Snarky Apple: Avoid the Winter Blues

Listen, I get it, it snows in Minnesota. That said, some winters - like this one - can be particularly brutal. We've been buried under snow for far too long this winter. It's starting to become EXTREMELY difficult to see beyond the huge mounds of frozen dirt lining the streets. So, how do I keep the winter blues at bay? Like any other good Minnesotan, I do stuff. Now, I'm not an outdoorsy kind of gal, so my "stuff" falls in the food, fun, and fashion categories:

SOURCE: Minnesota Opera

Art Events. Believe it or not, I'm going to my first opera - La traviata - in a couple weeks. I don't know a damn thing about opera, but I do know fun when I see it. I've been to two other events with the Opera's young professional folks, Tempo, and I've had a total blast. Their Opera Tasting last fall was fabulous (and also made our year end Good Apples list) and just last Friday I was wowed by their event at the Varsity Theater - Spectacular!SPECTACULAR! (or something like that?). I'm not sure what else Tempo does, but they sure do throw together some fun parties. Apparently, there's always a cast party after the opening night performance at a nearby restaurant (see? more parties!). Don't know if I'll make it to the cast party, but if the past is any indication, I imagine it'll be fun.

A Skyway Pub Crawl. Nothing official (but if you know of something, let me know!). A few friends and I are totally just gonna cut out of work a little early, chase happy hours, and bypass the cold by sticking to bars in the Minneapolis skyway. On our list (in no particular order): Zahtar, Kieran's, M&S Grill (food during HH is crazy cheap!), Bradstreet, Applebee's (don't judge), Wondrous Kitchen, Mission. Yes, this list is totally random, but that's part of the fun. Once we finalize our list, I'll share it.

SOURCE: dreamstime

Eat, eat, and more eat. I'm not even gonna pretend that I give a crap about bikini season at this point. Right now, I'm all about yummy and delicious comfort food. Give me some french onion soup, hotdish (of the Haute Dish variety), any sort of chili, and a good bottle of wine to wash it down.

Wine. I generally find that I'm more often in a wine mood in the winter (summer = margaritas and gin & tonics). So, I use long winter nights as an excuse to experiment and try new wines. For those of you who work in downtown Minneapolis, there's this cute new little wine shop - Skyway Wine & Spirits. Free delivery, wine tastings, and 10% on Wednesdays. They've already saved my @ss a couple times (my turn to bring wine - I forgot - they were open!).

Clothes Swap. I've done a couple of these and I love them. Right now, we're all starting to dream about the spring (doesn't help that spring catalogs keep showing up in the mail). Anyway, a clothing swap is a fun way to motivate yourself to actually clean that closet of yours. Here's the quick and dirty: go through your closet and identify 1. the must-keeps, 2. the cute, but no longer me (for whatever reason), and 3. the crap that's got to go. Keep pile number 1 and get rid of pile number 3. Wash and prep pile number 2 - they're gonna be your trade items. Get a few friends together, bust out a bottle of bubbly, and let the trading begin. Now, if you Google "clothes swap party," you'll see there are about a bazillion different sets of rules for this sort of thing. I'm not that fancy (nor are my parties that big), so I just wing it, but if you'd like some specific directions - there are plenty out there.

Movie Catch-up Time. I don't know about you, but when the weather is gorgeous, dark movie theaters are the last thing on my mind. I'm probably enjoying a patio for brunch, happy hour, or something. Now, movies in the winter - fantastic. Give me a comfy couch, a warm blanket, some popcorn, and maybe an adult beverage and I'm ready to catch up on everything I've missed.

Anyway, those are a few things I do to beat back the winter blues. How about you guys? What keeps you sane during these cold, gray days?