For the past three years I have been on the hunt for a great pair of brown leather riding boots. I wanted a boot that would endure through all the trends. You know the type, that look good no matter what is happening in fashion at the time. The 30-year-boot is what I like to call it, so I can dollar cost average the expense and justify spending more because over time they will only cost pennies a day...nice rationalizing HUH?
In April, I was thumbing through a Marie Claire magazine and BAM!...there they were. Mamie Gummer (She is Meryl Streep's daughter and she is a great actress, too) was modeling the boots of my dreams. For the next five months I kept (obsessively) checking various places for the fall boots to arrive. I wear a size 11 (yes...I know flippers) and most retailers either don't carry this larger size or they only buy one or two. (size 11 people must be diligent shoppers)
Mamie Gummer
While visiting my Aunt in San Francisco, this past August, we went shopping on Fillmore Street. One of my favorite stores is called Heidi Says (they have 3 locations on the street divided by: Shoes, Casual and Collection) they have a beautiful selection and there staff are really friendly and helpful.
My favorite of the three is the shoe store... their shoes are like one of a kind jewelry, very unique, and they carry size 11! I was chatting it up with the staff about the boot I was on the hunt for, and this nice woman who worked there, Katie Conway (I discovered later that she was the buyer for the store), said, "I know the boot you are talking about...we aren't carrying it, but I can special order it for you. The only catch is it would have to be a final sale." Unsure it would fit correctly I passed on her nice offer...worried if it was not right, I would be stuck with a very expensive boot and be totally bummed. She said, "No worries, I just wanted to help."
So nice.
Two weeks later I saw the boot at Piperlime in size 11! Click, order and done...until of course it arrived a week later in the wrong finish. I immediately called customer service and they assured me they would look into it and get back to me in 3 days, tops.
7 days later they emailed me and promised me that it had been a fluke. They instructed me to send the pair I had back and just reorder... and bonus they were giving me 15% off for my inconvenience. Awesome...but, no wait...when I went to reorder the boot they were sold out in size 11. SHIT!!!
Needless to say I was not happy and to keep in the vein of 'good news' vs. bad news reporting I will not tell you all the gory details.
The 'good news' was that I emailed, Katie at Heidi Says Shoes and asked for her help because even though Piperlime had sent me the wrong finish I now knew they fit perfectly. (now that's what I call the silver lining of a bad experience) She said no problem...she was on it.
Two days later she emailed me and told me there was one pair left in the company and they were mine!!! Yahoo!
Jamar Boot Vera Wang Lavender Collection
They arrived last week and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them...they are perfect and thanks to Katie they are mine. What this experience reminded me was that the small guy sees me as a person worth going the extra mile for, versus the big guy who just sees me as a number.
Thank you Katie (Claire and Danielle, too) for all your help and for going above and beyond to make this Mama happy. Give that girl a raise!
(Spoiler Alert: Heidi Says is very expensive or what I like to call investment pieces because... I will say that every item I have ever purchased from them are still hanging in my closet and worn lovingly year after year.)
***Next week my kids are home from school so... I am taking time off, but I still have something planned for my absence. I hope you enjoy them and I will be back live Monday, October 24th.
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