Reflections on the cold weather coming from a native Angeleno...

...or is it "Angelina"? Whatever.

So, this is my fourth "real" winter. Before I moved to Boston, so many people said, "Oh, you're going to freeze your butt off!" or "You're going to miss LA so much once the winter hits!"... and many other life-will-suck sorts of comments and warnings.

But I must be honest, it's really not that bad.

In a given winter, there are probably three or four days where I say, "Ok, this isn't wonderful. In fact, it's quite awful." But seriously, the extreme cold (below 20s with windchill...you know, snot-freeze temp) does not last forever. Most buildings are heated (sometimes too much). When the weather is gross (snow with freezing rain and slushy stuff in the streets up to your knees), it comforts me to know that I'm not the only one dealing with it.

I believe I have the keeping-body-warm thing dialed. The key is layers. Ok, so here are my tips. I'm sure everyone knows all of this information, but it's nice to lay it out:

*A lightweight short-sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt over that (or vice versa with the long sleeve under the short sleeve),
*Perhaps a sweater on top of that....
*A good coat.
*Tights under jeans is always a nice touch. I'm not sure how guys deal with this, although there's that lovely advertisement for women's pantyhose from Joe Namath.
*Leg warmers are awesome...
*Boots with fuzzy stuff on the inside (sorry, sleek and fashionable lady-boots don't really work. I've tried it). My first winter I didn't quite get the sock-thing down. I thought the thicker the socks, the better. Not true. Thick socks make tight boots make no oxygen make very cold feet. There must be air between the foot and boot to actually get warm.
*Arm warmers. These are a definite staple of the LadyRay uniform from October until April (sometimes May). That's why it's worth getting a few cute ones (check out Etsy!)...
*Those awesome 180 ear-muff things. I still can't believe how well those things work.
*A hat.
*Scarf. Maybe two (on the particularly bone-chilling days)...
*Gloves. I'm definitely a fan of the "convertible" gloves that are half glove-half mitten. That way you don't have to take them off all the time (like when paying for groceries or whatever).

Ok, so it's mid-January and we have about two or more months of the cold. At this point I'm definitely used to it. I am looking forward to that glorious spring day where 50 degrees feels more like 75 and everyone is shining...