Packing Up

Okay, so it's official! I am moving to England on August 9th (I get there in the morning after an overnight flight) but of course, I am leaving Chicago much earlier than that - in about two weeks, to be exact, and I have been really busy trying to consolidate my life and get everything organized to get out of here. And I have also been looking into how to ship things over there at a really affordable price (because posting things is way too, too expensive on top of all the things I already have to pay for!)

So, one thing I have noticed, is that while I am packing boxes with my winter wear and books and assorted things, the only reason I am truly shipping anything over there is because - even after winnowing down my shoe collection - I have over forty pairs of shoes that I am not willing to part with, including the Westwood Boots and the Cole Haan Penny Loafers (yes, I am a label whore.....I know, I know). I am not willing to part with any of my beautiful shoes, though I have been warned that the majority are impractical for walking in London (more reason to make sure I look for an apartment that is as central as possible) and I have yet to wear over half of them (yes, the Puma slip-ons are taking a beating, but the Studio 9s are slipped on to be admired and then nestled back into their box), but they have to go.

Why? Because every single one of those shoes represents the person I am. Shoes have always been my friend - no matter what, I can always slip into a store and find a shoe that fits me. Wish I could say the same about clothing stores. And I can find the latest style and the more fabulous finds in a shoe store for myself - not the same with clothing for my size. So, yes, my shoes reflect the person I am and they reflect the personas I can take one - the sexy nine-to-fiver in the platform open toed slingbacks with the sexy crocodile accents or the grownup punkster with the tartan-plaid and leather strapped boots. Every single aspect of my personality you can figure out by looking down - the fact that I often feel short (sure, at 170 cms, I am not short for a girl but in my family, where siblings and dad are over six feet, I am a shrimp), the fact that I groove on forties and fifties styles (I am a peep-toed fanatic!), that I love colour and I love ornamentation (buckles and brocade and baubles, oh my!).

So, because of all that is wrapped up in my shoe collection, I am willing to spend a little under two thousand to ship a couple of boxes and a trunk over to England. Because without the collection, I would probably spend more than that trying to reclaim everything that I had to give up. Hope the Brits can love the fabulousness of it all!