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Laura Thieme

Bizresearch President – 11 years - 2008

Fisher College of Business Lecturer on Search Marketing

OSU Russian Studies Grad – 1993

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19th October 2008

It’s Often Said You Can Judge a Person by the Shoes They Wear 5 replies

by Laura Thieme

I’ve been known to have a thing for good shoes.  I refuse to buy any pair of shoes from China, or in fact, any place besides Italy, USA of perhaps Spain.  I admit I have a pair of Manolo’s, purchased a couple of years ago while at the Wynn in Vegas. 

Manolo's Sandals

I’ve got a couple of Pradas and a couple of BCBG shoes.  I do not have Jimmy Choos, yet.   I’m not excessive in my opinion, but I do have a love for sexy shoes. 

Rhinestone Heeled Shoes and Red Toe Rhinestone Pedicure
Rhinestone Pedicure & Shoes for NY SpaFinder.com Event
Pre-Pregnancy

So, while being pregnant, it has been difficult to put aside my love for sexy shoes.  In the first trimester of pregnancy, I was determined to wear jeweled shoes.   They were Stuart Weitzman jeweled black patent sandals.  While they may only have a small wedge, I thought I could still get by with a little feminine style.  I am also very much an open-toed shoe person, so to reduce myself to clogs or slippers was just not likely as some suggested I should.  My massage therapist joked that I’d likely not be long lasting in my jeweled BCBG open-toed sandals.  I was determined to prove her wrong.

Unfortunately, on summer vacation in the beginning of my second trimester, I lost one of my jeweled shoes.  That fixed that challenge.  I was soon thereafter faced with shoe size increases.  From a 7 1/2 to a now (uh), nine, yes, you heard me right, I said a um hmmm.  But hating to give into more maternity clothing purchases, since now I’m saving for two here, I managed to stave off my shoe fetish and avoid DSW like the plague.  I survived with my BCBG flip-flops for most of the summer.  I might admit that after wearing these for several days, I began to notice heel pain that was unforgiveable.  I switched to something more practical in recent weeks.

As fall neared, and my feet increased yet again, I headed off to DSW in hopes for a pair of comfortable shoes.  I stumbled across the wise shoe - the runner’s shoe, and was amazed at how expensive a pair of running shoes could be when you’re not into running (not any more that is).  I then purchased the replacement pair of Clark’s black leather shoes, which are easy to slip on, in that larger size of course.  Then, I stumbled upon a very sexy pair of open-toed shoes with plenty of ankle support, in that upper shoe size.  I justified I could buy yet another pair of shoes as I was preparing for my trip to New York.  I had a reputation at the conferences I had to keep up - the only girl that would easily wear a 4-inch heel all day long.  I justified my shoe purchase with resolution to only wear such “dangerous” shoes in my third trimester if I had to walk from my hotel room to the downstairs lobby, sit and look pretty while eating, listening to the cabaret, or whatever else. 

However, while at the conference in NY, I did no more than show off these shoes in the safety of my hotel room to my girlfriends, who visited me to watch the McCain Obama debate.  They admired the high heel beauty, saluted my insanity and we laughed it off.

 Black Heel Shoe BCBG
BCBG Black Heel Shoe
Third Trimester Pregnancy

Last week, I was in Boston.  I took my BCBG shoes along with me, with hopes of the opportunity of wearing these shoes.  My colleagues said they’d meet me in the lobby and go to dinner in the hotel.  Perfect, safe, controlled opportunity to wear sexy shoes.  I slipped on (and grunted while doing so at eight months pregnant) my beautiful black heels and walked ever so carefully down to the lobby.  You cannot bend well at this stage, so strappy heels are a no-no.  I entered the lobby, and stayed away from slippery floors and hugged the rug.  But within a few minutes, I received a text message from my vendor who said that we were going to go to another place for dinner.  I didn’t know what the “floor” situation would be like, or how much walking I might have to do, so upstairs I trudged.  I changed into my more boring, but yes, safe walking heeled shoes (size 9, open toed but hardly sexy).  Once again, my poor sexy heels returned to the suitcase, unadored, and hardly worn.

I came home from my Boston trip, and took my suitcase upstairs, and pulled my high-heeled shoes out.  Off to church I went this morning, with my boring Clarks shoes.  See, I forgot my other pregnancy open-toed shoes at my brother’s house.  Pregnancy brain.  I came home from church and brunch, and spent the afternoon getting caught up on domestic projects.  I went upstairs late this afternoon, and had a startling discovery. 

