This is probably not news to you but: It’s fucking freezing outside.

Winter will not slow down our fabulousness.

I know, I know. I’m a pansy. This weather is small potatoes for you Wisconson-North Dakota-Newfoundland born-and-bred types. Pshaw, you tell me. You used to ice fish with your cousins in Northern Michigan in 20 below zero weather and whatever! You’re sunbathing on your roof with a mojito in these temps! Shit. You’ll show me cold.

Eh, for me? Not so much. I think it’s pretty gnarly out there and the fact is, it’s getting harder to get me out of the house. At this point, I could tuck in for the next three months and granny my way through an afghan-infested movie night with my girls. But that’s not gonna cut it. For several reasons:

1) I’m ready to kick off the new year and mix it up, a little. I feel good in my skin after surviving last year. And a part of me just really wants to celebrate that.

2) I’ve been meeting some interesting new people lately and I’m intrigued. I’d like to chat more. I’d like to explore.

3) I’m still an extrovert, to a degree, and too much Mira time turns me into a total disease. My friends are fabulous and they keep me sane and supported, so I’d rather keep them closer than farther at the end of the day.

So, here’s the deal. I’m not feeling like my summer self and that’s just reality. I’m not all out and about and sun goddessing my way around town. I don’t want to sit outside and have my face whipped off in the wind, and I don’t want to stroll the neighborhood at sunset. But I do want to stay active and engaged this winter, and I do want to continue dating and meeting worthy and interesting new individuals. So, I’ve crafted a top five list of go-to things to do in these more frigid than fiery months. These activities can be done by yourself, with a friend, a relative, a lover or a would-be of any kind. Don’t fret. Time flies and before we know it, it’ll be all April, May, June and bloom. Keep your heads up and keep that heart open.

Top Five Activities for Freezing Times

Stroll around the Chrysler Museum. Not only is this spot free to the public, but it currently has some really compelling works in photography and glass on display. It’s warm, bright even, and filled with marble flooring and lovely old ladies that work the door and the café. And? It feels good to look at beautiful things, especially when everything else outside is barren, iced and brown.

Hockey hotties? Yes, please. Photo | John Wright

Go see a Norfolk Admirals game. Sure, we don’t all like to ice skate and some of us aren’t really into big, burly and often handsome men dashing around and running into each other with reckless abandon, but if any of that sounded even remotely interesting, well, give it a shot. Admirals games are pretty much lively and hysterical; transforming Scope into a place full of alcohol and crazed Northerners–faces painted, gloved and foam-fingering, representing their beloved, opposing teams. Plus, it encourages bundling up for fun, which in turn tricks the brain and the body into believing that those two scenarios actually can be synonymous. (Don’t raise the bullshit flag on me on that one. I worked hard for it.)

Check out The Naro for an indie-ish film. It’s cozy in there and filled with warm things like velvet curtains and hot popcorn and even a brownie or a big vegan cookie, if you want. Plus, you never know whose nameplate will be on your seat and it’s kind of a good way to start a conversation on a first, second or third date. Like really, who is Dean Stalmartin and why the hell did he buy a seat in the 19th row, all the way over to the right? Poor Dean. Couldn’t pony up the extra $$ for dead center, row 12? I don’t know, but it’s a charming feeling to cuddle up in public and watch a period piece or a French film or whatever’s showing. How much Avatar can you really stand? Really.

Do a little post cocktailing and chit-chatting in The Green Onion’s new lounge area. I’m a huge fan of this new addition to a dining spot I already loved. Basically, the owners of The Green Onion on Colley took over their neighboring space and renovated it to create a larger and more accommodating bar area, equipped with pretty, smushy and squashy, wide leather couches in fun, splashy colors. You can sit and order a little cheese plate and some wine or beer and rap about the exhibit/game/movie you just checked out. Or? Just meet your friends for a big, honking glass of red wine and relish in the great joy that you will be sitting as far away from the front door and it’s impending breeze as possible. Ah…take your coat off and eat mussels until you’re purple.

Belt it out girlfriend!

Go to Open Mic night at 37th and Zen on Tuesday nights and sing your little heart out. Matt Minguez is a local, born and raised near me, actually, in West Ghent. He’s a zany, wild musician and he plays all sorts of instruments and can accompany even your drunk Aunt Annabelle’s attempt at “Ribbon in the Sky.” Every Tuesday at 9 pm, he gets started and I think you should too. Who doesn’t love to pretend that they’re a fab musician, highly talented and known, throughout the land, for their incredible rendition of Lionel Richie’s “Dancing on the Ceiling”? Besides, spending time around musicians is creative, inspiring and good. Those people have passion. And passion we need when our skin is dried and cracking and our teeth refuse to quit from chattering.

All in all, I think it’s just a good idea for you and I both to stay up on the activity and the action this winter. We’ve got to keep frequenting our favorite locales, supporting the community and staying positive. Remember all those resolutions you made about being a good person and crap? Well, get public with it and go out. You might run into me. And even if we have to find a corner to spoon together and keep warm, so what? At least we won’t be home with our hobo clothes on, watching another episode of So You Think You’re America’s Next Top Bachelor from the Jersey Shore. Okay? Okay!