NYC Street Diaries: Trying to Stay Social in the Winter

Okay, hear me out. What sounds better? Staying in your somewhat heated (first floor probs) apartment under one, but preferably two blankets with a cup of tea and no makeup on watching your favorite TV show for the umpteenth time in your comfortable "at home" clothes or putting on a warm, yet cute outfit and leaving your house to see friends. If you said the latter, you're a better person than I. The weather determines a lot of things in my life. Sometimes it's things that are important, like making the executive decision to not wear shorts and flip-flops when it's the winter time unlike men on college campuses in the north or that one guy I see walking down Broadway every day who proudly strolls with his headphones in wearing over the knee shorts and flip-flops in twenty degree (FAHRENHEIT) weather.

Other times, however, it influences my mood and my desire to you know, do things. If it's cloudy and cold I'm bummed out. If it's rainy and gloomy it feels like a waste of a day. And while I don't mind sunny and cold days in terms of my mood, the second the temperatures start to drop enough where wearing two sweaters and tights under my jeans seems like a necessity for my commute, I don't want to brace the cold more than necessary. Which usually loosely translates to never leaving the office besides to leave for the day and once I am home, stay home or if it's a weekend, making sure I have enough sustenance to last two days because honey, I'm #StayingIn.

I struggle with being social in general, even without the cold weather. I love my friends, obviously. That sounded really robotic. I LOVE MY FRIENDS!!! Still robotic, just in caps. Bear with me, guys! I don't even like my own company that much, but I have the internal personality type that just really enjoys being alone and cozy, especially during the evenings. I don't hesitate to say yes to friends when they ask to hang out, but I do spend the day of unintentionally thinking of my bed and being warm and not having to do my hair or makeup. It's an unplanned reaction, despite the fact that I'm usually (okay not usually, I'm always) excited to see my friends. I'm just used to, uh, not being social or having things to do which for many years has slowly transformed me into the homebody who enjoys time by herself.

Factor in the cold and it's a full-on struggle bus that I'm working with. It's basically all a mental game. I mean, physically I will be cold but that's only temporary. It's getting past the hurdle of "it's cold so I never have to leave the apartment if I really don't want to." Sometimes it's hard to explain the inner workings of my mind, most of the time it just makes me seem like a big ole antisocial jerk. It's not true!!! I just learned how to spend time alone and once you figure out how to do that in the comfort for your own home, sometimes it's just hard to get yourself to leave your comfort zone, no matter what the temperatures are but especially if it's cold enough to make your face burn from the wind!

A lot of it just comes down to accountability. It's easy for me to fall into the comfort trap with myself, but all in all, unless I'm in a legitimately crappy mood (it happens!), sometimes I just have to give myself a little bit of a push or nudge into the right direction. Not to quote Frozen but also to quote Frozen because it just fits so perfectly right now, the cold never bothered me anyway. Ya girl is from Western New York. I've felt zero degrees with no windchill. I can handle twenty-degree weather with my layers to see some people! If I can drag my ass to work every morning and walk thirty minutes in the cold, I sure as hell can do it for friends. It's all about will. And living in my teddy bear coat so I do not perish and crumble in the cold. That too.

Jacket: H&M

Sweater: Bershka

Jeans: Old Navy

Boots: Steve Madden

Purse: Rebecca Minkoff

Sunglasses: Forever 21