WINTER comes with a unique set of special effects. The shocking cold air against your skin, the weighty moisture that makes the cold cut right through you, the softness of the falling flakes, the hardness of the ice, the purity of whiteness, the broding color of the gray/blue sky, the mess of brown slush that such a thing of beauty leaves behind when it melts, and a consequential search for warmth and comfort until the season passes.

I have rediscovered the pleasure of wearing PAJAMAS in my search for comfort on COLD WINTER nights. It's funny, really, because I have never been a pj sort of girl. More of a birthday suit kind. I am all about comfort, whether it's food, clothes, relationships, or activities. Which may explain my aversion to the treadmill that sits in my office waiting for a good workout, but functioning mostly as platform to hold empty boxes and such.

Because of living on a very reduced income, I have also discovered Dollar General, my new favorite, budget store. If there is one nearby where you live give it a chance. I would have never thought that I could get so many things for so (relatively) little money. At Christmas I purchased my favorite gift ornament there. Ditto, Valentine's Day. There was this adorable red, felt sack with an angelic looking cupid (not just a heart) in a silky soft, pink material that was worthy of inventory at an expensive boutique or Etsy, and might have sold for $14.99. I got it for exactly $1.00. Then there's the obvious savings you reap from buying the toilet paper, paper towels, etc. Dollar General is a great outing for a bleak Saturday when you have an extra five dollars.

The soft, snuggly, warm pj's pictured above came from Dollar General for --- are you read ? --- $10 for the set. Such a deal. I bought two pair!