Stiletto Night!

I'm finally mostly mended! Teeth are happier and I'm healing. Whew! It's been a long month and a half! I've finally been able to talk again and be social, and tonight I'm gettin' dolled up and hittin' the town. My friend and I have made it a habit. See, she's a PhD student that came to my University about 3 years ago. When she arrived and started her first lab rotation in my lab, I was charged with the task of familiarizing her with the town and keeping her entertained. I took her to lunch one day and we hit it off. She's this funny, spunky, wonderfully sarcastic, fellow nerdy scientist, who enjoys fashion....and most importantly...shoes! Yes! I finally found my "sole" mate! She moved to Missoula with a box of high heels, and I was so excited to finally find someone who loved them as much as I!

Me, Montana raised, who enjoys actually being barefoot more than anything else, has a surprisingly large amount of shoes. Next to the running shoes, hiking shoes, and dozen warm-weather sandals, are my beloved heels. Most are stilettos and sky-scraper tall, in varying shades and patterns. My father even pin-striped a pair! They sit beautifully in their clear shoeboxes and beckon me every time I open the closet. Pastel hues, patent leathers, metallic blues, vintage reds, Sex & the City fuchsia pink! T-strapped, peep-toed, or sling backed---I love them all. (Especially the never-before-worn, copper painted, red suede pair I acquired on a whim in San Francisco!) And now that the ice has left the sidewalks, and the chill of snow has left the air for good, it's time to bring them out into the public! My graduate friend loves her many stilettos just as much as me and not long after she came to this town we started having "Stiletto Nights."

Hailing from a big city in the midwest, she was used to night clubs and the wardrobe that went with. Folks here in Montana don't tend to dress up quite as much and the same clothes and shoes that wow in MN can look out of place in MT. She was bummed with this realization. No reason to dress up? That's no fun! So we came to the decision that we would dress up anyway! Who cares?! So, out of place, in fun tops and funky skirts, fancy heels and curled-up hair we hit the town. We stir our fruity drinks, and gossip and talk and compare our wonderful shoes. I love these nights and the click, click, click our dolled up feet make as we cruise the sunny evening streets in search of cocktails and conversation. Thank goodness for summer! And beautiful stilettos!