Winter can be wreak havoc on your body and psyche. Your skin is dry, your ears are cold and there is nothing sexy about long underwear. More than anything, I hate daylight savings; getting out of 4pm class to complete darkness is the worst. Having moved from Texas to New York, northern winters hit me particularly hard.  I visited Columbia as a prospective student in February, so I knew just how cold it could get up here. The one thing nobody told me just how long northeastern winters last! From November to April, I am absolutely freezing, and what was up with that blizzard on Halloween? This year I am taking a stand. Since I only have one year left of college, I’m determined to not let winter be the worst part of it. I am not going to order Indian delivery and hide under my covers all day. I have combined three years of actual winter experience with some online research to compile a winter blues action plan to get us through it.

Stay warm and dry.

This seems obvious, but maximizing your warmth and dryness actually takes some tact. You want to be warm, but you don’t want to look like a snowman or get wedgies. Layers are the key to staying warm while looking somewhat polished. Seriously, you probably couldn’t guess the number of layers I’m wearing right now. During the winter, I layer tights (usually with a flesh color at the bottom) and wear camisoles under my shirts. I also recommend a layer of cashmere or lightweight fleece under your coat. For ultimate warmth invest in good rain boots and an effective winter coat (I am a fan of Burton coats because they are stylish and sturdy). When it is really cold, I wear thick ski socks and weave two pashmina scarves (of complementary shades) together for double warmth. It is pretty annoying to take on and off layers upon layers whenever you enter or exit a building, but being warm is worth it.

Music

When you have to walk somewhere, distract yourself from the biting cold by listening to music. If you wear big stereo headphones, they can double as hipster ear muffs.

Exercise

Just because bikini season is over does not mean you should fall into a sedentary lifestyle. Staying healthy will keep you happy; the only reason your winter jeans should be a size bigger is to accommodate long underwear. Exercising regularly will keep your endorphins levels up and keep you feeling good about yourself. Wouldn’t it be magnificent to already be in good shape when spring comes around?

Indulge in winter-time treats

Winter comes with special food and activities: cider, hot chocolate, ice-skating, skiing, fireplaces Christmas markets, cuddle buddies. Getting excited about the nice features of winter can make it seem less dull, at least for the first few months.

Light

Don’t be left in the dark! Soak in as many rays as you can and work under bright lights. Lack of sunlight has been proven to be a depression trigger. Some people swear by light therapy; I personally haven’t tried it, but maybe I’ll get some brighter light bulbs this year.

Don’t Get Sick

Just because it is winter doesn’t mean you have to catch a cold. Wash your hands regularly, carry hand sanitizer, get a flu shot, take a multivitamin and maintain your healthy diet.

Don’t Get Congested

Maybe it is just me, but whenever the heater is on I wake up congested every morning. I try not to blow my nose too much because I am susceptible to winter nosebleeds. Every since I started including a Neti-Pot rinse to my morning routine, winter has felt less stuffy.

Vitamin D

If you feel like you need more vitamin D in your life, take a supplement or eat Vitamin-D rich foods. Don’t use a tanning bed!

So normally, I try to keep the Weekly Ten a positive place. Best kisses. Best boys. Best ways to spend your winter break. But this week, well, that’s just not happening.

I’m not sure if it’s the bad weather or the senioritis or my inability to focus on any one task for more than five minutes at a time, but I’ve been in quite the mood these past few days. And I’m taking my anger out on February, this too short, unproductive, cold, depressing, and generally annoying month.

So here’s why I am officially hating on February.

10. Groundhog Day is a bogus holiday. Yes, okay. So it’s cute to watch a little groundhog crawl out of a whole and get scared by its own shadow. But is this holiday ever actually accurate? I mean, I’m crossing my frozen fingers that this year it will be; there’s nothing I’d love more this year than an early spring….especially after Snowmaggedon 2011.

9. One month closer to midterms. What comes after February? March.  The month of midterms. The month of study sessions and papers and cramming and procrastinating.  The two week long process of trying to relearn everything you’ve already forgotten. February is cruel even as it leaves us. Read More »

“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: Read More »

About mid-July, after a month and a half of sweating my makeup off and having my thighs chafe in my shorts, I am begging Mother Nature to let winter come. I want to be able to not start dripping the second I step outdoors, I’m bored of all my summer clothes and overall just over the season in general.

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. Read More »

The cool days are officially starting, and here at Syracuse that means the cold days are just around the corner.  I can just feel the winter depression setting in, and my skin feels the same way.  My hands are already dry and eczema is surfacing.  Yeah, I think that definitely makes someone wanna hold my hand…if that someone also happens to have winter lizardy skin.

As if losing your summer bronze glow isn’t bad enough, the cold wind and weather does some serious damageto your skin. And your precious face and dainty hands get the worst of it, as they most often feel the harshness of the cold air. So how can you protect your skin without staying in your room all day? (No, that isn’t an option; professors don’t care about your skin that much.)

Below are some suggestions to get your skin back to the baby’s-bottom-soft feel of summer. No more cracking, flaking or drying out this winter, women.

Hands: If your skin is only mildly dry or you just want to prevent it from happening, a thick cream will do the trick.  Try L’Occitane’s Shea Butter Hand Cream or Bliss’ High Intensity Hand Cream. And keep that stuff with you wherever you go; skin dries out quickly in the winter-time and you want to be prepared.

If your hands are cracky or you have eczema, you know that Cortisone ointment can be helpful but sticky.  So try mixing together the ointment with an unscented lotion like Cetaphil.  If your hands are really bad, apply petroleum jelly before you go to bed under some white cotton gloves (this both traps in all that moisture…and prevents you from making a serious jelly mess all over your bed). When you wake up it will be worth the annoyance, because your skin will be way softer.  Read More »