New Shoes

As part of the wedding planning process, we're keeping an online "inspiration board" with photos of things we'd like to see or moods we'd like reflected at our wedding. The entire time, we've both wanted to keep things light and fun--we don't take ourselves too seriously and we don't want our wedding to be too stuffy.

Anyway, based on what we put on the board, we decided that I'd be better off in a suit than in a tuxedo. For those of you who don't know me, I'm kind of a lanky guy and I don't generally fit into rented clothes too well and a suit fits into the un-stuffy feel we were looking for.

Deciding not to wear a tux means I won't be wearing black patent leather shoes to the wedding either. We decided for a gray suit and brown shoes and this weekend I made my first official wedding purchase--the shoes. For those of you who are interested, here they are:


Strangely enough, McAllen, TX is commercial mecca of sorts. Although the students that I teach are nearly all low-income, there is a lot of money floating around. Some of the money comes from legitimate sources, like trade and manufacturing, while some comes from less savory sources, like human trafficking and drugs. Additionally, there's a ton of money being spent in American stores from wealthy Mexicans who come across the border on the weekends to shop in the U.S. In addition to having what I've heard are the highest grossing Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy in the country, we also have a really nice mall and a super-fancy outlet mall. Taking advantage of this, I got my new kicks at the Cole Haan outlet for half-off.

So, there you have it. One more wedding decision taken care of. It may be minor, but our list of things to do is getting shorter by the day.