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Ruffled zebras in the rain

Rainy days destroy me. I never know what to wear, I don't own rain boots, always get water in my shoes, I'm short enough that my pants drag on the ground and get muddy and wet, and my hair goes flat.

Rain and I are not good friends at all.

This weekend I had a kid's birthday party to attend. Party in the park with yelling children hopped up on pizza, caffeinated pop and cake frosting (because none of them eat the cake part), and then they run off to play on equipment that can't give them splinters or tetanus like playgrounds of yore. This leaves the adults alone to sip beer out of coffee cups (because park rules frown on drinking outside at noon), and talk about adult things like the economy, work, how much they both suck, and of course, shoes.

I was standing around, drinking my beer and nodding about some economic story or discussing work, hoping no one bloodied a nose on the playground, and wondering how bad my hair looked because of the on again, off again rain, and suddenly a Steve Madden box was shoved into my hands.
These are going to go with everything (except rain).

"Here, if these fit you and you like them, they're yours."

I opened the box and saw a pair of zebra print heels with a red patent heel and red ruffle staring up at me. The same heels I had almost bought half a dozen times, and suddenly they're being handed to me in the middle of a birthday party.

So what's the catch? Why would someone give up a perfectly good pair of zebra print Madden Girl heels that had obviously never been worn?

"I can't walk in them," the gift giver explained. "Seriously, I put them on, tried to walk across the room and was crippled. There's no way that was going to happen. But I love them, and I know you love heels, and they're your size, so take them."

I stared in awe of my new shoes, suddenly having something that I have been intermittently lusting after for years, and profusely thanked her for the gift.

And no, I assured everyone, I don't have anything like them (which some seemed hard to believe). In fact, I don't even own anything in a zebra print. Which really seems almost criminal. Good thing that's been fixed. Now I can obsess over something in a giraffe print, because I'm pretty sure I don't have that either.

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