OMFG - How to Cope with the Winter Blahs

Note: [Just a little note before I get into this post today: I will be launching a new blog soon! A properly branded and well-curated blog. Oh what's that you say? Is OMFG not properly branded and curated? In a word - no. OMFG was created because twenty-year old Sheila was going through whatever crisis twenty-year old Sheila was going through at the time (there were many) and needed some kind of catharsis. Hence the name, nature, and overall tone of OMFG. While it has been a great platform for me to, how shall I put this eloquently -- brain vomit onto -- it's time to move on. However, with a lot of work still left to do before launching the new one, I will continue to brain vomit on here. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled - I look forward to sharing my passion project with you all soon!]

I woke up to a cavalcade of texts this morning with the same message: all my friends utterly freaking out about the first snowfall in the city. Mass horror. Multiple repetition of the word depression and the phrase but what will we do?! You'd think a bunch of Canadians would be used to the white stuff by now, but apparently not.

As a born and raised Torontonian, I can empathize with the shock and awe every year. Perhaps you one-seasoned dwellers (I'm looking at you, L.A.) are all well-adjusted with your even doses of vitamin D and sunshine and whatever, but us seasonal east coast folks are moody, emo, and perpetually introspective. You would be too with four different seasons, of which two include what can best be described as slivers of sunlight. Forget the struggle. It's the angst that's real.

The first snowfall signifies Toronto's transformation into Gotham for the next goodness-knows-how-long. It goes dark at 4 in the afternoon. Everyone is in black, gray, or some shade in between, and interactions in public are not between two people but rather between your face, the two feet of ground in front of you, and the fur to the left and right of your cheeks. Lovely indeed.

An easy time to get depressed? Surely. But us Canadians have more than one way to beat the winter blahs. Call me naive but I find something quite romantic about the change of season. The city becomes gritty and intense...and as much as I hate trudging through it in my Weitzmans, the snow blankets all the city's imperfections and is nothing short of beautiful. It's called cuffing season for a reason -- the interactions we do have are more meaningful because if I'm going to step foot into the post-Apocalyptic wasteland that IS the outside world to come see you or vice versa -- it better be worth it.

If being one half of a spooning/Netflix situation isn't your thing there's always the tried and true winter solution of good old alcohol. Nothing, and I mean nothing, warms a body up quite like it. Say what you will about we the north, but afraid of the cold physically is something we're not. As a promoter in the night life scene, I can safely say that girls are just as, if not more sparsely attired in the dead of winter than the summer. Bare legs and sky-high heels are a night time observation to  be made year round. The parties are even arguably of better calibre given the frost. How is that possible? Well let's put it this way: those who are willing to make the trek from condo to club are in for the long haul. No one missions out in the cold without a die hard mission to party and party hard. Even during our Ice Age of a winter last year, I had some of the best times with my good friends, copious amounts of vodka and not much else. Snow be damned. We're good as long as we have ice.

So whether you're viewing the winter onslaught romantically through rose-coloured glasses or through the slightly hazy eyes of vodka, whisky, or other choice poison, know that it's going to be okay. I personally always set out to do the latter but that inevitably leads to the former. Who knows. All we know for sure is that winter is coming. We got this, Gotham. x

OMFG - Spring Fever!

