Erika S. fun stuffs, trips

Big Sur

Second day in Monterey, B and I drove down the coast a bit to Big Sur.  I feel thankful I live in California every time I dive down Highway 1.  It’s gorge.  Even more breathtaking down near big sur.

The perfect location for a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit shot.  B and I joked about how the models would get there.  I said by canoe or repelling down the cliff.  He swears models are too prissy for that so he stuck to helicoptering in.  whateves.  I just want to park it under that waterfall and get a good massage in.

i thought those little black things were little sharks or large catfish at first.  but it’s just plain old kelp.

Erika S. trips

monterey bay…the aquarium

B and I wanted to get away for at least a few days over the holidays.  after much debating over thailand, hawaii or mexico, we ended up just jumping on a livingsocial deal for a hotel in monterey.  Our holiday get-a-way got cheaper with every debate.

We stayed at the Casa Munras Hotel and Spa in Monterey, CA.  It looked super cute online..but in person it was meh.  Nicer than a motel, but not as cool I as I was hoping it would be.  And the in room fireplace that drew me into buying the deal on living social? It was gas, which flicked on with a switch.  Not exactly romantical.

Oh well.  Next year we’ll keep the holiday trip debate to a minimum and maybe actually end up going to Thailand like I originally wanted.  The goal is to not get scared off by sticker shock.

There is no way a bio teacher can go to Monterey and not go to the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium.  So B and I shelled out for the tickets ($60!!!!) but only had 2 hours left in the day to see everything.  So we formed a plan of attack and stuck to it.  It’s a really good thing both B and I are tall.  and fast walkers.  we can maneuver the shit out of any crowd.  here are some highlights from the trip:

the cove.

trying my best to feel up some sting rays.  really resisting the urge to make a stupid steve irwin joke here.  B would not appreciate bad aussie jokes  =)  but he would appreciate silly pictures of him sitting in a rainbow clam shell.

Sea Otters!!    The cutest marine mammal by far.  They currently have three otters, all behind thick plexiglass.  All the photos sucked.

Seahorses.  one of the very few groups of organisms where the males put forth the resources/time/energy to nurture offspring.  Males take the eggs from the female and get “pregnant”.  My kind of animal.

and then there are the facier ones.  the dandy, the sea dragon.  oh you fancy huh?

Sea dragons are very limited in their distribution, their habitat range.  They are only found in the south western waters of Australia.  Coincidentally, that is also where B’s father lives and dives.  For him, sea dragons are an everyday thing.  fancy huh?

cuttlefish.  cephalopods could rule the earth one day.  really.   no joke.  the jellies on the other hand…they’ll just plain kill you!

Monterey in the end, was just ok.  we had a ridiculously expensive massages with chi chi aromatherapy oils and fluffy robes.  We enjoyed the breathtaking views of the california coast and big sur.  We lazied around together.  That was the ultimate goal after all.

Erika S. outfits, parties

Tree Trimmers

A few weeks ago, I went to a tree trimming party at my gorgeous friend Aimee’s house. Aimee teaches at the same high school as me (right above me actually on the infamous 3rd floor!) as do (or did) all the other lovely ladies.  We had a blast of course, and managed to keep the teacher talk to a minimum.

Aimee has fab taste and decorates her tree with a bird theme.  I stole one of those birds and made myself a new fascinator. But then maybe pirate look was better?




We are all teachers, and we all have super interesting things to say.  some of the things said that night would probably scandalize a good percentage of americans.  especially when said teachers play scandalous games.  Cards Against Humanity.  I highly recommend it.  B bought the set off of kickstarter.com a while ago and it’s been the go to game for every party.  It helps us old fogey teachers stay on top of all the popular disgusting things out there.

 My friends are just a sampling of how dedicated and talented teachers can be.  They work long hours and invest themselves physically, and even more so, emotionally in their classrooms.  They are all amazing educators who strive to make a difference every day.  Day to day we are faced with daunting, discouraging, bureaucratic and social problems that are too immense to tackle by ourselves.  We combat these soul crushing adversities through support, hugs, and a bit of alcohol.  =)  My ex-parter-in-bio-teaching Ann calls it trauma bonding and I’ve yet to hear a better descriptor.

bottom row: nicole (ELD formerly known as ESL), Alexis (SpED), Anne (English)  top row: me (Bio/health/Physiology), Aimee (ELD/English), Jen (English).  Missing from the photo was Ann, aka Zhaoweezy (bio/physiology).  ❤

The boys are not teachers, but they are teacher lovers.  I know this because they love us.  They are the ones who clean up the emotional messes we bring home with us.  They are also the ones who bask in our glow when we have success.  They give us encouragement, affirmations, and they tell us constantly that they are proud of us and our work.  Everyone needs that kind of support regardless of what the day job is, and I’m thankful that we have these dudes to help fill that role (among other roles).

