Teachers Have Lives Too!

09/13/201209/13/2012 Erika S. outfits, teaching

striper, not stripper

I bought this dress a while ago, and decided the weather was just cool enough today to wear it again. The material is cheap polyester that doesn’t breathe, so if it’s too hot out, it sticks. Can’t ask for too much though, it’s from Forever 21 and it was ridiculously cheap at $15 or something. I got loads of compliments on it today, so I figured I needed to take the time to put it on here…and I don’t have to lesson plan for tomorrow. yay!!!! It’s like a free night! I still have an albeit smallish stack of grading/giving feedback though so it’s not entirely free–it’s just discounted. The did-you-catch-that-bio-joke-I-just-made face, and the you-better-check-yourself face. I’m covering organic compounds in class right now, and I made a joke about carbon being the elemental popular kid. I think I was the only one who chuckled at the joke. I also had 3 almost blow ups in class today. I was able to diffuse 2 of them, but I’m pretty sure I now have at least one teacher-student relationship to mend. One thing’s for sure though, that mending is going to start with this kid actually doing some work in class.

glasses: bonlook – necklace: unicorn crafts (btw, how cute is this? seriously!!) – dress with belt: f21 – shoes: madewell

09/13/201209/12/2012 Erika S. outfits

Seriously, J.Crew?

I used to be all about J.Crew. Every time I came home to find a J.Crew catalogue in the mail it was like christmas. I just can’t get into their stuff anymore. Looks are getting wackier, hemlines are climbing way too high and there’s just too much fringe/sequins or ruffles for me. I prefer Marissa Webb style J. Crew.

all images from style.com

09/12/2012 Erika S. teaching

The First Week

It’s been surprisingly smooth. I love my new kids so far and have yet to have any real blow ups in class. It’s no surprise that school culture plays a huge role in the happiness of the teachers and students alike. My old school had a terrible school culture, though it was starting to change my last year there (not necessarily for the better, but more authoritative and therefore sightly more cohesive from the outside). My new school has a great positive school culture, and as a result (or because of), has a highly functional staff.

On the other hand, I’ve been largely uninspired with fashion lately. Ironic since it’s currently New York Fashion Week. My new school has a uniform for students and the unspoken rule is that staff also dress professionally. Huge change from my old school where socks with sandals were the norm. So no outfit posts, I’ve had bigger fish to fry lately with getting my classes going.

Here’s a pretty picture in the meantime. I’m going to copy it someday.

09/06/201209/06/2012 Erika S. outfits, teaching

a first day for everything

There is a first for everything. Today was the first day of school, the first day of many to come as the leader of room 267 at Leader’s High School in Brooklyn. I met my Crew (our version of a hardcore homeroom, meant for character building, teaching of social and literacy skills) for the first time, 15 timid little 9th graders who will blossom into grown men and women in 4 short years with me. I already love them.

I also met my 80-odd Living Environment (New York’s name for Biology) students, freaking them all out as the crazy ass science teacher who eats dirt on the first day of school. It was a quick run through on observations and inferences, a common lesson done by science teachers around the world on the first day of school. Kids were buzzing about it in the hallways and to other teachers, an indication of success! The real measure of success is if they start making inferences on their own without me resorting to tricks.

First day of school outfit, taken at the end of the night. It’s 9:30 right now and I’ve yet to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m running on stress and coffee fumes. Everything but the goofy grin is meant to convey the sense that I know exactly what I’m doing at all times and that I am to be taken seriously. Until I eat dirt.

09/02/201209/02/2012 Erika S. outfits

Copper Door

My sister is in town for the long weekend, so I took her to the Warby Parker showroom to pick out glasses and finally redeem the gift certificate I gave her last christmas. I love their office/showroom/space. It’s not a store by any means, so it’s really confusing to find at first. Head in through the main door of the Puck building (on Lafayette, to the right of the entrance to REI), sign in at the security desk and head to the 5th floor. I recommend stopping by the copper door for a picture on your way out.

sunnies and necklace: f21 – tshirt: stolen from b (purchased somewhere in australia) – bag: freitag – shorts: uo (last seen here) – shoes: worishofer

08/25/2012 Erika S. outfits

print rage

glasses: warby parker – tank: anthropologie – belt: j.crew – skirt: dkny – bag: freitag – shoes: worishofer

These pics were taken a little while ago during my first ever trip to Central Park. I’ve been on a “aztec” or “tribal” print rager lately and there isn’t an end in sight. I hate the pseudo ethnic naming of these uber trendy prints, but I’ll use them for a lack of a better descriptor. Cue top above, which I got on sale from Anthro last month, this clutch I got last week, and my favorite freebee bag ever from beauty.com. (I’m a huge sucker for gift with purchases).