The weather in Toronto has slowly been getting a little nicer and nicer....and with everyday that the thermometer creeps towards the positives, the entire city lets out a little sigh of relief that maybe Spring really is just around the corner! Unlike other cities where it's warm (or warmer) year round, Torontonians like myself are so used to the dull, dreary days of winter that we're all officially insane when Spring fever hits! It hits us. And it hits us hard. I think this may be the only city in the world where you can see people on the streets wearing flip flops and winter boots on the same day. We experienced a day where the warmth hit the double digits a little while ago and, despite being only ten degrees, it was probably the busiest clubbing night I've seen in a while and throngs of girls (your truly included) headed to the clubs in what I would normally wear in the summer. See? Officially insane when Spring fever hits.
The winters here being brutal as they are (this is The Great White North after all, cosmopolitan as we are) put even the cheeriest of Canadians into a bit of a bind and causes what I like to call "Toronto-hate Syndrome". Oh, we've all been affected by it at one time or another. You know the feeling...when you want to have a fabulous night out but the idea of putting on a slinky outfit and your most dangerous heels just seems -- well, dangerous, considering the icy streets and snowy mounds you'll have to navigate. The cramp on your night leads to a breathy sigh of "I hate Toronto!" and thus the syndrome begins. It's a snowball effect from then on in, where every weather-related disaster, no matter how small in scale, leads to a full-on case of hatred for our at-time geographically impaired city. The scene gets stale fast during the winter months partially because even the most persistent of clubbing troopers find it hard to make it out there when it's twenty five below and blustering winds ruin even the most coiffed hair-dos and also because everything just seems a little monotonous when given a bleak gray scene as a backdrop.
Well my darling Torontonians who are still in the city...Snap out of it! (For all of you who jetted out of here, I'm shooting you a slight evil eye. But only because I'm jealous. And because you suck.) I love our little city and the credit it deserves is usually taken away by 1) either New York envy (we really can't help that it's so close.) 2) the winter blues. Since NYC isn't going anywhere without the appearance of either King Kong or Godzilla, I think it's safe to say the winter blues are something we can easily all conquer. Luckily the worst of it is over and with March only a couple days away, Spring's green grasses and dewy air are truly just around the corner. Nothing spreads happiness faster than a little sunshine and I'm looking forward to the epidemic beginning as soon as the first rays hit the ground. As for the dry spell clubbing-wise; it's only one if we let it be one! I don't know about all of you, but I'm the type of person who will have a good night out as long as I'm surrounded by friends (and a couple bottles..come on now) so a night where we all mission it out, albeit in sexy little outfits under our puffy down-filled coats is definitely worth it. And, if you truly want to show everyone what we Canadians are made of, you'll find your way out in a sexy little outfit and that's about it. Blame it on Spring fever. But we're all about ready to be a little insane once it hits.
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OMFG -- Winter Blues

I've become one of those people you cringe at when seated next to on public transportation. One of those sniffling, germ-infested, red-nosed, diseased carriers that makes you flinch every time they move a muscle. This slightly disgusting state of being can be attributed to my home and native land, Canada. Or, more specifically, Canada in the winter! For all you foreign readers out there, let me paint you a picture: Toronto transforms from a palette-rich, mildly weathered, lively and energetic city in the autumn to a white-washed, stark, bare landscape ridden with grimy gray buildings and crowds of heavily weighed-down citizens whom trudge through the streets like depressed zombies. Call it a post-apocalyptic urban scene -- I have to call it home for the next month or so.

With the onslaught of white stuff that continually covers the outside world come other unpleasant side effects: howling winds, temperatures of below minus 20 degrees Celsius, and skies that turn dark not too long after waking up. All of this combined makes for one depressing season. Torontonians are prone to the winter blues and, aside from work are also prone to hibernation. I've been in hibernation mode for the past little while myself, partially to avoid being ostracized on the subway and partially because going out in this weather becomes more of a mission than mayhem. When socializing entails a balancing act over ice on heels, freezing barely-covered panty-hosed legs and pricey cab rides to avoid frost-bite -- well it's no wonder even social butterflies like myself are choosing beds over bottles.

So just how are we chilly Canadians supposed to snap out of the winter blues? By moving our social lives home! Cozy gatherings at my friend's condos have been my staple lately and a nice change of pace from the usual thumping beats and scantily-clad scene I'm used to. Of course nights out are a must (after all, nothing warms up the body quite like a steady stream of vodka) but definitely less frequent during the season. While smallish shindigs don't scream "cool" like drunken fiascoes at a club, they're lovely in that you can have actual conversations without having to scream over music and delightfully low-key. My best friend recently hosted a board game night (with drinks, of course) with our close friends and it was the perfect way to spend a Saturday! We started off with appetizers and cocktails and relished in the entertainment of watching each other progressively get sloppier at the games as the night moved on. (Anyone who can coherently describe nouns in Taboo after four Bahama Mama's is my hero.) Actually, any PG activity from our pre-legal years is a good basis for a night in...throw in drinks and good friends and you've got yourself the perfect one-night getaway.

Our last board game night was a hit and I'm sure it'll happen again soon...in the mean time I'm still in hibernation mode. I'll probably venture out this weekend, so if any of you dear bloggees see some one dancing at a club in a Snuggie -- it's probably me.
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