Time to frivol.

One long walk in the rain in my Birks in NY a few weeks ago and my feet were unrecognizable. Scrubbing wouldn't get them clean...seriously. How ooky is that?

The only remedy: a good pedicure.

By the way, I was ecstatic to learn that Parisians are using Birks as the perfect footwear antidote to too-cute Boho overload. [Relevant article is on the very bottom right of the page.] I have not yet succumbed to Boho, but I have recently been spotted in...get this...a SKIRT to help beat the heat. Accompanying footwear: these silver Birks. [style is Madrid, in case anyone wants to know]

It is official: bad-foot Amy recommends Birkenstocks as THE footwear for people with falling arches and plantar fasciitis. I have very expensive [feh] custom orthotics, which I wear with my Blundstones, but all summer long, you will see me in Birkenstocks. I walk in them pain-free and happily. I have, at last count, so many I can't count. My source: Jestel KG for free-but-slow shipping and good bargains, if your size is in stock. Bonus: they slide under the radar at CDN customs cause they know how to mark a package. Baumhouse, who can get anything they don't carry [as long as it's in the German catalog] and takes Paypal. No such luck with the customs, but they'll come quickly. Also, see eBay.

I used to read rapturous praise from every Birk wearer about their shoes, and even for the first year I wore them, I was merely fond of them. Didn't quite see where rapture came in. But three years in now, my feet are totally used to the rock-solid anatomically correct support they give and I see why everyone raves.