Shoes.com Walks with Ruby

Last Saturday, the shoes.com staff descended upon downtown St. Louis ready to walk with Style Network sweetheart, Ruby. Armed with Starbucks and various walking shoes, we arrived at Kiener Plaza excited to receive one of Ruby’s famed hugs. Although a plethora of fans was among us, we were the only ones wearing matching shoes.com t-shirts. (People were totally jealous.)
Immediately, we took notice of the Shape-Ups table where people could try and test these trendy new fitness shoes. Thanks to our resident new mom and blogger, Courtney, we’ve been hearing about how they can actually give you a workout without having to step foot in a gym.

Shape-Ups aside, we began taking photos to occupy our time before Ruby made her appearance. While in the middle of a great “pop-your-foot” pose, we spotted Ruby from afar, walking towards us in a bright pink shirt and baseball cap. It didn’t take long for everyone else to figure out she was there, as a mass of people began running over to meet her. After several, “Hey y’all” greetings, she led everyone in a warm-up exercise. Once we had completed a few shoulder rolls and leg stretches, we were off! We walked for about 30 minutes around the plaza with the beautiful St. Louis Gateway Arch and Courthouse in the background. While walking, we realized that Ruby’s nephew, Jim, was there walking with her dog.Following Ruby up to a big Style Network tent, we finally got to meet with our favorite southern belle. She immediately grinned and embraced all twelve of us at once. “I’m so exited!” she said, her southern drawl apparent. We explained that we were from shoes.com and had come to walk with her that day because of how inspiring she had been to us on the show. We also presented her with a gift certificate to the Web site so that she could invest in some serious walking shoes to continue on with her journey. “Y’all are so sweet to do this!” Ruby exclaimed. “I really need some good tennis shoes for exercising.”

After a good ten minutes of hugging and kissing, we left Ruby to be with the rest of her fans (who had made quite the line behind us). We were so happy that we had come to participate. Not only did we get to spend a nice Saturday morning together with our co-workers, but we also got to give a gift to someone who truly deserves it for all that she has conquered. Go Ruby!

I LOVE NEW YORK

This weekend, I took advantage of the Independence Day holiday for a trip to visit my friend Caitlin who is interning at an advertising agency in New York this summer. While we did have loads of fun shopping in SoHo (Marc by Marc Jacobs store on Bleecker=OMG), scouring Century 21 in the Financial District, exploring the culinary delights of Williamsburg, Brooklyn and dancing at Greenhouse, my field trip to Brown Shoe New York on Fifth Ave. made me truly smitten with the city.

The lovely Regina greeted me as my wide eyes scanned the giant Via Spiga print centered in the floor 11 lobby of the Takashimaya building. Immediately, I got excited to see what and who else lay behind the freshly modern architecture of this classic, Manhattan office. We began a tour where I had the pleasure of meeting the brains behind the Via Spiga, Franco Sarto and Vera Wang Lavender Label lines as well as the PR team. We then strolled over to the Brown Shoe Showroom on 56th and 5th, right across the street from the famed Russian Tea Room (Regina said she watched them film that Gossip Girl scene from the office).

Over Pad Thai and spring rolls, I listened to all of the stories that my new Brown NYC buddies—Regina, Melissa, Jonathan and Camilo—had to tell. While working in the huge St. Louis office has been incredibly eye-opening, coming to New York made me realize how large the scope of the company is and definitely made me proud to be a part of it!

I continued my New York shoe extravaganza with a trip to the Via Spiga store in SoHo (across the street from Topshop, ahhh) where I got to see the shoes live at retail. There was also a great display in the Macy’s flagship store on 34th street that I, of course, felt the need to take a picture of.

Weekend Fun

The other weekend was an absolute blast getting to hang out with members of the ACT program who have worked all over the country and are now back in St. Louis for a while. After work on Friday, we dashed over to BARcelona where weather and overall setting kicked off our weekend perfectly! Hearing all of their interesting stories from working in the NYC and St. Louis offices as well as in the retail stores was truly inspiring. I felt like one of the ‘cool kids’ with this crew!