If you’re in the Northeast United States, you’ve probably got wintry weather at your doorstep and perhaps even a day or two off from work. If these days away from the constraints of your work wardrobe mean relaxing at home in a hoodie and sweatpants from your college bookstore, you are missing an opportunity to treat yourself better.
For full enjoyment of a snow day you will need:
1) A big got dang sweater (Pictured above)
The idea of this cardigan is to be almost like a cozy bathrobe, which you can also wear in public. The front pockets are good for carrying around your reading glasses or cell phone or flask or whatever else you want to have easy access to.
2) Easy pants
These pants won’t pinch if you decide to just go ahead and eat all of that pizza you ordered (remember to tip your delivery people extra on bad weather days it’s a busy and difficult day for them). But they’re also handsome enough that you can answer the door without embarrassment if your neighbor comes over to ask for a cup of sugar. (I’ve heard this is a thing but every neighbor I’ve ever had has known better than to ask me for a cup of sugar.)
3) Nice socks
I remember reading a multi-paragraph description of the amount of pleasure one protagonist took in rubbing his stocking feet against each other. Nothing else in the book was compelling - I can’t even remember its title - but I recreate this scene as often as possible.
This would of course be the perfect time to catch up on any articles you’ve missed from the No Man archive. But if you’re fully current on that score, no one has ever regretted sitting down to read an Anton Chekov story. Many are quick enough to read over a single cup of coffee, and often set in suitably frigid conditions. Chekov himself was a connoisseur of the day of hibernation:
I’m fond of the winter I’m fond of it because at that time, even in the hardest frosts, it’s particularly snug at home. It’s pleasant to put on one’s fur jacket and felt overboots on a clear frosty day, to do something in the garden or in the yard, or to read in a well warmed room, to sit in my father’s study before the open fire.
Imagine if he had known about easy pants.