ohmygodyouguys

I think I froze a couple years off my life this morning.

(dress: Marshall's; scarf: found; tights: layered black&white lace; boots: ALDO; crystal beads: Grammy Flood)

I don't even know how cold it is, but wow. It might not be so bad, but the wind! There was even a "wind chill" advisory on the morning weather, and holy smokes, I believe it. Winter in Vermont is truly not meant to support human life. I think I need to have my sanity checked...

There are a few nice things about living where I do, however. Our bedroom window overlooks a field, a forest, a river and a mountain range in an easterly direction, so I awake in the morning to light spilling over the hills (now that the days are getting longer and I'm not waking up in the blackest of night). The air is crystal clear (like cutting glass, in this cold), and as I approach the center of my frozen little town on the way to work I am aromatically aroused by the warm scent of woodsmoke mingling with roasting coffee. Waterbury is home to the exponentially expanding Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, an independent VT upstart coffee company that hit it big with their über-popular k-cups (which squirt out a single-serving of coffee). The best part? Not only does the roasting facility reside here (and pleasure my nose-buds daily), but the administrative headquarters are in my office building and the powers that be are generous enough to provide me (and eighty of my closest coworkers) with delicious, bottomless coffee five days a week !

Needless to say, when I was finally able to extricate myself from the frosty grip of the icy air and find refuge safely within the four walls of the workplace, I went immediately for the Keurig and poured myself a steaming hot cup of Wicked Winter Extra Bold.

And that, my friends, is how I survive.

As far as fashion goes, I am in love with this LBD. It has the perfect scoop neckline and flared skirt for ultimate figure-flattery. If I were to embark on any sort of Uniform Project of my own, this is the dress I would choose, hands down... there are so many millions of ways to style it, I kind of can't wait to try them out!

The scarf is kind of an accidental Christmas present from a Secret Santa. It was wrapped&unaddressed&kicking around my parents' house after the big 'Eve party... so now its mine!