I photographed this beautiful greenery on a walk down to Playa Negra in Vieques. It’s a little tricky to spot the trailhead off the side of the road, but there are signs if you keep your eyes open. It’s a peaceful, easy hike of less than a mile each way to reach the black sand beach. I wore flip flops, but I would have been happier in a sturdier shoe. (I meant to wear my Keens, but forgot.) The path carves through a ravine lined with lovely foliage like in this image.
It seems like I’m always on the hunt for the perfect shoes for various purposes, and my curiosity was piqued at the discovery of Tieks ballet flats. They sounded like the perfect marriage of comfort and style with a bonus fold-able feature for travel. I found out about them over a year ago, but it took me this long to take the plunge due to their hefty price tag. Thanks to the generous return policy and the excuse of buying a birthday present from me to me, I decided to give Tieks a try knowing I could return them (unworn) for free and I wouldn’t even have to pay for return shipping.
As a disclaimer, I’m not one of the bloggers who had the opportunity to try a pair of Tieks complimentary or even at a discount. I purchased a pair at full price and I do factor the cost into my review. I also have to admit I’m really picky about shoes, especially past a certain price point, so I had extremely high hopes for these flats.
Tieks come in a fun rainbow of colors and patterns I’d be happy to have, but since I planned on getting as much wear out of them as possible, I selected one of the Classics in a good neutral color (Chestnut) that I could wear with a lot of outfits.
Shipping was pretty fast – I ordered the shoes on a Sunday and received them on a Wednesday. Upon receipt, I took notice of the super cute and fun-to-open packaging that included a personalized hand-written note. The shoes also come with a few other extras: a tote bag for your heels if you’re swapping shoes on-the-go, and a pouch for the Tieks themselves. I pondered the expense of the packaging though, and wondered how much of the total cost of the shoes is allocated for the fancy box, tissue paper, and floral embellishment. I love good branding as much as the next girl, but I’d much rather have more money in my pocket instead of fun packaging that inevitably gets thrown away/recycled.
And speaking of branding, please don’t throw rocks at me, but I’m actually not crazy about the bright blue soles and how much the blue shows from the sides. I get it, but I would have appreciated a more neutral way to mark these as Tieks.
Let’s get to the positives. I tried the shoes on and was delighted to find that the size worked. I’m a size 8, but every once in a while I need an 8.5 depending on the brand/designer. Tieks only come in whole sizes, so I went with the 8 and hoped for the best. The craftsmanship and quality are impressive. I loved the soft leather in the beautiful Chestnut color. The shoes fit comfortably with no rubbing as I walked around, and I definitely noticed a difference in the padding beneath the soles compared to my other ballet flats.
Here’s the sad part though. The way the leather upper sat across the top of my foot felt just a little funny, and it showed the outline of my toes making the shoe look a bit lumpy. I noticed the same affect in photos of other women wearing Tieks, so I think it’s just the way the flats are structured (and thankfully not a weird trait of my own feet). I don’t think it looks terrible, and in fact I think everyone in the photos on the Tieks site looks really cute in the flats. But I don’t love the bumpy look on me, and mostly it made me wonder if the leather would wear badly in those spots. Maybe the shoes would somehow break-in evenly, but I suspect they would actually take the shape of my toes and look permanently lumpy. Even worse, maybe those spots would eventually suffer a hole. Unfortunately at that price point, I wasn’t willing to find out.
My initial research for Tieks opinions online pointed me to several favorable reviews, although I noticed that many of those reviewers tried the shoes at a discount of 40% off or more. I think if I had paid less for the shoes, I would have kept them and worn them for a few months to see how the shoes feel and look after they are broken in. I’m willing to pay that price for the perfect pair of shoes and I probably would buy them in a few colors, but Tieks are a tad too expensive (for me) to gamble on, so I sadly put them back in their cute blue box for the return trip and sent them on their way. The sole search continues!
Okay, so I just might be a fan! I ended up buying another pair (full price) and just decided to take the plunge and wear them to see how they feel. I brought a Clover Green pair with me to Ireland and Scotland, and after wearing them around on the trip I realized how much I like them. Amazingly they didn’t rub or cause blisters, even on days where I walked in them for miles. Of course, the flats aren’t as comfortable as my favorite hiking shoes that I also brought with me on the trip, but I’m impressed. These are one of the most comfortable pairs of flats I’ve owned. I still think they look a tiny bit lumpy, but only if you stare and study. The overall look is cute, plus I love the color. And I admit…I’m already trying to decide what color to try next!
My Clover Green Tieks are holding up well and I enjoy wearing them, so I decided on a second color! I bought a cute Rose Gold pair to take with me on a recent weekend trip to Toronto where I wore them all over the city. There is one small area on the inside/top where the shoe feels a bit scratchy. I think the difference between these and the green pair is the metallic finish on the leather, so they’re not as soft. I’ll keep wearing them to see if the issue goes away, and if not, I bet I could soften that part on the inside by rubbing it lightly with a fine sandpaper. I’m pretty sure I’ll end up with a third pair at some point…I put several colors on my wish list!
