A swift boot to the...

I've been so busy this week that I have not really had chance to blog. I try to store observations in my brain somewhere so I can come back and write about it, but in all the hustle, I think the observations fall out and get crushed. But there is one observation that repeated itself all this week and it bothers me so much I need to address it.

I live in a tropical country. Granted, the weather lately has been atrocious but it is hurricane/rainy season after all. But I am assaulted daily by women walking through the city like this -

Women's boots

What on earth? Why are women wearing boots here? In the middle of the day, in the heat? One girl came in for coffee yesterday in jeans and knee highs and I did not attempt to NOT stare. I stared and let her know I was staring cause I thought she looked stupid.  I saw yet another in Uggs. Really?? Tourists come from the US and Europe to the Caribbean to wear flip flops and run on the beach barefoot. They walk through the malls in cute sandals - loving the freedom of just waking up and knowing it's warm enough to be foot carefree. And yet...

I love boots. Love. But I won't be wearing boots in Trinidad unless hell freezes over.

I have a busy day today. I won't be looking for boots but instead will be looking for a cocktail dress for the staff Christmas party. It's actually not something I am looking forward to, only cause I am exhausted. Who woulda thunk it? Me - not looking forward to shopping or parties! Scary.

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Maxi Friday

Earlier this week, with some inspiration from the awesome CP, I bravely wore one of my maxi dresses out and about in London. Since "summer" began, I had not worn any dresses because the weather has been less than summery. I had worn one earlier - in April - when the weather was well and truly hot. However, the erratic summer has not instilled any confidence in me. But I have decided to give the other dresses some coverage and today is slated to be a stunner of a day so will go spend some time outdoors and out of jeans.

I love this dress because it is comfy, has a full, floor length skirt, and most important, it is low maintenance - it did not cost much so I feel free to roll around in it. Add a cute belt and simple accessories and a matching shrug, and I am ready to roll.

And of course - Flip flops!

Happy Friday everyone!!

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Flip Flop Adventures

Sunny flip flops for the beaches of Tobago

Though I feel lazy to blog, it is one of the most relaxing times of my day. Another relaxing time is sitting on a beach, letting the sun bathe you in its heat. That was part of my weekend, in sweet Tobago. I had not been to Tobago since my friend had gotten married about 2 years ago. Shameful I know. But when you have been stuck in the cold for months and sunshine is a luxury, Tobago is no longer a weekend luxury but a necessity. So off I went, flip flops in hand...or in this case, on feet, and 20mins later, my plane was sitting on the hot runway of Crown Point International and an hour later, I was walking to Pigeon Point beach where I spent the rest of the afternoon, eating cheese paste sandwiches, lolling around in the clear warm water and gaping at the various shapes and sizes of the white people, while shaking my head at the fake accents of the black Tobago men trying to impress the white people. It's amusing as well being back in the land of the funny catcalls, which never fail to make me laugh.

It's been a good visit home so far - between the running up and down in Trinidad and the bummin' in Tobago with friends, it has been lovely. The weather has also held up pretty well. That may be an understatement. The weather is great but it comes with an intense heat that not even people born and bred in the tropics can tolerate. One exception was the day we drove up to Mount St Benedict, when it rained and cooled the place down just a bit, but it made for some interesting views like this one.



View from Mount Sr Benedict: The dark blues of the rain clouds coupled with the mist - dark and gorgeous


And zen is watching the sun going down on the beach in Tobago, after a great day.

The view from my beach chair in Pigeon Point, Tobago

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Flip Flop Glamour

Have flip-flops made a comeback?

Today is the day! I am going to brave the elements and go forth - in a pair of flip flops. If you could not tell just from the title, having missed yesterday A-Z Challenge entry, I am doing F and G today. The weather is brilliant and though it gets chilly at night, I have pulled out a pair of flip flops. I will gauge the wearability of them later.

I crashed like a stone last night, after having not slept the night before, and I also woke up with a bleepin' headache so physically, I am not a star. But I am looking forward to a great day and hopefully an even better weekend- colour coordinated and all. G is for gorgeous and great, and I will try my best to be that today.

Today's winning fashion combo includes...

