It snowed today for the first time this winter and basically…

Italian for: “In Winter”… “the other females” (left) vs “me” (right)

… This just captures it all. As a California girl (who’s also lived briefly in Thailand and Florida, i.e. tropical places) living in Milan, I can’t, for the life of me, figure out how the women over here manage to look so glamorous in their high heels and cute little stylish jackets – prancing around the cobblestone streets (a feat of its own without snow) – while I’m simply trying to stay warm and comfortable and avoiding, as best possible, to not die of hypothermia or lose my toes to frostbite.

(Actually, winter of 2012 was my first European winter ever – I was living in Paris – and it just so happened that Europe experienced a “cold wave” that year which was responsible for over 800 deaths and temperatures as low as -39C/-38F… with snow in Paris until April!! So, on that note, things are looking up for me!)

Thankfully I’m heading to Thailand for three weeks in just a few days!