GET ZAPPONIZED!
This is THE site for shoe aficionados and anyone who needs INSTANT gratification from retail therapy. The zappo sisters will entertain you with how they were "zapponized" ; how the 10 rules of zapponization have altered their ideas of retail therapy and their many adventures. For a starter course, go to zappos.com and indulge your online shopping urges.
zappos core values
10. be humble
9. be passionate and determined
8. do MORE with LESS
7. build a positive team and family spirit
6. build open and honest relationships with communication
5. pursue growth and learning
4. be adventurous, creative and open-minded
3. create FUN and a little Weirdness
2. embrace and drive change
1. deliver WOW through service
pictures
...just a note... If you click on the pictures, you can see them full size.
This is our blog and our featured audio clip is "Sweet Home Alabama" by The Leningrad Cowboys & the Red Army Choir. Love the music! Love the video!
A goal for the Zappo Sisters:to attend a concert and meet the band! Sister wants to view their "dos" and shoes but Sissy really wants to dance on stage in an outrageous outfit & beehive "do".
What do the Zappo Sisters do when they are not talking about Zappos or Zapponia?
Sister is the intellectual; has her own business; is married; participates in half-marathons; is a gourmet cook; loves to travel and is the “mom” of a two cats: Buster (the older) and Bismarck, the kitten. At the moment, life with Sister is revolving around Bis and his antics. She can post some of her laughs with Bis and his pictures as he evolves. Bis was a foundling, who appeared one day in July at their front door loudly meowing. After some coaxing, tuna, milk and a strong will, Sister captured him cowering in a storm drain and introduced Bis to the glories of inside living. See if you can find him in his toy basket with buddies. Day one with the humans.
Another post Sister will make involves SCAMS online. She was the victim of a wicked scam in June that has made both of us more aware than ever of customer service and attitudes and bad people.
I am a retired teacher, who has had a few part-time jobs, since the classroom, where I polished my computer skills. In April, I left a part-time position; discovered Zappos; drove a friend to chemo for weeks; and started writing. I am the luckiest woman on earth because I do not cook or shop for groceries; my husband does that! Sister delights in sending and receiving recipes from her dear brother-in-law. We, also, have two cats: Abbi the tabby and Lucy the red. But in addition to the cats, I have a horse, which was my childhood wish from the time I could talk. It took 38 years to make the wish come true but it was worth the wait. “The Honey Horse” is my second horse and you will read more about her. Does my husband ride? No, but he totally likes horse tales after my afternoons at the barn. My husband and I are avid readers and books we enjoy will be shared.
Abbi and Lucy have both enjoyed "walking in sunshine" on their leashes. Note that I am wearing flip flops while walking Abbi. the Honey horse is prancing and dancing in a little parade. (A professional is riding her!)
It should be mentioned that our dear husbands are extremely supportive of our adventures but prefer to remain anonymous for the most part. They have encouraged us to do this blog; buy shoes; take sister trips; buy shoes; have hobbies; buy shoes and talk on the phone many times each day. Thank goodness for unlimited minutes. One of our next challenges is to learn text and twitter. Who would have thought 40 years ago that a home phone would be obsolete?
Okay...it's official. Valerie, a.k.a Sissy, has been appointed by H.R.H Tony and his team of SuperHeroes to serve as the Ambassador of Zapponia!
Don't you love my new business cards? They are from VistaPrint.com which is my favorite printing company. Want to design some fun items to tell others about you, for almost nothing? Then go to VistaPrint.com Now be aware that it may take a little longer than Zappos for delivery but there isn't a company out "there" that can beat Zappos' delivery time and make it free, too.
My first official visit will be to Banff with Sister on October 3. The next diplomatic mission will be an event in Waynesville, North Carolina, acknowledging Zapponia, our flag and of course, the Ambassador. That will be November 5. Wait until you see my outfit for November 5!
Banff, get ready! The Zappos Sisters are arriving on October 3 for their annual sister trip. This is their second visit to Banff. One of the reasons could be that Banff is so similar to Zapponia. (You think??) We will take you on a day by day adventure of our time in Banff, complete with pictures.
Checking the local weather in Banff for October 3, indicates some SNOW SHOWERS! YEA! What could be more fun than arriving in this magical place in a swirl of snow? That will mean a slight change in packing but all the more fun. And if we don't have the right shoes, well ZAPPOS will deliver to our hotel OVERNIGHT! How awesome is that?
With my new netbook, a pink Samsung, I can place our orders from anywhere when we arrive. See picture of my darling netbook and mousepad. The netbook came from Amazon.com, who recently merged with Zappos. The mousepad was from VistaPrint.com and was designed to match our logo. The only thing I do not like about my pink Samsung is that a percentage of the price was NOT donated to the Susan Komen Foundation. I wrote Samsung suggesting this might be an option in the future. The adorable carry-on with the huge dots on a pink background from e-bays did donate to Susan Komen. By the way, my netbook fits perfectly in this carry-on with room to spare for other "stuff".
