March 11 can't come fast enough

The good news - my least favorite day of the year is over. The bad news - many more shorter days ahead, until December 21, when we can then add precious minutes to each day again. I freakin' HATE the end of Daylight Savings Time. Boo! Hiss! I live in a binary world where dark equals stay indoors and go to bed. I need the sun to keep me awake and warm. This dark at 5pm nonsense just doesn't cut it. I feel like a blob in my sweats when I have no desire to leave the house and it's not even dinner time.

Yesterday was a miserable excuse for a day. It wasn't just that the kids were up before 6am, but Sidney did not have a good night and we woke up to cold and rain and had to schlep to ballet class and a birthday party. All day Mike and I kept looking at each other and the clock wondering when it would all end. After a quick afternoon errand outing, we came home fed and bathed the kids, and 7pm bedtime (for them) could not come fast enough. We each downed a glass of wine, watched some TV, and bundled up to end the Day That Would Never End. (It rolled seamlessly into the Night That Would Never End, but that's a topic for another post.)

So to get myself through these dark, cold times, I decided to put together a Top 5 List of Things That Make Winter (and yes, if I have to wear thick fuzzy socks I call this winter) Suck a Little Less. Because there are no trips to Hawaii any time soon.

5. SWEATERS - This would be more aptly titled Winter Wear, since in addition to cozy, snuggly sweaters, I also love scarves and tights and tall boots. And my Uggs. I adore my Uggs. I wish I could sleep in them. I actually don't own as many sweaters as I once did, but when I have income again I plan to change that. Tights are easy to obsess over because they're cheap - Target has amazing ones. And scarves are really more for show than warmth, but I love them all the same. If my body has to suffer through the frigid LA winter (shut up) I may as well look good and feel warm.

4. SOUP - I love soup. And to be clear, soup is not exclusively for fall and winter. I enjoy soup year-round. But yesterday was the perfect day for it - it was cold and rainy, we were exhausted and feeling a little blue, so I whipped up a quick pot of mushroom barley soup. Mmm. This week I'm also going to make curried carrot and parsnip and creamy potato with kale. One pot meals rule!

3. FLAVORS - Two words: gingerbread and peppermint. The gingerbread one is a bit puzzling to me since I actively hate ginger. Like with a passion. But I make exception for gingerbread cookies (especially if they have cute frosting and candy decorations) and gingerbread lattes at Starbucks. And peppermint is a year-round love, but winter brings out peppermint ice cream and chocolate covered peppermint Joe-Joe's at Trader Joe's, otherwise known as crack. They are like peppermint oreos, but with more crack. And THEN they mix the ice cream and the cookies and sell peppermint Joe-Joe ice cream, causing me to have to apologize to the treadmill when I go to gym.

2. CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S - Yes, I'm the nice Jewish girl who loves Christmas. I mean, obviously not for the religious part nor do I condone the hyper-consumerism that tends to overshadow the aforementioned religious meaning. But I love sparkly things and bells and the color red and the smell of pine trees and twinkling lights and...okay, so really I just want to do Christmas crafts. There, I said it. And the arrival of Pinterest into my life isn't making my obsession any better. And movies! I love Christmas movies! Well, really only the comedies...seriously, stick me in front of the TBS 24 hour CHRISTMAS STORY marathon or CHRISTMAS VACATION (c'mon, we all need a little more Griswold in our lives) and I'm a happy camper. But I will refrain from the winter confusion that Jewish kids often experience here in secular/Christian America and stick to dreidels and stuff. Whatev.

And for all you New Year's haters out there, I say you're wrong. It's an excuse to get dressed up and go out and do something fun...I realize the irony in my saying that, given that 2 out of the last 3 NYE I've been asleep by 10pm, but in theory I love the holiday. Our friends got married on NYE (best idea EVER!), and in the BC era (Before Children) I was always known to find something fun to do instead of sit around and bemoan that I have no plans and it's just a night where you look at the clock, blah blah blah. That's what people who have no plans say. This year, NYE is Saturday night and we have babysitting (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!), so I'm determined to do something awesome. Stay tuned.

1. MY BIRTHDAY - Otherwise known as Everything Goes on Sale Day! I mean, the MALL celebrates with me, amazing right?! I can stock up on the aforementioned sweaters and boots and sparkly things, and that's a celebration in itself. Mark your calendars - December 26 - and let me know if you will also be in need of retail therapy after this hellacious year. I know I will be.

Stay warm!