Three times the laughing gas, 3 times the fun

Going to the dentist 3 times in 3 weeks (and getting laughing gas all three times) really puts things in perspective. For instance today in the waiting room my mind wandered to shoes. As a woman, I love shoes. Every style, colour and height of shoe is my favourite. In fact, a long-held dream of mine involves owning a pair of very (very!) expensive heels.

So today in my near panicked state waiting for my turn in the gas chamber... I mean dentist's chair... my mind wandered to the calming subject of footwear. Remember when you went to the doctor's office in the winter and they gave you those paper slippers to wear so you didn't keep on your boots on or have to worry about your gnarled toe peeping out of your sock if you decided to do the right thing and take them off? Remember them? They were absolutely awful. Or was that just a Montréal thing?

You know what else is a Montréal thing? Shoe bags. I've never seen them for sale in Ontario so I'm assuming they just don't exist. Shoe bags were the most practical winter accessory you had. Say you were going to a dress-up house party (another thing of the past) in wintertime. You courteously remove your mukluks. But now what do you do? Your pantyhosed feet no longer match your stunning outfit. No worries. You have your velvet shoebag with the perfect pumps inside. We all had them. Sometimes several. Shoe bags were literally, one-pair-of-shoes-sized, velvet, satin or velour with a drawstring. Where are shoebags today? It's not like doctors and dentists and friends all of a sudden don't care that you're putting your salty boots all over their parquet floors. Wouldn't it be practical to bring the shoebag "trend" back?

My first December here in Ottawa I went to a club with friends. One girl wore her dancing shoes through the slushy muck and the other wore double duty sexy boots. I took off my boots and whipped my perfect strappy sandals from inside my precious shoe bag. They looked at me with awe and wonder. I'm still shocked they've never caught on. They're easily made (if you could sew which I can't) and handy as anything. They aren't like purses which are leather and/or steal-able, you could squash them up and stuff them into your coat sleeve. They came in tons of colours and you could even match them with your coat. Even guys had them. There's a business opportunity in this blog, folks. All I ask is for some credit during the tv interview.

kxx