Waking Up in Winter

The other day I discovered a foolproof plan to be happy when waking up - even when it's dark and absolutly frigid outside. Here's my recipe:

1 hot beverage (I cannot live without my morning tea, but whatever floats your boat)
1 record player (or any other music-playing device, but a record playing has an extra yummy factor)
great music (selection will vary, but it HAS to be upbeat)

So, hot beverage - check. Like I said, for me it's tea - but I'm British, so that goes without saying. Preferably English Breakfast Tea. If it's actually from Britain it tastes infinately better. But whatever does it for you - coffee, espresso, latte, herbal tea...

As for the record player, this is something I bought as a gift to Ilya and me for the holidays. I got a great little portable suitcase-style one from Sears of all places!! It's amazing and works perfectly. Now after lugging around boxes of records for the last 6 years, we can finally actually listen to them!

Now for the music. What really made me happy the other morning (and has initiated this whole routine) was this amazing Ray Charles record that I didn't even know we owned. SO, SO, SO GOOD!

Really, what more can I say except this combo put a great big smile on my face?