Wine.

Now look, wine is bullshit. For me. It makes me headache-y and cranky and reminds me of vomiting—worst hangover of my life was a red-wine hangover. It's rich and acidic and heavy and grapey and I hate it. BUT! It's warm-ish, and in the middle of a blizzard a person wants something warm, and when the stupid fucking state-run liquor store closes way early, leaving you without the option of whiskey (save spending a million bucks on shots at a bar), well, it is something to know that a local, independent, friendly wine shop like 12th and Olive Wine Company is still open, as their business isn't dictated by the state.

A friendly woman named Caroline had a glass in my hand within seconds and filled it with a couple different things to try and I was so gratified to be treated like a person I bought all kinds of stuff and shared it at home later with friends who'd also been turned away from the inefficient, pandering-to-prudes, our-rules-are-our-rules, it's-your-fault-for-running-out-of-whiskey, the-state-needs-revenue-desperately-but-no-one-else-is-allowed-to-retail-liquor-and-by-the-way-all-our-stores-are-closed liquor store. I have a slight wine hangover now—feels like a scrap of metal in my head—but just had to say: Thank you 12th and Olive Wine Company for existing. You helped me and some friends stay warm.