TOMS: One Day without Shoes

I've always loved TOMS and what they stand for and because of this, I jumped at the opportunity to join TOMS One Day without Shoes last month.

Of course, it also helped that I've always wondered how hobbits (and Steve Jobs!) felt like walking around all day barefoot. ... ... ... Geek talk. Sorry. Moving on.

TOMS: One Day without Shoes happened at Greenbelt Park on April 10, 2012, and I decided to bring my lil girl along with me. Why? Coz she always randomly takes her shoes off when we go out. Or loses one. She's like Steve Jobs - slash - Cinderella. Steverella? Case in point: we had lunch before the event and she decided to eat barefoot. I swear that has something to do with her dad's genes, not mine.

I gotta admit that it was really adorable how she started taking off her own shoes the minute we got to the venue. It's like she knew exactly what we were supposed to be doing! And yes, she's got orange nailpolish on her toesies.

As you can see, she had the time of her life walking around barefoot!

I put my bandana on her to protect her from the heat. And coz she looks adorbs in it! Don't you agree? :)

Krissy Cruz of I am Krissy and Ana Gonzales of The Fashionista Commuter accompanied me to the event... but I don't seem to have any photos of Ana there. Weird. Do check out her footage on the event, though. The video she made is EPIC!!!

But let me just focus on my lil girl for a bit here:

She even made a new friend! Awww. :)

We were also able to put on water-based "tattoos" - 90s style! Booya! Like my Mockingjay ring btw? It's from Ana! :)

Plus, we were able to walk on a special path made at the venue in order to experience what it's like to walk on stones, sand and soil without shoes. Call me weird, but I enjoyed that particular hobbit-like experience immensely.

Face painting was also a part of the event.

Vince Golangco of When in Manila was the host :)

I can't believe S is now more than half of my size.

Since we got there early and tried out all of the activities before anybody else, we decided to cool off and caffeine up before our legendary barefoot walk around Greenbelt.

I never felt more like Steve Jobs in my life. #likeasir

Syrena fell asleep on me in Starbucks, though, so I actually had to carry her around Greenbelt while we were making our barefoot rounds. She was just so exhausted by the end of the day, but very, very happy. :)

Krissy was exhausted, too. :p

Before leaving, we also wrote on TOMS "wall" and plugged a couple of things. :p

When in Manila REPRESENT!!!

Hehehe. Just saw this randomly, but it made me giggle. I'm just easy to please like that.

Parisian Blogger's Challenge plug! :p

It was definitely a long day, but I enjoyed every bit of it. I wouldn't say I appreciate having shoes more now because, to be honest, I quite enjoyed being barefoot like a hobbit/Steve Jobs for a day.

However, I do know how unsanitary and unhealthy it is to walk around Manila barefoot - which is also why I had a home foot spa right after the event - so I really hope everyone joins TOMS One for One Movement to help children without shoes get shoes. Read more about it here.

Have you ever walked around barefoot, whether for a cause or not? Share your story with me! :) And don't forget to like TOMS on Facebook and follow them on Twitter! :)