On to some pictures of what we wore!  fashion helps make us happy.  There is no better time than a holiday party to bust out the new dresses!

earrings made by me – cardigan and necklace: f21 (not-so-secret-santa gift from Alexis) – dress, lipstick and belt: j.crew – over the knee socks: urban outfitters – booties: nine west

P.S. check out Aimee’s blog Past the Mission.  Its fantastic!

Erika S. fun stuffs

A Den of Slack

I’m in the midst of the second week of Winter Vaca.  Christmas vaca has traditionally meant 3 things:  shopping (for myself and others),   Eating lots (and feeding my recipe guinea pigs),  slacking.  on EVERYTHING (except shopping and eating)

This year has been no different, and my blog has suffered.  A few products of my vaca.

Soft gingerbread men and women using the recipe from Tartine’s Cookbook

Mussels in a bacon and white wine sauce

tree transport with the trusty maroon stallionchristmas booty under a dead dried out tree that looked great for only about a week. Note to self: douglas firs are cheap, fluffy and smell great, but last only about a week before losing all color and getting crunchy.  I murdered a tree.
drinking!  We went to the Renegade Craft Fair where I shopped.  a lot.  Then we rewarded ourselves even more with beers.
and finally, a clip from one of my absolute favorite movies and the inspiration for this post:
Erika S. fun stuffs

wallet naughtiness

I’ve been really naughty lately.  Naughty with my wallet. It’s hard to resist all the great deals all the stores have this month. I go out to do my christmas shopping, but then I end up putting up my conscience blinders and “forget” that I should be shopping for other people.

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darn you J.Crew for having such cute stuff on sale.  20111214-193448.jpg

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The yellow raincoat I found at Anthropologie on super sale.  I drooled over it when it first came out.  I’ve worn it to school these past three days. Comments I’ve received thus far from students (an other teachers!):

“good morning Ms. Bright!”

“What the hell are you wearing?  I’m blinded!!”

“That so cute!  Why don’t you ever look like a teacher?”

“it’s not raining in here. why are you wearing that.”

“Hi Ms. Schenck, you look happy today!”  that’s because I’m wearing a new coat!!!

To be fair, I did end up getting gifts for others.  Case in point:  got bambi some woodland creatures in sweaters as friends.  Never mind that they are actually candles.  And that they look so cute in my hallway!  Bambi loves her new friends!

Erika S. fun stuffs

animalism

I saw these nail sticker decal things at h&m this past weekend and decided to get them. an homage to my little animal, Bambi. she’s so chic.

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in the end, the nail stickers sucked. Sally Hansen salon effects strips kick these to the curb.

it’s finals week! this means two significant developments for the social lives of teachers. first, it means only one more week till Christmas vaca. second, it means no lesson planning and half days! woot woot! unfortunately for me, it also means I’m working on BTSA (dumb useless paperwork crap for credentialing) stuff that I’ve put off all semester. boo.

Erika S. outfits

bambi love

It was a rough week.  Kicked a kid out of class wednesday, unwillingly found myself in an email exchange with an agressive, defensive, miserly co-worker and ended the week with 110 kids practicing putting condoms on two wooden ‘replicas’.   I’m the type of teacher who thinks a school really needs to function like a well oiled machine.  We are all part of a team, the same team.  So when someone on your team is consistently an defensive a-hole who jumps down everyone’s throat, it makes a hard job even harder.

So I bought myself a heart sweater.  I figured a big whopping heart on my chest would help  me recover from one of those soul crushing weeks that sometimes comes with being a teacher.

Some love from my dog bambi helped too.

Then inspiration struck.  Bambi needed a sweater too!

glasses: bonlook – sweater: j.crew – pants: f21 – shoes: bass

Erika S. outfits

The “you must have a date tonight!” outfit

Teenagers notice everything.  Nothing will slip past them, especially not when they spend an hour (sometimes 2) staring at you as you teach.  Coincidentally, teenagers are also trying to figure out their mental–>verbal filters. Random/inappropriate/funny/embarrassing/ghastly things come flying out of mouths daily. Case in point: “Ms. S, you look really nice today…..OMG YOU MUST HAVE A DATE TONIGHT!!!!”

No, I don’t have a date tonight.  Can’t I wear a skirt every once in a while?  Especially when said skirt is new and super cute?  Never mind that I still have the usual teacher hairdo (more like the non-do).

My health class says hello BTW.  They left me a message that I just found this morning.

Glasses : bonlook – necklace/bracelet : my mom’s from when she was 12 – tee/belt/skirt : j.crew – cardi : super old from Therapy – shoes : nine west (also seen here) – watch : Marc by Marc Jacobs via Nordies Rack

Erika S. fun stuffs

a few heart fuzzies

Students make me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside sometimes.  Especially when they come bearing food gifts!  Like this Viet style coconut jelly desert.

other warm fuzzies, matching nails and pants!  with glitter!

reminders that I have a heart.  and a life.