Ghosting out
Posted: 05/28/2013 Filed under: outfits | Tags: equipment, fashion, madewell, teacher outfits Leave a comment »The school is starting to thin out. Last day of proper instruction is in 2 weeks, all major projects are in and and the year is seriously winding down. So students have been ghosting in and out of class. Today, our school held our biannual Presentation of Learning, where students man course tables and present one project they have worked on in the past semester. Here is Cathy impressing the hell out of a few teachers with a print out (no internet) of her blog from our blogging intensive week. <3
My dress is new – an impulse purchase (even on super sale) while shopping in DC one weekend with my sister, and not well suited for the rain we had today.
dress: equipment – shoes: madewell
Women
Posted: 05/16/2013 Filed under: outfits | Tags: anthropologie, fashion, j.crew, sweedish hasbeens, teacher outfits 1 Comment »This skirt makes me feel womanly – like I’m finally dressing for my age, which thankfully has not started with a 1 or a 2 for a little while. It feels good to be mature sometimes and out of colored skinny jeans (like yesterday). Today was a long day and very trying. I laughed, teased, lectured and lost it all in between 8am and 5pm. By the time I got home I wanted to glue myself onto the couch and never get off. I am a woman of few words today, with the new Daft Punk album to keep me company on the couch.
cardigan and tshirt: j.crew – belt: gap – skirt: anthropologie last seen here- shoes: sweedish hasbeens
Peas and Hearts
Posted: 05/15/2013 Filed under: outfits | Tags: blogging, f21, fashion, frye, j.crew, teacher outfits, teaching, teaching science, teenagers, Warby parker Leave a comment »Intensive week ended, and it’s bittersweet. Of the all the kids we taught to blog, two have been keeping up with it into the next week post-intensive. Yay Celeste and Cathy! The school year is winding down, only 16 days till my kiddos take their Living Environment (biology) regents exam. Regents exams are a double whammy: kids have to score a 65 or above to graduate, and my performance as a teacher is evaluated based on how many kids pass. So what happens? I stress out insanely about getting through all the material and the last few weeks are a mad dash to get through the standards. Also, I stress out about the kids who are failing the class, which is attributed to a lack of motivation to complete assignments obviously is becasue my curriculum is not engaging enough nor is it rigorous enough. Since apparently good teachers know, there is a correlation between increased rigor and engagement/buy in. Seriously, I’d like to see the data for that. I have my own informal data from my classroom and it shows that the harder I make an assignment, the less the students are motivated to complete it. I wish that wasn’t the case, but it is. I just don’t know what the answer is.
I’m going off on a depressive tangent here, so I’ll stop and instead write about a shallower topic…clothes! I’ve love, loved this corduroy pea coat for the past 8 or so years and it’s about to get packed up for the summer. I love the cut and how the collar pops up when I button it – keeps my long neck shielded from the wind. 
glasses: warby parker – coat: super old gap – sweater: old j.crew – jeans: old f21 – shoes: frye
the Nerd Prom
Posted: 04/29/2013 Filed under: fun stuffs, parties | Tags: bcbg, fancy gowns, fashion, kris & dave, nerd prom, whcd, white house correspondents dinner, white house correspondents dinner 2013 Leave a comment »There’s no great way to start writing this post without giving a huge shout out and thank you to my bro-in-law for being my friend in a high place. Thanks, Dave (with my sister, below) for bringing me along to the White House Correspondents Dinner Pre-party event (not to be confused with the actual dinner). Next year? ;)
The night started off with me feeling very out of place and awkward – like a teenage kid being brought along to adult parties. It’s not every day I get dressed up in fancy gowns (first time, actually), and I don’t normally hobnob with politicians/reporters/celebrities. Pretty much a complete 180 from my usual crowd: teenagers with fart jokes. The awkwardness eventually gave way once I figured out how to maneuver around with such a long dress and stopped worrying about my bra showing. Getting to see Bradley Cooper helped up the fun factor immensely (as did a martini or two). I also got to molest a cardboard cut out of Conan. My night was complete. 
gown: bcbg on super sale
Personal
Posted: 04/24/2013 Filed under: outfits, teaching | Tags: anthropologie, fashion, sweedish hasbeens, teacher outfits, teaching, urban outfitters, Warby parker Leave a comment »One thing I’ve learned in the past 4 years of teaching (which is not very long) is that you can’t take much personally. It was a hard lesson to learn in my first year (when one of my students stole my laptop and sold it on the street within 15 minutes), and even into my second. Kids are more concerned with what’s going on in their own lives than with yours. This means, if they didn’t do HW, it’s not because they don’t like you. Instead, it’s because they were up late last night with their own real life soap opera. If they take your pencil, it’s not because they don’t respect you. Instead, it’s because kids can’t keep track of their own writing utensils and their back packs are like black holes. You as a person are not even on their radar, let alone significant enough for them to care about potentially hurting your feelings with their careless actions. The same thing kind of goes for teachers. So don’t take it personally, it’s not all about you. Instead, it’s all about the kids. That is all. 
