"My Shoes Rock!"

So, I'm going to be 38 at the end of the month. No, my age doesn't bother me. However, my lack of cool footwear did.

When I was high school/college age, I had a BAZILLION shoes. Lots of kinds and colors; a shoe for every occasion. I had the same shoe in several colors. Shoes for church, school, after school, date night, and just for fun. However, as I got older, it seems I purchased more conservative footwear conducive to work life, and fewer fun shoes. It seems black and brown were the only colors I was allowed to have after the age of 30. Don't get me wrong, I love my flip flops, Berks, and tennis shoes. It's just that occasionally I would like something with a little more pizzazz. I was in need of a casual shoe that screamed "I belong to Pam!"

So, for my birthday, I asked Luke and the kids to get me some fun, sparkly kind of everyday shoe. Luke said no. He wasn't buying me footwear for my birthday. He puts this in the same category as buying me a vacuum. Smart man, except when it's something that I really want. He suggested that if I wanted new shoes, I just go out and buy them. This would seem reasonable, if we hadn't just instituted new buying rules at our house in an effort to me more fiscally responsible. So it wasn't a solution I was willing to pursue. I thought my dream shoes were just that, a dream.

Then, along comes mom. She calls and, thinking she's being a smart ass, asks if there's anything I would like for my birthday. For the first time since I was 12, I had an answer ready! I wanted sparkly shoes! Needless to say, she was flabbergasted. And of course, sparkly shoes? What do you mean, sparkly shoes? Are we talking Dorothy’s ruby red slippers, or what? But being the trooper mom is, she offered to take me shopping.

Enter my sister. We recently had a sisters' weekend. As any good sisters' weekend should, we went shopping. We were at one of my favorite stores, Kohl's. (You thought I was going to say Target, didn't you!) We went to the shoe department, like all good women do. And we found my shoes! Let me tell you all about them.

We saw a display that beckoned like ice cream on a hot day. As we approached, we were mesmerized by the sparkles on display. We found not one type of sparkly shoe, not two types, but three types to choose from. These were all a fabulous ked-style sneaker. They were actually Sketchers. In the kids' department. I am a lucky, lucky girl that I have a small enough foot to wear the bigger sizes in the kids' department. I tried on all those sparkly shoes. I ooohed and aahhhed with the best of them. The sales ladies were definitely entertained by the selection process, and in the end a pair of sparkly Twinkle-toe Sketchers were purchased for me, by my sister, for my mom to give me for my birthday. And the best part? THEY LIGHT UP!

Yes, folks, that's right. My new shoes have LED lights. My new shoes have pink glitter, jewels on the toes, colorful paint all over them, shiny silver shoe laces, and LED lights that go off when I walk, skip, hop, or jump. And they were exactly what I wanted and I love them. Even if the only other people I know that own my shoes aren’t old enough to drive.

When you shop for shoes in the kids’ department, you have to expect some kids to have your shoes. Well, my four-year-old niece informed me that “Hannah in my class has those!” And my little Brownie Sarah tells me that two of the girls in her troop has those shoes exactly. This in no way detracts from my enjoyment of my new shoes. In fact, I finagled it so that I could get my shoes early. I had an ‘event’ to go to, and I wanted to wear my new shoes.

Mom and dad came down a few weeks before my birthday to baby-sit for us while Luke and I had an adult evening out. We went to see a comic. And I wore my new shoes! I jumped, hopped, and bounced all the way to the venue. I was pointed at while I stomped up each and every stair on the way to our seats. I made sure to stamp my feet at least 5 times during the show so my lights would go off. And I did the funky chicken stamp dance on the way back to the car at the end of the evening. I am willing to bet that I am the only one out of the 2,600 people that were there wearing LED shoes. I’m also willing to bet no one there had as much fun that evening because of their footwear!

Since then, I have worn my shoes out a few other times. I must be careful not to wear them on a wet day, or to any place to yucky. I love my shoes and want them to stay nice for as long as possible. Every time adults notice my feet, they comment. And then when I stomp to show them the lights, they look at me like I have escaped from an insane asylum. I LOVE these shoes!

Moral of the story: Everyone should have footwear that makes them smile. Mine makes me cackle like a loon. Come into my closet, I’ll show you!