Yes, I paid full price. Two times. But it was planned.
As I said early on in the no retail shopping challenge, I would love to have a pair of TOMS shoes. I love what they’re doing and if I buy a pair of shoes, a child that is in need of shoes gets a pair. The one-for-one model. [day 295] I went to the mall… I know, but let me explain! I went to the mall to go have my phone checked out at the Apple store. I told my son I would take him to the Lego store too.
After going both of those places, wondering how I’m going to lower my blood pressure, I made my way back to Nordstrom’s, where I parked. The ambient noise included crowds of people doing their weekend shopping routine and the louder noises of my son chatting about plastic crap and how Lego pieces are not crap and his friend begging to go to girl stores to clothes shop. Why are these kids with me??!?
We stopped in Nordstrom’s in the shoe department to try on some TOMS. I guess I could have bought them there, and I might have, but they didn’t have the color I wanted in the right size. I decided to go home and buy them online. The shopping experience is just not my happy place.
I bought my ash gray canvas TOMS online. I paid about the same price I would have at Nordstrom’s when you calculate shipping for the online order versus tax that I would have paid retail. 
I also bought a pair of TOMS boots, or botas, as they call them. These were not an impulse buy, as I’ve been planning on buying boots for months. I’ve been looking at thrift stores but either women don’t have boots or they don’t give them away. Now that I have two pairs of TOMS, I feel like I bought two pairs of blank canvases to paint.
While thinking of what I will paint on my TOMS, I found a pair of beige Sanuk’s at Plato’s Closet for $10. Screaming deal, but I’m allergic to beige. Yes, these are perfect to paint! I can practice my painting techniques and ideas on these. 
I used fabric paint, fabric dye, old fabric scraps, glue and acrylic paint. I also used a piece of iridescent plastic and some paint pens. So what happened? All of my ideas worked just fine. They’re a bit bright, so my next pair of painted shoes will be toned down a bit, but all in all, they turned out good.
I feel good about all three of these purchases. Why?
Goodwill. Two kids somewhere got a pair of shoes they desperately needed. TOMS are not cheap, but what they’re doing is awesome. I will gladly support a company that helps people in need.
Good deal. the Sanuk’s were a good deal. They retail for $54 and I paid $10. Not my best deal, but still good. Very comfortable shoes!
Good practice. I was glad to have a pair of practice shoes to paint before painting my TOMS. I’ve painted shoes before [day 145] but these would be a little different. $10 is not a bad investment. I had all of the painting and embellishment supplies.
I also thought of a fundraising idea to do with TOMS to help the kids down at Casa Hogar Elim, and the ball is rolling on that. Great stuff! Yes, I feel good about these purchases. :)