Wednesday, October 29, 2008

A layercake of clothing.

I've always claimed to love layering, but I don't think I ever really understood the true meaning of layering clothes until last night. I slept with a pair of socks on, sweat pants, a tank top, a long sleeve sleepshirt on top of that and to top it off slept with my UT (go longhorns!) sweatshirt on! I woke up this morning short of breath because I apparently wrapped my blankets too tightly around my face at some point during the night. When it was time to get ready for work and remove myself from my cocoon of hot blankets, taking that first step into the shower was one of the hardest things I've had to do in a long time. It's absolutely freezing in New York at the moment and I don't think we've hit the 30's yet! I think my teeth just chattered! Whew! Today I also realized that I stick out like a sore, cold thumb in this city. One of my customers told me this afternoon that I'm going to have to invest in proper winter clothes because I wasn't wearing warm enough leggings under my dress. Oh god. What do you mean, proper winter clothes? Leggings aren't going to cut it? What do I do instead? Is that what leg warmers are for? What exactly is long underwear? Can it be worn in public? Earmuffs...really?? This is so confusing...

Winter definitely is approaching quickly. I'm going to have to get on this warm clothes thing FAST! Thankgoodness my room in our new apartment will have a heater. I thought I'd easily be able to handle the cold because I love sleeping in a chilly bedroom, but boy oh boy, I may have been wrong. Let's see how I handle the 10 and 20 degree winter air!

3 comments:

walterplittle said...

Reminds me of my last winter in Colorado before I moved to LA. I was living in this cabin up in the mountains (9000 ft. altitude) and had been laid off just before fall. So I basically had to live off of the meager savings I fortunately had. Anyway, cost of propane went through the roof that year and I couldn't afford to run the furnace more than the bare minimum to keep the pipes from freezing up. That meant keeping the thermostat at 45 degrees all winter long. If it got too cold I could use the fireplace. But then I ran out of firewood and couldn't afford more. I guess I could have hit my dad up for some money, but, you know, pride.

But, even with two straight months of outside temperature between 0 and 5 degrees (sometimes even colder) on a nightly basis, I had about 10 blankets stacked up on top of me and got some of the best sleep I ever had in my life.

And now, I'm in an apartment in LA with no heater and no air conditioning. And it has been fine. I think a lot of it is a mental aspect - most people in Southern California 50-60 years ago didn't have air conditioning at all. Cold is different - you shouldn't go much lower than 45 or 50 degrees for extended periods. And I feel ready in the event that something really bad happens to the economy and we can't afford such luxuries.

Anyway, do get some long underwear, which is essentially another set of clothes that you wear under your regular clothes, and some good boot socks (nice and warm). You can get boots with Thinsulate (which means they are incredibly warm), and also with Gore-Tex, which is a treatment they put on the outside that keeps snow/water from soaking in. Earmuffs or a good hat are nice to have too, although I never really used them (but it is windier in NYC). And a good scarf is critical.

And it will all be worth it when you get to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. Quite a sight - and I'm not even a Christian. It's just cool.

Tara said...

Thanks Walter!! Gosh, I was young and I still remember how cold it was in Colorado during the winter. If I can survive blizzards...I can survive NYC weather!!

Jess said...

Haha! I love this post. I'm having the same conundrum. How do you even dress for a proper winter?! It's already 1 degree Celsius here and I'm freezing and confused, lol!! Ah, Tara, I love that we're connected by experience across the ocean :)

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