Some cheerful things on a cold, cold day

It’s cold. Frightfully cold. The kind of cold that makes my bones feel chilly and puts me in hibernation mode.  Though born on a snowy day in New Brunswick, I somehow never transcended my genetic roots (India) to embrace my Canadian climate.  I detest the winter and wish I could crawl into bed and wake up sometime in April.

But, during this dismal past week of rain and cold, there were some bright patches of happy things that cheered me up and improved my overall perception of the winter universe.

First, I picked up my son from school on Wednesday to discover from his delightful teacher, Madame Fofo (isn’t that the most adorable name like something out of a French novel?) that my son had read his first book, cover to cover!  It’s entitled "Sam Sat on a Mat" – and that basically gives away the story too!  Here’s a pic of this book that I will treasure forever:

I’ve become friendly with my lovely neighbour Elena, who is soon moving to Philadelphia.  She’s off to Italy (her birthplace) for the holidays and brought me over a lovely plant as a holiday gift. It’s so pretty and really brightened my day!

And finally, after several attempts at hat shopping, I finally found a hat that I like and that keeps me warm.  My husband can’t stand it, and seriously hopes I leave it on the subway, but I love it!  Here you go: