ok let's be honest here: this post is about fashion. a lot of you will probably automatically check out right here, but if you do keep reading, you may find some interesting things that just might come in handy if you ever live somewhere cold and wet, and where the sidewalk and salt are not BFFs.
first of all, every time i leave the house to go to work (or the grocery store, or the library), i look like i'm going backpacking. other than a weather-proof backpack, i wear pants that are water-resistant/quick-drying, and i almost always wear B's super spiffy Marmot green rain coat over whatever jacket i wear underneath. not to be a walking or blogging ad for Marmot or anything, but this rain coat is seriously that most awesome piece of clothing i've ever encountered. it is super light and can be stuffed anywhere. it looks a lot like this. i dubbed it "InstanWarm" because no matter how cold or wet i am to begin with, i instantly feel so warm and safe inside this cocoon.
anyway, other than the rain coat and backpack, i am always, and i mean always wearing hiking boots. that is, until the rain came down and haven't stopped for the past week. at first it was nice because the temperature rose above freezing -- a welcoming change from the single-digit weather of last week. but 24 hours of continuous rain later, all the sidewalks of juneau became one single solid block of ice with a lovely layer (thickness = 1 feet +/- 1 foot) of water on top. other than not being as waterproof as they were advertised to be, my boots also felt frictionless on the ice (try walking a mile on a frictionless surface!). since juneau has never heard of "salting the sidewalks," i was left to search for more suitable footwear.
it wasn't difficult. at all. this one specific pair of rain boots has been in my face since like, day 1. if you lined up all of juneau's residents on the street, you would think that the mayor forced everyone get uniform boots or something. it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that 3/4 of the town has them, even fashionable women (they're also the boots featured on the Alaskan Brewing Co.'s main webpage, so obviously 100% alaskan). a quick search on the internet (by googling "juneau rain boots") landed me the brand: Xtratuf, and i quickly realized that everyone wears them for a reason: they're like a second layer of skin that's anti-slip. as customers reviewed online, "When you think of XtraTufs, think rubber moccasins. They do not allow your feet to slide around and create blisters. They hug your foot and calf, keeping debris out,and if you get into water over your boots, for a short period, they can keep the water out," and "They are like putting on a pair of slippers as far as comfort goes and they withstand some really harsh environments...and my feet never got cold EVER." so...one paycheck and almost a hundred dollars later, i still can't walk on water, but i sure as hell can walk on ice! that's the fun part about living somewhere rainy without a car: i get to splurge on rain fashion. and they actually look pretty ruggedly cute paired with skinny jeans tucked inside. cute enough, anyway, to wear to a party, where there were already many Xtratufs lined up at the door...
Haha good to know!
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