I have never, in my adult life, bought shoes that weren't brown or black until my best friend Erin's (for whom my eldest is named) wedding last April. We wore beautiful bright pink dresses and gold shoes. My heart nearly went aflutter at the thought of gold shoes, I will admit. I was terrified...gold? How? Gold is neither black nor brown, my old standbys, and therefore, gold is strange and does not make sense to my feet. I have always admired Erin's sense of style, though, and she always knows what is beautiful and in style and how to pull things together to make them so. I trusted and was an obedient bridesmaid, but was nervous. But I also realized that this was a chance to chip away at the dull mold in which I'd been walking around for thirty years. So I bought the sexiest, most insane gold shoes I could find. Granted, I did not properly break them in ahead of time and I was nearly paralyzed by the end of the night due to my own oafishness and the five-inch heel, but I wore them. I've worn them since. And my God, I love those shoes.

I share this because what many of you out there do not know about me, until this moment, is that my husband is constantly threatening to send incriminating evidence into that TLC show "What Not to Wear" because my clothes are hideous and my style sense non-existent. I wear a lot of tee-shirts and sweats and sneakers. I am a minivan mom who rarely sleeps a full night, for God's sake. What does anyone expect from me? But the teasing has gotten pretty merciless lately. My friend Jaclyn is so embarrassed that I own a tee shirt with Winnie the Pooh on it (and have worn it in public!) and Pete has actually told me at times that he cannot talk to me until I change because, and I quote, I "look insane." He has always hated my shoes, especially. Until I bought the gold heels.

And my God, he loves those shoes.

So for my birthday last month, I received a gift card to DSW from hubby. My directions were: "Go get shoes. It will bring you happiness. No sneakers. No flip flops." And I used that gift card Saturday to buy three pairs of the most gorgeous shoes I've ever seen in my life. One gray, one Chianti red and the other deep green. A little bit of snakeskin, a little bit of suede, a lot of heel. Beautiful, stylish shoes with color. I wore a pair on our Family Photo Shoot out in the woods that day, and I was able to hoof it through the park in grey snakeskin heels and jeans with no problem. I suspect it had much more to do with the lift it gave my self-esteem and self-confidence, and much less to do with the shoes themselves. I felt lighter than air. And I seriously LOVE these shoes!


Maybe "What Not to Wear" isn't necessary for this minivan mom. Pete would probably still disagree because shoes do not an entire wardrobe make. But it is certainly a starting point. Maybe I just needed a great haircut (which I got last week, the first since Erin's wedding), an eyebrow waxing (the first in even longer than since Erin's wedding) and a fabulous upgrade to my shoe collection. And maybe, if I actually start to wear my fab shoes during the week in lieu of aforementioned slippers and flip-flops (yes, I've been known to wear slippers in public, as well), I will also start to pitch the archaic wardrobe hanging within my closet and screaming to be exorcised from my drawers. Then I'll really be on the road to Young-Hip-Mommy-ness, a place I've always wanted to visit. And if not, then Stacy and Clinton can come and kidnap me for a week in NY and some serious style-school.

I certainly would not object.

In other news, I've received some inquiries as to whether or not Erin's earlobes (my daughter, not my BFF now) are still plain or pierced. They are still plain. She was so nightmarish and hideous to deal with on Friday morning, the whole plan was blown out of the water. She was utterly deflated and disappointed, but the most amazing thing happened as a result of this...she has stopped being nightmarish and hideous.

Imagine that...Mom is capable of sticking to her guns and getting results.

Her behavior has been lovely and blissful for a full three days. I know better than to think that this will last forever or that the tide has changed permanently. But for however long this phase lasts, you can bet your backside I'm soaking up every minute of it.

Life is really good right now for us. I'm soaking up every minute of that, too.