We’ve been without the internet for over a week now. If I normally comment on your blog and/or e-mail you etc. etc. it is not that I do not love you any more, it is that I have been too busy being snowed in and then MOVING to go wi-fi hunting. Hopefully, we will get internet hooked up at our new place this week and I can catch up with you all.
I hope everyone had happy happy holidays!
More later.
Love and kisses,
Bridget
Wool socks and long underwear. Yes, THAT is the secret to my success. Or at least why I am one of the very few people smiling as they walk down the street in this unusually cold cold snap that Portland is experiencing. The wool sweater, subzero down vest, fleece, snow boots, wool hat, gloves and GORE-TEX shell might have something to with it too.
But the key essentials are the wool socks and long underwear. 
Wool socks — you really can’t go wrong with a pair of wool socks. No one can see them and they somehow magically make your whole body warmer. I recommend “smart wool” — the kind that doesn’t itch. I do have some cashmere socks and while they are very soft and warm and toasty, they wear out really fast and are better for at home socks than tromping around in the snow socks.
Long underwear — I once dreaded long underwear until I realized that I didn’t have to be cold all of the time. Silk long underwear is absolutely fab — it is so soft and keeps you snug, but it does wear out relatively quickly and they often come with thick waistbands which is totally weird and doesn’t fit under low rise jeans. Cuddle duds are a great alternative. I don’t know what they’re made out of but they are silky and thin and have tiny waistbands.
I don’t recommend regular old school waffle long underwear made of cotton unless you are going for that extra curvy snow bunny look. It’s bulky and makes you feel like a stuffed sausage. Also, cotton just isn’t that warm. I’m not sure who came up with this idea of waffle cotton long underwear but I think it may have been a joke.
With smart wool socks and silky long underwear you too can stomp down the street grinning foolishly! If you want to make an even bigger spectacle of your great snow happiness, I would recommend getting the snow boots that make little snowflake prints in the snow — you can have hours of fun walking backwards watching your own footprints behind you.
V. exciting news — we bought a new car and we’re moving!!! Yes, we don’t like to do things slowly around here. I also started my new job as an on call librarian and interviewed for another librarian job. All action, all the time.
Thanks to everyone for their regrets about the red van. It was a good van and helped us with the move to Portland. But we are moving on to a new vehicle, a little car I like to call… the Green Bomber! It is green and it is cool and it is going to make us v. v. happy. There has been some question about the name — Green Bomber? Why, Bridget, why would you choose such a violent name when you are such a peaceful non-comb
ative type person?
The answer is very simple: because I want to be Mr. Toad from Wind in the Willows. My #1 idol regarding automobiles. He is so so cool. And what does Mr. Toad do? (Besides getting arrested and cross-dressing) He bombs around the countryside in his auto! He doesn’t go tooling about or even ripping around — he bombs. That is my plan for the near future.
The other exciting news is that we’re moving and not to just any old neighborhood in Portland — we’re moving to the BEST neighborhood in Portland. Two blocks away from Klickitat St and not too far from where Beverly Cleary grew up. We’ll be able to walk through her old stomping grounds EVERY SINGLE DAY and see all sorts of landmarks that are in her books!! How could we be so lucky? Maybe some of her writerly wonderfulness will start to rub off. Not that I’m going to start writing chapters books or anything, but she did write some very early YA. All romances, all very concerned with dresses i.e. the best kind of YA.
To get into the holiday spirit I’m also currently reading Let It Snow by the super awesome YA trio of Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle (Lauren is first author to critique me at a conference and who is so sweet I even went back to the conference again the following year). It’s a fun book full of romance though currently the only fashion I’ve heard of is tin foil suits which is a far cry from Cleary’s poplin dresses and pink raincoats, but I hold out hope.
For even MORE holiday cheer, you should look up at the top header of my site. If you normally read this in a reader, you’ll need to click through. My web genius has made falling snow and a super awesome train (which he made himself) that glides by with presents. It is very soothing.*
Bridget
*Soothing until you find out that I am the one driving it. Those web geniuses and their tricky photoshop magic!
It is strangely warm here in Portland. And the grass seems to be turning a more vibrant technicolor green by the day. Granted, my perspective is a bit off being from Wisconsin i.e. the coldest place on earth. No one here seems to think it’s warm and I’ve gotten a lot of funny looks when I’ve said it’s downright balmy and tropical. 
That’s why it wasn’t even a big deal that our van broke down on the way to Thanksgiving. Or that we spent countless hours waiting for a tow truck only to wait countless more to have it towed somewhere else when the shop turned out to be closed the following day. It’s not so bad waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting when you are in no danger of freezing to death. Or using up all of the oxygen in the car because it’s so cold you refuse to crack the windows open.
There is always a bright side, right? Even though we now don’t have a vehicle to drive at all because the expense to fix the fan was over five times what the van is worth. Even though we are now spending countless more hours trying to find a reasonably priced car that won’t break down ever.
Who needs a vehicle when they have green grass (and aren’t in danger of freezing to death)???
