A (Hot Pink) Tights Under the Pants Kind of Day

Brrrrr!!! Did Mother Nature forget to pay the heat bill? We just went to high 40s to, well, this

At dinner last night my friends and I watched the crazy white happen from the comfort of our table at Cactus Club and realized that we had been lulled into a false sense that winter was behind us. Unanimously we agreed that getting dress for Friday morning would require the oldest trick in the New England Winter Clothing book. Tights under the pants.

The way I see it is if I have to deal with dreary winter weather, I might as well spice things up by wearing tights with attitude. Knowing my legs were covered in a hot pink material definitely helped to brighten my morning as I walked to the bus stop. In all reality, I do try to wear something brightly colored on a daily basis - more often than not, it is a layered item that no one can really see. Just knowing something is bright and cheerful on my body when the winds are 25 mph and the temperature is in the low 20s makes summer seem that much closer.

Well it is December. Snow was bound to happen

View from my living room

In case you weren't in the Boston area last night, it snowed. Like big snowflakes. This of course came after the awful horizontal rain that I walked through while going to and from the T to get to my job at the World Trade Center. I know it is December, but I was a little thrown off with the snow falling when I left my job at 10 pm. It was super slippery to walk to my car and drive home. I forgot that I would need to brush off my back window as well as the front, so I had to awkwardly get back out of my car after starting it up.

I was more than kind of hoping the snow would be gone this morning. When I first got up around 9 there was a good amount of snow everywhere. When I got up a second time after a nap, a good amount of the snow had disappeared (as seen by the picture above). I do like snow, I really do, but I just haven't bothered to get my winter clothes out of the basement and I just don't want to have to think about that quite yet.

Mother Nature, could you hold off with the snow for another week or so? I'd like it to be kind of warm for the Patriots game that I am going to next weekend. Thanks. :)

White Rain

It is October.

It is October 18th.

I haven't worn a single Halloween costume yet. Therefore, there should not be any SNOW falling from the sky. Mother nature is being a cruel cruel woman. She denied me weekends on the beach. My skin couldn't be more pale if it tried. I am not ready for having to bundle up.

This afternoon I went to the grocery store, and wore flip flops (out of laziness). At the time it was raining so my toes weren't going to freeze or anything like that. About 45 minutes after I had returned I look out my window and I realize I can see the rain. Then I conclude that I am not "seeing rain" I am watching snow fall.

Depressing.

The weather people claim Tuesday is bringing 60 degree weather. I really really hope this is true. I cannot bring myself to go down into the basement and retrieve my cold weather gear.

Even the weatherman is a funnyman

Oh Accuweather.com you are so right.

They published an article "Snowy Winter Could Follow Cool June for the Northeast". Basically it looks like we are going to get FEET and FEET of snow this winter. I can't remember a summer this cold. Oooo and they use the term "El Nino" in this article. When was that last uttered? That was so 1990s. Remember Chris Farley's "el nino means the nino"?

Well this post was a bit of a debbie downer. Lets hope the sun comes out soon!!!

if all the snow flakes were lemon drops...

Walking home I was barely outside of my office, a guy was about to pass by me and made me smile. Not just because he was cute, because believe me he was, but because he opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue, and caught a few snow flakes. He saw me glancing at him and there was a slight hesitation. But once he saw that I was smiling his face broke out into a huge smile.

It really is the little things that can make a day improve tenfold. Seeing a grown man catch snowflakes on his tongue made me smile the whole walk home...and I knew that the end of my journey was my car begging to be shoveled out. Ugh. I didn't care, my day was brightened by someone else's simple action.

Oh yeah. Then there was the guy on the bike who was riding on the sidewalk - not happy about that. But he was wearing a winter hat that was green, with a red mask and eyehole...it was a teenage mutant ninja turtle hat. AWESOME. I forgave his stupidity for riding on the side walk

No Snow Day :(

I had to go to work today. No snow day for me. Everyone gets concerned about roads when we have snow storms...well what should really be thought about are the sidewalks.

