The hotel I am staying at is charming, but it is so darn noisy. The staff gets in around 7:00 am, they hang out in the courtyard above my room, smoking cigarettes and bickering and laughing in loud Italian. I have spent so much lovely quiet time across Europe that I am struggling with all the noise and smoke so early in the morning.

They do offer free wireless Internet, so that makes up for the morning mêlée. Once I am awake, I can just turn on my computer and see who’s up in California. Because of the 9-hour different, no one is on Skype. I forgot that I ordered my breakfast to be sent to my room, and after working for two hours online, it was such a treat to get a platter of strong coffee, warm bread, apricot jam, and fresh orange juice delivered to my room.

Breakfast eaten, blog uploaded, pictures published, I was ready to tackle the Milanese day. I wrote an article for Marie Claire that is being published in November. It is a about fashion and shopping around the world, and one of the girls I interviewed recommended a shoe shop just a few blocks away, where you can get shos hand made. WOW! I have had suits made – but shoes!  

Let me back up a bit, so you can understand why I did what I did. I know many people are going to think that I am an extravagant consumer, but really, I was just fulfilling a dream…

You see, a few years ago I had a dream that I went to my own party in a pair of comfortable yellow satin heels. I remember the shoes so well in the dream. I looked down, as I was coming into the room where my party was and thought, “Wow, these are gorgeous shoes and they are really comfortable.” The other important part of the dream was that my sister and grandmother were there to meet me at my party. They have both left this earth, so there was something really special about the way I felt in the dream. It was like everything was wonderful – everything was the way it was meant to be.

My aunt is very good at interpreting dreams. I told her about the dream a few days after I had it, she said that was a very profound and fabulous dream. Wonderful things are going to happen and I am going to feel very comfortable in my important roll. My grandmother and sister were there to tell me they are very proud of me and I have great works to do and they admire my hard work. I really liked that interpretation and kept that dream in the back of my head.

Then I founded Tango Diva, I started getting lots of media attention, and now I have a book that is being published next February! So much good stuff – just like the dream! I went to visit my family a few weeks ago and my aunt asked me if I bought my yellow satin heals yet. I smiled and said, “I have not found them.”

Okay, now back to Milan. I walk into Veronik’s couture shoe boutique, thinking nothing of my yellow heels.  Then, as she is showing me her show, I spy a pair of yellow satin stilettos with a 5-inch heel. I try them on, but they are too big and a bit too high. But they are yellow satin, with small purple flowers embroidered on the fabric. The satin is so perfect I want to cry. I try on 40 more pairs of multi-colored shoes that she already has created and none are what I want. I am emotionally exhausted. I really can’t justify getting a pair of very expensive shoe handmade in Italy – I can’t. Plus, I only want them in yellow. So, I feel safe knowing I don’t need to sell my kidney now. Then, she says something that changes the course of history forever. “Teresa, I have an extra piece of that yellow antique satin from Como if you want me to make you a pair of special shoes, and I think I might have enough for a small handbag too.”

I almost faint. Without thinking of the financial consequences, I say, “Yes! These are my shoes and I will wear them at my first media interview and book launch party.” We laid out the piece of yellow satin, figured out how the gorgeous purple flowers will wrap around the front of the shoes. Vernonik whispers in Italian to herself about how she will use the soft purple flower design to create an absolutely perfect handbag to match my shoes. I really hope I have a daughter one day because she is going to inherit a closet full of great shoes and accessories!  

So, there you have the truth. I did it. I bought a pair of shoes in Milan that are being made especially for me. They will be the only pair in the world. I might die when I get the bill, so I’ll have to be buried in them…

Maybe that’s what the dream really meant, I’d be going to see my sister and grandma in a pair of comfy, yellow satin shoes. ☺