Shoe Party History Part 3...

Shoe Party Saturday

My best college girlfriend (current Chief Officer of Don't Stop Believin') and I were entertaining her out of town guest, Stephano. She spent the day giving him the grand tour of Bellingham and I joined them for dinner at Nimbus...a restaurant that overlooks Bellingham and serves up spectacular meals. The sunset lingered as we relished our last sips of wine and fun conversation. Stephano only had the day to spend in Bellingham as he was passing through on his way to an important event early the next morning. The three of us were reluctant to see the evening end so we agreed to a walk-about through downtown, enjoying the shop windows lit up after hours and the crisp night air nipping at our rosy cheeks....

What does any of this have to do with a shoe party?

Stefano tripped!

An uneven curb ripped the sole of his only black dress shoes that he had to wear in the morning! The incident made his shoe unwearable and certainly not presentable. Duct tape was not the solution this time. It was too late at night for any store carrying black dress shoes to be open....But wait!!! Don't we have a shoe-maven in our midst?...Does she not have the keys to the kingdom of shoes? Abigail to the rescue! The shoe shop I worked in was downtown. This was a shoe emergency and I could help by hosting an after-hours personal shoe party!

Stephano got the full treatment: feet measured, several styles to choose from and two friends to admire his selection of new shoes with the entire shoe store to himself. He marveled at the full scope of service and my shoe-geek knowledge. He was so gracious and I was tickled to be able to help in a moment of shoe crisis...making the world a better place one happier pair of feet at a time.

I noticed there was just a little extra shoe magic that evening. The shoes seemed less business more adventure...the lights glowed a bit more warmly with the night sky just outside and the smell of leather and shoe polish inside seemed more prominent than during regular business hours. This night was the seed that sprouted into planned after-hours shoe parties. If a guy could enjoy a shoe party just think what fun three women could have with a shoe store all to themselves;)...stay tuned...