6 Tips for Surviving A Wisconsin Winter

1. Plan a warm vacation for January/February.  After surviving last winter (remember the horrid polar vortex?!), Jonathan and I decided to plan a tropical vacation for February. It really made a big difference on our attitude going into winter because we knew we had our vacation to look forward to.  We decided to got to Florida because it is a direct flight from Wisconsin. We had a blast, and it was a great getaway from the cold.

2. Get a membership to the Domes.  I have talked about the Domes a lot but they are seriously amazing!  There are three domes all with different climates: tropical, desert, rotating.  It is so nice to go walk around and feel the warm air.  Sometimes I just take Ruby there and we get coffee and just sit in the Tropical dome.

3. Drink lots of warm beverages.  Jonathan and I drink so much tea and hot chocolate in the winter. Pretty much every night we fill the tea kettle with water and pick out our drink of choice.  I almost always pick hot chocolate.  It is something to look forward to in the evening.

4. Buy fresh flowers.
Because they will brighten up your home and make you happier, I promise.

5. Invest in warm clothing. Winter lasts a really long time in Wisconsin so it is important to have the right clothing.  I bought a crazy warm coat last year that was expensive but so worth it.  I wear it every single day.  For me, I believe it is important that you invest in a coat that is both warm and cute. You want to stay warm, but also feel good in what you are wearing since you use it so much. Good boots and scarves are very important too.

6.  Delete your weather app. (Or at least all the cities on the West Coast). This may be my number one most important tip. I could write a whole blog post on just this.  The thing is, if you are constantly checking the weather (at least Wisconsin weather) it will disappoint you.  You will be depressed about the day/week before it even starts.  You will make a predetermined judgement about the weather without experiencing the actually weather conditions.  And, I can tell you from experience this does not help you survive the winter.  I have found it is much better to just be surprised each day.  If the day happens to be nice then I can be pleasantly surprised, but if it isn’t, at least I haven’t wasted the previous day dreading the bad weather for the present day.  Also, it helps to just not know it is -5 degrees outside. This all may sound weird but I promise it helps.

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