after three long, glorious weeks off work, life is back to normal. i went back to work this week and my husband is preparing for his classes he will teach this fall. i feel like summer just started, yet here we are, already in august.

though summer may be wrapping up, the texas heat is definitely here to stay. i’ve been looking for flats that are cool enough for the heat (walking around san antonio comfortably required as much skin to be showing as possible!), but in earthy neutral hues that won’t look quite so springy.  searching online, i found a lot of options, and it turned out that all of my favorites had a unique addition: the ankle strap.  how cute are these!  (side note: i usually like to show options in all different price points, but i just could not resist showing all of these beautiful flats, though some are definitely out of reach price-wise.)

i’m also a big fan of ankle straps for traveling ever since a walking tour debacle when i made the ridiculous mistake of wearing slip-on sandals for a full-day stroll across madrid.  i almost lost my shoe four times and kept stepping out of them on stair climbs (it was my first time to europe; excuse me for trying to look chic).  sometimes people (myself included) shy away from the ankle strap because it can appear to cut your leg length in half. if that keeps you up at night (no judgment), then just find an ankle strap in a color close to your skin tone, and you’ll be good to go.

1. asos format leather flat sandal, $37.13 2. chloé two-tone ankle strap sandal, $525 3. loeffler randall erika ankle strap flat, $250 4. louise et cie carrie sandal, $117.95 5. lovins glitter flats, $118