I found them. I found them. I found them!

"Found what?" you may ask... and my answer is:

These!!

Many of you may not know that once upon a time I had a pair of shoes that I loved. They were Ox Blood Red Dr. Martins Mary Jane's with decorative die-cuts across the toes with a silver buckle. Such beautiful shoes.

I got them as a gift from a member of the Annandale Ward in Annandale Virginia. Her name was Sister Mertz. One evening while my companion and I were at their house for dinner Sister Mertz asked me what size shoes I wore. I answered that I wore 8.5 and she said she had some shoes in her closet that would probably fit and that she never wore. She disappeared for a short while and soon re-emerged with these shoes in her hand.

My shoes in their first and last trip to Washington in July 2009

It was love at first sight. The Ox Blood red caught my eye and my heart. They were perfect shoes for me, they fit perfectly, they were my style, they slipped on and off with ease. Ah! I loved them. I have even composed poetry about them. But Alas, as all things in this world go, they reached the end of their usefulness. They were pretty much dead in 2008, but it took me a whole other year to throw them away. I was so attached to those shoes.

Since then I have looked and looked to find a new pair of those shoes. I have bought shoes that might be okay, and shoes that were cute, I even bought a pair of Union Jack Boots that I love now, but they can't replace the shoes I miss. My sister-in-law even bought me red Mary Jane slippers to help fill the gap, but it just wasn't working.

Most of these shoes I have bought to replace the dead ones are junk. They have been Payless shoes, or clearance DSW shoes, and Target shoes... but they just don't cut it. One pair fell apart, one pair stretched so now they don't fit, and the other pair wreaks havoc on my poor knees.
Not to long ago at dinner I said to John "I need new shoes." and he didn't argue, stating that shoes are a necessity of life and if I need new shoes just buy some... He didn't know what kind of can of worms that opened. I decided that if I buy another pair of shoes I'm buying some GOOD shoes. While perusing the Dr. Martin website I found the shoes above. And I knew they were for me. So red, so shiny it was like being in the Mertz apartment all over again, falling in love.