Blue Monday- January 16th 2023

“Blue Monday” comes around annually on the 3rd Monday in January. It is considered to be the saddest day of the year, thus its name.

And when you think about it, it kind of makes sense- many of us are getting the post-Christmas bills, it’s cold, it’s dark and we may have started realizing our New Year’s resolutions aren’t going as planned.

Blue Monday started as a PR stunt in 2005 by a British Travel company but did cite some work done by psychologist Dr. Cliff Arnall. There’s still lots of debate over his work but it didn’t stop companies seeing this as an opportunity to jump and sell some stuff.

The big take away from the day is the reminder to take care of your mental health, especially if you are someone who suffers from S.A.D (Seasonal Affective Disorder).

I have compiled a list of things that will hopefully help you get through Blue Monday! Divided into extroverted and introverted activities.

Introverted Activities (my specialty)

- Make your favorite meal for dinner.

- Put in a good workout to get your blood flowing. If you don’t have a home gym or equipment no problem, Youtube is full of working routines with no equipment or go learn your favorite TikTok dance.

- Cuddle up with your favorite person/ pet, a snack and a great movie.

- Sit down with your (possibly failing) New Year’s resolutions and see your progress (OR what you need to do to get back on track);

- As much as we hate it, you may just need to leave the house for a change of scenery. Go for a visit, go window shopping, go out to eat.

Extroverted Activities (grab all 1700 of your friends and goo!)

- Go for a tan for some sunlight;

- Get together with friends for dinner;

- Go for a massage or a spa day;

- Go to the gym;

- As much as you may hate it, maybe you need a night in to relax and recharge. Maybe with a good book or movie.

Some info cited from:

https://nationaltoday.com/blue-monday/

My brother and his fiancé were very generous this year and got me a gift card for a wine tour for my birthday back in April.

The wine tour company was Grape Escapes and they run tours all year round (probably covid dependent but what isn’t these days)

I finally cashed it in in October on my vacation to take in my own back yard of Wolfville. The tour guide was well informed of the area and it’s history- it was sometimes hard to hear her with the mask but again.. Sign of the times.

We hit up 3 vineyards:

Luckette’s Vineyard
Benjamin Bridge; and
L’Acadie

The thing that I enjoyed the most had very little to do with the actual wine tour- there was a sense of normal this day I hadn’t felt in awhile. Full vaccination was required because of course you can’t have a mask on while taste testing wine so you were just simply surrounded by 25 other strangers drinking wine, seldom mask wearing, pretending the world isn’t going bonkers just for a second. That was nice. Especially as I write this 99% of my holiday plans have been kyboshed due to Omicron… But I digress, I have little to complain about living in Nova Scotia through all of this.

First stop: Luckette’s Vineyard for wine and lunch.

We tried 5 types of wine, all whites (yay) and some had a sparkling touch which was very enjoyable. Lunch was very carb centric (no surprise- but also no complaints- I love bread)

Everything was well scheduled, we spend the most time here since we could eat, drink plus they had a shop to enjoy (that I bought a book from). There was also lots of time to get the iconic red phone booth photo.

Second Stop: Benjamin Bridge

I can not even begin to describe the beauty of this location, if I didn’t know better I’d swear we teleported to Italy. The valley plains were just incredible.

This stop we probably spend the least amount of time, it’s not a huge site but the wines were certainly delicious. I believe we tried 3- 2 whites and a rosé. All sparking as Benjamin Bridge is known for.

We got a small tour of their production which was neat but it was a little squish for so many people to be in there. (still need some personal space c’mon guys). Due to the small space this was probably my lesser favorite of the 3 stops but you still can’t beat that view.

Final Stop: L’Acadie Vineyards

Another breathtaking site but this one more so for it’s architecture as opposed to the nature. These buildings are rich in culture and I look forward to going back and trying the restaurant out.

We had 5 different wines here and this was the first place that served reds (not my favorite) but my partner loved the dessert wine we got to try and we grabbed it from the shop before leaving the site (along with bacon jam)

Overall it was an enjoyable time, I do think however, if I do it again I’d attempt to arrange a private tour. As much as it was nice to feel like I was in a normal group setting it’s still nicer to be a part of your own “bubble” when laughing and sipping wine.

For the public event they used a large Coach bus and from what I was told a smaller more intimate van is used for the private tours which would feel a little less tourist-y.

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