Continue the Purge, and Bring In the New

Continuing on at this end bringing in the new year!! So many friends and business associates that I have spoken to are with me on the cleaning and purging going on right now. I don't remember seeing this before so many around me all in the same place. I always look at purging as making room for something new. So as many of you are probably doing the same thing right now keep on thinking as you do this what you want to make room for in your life. When I started FPI I wanted our business to be something that could be easily folded into your life, I wanted it to be a place that a woman -- (or man for that matter) could call their own. So whatever it is that you want in your life right now, new business, new friends, NEW SHOES, think about what it is that you want and write it down. Soon, after I get the basics of it done, I will share my 2010 notebook idea with all of you!!

New Year -- Fill Your Glass

I had the recent opportunity to hear an amazing speaker. I could not get his views off my mind so I thought that I would share them with you. What a great time of year to shift our thinking and to begin a new year with a new view. He was talking about seeing a glass of water, sometimes full, sometimes half full and sometimes with no water at all. He then realized instead of looking at it at half empty or half full, he would view it this way. If it was half full then the open air allowed God to fill the rest with blessings, if it was empty, well that could be really super filled with blessings, and if the glass was full of water with very little air, then WOW you are really lucky already!! So whatever your religious affiliation you can still look at filling your life with all kinds of blessings. Now the question is what do you want those blessings to be?? Is it starting your own business, what could that bring to your life?? I know that through my years of Footprints so many unexpected wonderful things have occurred for me and for our Shoe Diva's!! So what will your cup hold this year...think about what you want, and then go out and pursue it!!

Wrapping Up a Year and a New Beginning

I have been on a recent cleaning and purging binge and it seemed very important for some reason at the end of the year to do this. Funny as I spoke with others they too said that they were feeling the same way. Now two things to note in this. I of course overloaded myself with the tasks that I wanted completed by tonight. Then a close friend said that she was allowing herself through the weekend to complete her tasks because there was too much to do. She said her new year starts Monday. Ta Da what a great idea!! So that is mine too; relieve the pressure a little!! Then as I was cleaning my living room I decided that I needed a reward for all of the hard work, and for me what better reward than new shoes!! So I began thinking through my inventory and I have a couple in mind, perhaps the Selina's or the Kent's!! I already have a similar pair to the Kent's but I love them so much!! So here is to all of you who have been feeling the same as I clean and purge away, and cut yourself a little slack, and then reward yourself with new shoes!!!

Christmas

OK, this blog for once does not relate to shoes!! It does relate though to the spirit of giving which is part of the basis for my founding Footprints.

In speaking with many friends and associates around this holiday time we have all said that this is a rather different holiday for us. Many of us do not seem to be doing as much this year for a lot of reasons, for me it was a conscious choice to say "I am overloaded and have pushed and gone too far, I need to go a little easier on myself." So as I too scaled back on some of the usual for this time of year it gave me time to reflect and even though there may not be as many material things this year; I realized in that pause that other things were occurring.

You see I got two extraordinary gifts that were really beyond measure for me. The first was from a dear friend who gave me the gift of hope. The second was from my wonderful sister, who gave me the gift of understanding. When I sat and thought about these two gifts I realized that they were more precious than anything that could come wrapped in a package, even shoes.

After those experiences I realized that I needed to look for those kinds of gifts and to see where they were occurring in everyday life. So while nothing could be as monumental to me as the two of those, I noticed kindness, giving, joy, love, and time. Just a different way of looking at our lives this year.

Wishing you all the best for the kind of holiday that you dream of having.

Boots and Real Women

I must say I get spoiled by the usually nice weather in California, there is a change of seasons though and with it comes some pretty strong rains. Oh well...I have to say that I am not much of a boot person, I think it must have to do with growing up in Canada and HAVING to wear boots so many months of the year. So when this time of the year arrives I am wearing our Footprints boots. Everyone who sells or wears our shoes knows how carefully I select our lines to be fashionable and comfortable, and that brings me to the subject of this blog. Why are most boots not made for "real" women. Now I am fairly petite and I struggle with the fact that boots just do not want to fit either in the calves or ankles. I try on so many trying to find the right ones for our line that are for made for real women!! Have any of your experienced this before?? Leave a note and let me know!!

Thanksgiving Thanks

There are so many things to be thankful for with Footprints. Of course as the owner of a shoe company I could sit and think of all of the pretty shoes, (they are great!!) and of course I and many of our customers enjoy wearing them. Those are wonderful moments to think of and quite pleasing; however the real joy in the company is from the amazing group of women that are part of the team. That is where the deepest joy arises. I have had the opportunity to get to know women that I may otherwise not have known and shared in their lives; genuine friendships have been developed and they have often touched my heart in ways that even they sometimes have not known. So this Thanksgiving that is what I find myself most grateful for with Footprints; are the lovely women I have met over the years!! Here is to many more women coming into each of our lives and touches us through our business of shoes.
Happy Thanksgiving to You ALL

My Aunt and the reason for flats

All of us have those people in our lives that we feel lucky to know. For me one of those people is my Aunt Marcie. The personality of this amazing woman is so vibrant and alive, really hard to put into words, at age eighty, (which is hard to believe) she is as fun loving, warm and animated as I have always remembered her to be.

Recently I took a short visit to see her and my cousins. As always it was a wonderful time. With my Aunt anything can be fun. One day my Aunt and cousins and I went grocery shopping, now you are wondering what does this have to do with shoes?? Here it is -- I of course was in my heels and my aunt and cousins wearing more logical shoes for the task at hand. So there we were at the end of our shopping trip walking down a ramp with my Aunt maneuvering the shopping cart and suddenly she starts running with the cart and sailing down that ramp!! In that moment as I watched this lovely woman playing and having so much fun with something so simple, I thought "that is a great reason to wear flats" This is coming from the high heel wearer of all time!! So to all of our flat wearing customers I understand now perfectly your choice of shoes!!