Hey y’all-I’m back! I mentioned on Instagram last week that I was in need of a short break from blogging. Although I was proud of my consistency with publishing on both the blog and Instagram during my first 10 and a half months of blogging, I began to feel increasingly overwhelmed. It is A LOT trying to balance this blog with a full time job, friendships/personal life, and home organization. So it was very refreshing to have a week or so where I didn’t have any pressure to publish new content on either the blog or my Instagram feed. However, I truly love creating content for y’all, and I’m happy to be back and eager to share some of the ideas that have been swimming in my head. So today I’m diving back into it by sharing seven ways to beat the winter blues.
If you’re anything like me, then by the time the holidays are over you’re ready for spring! January and February are hands down my least favorite months of the year. The warm fuzzies and fun festivities of the Christmas season are over. By the time January rolls around, the cold temperatures don’t make me feel like I’m living in a Hallmark movie. They are simply inconvenient and annoying. It’s so hard to get out of bed in the morning when I check my weather app and see that it’s literally below freezing outside. Furthermore, I’m such a Southerner in that anything below 60 degrees is cold, and anything below 50 is downright frigid!
Nevertheless, I have realized that there are a few silver linings to winter. There’s some stuff in January and February that I actually enjoy doing. So, I thought I would share my favorite winter activities with y’all. Here we go!
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1. Cozy up in my favorite Sherpa pullover.
As much as I love my summer Lilly dresses and seersucker attire, I also adore my Lauren James Linden Sherpa pullover. If I could wear it 24/7 in the winter, then I would. Seriously, I love this Sherpa so much I have it in multiple colors. My newest Lauren James Sherpa is their Linden 2.0 version, which features several enhancements they made to an already amazing pullover. The best part- it’s on sale for 50% off through January 20! You can shop it here, and then enter “OUTERWEAR50” at checkout to get the discount. Warning-you won’t want to take this off. My personal favorite is the blush pink color I’m wearing below, but it also comes in ivory, gray, and black if you’re more of a neutrals person.
Side note- my LL Bean Boots are 25% off through January 22 with code “WINTER.” Also, all of my other ways to beat the winter blues are best enjoyed while snuggled up in a Lauren James Sherpa pullover.
2. Watch Hallmark Winterfest movies.
The Hallmark Channel is well-known for their Christmas movies that play constantly throughout December. However, they play other movies throughout the year as well, including January’s “Winterfest.” Hallmark Channel’s Winterfest features everything from ice castle weddings to unexpected romances due to a ski chalet mix-up. Okay, I will admit that they aren’t quite as good as the Christmas movies. But they are still cute and enjoyable to watch. Of course the endings are predictable, but it’s fun watch everything that happens in between. A new Hallmark Winterfest movie usually premiers every Saturday night in January at 8:00pm EST.
3. Watch college gymnastics.
I have mentioned before that I’m a big fan of gymnastics, and look forward to watching Team USA in the summer Olympics every four years. Contrary to popular belief, I have never competed in gymnastics. In a recent poll on Instagram, 51% thought I was a former gymnast, compared to 49% who correctly guessed that I was a former swimmer. Anyways, I’m still a big gymnastics fan. A couple years ago I discovered that college gymnastics comes on TV on Friday nights in January and February. It’s usually on the SEC Network. They call it “Friday Night Heights.” Even though I despise the sports media’s love for the SEC during football season, I can appreciate the SEC’s prowess at college gymnastics.
Although college gymnastics isn’t quite at the same level as elite world-class gymnastics, the girls are still extremely talented and fascinating to watch. I also enjoy observing the team aspect of college gymnastics. It’s so sweet how excited the gymnasts get for one another! I love me a cozy winter Friday night in watching college gymnastics. UNC has a gymnastics as well, so I also like to make it out to their campus to watch a gymnastics meet in person once a year. I’m actually going to one this Saturday, and will share more details later!
4. Watch college basketball.
Unlike college football, college basketball games occur multiple days of the week. So I don’t have a ritual like I do in the fall where I devote most of my Saturdays to either going to games or watching games on TV. However, I catch my UNC Tar Heels and Clemson Tigers on TV whenever I can. I don’t make trips down to Clemson for basketball games, but occasionally I’m able to catch a basketball game in person at UNC.
5. Drink hot chocolate.
My hot chocolate consumption definitely doesn’t end with the holiday season. I continue to drink it all winter long. Marshmallows in hot chocolate are a must for me, and I also like to top it with whipped cream! How do you like to drink your hot chocolate?
6. Curl up under a cozy blanket.
During the winter months, you really can’t go wrong with grabbing a cozy blanket and curling up with a good book or Netflix. Fleece blankets are my personal favorite, and I especially love my Lauren James blanket in the picture above. Unfortunately it is a few years old, and they no longer make blankets. However, it has a super design featuring a football & bow, and it says “End Zone Etiquette.”
7. Get Organized
Okay, so the process of this one isn’t exactly fun, but the outcome is. The winter months when you don’t feel like going outside are the perfect time to tackle some home organization projects. That way, once spring rolls around, you can enjoy the gorgeous weather without worrying about all the projects you need to do at home. I am currently in the process of going through piles of paper to shred, recycle, or file. I’ve also been going through my clothes and other items and making piles of things to either donate or sell. I will be starting a Poshmark closet soon, so stay tuned! Once I get all this massive organization completed, I plan to do better about going through papers on a weekly basis. This way, they won’t pile up and become an overwhelming project that I tend to procrastinate. )I briefly touched on this in my 2019 Goals post.)
Good in All Seasons
I hope y’all enjoyed this post and that it inspired you to brainstorm your own ways to beat the winter blues. Reflecting on things I like about winter reminds me a lot about seasons of life and the Lord’s faithfulness through it all. I don’t like the cold, but I love wearing my Sherpa pullover and Bean Boots. Similarly, even though I don’t like certain things about my current season of life, there are still some sweet blessings from the Lord in the midst of it. I have realized it’s a game-changer when I focus on the positive things about a season rather than dwelling on the negative. However, I definitely don’t have this mastered. So in addition to challenging y’all to focus on the positive aspects of your season, I’m preaching to myself for whenever I need a reminder.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
-Ecclesiastes 3:1
Now, tell me how you like to beat the winter blues!
-xoxo Liz
