Chacos

Chacos.

May not be the prettiest sandal you have seen but its definitely going to last forever. Is it because of the chunky bottom that nearly takes out my ankles every time I actually hit myself with them?

I initially first bought my pair of Chacos during my sophomore year of college. Since I was a poor college student, I bought mine through sierratradingpost off season outlet sale type thing and got them for $50, they're usually around $100. Of course the only one my size was this red strap color which I was not a fan of, but at that point in my life, I was buying more for function. Plus I wanted the double strap and not the single strap. As a member of the rowing team, you spend a lot of time outside. You may also end up having to walk around a lot of grass, hills, random outdoors in those shoes or being forced to run 3 miles in them (as I once had to during our winter training).

Basically, I'm in love with them and I bring them anytime I know its going to be hot enough that I don't want to wear gym shoes and I'm going to be hiking/doing long walks. Brought them with me to Vegas and wore them hiking around the Grand Canyon.

Want shoes you are ok with getting wet? ✔
Ok needing to run 3 miles in? ✔
Walk all around anywhere in? ✔



The only couple of cons that I have found from my past 7 years of wear.

• I want to buy a new pair of  chacos with colors that I actually like but my old ones are still perfectly fine that I can't justify buying another pair of the same shoe. Maybe one day
• The buckle and stiff thing on the inside side where the logo is will still occasionally give me blisters (I also think this may be the out of season one I bought because my friends stiff logo side is not actually stiff)
• They are kinda on the heavy side so if I wear them and my foot hits my leg, it hurts
• If a rock gets under your foot while you're wearing them, its so annoying to get out. You have to unstrap and shake, then stick your foot back in there. Its a whole process. 

Tieks by Gavrieli

I think everyone has heard of Tieks.

Its known for being the "Ballet Flat, Reinvented" and has those turquoise soles.

Basically flats that are 100% premium, soft, top-grain leather with non-elasticized, cushioned back and non-skid rubber soles and cushioned instep. Its $175 so its a pretty steep price tag and only comes in whole sizes.

There's a huge cult following that talk about how much they love this shoe and how its worth it, even with the $175 cost.


I was first introduced to the shoe when one of my co-workers during my 2nd year of pharmacy residency training was wearing it and said how comfortable it was. Me, as a lazy person who enjoys shoes that looks cute but comfortable to wear, immediately wanted to buy them. Of course I was a poor pharmacy resident and definitely could not afford to spend almost $200 on shoes, let alone ballet flats...

So it went on my list of things to buy when I get a real job.

Fast forward to today and I finally decided ok, maybe I'll spend this money and actually get them.

First impressions!

• Packaging
• Packaging is beautiful. It comes in a blue box with a flower ribbon and a hand written card, what more can you ask? 
• It also comes with a shoe cover and one of those foldable grocery bags
• Color
• Got the poppy, which is a beautiful color don't get me wrong, but for my first pair of Tieks and for spending almost $200, I kinda regret not getting a more normal color just so I could wear it more often without having to color coordinate my outfits 
• Fit
• I'm a true size 7 and size 7 fit well. My friend did say that she could see my big toe imprint so if you're not a fan of that, something to keep in mind
• Foldability
• Yes! they fold up well and since they come with a shoe cover thing, its great for carrying around!

Day one
(Wore them to work where I walk from the parking lot, to my office and back, occasionally  walk up 5 flights of stairs [the stairs are faster than the elevator, I've raced it before]):

• Well besides the general tightness of the flat around the top of my foot, no major problems. My toe was pretty sore though from constantly being pulled upwards? Maybe it needs to be broken in some more? 

Day two
(Wore them to visit my friend in New York and walked a total of ~10 miles, per my iPhone in them)

• I figured I needed to break them in and what better way to do that then wear them to the city where you mostly walk around all day? Terrible idea. People boast about how they can wear these all day in Disneyland and on Europe trips and all... Not me. I thought I was dying. My feet were getting blisters around the heel area, my toe was cramping up because of all those same issues from Day one wear. When I got home and took them off, I couldn't even bend my toe it hurt so much. My feet definitely felt like they had been walking around for 10 miles barefoot since there's no real arch support either. So... pretty disappointed, although I managed to wear them for 10 miles? I haven't been able to test them out again because my feet are still recovering from a couple days ago. Hopefully I've broken them in now? Will update my next run!

Final thoughts?

• I've only worn them twice now so still too early to tell but from a pain perspective, my toe hurts. I think it may be my foot in general? Wearing other ballet flats for long periods of time also makes my foot crampy too. I'll have to keep on trying it out to see if its just the initial breaking in process. 

About This Blog

Hello all,

I'm starting this blog as a way to document the best quality products to survive especially during travels! A little bit about me, I'm Justine.

I've spent some time living in several different cities:

• New Brunswick, New Jersey
• 
• Chicago, Illinois
• 
• Brooklyn, New York
• 
• Des Moines, Iowa
• 

But, I'm originally from Chicagoland suburbs, went to college and pharmacy school for 6 years in Des Moines, Iowa. After I graduated I lived in Brooklyn for a year to complete my PGY1 Pharmacy Residency and then I moved back to Chicago to finish my PGY2 Infectious Disease Residency. Now I'm currently in New Brunswick, New Jersey working as a pharmacist. During my college and residency years, I didn't really have a car (except my last year in pharmacy school where we do our clinical rotations) so I've had to either rely on public transportation, walking, or biking to get to place. Although, if uber was bigger during my college years/in Iowa then, things may have been very different. Either way, I'm all about that good quality shoe that can last thousands of miles and look good.


Some of the products I'll be reviewing are things I've had for ages.