I’ve been off work for a few days, visiting with my son who is getting ready to move to LA. As a result, I am in off mode and I decided to share a few of my random thoughts here…this post is probably not for everyone but that’s cool.
Getting older is a funny thing, back when I was a wee lass, I used to wonder why older people always talked about their bodies. Now that I am hovering in the gray zone of not really old or really young, I know why…you feel every damn thing! Suddenly walking around in cute shoes that aren’t comfortable is a big deal especially when you take them off and wake up the next morning feeling like Kathy Bates tried to hobble you.
Like many women, I like pretty toes. In fact I have a thing about pretty toes or maybe I should say that I did. I am a die hard pedicure girl, like every two weeks at the local nail shop having my toes done.
For the past several weeks (month or more), I have been walking around with what I assumed was a callus on the bottom of my foot. In my rather naive thinking, I figured now that I walk quite a bit when I am at work in the city, maybe my feet were adjusting to their new environment. No biggie. Except that somewhere along the way, in addition to the callus on the bottom of my foot, I picked up some uglies on the side of the same foot that had me feeling like someone had torched my feet…can you say ouch?
After buying stock in Dr. Scholl’s foot pads and still not getting any relief, it dawned on me that maybe I needed to visit a foot doctor. Especially since I don’t have a side career as a runner or dancer so why my feet were falling apart on me was a mystery. Fast forward to my visit to the podiatrist (score one for the people of color in Maine…a non white healthcare provider) who took one long look at my feet and informed me that my “callus” was in fact a wart and that the uglies on the side of my foot were the result of my unconsciously changing my gait to compensate for said wart and basically creating friction on the side of my foot. The cure? Comfortable fitting shoes with a wide toe box to lessen the pressure on my foot and arch support and oh…skip the nail shop! See, the chances were pretty good that I picked up this nasty wart at the local nail shop that despite looking clean probably was not sanitizing as well as they could have and probably handling warty feet when really they shouldn’t have. Say what?
Yep, pretty looking feet if not done well (trust me, I do notice things in the shop and the place I was going to looked very clean) can cause feet that feel anything but pretty. Looking back on my last pedicure visit, it’s obvious that the nail technician should have known my “callus” wasn’t a callus,instead they serviced me and now I am spending a lot of money to heal my foot. By the way, size 9.5 shoes with a wide toe box are a lot harder to find than you can imagine. Turns out that many of the known “good” brands like Keen, Merrill and Clark’s have few styles that meet my requirements. Oh dear!
Moving on further up the body, can we talk bras? Many women hate em, but the older I get, I love my bras…like I could sleep in them. Considering that I am neither a member of the itty bitty or the big one’s club, I just don’t have beef with bras. In fact I find that a well fitting bra actually makes my tops fit better. I used to think when I heard that line, it was crap until I spent an hour trying on a slew of bras, then putting my top back on…oh my! Lift baby, lift! Never mind the fact that while I admire my free boobin sisters, at my age, when the girls are free, they no longer smile, they just have sad, uncomfortable frowns. No, we can’t have that! They must smile, a smiling body makes for a smiling BGIM. Of course, the downside of these supportive bras is they sure as hell aren’t cheap. Nothing like looking at the tags realizing that the support is going to cost a cool $50 or more and is rather ugly. Wait? What happened to the days of Victoria Secret’s semi annual sale and the $15 bras? Nothing. You get older and care more about support and comfort than rocking a sexy, matching bra and panties in a cute print or divine color…no magenta striped bras for you!
Funny thing of course is that thus far this getting older thing has me feeling far sexier than I did back when I had the cutest undies ever. I am actually wondering why all this too sexy for my body stuff didn’t happen back in my 20’s. I mean here I am looking like every other 40 something year old woman schlepping about in my sensible shoes and practical clothes (yoga pants) and yet underneath the surface I am the sexiest woman in my world. My goodness I am Beyonce and all the sexy ladies wrapped into one….well, my granny always told me that taking care of my feet and wearing good undergarments were two things I needed to do as I got older, guess she missed the lesson on settling into one’s body and discovering one’s inner goddess.
Since starting my job in Boston, many have asked why I continue to live in Maine…money! Moving is not cheap and sometimes despite not liking a space, we have to live within our financial means. In my case that means saving to move and making good financial decisions. A few readers have asked if I would start a crowd funding campaign to free BGIM and while I appreciate the idea, it’s just not something I can see myself doing. However if you enjoy the space both here and the postings on the BGIM Facebook page or twitter feed, I do keep a tip jar, feel free to support the move via the tip jar. Or send good thoughts for a winning lotto ticket.
Hey, sis. Now that I’m back in Chicago, I recently visited one of these assembly line, walk-in nail salons where they have these poor Southeast Asian (or Korean) nail techs working non-stop while being exposed to noxious fumes and charge $27 for manicure and pedicure combined. I don’t think I’ll do it again. I’m not comfortable with their level of hygiene, even if they claim to disinfect the machines and utensils. News reports have confirmed that the cleansing techniques a lot of these salons employ are not effective.
For me, I feel more comfortable at a regular nail salon, where pedicures cost $40 (at least in Chicago) and they don’t have a lot of customers (because they don’t use assembly line tactics), which means that they also properly disinfect the tubs and utensils, and don’t reuse them on customers.
As for feet, check out Gentle Souls. They are pricey but WORTH IT, given the great cushioning. I have a pair of Gentle Souls sandals and they have kept my feel happy while walking through the city. I don’t mess around with my feet. As a yogi, you know that they are an important part of our body.
As for bras, lawd, after years of being in the itty bitty titty committee I finally have managed to fill out my lifelong B cup and I’m creeping into a “C”. @<@ And they are firmer. If, 10 years ago, someone would have told me that this is what would be awaiting me as I get closer to 40, I would have laughed.This is going to sound strange, but I feel like an awkward preteen now that I can "feel" that I'm carrying breasts. LOL. Yeah, this aging this got me feeling all sessy and walking with an extra switch in my hips.
A few months ago I was visiting a girlfriend and she took me bra shopping (I was in desperate need as the bras I had before birthing my 2nd kid no longer fit…). This was my first time shopping for GOOD bras, and I was amazed at both how comfortable and well-fitting they could actually be…and also the price tag. Yikes. But, hey, they seem worth it.
I’m only 33, but I really see how true it is that as you get older you just stop giving a shit about so many things… and how that can lead one to feel so much sexier (or at least free to feel sexy) in these older years and in our 20s…