Friday shopping report: 4 pairs of shoes and more!

Shopping on State Street
I took Z on a special "just the two of us" outing on Labor Day, and in addition to checking out the Chicago Architecture Foundation's Model City, we shopped. And shopped.

I'd promised Z a pair of shoes, but locating just the right pair took stops at Macy's and Nordstorm and the Sketchers store, were we scored this none-too-subtle pair of glittery, light-up kicks. They are regularly $40, but everything in the store was 20% off. I also picked up a pair of leather sandals for Josh for a remarkable $15!

At TJ Maxx, Z picked out a Halloween costume. She'd been talking about going as Strawberry Shortcake, but she changed her mind and selected a spider witch getup. We'll keep our eyes open for plastic cauldron for collecting candy. I also found a lovely new tablecloth ($16), an iPod charger for the car ($8) and a paint-your-own-birdhouse kit ($7) to add to the birthday closet.

I was shop-weary, but Z didn't want to go home without something for her little sister. At first she insisted on getting A a matching pair of Sketchers, but I explained the folly of spending a lot of money on shoes for a kid who refuses to wear anything but Crocs (no socks). She felt strongly we couldn't come home without any presents for A, so we walked over to Old Navy and found a cute hot pink tulle tiered skirt on clearance for under $8. Z convinced me to buy her a matching one, and a 97¢ sport-cap metal water bottle made it into our cart as well.

Did you say Crocs?

I would not be surprised if I am one of 6pm.com's top customers. This week alone I bought warm, wooly Crocs ($12) for my shoe-averse 3 year old (so far she refuses to wear them) and new, larger classic Crocs ($10) for Z (who actually wore the tread off a pair she's had for almost two years).

Just the thing to warm up in before I lace up my roller skates, right?

I also ordered a pair of retro-fabulous New Balance sneakers ($30) so that I won't have to worry about toting my sole pair of athletic shoes back and forth between my work gym (where I keep them) and Oak Park, where I am about to start roller derby workouts with Derby Lite. Stay tuned for that shopping report next week!