I hate to break it to you, but Winter is Coming™. Even over here in (occasionally) sunny San Francisco, the warm extended summer that stuck with us through October has given way to that inevitably wonderful season we know world-wide as sweater weather. It’s a different kind of cold than I’m used to. The cold in Massachusetts is a biting cold that turns your nose red and gnaws at your extremities. Here in San Francisco, the temperature is unquestionably higher, but the cold is damp and clingy. It sticks to your ribs, this cold. And I’m not complaining. I’m perfectly content to sit here at my table in my footie pajamas with my mug of tea while the fog passes over, thankyouverymuch. 

I love, love, love this time of year. I love the fact that everyone comes together over food and family just as the days get oppressively dark and chilly. More than that, I love the notion of bedding down for winter — breaking out the heavy sweaters and sitting by a fireplace with a glass of whiskey and a blanket. Doesn’t that sound like the best scenario on planet earth? Snuggling up with a book and a flannel while the weather turns to Wuthering Heights outside your window? I’ll take one cabin in some remote part of the world where it’s snowing and I can hide out until spring, please.

Where is your happy place right now?