Trying to decide which pair of "dressy" shoes to take can be taxing, especially when I have so many beautiful heels ordered from ZAPPOS. Two choices are below but who knows which one will win. Also, I will need to take my fun "weather" boots which were bought for the first trip to Banff. Sister and I take this packing thing so seriously that we sometimes have to pay a little extra on flights for this habit.
Keep in touch. We fly from Birmingham, Alabama, on October 3. Listen to the Leningrad Cowboys (see url on blog for this group) for a song about Alabama. A future goal for the Zappo Sister is to attend a concert of the Leningrad Cowboys in "appropriate attire". ZAPPOS, do you think you can find the shoes?? Anybody from ZAPPOS want to go with us?
A lot of fun and a little weirdness might be descriptive for two Southern sisters who want to tell the world to "Get Zapponized!" Sister, the younger, and I (a.k.a Sissy) grew up in a small mountain town in North Carolina where family values were rampant and people actually knew each other. The definitive force in our lives was Mother. Mother was not only beautiful and intelligent; she knew how to dress. Mother looked like she stepped from the pages of "Vogue" every day. Even her sleepwear and "house shoes" were glamorous.
Mother lived by the mantra that ladies needed to accessorize; simply put, you could never have too many shoes, hats, shoes, purses, shoes, gloves and jewelry. Did I mention shoes? At one time, she had over 100 pairs of shoes in her tiny closet and at least that many carefully stored in the basement. Remember, houses built in the 1950's rarely had the closet space we think is necessary today. Mother would not part with her shoes, insisting that they would come back into fashion. She wore a 6.5 AAAA and preferred heels, even around the house. This size sounds big to the two of us but would you believe that neither of us could wear any of Mother's shoes? They were too small! When she broke her foot in her late sixties, this was a devastating blow to her sense of style since she was forced to wear flats and shoes with support.
Mother worked in the city as a government employee and had access to retail therapy daily on her lunch hour. Monthly, she would treat herself to a purchase from one of her favorite shops. The owners and the salespeople knew Mother by name and often called her when an item "worthy" of her time had appeared in their shops. These same people knew both of us since the nuances of shopping were instilled at an early age. Yes, our dolls had fur coats from scraps that the furrier gave us while Mother was in his store.
Shoes were the one purchase that constituted a planned trip, complete with lunch or dinner. Our dear father was always welcomed on these excursions and was a beloved enabler from our earliest memories. Even in our youth, Sister and I had difficult feet to fit. Do you remember those metal "things" that measured the length and width of your foot? The salesperson always knew the exact size you needed and it fit like a glove. What happened to those devices and measuring your feet? Amazing how people just assume their size and buy shoes, even ones that fit poorly. For several of my elementary years, I wore the dreaded corrective shoe...think saddle shoes and oxfords. Only on special occasions could I wear a pretty shoe, which I called my patent "ledgers". Sister's feet did not suffer this indignity but were nonetheless difficult to fit.
Sister have amazed and amused our dear husbands by the sheer volume of our shoe collections. When my closet was re-modeled, I asked for shelving just for shoes, for at least seventy-five pairs. Sister's closet has her shoes in ninety-eight boxes by color and heel height. Now these are just our "closet" shoes. Shoes for walking, yard work, weather, marathons (Sister) and riding (my area) are not in this count. I wear a 5.5 B which is almost extinct except at ZAPPOS. Sister wears a 6 AAA and again, can you say: ZAPPOS? When did the shoe industry decide that there was little demand for these sizes? Our husbands are most supportive of their shoe aficionado wives, enablers just like our father. They encourage our passion but only if the shoe fits and is adorable. Life is too short to wear ugly shoes!
The only member of our combined families who gets more shoes than either of us is my horse, Honey.
Zapponia was created by two sisters in May 2009. The idea for the country originated with a trip to a company called Zappos.com. In fact the sisters invented a word, “zapponized”, which means loving the zappo culture.
The blue on our flag is the “wild blue yonder” and beyond because Zapponians believe that adventures can make positive changes in the universe. The funky yellow Z symbolizes not only Zapponia but also the ideas to create fun, a little weirdness and the concept of WOW! The supreme ruler is His Royal Highness Tony. Did you know that there are only two other countries in the world beginning with the letter Z? Betcha said, “Wow!”
Zapponians are positive, enthusiastic, creative and fun. Those who complain are banished from Zapponia. Imagine a place where people look forward to Mondays when they will be at work. Imagine a place where the ruler of the country invites you to his palace whenever you are in town. Your thoughts on the country are requested each year and published in the Zapponian Register. Perhaps you think there is “no free lunch”; in Zapponia, lunch is free every day for everyone.
Zapponian happiness is increased daily by the opportunity to choose from millions of shoes that will addWOW! to your life. For travel information contact: zapposisters@ymail.com
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This was a winning entry in a flag design contest. The country had to be created and then a flag designed. Zapponia was chosen and will be immortalized in a artistic rendition in the town of Waynesville, North Carolina
