The Island Shoe Girl's Blog

Happy Birthday, Shoe Girl!  Here’s one of your gifts—I will do this week’s blog for you!

Three decades ago this week, the Island Shoe Girl made her debut on a snowy day typical of December in OH! – IO! First of all, this means I must have been a child/mother. (My friends can stop gagging!) Secondly, after two big brothers, this was my last chance to ‘think pink’—these were the days before ultrasounds eliminated that suspense. And finally there was someone to be “daddy’s cutie pie girl”, as she often referred to herself.  (A title she still holds.)

One of her father’s favorite Jimmy Buffett lines used to be, “Little Miss Magic, what’cha going to be? / Little Miss Magic, just can’t wait to see.”

People are sometimes surprised Little Miss Magic became the Shoe Girl who ended up on an island far from Ohio, working with homeless women and children.  Those who know her background shouldn’t be too surprised; in fact, we should have seen it coming.  Every facet of her life today was born and developed in her growing-up years, so we really should have known….

We should have known she would live in Key West.  In 5^th grade she wrote a biography assignment on Jimmy Buffett, titled “My Tropical Hero”.  During high school, she was quick to claim the ticket to a re-scheduled JB concert I could not use; hence, the first Father-Daughter Parrothead evening.  In college she managed to disguise her crutches as shark fins for a concert soon after her first foot surgery.

We should have known she would work with women and children.  From junior high through grad school she was the ultimate babysitter and part-time nanny.  The nearby university School of Nursing & Health asked her to participate on their advisory board for a project on teenage pregnancy awareness.  Her keepsake box is full of certificates of recognition and thanks for her time and energy for various service projects.

We should have known she would manage residential services.  The Shoe Girl’s graduate assistant duties included acting as a supervisor for a large co-ed residence hall.  Working with her client families today is nothing compared to a floor full of football players.  She learned every trick for trying to sneak into or out of a dorm late at night—no one can pull a fast one on her now!

We should have known she would be a constant fundraiser.  Remember that Tropical Hero biography?  She turned it into a fundraiser among her classmates for ‘Friends of Florida’, a Buffett project at that time.  When it was time for the annual Powder Puff football game during her junior year, she worried that the un-sanctioned game in a city park was becoming too aggressive.  She lobbied school administration to make it a sponsored event in the stadium one evening during Homecoming Week and organized it so a nominal admission fee went to the fund for Track & Field renovations.  During one college summer as a camp counselor, she posted the need for craft supplies on a Coconut Telegraph chat page and got enough supplies to last most of the summer, to the amazement of her fellow staff.

We should have known she’d become a media commentator on shoes and fashion.  She has known the value of a total look from the time she could say the words.  When her Nana fueled the fire with a new dress and hat and purse, the soon-to-be shoe girl added her own white gloves, ‘lacy’ socks, ‘shiny’ shoes, and sunglasses—and turned heads in church!  In a now-famous story, the first time we allowed her to pack her own suitcase for spring break at the beach, she put in a couple pairs of shorts, three swimsuits, several pairs of sunglasses, and seven pairs of shoes—and that was all!  In grade school she did in-store modeling for Limited Too and later served on a Teen Fashion Board at the mall. For her senior prom, she gave a seamstress movie clips to help the woman create a gown darn close to Grace Kelly’s dress in To Catch a Thief.

We should have known that our shoe girl would become a compassionate, caring person who always expected the best from everyone.  Just before her high school graduation, she wrote a short essay just to verbalize some of her feelings.  In it she said, “Above all else, I learned that wonderful, amazing things are happening around me every day and all I have to do is look.”

So Happy Birthday, Little Miss Magic!  Now we know what you’re going to be:  FABULOUS

Fantasy Fest is coming to an end in Key West, there are only a few parties left today and soon the only signs of the wild week of parties will be the stray beads that will pop up along the sidewalks and gutters on our little island.  About noon US 1 will be packed with car taking worn-out tourist back to their homes, locals will lounge around till well past morning and then start putting away their costumes. 

Like many who spent the last week in Key West, The Island Shoe Girl is taking the lazy way out this weekend.  Hey, if you spent 8 hours on 5 inch stilettos on a crowded parade route and you would want a day off too.  Don’t worry I will be back next week with more tales of stilettos and sand. 

Until then… enjoy your Halloween, hopefully you will have more treats than tricks.  And remember while it might not excite most children, this shoe girl thinks giving out heel tips are a great option!

This week the croc is going to being sick! The Island Shoe Girl is feeling a little low today despite her 5 inch stilettos. Tune in next week for big shoe news and how to look stylish while sick.

