Nebraska?

Last night I was with a group of coworkers outside of the infamous Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles in Hollywood, where we had just had an excellent dinner (...of chicken and waffles!). This really overweight, short man was sitting on a bench staring at us as we were walking away and said,

"Where are you guys from? Nebraska?"

We responded that we were from Los Angeles, and walked away extremely puzzled. We were an extremely diverse group and all dressed pretty differently so we couldn't figure out why someone would think we were all from the same place, and such a random place like Nebraska. The best we could come up with was that about 4 out of 20 of us were on the tall side, white, and blonde (a guy about 6'5, me at 6'4, a 5'10 girl and a 5'8 girl). I told them about how I often get asked if I'm from random european countries, and we all realized that is probably what the man was referring to. He saw several tall people and assumed we couldn't be from southern california, and to him Nebraska is probably just as far away as Europe (he looked like one of the local, never-been-out-of-California types).

2 Times the Charm.

Last night I was standing waiting for an elevator with some coworkers including one who is a 6'6"ish pale, blond male (remember I'm a 6'4"ish pale, blond female). This man walked up to the elevators and said,

"Are you guys swedish tourists?"

Of course all my coworkers laughed and we told the man that we just happened to be really tall. Later one of my coworkers told me how bad she felt that the man said that. I didn't really mind. I kind of think it is really funny.

That makes twice in one week that I've been asked if I'm swedish. I can't wait to go to Sweden soon and see if I actually blend in ;)

Oh, Cars.

For the past 5 or 6 years I've driven a car that is way too small for me. The lesson learned: don't go car shopping alone as a girl. At the time, the fact that the car was cute was enough for me, I wasn't too concerned about whether I actually fit in the car.

The garage where I park for work has parking attendants everywhere and they are always shocked when they see me walk over to the tiniest car in the garage and climb in. They have told me on multiple occassions that my car is too small for me and I need a bigger car. Thanks guys. Also, it's a running joke in my firm that I have such a small car because whenever we go to events I valet and then everyone is standing there when my little car shows up and I squeeze on in.

In August, I'll finally be getting rid of my silver bullet when I move to London for 4 months. Once I return though, I'm going to need to buy a new car and I'm thinking I should aim for something that fits me better. The three cars that I have fit the absolute best in are (1) the Honda Pilot; (2) the Scion Xb; and (3) interestingly, the Jeep Compass?

I've also noticed I generally fit ok in full-size cars (as opposed to my little 2-door sporty car), so it's not like I *have* to get an SUV. And in California, waaaaaay too many people drive SUVs who don't need them. And of course there are the gas prices and carbon footprint issues. I really like the feeling of sliding in to a car instead of scrunching down into one. I'm stuck in this constant tug of war between "get the car that is better on gas and better on the environment" and "get the car that is reasonable on gas and that you fit in really well."

I know a girl who is 6'4" and drives a Prius. So apparently, it can be done. But I've smacked the side of my head on the top of the door frame of my car so many times I'm convinced I might have brain damage.

Sorry for my delay, I've got words to say!

I'm the tallest girl in my office of several hundred people. It brings lots of stares, lots of questions, and pretty much each of the other tall women in the firm (there are a couple women who are in the 5'9-5'10 range) tell me how excited they are to have me here and to not feel like the tallest girl in the firm anymore ;)

I don't mind being the tallest woman around. In fact, I'm so used to it that I almost feel challenged when another tall woman is in the room and is actually taller than me. This has only happened once or twice. Usually, it's a 6'2" girl who is used to being the tallest girl around and then I walk into the room. Half the time they love me, half the time they hate me. Because when you are the tallest girl around, for some (I'll admit, including me) it's almost like an award you start to wear proudly. It's like, if you're voted the best actress and then someone walks into the room who is a better actress than you. Maybe I'm alone in this, but I don't think I am.

There is a guy in the office right next to me who claims to be 6'5" but even when I'm wearing heels I'm not taller than him, so I think he might be underestimating his height which is an interesting turn of events since men usually embellish their height by 2+ inches. Anyway, when we walk into a room together, people describe it as some kind of "force" blowing toward them. Everyone at work keeps talking about how tall all of us newbies are, when really... there are about 5 or 6 of us over 6 feet out of FIFTY. And of course, to me, anyone shorter than me is short, so that leaves 3 people total who are tall.