08/21/201208/21/2012 Erika S. outfits

Smocks of Michelle

There’s no way to start this post without sounding stalker-ish so here goes: I’m so semi-obsessed (oxymoron, I know) with Michelle Williams, I feel the need to emulate her style as a neighbor of her neighborhood. I mean, who doesn’t want to copy this?

On a less stalker-ish note, I’ve also been semi-obsessed with finding the perfect summer smock dress. I’ve always loved smock dresses. To me they exude comfort, style, simplicity and minimalism, all while being sexy in a very subversive way. Great examples here, here and here.

B on the other hand, strongly disagrees with me on the subtly sexy bit. I brought this dress home the other day, and he instantly called it the B.W.G.D. — “big white grandma dress”. He likens it to a large shapeless sack-ish grandma’s nightgown, the type his grandmother in Minnesota wears. He thinks Grandma, I think Michelle – grandma shoes and everything. thoughts?

dress: gap – sandals: worishofer – bag: target – glasses: warby parker – lips: nars heat wave

08/19/201208/19/2012 Erika S. outfits, parties

I Love College

Many of my former students are starting their first years of college in the next few weeks, and I’m super excited for them. This excitement (fueled by their updates on FB) is often mixed with fear that I didn’t help prepare them enough… lots of should haves and could haves. Are they going to be screwed in freshman Bio because I didn’t make them memorize all the steps and intermediate molecules involved in the Kreb’s cycle? Oh my god I ran out of time and never covered phylogenetic trees/cladograms!!! Will they remember that hypo=under/below, iso=equal and hyper=over? Are they going to maintain the self control needed to keep from partying themselves into hungover dropouts?!?!? Will they remember my lesson on the benefits of delaying gratification? O.M.G!

My fears for the impressionable young minds of my students were revisited the other evening when B and I went on a booze cruise down the East River hosted by coed.com (probably/most likely NSFW). Coed.com is hosted on WordPress.com VIP (B is a developer at Automattic) and thus our invite and our free swag – blue sunglasses. For the record, B and I held it together, there was no vomiting over the side, all staggering was due to the choppy waves on the river and we exercised self control and moderation.

I bought this dress (called the Shore House Shift dress) from Anthropologie over a year ago on sale. It was a great buy because of the massive markdown, the high quality silk material and the cute little anchor buttons at the shoulder. It’s held up pretty well too, but I’ve only worn it about 3 times. This last time may be the last though, as I managed to get ketchup, pickle juice and just about every other condiment all over the front of it that night. I’m not known as the family klutz for nothing, here’s hoping that I don’t ruin it totally trying to get the stains out.

dress and bag: anthropologie – shoes: madewell also seen here – mustache necklace: purchased the renegade craft fair

I had to throw in this shot of B, because he’s cute and the glasses matched the lining of my bag.

08/18/201208/18/2012 Erika S. fun stuffs

dog biking

I took Bambi for a ride. It was a trial ride, and she seemed fine for the most part. She got antsy at one point, but I think it was just because she had to poop.

She got her need for speed in when B ran sprints with her across the main lawn at Prospect Park.

08/15/201208/17/2012 Erika S. fun stuffs

a little somethin somethin

instagram wrap up

Bombay Bicycle Club @ Webster Hall – check them out here.

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens – summer school field trip, the kids’ favorite part, the koi.

New computer!! The weight difference between this Macbook Air and my old Macbook is amazeballs. My shoulder can stop aching now, and my mom can replace her 9 year old dinosaur with a 2.5 year old dinosaur. (also, yesterday was my birthday. yay for aging)

New clutch/carry all from Target. I like the print, the color, but feel the price is a little high for the quality of the fabric. I love the design of this, but not crazy about the color. Should I get it for the fall and risk looking like a Coachella fail?Running poop on 5th ave.