i left my boots in montréal.

(unfortunately, not quite as romantic as leaving one's heart in san francisco.)

my trusty, krusty, boston-winter-surviving boots finally croaked last week. naturalizer auburn hi black leather beauties, with a hole in the leather on the left toe, and a wonky fastener that threatens to eat your face with each zip. these were actually my second pair of auburns, a replacement gleaned last fall when i loved my first pair to death. cause of death? the left zipper, both times. i admit i'm pretty rough with them, and my sturdy calves don't help the situation, and so nature follows its path.

and so now it's time to get a new pair!

i went shopping this weekend and realised that it is nigh impossible to find any sort of decent boot selection in the midst of spring-a-ling. (and no, i didn't resort to hootenanny.) so online is the way to go.

alas, zappos has the auburn hi in stock, but not in my size! this calls for actual hard work in the shopping decision process.

my criteria, in descending order of importance:
- fits around my short, muscular calves. this is 99% culprit of the boo-hoo factor in these boots are awesome except...
- accomodates my wiiiide flippers. my excuse is that i didnt wear shoes as a baby for a good part of my developmental phase. i'll stick with that excuse.
- looks hawt
- ably navigates along the often-times rustic quality of the streets of cambridge
- doesn't cost more than rent

here are my four options that i ordered for in-house try-ons:




from top to bottom, left to right:
Nine West, Pardon; Diba, 748 Alexandra; Sudini, Scout; Lumiani, A 8119

imagine the job of whoever names the different shoe design models. everything sounds so sleek and vaguely italian...

because at zappos there's free shipping both ways (!) it's essentially a risk-free purchase. however, although there's a teensy bit of hassle, it's counterbalanced by the tantalizing prospect of shoes that just magically show up at your door. mmm, magic.

let me know what you think! and hopefully i'll have a not-entirely-humiliating report to follow when the fateful moment arrives to choose my next pair of strap-me-on-forevers.