Winter came back this weekend.

The sky turned dark and rain drizzled incessantly.
The temperature dropped. Everything was grey.

As I reintroduced my water-resistant trench coat into my wardrobe and wrapped yet another scarf around my neck this weekend, shivering as we walked along the cold sidewalks of The Corner to stop by all of our favorite places and then return home to sit on the couch under a blanket, I was reminded that these sorts of weekends are, in fact, my favorites.

I mean, at least until Spring comes along.

"How beautiful a street is in winter! It is at once revealed and obscured. Here vaguely one can trace symmetrical straight avenues of doors and windows; here under the lamps are floating islands of pale light through which pass quickly bright men and women, who, for all their poverty and shabbiness, wear a certain look of unreality, an air of triumph, as if they had given life the slip, so that life, deceived of her prey, blunders on without them." --Street Haunting, Virginia Woolf

I think it might be the weather, but I have been so productive these past two weeks. Pages of a thesis have been written, part-time jobs where I work from home have been acquired, and a magazine article or two are in the works. It's good.

Now, breakfast sausages are on the stovetop and I am trying to find out how to best use my morning. Today's the last Friday I'm working in the afternoon before my boss comes back from his trip. I'm ready to get my normal all-morning schedule back, but these quiet Friday mornings at home have been a nice change of pace. Plus some Spring Fever.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with some coffee and a vacuum. 

Have a sunny weekend, friends.

Any time there's a shift in the weather, I find myself longing for my undergraduate life. The way that an afternoon spent in warm sunlight makes my skin smell is enough to send me into a daydreaming spiral of nostalgia. I just want it to be socially acceptable for me to be reading books on a deadline and talking about them in a classroom all the time. And live in a library.

When I was living in Roanoke last year, these days would make me feel so blue. But this past week of warm days has made me really grateful to live so close to the University of Virginia. I just walk around and get some coffee, and when I get home I'm inspired to sit down and work on my thesis. It's been a sunny, happy past few days, and really, my only concern is that I'm going to have to reside in college towns for the rest of my life. We'll see.

My friend Patrick and I spent the afternoon walking from our neighborhood over to The Corner, stopping by The Lawn to let his little dog explore. We ended our walk at Para for iced chai lattes and I learned that they have homemade almond milk! We sat outside and talked for a while.

Goodbye, January.

Sometimes I think I could get used to this.