Thanks for the comment Frank. To answer your question, the title of the blog came about last summer. I spent way too much money on a pair of tan suede shoes from Cole Haan (pictured in the header banner of this site.) I loved them. They were super lightweight and cool on hot days, and the ‘dirty buck’ material with the green soles always drew comments. The problem was I was deathly afraid of ruining them. Everyday was the fear of some cab driving by splashing through a puddle, or a freak rainstorm, or a careless pedestrian’s melting Mr Softee cone, etc. I found myself always thinking ‘Not the shoes!’ as I scurry away from whatever hazard presented itself.

Sounds ridiculous but I’m sure you all have had the experience of getting something you’ve just bought and are super excited about stained/ripped/ruined in some way. ‘Not the shoes’ was top of mind at the time and it stuck.

As for the shoes, they survived the summer and are sleeping tightly in the original bag and box they came in. Now that I think of it….it’s getting just about warm enough out to dust off the warm weather stuff. Think I’ll do that tonight.