You know what the thing about winter is?

It’s freezing cold and the sun doesn’t like to come out a lot. I like to complain about it, but the truth is, I’m used to it. It’s all I’ve ever known, really. I grew up in Syracuse, dubbed as the “snowiest city in America”. So, yeah, I like to complain, but this whole winter thing is nothing new to me. I grew up with it, I went to college with it, and now I live in a place that continues to embrace it every. single. year.

{except for last year, and that was weird.}

But the REAL thing about winter is that’s it’s okay to be lazy. It’s okay to wear the same thing over and over every single day and it’s okay to hunker down and hibernate. Goodness knows I have been, and I hope you have too.

Here are some other fun facts about different things I’ve been up to lately…

1. This is the view on my drive to work. Every day it is beautiful, but on especially blue days it’s my favorite.

2. About a year ago I started to write “A Guide to Boston, according to me”… after a few hours I became increasingly overwhelmed and I gave up on it {typical}. It now sits in my drafts folders just waiting to be brought to life, or rather, waiting for me to get inspired to work on it again, but until that day comes I will tell you this: if you ever come to Boston you must go to Bates Hall, the reading room inside of the Boston Public Library. It will be magic and you will not regret it.

Other places to check out:

Acorn Street and all of Beacon Hill

The Esplanade on the Charles River

Top of the Hub and the Skywalk Observatory

MFA and the Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum

The South End on a Sunday

{Okay, okay, maybe I will go back to that guide someday.}

3. I’ve been super into the “Throwback Thursday” phenomenon lately. Can you find all the throwbacks sprinkled throughout this post? I got a bunch from my house the last time I was home— enough to last me a few more weeks at least. So fun and I especially love when other instagram friends do it too. I love old photos and especially love seeing friends in their little days.

4. Me, in winter. I hate the cold, but I LOVE wearing all my hats.

5. A few weeks ago I happened to stop into Urban during a super sale. I got these boots for $20 that day, and this shirt because, well, IT’S ADORABLE.

6. Garland is all the rage over in this neck of the woods.

Last month I put up this pretty paper garland in my kitchen from Sycamore Street Press. I’m pretty in love with it.

And last week I bought two more kinds of garland {one for my home + one for my classroom} from sweet Janee. She hand delivered my goodies to me while we sat and chatted over warm tea + coffee and the most delicious Buttery Biscuits. Janee has an online shop, Yellow Bird Yellow Beard, that is AMAZING and you can check it out here.

7. If heaven was on earth it would be here. I just know it.

8. Speaking of books, I just finished this one. Oh my. Oh, oh, my. Captivating, mysterious, full of love and hope and betrayal and longing. This book was wonderful. It brought me to tears and gave me chills as I turned the very last page. Everything I love about a well-written story. Tragically beautiful. I absolutely loved it.

+

ARE YOU STILL READING? Because I’m still writing…

+

9. Jarlsberg and raspberry jam on grilled french bread. Try that on for size and tell me that you don’t like it. I DARE YOU.

10. Me, in a dream. Except it was REAL. OH, my heart. Oh, my Venice. {working on a post! living in a dream!}

11. Being here reminds me of summer.

12. This weekend brought me to Allston for breakfast with my very good friend Clair. We hadn’t seen each other in MONTHS! And she just got engaged! So it was a happy reunion. I usually like to make jokes about Allston {I can, I lived there once}, but this venture out was worth writing home about. The Allston Diner is terrific, people. It truly, truly is.

13. A GIFT! From the nicest! Last summer Elizabeth started a pen-pal project on her blog. She matched up, as best she could, two readers together to be pen pals for the summer. My pen pal was Emily, a teacher from Santa Barbara, California {cool, right?!} and yesterday I got a gift subscription from her to a really great, well-known online software training website, Lynda.com. She read my recent blog post on photography and basically warmed my heart with her gift. Camera tutorials! Lightroom videos! Photoshop lessons! All at my fingertips. It really is the most exciting thing, and I’m so so thankful. Thanks again, Emily! I think you are amazing!

And that’s it, friends.

That’s my life in a nutshell.

{And apparently, in a really long blog post.}

HAPPY MONDAY! Keep it real, kids.