I LOVE SHOES!

I make a decent living, now, but I grew up poor. So, I learned at a very young age how to spend wisely and buy only what I need. That said, I do have one weakness:

S H O E S !

They are an addiction, I readily admit that. I think I might even need to see a psychiatrist about this someday.

You think I'm joking? Well, you wouldn't if you saw my closet. I have well over a hundred pairs of shoes and boots — with matching purses — all in different styles, colours, heel heights and price ranges. I have some I bought at the Salvation Army or Value Village for $3 (never worn!) and some I bought at high end retailers for $200-$300. I love my cheap Zellers, Sears and Walmart brand shoes just as much as I love my Manolo Blahnik's and Jimmy Choos. Just like children, each are special and very important to me, regardless of their lineage.

And, being an artist, I'm not one to just settle for what I might find on store shelves. If the colour or style isn't quite right to suit my needs or the outfit/purse I'm buying them for, I paint and decorate them with chains, ribbons, rhinestones, pearls, beads, silk flowers...all kinds of doo-dads, making them one-of-a-kind functional works of art that I'm very proud to display on my size 9.5-W feet.

While I respect and adore my plain business shoes with the one or two inch heel, I tend to gravitate toward the more daring and sexy shoe. The higher the heel, the better! Remember that scene in Sex & the City where Carrie is walking down the street and stops dead when she sees a pair of kick-ass heels in a store window? "Hello, lover," she sighs with desperate longing. Well, that's me. When I need my shoe fix I go to the nearest mall and fondle every pair that catches my eye. I like to touch them, to smell them...sometimes I even kiss them, if I see no one is watching. If I have time, I try them on, and if I love them, I buy them.

Just try and stop me!

KJC