Patricia Johns

Snow before Christmas is magical, bright, beautiful and filled with wonder. Snow in January is… different.

The dirty snow is because we put down sand and gravel to give cars better grip on the icy roads, and salt eats away at the metal on vehicles, so the sand is better for everyone. But… it leaves roads looking like this.

So I have a few things I do to make this time of year beautiful again:

~keep the inside of my home pretty! I have furniture I love that is cozy and warm. Leather and wood make me happy. Winter is longer than summer, so I cater to winter.
~have hot drinks on hand that make me feel warm and happy. I always have a pot of tea on, and I sip tea all day while I write. Sometimes I’ll swap out the tea for my favorite coffee with a delicious creamer. If I’m going to do coffee, it’s going to be sweet and taupe!
~throw blankets galore! I have them everywhere. If you sit down, you can pull a blanket over your legs.
~lots of baking. Carbs really do help you warm up. Our family enjoys a lot of pie and muffins.
~piles of books! They make me happy, and our family will often just cozy up with one of those blankets and read for a while.
~getting exercise at the gym. It helps to get moving and listen to podcasts. I stay in better shape (not perfect, but better!) and I can work off some of those carbs and coffees.

Sometimes I grumble about the cold here, but I’ve learned to enjoy it and embrace the coziness of winter. When it’s cold outside, your home becomes your sanctuary, and that works very nicely for this introvert.

If you’ve got some January blues, give my ideas a try! And maybe you’ll pick up one of my books to read under a cozy lap blanket.

Happy reading!

❤