Winter Favorites – 2019
Each year, Modern Mrs Darcy invites readers to share their list of what’s saving their life during winter. I typically don’t struggle with the doldrums of winter (although this polar vortex is really testing me), so I’m calling this my “winter favorites” list instead. Often it’s a bunch of little things that help me enjoy winter. Plus, I’m always excited to see the first snowfall!
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2019 Winter Favorites
Free Panera Bagels – For an unknown reason, Panera offered me one free bagel a day for the entire month of January through my myPanera account. Even though I only used it seven times (yes, I counted), it made my entire month better. Who doesn’t love a free bagel??
Fuzzy Socks – My fuzzy sock collection got a few new additions this Christmas! They bring me such joy when I slip them on first thing in the morning or right after I get home from work.
Big Blankets – We also received a few new cozy blankets this year. There are now blankets sprawled over every bed, couch, and chair in our house for easy access anytime we want to curl up.
Pellet Stove – My favorite spot in the house during the winter is standing two inches from our pellet stove, rotating like a rotisserie chicken. Although I curse our house’s electric baseboard heating and the insane cost, I’m undeniably grateful that it means we run our pellet stove full time. I love the intense source of heat and the aesthetic appeal of a roaring fire.
Mini workouts – I’ve severely cut down my workouts while pregnant, but I still try to manage a walk outside or a mini weightlifting session in our living room. Despite not wanting to get off the couch, I always feel better afterward.
Nursery decorating – Our Christmas break involved a few nursery projects that I’m excited to eventually share with you all! We still have lots of furniture and accent pieces to add, but I’m so happy with the progress thus far. If you want to see the final version, you can check out my full tour of our travel themed nursery!
Homemade Chai Tea Lattes – I impulse purchased a milk frother over a year ago and FINALLY got around to trying it this winter. I can brew my favorite chai tea and add warm frothed milk to make a healthier and much cheaper latte at home.
Reading – Obviously this has to make the list. I’m powering through books this season since I have no idea what my life will look like after having a baby. I’ve finished 12 books already this month, which is surprising even to me! You can check out my list of cozy wintry reads if you need inspiration for the season!
Blog Goals – Normally I don’t spend much time thinking about what I want to do with this space. I just write posts about topics that interest me and call it a day. This year though, Jay helped me brainstorm some ideas and I came up with an actual list of goals for my blog! If interested, you can read them here.
What are some winter favorites that are getting you through this season?
Great post! I really do not enjoy winter, but cozy blankets and books make it so much better. My “baby” just turned 3 and I can still remember when we decorated her nursery. She literally just told my husband this morning how she is going to take down all the elephant pictures (that I so painstakingly picked out on Etsy) and put up unicorn pictures. Sad for me, but I love that she has opinions now! Enjoy it!
Oh no I hope I never have to take down our wall decal!! Luckily if another one comes along we can move this boy into a new room where he can pick out whatever he wants. Then the newborn will be stuck with the current nursery 🙂
I’m not bothered by winter either; I’ve fully embraced the whole ‘hygge’ thing and have learned to love cozy pants, heaps of blankets, candles, and mugs of steaming coffee. (Now spring, ugh. Wet, sloppy, it looks pretty outside but is still 27 degrees, I’m not a fan.) It’s great time for reading and I’m all for that.
I used to read to my son out loud all the time when he was a baby, even stuff that I was reading, and when he was 3, I started reading all those classics that you’re supposed to have read in school, out loud to him, starting with A Tale of Two Cities. He would play with his cars and action figures and listen while I read (we still snuggled and read stack after stack of children’s books!). We did this all the way until he was 11 and read some great books together. My daughter is of an entirely different personality and hasn’t been quite so amenable to this, but we’re still slowly making our way through Sense & Sensibility. I really struggled with reading when she was little, though, because she never, ever let me sleep (to the point where I was hallucinating, it was that bad. I was an extreme case, not the norm!). Things will change for you, reading-wise, but you’re also going to be reading so many great children’s books, and that’s exciting, too. 🙂
Haha you might need a “What’s getting me through spring” post 🙂 I have plans to read Harry Potter to this kid once he arrives! I’m hoping he’ll subconsciously learn to love it that way, especially since my husband will be a bad influence since he’s not a fan of the series haha!! I’m excited to revisit some classic childrens books that I loved and find out what’s new out there.
Followed you over from Modern Mrs. Darcy–and hopped on your Insta because I love this blog name! I love your sweet post and calling it “favorites”. Congrats on baby!! It’s one of the most life-changing, most amazing thing to become a mother, and don’t worry, you’ll still have time to read. It just may look different 🙂
Thanks so much! Always happy to hear from other moms who are readers!
Congrats on your coming baby! I have two nieces due one in March and one in June. I can’t wait to get some baby snuggles in as my baby is 14! I have a milk frother built into our coffee pot and I’ve never used it but now feel like I should try it and make a latte. Thanks for the inspiration. Oh, and YES to free bagels. I only got 1 because I don’t get there as often, but that 1 was a treat!
So many babies! That’s helpful to have a frother built right in. Hopefully it’ll make a delicious latte : )
Fuzzy socks & chai tea lattes are on my list too!! 🙂 I love the blanket you linked to. I’ve been looking for something like this and that one looks just lovely.
Those sherpa blankets with the fuzzy side are my absolute favorites.
I love when Panera gives us random free bagel months! We have blankets all over our house, can’t get enough of them!
They really are the best months – it’s like they know we need a pick me up in January haha.
Mini workouts are the best for pregnancy and on into motherhood! It’s great that you’re already learning the art of simply doing what you can instead of being all or nothing about long workouts! I have four kids, and I am just now getting back to longer runs/walks now that my oldest is 9 and youngest almost 2. But in between that time I just did what I could and never got too far gone, haha. =) Prayers that the rest of your pregnancy is healthy and happy!
Thanks so much! Great job sticking with some form of activity for that long. Good luck with your lengthy runs nowadays!
First, Congratulations on you expectant bundle of joy!!! What’s saving me right now is keeping up with my blogging goals(post 1x a week) keeping up with my reading goals(30 books by year’s end) and caring for my 2 month old and my 11 year old. All of these things take the focus off of the stressors in my life and help me to keep moving forward. Following you on IG,Twitter,and Pinterest. Good luck with everything!
Congrats on your new little one too! It makes me so happy to hear you’re still finding time for blogging and reading even with two kids.
I totally want to get in on this free Panera Bread action – one of my favorite places for a quick breakfast!
Sign up for myPanera if you’re not already! Hopefully you’ll get the free bagels soon.
Free Panara Bagels for the win! I hate that every time I have my card loaded with something for the month, I completely flake and don’t use it until the very last week/day even. That happened with bagels (thankfully not with coffee!). What a great list. I recently put mine together too, if you care to check it out!
http://manaboutwords.com/whats-saving-my-life-right-now/
Fuzzy socks make me so happy 🙂