…when the city gets covered in a blanket of white....for an hour, then turns into a blanket of brown slush. When things are pretty and white and look peaceful, but the wind blows so hard you repeatedly ask yourself, “Why do I live where the air hurts my face?” When decorations go up in windows, right beside garbage cans. When Drake spends an hour jumping in the snow, slush, and kicking salt away, then comes home and sulks because I made him wash his paws and underbelly. That’s the magic of Winter in Toronto.

I could list all the beautiful, magical things that sound light and airy and full of joy. But that’s not me. I’m not light and airy, and I like to think that I embrace the contradictions of Winter. There is no joy without sorrow, and there is no beauty without ugliness. There is no happy dog jumping in the snow, without a sulky one giving me stink eye. It’s all part of life, and it’s all beautiful. Seriously, it is. You should see how cute he is when he gives you stink eye.

*P.S. I have a few outfits that I shot before this snow dump, so that’s what you’ll see in the next little bit*