Things I (Begrudgingly) Like About Winter | Blog Ahead #24

Blog Ahead #24
Originally written on October 26, 2018

It's no secret - I am not a fan of winter. I hate the cold. I hate the dark. I'm not the biggest fan of the holidays or the snow. There's just not a lot of appeal to winter for me, so I dread it each and every year. The day this post goes live is the first official day of winter, and lucky for me, I'll be on a plane headed south to Florida for the Holidays. Thanks, Mom & Dad! ;) But, because I spend so much time complaining about the winter, I thought I'd kick off this terrible season on a more positive note. I thought it'd be great to share the things that I actually like about the winter time, as few and far between as they may be. :P

Hot beverages

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I love me a good hot beverage. Even though I'm a New Englander and will willingly drink an iced coffee when it's -12°, I love a toasty warm hot coffee in the morning. Hot vanilla lattes are probably my favorite coffee beverage, with hot apple cider being my favorite cold weather drink. I also can't say no to a good hot chocolate or hot toddy if I'm looking for an adult beverage! There's something so comforting about drinking something warm and feeling the warmth spread through your whole body.

Snow days

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As much as I'm not a fan of dealing with the snow (shoveling, wiping off my car, getting stuck in my own driveway, etc.) there's something that's pretty magical about having a day stuck at home while you're getting snowed in. I work in the education field, meaning I still get snow days if the college I work at gets closed... pretty awesome! I love having an excuse to stay in jammies all day, make pancakes, and watch movies! Snow days are the best and even I can't argue that!

Football & hockey

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Winter is the season that both of my favorite sports to watch are on all. the. time. I find football Sundays so cozy and watching hockey games so exciting that I definitely look forward to their seasons coming around each year. At least that's something that distracts from the face that it's winter time!

Sweaters & scarves

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Not gonna lie, my winter uniform basically consists of sweater + scarf + black pants. Every damn day in the office. It makes getting dressed in the morning so much easier and so much cozier. You really can't resist a good cozy sweater + scarf combo!

Trying new recipes

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I feel like winter is the time of year where I'm the most adventurous when it comes to cooking. I'm always on the hunt for new recipes for warm comfort foods to eat on cold, snowy afternoons. My slow cooker and I become best friends in the colder months, and I'm baking different things what seems like every weekend. It's actually so much fun, and so tasty!

What are your favorite things about winter?

Winter 2015/2016 Favorites!

It's springtime! Hooray! That means I get to share with you all what my favorite things of the winter are! I love shooting these kinds of videos, and in the past I've written out a little paragraph about each product over here on the blog in addition to sharing the video, but this month I figured it would be *much* easier to just share my favorites video with you and let you hit play! I've also included links to the products you'll be able to check out for yourself right underneath the video as well. I hope you all enjoy!



Items discussed in the video:
BOOK: "Big Magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert
ACCESSORY: Sunglasses from Florida
CLOTHING: FHP Leggings
FOOD: Montreal Bagels (St. Viateur)
BODY: Midnight Pomegranate Body Spray from BBW
HAIR: Pantene Pro-V Serious Repair Detangler
TECH: GorillaPod
HOME/OFFICE: Dumbledore FunkoPop  +  Journal & Glue Dot Runner
INTERNET: SimCity Let's Play Videos (BDoubleO100)  +  Flight Attendant Vlogs (Jenny Ernst & Shiba Style)
MEMORIES: Florida Trip + Montreal Trip

Snowed In

It's been non-stop snowing in Massachusetts the past two weeks and we are expecting more in the very near future. Although it's pretty and has allowed me to have a few more days off before getting back to class, it's safe to say I'm over it. It's kind of a buzzkill when the snow closes your work that you get paid by the hour at. *le sigh* However, it's extreme weather conditions like this that make you thankful for all you have in your life - a warm place to sleep, people looking out for your safety, and plenty of ways to pass the long hours cooped up inside. My car isn't the greatest in the snow, but it's been seriously champing it out through every storm and getting me where I need to be, so I'm very thankful for that!

Poor little Dory.

Despite the crazy weather, life has been pretty great! The snow days have given me the opportunity to ease into a groove instead of everything starting up all at once (I finally had my first class of the semester last night), I'm making strides to keep a positive outlook on all the upcoming changes in my life, the Patriots won the freakin' Super Bowl (still in disbelief!), and each day that ticks by is another day closer to my family's trip to the Western Caribbean (exactly 30 days from today)! In addition to all of that excitement, during the snow storm last week (Winter Storm Juno, if we want to be specific), I found out that I had been selected to receive a crowd-funded Student Affairs Professional Development Award!

I had no idea that this was even a thing until I received the email that I had been nominated by my internship supervisor, Tim, and the subsequent email letting me know I had been selected by a committee of Student Affairs professionals to receive funding for a professional development opportunity of my choice! It's so cool to be recognized in this way and to be given an opportunity to continue to learn and better myself as a Student Affairs student and professional.

