City-Dwellers' Worst Nightmare: Balancing A Snowy City

Is there, really, a right away to dress in winter? I, honestly, applaud to everyone who can even in the coldest times maintain style and fashion. 

I, personally, am always cold. Alwaaaays! And that makes it for a non-fashionable statement in the city that gets snow, rain and below-zero temperature. 

Up to when the first breath can be seen outside, I manage to style up just fine, but when it becomes crucial for me to stay warm and not feel like a walking goose-bump alert, I realize that at this point, there is not real sense of me being too stylish at the expense of my health and sanity. So, I succumb to my anckle length parka, wool beanie and leather gloves with extra padding. However, while I might give up an idea of wearing overalls that would make Daphne Guinness proud, I refuse to be less fashionable down below...

Below my knees that is...

So, on a very lovely snowy Saturday - [in other words, last Saturday] - when the first snow came upon the New Yorkers, I made myself a cup of coffee - [currently I'm obsessed with the Stumptown coffee] - and logged-in a few hours in online search for the right winter boots. In my mind, I already knew what I wanted. I wanted them tall and black - or black/brown with a bit of fur trim. I wouldn't mind... Easy said than done!

I don't know about you, but when I shop online, I start with a basic keyword search for what I'm looking for, which leads me to too many sites - some I know, some I see for the first time. It becomes a jungle and I end up going to the sites I've already had experience with - [giving up, again, the idea of discovering some new cool shopping sites], because at the end of the day, you want to be sure that these boots come not only in pieces, but also just as they look and are described on a photo. Thus, you go back to the trustworthy sites, like Zappos.com, and then - the whole new jungle opens up for you. 

Now you have to browse through thousands of categories - short and tall boots, black and brown, with or without zippers, flat or with heels - why, why it has to be so complicated?! Give a former Soviet child a break, I need no more than 5 categories and each of them should have no more than 10 items. [Same, by the way, goes with any kind of choices, especially when it comes to restaurant menus - give me 5 choices for an appetizer, 5 choices for a main dish and it'd be so much easier for all of us in the room...]

So, instead of what I hoped would be just an hour of boots shopping as I sip my Saturday cup of java, I  ended up making two pots of coffee...

And again, I don't know about you, but when I shop for something crucial to my lifestyle, like a photo camera and/or boots - [yes, very crucial, you'd know if you'd walk as much as I do through snow and rain, and other weather disasters...] - I try to read all the feedback/review comments people leave of this product. 

You'd be surprised how helpful they might be. For example, just before I fell in love with my final choice for the boots, I liked the ones by Merrell - looked very adorable, but the reviews were less than adorable...

Now, it's just a matter of days, when I receive my returnable winter boots - [Hello, my Clara!] - in a box with a big logo of Zappos...