Attraction

What was I thinking? I don't know. Sometimes I act like a 2 yr old. Last week when I was at the pedicurist (for the second time in 9 years) Aarti had to be dragged along with me for obvious reasons. The pedicurist, Diana from Vietnam, offered to paint Aarti's nails. I would, on a sane day, say no to a 2 yr old's nails, be it toe nails, being painted. On this particular occasion, I had to give in since she needed a bribe for behaving for one hour while I got myself pampered in the whirlpool of warm water massaging my feet. So, guilty but half hearted, I let Aarti choose a color. What does she choose? A bright neon green that would normally be used for labeling garage sale stickers or stick em notes. Luckily, she got diverted by the time it came to painting her nails and I walked out thanking my lucky stars for having missed the thrilling opportunity of seeing my toddler's toe nails painted a gaudy, cheesy neon green.

And look at the strange twist of fate - I get attracted to a pair of the most gaudy Birkenstocks designed by Heidi Klum, yes guys, the same well endowed, mom of 3, Victoria secret model with a kick ass bod! And I realise that Aarti's color choice is after all, a genetic disorder, since the metallic neon green sandals with the heaviest embellishments and the flashiest adornments do no justice to the picture put up for your consideration. The conventional birki style looks like the illegitimate child of Birkenstocks and Joan Rivers Junk jewelry. The hefty straps overwhelm my dainty foot and make it look kind of funny and stuffed. Just this evening I show them off to my friend Sneha and she had this perplexed look on her face. "And you are roaming around in these for the summer?" She asked with an expression way too complex, for I cannot say if it is shock or a mock....at the choice of a thirty something housewife.

Even my young kid bro with and adventurous twist and off beat fashion sense is not seemingly thrilled! "Look at how comfy you are" is the first thing he said upon eyeing those monsters on my feet. "very" I replied with a put on confidence . "Then it's all about how bravely you can carry them off" he added. Now..that is the key. Am I really the two year old that would not care a spit in the toilet about what people would think about her neon green toe nails?? May be not! So off they go to give me the pleasure twice. First the pleasure of buying and next, the pleasure of returning. That's one of the reasons I love the US. The return policy is a boon for fashion blunders like the one I'd just committed.

I'll get the dusty pink flip flop style ones instead. My 'do not notice me' counterparts of Birkenstock sandals. But I am happy about thinking like a 2 year old. Sounds cliched, sounds old - but isn't age just a number???

I still am attracted to shiny, gaudy stuff deep down within and it makes me happy to make a public confession of my sometimes unusual taste. Now tell me, is neon green and metallic blue paired with some serious bling on a toddler carrying mom's feet going to make you go "what a wacky sense of style?"