This year, winter in Homer came completely unannounced. Without so much as a knock at the door, winter marched right in on us. It arrived so squarely that many of us, yet to pull out our winter gear, walked around town shivering in disbelief.
I was one of those chattering deniers. For some reason I couldn't accept that winter was here to stay. Once I came to my senses, I hit the internet in search of functional and fashionable winter clothes. I know: I may as well have been shopping for unicorns.
Like so many nouveau Alaskans, I don't want to look terrible when I'm outside. I don't want to freeze, either. I want to be warm, somewhat easy on the eyes and I don't want to spend a fortune. I bet any serious sourdough reading this can predict to the day when I decide to ditch fashion for pure function.
I bought Hunter a pair of fleece-lined jeans last year. They're the only pair he wears. I can't call them the sexiest jeans he's ever worn but he claims to be really comfortable. I want a pair. Only I want a sexy pair.
I gambled on a pair of flannel-lined jeans from Eddie Bauer and lost. They sizing was all wrong and they weren't the sexy jeans depicted in the catalogue. They were mom jeans. Over-sized mom jeans. I might be a mom but I will NOT succumb to mom jeans. They had to go. I had great hopes for those jeans.
Next was a pair of boots. I've been walking around in a pair of comfy Keen's for a couple of years. I loved those boots and they suited me well. I got frostbite on my toe shoveling the driveway the other day. Apparently, if you want fashionable, you have to replace your winter boots every couple of years. If you want functional, you don't. So, I opted for functional and bought myself a new pair of super-comfortable, -40 degree-rated Baffin boots. Love them.
With toasty warm feet, I'm set for another Alaskan winter. The snow is glorious and the ski and snow shoe trails are beckoning. Bring it on!
Labels: Baffin Boots, Cold weather gear, Eddie Bauer, Flannel Jeans