Erika S. outfits

Hulk Out.

Some kid asked me during Living Environment (Bio) class today if the Hulk turns green because he has chloroplasts in his skin.

True story.  I think my faux-army jacket inspired him.

top: madewell – jacket: old h&m – jeans – f21 – flats: frye – necklaces: marc by marc jacobs and f21

I’ve been having a hard time with things to say lately.  Also, I haven’t been brave enough to ask my new coworkers to snap outfit photos for me.  You know, worries and all that they’ll think it’s stupid and vapid.  So thus there haven’t been many posts lately of my daily teaching armor.

But here’s a nugget of truth:  I work with some amazingly smart, deeply caring and empathetic people.  These fellow teachers (and teachers of the past but not forgotten) help keep you sane and they help quell the rage you feel when your day was mad crazy and a select few kids shit all over your lesson.  They help put things into perspective – my life is a cake walk compared to what our kids deal with at home.

Erika S. outfits

Grid-Walking Part 2

Today we walked Quadrant 2 of our grid-walking plan: Union St/6th Ave to 7th St/Prospect Park West.  Fall is definitely settling in, and I couldn’t be happier with the cooler temperatures.  I wouldn’t call it cold by any means, but it’s cool enough for a holey sweater and a very thin puffy in a fall plaid.  I’m not even quite done with the plaid yet, but this Uniqlo puffy is a recent addition to my fall arsenal.

Oh, and I dyed my hair last weekend.  There was a sale on hair dye at CVS and I had a coupon for an extra $2 off.  $4.50 later, I have black hair.  Something new for cheap.

puffer: uniqlo (bought during a $10 off special)- sweater: anthro, evening chill pullover (old)- belt: h&m – coated twill pants: urban outfitters (I bought mine on sale for $30 in-store, online they’re full price still)- shoes: vans (super old) – bag: freitag

Erika S. outfits

Go wan us

B has a walking plan for us.  We’re walking the grid in our area of Park Slope.  Eventually, by the time we’ve snaked up and down every street, we’ll have covered every single block north/south between 8th – 3rd ave, and east/west between Union st – 16th st. The idea is to cover everything and make note of interesting spots and places we like, a full-scale exploration of our hood.  Today we covered 3 miles of the walking plan.  There’s cool stuff out there!


glasses: warby parker – tee: mnkr – jeans: h&m – bag: freitag – sneakers: converse – belt: gap

These ‘boyfriend’ jeans were a $7 find at H&M.  I love them, but I seem to be the only one. My sister says they give me a flat butt (they do), my mom says they highlight my long torso/short leg proportions (it does – my height is all in my freakishly long torso) and B says they “don’t look like any kind of fashion, they just look like big old jeans” (the point exactly. duh).

Erika S. fun stuffs

friday checks

Not done with the plaid just yet.  A second plaid/checked flannel from Uniqlo. Totally unnecessary to have two checked flannels, but I am weak willed.  They’re totally different colors!  My mom joined in with her own plaid – she knows what’s up.

I came home from school to a surprise envelope today.  B is the best random gift giver/I read your blog entry and got you something gifter ever.

Yay giraffes!  Unicorn Crafts –> ridiculously cute jewelry like my Narwhal.

Erika S. fun stuffs, outfits

Mad for Plaid

Fall is finally starting to creep in here and temps are starting to become tolerable.  Good thing, as I’ve recently picked up a couple flannel shirts from Uniqlo and have been dying to experience some 90’s nostalgia while listening to Alice in Chains.

Image

sunnies, jeans (my favorite for the last year and so ridiculously cheap) and necklace: f21 – flannel: uniqlo – belt: j.crew – bag: freitag – shoes: vans

Uniqlo is my new favorite store, “fo real for real” as the teens like to say.  Basics with a little bit of flair for super reasonable prices.  Case in point, this $20 (normally $30, there was a special going on) flannel.  It’s warm, will carry me through fall and winter, I’ve been mad about plaid for some time now and the soft flannel makes me super huggable.  I need hugs.

ImageAlso, my mom is in town this week.  This means playing tourist through the 3 major chinatowns of New York.  Flushing’s chinatown/koreatown is the best, hands down.  A couple snaps of a scene in Manhattan’s chinatown: a square full of gambling old grandmas and the people who watch them.

ImageImage

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

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

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.

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.

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