I should have started writing this earlier since it’s already frightfully close to my bedtime, but I got caught up searching for pink ceramic poodles on Ebay.
What? Like you don’t totally do that same thing.
It actually began as a search for a certain pair of shoes that Caroline and I saw while we were out shopping today, but couldn’t find in her exact size. She has decided she really wants a pair of flats. However, she has the great misfortune of having a narrow foot like P’s side of the family. That’s right. I just totally threw his foot genetics under the bus.
But it’s true. They all have narrow feet. I vaguely remember his mom and sister both mentioning how hard it was for them to find shoes that fit right way back when P and I were dating and I didn’t really understand because I have a very average size 8 to 8 1/2 foot. I can pretty much wear any shoe you give me from any store and I’ve never really appreciated that until now that I have a daughter who requires a narrow shoe. When you’re dating someone you don’t really think about the implications their family’s narrow feet could have on future generations.
So that’s how I ended up on Ebay because I really wanted to find these shoes, but I had no luck. Yet as I struck out on the shoe front, I remembered these pink ceramic poodles that my Me-Ma used to have on the shelves in her formal living room. She let my sister and I have them when we were way too young to appreciate them and we turned these 1950’s vintage ceramic pink poodles into bit players in various scenarios where our Barbie dolls were dog walkers. Because did I also mention they had a fancy gold chain leash?
Well my search for pink ceramic poodles opened up a whole new world to me because I had no idea the world contained so many variations of ceramic dogs. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. I even found some pink poodles that were similar to the ones my Me-Ma had, but not quite the same. I’m sure you wanted to know that.
I guess the most important thing to note is that if I’m home on my couch looking at ceramic dogs online, I obviously survived my afternoon of shopping with Caroline. In fact, I’m happy to report it was our most successful day of shopping together ever. Which is impressive when I tell you that I was suffering from PMS.
But I think it helped because I set the parameters as I drove her to school that morning. I said, “Here’s the deal. I want us to have a great time today. I won’t ask you if you’re sure you don’t like something, if you don’t get worked up because you can’t find something you like. And, the cardinal rule, if we buy it then you’re wearing it. So BE SURE.” She nodded her head in agreement and I told her I’d see her at noon.
As soon as I picked her up from school we headed to Nordstrom and ate lunch in the Nordstrom cafe. Caroline hadn’t ever eaten there before and she immediately informed me that all food might be ruined for her now that she’s eaten their fries with the olive aioli dip. She may have her father’s feet, but she has my taste buds.
After lunch we ventured down to the clothes and she found several things she wanted to try on. She decided on two shirts that were actually my favorites, but I was careful to show no real emotion and certainly didn’t mention that they were darling. And then we ventured into the shoe department where I believe I’ve already mentioned that we had no real luck because NARROW FEET.
We spent the next few hours running into various stores and ultimately had the best luck at big department stores like Macy’s, Nordstrom and Dillard’s. I usually don’t even go in those stores because I decided years ago that the enormous selection overwhelms me. I don’t know what to do with all those racks of clothes. But it works when you’re just looking in the children’s department.
And so we ended the day with several new tops, two new pairs of shorts and no tears. From either one of us. I don’t know if I could feel any greater sense of accomplishment had we climbed Mount Everest.
But then I’ve never cared much about mountain climbing. Apparently I’m too busy looking for obscure trinkets on Ebay.