It's getting cooler here in Toronto, with possible snow showers and scattered flurries this weekend. Time to think about how I can make this winter even better!

The Scott Quest Vest is working out really well, allowing me to leave my belt bag behind. I haven't quite gotten the hang of all the pockets, but I can generally find the most frequent things I use. One of the earphone loops has worked loose and gotten frayed by nearby Velcro, though. I'll check with the manufacturer, since I haven't figured out how to securely hand-sew elastic loops like that.

I've started wearing my thermals again. With that, the vest, and maybe a sweater, I'm pretty okay with the 5-10C temperatures these days. A rain jacket is handy, too. A hoodie and maybe gloves will take me down to 3C or so.

Here are some notes I put together while thinking about what kind of coat I wanted to get this year:

I ended up deciding on a waterproof jacket with an interchangable lining that's compatible with a down jacket. I'm still keeping an eye out for a large, warm hat, but I can probably get by with a nice warm scarf and my winter hats. It turns out that I'm somewhat picky about hats, so I haven't quite found the one I like the most yet.

The new office my clients have moved to is directly connected to the PATH, so my winter exposure during consulting days will just be the 10-20 minute walk to the subway station. I plan to be at Hacklab more often, though, so that will still involve a bit of waiting. The new Hacklab has nicely vivid accent colours, so I'll probably head over there if I feel colour-deprived.

I probably need to get new winter boots. I noticed last year that my insulated boots were no longer waterproof. The shoe stores don't seem to have brought in their winter boot selections yet, but I'll check again in a few months. I tried looking for winter boots at end-of-season sales earlier this year, but since I have small feet and a preference for simple styles, the sizes tend to be sold out quickly. I had the same problem with coats, too, which is why I decided to get a new coat early in the season instead of waiting to see what the rest of the options were.

Compared to last year, I'm even more comfortable with cooking and baking, and I'm looking forward to keeping the house warm and the fridge full.

Bring it on!