10 Ways to Warm Up With a Friend

1. Send your friend a $5 gift card for coffee, and tell her that you would love to chat. (Works great for a husband or teenage child, too)


2. Bundle up, and go for a walk in the crisp air, then hurry home for a cup of hot tea or cocoa.


3. Meet at the mall with your walking shoes on.


4. Make grilled cheese and tomato soup (a personal winter favorite from my kid days), and invite a friend over to fold clothes ... warm out of the dryer, of course.


5. Do you know a restaurant that has a fireplace? Meet there for soup. You get all the atmosphere, without the pain in your pocketbook.


6. Get together and cook dinner together (works on weekends, too), then share it or take it home to your own kitchen.


7. Have a baked potato bar night. The host makes the potatoes, and the friends bring favorite toppings like: bacon, sour cream, cheese, chives, corn, salsa, black beans.


8. Meet for breakfast, and be sure to order a bottomless cup of hot tea or coffee.


9. Get an old movie from "way back when" and make a heaping bowl of popcorn to enjoy. Have lots of blankets on hand, light a few candles or make a fire, if you have a fireplace. Laughter, blankets, and flickering light go a long way.


10. There are easy, no sew ways to make scarves and blankets out of fleece. Go to a fabric store together, pick out a fleece pattern for each other, and then find a warm place (home or coffee shop) to sit with your scissors, tie strips, and make a memory while you make warm accessories.


It doesn't take much to find an excuse to warm up by spending time together with a friend. Winter doesn't have to be cold and gray. Do you have a favorite way you enjoy the warmth of friendship in winter? I'd love to hear about it.