As of 6pm PST on Tuesday, January 11th, it was snowing in all but one state. As of 8pm PST of the same date, it was sticking to the ground in Vancouver. I can’t say with any assuredness that I’ve ever known this to happen in all of my 30 years.
It’s been aptly titled Snowmageddon on Twitter. I can feel it in my toes and finger tips, and all it makes me want to do is curl up in a warm, fuzzy blanket, sipping something steamy after a hot bubble bath. What follows is the rest of my wish list for warmth – a list I encourage you to spend 20 minutes of a snow day crossing one item off at a time:
1. Lush: a dip with a bubble bar, bath melt or bomb, or a combination thereof, and a slightly warmer-than-warm temperature will leave you toastier, softer and (as long as you stay away from the citrus infusions), more relaxed.
2. Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches: Go gourmet, packaged or condensed, it matters not. I add a bit of garlic powder and lots of ground black peppercorns to my condensed blend, with 2% milk, and then I dip in my triangle-cut sandwich.
3. Spicy hot chocolate: Rich and creamy, with a hint of something exotic, spiced hot chocolate gets warm blood running through your veins. For an alternative, try it with soy or almond milk, to add a nutty underlying flavour.
4. Socks than make your feet go ahhhhh: chenille, cotton or that buttery knit can thaw your freezing toes. Bonus: lotion up your feet before slipping on socks and they’ll soak up mucho moisture.
5. Candles and/or a wood-burning stove or fireplace: it’s not just warmth you’re seeking here, it’s the illusion of warmth. Real fire goes a long way to creating that feeling, even if it’s manifested with 12 tea lights.
6. A bedroom that you don’t want to leave: I’m not talking about anything racy. I mean a plush, fluffy-pillow-ed, schmooshy duvet-ed bedroom that is so nice, you’ll convince yourself to take a day off from the world, drag some DVDs and popcorn in, and have an impromptu movie marathon. With your kids (and handy wipes).
7. A scarf that you can’t wait to show off: it must be warm, it must be comforting and it must be fabulous. You can wear hand-made by you, by someone else, or store-bought, it matters not. What counts is whether it makes you snuggly, in the face of all of that snow out there.
Hurry up and give me more suggestions – I’m a wimp when it comes to temperatures below the 20s and I need to attack this chilliness from multiple angles!