Existential Question of the Day: Tea or Coffee?

What do you think, hunh? How do you start your day? I am, 100% — no exceptions ever — a tea drinker. My mornings pretty much always start with a nice hot cup or travel mug of very dark (let seep for at a minimum of five minutes) English Breakfast tea (ew Earl Grey) with a hint of milk and sugar. One of the many super glorious things about England was that it was incredibly easy to get a good cup o’ tea. That “awake” stuff at Starbucks is not in any way what I’m talking about.

On the other hand, my significant other, Nathan, is a coffee fiend. He drinks tea, but really he’s all about coffee, coffee, coffee. I dunno, maybe I should just break up with him now, clearly it’s not meant to be…

Weigh in! Which do you prefer? A nice cup of jo? Or a spot of tea? Inquiring minds wanna know! Either way, happy last day of January!

Max Dalton

Happy Monday!

How was your weekend? Mine included a snow storm, a sick boyfriend and mobsters. Sounds a bit like a Judd Apatow movie doesn’t it? I promise it was nowhere near that exciting. Nate got food poison (he’s fine), so Saturday night included watching  Goodfellas until Nate fell asleep halfway through and then I tooled around on the internet until midnight. Sometimes I feel like an old person.

My landlord also fixed the leaky faucet in the sink! Oh what a thrilling life I lead. Quaint might be the best word for it.

So here is some art I really like courtesy of Max Dalton:

I rather enjoy illustration an awful lot.

Surviving Winter: Enjoy it!

As Emma’s Winter Survival Guide 2012 comes to a close, there are a couple odds and ends I want to share.

Whenever I talk to my friends in California about living in a colder climate, they always say that they just don’t think that they could deal with the snow. Granted, if you have a house or car, I can see how snow can be really, freaking annoying. One has to keep in mind that I have never had to shovel snow (ahhh, apartment living), or drive in snow. My pipes have never frozen and I’ve never slipped and broken anything (that really is just a luck thing).  My relationship with snow may still be in the honeymoon phase, but there is one thing that will never change about snow: it’s not rain. Not that I hate the rain or anything, but snow does not require an umbrella, nor can you get unexpectedly drenched by a downpour of snow like you would rain. When you get covered in snow, you brush it off and just walk right inside, almost completely dry.  Snow also usually produces a dry cold instead of a damp one, meaning that it doesn’t get into your bones when it’s cold out. I would take snow over rain any day of the week.

Snow means snowmen, ice skating, snowball fights, snow forts and sledding. It’s beautiful and transforms the world into a glorious white wonderland.  With all the bad that snow brings, there is also so much good. And am I the only one that believes that tea and hot chocolate actually taste better when consumed after coming in from a snowy outside? To warm-weather-dwellers I say: don’t be afraid of the snow. To cold-weather-dwellers I say: don’t hate the snow. After all, there is seriously nothing you can do about it so you might as well enjoy it, right?

Well, I think that is just about it. Hope you’ve gotten something out of my winter tips and tricks (and didn’t find that little sermon too nauseating), and will fare better than I did my first couple of winters (if you ever find yourself a warm-blooded stranger in a cold-blooded land)!

Next week we’re back to the same-old, same-old, but in the meantime have a lovely weekend! Maybe make a snowman?

PS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvlHdcvR8mA

Surviving Winter: Accessories

Alright, so you have your boots and your coat, now is the time to accessorize! There isn’t really a right way or a wrong way to wear a hat, gloves and scarf, this is more just an opportunity to share cute things that I wish were in my closet but aren’t. What I will say is that beside the absolutely beautiful Coach gloves my boyfriend gave me for Christmas (that might be a little bit of unnecessary bragging, but really they are so lovely), my favorite hand-wear are the kind that can transition between mittens and gloves. They have little finger holes that expose the tips of your fingers, but also have a mitten attachment allowing for the convenience of gloves and the warmth of mittens! I also find that, if you are blessed with a small head, H&M kids is an excellent place for very warm hats.

 
(Urban Outfitters, Modcloth, Modcloth, Asos, Target, J.Crew)

I happen to really enjoy “whimsical” gloves, can’t you tell?

May I suggest, however, that if you are going to go all out (hat and scarf) and happen to have a ton of hair (like me), don’t wear a sweatshirt with a hood, otherwise you will have hair in your face all day.

Surviving Winter: Coats

To continue with our theme of numerating the tips tonight, I have four criteria for the all essential winter coat:

Make sure it covers your butt

Make sure it will keep you dry

Make sure it has a hood (that stays up).

A formal lining is plus

Only now that I have a big beautiful lined winter coat (thanks Kara!) do I understand how important a great coat is. Sometimes in cold weather, you’ll be standing on a street corner and a big gust of wind will hit against you but not make you cold. That is how you know you have a good coat.

Some example include:

The immensely expensive and immensely popular TNT parka :

The classic Lands End adorable duffel coat:

A detachable wool lining from Asos (ooo, ahhh):

You are literally going to be living (all day every day) in whatever you buy, so pick carefully. I think that is the theme of these posts, pick carefully.

PS: I just made these and they are FREAKING DELICIOUS and SO FREAKING EASY. Ugh I’m going to eat them allllllll.