Late summer heading into early autumn/fall is such a beautiful time of the year. You can feel everything growing still and soft; nature is slowing down and people are getting cozy. The most stunning colours can be found outdoors at this time.

Despite the natural beauty, despite your looking forward to the coziness of winter, you find that a few short months later yes, again, things have gone awry. You have ploughed headlong into winter without design or plan; you are wearing the same clothes as last year because you have not put thought into your wardrobe; you have put on weight from indiscriminate eating and you are complaining in your head, or worse, out loud that ‘it’s cold today’. This was me!

Many warm-blooded creatures hibernate when it is cold out and go with their natural instincts by doing so. They do not enter the spring season stressed out; rather, animals waking up from hibernation are coming to sleepily, well rested and ready for the warmer season; so, why don’t we?

We would not go to sleep for months on end, but perhaps we can take a leaf out of their book and make each winter a mental spa time of rejuvenation, beauty and pleasure.

I decided to write this book as a kind of insurance, to remind me of my exciting winter plans. It is easy to be enthusiastic about the winter season when the leaves are turning. Fall fashions are always fun to look forward to, even for a non-fashionista like me – the September issue of Vogue! I can rekindle my love for the colours of plum, navy and camel at this time of year. But a few months later the novelty has already worn off.

This book is also a toolkit of all the ideas that have worked so well in previous winters, as well as new ideas I want to capture. I started this book in autumn, and am now finishing it up in spring. I am so pleased to have tried all my ideas out in a ‘test’ environment!

Read ‘How to be Chic in the Winter’ to discover my strategy for not just surviving, but thriving this winter; on how to have a chic and beautiful winter season and emerge, like a butterfly ready for a gorgeous spring and summer.

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. Know that winter is a different season
Start winter with a goal
Be ahead of the game
Look forward to winter

Chapter 2. Create a winter menu plan
Breakfasts that are warming, filling and healthy
Lunches for work and home
Dinners – tweak the winter classics
Snacks
Fiona’s favourite winter recipes
Red Lentil and Tomato soup
Pumpkin Soup
Vegetable soup
Spaghetti Bolognese
Savoury mince
Shepherd’s pie
Roast chicken
‘Bangers’ (sausages) and mash
Parmesan chicken
Crumbed chicken
Pasta Bake
Rice Bake
Apple and Boysenberry Crumble
Bliss Balls

Chapter 3. Break up the long winter
Learn something or have a project to complete
Keep active
Be social

Chapter 4. Work on feeling good
Home as your winter sanctuary
Dress in clothes that make you feel good
Be cozy when you are at home
Take care of your grooming
Keep well

Chapter 5. Keep your motivation up
Do things quickly
If you are a summer person
Make plans for the next six to twelve months

Chapter 6. Create your ideal chic winter season
Bonus journal questions
To finish

About the author