my first word was shoes

Yes, it's true, my first word was "shoes". Pronounced "shzz", as told by my mother. Destined from birth to be obsessed with shoes (and all things fashion), as a little girl I regularly walked around the kitchen in my mom's pumps just to hear the beautiful sound the heels made on the tile floor. It made me feel so grown-up to look down & see my little feet in her pretty shoes. I longed for the day that I would have my own high heels. As I got older, I graduated to my first pair of black patent "dress-up shoes" with a 1" heel, which I wore proudly to my piano recitals & on fancy occasions. Then my teens hit & I was only interested in buying my clothes from thrift stores & dressing my feet in tennis shoes. Still obsessed with shoes, but of a different sort. College was a transition period between tennies and big girl heels. Mostly, I wore any kind of platform shoe ever made, really clunky versions of boots, tennies, flip flops, and slides. My grandfather was appalled. He described my shoes as men's work boots, like his father used to wear. Once I finished school, my footwear quickly became more sophisticated as I landed my first corporate job, which sent a huge shock wave through my life, not only when it came to the change in shoes (but that story is for another time). Happily, now in my late 20's, I continue to be head-over-heels in love with shoes (no pun intended). 57 pairs (I counted) of shoes currently reside in my overly-packed closet and only 4 are tennies or flats, the rest heels or wedges. What's the saying, "Good shoes open all doors"? I'm a believer.

image credit: In Style