Deal deferred

I took Isaac to the doctor this morning for his checkup. Annie came along, wearing her little pink cowboy boots, and the nurse talked to us for about five minutes about how she has been searching for some hot pink boots just like Annie's for the rodeo. Apparently Rodeo is a huge deal in Houston, and we're just beginning to get a taste of the bull-riding, belt-buckle-wearing craze that will overtake our city next month.

And now I'm feeling even more determined to find a fun, inexpensive pair of cowboy boots.
I've been on the hunt for the perfect pair of boots since we arrived here this summer. And for me, a Connecticut Yankee, that's saying a lot. I've been eyeing a pair of Frye boots at Nordstrom, but at $350, they're too rich for my blood. Right before Christmas I found a perfect pair at Marshalls for $60. The only problem is that they were just a little bit too small. If they had been $30 and a little bit too small I would have bought them. And if they had been a half size bigger, I would have bought them, but the combination of a half size too small and more than I wanted to pay was too much for me.

I've been regretting not buying them ever since.

After Christmas Eddie told me to pick out a pair and order them. So I found another (cheaper) pair at Nordstrom and had them sent to me. On the website they appeared to be everything I wanted: tan, rounded-toe, western designs on the boots. But when they arrived they were all wrong-- suede instead of leather, toe not as rounded as it looked in the picture. And so they went back.

Today I took the kids to Target to kill some time in between Isaac's doctor's appointment and Annie's preschool drop-off. I've been looking at a pair of boots there, but they weren't exactly what I wanted (brown instead of tan, pointy toe) so I had been avoiding paying $35.00 for them. But lo and behold, today they were on the 75% off rack. Ripping through the rack, I found a pair in my size. For $8.24 my footwear dilemma could be solved! As I slipped my feet into the boots, I realized something wasn't right. Yeah, the boot on the left was a 7-1/2, but the one on the right was a 10!

I could go all over town hunting down another pair, but the best thing about a really good deal is having it fall in your lap. I don't think I'd get the same kind of rush going to Target stores all over the city to find a pair of boots.

So I feel a little bit bad for myself and my deal deferred. But mostly I feel bad for the woman who got the matching pair.

--originally published 1/17/06