A Little Bit of Birkenstock

There’s nothing I love more than the thrill of the {style} hunt. I’ve been so excited to share this story and my find on the blog since my vacation this March but Seattle’s spring weather hasn’t been too cooperative for sandals! Today though, I’m finally getting to share!

This spring when I traveled to France and Norway, besides seeing my boyfriend and the wonderful cities we were traveling to, I had one mission: to find the ever-elusive Birkenstock Exquisite Collection, specifically the Monterey Sandals in black. For some reason these sandals are a bit like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – they seem to be sold out everywhere and there’s nowhere to find them online.
I’d been asking Jon to look for these sandals while he was living in Norway but he kept telling me he’d look like a crazy person asking for sandals during winter. I’m not sure what the problem was – I mean he could just blame it on his crazy girlfriend, right? In any case, after months of begging, he was kind enough to look up the Birkenstock stores we could hit up on our adventure and scheduled time in on our itinerary (Have I told you how awesome he is?).
While in France we checked out a few places that were supposed to carry Birkenstocks but didn’t have any luck. The last spot on our list to check was a Birkenstock store, way off the beaten path in Paris. We walked through what seemed like miles and miles of cobblestone streets, me muttering about how awesome it would be to find the sandals, and how happy I’d be. We passed boutique after boutique until we finally, and I do mean finally, came across the Birkenstock shop. It was a busy little store and then I saw them – my unicorn was right in front of my eyes – three pairs in fact: the Monterey in black, and the Gizeh style, one in black, and one in white. I’m fairly certain that Jon thought I was going to cry from happiness (and also thought I was a bit crazy – shouldn’t he have already known this?). All three pairs were the LAST of their size in the store – can you imagine my luck? I snatched them all up, and the clerk was nice enough to get me a discount on my hoard of sandals (he also thought I was crazy).
So, here they are, and I can’t wait to wear them all summer long!


Jacket: [shopsense shopsense_url=”http://api.shopstyle.com/action/apiVisitRetailer?id=447029868″ original_url=”http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/lucky-brand-dixon-linen-blend-jacket-plus-size/3690146?origin=category-personalizedsort&contextualcategoryid=0&fashionColor=&resultback=7406&cm_sp=personalizedsort-_-browseresults-_-1_20_C” save_to_store=”true”]Lucky Brand (similar)[/shopsense]; Jeans: [shopsense shopsense_url=”http://api.shopstyle.com/action/apiVisitRetailer?id=437009739″ original_url=”http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/nydj-sheri-stretch-skinny-jeans-larchmont-plus-size/3574797?origin=category-personalizedsort&contextualcategoryid=0&fashionColor=&resultback=3570&cm_sp=personalizedsort-_-browseresults-_-1_10_A” save_to_store=”false”]NYDJ (similar)[/shopsense]; Scarf: Tasha ([shopsense shopsense_url=”http://api.shopstyle.com/action/apiVisitRetailer?id=450893168″ original_url=”http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/bcbgeneration-blossom-loop-infinity-scarf/3749425?origin=category-personalizedsort&contextualcategoryid=0&fashionColor=Larkspur+Blue&resultback=6786&cm_sp=personalizedsort-_-browseresults-_-1_19_D” save_to_store=”true”]similar by BCBGeneration[/shopsense]); Bag: [shopsense shopsense_url=”http://api.shopstyle.com/action/apiVisitRetailer?id=190107533″ original_url=”http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/marc-by-marc-jacobs-classic-q-natasha-crossbody-bag/3122644?origin=PredictiveSearch-personalizedsort&contextualcategoryid=60138439&fashionColor=Infra+Red&resultback=109&cm_sp=personalizedsort-_-searchresults-_-1_1_D” save_to_store=”true”]Marc by Marc Jacobs Classic Q Natasha[/shopsense]; Necklace: Gorjana Griffin; Bracelets: [shopsense shopsense_url=”http://api.shopstyle.com/action/apiVisitRetailer?id=237488917″ original_url=”https://www.jcrew.com/womens_category/jewelry/bracelets/PRDOVR~48738/48738.jsp” save_to_store=”true”]J. Crew Pave Link Bracelet[/shopsense], [shopsense shopsense_url=”none” original_url=”http://www.charmingcharlie.com/jewelry/bracelets/sandblast-screw-bracelet.html” save_to_store=”false”]Charming Charlie Sandblast Screw Bracelet[/shopsense], Charming Charlie Cuff (similar); Shoes: Birkenstock Monterey in Black [shopsense shopsense_url=”http://api.shopstyle.com/action/apiVisitRetailer?id=439619200″ original_url=”http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/birkenstock-arizona-soft-footbed-suede-sandal-women/3653819?origin=category-personalizedsort&contextualcategoryid=0&fashionColor=BILLIARD&resultback=711&cm_sp=personalizedsort-_-browseresults-_-1_2_A” save_to_store=”true”](similar Arizona style) [/shopsense]