Wearing High Heels and a Puffy Vest in a Minnesota Blizzard

It was nearing almost the middle of December and no snow. For some areas of the country, this is normal. In Minnesota, however, it is not. In fact, usually by this time of year, we have several feet of snow on the ground. Not this year! It's been so unseasonably warm that I've been running around in a sleeveless puffy vest from Old Navy instead of a heavy winter jacket. I guess I'm still living in the past and pretending it's October 1st. But that all changed.

Enter winter.

No more puffy vest. It's time for long coats, mittens, hats, and boots.

Yesterday, before the winter storm hit, I went about my usual routine. Got up for work, got dressed, put on my cute puffy Old Navy vest, high heeled pumps, and headed out the door. Sure, it was bit little chilly and I probably should've worn my heavier winter coat and boots, but I thought, "I'm just going into work. I'll spend maybe two minutes walking from the parking lot into the office, so I can wear these cute high heels. It's not like I'm working road construction. I can't walk into work looking like a Yeti."

Lunchtime rolls around and I get a frantic phone call from my mother. "Did you hear the weather reports? We're supposed to get a blizzard!"

My mother, like our local weather reporters, has a tendency to overdramatize the weather reports. Every time snowfall is predicted, she acts like it's some kind of "Snowmageddon" or something. I told her I wasn't too worried about it. I heard of a snowstorm coming, but I wasn't concerned. The weather reporters here go into a breathless panic every time we get snow and most of the time, it's never as bad as predicted. This is Minnesota-we get snow.

Later on that day, I peered out the winter. Snow was coming down at a fast pace. The wind was swirling the flakes around so much that I could barely see the street below from the 5th floor in my office. Uh-oh. I checked the weather reports online. -10 below F with the windchill. Double uh-oh.
It was time to head home. I knew it was going to be a long commute home, but before I could drive home, I was going to have to get all that snow off my car--wearing high heels and a puffy vest as a "jacket", mind you.

I walked out the door and started my journey into the snowy, unplowed parking lot. It was freezing! By the time I reached my car, my hands were red, my entire body was numb, my nose was running, and my feet were frozen and soaked.

I thought to myself, "Why on Earth did I wear this stupid vest? Why did I not bring mittens? And I'm wearing high heels! It's December 8th! This is Minnesota! I've lived here all my life! I should know better."

My car was covered in snow. Letting the windshield wipers brush off the snow wasn't going to do the trick. I had to get my scraper and start grating the ice off. I started up the car so the heat would kick in earlier, grabbed the scraper, and headed back out. I did a half-hearted ice and snow removal on my car-just enough so that I could see out the driver's side. Not quite legal, but when you're wearing a puffy vest, high heels, and no mittens, you're not prepared for a blizzard.

I headed out of the parking lot and on to the bumper-to-bumper freeway, praying that my car would heat up quickly. After about five minutes (though it seemed longer) it did. My commute home took about 2.5 hours - on a normal day, it's only about 25 minutes! During my long commute, I successfully unthawed every limb on my body, sang songs aloud on my iPod, and vowed to put that blasted puffy vest away for the winter. In Minnesota, puffy vests work in October. Not in December, when we're prone to blizzards.

I got home and threw my Old Navy puffy vest into the back of the closet.

I lectured to the puffy vest, "You're not coming out of that closet until April...and that's if you're lucky!"

Never override fashion for function, especially when the weather reporters tell you a blizzard is coming.