Got the Wintertime Blues? We Can Help.

New Splogger Samantha tells you how to beat your cabin fever!—Sparkitors

Camp crushes. Tan lines. Freshly grilled corndogs stuck in your braces. If you’re like me, you’ve already had your fill of subzero temperatures and Starbucks holiday drinks and are beginning to pine for the partial nudity and red hot heat of summer. But stewing in your winter woes is no way to spend these next three months of glorious grey weather; there are plenty of great ways to make your winter as kickass as those endless days of August!

Have a Winter Romance: Who says teenage heartbreak is just for summer! Find yourself any eligible bachelor and declare your love to him within the first three days of meeting. Then have a whirlwind romance with this total stranger, complete with wild makeout sessions, mushy letters, and matching string bracelets. After several breathless weeks, dramatically declare that the winter frost has made you reconsider the whole romance. Fight. Make up. Fight again and vow to keep in touch. Never see him again and forget about the whole thing once winter vacation ends.

Make an Indoor Picnic: You know what I get hungry for when the snow is coming down outside and the fire is crackling? Ants on a log! Everyone loves a winter picnic, especially when they don’t have to contend with the sticky heat and mosquito dance parties of the outdoors. So put the cocoa on ice and slap a few pieces of that glazed ham between two slices of bread. I’ll bet you can almost hear the birds singing already. Oh, wait. That’s a snow blower.

Plan Your Summer Vacation: The best way to combat that seasonal depression is to forget about winter all together and start planning the wacky antics you’ll engage in next June. And if the cold weather is giving you brain freeze, you can always do what I do and make an alphabetized list:

A - dopt a summer orphan
B - ake a sexy cake (we're not really sure what that means, but we like the sound of it)
C - all your grandmother to ensure birthday money
And so on.

Have a Lazy Snow Day: Have you ever noticed that the seasonal equivalent of a lazy summer day is a hectic snow day? No one actually relaxes on a snow day. Everyone is always rushing to put on their thermal underwear, locate a suitable garbage lid for sledding, or find out if their school is buried beneath an avalanche of ice. This year, spend a snow day not showering while laying face-down on a gloriously comfortable shag run. Other options include yawning and looking disinterested all afternoon. You’ll be surprised at how gratifying it is.

Water Plastic Flowers: Just because the world is dying for the next few months, doesn't mean that you can’t have fun gardening. Buy a plastic plant and give it a name. I like old celebrity monikers like Fatty Arbuckle and Mary Pickford. Sure, old Fatty won’t grow when you water him, but he also won’t turn brown and smell up your bedroom. It’s a win/win for everyone!

Journal Your Time Inside: It can go something like this:
10:30 am – My legs are itchy and we’re out of lotion.
11:45 am – Rubbed my socks on the ground to make static and shocked myself. Less fun without a partner.
1:13 pm – Drooling into a cup and then drinking it. Can’t tell if I’m still thirsty or what.
2:35 pm – We ran out of marshmallows so I roasted shelled peanuts. Turns out that’s not how they make peanut butter.
3:18 pm – Made a fort with the dog’s blanket. Now the bedroom smells like puppy breath and old chicken.
5:21 pm – Price is Right reruns on TV. It’s fun to watch Drew Carey go from fat to thin and back again.
6:11 pm – Using the Thanksgiving leftovers to make ham and cranberry sauce casserole. Times are tough when your parents work nights.
8:35 pm – Have decided to investigate how many push-ups I can do. This could take a while.
8:36 pm — Did 3 push-ups. Am basically dead.

Watch an Old Blockbuster
Summer is definitely the season of the blockbuster, but winter is the season of the blockbuster from two years ago that doesn’t look as great on the TV set at home. From Iron Man to the first few Harry Potters, relive all the spellbinding moments that online spoiler alerts and entertainment talk shows have already overhyped. Bonus: since you already know what's going to  happen, you won't burst into hysterical sobs when Dumbledore dies.

Wait: DUMBLEDORE DIES?!? Just kiddding. Which of these ideas are you excited to try? Do you wish winter was over, or do you prefer cold weather to summer sweat?

Related post: 10 Reasons Winter is the Best Season for Romance