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Life in Flip Flops - An Ode

Photo courtesy CleveMed Blogs

I first want to thank the awesome Karen for choosing my cyber corner as Blog of the Week. I was tickled and though I just mind fart here half the time, nice to know someone likes it.

I had my last exam today. Well, technically I still have another exam after the next 2 weeks of a silly blocked class but at least for now, I can sleep and do normal human things. I am beyond tired. I did not sleep last night. I had this fear of oversleeping. When the body is tired and wants rest and demands it, sometimes even knowing you have something urgent as an exam cannot get your body and mind to respond to stimuli like alarms. I put on 3 alarms on my phone and 2 on my laptop and still felt that a 90 min nap was going to somehow be my undoing. Two classmates were victims of oversleeping this morning, so the possibility was very real. At least in their case, they literally live minutes away from campus. My bus-train-train-train-walk fun was not going to save me from the consequences of oversleeping. But I was good. I finished the exam and then as I sat on the train back, I started crashing. I crashed for a couple hours, woke up, streamed last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy and now I am so hungry I am going to have this evening's second helping of pelau.

There were just a couple photos I wanted to share - nothing earth shattering but I read a lot of things during the week. Sadly most of it is school work, but I do love the odd news story.

First...

Photo courtesy Yahoo News (I think)

The big uproar about the President of the United States wearing flip flops this week, was amusing. Isn't AIDS still a global epidemic? Isn't there a war going on? Don't the American press have anything better to do than report on a man's choice of footwear while he is on vacation? I mean, really - what is the big deal? If he were meeting, I dunno, Vladimir Putin at the White House with a pair of rubber flip flops on his feet, then sure...national emergency. But the dude was on vacation. In Hawaii. I have been on vacation in Hawaii. Guess what? People wear flip flops there. It's a flip flops kinda place. And as my blog name suggests, I cannot hate a man who kicks back in a pair of flip flops.

It reminded me of this British dude I know. We went to the beach one weekend, back home, in the lovely and awesomely hot Trinidad, and he was wearing a pair of green sneakers, or as the Brits call them - trainers. Besides being a hideous shade of green, my main concern - sneakers? On a hot day, on the beach? The sand was pretty hot and I asked him if he wanted to borrow my extra pair of flip flops (when I say life in flip flops, I am not kidding). They were not hot pink or cuddly blue or anything. They were regulation black, standard, boring, unisex flip flops. He insisted he was fine with his green trainers. I insisted in my mind that those things were too hideous for me to be seen in public with him. The truth was, and I learned this after a few minutes of failed coaxing, growing up and living in London, he had never ever EVER worn a pair of flip flops and he sheepishly admitted that he did not know how to walk in them. Flabbergasted I was, lemme tell ya. Never worn flip flops? That is a tragedy too enormous for my poor Caribbean mind to comprehend.

Montego Bay flip flops from Payless
are a staple in my cupboard

I mean, being here this time of year, I can understand the need for boots and closed toed shoes. Everytime I am late and rummaging through my cupboard for a hat or a scarf or some other cold-beating accessory that I may have unceremoniously flung in the corner, I notice my cute purple flip flops - alone, unloved, waiting patiently for warmer weather. Flip flops I beat every weekend back in Trinidad.Wake up Saturday morning, pull on a pair of jeans, a cute tank top and a matching pair of girlie flip flops - head to the mall, the movies, the restaurant. God, I miss that. On the bright side, life in fluffy socks, fluffy slippers and boots means the emphasis on pedicures is not that intense. So Mr Obama, rock those flip flops. My only concern with the photo are those macaroni legs, honey. I love you, but not the legs.

Well, my ode to the flip flop went on longer than I expected so my other mindlessly random photo, I will post tomorrow. Maybe I can do mindlessly random photos every day. It is such a blessing when I can sit in bed, with my laptop, typing a blog post and not feeling harried or guilty because I need to get back to the books. I can write more than 200 words about rubber slippers and how much I love them.

I'm so tired and hungry though. I don't know if I can even make it to the kitchen, I am so exhausted. And to think I wanted to go out tonight. This right here, home in socks and jammies - best night ever.

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