As a December baby (December 28th to be exact, yes I do now expect you to send me lots of presents) you would think I would be a fan of snow, or at least of winter. But I am not, and I will tell you why.

Growing up as a kid on the heavier side is not fun, it is especially not fun during winter. First off you had the people that would assume your “extra body heat” will keep you nice and toasty. Those people are idiots. Secondly, cute snow pants are apparently not made in fat kid sizes (or at least not in my day). So while all of the popular girls, the ones who usually ate salad instead of pizza, had adorable pink, purple, and light blue snow pants (matching jackets are a given) I was left with my moms giant overalls in puke green…which were not very flattering when accompanied by my giant white puffer.

There was a brief moment in my life where I did wear the cute snow pants, but they were tight and limited my joy. But, let me just say that winter I was part of the cool girls group. I was also, like, 8.

Although it’s fun to play in the snow, mainly for the rewarding hot chocolate, there are many downsides — frozen boogers and frozen sweat on your feet being my favorite. Plus, now that we are getting older there are even more negatives. So in the spirit of the light dusting of snow we recently got, here are ten reasons snow actually stinks…

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Winter gets a bad rap. Granted it does have its flaws: blizzards, Uggs, perpetual runny noses, and pale skin complexions. These negatives aside, there are so many wonderful wonders to winter: pets in sweaters, hot chocolate, Christmas trees, Hanukah bushes, and many, many other holiday treats! Below are 25 of the best things about winter, from December to February!

…Yeah, that’s never actually worked for me, but here’s some cool-spiration for you to try out my mom’s…erm…the wise man’s advice.

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Know of any other extra cold places? What do you do to cool down- or do you actually enjoy the heat?

Remember when you were a little kid, and you’d actually wake up on time for school… just so you could huddle next to the radio and listen for your school to be called on the list of snow days? With winter’s doom impending and temperatures dropping faster than The Situation’s pants, we can’t help but cross our fingers and pray.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Are snow days something you never grow out of? Or, in college, do they prove that miracles really can happen? Here’s how our anticipation of snow days has evolved since grammar school.

Then: A snow day meant a day off from times tables.
Now: We don’t have to finish copying someone else’s MiniTabs before Stats lab.

Then: We would make a beeline to the street and get all the neighborhood kids together for a snowball fight.
Now: We don’t have to brave arctic winds to walk to class and sit through lecture with snotsicles hanging from our frostbitten faces.

Then: Since we were already up at the crack of dawn, we could take advantage of the snow day and start building a snow man as soon as we got “the word.”
Now: We can go back to sleep for about six hours, and wake up just in time for happy hour.

Then: Snow days meant putting on snow pants and trekking to the biggest hill in town for a full day of sledding.
Now: Snow days mean putting on our beer coat and trekking to the bar for a full day of boozing.

(Note: I love how college students use a blizzard as an excuse to go to the bar, yet even when school isn’t canceled, we deem it too treacherous to walk to class.)

Then: For some unfortunate children, snow days meant driveway-shoveling duty before the parents got home.
Now: After the storm passes, we have to shovel our cars out from behind the snow banks the university plows have inevitably created throughout the parking lot.

Then: We could spend a whole extra day working on our vocabulary exercises!
Now: We could start that research paper that was due three days ago… but who are we kidding? Those episodes of Law and Order SVU aren’t going to watch themselves!

Then: We had an excuse to drink hot chocolate for breakfast.
Now: We have an excuse to drink a thirty-pack for breakfast.

I think it’s clear that snow days are one of mankind’s greatest inventions. Honestly, snow delays and cancellations are one of the top reasons to attend a university in a colder climate. I feel bad for those of you who are earning degrees in Hawaii, Florida, California, or any other season-less state. You will never experience the joys of the world’s most beautiful Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card: the beloved snow day!

Want mas? Don’t worry, there are plenty more faves where this came from.]

“Winter Wonderland,” “White Christmas”…sugarcoat it all you want but winter sucks.  Unless you are a skiing or snowboarding fanatic, you feel my pain. I didn’t even like sledding as a child; you got to the bottom of the hill, OK, then what? You run back up to the top, your hands numb, then do it again? Awesome.

Seeing my own breath has never fascinated me and a constantly running nose has never been a favorite of mine. There’s just no happy medium with winter.  I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. And now I’m going to complain in a more organized manner:

1.  Layers (AKA pit stains). You get all bundled up to brave the cold yet, somehow, when you reach your destination your face is still frozen and you can’t feel your hands. And then you go inside where the heat is set to “desert.” You’re sweating before you sit down and spend the next 10 minutes stripping down as much as you can without being inappropriate. Which is difficult considering your white tank is now completely see-through.