On a brighter note, I got NEW SUMMER SANDALS!!! They are taking some breaking in, especially at weird spots on my ankles with slight bony protrusions. I love them and they were a splurge (thanks, tax man for paying out my interest free loan!).
glasses: warby parker – top: anthropologie (soooo soft and perfectly drapey, similar in material) – jeans: bdg – shoes: sweedish hasbeens via madewell
sad face
Posted: 04/19/2013 Filed under: outfits | Tags: baggu, Brooklyn, f21, fashion, jawbreaker, sad face, sadface, weekend, whenitpainsitroars Leave a comment »Picked this sad face up last weekend. This pouch turns frowns upside down, as does one of my top five favorite bands of all time. If you haven’t yet, and you were/are a fan of Jawbreaker, check out Blake’s latest, the Forgetters.
pouch: baggu – belt: gap – jeans: f21 – shoes: converse
Some Random Tuesday
Posted: 04/17/2013 Filed under: outfits | Tags: anthropologie, bonlook, fashion, j.crew, target, teacher outfits, unicorn crafts Leave a comment »These are from last week, when we were all stressed over our School Quality review. It also happened to be one of the first beautiful spring days of 2013. Of course, now that the SQR is over and we can actually enjoy life again, it’s overcast and cold. On this day last week, my legs made an appearance for the fist time this year. Hello spring! I’m also a particular fan of this sweater, found in the clearance cave of Anthropologie. B hates it – he says it’s too granny hipster for him. Whateves, I LOVE IT. 
glasses: bonlook – necklace: unicorn crafts – sweater: anthopologie – belt and skit: j.crew – shoes and white tank: target
here and there
Posted: 04/14/2013 Filed under: fun stuffs, teaching | Tags: Brooklyn, fashion, grand prospect hall, rock shop, SQR, teaching, williamsburg 5 Comments »It’s been a week or so since I’ve been here. My school just finished with our “SQR” – School Quality Review, where we have to prove that we are teaching. That is, teaching kids the way they want us to – formulaically with speaking, writing and reading - completely focused on the Common Core in every single class. So of course, since I work with a kick ass staff of dedicated insanely hardworking and collaborative people, we blew the dog and pony show out of the water. Needless to say, we were all pulling 12 hour days (buffering those long days on the weekends with beer while we work) and stressed to the max. So here’s a collection of bits and pieces from the past week. 
Lax
Posted: 04/03/2013 Filed under: outfits | Tags: anthropologie, basics, bp, fashion, j.crew, teacher outfits 2 Comments »It’s the first day back from spring break, so I woke up this morning feeling like I needed to take another week off to relax. Unfortunately (and fortunately), that’s not an option – so second best is a super lax get up for the day. I found this skirt hidden deep in the sale dungeon at Anthropologie while out walking with B yesterday. I felt the warm, thick stretchy material of the skirt and pictured myself in it: lounging at my desk with my feet up watching over a classroom full of kids as they work diligently on their final papers. One can dream, right? I can already tell that this skirt, even with its crazy ass print (for me) and weird length is going to be a classroom staple. 
sweater: j.crew – white t: target – skirt: anthropologie – booties: bp – watch: fossil
Stay-cation
Posted: 04/02/2013 Filed under: outfits | Tags: converse, f21, fashion, freitag, h&m, memorials, merchant marines, New York, rayban, spring break, staycation, topshop, urban outfitters Leave a comment »Sadly, my spring break is coming to an end. It’s been a sweet week and a half. I took a trip to visit Jojo, my good friend Aimee came out to visit, and B and I enjoyed a day-long stay-cation. He took off work today and we went exploring in Manhattan. We started at the very southern tip and wound our way north to Central Park, then headed back down south stopping at my favorite basics shop Uniqlo on the way. I got B to buy some new pants in a snazzy preppy stripe. He’ll probably never wear them unless I force him to – which will be often! Today was all about warmth and comfort. Spring has sprung, but it was still super windy and cold today. Perfect for my new favorite sweatshirt from the men’s section of H&M- I’m all about men’s clothing lately.
I particularly loved all the memorials down in the south end, especially the Merchant Marines Memorial. I also found a Schenck on the WWII memorial, an electrician from Kansas.
sunnies: ray-ban – scarf: topshop – sweatshirt: h&m – jeans: f21 – socks: uo – sneaks: converse – bag: frietag