As a child, Halloween was a one-night event with a sweet tooth hangover that lasted up to two weeks and ushered in the beginning of “the holidays”.  While Halloween is not as traditional a holiday as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah or New Year’s Eve, it does usher in the two-month period of shopping, cooking, traveling and reuniting in one last desperate attempt to cram all those put-off visits into the final weeks of the year. 

Most of us think of Halloween as a child’s holiday, a time of mischief and disguise that we all must outgrow.  Viewed as a night of crisp air that is filled with both turning leaves and children’s laughter, a rare time of year before jackets shift to winter coats, rakes are replaced by shovels, and wool skirts replace breezy summer dresses.  

Even my little tropical island does not seem to escape these changes—though we do not need snow shovels or wool scarves.  We inevitably end up experiencing the shift into the holidays all the same.  October not only brings Halloween for children but also Fantasy Fest for Key Westers, a 10 day period of parties, street fairs, contests and costumes.   It is a time when all of us Northern transplants, who experienced Halloween in costumes that went over or under winter coats, can finally embrace their inner child and let out all those repressed Halloween costumes from days past.  No longer does your cat tail have to peak out of back of your snow pants or must your bunny ears be stuck on top your stocking hat.  The result of a built-up desire to be free—to let your inner freak flag fly—explodes in a variety of barely there costumes, and sometimes the explosion is so big it ends only in body paint and pasties. 

I often pride myself on being a collected and a well-put together female.  I hope I present the image of a successful independent woman that perhaps has more knowledge then her age reveals.  So why is it that I love this time of year?  Why is it that I trade in an opportunity to wear the new killer jeans I have been waiting to display with those perfect Betsy Johnson wedges for a cheap cocktail dress and a plastic tiara?

While I have never gone to the extreme of painted public nudity, I have embraced my inner bumblebee, nurse, beauty queen, cheerleader, cowgirl, sailor and many more secret fantasies from Halloweens past.  Paired with a four-inch heel, that costume labeled as “naughty” or “sexy” suddenly becomes sophisticated in my eyes.  Besides, its still hot down here, and if my mother justified making me wear snow boots and sweatpants with my pirate outfit in 30 degrees, I can easily justify wearing stiletto heels and fishnet stockings with my bumblebee outfit in 78 degrees. 

Before judgment can be passed on us island people for our week-long celebration, which some call ‘debauchery’ or ‘sinful’, a thing or two should be considered.  Fantasy Fest falls as we enter the final month of hurricane season.  September marks the peak month of hurricane season and often brings the most tension-filled times of storm season.  As we end October and enter the final month, it naturally creates a desire to let out a little sigh of relief.   It is like a marathon runner hitting the final stretch; there is a sudden rush of energy as the end is in sight.  Our little island is often worn down from evacuations and close calls; money is tighter this time of year; and visitors are welcomed to our home like the prodigal son and showered with cheap beads.

There is a strange attraction to the hum that starts softly as the first events of Fantasy Fest begin that grows louder through the week.  As tired as I may be, as busy as work has been, and as low as my checking account has dwindled, I cannot resist the pull that leads us all to the parade.  Like a child teetering on the age of being too old to trick- or-treat yet still wanting the bounty of candy, I always give in.  Despite my tired feet and the aches that remind I am not as young as used to be, I put on my cheerleader outfit, do my best spirit fingers, and flash my bloomers.

I know the Sunday after the big parade I will spend the day being lazy on my sofa and recovering from my parade daze.  By late afternoon it will be time to face the reality of being an adult—time to go the grocery store and clean the house.  I will pack up the pieces of costumes I assembled with such excitement and care.  As I select the best beads to add to my collection of Fantasy Fest treasures, I cannot help but feel grateful that I let the inner child out who still lives for playing dress up. 

Even in Key West the air turns a little cooler this time of year and the wind comes a little stronger off the water.  It is time to change the clocks back an hour, move the calendar ahead a month, and begin to think about stuffing turkeys, stockings and a million other things into the end of the year.  The costumes may go into the closet but the pictures remain on my refrigerator to remind me that every now and then it’s good to make believe, to dance in the streets and in general celebrate that I still I believe in the fantasy of life.

My friend’s super cute baby Genevieve is in the top 10 of the Parent’s Magazine Cover Baby Contest… While she is not able to stand or walk she already shows a love of shoes. The winner gets a scholarship so this little shoe girl in the making can save for Manolos instead! So vote for Genevieve at
http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/989…96 It called Genevieve sees dad… Thanks!