Red Shoes, Romance, and Bad Timing

I posted this impulsive thought today. Sometimes it just feels good to send things out into Facebook universe. Someone was bound to understand my desire to be budget conscious conflicting with the memory of those amazing, sexy, red shoes.

My awesome friends and family rallied to the cause, immediately encouraging me to treat myself and just give into the impulse. I wasn’t sure if I would follow their advice, but then a window opened where I could go back with only 2 kids and it seemed serendipitous. I picked my daughter up from school, she was agreeable, and we went.

I tried the shoes on a second time, fell in love again, but talked myself out of the impractical pumps. I resolved to put them back, along with a gorgeous red, belted dress coat, and left the store (Jessica’s advice didn’t show until later). As I helped the kids into the van, I spotted a car pulling into the lot that looked suspiciously like my husband’s.

And it took me a few moments to realize that bad timing on both of our parts partially ruined a potentially highly romantic, incredibly thoughtful surprise. And this comment from a busy friend who wouldn’t normally engage on this type of post in the middle of the work day suddenly made sense:

We greeted each other, he asked about the shoes (his surprise blown), and I told him I wanted them, but was trying to be practical. I left unsure if he would purchase the coveted footwear, but crossing my fingers.

Later, Tim posted this:

To provide some perspective, though, this is a man who does not respond to subtlety. You don’t hint at what you want or make suggestions. He is amazing, thoughtful, and kind, but he’s not looking for the underlying message or secret hints. When I posted today, I never imaged he would leave a coveted parking spot and his incredibly busy law school schedule to buy shoes at a consignment store he’d never heard of in the middle of the afternoon. In fact, I was surprised he even saw the Facebook post.

I mean, yesterday went like this: I texted him in the morning to remind him I had book club. He came home for dinner and I reminded him that I had book club. We put the kids to bed, then I asked him if he knew the location of a book I wanted to bring to book club. We sat and talked for a few minutes – I was holding the books – and then I told  him I was heading out. His response, “Where are you going?”

While today’s surprise didn’t play out as he imagined, seeing Tim pull into that parking lot and realizing his romantic plot caused leaping butterflies to dance in my stomach. The only disappointment came in seeing his frustration in having the best laid plans ruined by poor timing. It might not have gone as planned, but I was thrilled when he arrived home tonight and handed me a bag with these beauties inside.

I’ll thank him tomorrow night when I wear these on our date.