New Shoes...pppfft!

An obscure quote from "Twin Peaks" might alert you to the fact that this is not Laura, but her partner in decidedly non-criminal behaviour, Lloyd. I have hi-jacked her 'blog to write a thank-you note:

You may remember a while ago the lovely people at Natureshop let Laura try out a pair of Simple Shoes, well they're back, and this time asked if I would like to try out some Merrell shoes, naturally, I didn't want to disappoint them. I'm such an agreeable person like that.

So here are the shoes I chose. They're very "technical" which is another way of saying that  I have no idea what they're made of. But they weigh about half of a sparrow's fart, and are as comfy as all get out. They breathe (well, not literally), and have hardy Vibram soles, a factor that has influenced my shoe-choosing since I was about 7. Actually, I was doubly delighted that I'm their new owner, firstly because they are a very practical pair of shoes, and also because (and I know it's a long way off yet) I'm going to do a half-marathon next year. If I write that in lovely Laura's 'blog, then it HAS to happen, and I reckoned that a half marathon was a good distance for someone who hates exercise. (After all, if the first Marathon runner, Phidippides, died after he completed the 26 miles, hopefully, I'll only be half-dead)

But back to the shoes: They appear to be really well-made, they are very comfortable, and need no breaking-in. They even look quite smart with a pair of jeans! I couldn't be happier! Thank you NatureShop  - www.natureshop.com!

For all you people who might want to know more here's a direct link to where you can buy the shoes from  http://www.natureshop.co.nz/merrell for New Zealanders and http://www.natureshop.com/au/merrell for those if you in Australia!


In other news, and she wasn't going to mention it, because she is a humble person, not given to boasting, I'm very proud of Laura who swam in last Sunday's State's Ocean swim series competition. Whilst Laura is a very good, and very keen swimmer, who can comfortably swim for miles in a pool, she really dislikes swimming in choppy seas, and on Sunday the weather was awful, the currents strong, and she completed the 300m swim in 5min 40sec which is FAST! So well done Laura, my wonderful, and swimmy wife!

Look...!

A wee while ago I was lucky enough to be asked if I would like to review natureshop.com.

To say what I thought about their product range and how they operated as an online shop with environmental and social responsibilities. 

They have an extensive range of absolutely lovely things. Initially I thought I might get a wee pair of socks or something (which would have been lovely) but no, they were incredibly generous.

What I really like about this shop is that they sell lots of really, gorgeous, useful, environmentally friendly products, they're sponsors of CanTeen and HeartChildren, they have super nice staff and they ship free all over New Zealand with a free returns service. They are based in the Uk and the shipping there is free and they ship worldwide.

Anyway, after humming and hawing over what to choose, it was tricky as they have lots of gorgeous Icebreaker clothes ( Lloyd is a huge fan) and merino wool loveliness just in time for it getting colder, I eventually decided on a pair of Simple Shoes.

fab or what!

It get's better. They're made from certified organic cotton and eco-certified suede, recycled soda bottles for the laces and the bottom of the shoe is made from recycled car tyres.

You can read about them in full HERE.

So that's all good stuff. But are they comfortable? They are. Incredibly, and they're well made.

Now, it was made clear to me that the review didn't have to be good. It just had to be about my experience of shopping with Natureshop. But I had an excellent experience so this blog article has to be good! It's only fair. ☺

The shoes arrived very quickly, and were well packaged. My emails were answered really quickly and were so friendly.

But the main thing, I suppose is... would I shop with them in the future?

Yep, in fact Lloyd is so impressed with the service and the shoes that he wants a pair - he just has to choose which colour he wants.

Wasn't I lucky.