Silicone Sports Watch

A new craze, similar to that of maybe Silly Bandz, or those silly "sex bracelets" from almost a decade ago, this watch is trendy, but also useful.

You can get it in a plethora of random colors, the picture to the left doesn't even show all of them.  They're also available all over the internet, and in a whole bunch of random stores as well.

I found mine at Walgreens.  I know, I shop there a lot.  However, this link will take you to a page where you can buy one, or two, or however many, from any host of online retailers. 

As you can see in the picture to the right, mine is a really bright pink.  If my memory serves me correctly, I saw a whole slew of them in neon colors at Walgreens.  I admit, I bought it purely as an impulse: it was hot pink, and it was $3, I had to have it.

It's pretty darn stretchy too, but be careful when stretching it, because you might end up popping the watch component right on out! Seriously! I did it a few times, and after watching my husband get it back in, I'm finally able to do it myself.

When you look at the back of the watch, you'll see that little gray spot with the two buttons, well those buttons help set your watch!  Press the top "A" button twice to reach the setting for the date, then press the bottom "M" button to cycle through all the numbers you need.  After you set the time, it'll go back to normal.  You'll know it's back in the right spot if you see a blinking "hello" between the top hour number and the bottom minute number.  If you get the time with a blinking date, you went once too far (unless you want that feature) and all you have to do is just cycle back through and pay attention to where you stop.

For fit, well, my wrists are just under 6" around and there's plenty of wiggle room here.  My husband's wrists are about 7 1/2" around, and while these are a little tighter on him than on me, they're still pretty comfortable.

All in all, for a few bucks, I'm pretty impressed.  I've had this watch since some time in December I think, and I haven't managed to kill it yet, which is more than I can say for the other $20 watches I had been buying.  It says that it's water resistant but not waterproof, which roughly translates to "shower = ok, tub = bad," so I just prefer to avoid wearing it near any kind of water situation.  Take it off when you shower, and it'll last you a long time.

Converse Hi-tops

Ok, this one is probably not all that necessary, but I kinda wanted to write it anyway.  The iconic Chuck Taylors, All Stars, Converse, has been around for ages.  Like, my mom tells me stories about the pair she used to own when she was back in high school.  And she graduated high school in the late 70's.  I didn't get my first pair until right out of high school though.  My second semester of college, I was out trying to find a new pair for my boyfriend at the time, who just manages to destroy his on a regular basis.  I figured it was high time I got myself a pair too.

And I did.  Then a few months later I got another.  Then another after that.  And after that.  And before I knew it, I had managed to somehow collect quite a few pairs.  I've got your standard black (of course), and that's the very first pair I owned.  After about 4 or 5 years of fairly regular use during warmer months, I'm still on my first set of laces, the siding is starting to peel a little bit, and the fabric on the sole on the inside has started to peel, so I can feel it with my toes while I wear that pair, and it drives me crazy! But that's neither here nor there.  Apparently I'm just not all that rough with mine. 

Converse's website lets you customize your own patterns and get great deals on items that are being discontinued, or you can find most of the basic designs in shoe stores like Famous Footwear, Payless, and Journeyz.  Their standard sizing includes US men's and women's, as well as UK and Europe.  Depending on the brand, I normally wear between a 6 and a 7 in US women's.  With Converse's low-tops, I opt for a women's 6 - 6 1/2.  High-tops I always get a 7 just for the extra toe room, but I walk right out of the lower cut ones in the same size.

These shoes are much better worn for fashion and not necessarily everyday wear.  There's really nothing in the way of arch support and they're absolutely horrid in any kind of adverse anything.  If it's chilly outside, you're going to feel it, and if it's wet, you'll feel that too. Either way, everybody should own at least one pair!