Like iced tea, cold watermelon and chirping cicadas, 'round these parts, flip-flops are a part of summertime.

Kids wear them.

Old ladies wear them.

Preachers wear them.

Teachers wear them.

Once the mercury starts climbing upwards of 80 degrees, it's time to get your flip-flops on.

Now, I usually have two pairs of flip-flops.

One pair is a nice, leather-looking pair that look great with khakis and a few of my print skirts. These are what I call my "presentable" flip-flops.

My week-day flip-flops.

Then, there are my weekend flip-flops.

These are the flip-flops that should be thrown out because they're so dirty, smelly and yucky, but I just can't find another pair I like as much as these.

They've been to the beach. They've been to the grocery store. They've been to the grocery store at the beach.

They're a plain old pair of Rainbow flip-flops and they've been everywhere with me.

Don't think I haven't gotten dressed to go to work in the morning, and seriously considered wearing them.

But when I look at my outfit in the mirror, it always looks like one of those, "What doesn't belong in this picture" kind of thing.

And it's the flip-flops.

I'm seriously thinking about getting a new pair this summer.

As an understudy. A backup.

In case I decide to throw my weekend flip-flops away.

Because they really need to be properly disposed of.

Here are some candidates for my backup flip-flops this summer (And some others too, just because they're pretty).

Remember Jellies? These are plastic, like the old Jellies. These are $19.99 at J.Crew.

An excellent deal for a pair of weekend flip-flops, $4.50 at Old Navy. They come in a lot of colors.

I love these Merrell flip-flops. I think you can get these at Abundantly More in the Westridge Shopping Center. They carry Merrell shoes. They are about $65.

I need a trip to Jamaica to go with these flip-flops! Love them, they're $48 at anthropologie.com.

Perfect weekend flip-flops. They look comfortable and the black won't show all the dirt! They're $26.50 at jcrew.com.

These also are strong contenders for my backup flip-flops. These are at Old Navy and they're $12.50.

With a little sparkle .....from Payless Shoes, these are $12.99.

Very nice. These would be more along the lines of my work-wear flip-flops. They're gorgeous. From Tory Burch, they're $126 at shopbop.com

And round and round we go. Here is my weekend flip-flop. But this one seems to be a bit lighter in color. Mine are more, black. From the dirt. And I don't see any toxic fumes coming off of it. Abundantly More carries Rainbows and I think a few other stores around town do too. They'll run you anywhere from about $35 to about $50, depending on the style you choose.

Again, these could pass for my week-day flip-flops. I really like the jeweled flowers on these. They're $19.99 at Payless Shoes.