Happy New Year, Ped fans!!! Here’s hoping your holidays were everything you wanted them to be and more!

If you’re like me, though, after all the hoopla and good cheer, your wallet’s feeling a little lighter. Still, a gal’s got to have good shoes and boots to get through the chilly winter months! Don’t worry. Ped’s here to help by taking our prices down a notch, so they’re a little friendlier to soles in need. We bet you’ve been generous to everyone you love, so now it’s time to treat yourself!

Who knows, maybe those cute Chie Mihara’s Santa forgot to bring you are still waiting for you to slide in and step out on the town?

Ped blew through its first shipment of Chie’s knockout Ninke practically overnight and reordered, which means we just might have your size in this vintage-inspired heel! With it’s beautifully stitched and scalloped toe, it was worth every penny at $328, but now it’s super stylish at $262!

Or perhaps you’ve looked longingly at the Cydwoq Vintage Game Boot, but always heard your mom or maybe Sister Mary Francis saying in your head, “Tis better to give than to receive…,” and turned away with a sigh.

Well, turn back around, gal, and give yourself a break and a gorgeous pair of boots! I own these wood-heeled beauties and wear them all the time! Surely, your thrifty mom or penny-pinching Sister Mary Francis would approve of your skipping past the original price of $498 to a sweet $398!

Most people I know are always on the hunt for a shoe they can slip on to go grocery shopping or into the suitcase for a vacation of strolling and sightseeing. Our recommendation?

Cydwoq’s Tibet, which is equally comfortable walking miles through the narrow streets of Venice or the wide aisles of IKEA! Wonderful at $268, this go-everywhere ankle boot will have your feet and your bank account feeling healthy at $214!

And that’s just a smattering of the cool deals Ped has to warm up your winter! In addition to Chie Mihara and Cydwoq, all Argila, Coclico, Giraudon, and Swedish Hasbeens styles are now on sale. And if you’re jetting off on a tropical vacation (lucky you!!!), we have a few cute sandals left from last summer that will leave you with plenty of dinero in your pocket to buy froofy drinks on the beach!

Happy New Year! May 2010 be the best year ever!

Twinkling lights, glittering tinsel, wreaths of greenery, and mistletoe waiting to inspire kisses are just a few of the reasons we love this time of year. Here at Ped HQ, we think you, too, should shine as brightly as the Holidays! As long as you’re hanging ornaments on the tree or lighting the menorah candles, why not add a little dazzle to your neck (or to the one of someone you love)? We have the prettiest necklaces at Ped to make your festive spirit sparkle (and they’ll look just as beautiful in the new year)!

Nothing catches the eye quite like diamonds and gold! Jamie Joseph’s new Buttercup necklace is absolutely stunning:

Jamie’s organic designs always make us swoon! This necklace’s trio of diamonds look like tiny stars sitting so prettily in their gold buttercup.

Want to make a bolder statement with your jewelry? Sophie Digard has just the thing:

Ped’s Laura recently got Sophie’s Pastille Pop necklace, and she says everyone goes gaga whenever she wears it! Not only do the velvety beads slide, allowing you to cluster them in a variety of ways, but each features a different color combo on each side, so you can spin them to change up the overall composition!

If you really want to create a buzz, nothing gets people talking like Pepita’s imaginative jewelry!

We can’t get over this Agnese necklace with its fantastic mix of fabric beads, brass fittings, glass beads, braided silk cord, and chiffon rosette! Imagine how great this necklace would look with your favorite little black dress on New Year’s Eve!!! Everyone will be toasting your style!

So, deck your neck as you deck the halls! You’ll look spectacular!

Don’t panic. We’ve all been there! You want to get something really lovely and stylish for that special gal who makes you smile—girlfriend, daughter, wife, BFF, mom, mentor who got you where you are today—but you’re just not sure what size she wears. No problem! Although we love the footwear here at Ped, we also have lots of gorgeous things that require no knowledge of numbers. So, let us offer a few ideas for what we think would make wonderful tokens of your affection.

If you really want to delight someone, you can’t go wrong with a scarf from Sophie Digard, our favorite Parisian textile artist.

Whatever design you select, the work is guaranteed to be dazzling (use the “zoom” feature at the Ped site to appreciate the intricacy of Sophie’s artistry).

Maybe you’re enamored of Mademoiselle Digard but want to give something slightly smaller. Why not one of her wonderful brooches?

So pretty and what a lovely reminder that spring is not too far away!

But, then again, maybe the razzle-dazzle is exactly what you want, in which case, look no further than Jamie Joseph:

Everyone here at Ped HQ—including Terry—adores this Halo Diamond Pendant. What makes it so special is each of the organically shaped silver ovals moves independently, and the diamonds, well, they’re diamonds—need we say more?

If the woman you admire prefers adorning her lobes, we’re also especially fond of these Indian ruby earrings:

They are simply designed yet absolutely drop-dead gorgeous! Jamie’s hand-selected stones are truly out of this world!

Admittedly, jewelry is a rather intimate gift, so if you’re looking for something lovely but a little less emotionally charged, the 49 Square Miles Clingy Wallet may be just the thing:

Practical and luxurious! (Plus, the leather is so soft.)

Speaking of practical, any woman who has a chilly commute or who has to walk across campus when the mercury plunges will thank you profusely for a pair of Rain + Jack wooly arm warmers:

The colors alone will warm her heart.

