Virginia Beach in the Winter

The Beach in the winter is a simultaneously depressing and exciting thing. While a lot of things are closed until the high season and the empty streets seem to wait for throngs of vacationers to fill them, it's also like accidentally seeing someone naked. So that's what they look like in the winter.

Drew and I went to visit Plum and Grandpa this weekend in Virginia Beach. There were lots of tunnels and holding our breath, lots of walking on the windy beach and dog-spotting and lots of Taylor Swift and snacks (he had never had Sour Patch Kids).
The Old Cavalier Hotel was closed, so you can see we had to suffice by riding a bike around the parking lot and maybe climbing up onto the roof and praying we didn't fall through the roof. Even peering through the windows and trying to devise ways to break into the Hotel was exciting. That has to be one of my favorite places.
On Sunday we drove over the 17-mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge (terrifying) into the Eastern Shore. What a deserted and strange place. We didn't see any wild horses, but the pebble-littered bay side was hidden behind grassy dunes and it made me feel like I was on the edge of the Earth.

January and February always seem to be the longest months but they are absolutely flying this year. Slow down before I'm 24!

My Boots

Georgetown snow in the early morning

Finally, a little bit of snow. It makes the buttons and zippers and gloves and breathing deeply into your hands worth it. I welcomed the blisters from my boots and tried to ignore the salted streets because honestly, would a snow day have been so terrible?

I would have stayed home in my union suit, reading for book club and questioning how many hot chocolates in one day is too many (more than two, I'm afraid-but ghetto mochas don't count!)

I love the slowness of snow days as if the stillness of the air affects time. Somehow I always fit in hours of sledding plus thawing time plus endless pots of hot chocolate that my Mom always seemed to have ready right when we got home from the sledding hill PLUS a viewing of Snow Day, always. But I'll save that for a real snow storm.

Christmas Tree Lights

Koa, laying in the middle of the lights as we stretched them across the floor before putting them on the tree.

DC Winters, enough already.

After being snowmageddoned in this weekend, i've learned a few things:

1. i love all things Trader Joe's.*

2. i could star in a Campbell's Soup commercial.

3. sledding has lost zero of its charm.

*when shopping at Trader Joe's, always check to make sure your corn dogs aren't meatless.

You Knew This Was Coming

This is my dog Koa. She is cuter than your dog and more entertaining too. I love her and half the pictures I take on my camera are focused on capturing her every movement.

I make no apologies.