Just When You Think Everything Is Smooth Sailing…

When you last heard from me, it was Wednesday and I was waiting for a pair of red shoes to arrive at my house, a day ahead of an event that was “Red dress or red shoes optional”. I was very excited to have finally found something that would work for me, and paid for express delivery (something I NEVER do), in order to get the shoes early enough to wear around the house for a couple of hours before making the commitment to wear them for six to seven hours on event night.

I checked the UPS tracking on the shoes during the day on Wednesday, and there was no information listed. Well, THAT wasn’t a good sign. I figured it was a fluke, and anticipated their arrival anyway; after all, that’s what I paid for. In the afternoon, the tracking information revealed that though UPS had my order, a sticker hadn’t been generated for it yet. Huh? I figured the system was just behind.

I taught my spin class Wednesday evening and expected that the shoes would be waiting for me when I arrived home. Nope.

Now would be a good time to mention that Michelle, who invited me to go to this event as her guest (AND, by the way, has an uncanny amount of characteristics, habits, and opinions in common with me), had ordered four red dresses online, figuring that one of them would have to work for the party. Her dresses were all coming from the same store and were supposed to arrive on Tuesday. They didn’t. On Wednesday, she found out that the box had been sent elsewhere and was being “rerouted”, and she had no idea if they would get there in time. (They didn’t.)

Checking UPS again, I found nothing new from the afternoon. I called Sears and, after the customer service representative told me basically what I already knew, that they weren’t arriving that day, asked for a refund of the shipping charges I paid. She told me she could refund half of the shipping, since the shoes would be arriving tomorrow. “That’s fair, for now,” I thought.

Later that evening, the status at UPS finally changed:

shoes
In the meantime, I decided to go into my closet and pull out my beloved black dress. As I reached towards the far end of the closet for it, my hand grabbed something I completely forgot I owned. (Odd, really, since I don’t have a large closet.) It was a black skirt that I’ve had for nearly ten years, and it’s in excellent condition. The best part? This lovely black skirt has a floral design down one side of it. The flower color? RED.

I was giddy with my discovery, and decided to forgo the black dress this time, choosing instead to wear my long-lost skirt with the red blouse I found at Macy’s on Monday. I figured the red shoes–that would definitely be arriving sometime Thursday–would look pretty nice with this outfit, so I was psyched.

P1010083 On Thursday, I had to work until 3:00, and then I had to rush home, retrieve J, and take him for a haircut. When I zoomed home from work so that I could try on my shoes before going to the hair salon, I found…no shoes.

My trusty, black dress shoes it would be, then. I was fine with it. This whole ordeal was just way too much drama for me.

After returning from the hair salon (I went ahead and got my hair styled while I was there!) at 4:30, I had all of thirty minutes to get changed, reapply makeup, and leave for the train. Michelle had also emailed me a few pictures of the outfits she was trying to choose from, so my plan was to get her situation taken care of first so she could change and catch her train, and then move on from there. As we pulled up into the driveway, I saw–of course–my shipment on the porch.

“GAH!” I screamed.

I grabbed the package, ran inside the house, and ripped it open so I could try on the shoes. They are awesome: most definitely the most beautiful, hottest, cutest, most unique shoes I’ve ever owned–not saying much since I hate shoes and currently own only about six pairs, but still.

P1010082
P1010081
I tried them on, and they slid on just like I was Cinderella. I was skeptical of wearing them all evening though, after just trying them on quickly. I took them upstairs and put them on with my outfit, and my decision was made for me. The length of my skirt covered the ruffle on the shoes. I decided to save the shoes for my LBD, and, well, all’s well that ends well.

I took the train and met Michelle and Lisa in the city, where we caught a cab together. The event was at the Alhambra Palace Restaurant, which was a FANTASTIC venue. The music was loud, the place was hopping, the drinks were, uh, flowing, and the vendors were eager to be checked out. Our first order of business was to get a free five-minute chair massage. Michelle wisely suggested that we do that immediately, before it got too busy. (Go, Michelle!) While we were waiting, we chatted and took pictures. Here’s Michelle, me, Rita, and Lisa (love this picture!):

P1010069a
One of the best things for me about the evening was getting to catch up with so many blogger friends. There are SO MANY bloggers in Chicago, and we see each other regularly at events but we’re usually paying attention to a presentation or involved in activities that don’t allow for much visiting and networking. Last night–though the music was on the loud side for chatting with each other–was different; I saw so many of my old friends as well as newer friends who I’ve been dying to spend some time with, like Meredith of Hoo Dee Hoo (and Mercedes Benz Team GL!):

P1010071
After a full evening, it was great to have the hour on the train to wind down a bit before going home and crawling into bed. Reflecting on the evening as well as the two weeks beforehand, during which I got caught up in the fashion aspect of it all, I decided that, really, I could’ve worn jeans and a red t-shirt and–though I would’ve been underdressed relative to everyone else–nobody would have cared or noticed much. The fun part didn’t have anything to do with what anyone was wearing. I knew that all along, deep down, but sometimes in life it’s nice to have a refresher course. Lesson learned.

Thanks so much, Michelle, for inviting me!! Mwah!

02241958
P.S. After calling Sears today and letting them know that the shoes arrived just before I had to leave for the event and I didn’t get to wear them ahead of time to make sure they’d work, they graciously offered to refund my total shipping charges. I was very pleased, to say the least.

E0EBC2C8393DAD4423FE9417A308918D

©2011 Suburban Scrawl

12 Comments

  • Lisa

    There were totally girls there in jeans but it was sort of fun upping my noexistant fashion game a little. Had a great time, thanks for hanging with me! You looked great and I will look forward to seeing you in those shoes at blogher

  • Michelle

    Go you and your customer service prowess. And those shoes? AWEsome. I'd say I want a pair, but … we can't have that now, can we? 😉

    So ahhh what's LBD? Do I need to go look that up on urban dictionary?

  • Stephanie

    Holy crap! I think I need a few 'tinis after ALL that drama! Maybe some RED cosmos!!! Sounds like a blast though, and your outfit looked glam!!

  • seashore subjects

    Love the shoes,and the skirt/louse was perfect. Plus it is so refreshing to hear about a company that actually showed accountability.

  • Tara R.

    You all look beautiful! Red is a good color for you. Too bad the shoes didn't work with your ensemble, they are really cute.

  • Mom24

    You looked fabulous. I love those shoes, too cute. I hope they turn out to be very comfy and kuddos to Sears for doing the right thing.

  • k a t i e

    I had this whole long comment ready to post about all kinds of stuff, and then I saw a certain line…

    "….I hate shoes…".

    Now? I'ma just say* you looked gorgeous, I'm so glad you had fun…and now I'll cry myself to sleep.

    *and go and hug my own vast collection of shoes because they've obviously received some kind of negative vibe after I read this post. They also say your new heels are simply divine, and hope you don't whisper those words ever again!

  • Mrs4444

    Glad to hear Sears was good to you; takes teh edge off the disappointment. You looked fabulous! Glad you had fun!

  • Heather E

    I am SO Glad that everything worked out and your outfit was ROCKIN :)That red lip was GORG! 🙂

    I am also glad that you got your fees taken off– good customer service! YAY!

    xo

  • Lucy

    Awesome shoes!!! But you didn't need them. You looked fantastic without 'em!!!

    P.S. Please don't say you hate shoes anymore. It makes me want to cry.