Miss Meghan

Last week I had the pleasure of spending time with shoe expert Meghan Cleary, while she was in town for the Fashion Group International Detroit (FGI) 2008 Trend Event.  I serve on the Board of Directors for FGI Detroit and we were so proud that Meghan agreed to be a part of our event.  A Farmington native, Meghan has achieved great success, turning a lifelong love affair with shoes into a career.  Her book "The Perfect Fit: What Your Shoes Say About You," is sold out in stores and she has a popular show, "Shoe Therapy," on HSN.

She is truly a delightful lady and full of personality.  We started our day together with an appearance on FOX 2, where she spoke with Fanchon Stinger about spring shoe trends and highlights from HSN collections.  Then, it was on to our sold-out event, held at the Melting Pot in Troy.  After her presentation, she signed books and mingled with guests. 

As a thank you, FGI presented Meghan with a decadent chocolate shoe, from the wonderful Gayle's Chocolates in Royal Oak.  She loved it! 

I am so proud of our newly appointed Board of Directors, especially Wensdy Von Buskirk, for pulling off such a special event.  Below is a photo of a few of us with Meghan (some board members were unable to attend the event):  From L-R: Julie Patterson, Brian Heath, Wensdy Von Buskirk, Meghan, Me, Marianne Bockheim. 

Our Day with Lilly

Last weekend when Jay was away, my sister and I spent the day together and took Lilly on a little photo shoot.  Really, we need no excuse to take pictures of this girl - I'm pretty sure we have documented every day of her life so far.  But, today we were on a mission.  As many of you know, Wendie is a photographer and she has been eager to add a blog to her photography Web site for some time.  She finally got the motivation she needed when I started my blog, so the wheels are in motion.  She wanted to include pictures of Lilly on her blog banner, so off we went to The Wilson Barn for the photo shoot. 

It was the perfect day for pictures, warm and a little overcast.  The first picture here is my favorite, because as Wendie's "assistant" I was in charge of entertaining Lilly.  Here she is playing and imitating me, having a ball.  Wendie says she looks kinda like me in this one too.  That always makes me smile. 

The second picture is breathtaking.  She is sitting there so sweetly and like such a little lady.  The colors are so pretty too.  My sisters talent really inspires me and she just keeps getting better and better.

This one is SO darn cute!  Lilly was very curious to see what was inside, because the last time she visited Wilson Barn (last fall!), she got to ride her first pony.  We explained that they only visit here sometimes, but she wasn't really buying it.  I really think she thought if she could reach that lock and open the door, all of the "hosey's" would come trotting out.

Last, but not least....can you take a look at these shoes!  Wendie captured this one while we were playing on the fence (ok, she was...I didn't try to test the strength of the over 100-year-old historical marker).  I love how they have a little dirt on them from all the fun we were having running around.  This day was so much fun and these photos will always remind me of it.  I'll be sure to post when Wendie's blog is live, but in the meantime, you can check out her Web site to see more of her beautiful work.

Happy Spring

I received a wonderful surprise this weekend while my husband was Up North.  A knock at the door on Saturday morning brought me these beautiful flowers.  I couldn't imagine who they were from, so I was very eager to open the card.  To my delight, they were from my husband.  The hand-written card simply said "Happy Spring" and "I Love You."

I called him immediately to thank him and asked what was the occasion?  He said "I just thought you would like them." 

  The flowers meant the world to me, but the fact that he actually stopped IN to the florist, personally picked out the flowers AND signed the card, made it that much more special. 

Thank you dear, I love you.