Fabulosas: I need a small break but I will be back. I promise.

Liesl, 7N

Oh la, fabulosas, I had such a full shoe day on Wednesday. I met my mother at Northpark for lunch at P.F. Chang's. I am constantly bugging Suz with my love for their Mongolian beef. I think I could text her "Mongolian beef, mmmm!" from someone else's phone and she'd know it's me. But enough about food, it isn't the point.

After we had lunch we headed to Nordstrom's for their 33% off sale. The racks were relatively empty and nothing I liked fit. My mother, however, managed to find two pairs of shoes and was smart enough to listen to me and buy them. As I was perusing the couture racks and talking with my mother and the salesman a very nice looking and nicely dressed woman was sitting nearby and smiling at us. I commented on how much I liked her dress, she smiled and thanked me and we all continued to bask in the glow of the shoes. The atmosphere was replete with good will and the euphoria you feel when you're surrounded by the love of well made shoes and the people who appreciate them.

We wandered around the rest of the shoe department, stopping to try a shoe on here and there. As the salesman was leading us over to some Nina's, we passed two twentysomething women trying on heels. They asked the salesman's opinion, he told her both pair; I told her which one was actually the best. She ignored me completely which would lead anyone with sense to the conclusion that she was just not that bright. Bless her heart. We left the simple woman to wander some more, stopping here and there, but I was not having any luck. It felt like the world had tilted off its axis and all that was noble was suddenly relegated to a shoe box in the clouds. Don't ask me what that means, I'm being lyrical.

Finally, the salesman led us to a pair of blingy sandals which he then convinced me to try on. They were definitely not my thing but my mother convinced me to get them. They have a heart and crystals and they're pink. I like pink, I like crystals, I kind of like hearts, just not all together. I'll be taking them back tomorrow. We headed over to check out and I collapsed in the closest chair. It was then that I realized I was sitting next to the Crocs display. I threw up a little bit in my mouth and needed a mint.

My mother took an inordinately long time to check out and as she was doing so two women walked up and said they were holding some packages for them. Imagine my surprise and extreme envy when three salesmen walked out with seven bags of shoes! Can you imagine? My pulse quickened, my mouth went dry, my pupils dilated and I just managed to croak: can I come home with you? They laughed, I smiled weakly and hoped they knew I wasn't kidding. I shed a tear of regret as I watched them leave the store with all of those shoes. I can only imagine what joy they were feeling as they loaded the bags into their car and headed out into their destiny of shoe wonder. Oh, la.

When I got home and took out the shoe box to show Mr. Fancy Pants the shoes, he said, oh lord! here we go! He humors me pretty well when I come home and show him my new shoes. He nods and mumbles something about them being nice then turns back to whatever it was he was doing. It isn't much but I'll take it. I don't actually expect him to get all gooey with wonder at my new shoes; that's Suz's job. I usually call her from the store to tell her what I'm seeing and trying on. She does the same for me. I had to increase the minutes on my cell phone plan. It was worth it.

There is one more thing to report from my full shoe day: Nordstrom's at Northpark is participating in the Soles 4 Souls campaign now through March 19th. You can bring your gently worn or new shoes to Nordstrom's and they will send them to Soles 4 Souls. I heartily endorse this charity and hope that you all choose to send them the shoes you no longer wear. You know we've all made shoe mistakes in our lives and forgotten to take them back. God knows I have more than one pair that felt like they fit in the store but betrayed my feet when I wore them; what a fantastic solution to that problem! You get rid of the shoes that are mocking you with their inadequacy and someone who needs shoes gets a pair that fit and protect their feet. This is a fabulosa worthy idea.

Here's a tip: if a shoe has pink bling and you are above the age of five, don't let your mother talk you into getting them; she's just trying to pretend that you're not all grown up.

Today's favorite shoe:

Sergio Rossi "Blanka"

HURRY! FABULOSAS! HURRY!

Several of you have asked me where you can find a pair of Stuart Weitzman "Give Me Fever" pumps. They are simply nowhere. But I found a pair today at Nordstrom's at Northpark Mall... size 6 medium. Go! get them! HURRY!

Liesl, 7N

Mr. Fancy Pants and I were driving down the freeway on Saturday night and talking about how a privileged upbringing can sometimes cause one to miss out on the simpler pleasures in life, like parking lot carnivals and paper plates. As we were passing a store that advertises all shoes $9.95 Mr. Fancy Pants blurted out, "Why don't you shop there?" It was all I could do to not push him out of the speeding car.

I've never been to that particular shoe store; I think it's obvious that they would have nothing for me. I can get down with a cheap pair of flips and I can get down with a cheap pair of tennies*, but I fail to see how a shoe store that has any self respect at all would willingly advertise their cheap nature. They might as well slap some proverbial hot pants on and proverbially give the milk away for free. Needless to say, I will not ever be gracing that store with my presence. I buy my organic milk at a premium. Could be the privileged upbringing; or, it could be that I have good taste.

Back to Mr. Fancy Pants: What to do? I find myself questioning who this man is and why I married him. I recognize that I couldn't have found my, ahem, solemate in male form if I wanted to marry a heterosexual, but I thought I had taught him more than to even consider stringing cheap shoes in a sentence with my name. I think I might have to invent a class that teaches husbands, boyfriends, and butchy lesbian lovers how to truly appreciate a fabulosa's clear entitlement to fabulous shoes. I'll call it, Liesl's Introduction to Wants Superseding Needs class. That works quite nicely!

In my class you will learn that shoes are universally valuable above all other a priori concepts.

*As long as you aren't using them for exercising. Oh, wait a minute! they aren't for anything else and we do not wear them outside of the gym or street race. Never mind!

Today's favorite shoe:

Giuseppe Zanotti "E7020"