Two weeks ago I returned from New York. It was a short and crazy trip (I also went to Pennsylvania for a few days, but that’s another story). Packing, I had expected a little bit of snow and some cooler temperatures, but arriving, I realized that I had totally under-estimated the weather.   My beloved and usually robust black leather shoes were ruined by icy sidewalks and hidden puddles within days and the umbrella I bought at an Asian dollar store on the Upper East Side in despair lasted about six minutes before it flipped (and was later entirely destroyed …