This'll do 'em proud. -- Ally

I know I could (and will) embarrass my parents in a lot of other ways, but I think this is a whopper:

I don't polish my shoes. When I scuff them, I lick my thumb and try to rub it out and if that doesn't work, I color it over w/a Sharpie (I have a rainbow of them in my desk).

It's lazy and you'd think for someone who loves shoes like I do, I'd not be so slovenly. But that's just it - I'm lazy. I'm also REALLY bad with shoe polish and managed to wear it up my leg the last time I tried to polish my shoes myself. There's a reason the last time Daddy was over I gave him a pair of heels and a tin of polish. While I like to think I was doing him a favor (what dad doesn't love polishing shoes?!?!), we all know the truth: I'm spoiled rotten and have never had to polish or shine a shoe in my life.

That is until now.

Thanks to Tracey, I've discovered a new love in my life: KIWI Express Shine Sponge. She pointed out this little beauty to me the other day and said her mom always got her one for Christmas. I didn't really get why it was so fancy (looked like a goofy sponge and a lot of work to me), but filed it in the mental rolodex for later.

I was at Bed, Bath and Beyond earlier today with five 20% off coupons (you know you can use five per transaction, right?) and time to burn. I was looking for a deal and saw the shine sponges on the clearance rack. They only had three left so I nabbed them all. With my coupon, they were only $2.50 each (50% off retail!). I figured I could keep one, give one to Al and the other to Trae because I'm sweet like that.

When I got home I was super excited to see how well they work. Considering the awful condition of my shoes, I figured I'd be in for a long afternoon of work. Hardly! It took more time documenting the process than it took to work a miracle on my shoes. I'm posting some before/afters so you too can be as excited as I am:

My black Enzos were looking haggard but in under 30 seconds each, they were significantly more presentable:

The scuffy toe:










The snarled heel:























Pretty good, huh?? It gets better. I didn't think to do a side-by-side comparison with this pair, but I did with my brown Nine West wedges. These babies get worn to death over the summer and you've all seen them numerous times:

Before/after:














Amazing!

Front/Side:












Side:













Side 2:













Side 3:
















Sorry for the excessive before/after shots but I'm so blown away right now. You can click on any of the photos for a closer look. Just be sure to click "back" so you can come back to the blog.

I'm off to go find every pair of leather shoes in the house! This doesn't mean I won't whine and carry on and have Daddy polish my shoes though. It does mean, however, I won't go in public looking like I was raised by wolves. Mama will be so proud. :)