It’s been an eventful week or so in my part of the country, thanks to the arrival of Hurricane Sandy and the damage she left in her wake. I’m very thankful that our home remained safe and sound, and that all our friends and family got through the storm without harm. Still, it was a scary twenty-four hours or so, as the skies turned dark and the eye of the storm moved up the coast into the NYC metro area.

Here are five things that helped keep me calm and comfortable during that windy day and night.

Diptyque Ambre candle

Unlike many of our neighbors, we never even lost power, but I was ready with plenty of candles and matches on hand. I burned this Diptyque candle just for its rich, sensuous oriental fragrance while the winds blew outside.

Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel… (2012)

I own and love all Fiona Apple’s albums. This new one, her quirkiest and most challenging yet, rewards the patient listener with moments of offbeat beauty.

Strand Books T-shirt

I’m not a casually dressed person. You’ll usually find me in a dress, tights, and boots or heels. However, when I go into full cocoon mode, as I did during the hurricane, nothing makes me feel better than an old pair of pajamas or, this time around, my husband’s faded, cast-off Strand t-shirt.

A glass of red wine

Don’t judge.

My cat

Margaret and I are both camera-shy, so here’s Thomas Eakins’s photograph of Amelia van Buren with a cat (late 1880s). What could be more comforting than our furry friends?

Disclaimer: all of these items have been purchased by me, with the exception of the Eakins photograph (I wish!), which belongs to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.