Erika S.

10/16/2013 Erika S. outfits

Made Well, or Well Made

I must shop at Madewell a lot. This morning I got dressed (in the dark) and as I rode the train to school, I realized I was just about Madewell-ed out. I shook my head at myself since Madewell is typically out of reach for a teacher on a budget. Alas…they can have some great sales. I never buy anything full price (except for shoes apparently), and I always wait for promotions like an extra 30% or 40% off sale prices. This also means that many of the things I drool over sell out before they can be marked down. But hey – you win some, you lose some. Also, I’ve decided that I’m swearing off Madewell dresses. Like my sister mentioned in the comments of this post, they really are way too short for my 6’0″ frame as I approach my mid-thirties. By the way, I bought this sweater over the weekend at the Madewell in SF. It was on super sale in store (around $30 or something), but it’s not online.

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jacket: old h&m – necklace: f21 – sweater and jeans: madewell – shoes: corso como via nordstrom rack

10/15/2013 Erika S. fun stuffs, trips

Scenes from a weekend in San Francisco

I spent this past weekend back in my city by the bay, San Francisco. It felt so amazing to be home – clean air, the smell of blackberry bushes and ~~eucalyptus~~ gum trees, with a favorite walk through my hood. I miss this city so much it was hard to leave to come back to Brooklyn. While I am happy to be home again (with my dog), I think it’s pretty safe to say that both B and I are San Franciscans (or Australian-San Franciscans) through and through. B had been there for a couple weeks already for an Automattic meetup, so he had plenty of time to enjoy the city and time with friends. I flew out directly after school on Thursday afternoon to meet him. The kids were so cute, they took one look at my carry-on and asked to come with!

I didn’t spend too much time with my camera out — instead, I opted to just keep my eyes out. Here are a few snaps from the weekend:

1) Friend/B’s fellow Automattician Rose’s wedding in Kenwood, CA, the ~~excuse~~ reason for the quick trip out west. I borrowed this Nanette Lepore dress from my sister. I figured if she looked fantastic in it, so would I.

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2) A stroll through the north east corner of SF, with seagulls to keep me company.

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3) A Taqueria Cancun stop. OF COURSE! NYC just can’t get the mission burrito right.

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4) A walk through my hood and the neighboring hood, with a stop at the rope swing on Billy Goat Hill.

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5) A stop at Tartine with my favorite girls, Marisa and her 2 little munchkins.

I’ll probably be back sometime in February for the NYC DOE’s mid-winter break. In the meantime, I’ll have other SF blogs to keep me happy, such as Past The Mission and The Local Transplant. If you haven’t already entered the giveaway for a $100 LOFT card, click here for my last post and get in on it!

10/15/201310/19/2013 Erika S. fun stuffs

The Perks of Being a Teacher – A Giveaway (closed)

Sometimes, there are some real perks for being a teacher — Teacher Discounts. We get discounts at Barnes and Noble, J. Crew, Apple, Madewell, Banana Republic and at LOFT. Most of the time the discount varies from 5% to 15%, which is just enough to make me feel special.

This week, LOFT is offering a bonus discount, an extra 25% off for teachers. Even more exciting, LOFT contacted me to say that they have a $100 gift card to give away to one of my readers! I’ve never had a company email me before with stuff like this, so it’s pretty exciting to know that this little blog o’ mine is getting some traction. This giveaway is open to US readers only. To enter, just leave a comment below. Keep in mind that the email address you use to post the comment will be the address I use to contact you if the randomizer picks you. Once I get your info (and thank you for reading my blog) I’ll forward your deets to LOFT. I’ll leave it open ’til Friday night.

Update: Congrats Ms. Roberson!

10/11/201310/11/2013 Erika S. outfits, teaching

Hater-ade

I’m a hater. Lately it feels as if I’m spending too much time telling the kids what not to do instead of just enjoying and reinforcing what they are doing. It’s like I’m the mean teacher. I don’t know when this happened! Instead of being happy that kids are expressing themselves with a rap battle, I’m on alert, ready to shut down any potential negative stereotypes or sexist remarks. Instead of letting the girls learn how to handle unwanted (I assume) male attention, I imediately jump in to lecture the boys on being respectful to women and that women are not objects. Constantly I’m “no” this, “no” that. No eating in class. Put on your uniform. No playing soccer in the halls. stop screaming at your friends while in the museum. NO all of the things. I’m a hater and I’ve been drinking the hater-ade. It’s exhausing.
I need to chillax a bit, but I’m having a hard time because I know there are social politeness norms that I feel the kids need to learn. Or are these social norms I’m thinking of actually just my own? Or even worse, am I actually forcing kids into a box of prescribed behaviors? What if I’m stifling their creativity?!?
It seems as if as I get older the more type A I am. Maybe I’m just setting myself up for an ulcer. Anyone else have this problem? How do you deal?

In the meantime, I’m stuck in my own behavioral rut of white and black dressing. It’s working out for me.
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cardigan: uniqlo – shirt: madewell – jeans: uniqlo – shoes: madewell

10/09/2013 Erika S. outfits, teaching

Teacher Spotlight: Rachel

Rachel is the teacher spotlight this week! I’ve always loved Rachel’s look – I’m pretty sure we shop at similar places. Chances are good that if I’ve been debating on buying a particular dress or pair of shoes, Rachel will walk in to the staff room with that exact item on! I’m actually pretty surprised we haven’t inadvertently “twins-ied” yet. I loved Rachel’s jumper (as in playsuit, not sweater) today and was secretly envious that she could pull it off so well. One pieces never work for me since my height is all in the torso (not comfortable at all!) One day, I’ going to sew one for myself – extra long in the crotch. In the meantime, I can stare at Rachel’s and it’s awesome print.
We teachers always have something to learn from each other. Rachel, as a seasoned crew leader, has taught me how to have a crew and actually do good stuff with them. Last year, her crew kids were the only ones who put together their own community service project. At the time, I felt overwhelmed just thinking about organizing my crew for Student Led Conferences, not to mention a larger group effort to better the community. With some tips from Rachel though, I’m planning on tackling that this spring!

