The simple.

So I searched and searched all over for these Keens and couldn't find them. When I went to a local store in the hopes that they might have some old stock, I saw a pair of Simple boots like this:
Ok. I didn't want to buy them, but ok. I like the sole. I like the shoe, but my problem is that it's a shoe with a built in sock, not a boot. Jason likes them, but I'm really looking for a boot, which is unfortunate because if they were actually a boot and the black part went all the way up, I'd probably buy them. When I saw them in the store though, it reminded me that Simple makes boots and they aren't bad looking. So I found these on Amazon:
Sweet. I like them. The price was right. I don't really want to spend over $100. I miiiight for the right shoe, but I can't really afford more. They are just over at $109, but they are veeegan, which is an added bonus. They are made out of hemp, which, to me, ups the cool factor. They look comfortable and have character. Only problem is that they only have them in size 5. I'm not a size 5. I can't even pretend to be a size 5 and just get them and hope they stretch. I was a size 5 when I was 10. That's teeeeeny. Apparently these aren't made any more either. Simple doesn't really make anything like them at all anymore.. Oh the rage. So I continue.

The first

The shoes I wanted when I first set out on my search were these Keens. I had seen them on a friend and they look exactly like what I'm looking for. They seem comfy, durable and like you could actually hike in them. They are cute, a little different, and slim.
2 days before Christmas I found them on Amazon. On Sale. Turns out they were last season's boots and they don't make them anymore. They had my size. I wasn't prepared to buy them at that moment, and still wanted to look at a couple more options so I didn't buy them. The next day, I went back and the only size that they had left was 5.5. I do not wear that size. They had them in brown, and I do not want brown. So I scoured the internets looking for another pair somewhere.. and it turns out NO ONE is selling them anymore. I went to a local store and THEY don't have them anymore.
So yeah. This is my starting point. A pair of shoes that I really want, but they don't make anymore. So.. all the other shoes out there are NOT these shoes.

The Hunt.

I'm on a quest. I'm on the hunt. I need to find. I need to find the perfect pair. I need boots.

I'm not the kind of person that can walk into the mall, pick out pair of shoes and walk away happy. I have to go to every mall, to every store, find the perfect pair, then go online and find the cheapest price, the best deal, and then think about it some more, and then maybe I'll buy them. So finding these boots is not such a small feat (dumb pun intended).

Here's what I need. Or what I want, rather, despite the need being there for useful black shoes, in the boot form. I want something along the lines of an après boot. From the French "after," these are boots for after you've gone skiing, or hiking, or some other activity, that you can wear around the fire in your cabin as you sip cocoa and pet the golden retriever. I'm not an UGG person and they need not have fur, BUT an essential quality of the après boot is that if you happen to need to go outside again and there happens to be snow or rocks.. you COULD walk around in them and wouldn't die. So, stylish, durable and slightly sporty is the idea.
Black. Ankle-high, slightly funky, fun.
I'm on the hunt.