Some people are really good about shoveling their portions of the sidewalk after a storm for us. Others not so much. So I was particularly thankful when I saw three men busying themselves in front of an apartment building this morning with salt, shovel and snow blower. Unfortunately for the men, the guy using the snow blower was unfamiliar with the rules of no throwing snow back into the street. He had the machine aimed outward away from the building. I would have done the same thing, otherwise it would have bounced off the wall back at hom. I doubht anyone else would have ever noticed or cared, I mean I was grateful that he was clearing the walk way. Unfortunately the police car that was driving by didn't see it my way and pulled over started honking and yelling. Ooooops.

At least the morning started out amusing.

Umbrellas are not just for Rain

The mbta trip finder informs me that if I wanted to take public transportation from my orange house to my 70s inspired office building it would take about 27 minutes. Of this 27 minute trip, 21 of them involve walking to and from various bus stops. This is not exactly worth having to wake up earlier than I currently am -- currently walking takes me about 15 minutes.

Anyway, I have found that winter weather walking is made bearable by two extra accessories: the second scarf and the umbrella.

The second scarf does wonders with the wind. First, a hippie scarf is worn close to the neck for instant warmth and help to my need for having at least two layers on each and every part of my body. Second, a knit scarf is wrapped around to help keep the hood of my coat up and to fight against the cool wind.

More importantly let us focus on the umbrella. The umbrella helps while walking through a snowglobe snow storm. Snow often blows right into your face which makes you constantly blink or if you are wearing glasses cause everything to get blurry and hard to see...it just causes the walk to become miserable. The constant pelting of snow in the face helps remind me that the world is getting covered in snow -- and not pretty snow, snow that is going to make driving miserable, snow that is going to sit on the sidewalk forever because people don't feel like shoveling their portion of the sidewalk, snow that is going to turn yellow or black in a few days making the world dirty...yeah snow in the face while walking to work at 8:30 sucks. The umbrella keeps those flakes a healthy distance from my face allowing for me to view the snow fall from just enough of a distance that I can pretend it's not really here...

So don't be afraid of usin the umbrella in the snow...at first I thought it was weird, now I rarely leave home without one...but then again, it was this kind of reasoning that began my addition to sunglasses. so maybe, for your own sanity you do want to just forget everything that i mentioned above. :)

Walking in a Snow Globe

Walking is by far my preferred method of getting around out here, and is how I commute to work every day, get to friends houses, kickball games, bars, jazzfunk, etc. With the snow falling as consistently as it has this weekend, being a pedestrian has become quite risky. I am not going to even broach the topic of Massachusetts drivers in the winter, or God help me the plow men. (Last year i was almost hit by a plow...we are talking inches between me and that gigantic yellow monster) What I am simply going to address is my method of staying on my feet and off my ass.

Over the course of the last 7 or so years I have perfected my technique of successfully staying upright while moving over snow covered sidewalks. Four Worcester winters provided me with the practicals needed to increase my ability to survive slippery steps and slush covered hills.

In my opinion, the key to keeping from landing on one's ass is that one must take small controlled steps. If you're doing it right you will begin to "feel the burn" in the hip flexer area. (I use this muscular reaction as an reason for why I shouldn't need to feel guilty for staying away from the gym...we don't need to discuss the fact that I probably shouldn't get as much of a work out as i do from walking in the snow) I'm not sure why a smaller gait is better, but i feel like it has to do with the fact that your feet stay under your center of gravity more.

Since my steps are smaller they become quicker and I have been informed that I kind of look like a cartoon character that is zipping along the roads. Personally, I feel like I look more penquin-esk. I mean not only do I waddle while doing this, but my arms are always slightly away from the body in an attempt to keep me balanced. The arms come out a bit more when things look a little more icy, subconsciously they must be the equivlent of a tightrope-walker's pole.

The most amusing part of my winter walking has to be when I have to adjust my movement to allow for me to turn up a side street. Not only do my steps become absolutely minuscule and lightening fast, but my arms fly out to become almost parallel to the ground. The best place to see this action occur is to see me try and turn down Gorham Street near Davis Square, I have been told it is ridiculous.

For additional resources regarding this topic, you may wish to refer to the Globe. I enjoyed that they point out that part of a penguin's success to staying up is because of a huge claw that is on the bottom of their foot. Is the reporting hoping that I attach a nail to the bottom of my boot? Just wondering what the point of that comment is...maybe its to remind me that no matter how careful I am I will most likely end up sprawling out on the sidewalk at somepoint into a bush. I'm thinking that yak trax may be a better option...