Christine & Curtis (and Kenny! and Baby!)

If you read Christine's World (inactive for now), you might have seen my post about preparing for winter. Well, I thought it was cold then, but it's much worse now, lets review my naiveté (today's thoughts are in blue):

It's 11:21 am here, and 36 degrees out. It "feels like" 27 degrees. Haha! This is funny. These days, we're lucky if we get above freezing. On Tuesday we're getting a high of 16 degrees and a low of 9, and you basically have to deduct 10 degrees to get the "feels like" temperature.

This is ~~an education~~ torture for me, which is why I'm complaining about it all over Facebook, and why I'm writing about it now. It's also new because I can't just jump from my car to the building; I spend at least an hour outside walking every day, morning, noon and night, so weather is an issue. This is still a major issue -- getting myself "out" for any reasons other than work is an ordeal. There's also the issue of balancing how much I'm willing to pay to keep my apartment warm... I don't know how people who live paycheck to paycheck get through winter.. :/

So, what did I have, what did I buy? And, was it worth it? And, at the end of the day, is there nothing to be done?! (Seriously, I hate this weather)

What I had:

- Coat(s):
I have two pea coats from before, which I think will get my through all but the coldest days of the year. Someone in my office also gave me 3 coats, one of which is (I think) warm enough for the coldest days. Again, funny to read in retrospect. I haven't seen my pea coats since 2013, It's been so cold and snowy (read: dirty) that I only ever see my puffer coats these days. On the really cold days I've been wearing my mom's coat which she left here at Christmas and will use when visits this week. I will be literally delivering her the coat at the airport to put on before we brave the elements. One of the coats that was given to me is really useful, but because it's a shorter coat I don't wear it unless I'm doing a short walk, usually to the gym. But I bought a long puffer from Express which has been good to had and it's not too ugly (as if I care these days). I look forward to wearing my grey pea coat again, it's that cold and gross.

- Scarves
I have so many scarves that I've cut myself off. Some are warmer than others, but I am confident that I will get through the year. I've behaved, and haven't bought any new scarves. Plus, I discovered that the insanely large scarves that were made for me 10 years ago are actually useful around here and have been invaluable on the negative windchill days.

- Hats/Gloves
I have a few hats, and picked out one as a gift over the weekend. ~~I may have to get a warmer beanie~~ Curtis got me a nice warm beanie from UNC for the really cold days, ~~but I actually kept my hat off this morning for most of my walk~~ (I can't believe there was a time that I didn't need a hat), ~~so I should be fine for all but the coldest days~~ (again, funny). I had a moment of weakness when I purchased a mint green fuzzy hat from H&M a few weeks ago, but it was cheap and worth it. I purchased a pair of warm gloves last year that I think will do the job this year. In all fairness, those gloves have done right by me, but if I lived further north or in the midwest, these gloves would not cut it. Now I need to figure out how to wash them, they're getting a little gross :-/.

- Sweaters/Warm Shirts/Pants
I added a few pieces to my wardrobe for style purposes but aside from that, I'm in good shape. One thing they don't tell you is that the coat really does take care of your torso, usually I just need something underneath that's long-sleeved, but the bigger issue during winter is covering up the parts of the body that the coat doesn't cover. I could probably use another pair of causal pants on days where tights don't cut it, but I'm relatively over it at this point :-)

What I bought:

- BOOTS: Due to my freakishly wide calves, I can't walk into a store and buy leather knee-high boots. But I decided it was time, and am now the proud owner of brown and black riding boots that are both comfortable to walk around in and warm. These boots are still warm, but I can't wear them much when it snows because the salt will mess with the leather, and they are relatively slippery. I also own a pair of comfy snow boots (that I've been living in now for days), and a pair of Wellies that don't fit great but should work okay for wet walks with Kenny. (I dream of days when it's warm enough and not snowy when I can wear my Wellies again) Plus I wear my Uggs too...

- SOCKS: I realized that I own few socks other than to wear with running shoes. So I had to create a dress sock collection for my boots and other closed toe shoes for winter. Thankfully, those are easy to find for cheap and on sale. I would like to buy a few more pairs of long boot socks but it's a low priority. The CA girl in me only buys ankle socks to work out in, now I wish I had more proper socks to wear at the gym, lately I've been wearing my cute socks with my running shoes, which isn't a big deal but looks a little strange, just because they keep my ankles better covered during my walks to the gym.

- TOMS CLOSED TOE WEDGES: I wanted something that was comfortable and with some height, so I bought the Toms wedges that I talked about in my last post. They are great! They are great to have on dry days, especially when I'm wearing pants. "Dry days" is the key. These shoes are stuck in snow purgatory; as long as I'm having to walk over slush and ice, these have to stay in the closet.

- STOCKINGS/TIGHTS/LEGGINGS/ETC. I've always been a pretty big fan of tights and stockings, but there's a difference between liking them and being a staple of my wardrobe. I was able to catch a good sale on Gap's extra warm leggings/tights, and like them so far, as well as other things I've picked up. I love my fleece leggings...

- SKINNY JEANS: I don't generally like the idea of skinny jeans, but I found that Gap has skinny curvy jeans that I was able to order online, and they are really easy to wear with my boots, as opposed to trying to stuff my boot cut jeans into my shoes. It's practical and it works. I bought a black pair too.

- ANOTHER COAT: I couldn't resist and Express sale to buy a black long puffy coat, which I think looks nice :-) See above.

- ELECTRIC BLANKET: hands down, best purchase for the winter. I originally bought it for my office, but my house stole it for Christmas and it's not leaving my bed or futon for the duration. That blanket is the reason I'm not freezing to death.