Friends in Shoe Places

So I've decided I need to either make friends with a super shoe designer or become incredibly famous somehow and create my own line of shoes...

I was watching a very newsworthy current program on TV called the {ahem} Rachel Zoe Project, which is about a celebrity stylist by the name of, you guessed it, Rachel Zoe. When they are not trying to solve world peace and put an end to world hunger, this reality show follows Rachel Zoe as she works her skinny tail off styling the fab celebs of hollywood and beyond for very important events such as the Oscars, Emmys etc...Ok so its not the most riveting, intelligent TV show out there, however, my guilty pleasure with Rachel Zoe is all about the shoes! Rachel Zoe not only wears fabulous shoes she has an amazing selection of fashion forward, iconic, designer shoes she uses to style her fab celebs in as well!

So this last weeks episode was about all the usual styling dilemas etc...but there was also a segment where Brian Atwood, shoe designer extraordinaire, visits Rachel with a "Rachel Inspired" boot...If the term green with envy was a reality then my hair would have been the brightest green this earth has to offer...Never have I been more jealous or envious of another human being in my life. Rachel Zoe gets her very own "design inspired" boot??? Immediately my brain starts racing...#1 How do I become a super star celebrity fashion stylist/icon #2 How do I meet a famous shoe designer #3 How do I get to there from right here on my couch in Richmond, VA...not quite the fashion Mecca of the world...hmmm....#4 How can I get these crazy thoughts out of my head! Ugh...my reality seemed so boring at that moment and it made me sad that I was so jealous of someone I've never even met.

So dear readers my choices are as follows:
-I plea to the networks that they should do a reality TV series on my life as a web marketing guru/shoe lover
-I go off to hollywood or NY, wait tables and audition for every possible role that might make me a celebrity
-I join an existing reality show like the Celebrity Apprentice, Big Brother, the one where they all try to survive on an Island, oh yeah, Survivor, or the Bachelor (which would make my family oh so proud)
-I become my own shoe designer and design custom shoes for myself. Which means I'd have to go back to school, do some kind of apprenticeship? or internship or whatever, find a manufacturer, factory, supplies...etc...then I realized Wow thats a LOT of work...

OR

I'll just stick to my original plan to become rich and famous doing the stuff I already know how to do so I have the money to buy whatever shoe my heart desires....

and if that plan fails, there's always the old 'marry a rich husband' tactic which has obviously worked for so many other young females...Ha!

If there are any famous shoe designers looking to befriend a die hard shoe lover, I'm so your next BFF! Plus I'd be a great shoe model...I'm just saying.....uh.......Call me!!!!!!

Creative Shopping

So as a 5'3" gal I may not be super model status in height but I do have an advantage when it comes to shoe size! A few weeks ago before taking my annual summer vacation, I noticed my niece wearing a pair of adorable flip flops...Being in need of white nice looking summer sandals I thought those would be perfect for me! I asked my neice if I could try on her shoes and her response was..."No way Alyah, you'll stretch them! Your feet are so big! They're grow-up feet!" Grow-up feet??? Normally I would be offended at an insult to my feet however, coming out of my niece's mouth, it was adorable...Plus I too would hate it if someone, who had larger feet than I, tried on a pair of one of my favorite shoes...So I decided to venture to the kiddie department of Nordstrom and see if I could find a large kiddie size that would fit me and my >ahem< smaller "grow-up" feet...

I went shopping with my sister and since she has 2 kids she's always looking in the kiddie department. I pretended to be helping her find stuff but in reality I was trying to work up the nerve to ask to try on my niece's shoes in my size. Did you know that Kiddie Departments carry designer shoes???? I felt like I found a long lost treasure! Not only do they carry designer shoes but there are some kids with some pretty large ass feet (Thank God) b/c I found out that my size is not the largest kiddie size they have! In fact I'm about 2 sizes smaller than their largest shoe size! Whew!

Anyway, I was casually browsing the shoes of the kiddie department and a sales lady asked me if I needed help...I didn't want to look like a creepy lady browsing the kiddie department with no purpose and I quickly went through a number of reasons in my head to ask for a certain shoe size:
"My baby cousin is about my shoes size, and I need to get her a gift, can I try these on?"
"My neice loves these shoes and I wanna surprise her with them, do you have them in my size - ummmmm we uh, wear the same size"
"Can I see these in your largest size? They're a gift for someone" UGH!

What actually came out of my mouth was. "Ummmmm I feel a little silly, but do you have these in my size, I think they're adorable." And instead of a response of disgust from the sales lady, I was happy to hear her say. "They are really cute, I think we do...I'll be right back."

Immediately I felt overwhelming relief and I sat down with a huge grin and unbelievable satisfaction that it is in fact perfectly normal to try on kiddie shoes! With my new found confidence in the kiddie shoe department, I felt a sense of ownership and my shopping instincts turned on...I scanned the shoes and immediately noticed a glittery pair of Converse sneakers. Ever since Pink's grammy performance, I've been all about the shimmery glittery be dazzled look. So when the sales lady came back with my white sandals (which are super comfy and super adorable and totally matchy matchy with my 6 year old neice's - We are soooo cool!) I decided to ask her to bring out a couple more shoes for me to try on. Which according to her, was perfectly normal and she too would try them on if they came in her size and I wasn't the only "grow-up" who shopped the kiddie department...More reassurance never hurt anyone :)

I put on the glittery converse sneakers and I knew they had to be mine. I felt like a little kid - shocking I know! And I felt super cute and like one of the "cool kids"! I couldn't wait to wear them out and show them off...Plus I felt like I discovered a gold mine - kiddie shoes are waaaayyyy cheaper than "grow-up" shoes!

It's amazing how a pair of shoes can transform my spirits...Who knew little rubber and leather had so much power over making me feel like a superstar!