what gets me through a minnesota winter.

I say it every year: winter is hard – it’s been especially brutal this year – and I want to live somewhere where subzero temps aren’t a thing. Perhaps that’ll happen eventually (I’m looking at you, Pacific Northwest), but in the meantime, we’re here in Minnesnowta making the most of – and trying my hardest to embrace – the cold. Here are some of my favorite things that make winter a little warmer, brighter and bearable.

a good book + lots of streaming

It’s no secret that reading is a favorite pastime. Nick and I read for about 30 minutes before bed every night, and we’re trying to do a couple reading-only nights a week. Recent reads: Olive Kitteridge and Atlas of the Heart. Reading aside, there’s a lot of TV watching here, too – from Station Eleven to Yellowstone to Love is Blind.

lip balm

I’m a lip balm junkie – my lips are always dry – and have tried them all. Pretty sure there’s one stashed in every room of the house, too. Currently rotating between these: milk + honey coconut, osmia lip doctor, ilia lip wrap overnight treatment, and bāeo bare kiss.

body butter

Frigid temps and the wind do a number on my skin during the winter so I always up my moisturizer game these months. Osea’s undaria algea oil is a favorite – I slathered it on my pregnant belly and no stretch marks – so when they recently launched their undaria algea body butter, I immediately ordered. This stuff is magical. It smells amazing and makes skin so soft and hydrated.

hand lotion

With a baby, I’m constantly either washing my hands or putting on hand sanitizer. Combine that with dry skin, and my hands are so chapped. I keep a bottle of Aveda hand relief both in the kitchen and my office and a jar of beeswax balm in the bathroom and slather both on constantly.

blush + shimmer

Vitamin D pretty is much nonexistent these dark winter days and so is sun-kissed skin so I brighten it up everyday with a little blush and shimmer. I’m currently rotating between ilia multi-stick in dreamer and liquid light serum highlighter in nova, Merit flush balm in Beverly Hills and day glow in champagne, and rms living luminizer.

cozy sofa blankets

There’s not much better than snuggling up on the sofa under a cozy blanket at the end of the day, amiright? We upped our blanket game this winter with a couple fuzzy size medium UnHide Lil’ Marsh blankets. They have a great weight to them and are super warm (the dogs are obsessed).

treadmill

What would I do without our treadmill?! Other than one run in November, I’ve ran 100% of my miles on our treadmill in our freezing cold basement this winter (it’s 55F down there, and I wear a Patagonia fleece the first 5-10 minutes of every run 😆). We upgraded to a Landice L7 last winter. Best money spent.

socks

I am not a sock person – they make me claustrophobic – but I’ve been so cold this winter that I’ve started wearing them around the house. Shocking: I’m way warmer when I wear them.

quality winter gear

There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing, right? Once I learned this lesson – painfully, as way back when I used to ride the bus to work and stand at the bus stop in heels with no socks 🤦🏽‍♀️ – winter was much more bearable. Shocking. I upgraded to a Patagonia Tres 3-in-1 jacket this year (it’s amazing), only wear Bogs Chelsea boots (seriously, I can’t remember the last time I wore sneakers), an Eisbär hat (fleece-lined and stupid warm), and leather Hestra mittens.