Braving the winter weather

Wow -- it sure has been a while!

I have recently started my new job, working evenings on the sports desk at the Canadian Press, so I am hoping to have a little more time to blog now that I'm not going to bed at 10 p.m. to wake up at 5:30 for work every day.

With the winter weather quickly upon us (we had a tiny bit of snow here north of Toronto where I live about a week and a half ago) I thought it would be a great time to talk about gearing up for the snow.

I blogged last winter about my love affairs with coats and boots, so I'll spare the details on my personal collection. I did, however, want to talk a little bit about some chic options for keeping warm, especially if you spend a lot of time outdoors (or like me, in chilly minor hockey arenas) -- keeping warm doesn't necessarily have to mean bundled up and boring!

As I talked about a little earlier in the year, I have seen a lot of plaid coats this fall, and I'm hoping to get my mitts on one in time for the Marlies tournament in about a month's time. I do still have my red coat from last season, which are still all over the stores and magazine pages again this year. I have also picked up a black and white houndstooth scarf which looks great with my red pea coat.

I have been getting a lot of conflicting information about what is in for nails this season. In one magazine I read regularly, it offered tips on how to do ridiculous things to your nails (like those awkward reverse french mani's where you do your moon one colour and the rest another?) and putting seed beads on your nails. (No. Really. Some designer did it at a runway show, and they wanted to copy it. Not practical at all.) The main trends I have been observing so far are practical nude-shades and pale pinks, which work well for day or at the office. (My office doesn't care -- and I work with all men -- so if I want to show up in gold glitter nails, well, I'm more than welcome.) One of the other trends is metallic shades. I have invested in a beautiful gold (not a hokey fake gold, but a low-shimmer gold with just the right hint of holiday sparkle) and a shimmery coppery shade, which I adore, but stains my nails when I take the polish off. So prepare to put another dark colour over top for a few days while it sorts itself out.

I am absolutley in love with all the kitschy alpine sweaters -- the reindeer, snowflake and other motifs are all the rage, and while I have my collection limited to one sweater, Chatelaine had a few noteworthy selections in this month's issue, including leggings? I'm not a huge fan of leggings -- I'm still sick of them from wearing them every day for about four years straight in the early 90s. Basically any fashion trend from about 1989 to 1995 is completely off my radar and I refuse to wear it to save myself from vomiting. If you are looking for some non-sweater ways to wear reindeer and snowflakes (which aren't just for the holidays!) there are some intersting scarves, mittens, bags and I even saw a pair of ballet flats (another item of clothing I will never wear) with little wintery motifs.

Not sure if I'll end up having anywhere to wear it, but it sure is pretty -- I recently picked up a beautiful red dress, with a cinched waist and some metallic embellishments. It's a dark red, garnet or so, has optional straps (which I'll definitely have to wear, due to my very large rack) and falls to just about the knee. I even have some pretty silver shoes to wear with it. Just need to find something to go over top, since I'm assuming I'll likely get cold walking around with no sleeves on.

There's plenty of holiday cheer to go around,and I'll have lots of Christmas goodness in my upcoming posts!