4 Ways I’m Trying to Embrace Winter
This post has been sponsored by Well Yes! Sipping Soups. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I was born in Wisconsin, so if there was ever a place where Well Yes! Sipping Soups were a perfect product, Wisconsin was it.
I remember a year with so much snow that when we went out to play, I was digging in a big snow drift and a few inches down, I uncovered the top of one of the small pine trees that ran along the property line between our house and our neighbors.
But we moved to Las Vegas the year I turned seven and so most of my growing-up didn’t involve very much in the way of real winters.
One year we went to Utah for my grandfather’s 80th birthday celebration and before the party, we went to the church where it was being held to shovel the sidewalks with my cousins. My sisters and I kept exclaiming over how fun it was, and our cousins were pretty sure we were all nuts.
My senior year in high school, my parents bought me a coat and I remember wearing it to school and all my friends giving me a hard time because it wasn’t at all true coat weather. All you really needed for most of the winter was a sweatshirt or a light jacket.
Basically, an actual cold winter was completely foreign to me.
And then, in my adult life, I’ve mostly lived in warm climates (it was no accident that we spent six years in Texas and another three in Arizona).
But when we moved to Utah I was determined to embrace winter.
I didn’t want to spend a third of the year miserable (or dreading winter the way I did during our solitary year in Boston where I was just TERRIFIED of the oncoming cold for months before it actually turned cold).
As autumn rolled in and the temperature started to drop, I started making plans for how to really embrace winter instead of fearing it.
Here are four things I’m doing this year:
4 Ways to Embrace Winter
Invest in some cozy slippers and sweaters
You already know about my hunt for a pair of good slippers and truly, they’ve been the best money I’ve spent in ages. I also bought a couple of cozy sweaters and it makes a world of difference to not feel cold at home. Is there anything worse?
(And I bought a decent coat too, so I’m not freezing when I have to leave the house either!).
Find an easy, warm lunch
Most days, I eat lunch at my desk after the baby goes down for a nap and Star does quiet time, but on a chilly day, I do NOT want to be eating a sandwich. I want something warm and delicious.
The Well Yes! Sipping Soup has been the perfect easy solution. They come in a bunch of delicious flavors including Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato, Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato, Harvest Carrot & Ginger, Sweet Corn & Roasted Poblano and Tomato & Sweet Basil.
They contain 20% of your daily vegetable servings (something I’m trying to do better about this year!), and they’re ready in two minutes – you microwave them for one minute and then let them stand for one minute. And they’re perfect at home or on the go.
Read more cozy books
I love a seasonal read and in the summer, there’s nothing better than a book involving airplane flights to somewhere warm or sandy beaches. When it’s cold outside, I’m leaning more toward books that take place in similarly cold climates and make me happy to be snuggled up with a blanket on the couch.
Somedays, I combine this reading with my Well Yes! Sipping Soup and take a break from working to enjoy a warm snack and a good book for 15 minutes in the reading chair in my office. Nothing better!
Take advantage of my candle collection
Over the past few years, I’ve collected quite a few delicious smelling candles, but it always felt weird to burn them in Arizona because it never really felt like cozy candle-burning weather. Now? I’ve got all the cold weather I could ask for and I’m so happy to finally be able to work my way through them.
I’ve been surprised how much my attitude toward winter has affected my feelings for this season. I’ve actually loved these chilly days at home with my girls or the quiet of a snow fall.
If you have other ideas of how to make the most of winter, I’d love to hear them, since winter has many months to go.
And next time you’re at the grocery store, pick up a couple of cans of Well Yes! Sipping Soup – I think you’ll love them too!
Photos by Heather Mildenstein
In college I HATED winter; I was so miserable in my wool peacoat, thin Walmart gloves, and regular tennis shoes. After moving to DC I finally invested in a big down coat, snow boots, and waterproof gloves and I realized that being outside in the snow doesn’t have to be miserable, you just have to have the right gear!
I’m not a skiier, but a couple of years ago I got into snowshoeing and found that there are outdoor activities I enjoy in the winter.
Now if someone could just ensure that snow would fall only on the fields and never on the roads, I’d be quite okay with winter. I’m absolutely terrified of driving on icy/snowy roads.
I live in Michigan where winter can be extremely cold and snowy. It is also often cloudy—I remember a January where the sun came out once in the whole month. It was a big deal the day it returned. Winters can be tough but I’ve found I endure them better when I embrace it.
I don’t like to be negative in winter though—it just breeds more negativity. My tips for embracing winter are:
1) remember it is going to come. There are times in life where you need to be cozy, quiet, and dark. It won’t last forever.
2)go outside everyday. Barring ice I run outside in all weather. Only in the case of extreme wind chill will I take my run to the treadmill. Stay active indoors too—it boosts the mood.
3) get the best coat and outerwear you can afford. Get the parka that goes to your knees.