are cars better than shoes??...

well... they do protect them... the shoes I mean... no girl in their right mind wants to walk in a muddy and rough pavement wearing a brand new pair of delicate suede ballerinas with leather soles... disaster! Every step is a stab in the heart! So, yes, in this respect, cars are better than shoes... But on the other hand, ugly cars (and you can imagine any one of them that you think is ugly or all of them at once... for me is the Renault Avantime... "no time" more like... scary looking creature... huge bum... makes me think I should go on a diet... brrrr) could not be better than shoes in any way! Not to mention that with that kind of money you could buy a hell of a lot of delicious foot candy... so it makes no sense at all...

I am a lucky person in the process of buying a new car. Did not do any research nor read any reviews and specs or performed any comparison... No.... I did it my (Sinatra style...) way: Chose a reliable brand and I only had to care about the looks of it! As for the rest, well, that's why one chooses a reliable brand! And I went for the MINI (and since I went for it, I thought I go all the way and get the Cooper S... so that I can leave any jerk who provokes me behind at the street lights... my grandpa had a similar mentality, guess I inherited it from him... he could not stand anyone in front of him on the road... he would overtake and then murmur "go catch me now...") as I had my heart set on it for quite a long time.

So I did go through the process of going to the dealers, getting my facts right, doing a test drive and getting my quotes... so basically crossed every t and dotted every i... when it comes to the looks of it that is, as if you ask me whats under the bonnet... mystery... Anyway,  this process is fun! Even with the frustration of checking the quotes and comparing every little detail with those on the spreadsheet that was prepared for me (bless the ones who know how to do these things and have the kindness to help, my ignorance is immeasurable when it comes to things that have nothing to do with shoes...) and trying to make sure that options and "packages" and codes are all in order... even with this, it still is a fun deal... ok, the test drive was the most fun!!

So yes, conditionally, cars can be better than shoes and some of them, the ones that tickle your fancy, certainly are! So they are worth being mentioned here... As for me, well, here's a picture of the one that tickles my fancy ;)

A woman's pleasures...

No, no, I do not mean anything naughty!!... Truth be told, if we go to that direction, we will have to pay tribute to quite a lot of things that are (or at least can be...) better than shoes... But I will not be doing this... at least not in this post... perhaps in the future, if I ever feel adventurous enough ;)

What I mean is all those things that make us feel pampered... precious and certainly taken care of! For example, a visit to the beautician for a facial,  a manicure, a pedicure, a new haircut or colouring, a relaxing massage with scented oils... or even the painful but undoubtedly necessary bikini wax! Yes, women the world over treat themselves to these little (or big...) pleasures (ok, I perhaps should not have mentioned the bikini wax...) since the beginning of time... or a bit later... in the beginning they were really hairy and ugly and surely did not look like they had been to the beautician... partly because there were no beauticians at the time...

But the fact is that we women love these things, the beauty treatments of all kinds, not only for their result (though we do look much better with them then without them) but also for the process, the experience, the time spent being looked after by a professional of beauty! And that, I bet, we all feel that in some level is better than shoes!

Some months ago, being on a small break in a sunny place to celebrate my birthday, I decided to take advantage of all that my hotel had to offer and I treated myself to the full blown beauty drill! The lots of it! I went for a facial and a relaxing massage, had a manicure and a pedicure and a cellulite treatment... not that I have any... just as a precaution... And at the end, to complete the treat, I did my hair! Boy, did I look super good afterwards! Amazing! Later, I went for dinner, wearing a nice dress and a pair of comfortable, so that I can go dancing afterwards,  shoes (amazing Martin Margiela cutout ballerinas) and I sparkled like a diamond! There was no doubt in my mind that the whole experience had been better than shoes... better than my lovely ballerinas!!

growing old(er)...

I'm a huge fan of BBC programs! I'm crazy about cooking shows to the extent that I will hurry my work to finish on time to come home and watch "Ready Steady Cook" (and furious when the show is not on for a long time... like now... grrrr), I loooooove the show about people moving (escaping...) in a house in the country (though would never do it myself... go figure... guess it's because I really like architecture  and I'm interested in the different types of houses they show) and I'm fascinated by the antiques/auctions show... the one where people flog their attic findings and make lots of money of stuff that looks (usually) like crap to me!

So the other day I arrived home early (yes, have been working like mad in the afternoon to finish on time again... but it's so great to come home early, still with light outside, and enjoy this feeling that the one third of my life which is exclusively for me, my leisure time, is not an urban myth...) and turned the TV on to watch "Flog it". And there was this lovely couple, about eighty years of age, who said have been together for ever and they still have nicknames for each other!!! Obviously they were flogging something, don't even remember what is was, but that's not the point...

The point is that I started observing the old couple while they spoke... their long ears, the noses that appeared huge, the wrinkles (so many of them...),  the hatchbacks, the trembling hands... thinking about decay and deterioration of the body... And then it hit me... Boy, I wish I'm so lucky to reach their age!! Yes, I am aware that I will be looking like that, decayed and deteriorated and with huge ears but... who cares??!! I will still be enjoying life, I will still be laughing, I will still get angry and happy and sad and I will still feel love and joy and pain even... and if my brain works until then I will be able to acknowledge all this as a bonus!

A friend of mine once told me that "getting old is better than the alternative"... he is right! Surely being alive bits the hell out of being dead... partly because most of us have absolutely no idea how is it to be dead, so in the comparison, being dead looses as there is no info about it... But it's not just that... Getting old(er) is indeed better than shoes and it deserves being mentioned here. Not only because it comes with the extra bonus of experience and wisdom (which, let's face it, we might use or not...) but also because there can be happiness found in every day we live... and if we are lucky enough to get really old, that means having lived a lot of days and, thus,  a great lot of happy moments!!