Can you even believe the amount of colors in this coral on the pilings of Mosquito Pier in Vieques? I used my Canon D30 point-and-shoot and captured all of these rich reds, oranges, and yellows. I love studying it to see the different textures and bits of sea life. Also? I didn’t know the supports under a pier are called pilings until this trip, so I learned something new!
Are puzzles totally nerdy? If so, I happily admit I’m a big ol’ puzzle nerd. The more pieces the better, and I especially enjoy putting one together throughout the week on an island vacation. It’s my go-to indoor activity for a rainy day (or a hurricane) when we’re at the beach. The one shown here was completed with the help of my sister, brother-in-law, and Chris while we were in Vieques. The famous figures scene made for some fun out-of-context phrases like, “I’m looking for Burt’s comb-over…” and, “I found Lincoln’s nipple!” Good times.
I have to confess, I didn’t even know the National Building Museum existed until earlier this month when I saw a Washingtonian article about an upcoming bizarre-but-fun art installation called The Beach running through September 7th. Chris and I love to explore pockets of D.C. that we haven’t seen before and I’m all about the bizarre-but-fun genre, so we decided to make a field trip out of it.
The museum is located four blocks from the Mall on F Street. We took the Metro and got off at the Gallery Place-Chinatown exit; Judiciary Square is a little closer, but it was closed at the time. Despite issues on the Metro that caused us to arrive at the museum much later than we anticipated, we still had enough time (1.5 hours) for a good visit before they closed at 5pm. Admission to the Great Hall and the gift shop is free, but all of the exhibitions require a ticket.
When we arrived, the line for The Beach exhibit snaked back and forth around a long queue and stretched far alongside the enclosure, so I gave up on the idea of paying for an exhibition ticket and getting into the ball pit because we only had an hour until closing time. (The lesson here: if you want people to flock to your museum, simply install a giant pit of plastic balls.) We walked around the second floor of the Great Hall for free instead and perused miniature models of interesting buildings throughout the world. Plus the stunning design of the Great Hall itself is something to admire.
After almost an entire lap around the floor, I admit I felt a little disappointed in the amount of stuff to see in the Great Hall, but then a museum employee standing outside of the House & Home exhibition let us know that the exhibition was free after 4pm so we popped into a side room full of beautiful photos and displays related to the history of American homes.
We loved looking at the homey vintage objects. Chris saw the cassette tapes and the Apple computer and mused out loud, “Stuff we had when we were younger is so old now that it’s in a museum.” So that’s great.
We may have misunderstood the exhibitions-are-free-after-4pm thing, because we let ourselves into the Scaling Washington exhibition next. The website clarifies that only House & Home is free after 4pm on weekdays; reduced admission is available for the museum’s other exhibitions. Oops! (We ended up paying for a ticket anyway though – more on that shortly.) Scaling Washington features the impressive photography of Colin Winterbottom, documenting the post-earthquake restoration of the Washington Monument and Washington National Cathedral.
We finished our free tour of the National Building Museum with a visit to the gift shop in which we found books, photos, stationery, apparel, puzzles, games, toys, and kitchen gadgets for the home cook who has everything.
By the time we finished perusing the Great Hall, two exhibitions and the gift shop, the line for The Beach had significantly dwindled down to only a few people, so we decided to see if we could jump into the ball pit for the last 10 minutes before closing time. Lo and behold, the museum’s hours were extended and we had plenty of time to see The Beach! We purchased tickets, which included admission to all of the exhibitions, so we retroactively paid for our accidental foray into Scaling Washington.
I actually felt conflicted about playing in the ball pit. My first reaction: germs. The ball pit will inevitably be covered in germs. But there’s also the side of me (the kid side) that reminded myself I can’t go through life worried about every little germ, so in I jumped.
And alongside all of my fellow narcissists art enthusiasts, I took selfies. And pictures with Chris. And we took pictures of each other. What can I say? It was a weird, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take a photo of our heads surrounded by white plastic orbs in the name of art.
There were moments, though, where it was difficult to appreciate the art – a boy chucked a ball at my head more than once. And as I sank deeper into the seemingly bottomless pit of plastic, (spoiler: it’s about three feet deep) I feared being stepped on, or losing the contents of my camera bag. I did sacrifice a $5 Metro ticket to the ball pit gods. I’d love to see what is uncovered at the bottom once the exhibit is deconstructed and the balls are removed for recycling.
But there was no denying it – despite the crowds and the germs and the fact that I skinned my knee getting out of the pit, The Beach was silly shark-free sunburn-free fun! And art. The Beach is art.
Verdict: we enjoyed the National Building Museum! I’m interested to visit again when new exhibitions are installed.