a fortune here are often more affordable back home even if you buy them in big city stores, and if your parents happen to live close to an outlet village, as mine do, the savings are definitely worth making.

Since we arrived in Russia, every year I've treated myself to at least one pair of new boots.  We spend at least 5 months of the year trekking through snow and slush, you see - so the foot wear you might be able to get away with back home simply doesn't cut it here. Those cute kitten heels?  Useless.  The funky bowling shoes from Camper?  Forget it.  The stilettos that magically make you lose ten pounds and smooth out all the lumps on your butt?  In your dreams.  (Unless you're a Russian woman of course; they apparently have special classes in how to glide in sky high heels across any surface before they leave kindergarten).  The problem, of course, is finding something that does the job - that is, keeps your feet warm & dry, has no heel and a decent tread to cope with the icy pavements - but which also doesn't look as if you're off to a building site*.

Back in 2011, I found the perfect pair in the outlet village close to my parents, brought them in brown and whilst I didn't wear them to death, they were a stalwart standby.  They held up well, so when I saw the same pair this year - in black, and at an ever better price - I decided to invest in them.  I'm delighted with them.  But there's just one problem.  It doesn't do to get too attached to your pristine outerwear in Moscow because this city is filthy in the winter.  No matter how much you brush and clean your boots, they are usually  covered with dirt again within 5 metres of leaving the house.

For example.

I've had these for less than 18 days.  Do they still look 'new' to you?

Me neither.


*Not a bad look in itself, but not to be used every day...

The Gallery, Wk 73; Shoes

This post is for week 73 of The Gallery - click here to see all the other entries, and this week's theme is 'Shoes'.

When I saw this prompt, my first thought was to put up a post about walking in another man's - or woman's - shoes. I do have a picture that fits, but then I changed my mind, mainly because I recently bought myself some new shoes in the sales back in the UK, and well, if a girl can't show off her new shoes on her blog, where can she?

I love shoes. Or rather, I love the idea of shoes; I don't actually possess that many pairs because I'm not good at shopping. That being said, some of the most expensive items in my wardrobe are for my feet. The ones below aren't in that category, however, but I love them all the same, mainly because I'm a closet bling worshipper. I don't have much shiny-shiny stuff, I'm not that confident, but I do like to look at it on others. And every now and again, I buy an item that allows me to include something burnished and/or metallic in what I'm wearing, without sending me over the edge into fantastic Beyonce-ness.

These shoes, ladies, are my Autumn homage to a very understated bling-tastic look. I wear them with skinny jeans and in my misguided 44 year old mind, the colour on it's own lifts what I'm wearing from dowdy school-run mum to someone who might, once upon a time, have been a bit funky.

They're not that comfortable, mind you. But I suspect that excessive wear will soon sort that out...

I got my new shoes on...

The Boys have needed new shoes for some time now. I have to admit, I've been putting it off. I picked up a couple of pairs of canvas sneakers for them when I was back in London a few weeks ago, and they've been wearing those inside and their still-fine snow boots outside. However, as Husband rightly pointed out, we really needed to get them both new indoor shoes and trainers, so last Saturday that is what we set off to do.

It shouldn't be difficult really, should it? They have children in Moscow who have feet and wear shoes too, don't they?

But I knew that it would be. Which is probably why I had been putting it off until a day when Husband was foolish enough to be available to accompany me to translate as necessary.

Why? Well, the service culture in Moscow has come on in leaps and bounds in the last 16 years since I started to visit here, but some aspects of it still leave a little something to be desired...

Last Saturday then, we set off for one of our local shopping malls where we knew there were kids' shoe shops aplenty. I drove, and the Boys and Husband went by tram, and as any Moscow residents will not be surprised to learn, they got there first. Husband decided at this point to take matters into his own hands re; the shoes ('What's that stupid woman making such a fuss about? I shall buy both my sons shoes before she even gets here, and demonstrate to her how easy it is!') and he and the Boys went on up to the largest kids clothing store.

They stood around in the well-stocked shoe section being ignored for a few minutes, until Husband took matters into his own hands and asked an assistant for help. This is the conversation that ensued.

Husband: "Can you help me, please?"

Store lady (sigh): "Yes. What do you want..."

Husband: "We would like to buy some shoes."

Store lady looked blankly at my husband, and then with an all encompassing gesture swept her arms around her and said: "Shooooeees."

Husband (somewhat taken aback): "Yes, I can see they're shoes, but I'm not quite sure what size my sons take, can you help us with that please?"

Store lady (sigh): "OK." She looked at my sons' feet, and started pulling out boxes.

Husband: "Hang on. Can you measure their feet first, please?"

Boy #2 sat down and began to pull his snowboots off. Store lady picked up the first boot from the floor and checked underneath for the size.

Husband: "No, I don't want you to check these boots. I want to know what size his feet are now. Can you measure them, please?"

Store lady picked up Boy #2's foot and looked at it. "I would say..."

Husband: "No, I would like you to measure them. Can you do that please?"

Store lady sighed. "No, we don't do that. Just try a few pairs on until you get some the right size."

At this stage Husband turned and swept grandly out of the store, two Boys (asking loudly when they were going to get new trainers) in tow..

At this stage I was still stuck in traffic, so he moved next door, where they also sold children's shoes. And then, after repeating the whole sorry process, left that one too. By the time I finally got there, he was on store number 3. And this time when the assistant - on being asked to measure the Boys' feet - pulled out a dressmaker's tape measure, Husband kept quiet and counted himself lucky...