Chewed Up BCBG Black Heel Shoe
After My Dog Chewed Up Black BCBG Heel

I admit, I might have over-reacted.  I mean what would you do?  If you saw your hardly worn, over-sized $90 or something pair of shoes, sitting in partial decay with black patent leather pieces of shoe strewn across the floor - what would you have done?  Can I add the following precursors?  I had just heard that Colin Powell had endorsed Obama and said some things not so nice about McCain and thought of the symbolism, I am 33 weeks pregnant and overly tired.  I had come home yesterday to find a number of things that my rescue dog, Lucky, had chewed in my three-day absence all strewn about in the living room.  I’ve been testing her with more house “freedom” lately to prepare for baby Melina’s arrival.  So, I ask, what would you have done in this situation?  Remember, you’re 33 weeks pregnant and you’ve rescued this dog nearly a year ago, and she’s now killed a few pair of good shoes over a year’s time.  I blogged about this the last time she ate my Clark’s shoes.

Well, in case you’re wondering what I did - after I saw the mincemeat shoes - I did what all patient, dog owners would do - I bent over, picked up and threw the BCBG black heeled chewed up dog toy at my dog, which ironically and surprisingly hit her square in the butt, and she and the shoe ran away from me, down the stairs.  She whimpered.  I decided that was not punishment enough, and I went down the stairs, picked up the shoe again, said “BAD DOG” and threw it again at her, which of course missed by several feet.  Her ears peeled back and she looked at me.  I secured her in the foyer expandable kennel, and told her she could forget her freedom days.

I went upstairs and slept sorta, as only a 33-week pregnant woman can do, which consists of 45 minute cat naps.  As I woke up later in pain and discomfort, I could hear a dog in the near distance, barking incessantly.  This young black lab, Max, gets admonished to the garage whenever the family that consists of at least one doctor, doesn’t feel like taking care of the dog, or perhaps it does something bad, like chew shoes.  Recently however, the dog is getting banished to the garage several times a day.   And you always know when, because the dog barks until they let the dog out of the garage.   

I felt bad, as I thought of my own dog, laying very quietly downstairs in her kennelled area.  She did not bark.  She did not whine.  She knew she was in trouble and wasn’t about to do a thing that was bad.  I went downstairs, and bumped my belly into the kennel fenced in area - whincing.  I quietly let her out of her kennel and let her outside to pee.  At least she had not done anything like that in the foyer or anywhere else while I was gone.  I came back inside with her, and put up her kennel and decided to forgive my crazy black lab, whippet high energy dog who suffered only from boredom, and lack of a long walk today.  And now, as I write, she and the two cats sleep beside me, very peaceful. 

So, don’t judge a person just by the shoes they wear, or the fact that they’re pregnant, and unable to wear fancy shoes for long.  The reason they might not be wearing fancy shoes - well, it could be due to the fact that the dog ate them.  And, worse yet, perhaps I should personally be judged by the fact that I threw that shoe’s heel (which you can see above is no fun) at my dog in a hasty reaction.  The moral of the story: Breathe, breathe, breathe when you’re pregnant, and don’t let your bored dog have access to anything that she might want to chew, after you’ve spent a few days away from home, and a few hours unattended.

I’m going to walk the dog -

5 Responses to “It’s Often Said You Can Judge a Person by the Shoes They Wear”

  1. Kristi says:
    October 19th, 2008 at 11:16 pm

    ahhhahahahah :) Your poor shoes! That sucks though. Take it from me, it’s OK to have these feelings. And telling yourself to ‘breathe’ now is excellent practice for Melina, because… ZOMG, you will need the ’skill’ of ‘patience’ for children as they grow up. :) heehee

    I need more patience. I need more sleep too. My hope is that you will get a wonderful sleeper who will sleep through the night CONSISTENTLY by 6 weeks!

  2. mike says:
    October 20th, 2008 at 8:55 am

    I would kill the dog. Once they get a taste for italian food, they will keep at it. ;-)

  3. Laura Thieme says:
    October 20th, 2008 at 9:04 am

    Kristi - agreed on your comments. Mike - such drastic measures - glad I don’t agree with your suggestion. I did however, consider, giving her away yesterday - but then again - that would be admitting failure at rescuing a dog once again.

  4. Laura Thieme says:
    October 20th, 2008 at 9:11 am

    Oh and one more thing - my fault for leaving out the shoes and not finishing my unpacking job, yes? However, if she does continue to eat things while I’m gone, then it’s foyer kennel life for her. She suffers more if you ask me - because that foyer floor is a heckuva lot less comfortable than my bed, which she sneaks up on when I’m gone.

  5. Dana Todd says:
    October 20th, 2008 at 8:08 pm

    In a few years you’re going to have a completely different perspective on how you process damage by animals once you get used to damage by kids! My brothers once dug a foxhole in the backyard, not realizing that they were hitting a major utility pipe until my mom got a bill from the city for thousands of dollars…

    But I got a great laugh about your shoe story in general, since I used to tease you so much about your high heels. Don’t worry, babe - you’ll get your new size 9s in some sexy shoes again soon. Just make sure you keep scheduling at least a few party nights for yourself to keep you from turning into a “mom model” of fashion oh-dears… :-)

    Love you, can’t wait to see the baby pics!!!

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