My best friend Deirdre calls me from time to time.  Okay – she never calls me.  Unless she’s in jail or needs money.  Dre is a new mommy – uh, again.  She has precious little free time anymore.  I usually end up calling her and inevitably she’s wiping someone’s ass.  I swear – how much do those kids poop?  The other day she was out running errands and had the phone (and minivan) to herself.  At one point, she casually peppered in to conversation that she was on her way to Shoe Carnival. 

I nearly fell over. 

This is a woman who covets shoes more than Imelda Marcos.  Or so I thought.  Seems her priorities have changed slightly since becoming a mom … she’s gone from Carrie Bradshaw to Terry Bradshaw without missing a beat.  Problem is, no one told me. 

I begged … I groveled … I pleaded for her not to do it.  But she was already pulling in to the parking lot.  So much for my shoe intervention. 

She then proceeded to inform me about Shoe Carnival and all the wonderful shoes you can find there at reasonable prices.  She likes the service … she likes the prices … and she likes the selection.  

And then it hit me … at some point, Deirdre – the former patron saint of shoes — became savvy enough to do some comparison shopping and found something that worked for her. 

Personally, I wish Deirdre would have turned her car around and headed in a different direction than Shoe Carnival … but she ended up scoring several killer pairs of shoes for her kids. 

FOR HER KIDS!  (Whew.) 

Instead of being so persnickety about where I shop for shoes, I did some investigating and came to find out Shoe Carnival actually has a really good reputation.  Who knew?  

Too bad my ad agency only caters to the education sector.  I could see us doing a new retail campaign.  Hello, Shoe Carnival – are you listening?  We should really team up.  It would make for really strange bedfellows.  Or maybe not … I mean, we’re both good at what we do … and Momma always needs a new pair of shoes.