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Rachel’s jumper: anthropologie from last summer – boots: j.crew

On another note, I’ve been uninspired by my closet lately and have been slopping it in my black jeans and buttons ups. An example of this to come tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s yesterday in Central Park while out on a field trip with the 10th graders to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I busted out my old boy scouts shirt for the trip, and it helped me feel like a kid all morning on the way there. But then, teenage shenanigans in the museum squashed my child like excitement and turned it into adult-like embarrassment.

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10/01/201310/01/2013 Erika S. outfits

Teacher spotlight: Millie!

New feature here on Teacher Have Lives Too! I’m not the only teacher at my school that has a life while simultaneously maintaining impeccable (if I may toot my own horn a bit) fashion sense, so it was only a matter of time till I convinced a co-worker to share his/her style posing for me. First up is Ms. Cruz, better known as “Millie!” (you have to say it with gusto as you wave both your arms in a circle) in our teacher lounge. Millie teaches US History at my school and she has the. best. dresses. ever. She is a perfect example of someone who knows what suits her petite frame and style. She’s so loved by her students that one of my culinary kids snuck out a cookie for her last week!

Millies’s outfit is from: I don’t know because I had a brain fart and forgot to ask

09/29/201309/30/2013 Erika S. outfits, trips

Weekends as a Xiao Yi

Xiao Yi means “little aunt” in Mandarin, and that’s what I am when I’m down in DC. I try to make the trek down there at least once a month to see my little niece Jojo. One day she will start calling me xiao yi and I want to be there so she can put a face to a name. She only 7 months old right now though, so I guess I’ve got some time.

I hopped on the bus for the 4 hour trip down to DC friday night and met up with this guy. My old Viking friend Aurora also lives in DC so I took the opportunity to meet up with her and her little man Macaroni for a drink.

Saturday, My sister Kris and I hopped aboard her friend’s boat in Annapolis for a sail around the Chesapeake Bay. I spent my high school years on the San Francisco Bay sailing with the Sea Scouts, and it feels fantastic to be out on the water. I’ll take any and all invitations for sailing. I spent a lot of the day on the boat thinking about how different my life would have been if I had joined the Coasties out of high school or if I had gone to Cal Maritime Academy instead of pursuing biology and teaching.

Sunday was brunch day and auntie time with Jojo. My sister picked the place and her friend Sean joined us. We rounded out the afternoon with oyster shooters before dropping me off to hop on the bus for the ride back to Brooklyn.
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Sean helped me snap a photo of my new Zara sweater dress. This dress is a bit out of my comfort zone with it’s clinginess, but it’s a weekend and it’s comfortable but edgy-ish all at the same time. I’m digging Zara lately with the simple lines and colors in their fall line up. Not too jazzed about the glitter in the fabric, but I guess you can’t win ’em all.

sunnies: knockaround – dress: zara – bag: freitag – shoes: madewell, borrowed from kris

09/23/2013 Erika S. outfits

Autumnal

It’s Fall — meaning it’s time to bust out the flannels and the checks! It was a cool 65˚F here in Brooklyn and I couldn’t be happier with this SF-like weather. It’s the third week of school and I’m still working on trying to find a nice groove in my work flow. Student schedules are still changing and I’m still trying to figure out how to teach my Urban Agriculture class (culinary/healthy eating/urban farming). I’m channeling my inner Brooklyn hipster farmer today. Also, new fall boots! I had a very weak moment while browsing at Madewell and am now suffering from wallet guilt. They’re tearing my heels apart right now as I break them in, but I’m holding out that they will eventually soften up. Fingers crossed that I can finally stop with the constant blister first aid!

End of the day yawns – pretty much par for the course on a Monday afternoon.

glasses: warby parker – shirt: uniqlo – jeans: bdg – boots: madewell

09/11/201309/11/2013 Erika S. outfits

To a Tee

I found this skirt at the start of summer at Beacon’s closet. My friend Grace and I were out for a lazy walk in our ‘hood when we stopped in on a whim. I’d been there to root around a few times before, but generally speaking, thrifting is not something a get a thrill out of. But this day was my lucky day! Equal parts cheeky, cute and teacher friendly. It also fit me to a tee. Zing! I don’t play golf at all. My only experience with golf was back in ’98 when I went with a boyfriend at the time to the driving range (back when there was one in Mission Bay) where he hit (drove?) a bucket of balls and I just watched.
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It was hot as hell today and some ridiculous percent humidity. My hair was down for all of the five minutes it too me to take these photos at lunch. Also, the sweat just makes my glasses slide right off — it’s a constant battle to push them up, which means I ~~get to~~ inadvertently give people the finger sometimes.

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glasses: warby parker (I really want them in seaglass blue too) – tank: super old banana republic – skirt: beacon’s closet – shoes: worishofer

09/09/2013 Erika S. outfits

First Day

This is my 5th first day of school, and by far the best. The lesson went smoothly, the kids were all engaged and I didn’t loose my mind. A success!! This morning, I got on the subway and counted 5 other teachers on the same car as me. It’s funny, I feel like I can spot fellow teachers from a mile away: The large tote-ish bag, the hair pulled back in a no nonsense bun, conservative but still youthful dresses (mostly florals) and a zen-but-frazzled-on-the-inside demeanor. That was me to a T today (except for the florals). Of course, there was a cardigan involved at first…till I started to sweat right through it. Then I started to regret my choice of top. You win some, you lose some I guess.