Quick update

Hi there, I've been pretty busy lately working on my internship, moving, and getting my wisdom teeth out :( but I wanted to let you tall ladies know that Barefoot Tess is having a trunk sale with a lot of large size womens shoes marked down. Check it out here, and I'll update soon, I promise!

My sad obsession with shoes

Speaking of my sister's wedding, it was a pain finding SHOES! Shoe shopping has always been a horrible yo-yo of emotions. I love shoes, and I go to stores and see all the cute one on display, get all excited then deflate at the reality that no stores offer anything past size 12. I think I obsess about shoes so much because it's such a rarity to find my size, I'm always looking, and seeing all the styles for smaller sizes just makes me crazy!
Although Nordstrom has quite a few 13s online, the one time I went in there they only had three pairs of black shoes, my grandmother probably would have worn them...
But at least I'm glad there are more online companies designing for us large-footed women. I looked at Kathryn Kerrigan for the first time and the designs are gorgeous, too bad for me that the cheapest pair is $99 (they are handcrafted and look to be great quality. check out the website).
...Someday, when I'm a famous journalist...I probably still won't make enough money. But it's good to know the companies are out there.

Bachelorette Party!

My sister, next to me on the right side, isn't much of a party girl, so we went out to dinner the night before the wedding with the bridal party, cousins, and my brother's girlfriend.
There's nothing like a good Wisconsin fish fry.

I've Been Busy...

Hopefully some people are still checking on my blog occasionally, even though I have not posted for a while. I'm finally settling into summer, my internship, and various other commitments.
I went home to Mineral Point, Wisc. this past weekend for my sister's wedding. A lot of family I haven't seen since Christmas to they all told me how they liked my article and saw me on the Today Show. It was nice to know I had all these people behind me, and guilty because I have let my blog languish for so long.
I'm so comfortable around my family that I forget my height. So it was weird when, at my sister's wedding reception, a man came up to me from the bar to ask how tall I was. It was one of those where all he wants to know is my height. "Those guys wanted to know." Okay, well now you know. It was a great reception, and we danced for hours. As the maid of honor I made a speech. It was the first wedding I've ever been in, and since it was my only sister getting married it was all the more special. And nobody minded that I was taller than the bride, even standing a step below her. :)

Track meet

Yesterday the UW Oshkosh women's track team had a meet in Illinois. The meet started at 9:30 a.m., which meant we had to leave at 5:15. Ouch. It was a pretty good meet for the team, even though I didn't do as well as I hoped in all my events (high jump, 400m hurdles, and 4x400). I have a couple funny tall stories from the day, though.
First, after my 400 hurdle race, I was in a foul mood. Right after I checked my time, some guy in a red uniform who I'd never seen asked me, "Excuse me, but do you high jump?" Um, okay. Tall girl must be a high jumper. I was crabby but I wasn't going to take it out on this guy. "Yeah I do," I said in a tone I hoped would end the conversation. "What else do you do, pole vault?" Heavy sigh from me, "No, I hurdle. Do you have any more questions?" He says, "Yeah, where are you from?" I replied I was from Oshkosh and mercifully he walked away.
This kind of thing happens occasionally, people just decide to start asking me questions and I don't know what they want. They're usually just curious but it gets to me sometimes.
Was this guy trying to pick me up? Does he walk up to random girls and ask them if they high jump? Probably not. Afterwards, I told my friend when he asked me where I was from I should have answered, "The house of Pain!" and punched him in the face. I always think of good comebacks once it's too late. ;)

Another day, another column.

I wrote a column for the Oshkosh newspaper The Northwestern that was published today. Read it here.

UPCOMING! NPR

I will be a guest on NPR's Talk of the Nation talking to host Neal Conan and Pulitzer Prize- winning novelist Jane Smiley. Here's what she posted on my 'Life as a Tall Girl' article:


200. March 25th,20085:36 pm

• I was born in 1949. When I was twelve, I was 5′1″, just like the other girls. By the end of high school, I was 6′2″, and it was 1967. During my adolescence, it was considered possible and even desirable to cut tall girls down by taking some inches out of the long bones of their legs. There was an article in Life magazine about it. I refused this treatment. The last time I had a single regret about being over six feet tall was when I was sixteen. Since then, it has been great. I wear heels in company and when I have to do any stage performances, and I enjoy that. A few clothing tips–Zappos for shoes (big selection) and Lucky jeans for pants (37-38) inch inseams. I’ve had a lot of friends who were in the 5′-5′2″ range, and I learned something from them–it’s a lot more difficult for people to condescend to you when they have to look up to do it.

  — Posted by Jane Smiley

I think it's going to be a great conversation.
Listen tomorrow Thurs., Apr. 17 at 2:40 central time.