I believe in the goodness of layers. Layers of color. Layers of cotton. Layers of wool. Layers of warmth.

The temperature has dropped about ten degrees below freezing and nearly fifty degrees below comfort. This means that a scarf is fixed permanently around my neck and another one is added anytime I’m required to confront the chill Minnesota air. It’s less than friendly in December.

If you could see me through the little web cam portal that is perpendicular to my nose, you would find that even though I’ve been nursing a cooling cup of pomegranate green tea for over an hour my chocolate hat is still pulled down over my ears and my soft camel scarf is still knotted about my neck.

The chunky brown beret was an impulse buy. That is if you call losing all your body heat while running through the snow into Target an impulse. That or a primal instinct.

Either way, I marched my Uggs right over to the hats and pulled the thickest cable knit one over my damp hair. Thankfully,  I remembered to pull off the tag and pay for it before I went back out into the storm.

If this web cam was streaming, you would see the snow swirling down behind me and coffee drinkers chattering all about me. You find me in my favorite coffee house clacking away on my shiny new laptop, compliments of HungryMan’s annual Black Friday raid.

For the past five years, he’s been braving frigid temperatures and lawless line-cutters through the wee hours of the night in the hopes of scoring the most terrific technology bargains of the year. And each year his tales of sure luck and grit become more far-fetched and ridiculous.

This year, at 4:00 am when I was soundly asleep under a snug layer of down, HungryMan learned that he had come out into the cold for nothing. There were no more tickets for the laptop he wanted. His brother was this year’s line-buddy, so he decided to keep his brother company for the remaining hour. Once inside Best Buy, HungryMan hunted down managers with marksman-like skill. Each one had the same response, “Sorry, there are no more tickets for that laptop.”

Excuse me for a moment, but the cutest little sweater dress just walked into the coffee shop. I’m obsessed with sweater dresses.

Gramma Penny came home with the most darling one from Paris and Shanel has the cutest one from Banana. Both are a little too pricey for this non-working girl.

I bought this one at Target, but HungryMan thought the shoulders look like some medieval armor or some prehistoric extinct land creature. What do you think?

I loved the color. According to Penny, purple is all the rage in Paris. Really, regardless of what y’all think, I won’t be able to wear it again. Each time I think about putting it on, I feel like I’m gearing up for battle.

Not exactly the sentiment I was going for.

This girl’s sweater dress is a gold waffle weave with lovely bell sleeves. No shoulder issues there. Do you think I should ask her where it’s from?

Hold on.

Well, she was as nice as her outfit. The dress is from Macy’s. That store is huge. I’m always overwhelmed by the vastness. I prefer the boutique shops with a smaller, more selective collection. It helps with indecisiveness.

Wow, I set out to tell you what we’ve been up to these past few weeks and I haven’t even gotten there. Sorry. I blame the chatter on the long absence and severe lack of sleep. Thanks for letting me blather on, run-on sentences and all.

It’s already time for me to put my outer layers back on so I can pick up my sweetie baby.

She’s become obsessed with layers too.

Layers of curls.

Hello Shirley Temple.