2.  Hot drinks. Yes the idea is wonderful, until you burn your tongue.  Instead of your insides being warm, you can’t taste anything for a week. And you are still freezing.

3. Snow. It may look pretty from the warm comforts of you room, but once it’s inside of your shoes, not so much.  Your socks would agree. And your toes. Assuming you still have them.

4.  Bars without coat checks. Although I live in NYC, I don’t go “clubbing” or to any fancy spots that I could pay someone 5 bucks to hold my coat for the evening.  My friends and I go to “those” bars; you know, the ones with beer pong in the back and a greater amount of beer on the floor than on tap.  We bundle up, (as complained about in winter peeve number 1) and then have nowhere to put our coats!  If we leave them on a bar stool, they’re goners. If we leave them on, our arms are too constricted to throw a perfect arc in beer pong. And no one can see that new tank top we insisted on wearing even though it’s negative 12 degrees outside.

5. Hibernation. It’s hard to motivate people to leave the house when the thermometer is reading 0 and no one wants to risk breaking an ankle on the icy streets. But there is only so much Say Yes To The Dress I can watch before I get a little stir crazy. And how am I supposed to meet a man when he’s hiding out under his (probably very dirty) covers for 3 months?

Whether you’re a seasoned snowboarder or a bunny-slope warrior, the ski slopes have something to offer us all (even if it is only hot chocolate in the lodge cafeteria).  Surprisingly though, considering I kiss the snow every 5 feet, skiing isn’t always the most environmentally friendly activity. Between the lifts and the plows and the resort hot tubs running all night long, skiing can leave quite a mark on Mother Earth. But it doesn’t have to.

If you’ve got plans to hit the slopes this season, keep nature and a few of these things in mind:

Are the slopes graded or cleared?
This one’s tricky because it’s a little hard to tell whether you’re skiing on a graded or cleared slope.  A cleared slope is created by cutting down trees and shrubs to make a smooth downhill run.  A graded slope is like a cleared slope on steroids.  Bulldozers are brought in to scrape off the top layers of the soil to make the run unnaturally smooth and hence, boring.  This leaves that particular ecosystem in ruins, causing erosion and decreasing plant biodiversity.  Plus, it takes a lot more resources to maintain because the natural infrastructure isn’t in place to maintain itself.  When you have the choice, ski on a cleared slope to challenge yourself and save the environment.

Ski on real snow.
Early on in the season, many resorts bring in huge snow making machines that guzzle water and energy just to attract the early birds.  The best way to decrease this practice is to wait until it’s actually snowing to hit the slopes.  Moreover, many resorts use graded ski slopes just to open the runs a week early, so give ‘em a double whammy by waiting until it’s actually ski season to make your trek to the mountains.

Ski cross country or choose chair lifts wisely.
Cross country skiing is one of the most energy intensive exercises, burning up to 500 calories per hour depending on weight.  What’s more, that energy you burn translates into energy you save by not using a chair lift.  If you’re a pansy like me and can’t handle cross-country, don’t fret, just try to find lifts powered by renewable resources.  Aspen in Colorado, Crystal Mountain in Wisconsin, and Heavenly Ski Resort in California all have made efforts to find cleaner ways to power their ski lifts.

Rent your equipment.
This one’s pretty much a no-brainer.  Sharing equipment with other people means that you buy less and thus, fewer resources are needed to manufacture ski and snowboard gear.  If you have to buy your own skis or snowboard,  be sure that you sell it or give it away when you’re finished so somebody else can have some fun!

Check your resort before you go.
The Ski Area Citizens Coalition has an amazing website that gives every resort a grade based on its efforts to be environmentally friendly.  If you don’t have a regular ski spot, find your new favorite by checking out the Top Ten on the SACC homepage.  Otherwise, check your local resorts by selecting your state and ski area.

Happy skiing and snowboarding!

When winter finally arrives, I’m happy as a clam. I’m looking forward to a solid three months of bundling up, celebrating holidays and the crisp winter air that comes with the drop in temperature.

But when we actually find ourselves knee deep in freezing temperatures (aka now), I find myself less than enthused at certain things that the season brings with it.

Don’t get me wrong – winter is still one of my favorite seasons and I’m enjoying everything it has to offer, but I always seem to forget the little annoyances that come along with the great stuff. While I love it more than anything, there are some things I’d be crazy to not be hatin’ right about now.

Love: Being able to wear my adorable plaid pea coat and leather motorcycle gloves.

