Erika S. outfits

3 Mile Dim Sum

Today is Halloween.  Some people are crazy about Halloween — I am not one of them.  I haven’t dressed up for it in years, unless you count this as an old man of the sea costume.  Is it really a costume though if it’s your usual look?  Nothing here is new…just the same old stuff out of my closet.

hat and jeans: f21 – jacket and belt: hella old gap – shirt: levis (last seen here) – tank: alternative apparel – bag: freitag – boots: boutique 9 cooper ankle boot

Today is also the third day we’ve been out of school because of Hurricane Sandy.  Now it’s looking like classes will not resume until Monday.  I’m on an extended staycation now.  I’m lucky…others in Manhattan, Jersey and Staten Island are dealing with toxic flood waters and sustained power outages.  With nothing better to do, we walked all the way down to Sunset Park (Brooklyn’s Chinatown) for lunch.  The subways are still down so from Park Slope it was a 58 block walk (3.5 miles).  Dim Sum at Bamboo Garden was mediocre at best.  There are three more large dim sum houses in that area though, so I’ll eventually get around to trying all of them to find my favorite.

Nelson was obliging enough to let me test out my camera settings on him.  Thanks, bud.

Erika S. fun stuffs

Sandy Madness

B posted about Hurricane Sandy on his blog.  He said it all, for both of us.  So if you’re curious about how we fared, check it out!  Hurricane Sandy, the Aftermath.

BTW, here is a picture of our school, taken by the chem teacher….flooded street, but maybe everything inside is ok?

 

Erika S. teaching, trips

Crew Camping

As some of you may already know, I spent all of last week on a camping/backpacking trip with my crew.  That’s right, 5 whole days with 12 teenagers.  Our school is an Expeditionary Learning network school (we are not a charter school, though I think a few others are), and we are also an NYC Outward Bound school.  These are two overlapping programs here in NYC that are pretty intertwined, one setting the tone for curriculum and management of the school while the other offers outdoor opportunities to help develop character in our students.  This week-long camping trip to Sharpe Reservation (part of the Fresh Air Fund) is taken by all 9th graders with their crews (their homeroom for the next 4 years) and focuses on outdoors skills, leadership, communication and teamwork simultaneously.

New York couldn’t have been any more gorgeous for our trip.  In 5 days, my crew and I backpacked for 2 nights (in the rain), completed 2 high ropes elements, 3 low ropes elements and hiked about 6 miles.  In between, we sang songs, played games, settled differences, mediated drama (teenage hormones), learned how to properly poop out in the woods, laughed and cried (me – once, out of frustration).  We couldn’t have done it all without our two incredibly patient guides, Bill and Julia.  I owe them my gratitude for keeping me sane.  I love the outdoors/camping and I love my crew.  Those are two things that were completely mutually exclusive for me…’til last week. I survived!

Check out the Outward Bound blog for more on our trip and for photos with student faces.

Erika S. outfits

Flushing Love

This sweater (on sale now at Urban Outfitters) has “non-utilitarian” pockets, which means I like it that much more.  No picture of the back, but there is a “non-utilitarian” zipper up the back also.  B and my other boyfriends laughed at the uselessness of them, so I had to prove them wrong by sticking my hand in them at least once.  The warm mustard yellow color makes this an automatic favorite sweater, but the scratchy and itchiness of this sweater puts it the “suffer for fashion” category.

sweater: urban outfitters – tank: target – belt: j.crew – jeans: madewell – bag: freitag – boots: boutique 9

Flushing is my favorite place in New York so far.  Amaze-balls asian foods from Taiwanese street stuff to western chinese lamb dishes, to tingly hot spicy everything.  I already think it’s awesome and I haven’t even begun to explore the Korean section.  The hour long train ride out there is worth it without a doubt.

Bonus points: my best friends Sandy and Nelson are in town!

P.S.  Frankenstorm is on its way in.  B, being the survivalist he is, has us well prepared.  NO SCHOOL tomorrow!!!! woot woot!

Erika S. outfits

sunny!

Sunny came to visit! She brought with her a nice reminder of San Francisco — I swear every overheard conversation this weekend involved SF in some way.  I’m off to spend the week near Fishkill, NY, camping with my crew (homeroom).  24 hours a day for 4 days with ten 14 year olds and no showers.  OMG. 

