Shoe-love

“I still have my feet on the ground, I just wear better shoes.”

Oprah Winfrey

I’ve never  been a shoe-girl.  I can think of one pair of slick black boots that I had a lengthy love affair with, but it ended badly when Lefty’s seam split up the back.  I still compare new boots to that old pair, which isn’t healthy for any new relationship.  Suffice it to say, shoe-shopping doesn’t really rock my world.  I don’t window shop for shoes, I don’t know the designer shoe labels like Carrie did on ‘Sex in the City,’ and I’ve never gone out of my way to purchase a particular pair of shoes; until this past weekend.   I was in Vancouver and I was on the lookout for ruby-red slippers for Pip.

On Thursday, our first day in the city, we three girls ‘strolled’ Robson street without any ruby luck,   and Friday we looked on Commercial Drive and came up empty-handed once again, so I put out some feelers.  As it turned out, my girlfriend Tracy had purchased a pair of red sparkly shoes for her niece at a store on West 4^th Avenue.  She didn’t remember the name of the store, but she knew the general location.  A Google search and a phone call to ‘TomaToes’ later, I learned that size 10 sparkly red shoes did indeed exist.  Fabulous.

We woke up to a glorious Saturday morning, and for the first time since our arrival, our  raincoats were not required.  The morning was spent enjoying a family outing to the Aquarium, then Fig went down for a nap.  I had made a hair appointment for 3:00 in Yaletown, but I had enough time before-hand to drive to Tomatoes and pick up the shoes.  Just enough time. .

Traffic was heavy, and by the time I found parking on West 4th Avenue, I had only twenty-five minutes before I was due  at the hair salon.  It was going to be tight.  I ran the block-and-a-half to the shoe store, and when I got to Tomatoes and set eyes on the precious rubies, I literally squealed with delight.  They were PERFECT!!!  The salesclerk started ringing in the sale and, before I even opened my purse, I realized with horror that I had left my wallet in my raincoat-pocket back in the apartment!!!  What an idiot!!!  I had no cash, no credit cards, no bank card; just a cheque-book.

Pleading with Mr. Tomato didn’t work; he would not take my cheque, so I asked him to put the shoes aside for me.  I would be back.  Come hell or high water I was going to get those ruby slippers, but I had a more immediate concern to deal with…it was now fifteen minutes until my hair appointment and it would take at least half-an-hour to retrieve my wallet and get to Yaletown.  I called my hairstylist and asked if she’d take a cheque.  No problem.  Okay.  It wasn’t going to be a total disaster.   I called my husband and asked him to leave my wallet with the concierge since I didn’t have my own set of keys for the apartment.  Thankfully, I caught him before he had taken the girls out for the afternoon.

After a very satisfying cut and style, my focus shifted to the ruby slippers.  I felt like the Wicked Witch of the West in my obsession to get my hands on those little red darlings. I drove back to the apartment, got my wallet from Steven the concierge,  drove across town to Tomatoes and purchased the shoes.  A couple of hours later, I arrived back at the apartment and was greeted by a very excited Pip.

“Did you find my ruby red slippers Mama?”  (My husband had the camera ready.)

“I’m happy to say that I did, Pip, and they’re magnificent!  Here they are.”  I passed the brown bag to Pip and she  pulled out the little yellow shoe-box.   She unwrapped the shoes and literally gasped with excitement.  I think I was hugged and thanked ten times that evening.

I’ve never gone to such lengths to get a pair of shoes, but after witnessing the look of shoe-joy on Pip’s face, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.