Syllogisms are wrong but still funny: marmots hibernate six months a year, I hibernate six months a year, therefore I am a marmot! – I believe I am not the only one who feels this way here. This year especially, winter has established itself with its beautiful white wedding dress on the streets of the city of Berlin. No, that is not romantic: it looks like a gigantic ski-station, but it is not even vacation and you cannot go to work with cool and colorful surfing gears. Plus, Christmas season is sadly over.

How to keep yourself girly if you look like Bibendum?

Every time I see little kids here in winter, I can barely see their faces. They have so many layers on, that they are as large as they are high. They could technically roll like snowballs.

My first challenge concerned clothes. I had to renew my wardrobe to have the privilege to be part of the Onion-Family. Second, the shoes! How can a heels-addict deal with the winter?

Here are my tips for you ladies: put layers of woolly t-shirts, a shirt and a v-neck top. You can find dozens of stores where they offer this type of shirts for fair-prices (don’t forget best sales are in January!). The most important is that your outside appearance looks good so that you can still feel like a woman and be warm.

As I said, choosing the right shoes is also critical. You must have two main pairs. One that is comfortable and especially designed for winter and another black-leathered (with six centimeter heels). My tip here is to buy one shoe-size bigger in order to … put more layers of warm socks.

Working the inside when you cannot work the outside 

I know zillions of people, us included, who never use their gym subscription in winter. I believe this is the reason why it is so cheap in Berlin. Fitness centers make money with people who pay for a service they do not even use – isn’t it ironic, don’t you think. To resolve this problem, we decided to cancel ours.

When I say outside, I mean both outdoors and the body. There are few open-air activities you can do in winter here. For us this means going to work or to the University and coming back home. Also, the truth is, you eat more in winter than you actually exercise.

Good news, I have solutions.

Firstly, use this time to upload good literature to your brain. Buy a couple of books you always wanted to read and learn more about those subjects that you recently researched on Wikipedia. Keep in mind that winter is also museum season.

Secondly, take the time to take care of yourself. Some people are more fortunate and can afford to regularly visit beauty-salons. If you are one of them, I would recommend a microdermabrasion – this is pure luxury for your skin. For others, like me, there are other possibilities. Regular drugstores offer very good masks for the face and the body. My all time favorite is one that warms your skin – it is really delicious. Eventually, do not forget to nourish your hands with a good cream.

Thirdly, turn the darkness into a rainbow. Use flashy colors to paint your nails – little tip: you can never go wrong with red. Start piano or salsa classes. Wear colorful clothes, but please don’t go carnival either. Tell me, what happened to your painting with numbers you started last year?

Hibernatus 

If you ever watched Louis de Funès’ movie Hibernatus, do not worry, you are not going to spend decades stuck in an ice-cube. As far as I remember, summer always came back.