[Photos by Brent Brooks]
There’s something about slipping on those perfect-fitting pair of heels and feeling like you can conquer the world. No matter if they’re her work non-slip sneakers or Manolo Blahniks; I don’t know a woman who doesn’t have a pair of her favorite shoes that absolutely boost her self-confidence upon wearing them. Not one.
My name is Christina, and I most definitely have a shoe addiction.
Every woman deserves to feel beautiful everyday, in every way possible, and in every aspect of her life. For me, it all began in the 7th grade. It was my National Honor Society induction ceremony at my monotonously-scheduled and brick enclosed junior high school – where I spent two years as the beaten up and 6-time-sport-team-rejected-band-nerd with bowl-cut bangs. [Let's just say...I most definitely don't miss those days. Ever.]
However, that evening nothing stood in the way of my beaming self esteem as I pictured myself floating across the stage to shake my principal’s hand. I was 13 years-old and I felt confident… and let’s be real…that didn’t happen often. Not for any junior higher, that is. I owe that incredibly special feeling to the one inch square-toed white kitten heels that I stole from my sister’s closet. They made me stand taller. They held me at better posture. And, they gave me the confidence to stroll across that pre-lit cafeteria stage, in front of my peers and their families, to receive my paper certificate; which at that time was the pinnacle of my junior high experience and social ladder.
I most definitely didn’t have a good body image at that age. And, I was most certainly insecure with just about every part of myself…but it didn’t matter. On that specific evening, none of my draping physical insecurities were able to push their way through my head. That night, nothing stopped me in my favorite pair of shoes.
I don’t know of a woman who hasn’t had the same type of story on their own scale. Whether it was the perfect pair of shoes that you wore the night that I love you whispered from his lips, or the pair of confident shoes that helped you walk out of the job that belittled you for years, we all have that story.
Shoes are precious. They are magical. Whether they are your most loyal pair of functional heels, your perfectly fit pair of tennis shoes, or those pair of torn flip flips that have never failed you. With a woman’s self confidence being so fragile from day to day – entirely susceptible to destruction merely in an instance – any inkling or ounce of self-beauty and importance added to the day can bring the most attractive and utterly irresistible beauty to her.
That, ladies and gentleman, is why shoes mean so much to me. At 23-years-young, ten entire years after that NJHS ceremony, I remember the warm feelings and love I felt from my carefully chosen pair of white kitten-toed heels. …like I said, every woman deserves to feel beautiful in every way – and I want every woman to believe that and invest into themselves. Shoes make me feel invincible and I want to share that with you.
A little about me currently:
-Daughter of Christ
-Full-time writer and online content coordinator for Arizona Foothills Magazine
-Runner
-Bilingual: English & Spanish
-California native -Arizona resident
-Uses chocolate as a food group
-A wee-bit scatter brained
-Ladybug lover
-Life out of my iCal and to-do lists
-Always tired
-Miss Maricopa County 2015 (Miss America Organization) 