The hard facts of going to Northwestern are as follows: It’s freezing, and if you find a way to cope with the cold, do so recklessly and without hesitation.

Winter Quarter normally finds me in a funk. We’re ripped away from Winter Break right when it’s getting to the good part. The awkward obligatory reunions are over, the ball has dropped and everyone is looking forward to at least two more weeks of break when we’re forced into planes, trains and automobiles, headed back to the grind.

When I make it back to Evanston and begin to adjust, the snow comes to cover the ground and make it harder, if not impossible, to get out of bed, hit the gym and get to class on those alarm-doesn’t-go-off-until-five-minutes-after-class-has-started days.

When winter makes life hard, the Internet makes it easier. Forget this week–this quarter, I would not be surviving without online shopping. On the days between January and March, I am not looking to leave my house, much less to venture all the way to Old Orchard or even Evanston. There is no reason to leave the comforts of my cozy bed when everything I need from hangers to books is online and only a click away.

And as if shelter from the cold wasn’t enough of a reason to swoon over the shopping center conveniently located in my laptop, the deals offered online can’t be beat. As I write this, Lord & Taylor is alerting me that there are only seven hours, 48 minutes and 53 seconds until its one-day online sale ends (52…51…50…), LivingSocial wants me to know that there’s a deal on fitness classes in my area, and my roommate and I are pooling our wish lists for Forever 21 to attain the ultimate prize: free shipping. Nothing warms me up faster than a sweater, and getting it sent for free or on sale is just the icing on the online shopping cake.

Within the confines of my room, I am freed from the judgmental eyes of store workers. There’s no voice of reason in the form of rational shopping buddies to stop you from buying the items you have no reason to need. The online shopping experience removes the hesitation between leaving the dressing room and bringing that rainbow bandage skirt to the cashier. The mailman can’t see through the package and no one needs to know that last week I ordered silver