Hate: Wearing said coat to run errands and coming back with huge pit stains from sweating my ass off in every store I enter.

Love: All the cute winter activities: ice skating, drinking hot chocolate, holiday themed shows, window shopping the Christmas displays…I can go on and on.

Hate: That I can’t get from activity to activity without my nose turning bright red and my entire face going numb so that I can’t feel the snot dripping down my cheek.

Love: Boots! I can finally bring them all out of storage! My leather motorcycle boots with the chain-linked ankles; the suede above-the-knees flats; my ankle booties; my super comfy, broken-in UGGS…

Hate: That every pair of boots gets encrusted with that salt and slush mixture no matter how careful I am to avoid puddles and snow piles.

Love: Coming in from a chilly day to a toasty room, a comfy pair of sweats, and a warm cup of coffee.

Hate: The fact that the chilly air dries my face out and leaves my skin blotchy and flaking.

Love: Everything about the season is romantic: the holiday lights, snuggling up on the couch, sharing lattes at a café, going Christmas shopping and wrapping presents…

Hate: That the romance in the air suddenly sets off the PDA impulse of all couples and I find myself dodging games of tonsil hockey and hand-holding roadblocks at every turn.

Love: The cute winter accessories that have us all looking like snow bunnies – the puffy earmuffs, cable knit scarves and slouchy berets.

Hate: That the winter accessories make my hair frizzy, static-y and full of tangles and breakage. By the time I get to my destination and take off my winter get-up I look like I stuck my finger in a socket… and used my upper lip as a tissue.

Love: That I can grow my leg hair out 3 inches and no on ever has to know.

Hate: That if I happen to secure a booty call I have to go “freshen up” and try and shave those bad boys off ASAP before he realizes that under my jeans I look like a gorilla.

What else do you guys love or loathe about the season?

Cute veggie handler is always in season.

If you ask any environmentalist what you should eat to go green, they almost always will mention in-season produce.  I, like most of us, love the idea of eating fresh vegetables that haven’t been genetically modified to grow year round.

The only problem with eating in-season vegetables?  I have no freakin’ idea which vegetables are in season!  This holds especially during the colder months, when I, a California native, just assume that everything everywhere else is buried underneath a good 5 feet of snow.  In case you, like me, are utterly clueless when it comes to veggies, I have compiled a handy little guide to make the most educated choices when you’re at your neighborhood farmers market (because that’s obvi where you’re shopping, right??).

Why should I care? In season fruits and vegetables cure cancer.  Okay, not really, but they are still better for your health because they’re less likely to be doused in chemicals.  In-season crops are meant to grow during that time, meaning that they need less manmade help in order to thrive.  They’re also better for the environment because they’re less likely to be shipped from a faraway place that has the perfect growing climate for that crop.  Plus, they just taste better without all of that icky stuff all over it.

What do I need to know? Buying in season is great, but buying locally in season is best.  Head to your neighborhood farmer’s market and buy from the small, local farmers.  They’re less likely to spend money on genetically modified crops and pesticides that keep out of season plants alive, so it’s a greater guarantee that you’ll be putting your money towards those in-season crops.

How do I know which crops are in season? There are some great websites that can provide all of that information for you with the click of a mouse.  My favorite is Sustainable Table because it’s really easy and informative.  Just put in your state, select which month it is and, viola (!), it’s all done for you.

What if I’m just too lazy? Here are a list of crops that are generally in season during the winter months.  Keep in mind that these may or may not be in season in your region, so be sure to double check at Sustainable Table.  For quick reference, winter crops may include…

Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Celery
Onions
Leeks
Potatoes
Pumpkins
Radishes
Greens: Spinach, Arugula, Lettuce, Kale, Swiss Chard, Collard Greens
Turnips
Winter Squash
Apples (early winter only)

What if I hate those foods? Get over it!  I’m guessing that most of us haven’t tried most of the crops on that list.  So suck it up, get creative, and eat yummy food!  I promise, anything can taste good with a few spices and the right recipe.  Plus, adding variety to your diet can really improve your nutritional status.  So dig in and have fun!

There are so many fun couple-activities to do when the cold sets in, besides the obvious sexy time. I mean, that’s always fun but who wants to get naked when its ch-ch-chilly out?

Here are some other great ideas to stay warm with your sweetie.

1. Make hot chocolate together – I’m not talking about the “microwave the water then empty a packet into the mug” hot chocolate. Spend some time together in the kitchen and make true homemade hot chocolate. It’s a great way to bond and you’ll have a delicious treat when you’re done! Or if you’re not into hot drinks, bake some Christmas cookies or something. Pretty much anything that uses the oven/stove will work to get nice and warm.

