I was lying to myself, and to you.

Those boots were torture. I returned them. I had a moment in the car where my feet hurt so bad because of them that I thought I might crack. I was driving, my dogs were barking (I had to say it), and I literally could NOT spread my toes apart. I don't know why this was so troublesome, but the fact that my toes were all bound together and I couldn't spread them out in that moment almost caused me to scream (I might have if Maizey hadn't been in the car). Those boots were foot straight jackets.

So now, I've decided to embrace NW Casual and all that that implies. North Face coats (I have 4) and Danskos (also 4) or running shoes and jeans or cords. There is nothing wrong with this. It's easy, comfortable, and makes you look intelligent and environmentally conscientious. More importantly, I can spread my toes apart with ease in my Danskos.

Here are the shoes in heaviest rotation. I know it seems sad, but I'm okay with it. And, my brown Danskos just look like that because I wore them to a farm yesterday. This photo might give my sister nightmares.

I know you're thinking "weird that Lana lined up her 4 shoes on her coffee table" but I always keep them there so it's not really weird after all.

I'm not saying that it doesn't make me kind of sad to throw in the proverbial towel. I have visions of skinny jeans and edgy boots just like the next girl. But, I also have visions of bunioned feet and muffin tops. Somethings gotta give.

Okay, moving on. Ryan gets annoyed when I do posts like this. Probably because A. it makes me sound ridiculously stupid and narcissistic and B. because he calls this the "family" blog not just my personal blog. But, I take issue with that. It's true that I document Maizey comings and goings here, but, this. is. my. blog.

On that note, today is HALLOWEEN! Yay! We have a big day planned. We're headed down to W.Sea to T or T in the junction (where they are doing something kid oriented--I don't know, Erika told me about it). Then we're going to Hiawatha Community Center to see the world-famous (that's a lie) doggy costume contest and parade. I'm pretty sure that will be the highlight of Maizey's day. Then my parents are coming up and we're headed over to Ry's parent's house for dinner and to open the door for trick or treaters! Fun fun! Maizey is being a casual, comfy pumpkin (her choice for comfort over style reminds me of someone I know). Last year she wore a peapod costume that was so cute for all of about 5 mins. I decided that this year I wouldn't torture her. She has many years of Halloween costume torture in her future, I figured I'd give her a break this year.

Yesterday we did Remlinger Farms with Bethie and Harper and my mom. We had such a good time. I LOVE that place! The rides and the petting zoo and the kid-sized haymaze and the steam train and the pumpkin patch, they all give rise to the quintessential fall destination. What gave rise to the quintessential car ride with a toddler on the way to the quintessential fall destination was when Maizey (who has made a habit of gagging herself for fun) stuck her fingers so far back in her mouth that she barfed all over herself, her clothes, my in-laws new car (my car was getting new tires put on), and my in-laws carseat. It was AWESOME! I had to pull over on the side of the Hwy and get Maizey changed. I thank Allah that I happend to have brought my carseat with us and had a bag of clothes since Maizey was going to my mom's afterward to spend the night. So, I traded out the carseat and got Maizey changed. She wasn't the slightest bit shaken by the fact that she had just puked up breakfast, nor did she seem to care that this technically, meant that she was bulimic. She just played happily in the front seat while I worked tirelessly to clean up puke from the seats of my in-laws car with the 10 wipes I had with me. The rest of the ride in the vomit stenched vehicle was almost equally as awesome. But we shook it off and had a great time.

I'm not going to post photos. I'm too lazy, but I'm going to provide you with a viable alternative. Look to the right of the screen. See where there is a link that says "Zarling Wonderland of Fun: Remlinger Farms" and has a picture of two little girls in a wagon below it? Go there. You can see photos of our day there. But, here is one photo that you won't find there that I HAVE to share since it's officially my new favorite of Maizey. We took it as we were getting ready to leave Remlinger Farms and she was crawling on my mom's car. It's so cute. Happy Halloween!!!!