A belated Happy New Year to you all.

Everyone is in organizing/diet/exercise mode. I'm slowly, but not enthusiastically, getting on the bandwagon. I truly took advantage of the twelve days of Christmas, and knit and read and ate leftover Christmas treats in front of the fire well beyond Epiphany.

Well, after all, I was recovering from bronchitis.

But we did finally get all the Christmas decor taken down, and a good cleaning done. I have been organizing and decluttering this week and thinking about new paint colors and furniture for our living room. I am happily pinning ideas.

My vision includes key words like comfort, romantic, glam, and cozy. Taupes, creams, blush. Lots of candles, pillows, throws. And always books. It's been so cold out that, in between the necessary chores and errands, I just feel like hibernating. The room I am envisioning would be perfect for that.

It's snowing again, and as I have nowhere to go today, I will be building a fire early. I have a large knitting project (a cardigan, my first attempt at a sweater) and a book for book club to read, so after my short to-do list is done, I will be sitting cozy.

We have a huge, beautiful yarn store nearby, with a wonderful owner who is helping me with my sweater.

Winter is really so much nicer when you don't have to go out in it. However, once in a while, there's something worth braving the cold for.

Like this wonderful coffee house, filled with books and antiques and comfortable couches and chairs. We spent a cozy couple of hours here enjoying tea and sweet treats with friends.