My stuff– sunnies: ray ban – be the change sucka tshirt: mnkr – belt: gap – skirt: j.crew – bag: freitag – boots: hella old bp

Erika S. outfits

home work = домашняя работа

I have a good number of Eastern European/Cental Asian students this year, coming from countires such as Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Tajikistan.  Many of them speak limited/survival English at best, but they all speak Russian.  So it’s been a struggle teaching them biology…in English.  I rely on using pictures to illustrate concepts, using vocabulary charts and other students to fill in the blanks.  Today, I learned a new Russian word, which I have been using probably all too often to describe everything.  домашняя работа (domashnyaya rabota), which means homework, as in “Unless you can tell me right now what the ‘Z-scheme’ is in photosynthesis, I can tell you straight copied your domashnyaya rabota from the internet.”  That’s right.  Do your domashnyaya rabota!!

This corduroy pea coat has been a staple in my closet for the past 6 years at least.  I got it ages and ages ago from the Gap, way back when my old roommate Lori worked there.  Its the best cut ever – boxy in the body but slim in the arms.  So you have room to move and layer underneath, but you don’t end up looking like Popeye the Sailor Man with huge arms.

coat: hella old gap – cardigan: hella old therapy – dress: gap – tights: uniqlo – high socks: asos – booties: steven by steve madden

Erika S. outfits

Bad Dog!

Took Bambi on a walk today, and she immediately stated acting like a butthole – ie. growling, snarling and trying to attack other dogs.  She has serious small-dog-asshole syndrome, that I’ve never been able to break.  My newest tactic has been to try the Gentle Leader.  All it’s done so far is make her look even crazier when we pass other dogs, which in turn makes me look like the crappiest dog owner ever.  I’m not a bad dog owner, I swear!  She’s just a crazy mean old chihuahua.  See below, Butthole Bambi in action on a normal everyday walk.

Her being a butthole on our entire walk soured my mood, which then soured the mood of the aussie, B.  Not even my new scarf fixed things and I had a squeeze out a smile for this photo.  

hat: f21 – glasses – warby parker – scarf: madewell – jacket: urban outfitters – t-shirt: hanes – belt: gap – jeans: hella old j. brand – bag: marc by arc – shoes: adidas

PS.  I’ve had Bambi for about 6 years now, and she’s been this way the whole time.  I’ve tried everything under the sun to train her, from dog whisperer style to pack walks to muzzles to hired expensive trainers.  Nothing has worked, so I’ve resigned to just accept her for who she is – a mostly sweet cuddler who loves squeaky toys but hates all other dogs and children.  And before you pass judgment on me for naming my dog Bambi, she came from the rescue with a gag-reflex name: Barbie.

Erika S. outfits

brisk

It was a brisk day.  To me, that meant it was time to bust out the nordic style wooden booties and match it with conflicting prints all around.  

Please note that I have a view of the ‘penis building’, so aptly named by Sara, from my roof.  My opinion of Brooklyn architecture has improved drastically with this gem of a nickname.

vest: uniqlo – thermal: f21 – coated jeans: urban outfitters – booties: anthropologie, found at nordstrom rack for an amazing $20 last spring

Erika S. outfits

Gigantes

Bringing a little hometown pride to Brooklyn.  They’re in the playoffs now, after all.  It’s going to get real exciting next week.  I’m thinking a visit to Finnerty’s in in order.

This was my sneaky way to wear a t-shirt to work: surround it with a pencil skirt and cardigan in the same color.  Plenty of students commented on my shirt, ranging from “Cool shirt Ms. Schenck”, to “Yankees are better!”

shirt: giants – cardigan, skirt and belt: j.crew – flats: nine west (hella old)

Erika S. outfits, teaching

surviving tuesdays

How to survive a hectic Tuesday at school after a 3 day weekend:  an easy no-iron shrunken boy shirt and black super stretchy jeans.  It will take you 5 min to get dressed and you’ll be physically comfy all day while your patience and sanity gets  shredded to bits.

This was one of those Tuesdays, where grades are due, you have “guests” possibly coming into your classroom to “observe” the next day and kids pretend the no-talking-during-a-quiz rule is new to the world.  So before I got down to planning and grading, after my last class of the day, I had some fun with my trusty Smart Board and camera.  Cool colors!  The refresh rate on the board is pretty low, and I really want to make this a teachable physics moment, but I’ll spare you guys the lecture.

The rumply leftovers of the day:

glasses: warby parker – button up: madewell – belt: gap – jeans: uniqlo – boots: steven

Shout out to class A for taking it like a champ today and making all the connections between photosynthesis and cellular respiration!  (none of them even knows this exists, this is just my mental high five.)  Go on with your bad selves.