We’ve also heard toasty toes are the key to winter smiles! Unlike shoes, socks are pretty much one-size-fits-all, and Antipast makes the socks everyone wants because they’re just so darn cute (and warm):

Any chilly day is going to be a lot more fun with pom-poms!

See? No need to worry about measurements or numbers! Everything above is guaranteed to brighten the holidays for your favorite gal!

And if you see something that sings, “my heart’s desire,”  to you—yes, you!— as you browse around Ped’s site, just click the green box that says, “add to favorites.” Then you can e-mail your wish to the people who’d like to make you happy this holiday season!

We love this time of year at Ped Central! The mornings are crisp, the leaves are turning brilliant colors (Laura the orange-lover is in heaven), and the air smells so good! Although we advocate wearing tall boots anytime you like—so cute with a light summer dress!—when fall rolls around, they become de rigueur daily wear.

I always keep you Ped fans in mind when I study what boots to offer for fall and winter. Your feedback helps me so much in making selections that stay comfortable all day, offer versatility, flash the ‘zazz, and still accommodate a range of calf sizes (many Ped boots let you adjust the fit depending on whether you’re a skinny Minnie or a curvy Katie). And, of course, they’re all beautifully made and designed to last for years.

Here are a few of the full-length boots that are high on our list this season.

Okay, Ped fans, it’s no secret that the Cydwoq Game Boot is my absolute favorite:

As you can imagine, I see a lot of beautiful boots, so my powers of resistance are well fortified (otherwise, I’d be broke). But when Cydwoq’s Rafi showed me the Game, I was a goner! I simply adore it! The 1″ wooden heel is super easy to wear. The Italian leather is beyond gorgeous. The dart at the top of the shaft makes the Game extra calf-friendly! And those windows–those sexy little windows running up the back, well, oo la la, do they ever bring in the compliments!

Another favorite here at Ped HQ is Trippen’s March:

I decided to show you the rear view because the exposed seams are so fabulous the way they curve around from the front of the boot and run up the back! Plus, the March features Trippens’ t-shaped wedge sole, which has a legion of fans devoted to its comfort. And the color? Well, see for yourself—pretty as a Maple leaf or a glass of cabernet.

Another Trippen boot with backside interest is the Medea:

Crafted from buttery buffalo leather (you have to touch it to believe how sinfully soft it is), this beauty offers flirty lacing up the back that’s not only sexy but also functional. Notice that it extends below the fullest part of the calf, meaning you can adjust it to fit your individual leg. Once you’ve got everything just right, then you can leave it be, thanks to the Medea’s full inside zipper that lets you get in and out of this boot in a breeze.

But don’t just take our word for it. Ped customer S.N. recently wrote from Seattle,

“I’m in love with my Medea boots.  They are so cool and soft and overall awesome.  I also really appreciate that they can be expanded in case my calves do the same.”

Giraudon’s versatile Miranda boot also has a great system for fitting a range of calves:

Featuring classic riding-boot good looks, the Miranda’s secret is an elastic panel on the inside of the calf and another hidden under the boot loop on the outside. Neither interferes with the clean lines of this brown stunner but both love your leg like no tomorrow.

Those are just a tasty sampling of the feast of tall boots spread out at the Ped site. (Hello, did someone say Fiorentini + Baker? Mmmmm. Our delicious reorder is due in shortly–e-mail us if you’d like to be notified when it arrives!) So kick up your heels as you kick up the leaves and enjoy!

Hey Ped:

It’s been a while since I set off on my “Adventures with Harriet,” but since she’s been browsing through your new Trippen styles and catching up on the blog, I thought I’d tell you about a near disaster that happened to me over a year ago.

In the fall of 2007, I found myself on Harriet’s feet A LOT! (That woman wears me everywhere.) But one night she laced me up to install a piece she made for an outdoor art exhibition called “Let There Be Light” that celebrated the Winter Solstice (sorry, she didn’t take any pics of her piece). Of course, she wanted to wander around to see the other artists’ work. Well, one piece by Bree and Geoff Luck involved ice candles, which they invited visitors to place along a path.

Constellation - Bree and Geoff Luck (Photograph by Rosita Gonzalez)

Harriet decided to take her candle a little ways off the beaten trail, not realizing that a small ravine was waiting in the dark. Suddenly, we were stumbling and falling with FIRE about to slip out of her hands! Yikes! Harriet was trippin’ in her Trippen! Fortunately, I’m pretty reliable, so I got us stopped—no burns on the skin, no flames in the brush! Whew. But I did come out of it with a few permanent scars that show how I suffer for Harriet’s love of art. Here I am chilling at home, fully recovered:

But let’s take a closer look at my left side:

Harriet says she thinks it makes me look more interesting (something about “rugged beauty”). I’m just glad she gave me a break in 2008 and wore her worn-out hiking boots for her recent installation in the woods. Her photographer friend, Stacey Evans, took an image of her piece, “The Waiting Room”:

The Waiting Room — Harriet Arthur (Photograph by Stacey Evans)

Hope the hiking boots had fun dragging chairs through the trees! Me, I was glad to sit this one out at home.

Say hey to all the shoes for me,

Harriet’s Liebchens, Charlottesville, VA