How One Floridian Survives the Arctic Atlanta Winter

Having spent the majority of my life in and around Florida, most recently South Florida, the move from climate zone 10 (min temp 30F) to zone 7 (min temp 0F) has been an adjustment.  Only made worse by dim memories of early childhood in mountainous rural northern New Hampshire, which my research tells me is zone 4 (min temp -30).  I’m still not sure how I survived that, but my pink snowsuit was probably the key.

The combination of dropping temperatures and rapidly receding daylight make Fall and Winter pretty rough for me.  I get up, it’s dark.  I admit I do like to watch the sunrise as I ride to work.  I leave work, and the sun is setting again.  And if I’m not careful, I go home and fall asleep right after dinner.

So, what does a normally cheerful and enthusiastic person do to keep warm, stay healthy, and keep her spirits up in the crushing bleakness of Atlanta’s (comparatively) Arctic Winter?

• Layering is not just putting on more t-shirts!  Here’s what I wear to work on a given Winter day:
  1. Cotton blend tights (wool would be better, but it’s pretty expensive) or thermal leggings
  2. Knee socks and/or legwarmers
  3. Dress pants
  4. Long sleeved layering t-shirt
  5. Animal-fiber sweater (wool, cashmere, silk, blends thereof)
  6. Cardigan – I take this off when I take off the coat
  7. Wool-cashmere blend lined coat from the menswear dept (good prices at Marshalls!)
  8. Knitted scarf (sometimes I wear the one my mother made me AND the one my boyfriend made me AT THE SAME TIME)
  9. Knitted hat
  10. Gloves (my friend gave me some gorgeous stretchy ones with beads!)

  Once I’m all suited up, I just have to remind myself that even if my face feels like it’s going to fall OFF, the rest of me is warm, really.

• Winter makes everything really dry, which is another unfamiliar condition. I’ve been experimenting with:
  1. Humidifiers – we got a second one this year, and it’s been helping a LOT.  The only problem is keeping them filled!
  2. Lip balm in my coat pocket, always.
  3. Skin Oil – hot showers are dehydrating, but if I apply a nice massage oil in the shower, scrub with a pouf and body wash, and then apply moisturizer as soon as I dry off, good things happen!  I’ll probably just use the oil once or twice a week to save time.

  The only thing I haven’t perfected yet is the damage my frequent hand-washing is doing to my nails and cuticles. But I kind of don’t want to get H1N1 more.

• Projects broken into babysteps are keeping my brain from going into hibernation.  Each night I have a plan for dinner (or ask B to plan for dinner), and 3-4 goals to achieve for different projects.  I’ve been getting a lot done!

So that’s it.  I’ve been keeping myself busy with these experiments and dreaming of what I’ll do when Spring comes.  What do YOU do to cope with the cold?