The founder of the award, Mallory Bower, has a few posts outlining this award on her blog (who donated to it, the idea behind it, etc.), so if you're interested in finding out more, check it out here. As part of the award, I'm going to be doing a few guest blog posts over there about my experience, so I'll be sure to let you all know when those go live! I'm very excited about this opportunity and I can't wait to take full advantage of it!

We are expecting another metric ton of snow this weekend*, so please think warm thoughts for we Northerners who may or may not be slowly turning into yetis. For now, I wanted to end this post on a positive note and share a link that made me feel good this afternoon: 20 Signs You're Doing Better Than You Think You Are.

Hope you're all doing well! :)

*I'm not 100% sure if this is an exaggeration or not...

Causeway Street

There's a property in Brett's hometown that opens its gates to the public during the holidays and puts on a pretty extravagant light display for anyone who cares to see. All that is asked in return is to donate to the Salvation Army, whose volunteers waited patiently with their bright red buckets at the midpoint as you drive through. Brett took me on a bit of a holi-date last week to see the lights, and I was so thrilled to see the display that he had tried to explain to me in the days leading up to our visit!

Brett helped with the photography!

I love that Brett has been showing me a bunch of his usual holiday traditions. He grew up close to where we currently live, and it's nice that he has some knowledge of fun things to do this time of year! :)

What are some traditions you have during the holidays? 

Friday Five {#7}: Dream Vacation Edition

With the temps creeping down to their season lows and a nor'easter plotting to snow everyone in this weekend in the northeast, I find myself dreaming more and more of warm weather vacation spots. I thought I'd warm things up by turning this edition of the Friday Five into an opportunity to share with you where I'd LOVE to be this weekend instead of trudging around in boots and a jacket that makes me look like a giant penguin.

1. Orlando, Florida

Mouse ears and Butter Beers have been at the forefront of my mind lately. Maybe it's all of the end-of-semester stress that's making me regress a little bit, but all I want to do is go to play with Mickey and Minnie and dress up like a princess at Disney World, visit Olivander's Wands at Harry Potter World, and maybe even stop in for a drink at Moe's at Springfield, USA. If I could escape from grown up life, if just for a moment, I'd want to hide out in Orlando!

2. Bora Bora

Smack in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is this little island paradise. Just thinking about lounging on a floatie with a book and the sun during the day and spending sleepy evenings in a little hut while listening to the waves lap below me is enough to book my ticket right now! If only I had a few thousand dollars laying around...

3. Xcaret Park - Mexico

Xcared Park is an all-natural water park just north of Cancun. You can swim with dolphins, stingrays, and sharks, snorkel and scuba dive, and there's even a zoo, aquarium, and butterfly pavillion! A perfect combination of adventure and relaxation. Sign me up, please!

4. Giraffe Manor - Nairobi, Kenya

Yes, this is a real place. This hotel is famous for being surrounded by a friendly heard of giraffes! They'll come right up to your window and will eat a tasty treat right out of your hands. How cool would it be just to go for a walk and have a pack of giraffes casually stroll by?

5. Swimming with elephants in Thailand

If you know me at all, you know I love elephants! A group of students I work with at BSU is going on a trip to Thailand over break, and they get to ride an elephant twice. TWICE. I'm so jealous. If I could be in warm Thailand just hanging out with a bunch of elephants, I'd probably be the happiest human on planet earth.

Where are your dream vacation destinations?

Sunshine and Some Direction

It's ridiculous(ly awesome) how nice it's been outside this week. I feel like those of us that live in areas that go through all four seasons of the year are the only ones that can truly understand the excitement of warmer weather and fresh air. After a long, cold winter, the mere action of opening the windows of my apartment fills me with so much happiness, it's almost absurd. Johnny Cupcakes once wrote something similar about winter in Boston over on his blog, and it's stuck with me ever since I read it...

"Winter makes us appreciate all of the other seasons that much more. All of New England is happy when the trees start to bloom, birds come out, beach days arise, leaves change colors, etc.. Whereas if you live in a warm state, the luxury rubs off quick. I remember visiting Florida and California and jumping up and down like a kid on a trampoline because I was so pumped on the weather. I look around and everyone is walking around like zombies… buzz-kill. It’s not their fault, they’re just not excited about it as they have it every day."

I welcome warm weather with open arms each year, even if I do get a little too excited about it. Tuesday I wore shorts all day long, even when I was out on duty at night time. A few of my coworkers looked at me like I was crazy, but it didn't make me second guess my wardrobe decision. Warm weather is kind of a rarity in New England, so when it comes around, I don't take a single second for granted. Give me all the sun you've got, mother nature!

Yesterday I received my acceptance letter into Bridgewater State University's Student Affairs Counseling program! I'm over the moon about finally getting this letter. I now know where I'm going to be come the fall. I know I'm going to be saving a lot more money than if I were to move down to South Carolina, and I know I'm going to get much more out of a counseling based program than an administration based program. I'm excited to get back to school and learn more about my field, and I'm happy to have some direction for my future!