2. Pick a Fight – There’s nothing wrong with a little play fighting every now and then, especially because it will warm you up… and it involves a lot of touching. For those of you who DO want sexy time in the middle of winter, you can spice things up by initiating a little couch-to-bed wrestling match.

3. Pick a Snow Fight – Sometimes the snow outside really is tempting. Especially when it only snows once a year here at my campus. So get bundled up and go play in the snow! There’s nothing like a snowball to your boyfriend’s head to help you work out some of that angst leftover from when he ditched you for the boys last week. Plus, there’s nothing better than that hot bath/shower together once you get back inside.

4. Have a Marathon: Keeping up with all of the good shows on TV during the semester is impossible, and unlike “The Hills” or “Cougar Town,” there are a lot of sitcoms that both you and you guy can enjoy together. Get the seasons on DVD, pop some popcorn or make some hot chocolate and curl up on the couch all day. “It’s always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Arrested Development” are hilarious to both girls and guys (which isn’t an easy feat) and will keep you entertained for hours. Or get into a drama series that you’ve never watched before like “Lost” or “House” by starting from the beginning and catching up on what you’ve missed.

5. Dine-in: So it’s freezing cold outside and neither of you feel like bundling up in 8 layers and braving the wind-chill to get to the restaurant. Plan a menu (CollegeCandy has plenty of recipes!) that you can make at home and cook it together (or if your cupboards are bare like mine, order in from your favorite restaurant), then light some candles and have a private, romantic dinner for two. What makes dinner at home even cozier? Spread out a blanket and some pillows on the floor and have an indoor picnic.

The best part of all these ideas (well, most…): they keep your legs covered, because, let’s be honest, no one wants to shave in the winter.

Now go get cuddling!

Got any other winter date ideas

Did you do your part to celebrate Earth Day this year? Maybe you showered with your man to conserve water or skipped the cardboard sleeve on your Starbucks to reduce paper waste. As for me, I went to a showing of DisneyNature’s new documentary film, Earth.

If you are into the kind of documentaries that make you feel incredibly guilty for living a lifestyle full of gas guzzling cars, 30 minute hot showers and an “ignorance is bliss” attitude, then this movie is not for you! Going in, I expected a deep-voiced narrator (most-likely Morgan Freeman) to describe how keeping my laptop charger plugged in is contributing to the deaths of adorable, innocent baby polar bears, but was pleasantly surprised at the opposite.

This film didn’t make me feel like a bag of crap for living in a world of consumerism. There was no finger pointing and guilt tripping here! However, the gorgeous views from around the world (and the stories of amazing animals) did make me think twice about not recycling my Red Bull. Instead of laying it on thick about the importance of what humans can do to help the planet, the narrator takes the viewer on a trip around the globe to educate you on the things we forget even exist.

Did you know that the Rainforest makes up only 3% of our land mass, but contributes more than 50% of our Earth’s oxygen? Not only did that fact blow my mind, but it inspired me to spend a Saturday not hungover in bed, but outside planting a garden instead.

But the facts and information presented were nothing compared to the film’s photography; I have never seen ocean water so crystal clear or trees so lushly green. Imagine what it would be like to take a helicopter tour over Hawaii and you can get an idea of what watching this movie was like. I especially loved the time lapsed sequences when you could watch a flower bloom in seconds and see an entire continent turn green with growth. My mouth hung open in awe at what our planet can do!

Oh, and the animals!  Watching the baby polar bears play in the snow had my heart melting along with the ice caps; and nothing is cuter than a furry little butt (as long as it’s on an animal and not my man).

The OCD bird who was obsessed with cleaning up his nest to attract a female had me cracking up in my seat. I barely know any guys who would go to the trouble of picking up a sock, let alone scour his room to spic-and-span standards! Those “chicks” in the forest have it made! When you’re not laughing at the birds, you’ll be rooting for several animal families as they run from predators and risk their lives in search of food and shelter. After learning that elephants trek for over a month just to find a drink of water, you’ll never hear me complain about a 3 mile run again (well, maybe).

If you haven’t gone to see this film yet, I am urging you to run out and buy a ticket. This is one documentary that is anything but boring and won’t have you feeling guilty when you do have to print out that 10 page essay or go for a drive. You’ll be cracking up at the animals, mouthing “WOW” at the gorgeous sights and become inspired to do your part to keep our world as beautiful as it has always been.

Don’t forget to stay for the ending credits! You can catch a hilarious blooper of the filmmakers crashing into a tree in their hot-air balloon. High comedy, I promise!