I thought we could, perhaps, use a lighter topic after yesterday’s post (which, at the time of this writing had 99 comments! Heavens.).

I am now the proud owner of some CuddlDuds. Yay!  This is the brand that many of you recommended to me when I asked for long underwear advice.

A few weeks ago at Goodwill, I almost thought I’d scored a pair…I found the packaging for a pair of CuddlDuds leggings, but sadly, the package was empty.  I searched through the bins of Target goods, hoping to find the actual product but my searching was in vain.

So, I decided to march myself over to the mall and plunk down the money for a new pair.  Happily, I had a coupon for $5 off any purchase at Sears (we got it because Sears didn’t get our chest freezer out from the warehouse as quickly as they promised), and I had a Sears gift card.

Even better, when I got to Sears, I found that the long underwear was all on sale (yay!).  I tried on several different styles before settling on the really stretchy microfiber variety.  Between my coupon and my gift card, I didn’t have to pay anything out of pocket for these, which was lovely.

Overall, I’m very happy with my leggings…I do feel much warmer when I wear them, and since they’re so thin and stretchy, it’s not at all uncomfortable to wear them underneath my jeans.  However, the top of them does bear a remarkable resemblance to what we unceremoniously refer to as “granny panties”, so I try to avoid looking in the mirror whenever my CuddlDuds are visible.    I assume the very high waisted (and unflattering!) design of these is for the purpose of keeping me warm when I bend over or lift my arms, so I won’t complain too much about the lack of style.

Since the leggings are working out so well, I’m considering the purchase of a CuddlDuds undershirt.  I was thinking of maybe getting the sleeveless sort because I worry that adding another long sleeve to the two I currently wear would get annoying (I usually wear a long tank top, a long-sleeved shirt, and then a long-sleeved fleece/sweater).  If I decide to go that route, I’ll let you know what I think.

Thank you all for sharing your long underwear wisdom with me…my warm and toasty legs are grateful!

Why?  Well, our house is between 63 and 66 degrees, depending on whether you are upstairs or downstairs.  Today, I’m wearing socks, slippers, two pairs of pants (yoga pants and jeans), two shirts (a long tank top and a long sleeved shirt) and a jacket, and I’m having trouble staying warm.

Yeah.  I think my body must have temperature management issues or something.  I know other people manage to keep their thermostats lower than we do without freezing to death, but I don’t know how they do it!  And there are still at least two months of really cold temperatures where I live.  At least.  Boo.

Aside from adding a hat to my ensemble, it seems that perhaps long underwear is one of the last options available to me (seriously, how many clothes can a person wear??).  Having never worn long underwear except for some ill-fitting thermal stuff in my skiing days, I’m not really sure what is a good option.  Is silk long underwear a good idea?  Or is cotton where it’s at?   Advise me!  I don’t want to waste my money on something that’s not going to do the job and do it well.

I’ve never done a post like this before, but I have a bunch of things to say that wouldn’t make good stand-alone posts.   So, here are several very unrelated things all squeezed into one post.

Celery
Last September, right before we went on vacation, I mentioned that I was freezing some celery(I had to do something with it before we left!). I’d never done that before, and I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, because I’ve heard some frozen celery horror stories before.

I knew it would have to be used in a cooked dish, so I got it out the next time I was making stuffing for chicken. I’m happy to report that it behaved remarkably like fresh celery, and in the end product there was no discernible difference between stuffing made with fresh celery and stuffing made with frozen celery.

I’m really pleased about this because celery is one of those things that’s gone bad on me countless times. I’ll buy it for a recipe, use a few stalks, and then forget about the rest of them until they are wilty and brown. It’s delightful to know that I can freeze and use it just like fresh when I’m making stuffing, soups, and the like. I’ve also learned that frozen celery(stalks and leaves) are lovely additions to chicken broth, so I think my fridge has seen its last bag of rotten celery.

(and yeah, the celery is frozen in a Halloween bag that I bought on clearance after Halloween…and of course it’s been washed a few times.  )

Tea
In response to my whiny post, several readers suggested that I drink some warm beverages.  Well, it occurred to me that I have a ridiculous amount of tea sitting up in my cabinet. I keep meaning to drink it, but I never get around to it. So, from now on I’m going to try to drink a cup or two a day. I usually use teabags twice, so even at that rate it will take me a little while to plow through my tea stash.

If I run out of herbal tea before winter is up, I will still not be out of luck because I have a ridiculous amount of regular tea(the orange and black pekoe stuff) to use up(as in, probably more than the herbal tea in the picture). I really need to stop buying tea when I see a good sale. In my defense, I haven’t bought a single box since I started on my “no-waste and buy only what I need” mission back in March.

There were lots of other good suggestions and comments on that post(you guys really came out of the woodwork! I don’t think I’ve ever had that many comments on a post before.), and I may devote a post to responding to them next week sometime.

Hot Dog Buns
This one’s kind of self-serving, but I was pleased with this and I had to tell someone! Last night, bratwurst were on the menu, but unfortunately, I’d forgotten to buy buns. I really didn’t want to go to the grocery store for just a package of buns, so I decided to try making some using my hamburger bun recipe. They weren’t perfect(I’ll have a better idea how to shape them next time, and I’ll also leave out some of the sugar), but they certainly sufficed, and I was pleased at how much they resembled real hot dog buns. And I was especially pleased that I didn’t have to bundle up the kids and make a run to the grocery store.

Sanding
Lastly, it actually wasn’t TOO cold here today. I think it got up into the 30s and maybe into the low 40s this afternoon in the sun. I decided to take advantage of the weather, so after I got my other work done today, I dug out my sander, ear protectors, and face mask, and tackled the nightstand. I’m happy to report that it’s all sanded, and some of it is even primed. It wasn’t quite 50 degrees, but the primer seemed to go on ok and it dried fine. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer, so if all goes according to plan, the nightstand will be primed, painted, and residing in Zoe’s room by tomorrow night.

My slippers arrived a week or two ago, and I was very excited.  I tried them on, only to find that they were a bit too small(and I even ordered up a size!).  I was bummed, especially at the thought of having to pay return shipping costs.  To my great delight, though, I discovered that my new L.L. Bean credit card not only gives me free initial shipping, but also gives me free return shipping(which is stinking awesome!).

So, I sent them back, and L.L. Bean sent me a new pair in an even larger size.  These ones are perfect…just large enough for me to wear a pair of socks with them.

I l o v e my slippers! Oh my goodness….these are just the best things ever! I honestly cannot believe how much warmer my whole body is when I’m wearing the slippers. I know our bodies lose a lot of heat through our feet, but I thought I was keeping my feet at least sort of warm by wearing socks. My slippers have taken my foot warmth to a whole new level, though, and the rest of my body is benefiting! Since I started wearing my slippers, there have actually been a few times where I have been too warm in my 65 degree house, and I’ve had to take the slippers off to allow my body to cool down a bit. That never happened when I was just wearing socks.

I’d mentioned before that I really am not comfortable wearing shoes in the house, and I’m pleased to report that even though these slippers have a shoe-like sole on them, they feel much more comfy to me than shoes do. Another plus to these slippers is that they look quite neat and presentable…they almost look like regular boiled-wool clogs, so I can wear them while I’m teaching piano lessons without looking completely sloppy. I certainly couldn’t do that with fluffy pink slippers.

At any rate, if you’re having trouble adjusting to the chilly winter temperatures are your house, I highly recommend getting a pair of slippers. Before I got mine, I was starting to wonder if I could hang in there at 65 all winter and now I feel quite confident that I can.