Come On, Spring!

It's barely late January and I'm already wishing for spring, rooting for that groundhog and soaking up every moment of sunshine that slips into my window.

I've seen more snow in the last month than the last several years combined, and I am 100% over it - no doubt about it.

As unhappy as gray weather, snow, ice, scary driving conditions, numb fingers, high power bills and the entire month of January usually makes me, though, there is something to be done about it! Enter the "snow day shopping list."

While most of your neighbors are stocking up on ground beef, milk and bread, make your cozy snow-getaway happen by stashing the following in your pantry pre-blizzard:

1. Magazines galore. Shape will inspire you to do crunches during your winter-weather days off, while Southern Living will have you rearranging your living room in no time, thus filling hours of your "I'm 'snow' bored!" down time.

2. Marshmallows, hot chocolate mix, apple cider and spices. And a few beautiful, special occasion mugs. (Self-explanatory.)

3. Cookies. I don't buy sweets because they have a tendency to "disappear" mysteriously - usually into my tummy. On snow days, however, I treat myself with the yummy vanilla cream cookies served as Sunday School snacks in the 90s. No wonder, too - they're cheap!

4. Netflix or several seasons of a TV show on DVD. B and I got sucked into Prison Break earlier this month. The evenings flew by, with nary a snow-thought in sight.

5. Catalogs of warm weather clothing. For when you just need a fix of sunshine. Think Lilly Pulitzer.

6. Bubbly beverage makings: white wine spritzers, maybe a Corona with lime for your gentleman, champagne, pina colada, or any other favorite summer libations. Sounds crazy, but it helps to think warm, think indulgent, think "this won't last forever!"

7. The coziest blanket ever. Reserve it for the month of January, so it feels like an extra treat when those sheets of icy come calling.

8. A gallon of syrup. (What are you going to use all that milk and bread for, if not French toast?)

9. Chili or chicken soup makings. Plop it in a crock pot, tear yourself away from your Netflix marathon to bake a few corn muffins and voila! Warmth from the inside out. Follow promptly with six Sunday School cookies and two white wine spritzers. Perfect evening!

What else would you include in your blizzard stockpile? More sweets? Ingredients for a homemade pizza? Stretchy yoga pants to accomodate all the couch-sitting, TV-watching and cookie-eating you'll be doing?

Here's hoping we don't have to worry about this again for years to come, but it never hurts to be prepared.

In the meantime, here's to dreaming of Easter dresses, seersucker and sunshine!