This girl LOVES purple

One day last summer I was strolling through Georgetown in a pink shirt and saw at JCrew some amazing neon pink shorts.  Waiting to try them on, the girl in front of me said, "Wow, you REALLY love pink."  And then she laughed at me.  Biotch.  What do I say to that?  That never would have happened if I had been wearing a black shirt while shopping for black pants - what could she have said? "You LOVE black! Where's your witch hat, you gothic magician?"  

I dont even like pink that much and I didn't buy the shorts.  But the point is - now I'm paranoid about color dominance even if I just happen to be wearing the same color I'm shopping for, or a little too much of one color in general.  This is how I think.  And because of some recent sightings of myself in a mirror, I'm thinking everyone at my gym sees me and says, "WHOA. That girl LOVES purple." I have awesome purple sneakers, sometimes I wear my bright purple winter coat, and my everyday gym bag, though a darker shade, is (you guessed it) Purple. 

The fact is I do love purple.  I have a purple couch, a bedspread where the dominant color is purple, and I recently made an impulse online buy of a purple rug with way too many shades of pink and lavender.  I have since rolled up the rug and stored it under my bed.  It's adorable, but when I walk into my apartment I can't help but think, "If anyone walks in here they're going to wonder where I've stored my collection of unicorn and fairy figurines."  I have also since put the quilt under my white duvet and poof - my Lisa Frank pencil of an apartment is finally a little more feng shui.  I guess if I walk into my own apartment and immediately conjure images of a Hello Kitty store, I may have gone overboard.

The problem is: take my winter coat for example, I'm not wearing it all day with my purple sneakers and gym bag - it looks normal when I wear it over work clothes.  It's just when I'm leaving the gym and everything on me is the same color that I have flashbacks to the JCrew girl - but this time she's saying "Wow, you REALLY love purple."  And this time, my head bows in shame because, she's right.

I'm a weirdo.

We all make mistakes with color, right? But that doesn't change the fact that I love my sneakers, and I love my coat and let's face it - I look amazing in the shades that emerge when you combine red and blue.  But if I saw me at the gym, I would instantly tune out my rocking music and start thinking of Barney Explosion jokes to tell my friends later at the bar.  

I guess the lesson here is that only in summer, where my sneaks can't clash with an overcoat, should I buy the more ostentatious Nike's that I'm so drawn to. Or unfortunately, that big purple dinosaur in the room will always be me.

And to think I was excited for 13 seconds

This afternoon I saw this tweet:

Well, I think we all know I have no idea who Kevin Durant is... but that didn't deter me from clicking through with excitement that maybe Nike had created some type of running shoe that is weatherproof, won't get your socks wet in the rain, maybe heats your feet in the cold and cools them in the summer.  The possibilities for a shoe that is ALSO a weatherman are endless!!  I realize now those are lofty goals from a running shoe, but whatever - lots of people in the 80s thought we'd have hoverboards by now, so let's move on.

It took me 3 articles and 2 videos to figure out that the "Weatherman" is: 

1.  A new basketball shoe (gross) 

2. Has no weather neutralizing benefits for your feet 

3. Has no weather predicting technology

 4. Is only called the Weatherman because the colors look like a Doplar Radar.

Womp Woooomp.

This Washington Post article describes the Weatherman as "A hot electrifying forecast for your feet."  Why would I not immediately assume that this shoe can somehow tell me the outside temperature and/or the temperature of my body while I'm running?

  

And check out this picture!  

This lead me to believe the bottom of the shoe was testing the temperature of the ground, predicting earthquakes, snow, and rain.

It turns out it's just a color scheme.

Further research informed me the shoe is weather themed because apparently this Durant character wanted to be a weatherman when he was growing up.  Instead he became a millionaire pro basketball player and famous designer of questionable, misleading sneakers.  Thanks for that. 

Maybe one day shoes will be as innovative as my brain, but until then, I suggest Nike put a disclaimer on the box that says this shoe is weather colored but can't actually predict the weather.

Freedom From?

A leettle sneaker review for you runners out there.

I recently purchased these Nike Free+ 2 sneaks from City Sports.

What they Free me from, I do not know...other than freedom from a soft cushion when I run, freedom from ankle support, freedom from healthy knees, and freedom from being able to run longer than 3 minutes without leg and lower back pain.  I'm not sure this is what FDR had in mind (Get it? I know.)

I returned to City Sports yesterday to inquire about said pain that I believe has a direct correlation with the shoes, which I've now been using for approximately 10 days.  The woman was very helpful, explaining that sure, I could buy insoles for cushion, but that new wearers were often mislead into doing "too much too soon" when using the Free for the first time.  The body needs time to adjust to how the Free simulates barefoot running (which I guess is some new rage in the exercise world...I tend to be of the belief that we're not cavemen so why can't I wear shoes?  But, I digress).  I explained that really, I'm just a run-walker, so I don't think that qualifies me in this group of doing "too much"...well, ever.  But she encouraged me to give the shoes some time and my fragile ankles and knees time to adjust to the lack of support.  

Let's be honest, the caveman who evolved into present day humans didn't say, "Actually, we're pretty happy with the wheel, but let's stick with the barefoot thing."  They progressed.  And invented shoes.  And then came shoes with support and cushion to absorb the shock of pounding over and over again onto cement.  Are we next going to say, "Eh, let's revert back to the horse and buggy.  Just give yourself some time to adjust to the slower pace of travel."  Am I crazy here?

I just don't know if I buy the barefoot running phenomenon.  But, always the sucker for new fads (and for some weird reason, items sold on TV) I bought these - so I have to give them a chance.

Any other Free wearers out there have some advice?