Tuesday brought a cold front, which brought rain and cold temps. Wednesday brought a quiet day at home, hiding away from the cold and rain. Wednesday evening brought… having to get out in the cold.

I’ll share a little secret with you. I kind of love when it gets cold.

I remember a conversation I had with a friend in college. We had our first good “cold snap” in College Station, and we were sitting people watching before class began. Our class had probably about 100 people in it, so it was in a large auditorium style room. We always sat near the back just for the purpose of people watching (and the occasional nap during class). My friend (whose name escapes me this many years later) goes, “I love cold weather. People actually dress nice when its cold.”

That line has stuck with me all these years, because she was right. Gone are the skimpy tops, the ones that usually show off those random little problem areas that we all have. Gone are grungy shorts, and dirty toe nails sticking out of flip flops. They’re replaced with sweaters, jackets, jeans and boots. For the sheer necessity of warmth, people step up how they dress. Suddenly, the summer slouches are replaced with the winter snappies.

This was something my husband noticed before we left to go out to dinner and to take him to pick up the bus. Out of necessity, I pulled out my sweater box and pulled on a deep green turtle neck. Matched with the same jeans and boots I’d worn periodically through the last few months, it made the whole ensemble look much nicer! My husband commented how nice I looked, and I found myself repeating what my friend said so many years ago, “I love cold weather. People actually dress nice when its cold.”

The last several years, I’ve had one little tradition that I am sure my husband cringes at deep down. I love, love, love the Bouclé sweaters from Victoria’s Secret. Love. Like, if I could live in them all winter I would. But that would get very expensive. Nonetheless, every year I try to catch one on sale and order it. I noticed this year they have a sweaterdress that I would love to have, but won’t get because (1) I won’t pay that much and (2) if I bought it, I’d probably sleep in it. All the time.

I love sweaters! I also love layering. It’s the most brilliant thing ever. Stylish and functional. Warm but if you get too hot you just shed a couple layers. Then, ta da! Not so hot any more… but still stylish! And coats have pockets! My purse gets a lot lighter in the winter as my cell phone and keys pretty much just live in my jacket. I might even be guilty of wearing a jacket a little longer than necessary for this purpose alone.

Anyway, I’m seriously no fashion guru, but I do love winter fashions. Everyone steps up the fashion without even trying to look nicer… they just want to be warmer. It’s total win/win!

It’s cold snappy!