This past week, I noticed my pinky toe hurt. When I got home from work, I pulled off my shoes and socks; and (with great effort) contorted myself into a position that allowed me to inspect my toe (dude, I'm getting old LOL). I found a blister on the INSIDE of my pinky toe, against the adjacent toe. It was really bad and went very deep, with a shockingly thick layer of skin over it. I trimmed back the dead skin, covered it in antibacterial goo, and wrapped it in a bandaid. The next day, I realized that the adjacent toe had a blister on it as well, on the side that faces my pinky toe. I am still running around with antibacterial goo and bandaids on both toes, mostly barefoot so they aren't smooshed; they're healing up quite nicely and I should be able to remove the bandaids soon.

I'm still boggled by the location. Like, how on earth does that even happen? I mean, obviously it happened because I was wearing shoes that were too tight, but how on earth did the blister get so deep!?! How did I not notice it before? (Ok, I'm obviously overwhelmed with doctor's appointments, moving into the new but unfinished house, and a bit of stress at work.)

I've come to the conclusion that I need to start buying wide width shoes. Apparently, my feet didn't just get longer; they got wider as well. Now I'm struggling to find wide width shoes that I like. There are, thankfully, lots of wide width/comfort options out there; however, I'm having issues trying to find shoes that balance my aesthetic with comfort and don't shatter the budget.

I've found two wide-width options to start, and have ordered them to see if they will fit. The pink ones (ComfortEase brand) aren't necessarily my aesthetic, but they're not NOT my aesthetic (if that makes sense?) A fisherman sandal is an idea I've toyed with in the past, and when I saw a pink one in wide width, I thought "now that's just random enough to possibly work". The tan (light brown?) ones are Hush Puppies, and they're interesting in a minimalist kind of way; the color will go with lots of things, and the style seems versatile enough to work for all but the coldest weather I experience where I live. I also found these unworn pink Clark's wedges at a thrift shop that I've added to my closet; the fisherman will be my work version of pink sandal, the Clark's will be for not-work. (Side note: why are people donating so many new/unworn shoes?)

I'm hoping that you fab folks can point me to some sites that sell wide-width shoes that are both stylish and moderately priced. By moderately priced, I mean that 200-ish per pair would be the upper end of the budget. I'm fortunate that several pairs of my shoes are wide enough to work (at least until they wear out), but I'd like to start exploring options now so that I'm prepared when I need to replace a pair of shoes. I have been surprised in the past at how many aerosoles shoes I've liked, and the pairs I have bought have been so comfortable (my blue & black aerosoles sneakers are one of the pairs that doesn't smoosh my toe). Obviously, I'll look at Clark's, because these pink wedges were OMG comfortable; I need to know who else makes cute comfortable shoes.

Any tips, sites, or general advice to help me find shoes is greatly appreciated!