In non-work news, this weekend I had the following two encounters:

1) Random woman in a church lobby:
"OMG YOU ARE SO TALL!" *looks down at my feet* "OMG YOU'RE IN FLATS! OMG!" *walks away*

2) Random man at a bar:
"What nationality are you?"
Me: "....American?"
"No... but like are you Swedish or something?"
Me: "I don't know... dutch and german?"
"Wow... because yeah... you are really tall."

Apparently white tall girls MUST be from a northern european country because there is no way one could be born and raised in the United States with a family that has been in the U.S. since the Mayflower? Now that I think about it, I've actually got the nationality question quite a bit.

I'm moving to London in less than two months... And I suppose it's a good thing people tend to think I'm european and not American, eh? :)

Bar Meetings.

I was out at a hotel bar in Santa Monica on Saturday night with some friends from work, and two different tall guys came up to me and introduced themselves and mentioned how "great" it is to see a girl at eye level.

I don't go out a lot, and when I do it's usually with my boyfriend (who is also tall) so this is not an experience I have very often. I appreciate that some tall guys are gutsy enough to approach tall girls and say hello. (I've heard from some tall guys that they're afraid to talk to tall girls for some reason or feel like they get ignored... which is probably because the tall girls are pretending to not be too excited that there is actually a tall guy in the room).

Tall Accomodations.

I recently wrote an article for my law review (I'm a law student) which is going to be published next fall. I'm very excited about the article, but for my first-ever publication I kind of wish I'd picked a topic I cared more about before I wrote the article. I've been thinking about the possibility of writing an article on height discrimination. But I want it to be legitimate and not to seem like a joke.

Anyway, so I also recently started working at a big law firm. I'm a summer associate, and I noticed the furniture in my office, while extremely nice, does not fit me well. I emailed my coordinator to ask if I were to come back permanently AFTER law school if it would be possible to lift the desk up a bit so it would fit me better. This led to the support staff instantly coming to my office, trying to see what they could do to help, and ultimately moving me to a new office where they were able to put the desk up on a little bit of a platform which made a HUGE difference. Also, I ended up with a much bigger office and a much bigger window out of the deal :) As it turns out, there are several really tall guys in my summer class as well, so the support staff has been going around asking them if they need to move too. It's nice to be accommodated for once!

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!

I sadly wear between a women's 13 and 14 depending on the shoe. I say sadly because, although people tell me that is proportionate (for being a 6'4" woman) I know girls really close to my height who wear reasonable sized 11s and 12s. While 11s and 12s are still not as easy to find as a 9, they are definitely a LOT easier to find than a cute shoe in a 13 or 14.

But anyway, enough coveting of my fellow tall female friends' feet, and on with some resources where I've been able to find shoes up to size 14 that were actually wearable ;)

#1) Nordstrom Rack. If you have one near you, check it out! The one near me just started carrying 14s too! (all the other ones previously just carried up to size 13, so if you wear a 13 or lower, you're in luck!). You have to check back a lot because sometimes all the shoes are hideous and other times you want to buy the entire rack! :) Also, Nordstrom.com carries up to size 14 I think, and sometimes in the stores you can get lucky with shoes in a 12-13 available in store. It's more like you have to say "can you bring me every black shoe in a 13?" and then see if there is anything you like. They'll only bring out like 3-5 pairs ;)

#2) Zappos.com. Pretty big selection. Like Nordstrom Rack, to me it seems to vary a lot so you have to check back often for cute shoes... But they go up past a 14 in womens! :)

#3) Barefoottess.com. I have yet to purchase shoes from here, but they have a great selection for 12s/13s/14s :) I've heard other people used the sight and loved it, so I'm anxious to try it out!

#4) Payless Shoes. If you only wear up to a 12 (and sometimes 13), Payless Shoes has a pretty big selection in those sizes. They used to only have ugly shoes in my size back when I wore a 12. Now that I'm up to a 13/14 it seems their 12 collection is as cute as the other sizes. Also, I'm pretty sure they carry 13s online and will deliver to any store for free! :)

That's about it for my resources. Comment and let me know if you have more!

Sorry my posts have been lacking. I'm currently in my last finals of my 2nd year of law school.