TOMS Shoes (and an Iowa City adventure)

I bought my first pair of TOMS shoes this weekend. The best part – it took me on my first Iowa City adventure.

 

I was surprised at the way the downtown was hopin’ for a non-college Saturday. I asked if it was move-in weekend, but the guy at the shoe store told me it wasn’t, and “you should see a Saturday when college is going on”.

There were kids playing at the splash pad and playground, and people plucking away on the public pianos on the Ped Mall. The restaurants had people on the patios enjoying a warm August afternoon and the shops had their doors open inviting us all in to their cool air conditioned goodness.

It was also fun to see the KWWL bureau in Iowa City. And the guys are so lucky they have windows!

Now back to the shoes, they’re so comfy! I had heard of TOMS shoes before, but got an in-depth look at the Global Leadership Summit earlier this month. The company’s founder Blake Mycoskie explained how his business is making a difference. If you haven’t heard of TOMS shoes yet, it’s really a cool company with an awesome “One for One” business model. For every pair of shoes bought, one is given to a child in need (in a developing country). For more info, here’s the website.  As of April, they’ve given away more than 600,000 pairs of shoes.

They’ve also started an annual “Day Without Shoes”… and if you know me well, you know as much as I love my shoes, I love to be barefoot! You can be sure April 5th 2011, I’ll be sporting the barefoot look!

Ok, I’m not trying to sell shoes, just share a cool idea. What if every business adopted a similar “One for One” model ? What a cool world that could become…

Scrumptious Frosting!

When I was younger, I loved when my mom would make brownies because it meant I could lick the beaters or scrape out the bowl. Thank goodness there were only three of us kids! One beater or the bowl for us. If there were four, who knows what kind of fights could have ensued… Mom’s brownie batter (and the baked brownies, too) are AMAZING!

Well, last week I found this new recipe for chocolate frosting and it tastes JUST LIKE Mom’s brownie batter! You’ve got to try it!

5 ½ cups powdered sugar
12 Tablespoons cocoa powder
12 Tablespoons butter flavored shortening
One can (5 oz) evaporated milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Sift together powdered sugar and cocoa and set aside. Cream the butter. Alternate adding the sugar/cocoa mix and evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Frost your cake or cupcakes (or just eat it on grahms...) & Enjoy!

Blessings

This past week, I participated in the Global Leadership Summit presented by Willow Creek Church. It was a fun, relaxing, yet energizing 2 days of thought-provoking discussion. I learned so much, but the first I want to share is an exercise by Jim Collins. He’s a “nationally acclaimed business thinker” and author of Good to Great and How the Mighty Fall. Jim gave us a to do list and number 2 was “count your blessings, literally”. So, I’ve decided to share my list. This is what I came up with in about 10 minutes this morning.

My blessings:
- A wonderful, loving & supportive husband
- A family that loves and supports me unconditionally
- Brothers that inspire me
- A beautiful, smart, vibrant God Daughter
- Four energetic Grandparents
- A stimulating job I enjoy
- Energetic co-workers who challenge me every day
- A new job -- new opportunities
- An upcoming move closer to family & friends - and that means thousands of nights of joy and laughter with those I love the most to look forward to!
- 52 pairs of fantastic shoes ;-)
- AOT with thousands of beautiful sisters -- and a special "sisterhood" with a few amazing women
- A love for learning
- My health
- A warm, comfy, dry place to sleep every night
- More than enough to eat
- The freedom to share my ideas without repercussion.
- The freedom to share my faith without fear
- A life filled with joy, hope, laughter and love