1. I love the new daylight savings time.
2. I especially like that it is 72 degrees outside.
3. I am loving the fact that my boss let us leave early to enjoy the weather.
4. Trying not to think about the cooler forecast predicted for this weekend, especially Saturday.
5. Because Saturday = St. Patrick's Day = my favorite holiday.
SB07 was absolutely fabulous. I forgot how much I like taking vacations. I need to do it more often, especially since I get more vacation time this year (6 more days to be exact). Escaping from Chicago at this awful point when winter seems like it will never go away was perfect. An afternoon/evening in South Beach (I had never been and was completely overwhelmed). Three more days at my friend's place in a cute little beachy town near West Palm. Loved it. Much needed time away from work and snow and cold and overall blah.
Came back depressed? Check.
Tan? Half-check. (Lack of overall sunscreen application on Tuesday made for some redness. Ouch. At least I look like I went somewhere.)
Ready for Spring to finally arrive? Check. I am in total denial that it is not yet warm enough here to run around without boots or gloves or heavy coats. Totally confused by the four days of bare feet, exposed skin, and lots of sunshine on my face.
The weatherman says a warming trend is on the way....
Snow. Cold weather. Dry skin. Wearing my heinous Uggs. Scarves, hats, gloves, and heavy coats. Ice. Unshoveled sidewalks. Wind chills. Slush.
I'm done with winter. It hit me a few weeks ago that it's about time winter should end. I know, despite whatever that groundhog said, we've still got some cold, and possibly snowy, days ahead of us. March is tricky like that. April is tricky like that. Chicago weather is tricky like that.
Yesterday the sidewalks were wet with traces of the overnight thunderstorm and melted ice/snow. This morning they were windswept with snow, and the wind didn't stop all day. I watched out my window at work as the snow flew sideways across my view of the Marina Towers. I didn't leave the office until the end of the day. It just looked so awful outside (it really didn't snow much but the wind made it appear worse than it was).
What better time than now to be going to Florida, right? Four days of sunshine, drinks, and my girl friends. See you next week when I'm tan and depressed to be back in the Too Windy City.
I guess the good thing about the snow is that they let us out early.
Because I moved offices today (hello, window!), my computer was dismantled between 2pm and who knows when. The official closing time was 3pm. Since I couldn't really do anything (thank goodness for technology), I let myself leave to try and beat some of this mess home.
It's probably snowed close to 8 inches since this morning. My trek home from the El station was like another workout as I trudged through heavy snow. Most of the sidewalks were unshoveled. I had to steady myself with my hands out at my sides because the wind was so strong and the ground was so slippery. I envisioned myself biting it in the middle of Division. Fortunately, I made it home without falling; I was just tired and sweaty when I got to the door.
The benefits of coming home early? Getting homework done, watching Law & Order, and doing my laundry. Hooray for snow.
Cold day after cold day, I find myself staring at the women wearing heels or not wearing scarves or hats. These are the women for which winter is merely a season of coats and cute boots, not of unbearably frostbiting temperatures and crunching snow underfoot. With recent highs in the single digits, there have been noticeably less of this sort of woman on the streets of Chicago. But I still see them teetering around ice in four-inch heels (not heeled boots, just heels). I don't ask myself if I will ever be one of these women, caring more about my appearance than staying warm. I do wonder, however, if I can ever pull off looking halfway cute while being bundled in multiple layers.
Catching my reflection in the El's scratched window, I look more homeless than hot. Black Uggs that are splotched white from winter 05-06, which I haven't cleaned because I don't like my Uggs in the first place. Long, brown belted coat which looks beautiful with a tidy scarf and flats, but bulky when paired with hat, heavy scarf, boots, and thick underlayers of wool and cotton. In the mornings, on my way to the gym, I care very little about my appearance. It's cold and dark (although that's starting to change), and all I want to do is get to the El station which, after a few inches of snow fell this week, seems like it's across the Great Plains. My dirty boots crunch across the haphazardly shoveled sidewalks. It actually surprised me Wednesday morning that anyone had shoveled. You see the last time we had a lot of snow in December, the sidewalks became a disaster: covered in ice which was covered with snow. I found myself walking in the street when possible. It's not out of laziness that our neighbors don't shovel, it's that they might fear being sued. (Some Good Samaritan law which states that shoveled sidewalks and individuals falling on said sidewalks equal potential lawsuit. Do nothing, someone falls, and you aren't at risk. Nice.)
Seriously, it has been so cold that appearance has been of little interest to me. Usually I take time to choose an outfit for work the next day. When it's cold, I pair some pants with a sweater and I'm done. I bury my face in my scarf, look at the ground and walk briskly to work, home, the gym - no need to glance around at everyone else. But there are people who do it, people for whom the cold means nothing. They go out like it's springtime, running around the city or going out every night (that is an entirely different blog post altogether - going out when it's freezing). You know, maybe I'm too practical. Or maybe I need to move.
