I’m going to be straight with y’all: A dear friend of mine whose company has the Reef PR account gave me these shoes. At PurseBlog and TalkShoes, we’re very strict about “gifted” items – we hardly ever write about them, and we certainly wouldn’t accept anything if it’s in any way expected that we’d feature it on either blog in return. Some bloggers are more laissez faire about the subject, but that’s just not our style. We don’t want to jeopardize anyone’s trust in what we write on our sites, and that means excluding gifted items and always disclosing the rare ones that we do include.

And if we do write about something that was given to us, it’s because we absolutely love it and feel like we’d be doing our readers a disservice by not telling them about it simply because of how it came to our attention. That’s the case with the Reef Bella Costa Sunset Sneakers – they’re easily the most comfortable pair of shoes that I own, and with spring coming at us full speed ahead, they’re going to be spending a lot of time on my feet in the near future.

I’ve always had a bit of a rough time with canvas shoes – everything from Converse All Stars to TOMS slippers seem to find a way to rub my feet uncomfortably, no matter how many different styles, brands and pairs I try. They’re such a cute, practical spring trend, but I had more or less given up on being able to participate. My feet are very hard to please.

As soon as I put these shoes on, though, I knew there would be no problems. If you’ve ever had a pair of Reef flip flops, you know what the soles of these shoes feel like – cushioned and comfortable. The black stripes with subtle turquoise trim are neutral enough to be worn with lots of different outfits, and the espadrille trim gives the whole look a distinctly summer feel. If you’re looking for a smart weekend option for summer that’s not flip flops, these little sneakers are a great choice. Buy through Zappos for $50. (They also have a few other styles with similar soles, if the oxford look isn’t your thing.)