I fear I’ve made a terrible mistake

Somehow, I’ve made it through five Boston winters without a proper pair of winter boots. No, I don’t really know how I’ve done it either! But Winter Is Coming (thank you, House Stark) and that was a situation that could not be allowed to stand.

So off I went to Zappos! First I was looking at the Serious Business Sorel boots, like:

and

but then my friend Lise pointed out that I don’t actually live in the Arctic and that boots graded to -25F will be less a toasty marvel and more a swampfooted mess in comparatively temperate 10F weather. Both of those boots also suffer from my Perpetual Boot Woe, which is that I have 12.5″ calves. Regular boots are have a circumference of 15″. Those grey Cate the Greats have a calf circumference of 18″. It would look like I was playing dressup in my dad’s shoes.

So then I decided to get a pair of these:

They haven’t even arrived yet, but now I am having second thoughts like whoa.

Pros:

• Lace-up for better calf fit
• Insulated but not enough to herd caribou in
• Waterproof rubber footbed

Cons:

• Only calf-high
• I’ve been wanting to add more color to my winter wardrobe, so I ordered these in this mahogany color combo. But on second glance, I’m not sure whether it’s funky in an appealing way or funky in an appalling way.

What do you guys think? They also come in black and grey:

I think I like those better, but I don’t know whether this is me wussing out of moving out of my comfort zone or good sense slapping me hard upside the head.