#somuchsnow

Are you in the part of the United States experiencing the polar vortex? Luckily, I was able to work from home today, so I've only gone outside to help Andrew move his car, shovel our steps so I could get mail, and take a couple photos. What are you doing on this snowy day? Stevie and I are just trying to stay warm - I can seriously feel cold air coming through the windows in my old rental house. And it's really not the snow that bothers me, it's the subzero temperatures!

Not even a covered porch could save them.

Should we open a bottle of wine? ^.^

Cozy Saturday Lunch

What's better to eat for lunch on a day like today...

(Today)

than grilled cheese and tomato soup? Nothing that we could think of. I had exactly four pieces of bread, one avocado, a nice new log of goat cheese, and my new Campbell's Go soup, which is my current BzzCampaign. Of course I just found out that a blog post isn't an activity for this one, but I thought I'd show you anyway.

I love our dining room: )

I made our grilled cheeses with avocado, goat cheese, and colby jack slices. Sooo good with the extras!

Here's the soup - we tried the Creamy Red Pepper with Smoked Gouda. The only other vegetarian choice sounded better to me - Golden Lentil with Madras Curry. I can't wait to try that one! Anyway, we thought it was pretty good - I'm not a huge soup fan, so anything that can be done to make it a little more interesting helps enhance my soup experience. Plus the packaging is so fun. Have you tried Campbell's Go yet? There's a dollar off coupon on their website.

How is your Saturday going? There is so much snow here! We probably won't leave the house today.

How Do You Beat the Winter Blues?

Instantly when writing this title, I realized that many of you probably live someplace warm, not caring for an instant about us northerners barely keeping it together up here. So if you are that person, please remind me that summer will be here...eventually. For the rest of you suffering through this horrid cold front, I want to know - how do you beat the winter blues? This is one of the blog prompts from the Better Blogger Network, and it's a great one. I definitely relate to feeling a little down during the cold months! I'll share my cures and please share yours in return!

Admitting that it's kind of gorgeous outside
It has snowed almost everyday since Sunday this week, and it's just so darn pretty outside! If you live outside of Michigan you probably haven't seen this astounding photo:

Coffee
I'm a barista so I know my coffee and I love my coffee. Whether I'm pretending the closest Tim Hortons isn't that out of the way or grinding up my own beans here at home to make an extra strong cup of coffee with my favorite Coffee-Mate flavors, I love a good cup of joe! It warms my soul.

Cats
As you may know, we recently adopted a cat named Stevie. He is a super sweet boy and luckily will sit with us and relieve our stress as he purrs and purrs. I'm assuming this is part of the reason I haven't felt as blue this winter as I have in winters past!

Friends
My friends always make me forget that it's dreary weather. We go to trivia at a local Mexican restaurant every week, have classic movie nights, play silly games, and we recently celebrated the inaugural cottage fest! What more could I ask for?

Films
Andrew and I have been watching all the movies up for Academy Awards - our favorite so far is Django and the only one up for best picture that we haven't seen yet is Amore. Has anyone seen that, by the way?

Naps
I used to hate naps, but you know what? They are pretty nice. Sometimes I get home and my extremities are so frozen that I can only get warm doing one of two things - taking a shower or taking a nap. Either way I feel refreshed and most importantly, warm!

And lastly, celebrating the fact that Justin Timberlake has FINALLY RELEASED A NEW SONG!!!!!

Thank the Lord and joy to the world. (Do you like it?)


Also, many of these aforementioned cures go nicely together: cats and naps, films and coffee, coffee after a nap? Get creative; )

So, what helps you get through the bitterly cold and decreasingly shorter days?

What I Wore // Geek Chic

This post is brought to you by Firmoo! Firmoo is "the world's most popular online glasses store." New customers receive their first pair free - you just have to pay for shipping! Anyway, Firmoo contacted me to see if I'd be interested in doing a review, and even though I don't wear glasses, I excitedly accepted! (Also, I'm sorry if you really do wear glasses and you don't like it when people who don't need them wear them)!! 

So here are my non-prescription glasses! They are so fun. Andrew and I walked to the park to show them off against our bright winter wonderland. I hope I don't look too silly, I never wear glasses, but I've always kind of wanted a pair!

They match my necklace!

I got this coat for Christmas: ) Thanks, Mom!

It's cold outside!

What I Wore:

Hat - Forever 21

Glasses - Firmoo

Necklace - h&m

Coat - Dana Buchman (Kohl's)

Sweatshirt - Urban Outfitters

Pants - Iz Byer (Kohl's) Best Pants EVER, btw.

Boots - Urban Outfitters

So I really like my Firmoo glasses! I would definitely recommend trying them out - especially since the first pair is free. I know I'd like to have more than one pair of glasses if I had to wear them everyday. Let me know if you decide to order and which ones you're getting! Mine came just a few days after ordering - also included was a hard case. Check out Firmoo's FAQs if you want to know more. And Happy New Year everyone!

December Photo-A-Day Week 1

Boy, have I been busy! Well, part busy, part loving on our new cat that we got exactly one week ago today from a great shelter, Crash's Landing! Definitely look for a post regarding our little bundle of joy soon, but my excuse is that I've been busy being a great pet owner instead of blogging. I have not forgotten, however, to take photos for my first ever Instagram photo-a-day adventure! I found the challenge via Pinterest, from A Content Housewife. It's been fun and somewhat challenging so far! Oh, by the way, I started on the 2nd of December, oops!

December 2nd - Favorite Holiday Movie

(It's Home Alone)

December 3rd - Red

The tag on our new kitty! We still haven't renamed him, but I kind of think Stevie has a ring to it!

December 4th - Joyous

COFFEEEEE. It was so good that morning, too.

December 5th - Today's Temperature

Brrr, wasn't it just 60 the other day?

December 6th - Shopping

Gosh, I love Target...

December 7th - Bright

It was a dark day, so I improvised!

December 8th - Ornament(s)

Speaking of loving Target, I got this one there last year: )

I hope you've all had lovely weekends and are enjoying your Sunday night. I will try and update more this week! Oh, and if you want real time photo updates, follow my new twitter (for the blog, as opposed to my personal account, which you are also more than welcome to follow)!