mohinders – Teachers Have Lives Too!

School is officially in session! The first week is coming to a close and I’m just now getting around to posting about the first days of school. It’s always hard to break back into the teaching routine every fall. I’m exhausted by the end of the teaching day and my body feels like it’s been run over by a truck by the time I get home (after a HIIT or spin class after school as well). I’m sure I look like a zombie walking out of the building every afternoon, it’s so hard to be “on” as an introvert after such a relaxing summer of being “off”.

It’s been a great week so far though. I have a fantastic group of kids this year, for real. I know I say this every year, but these kids are so freaking awesome this year in both Physics and AP Bio. I’m very excited, as cliche as it sounds. We did labs these past 2 days and I was blown away by the thinking these kids were doing. So much creativity and insight, I’m really going to have to ramp things up this year! I’m also super thankful to be able to teach the same subjects for a second year in a row. It’s big, because it means I can actually improve my lessons from year to year instead of constantly running just to keep up. Now I will finally have the luxury to think about how to make lessons more exciting, how to build independence in learning, and how to really work at developing critical thinking and analytical thinking skills in science.

Anyways, this is what I picked for the first days. The first day is 9th grade only, so I did not have classes ’til the second day when my 11th and 12th graders showed up. My tank is not new here at all (I’ve had it for over 6 years!), but pretty much everything else is. My pants are the Everlane Straight Leg Crops and they’re really good for everyday use even though I got them in a size too small. A woman at the SF store told me they stretch out a lot, but I should have known not to go that small as I generally prefer looser pants now a days. I normally wear a size 8 and these are a size 4! But still considering I went 2 sizes down, they’re really stretchy and still super comfortable even sitting down.

The shoes are my new favorite sandals, the Mohinders Woven Slides. These sandals were my best shoes of summer by far – super comfortable, versatile, and ethically made, which is something I’m trying to learn towards more and more. I’m eyeballing getting a pair of their woven flats, but I can’t justify another pair of shoes just yet. These were a gift from B via Huckberry last December, so hint hint on the shoes!

These earrings though…a co-worker stopped me in the morning and said I was really upping the earring game this year. I secretly pumped my fist Napoleon Dynamite style when she was out of sight. I have my good friend Sara to thank for them, as she made them herself! They’ve inspired me to start a ceramics class this November!

earrings: a sara boeck original – tank: madewell – pants: everlane – shoes: mohinders – watch: fitbit

That second day, the air conditioning was not functioning very well, and I sweat through my dress every period with the nervous type of sweat. I’m sure you can all relate. The dress (and sandals) you have all seen before. It’s such a great spring/summer work dress that I have one in Navy also. Good to know it can handle sweaty pits without showing the sweat stains too badly!

dress: uniqlo – shoes: mossimo/target

Summer has come and gone, seemingly in a heart beat. This year B and I did not do any international travel, so I theoretically I had plenty of time to just lounge around. Never seems to work out that way though right? What I did do was work in the garden, camped three times, traveled to SF twice, spent some time in DC with the family, and took a quick trip to NYC! Phew! I am forever grateful to have 2 months off every year to decompress from the school year. I don’t think I would ever last if we didn’t.

Yesterday was our first day back to school for a week (and a day – we started on a FRIDAY) of meetings, planning, and set up time. Students show up right after. This means I’m going to get good use out of my closet again. I’ve essentially been living in my Nike shorts and a tank all summer! There have been a few new additions to my closet for this coming school year – first of which is a new school bag. I end up changing up my school bag pretty often. In BK I used my Freitag tote for 2 years, then started switching every year here in Denver. I guess I’m just always on the search for the perfect school bag. I need something that can protect my laptop from drippy coffee thermoses, water bottles, and can haul my lunch without crushing it, all while being cute and gentle on my back. I don’t have far to walk ever (car to classroom), but as I’ve gotten older my back is more sensitive to weirdly balanced weights. The truth is though, I’m just a sucker for cute bags.

This year’s bag is an Osprey one I picked up at the Summer Outdoor Retailer Conference in Denver back in June. B and I worked for our friend’s coffee company Bivouac pouring cups at the event. This means of course that I got to go and check out all the new stuff coming out soon by all the Outdoor brands. Not many booths were selling things, but Osprey were on the first day. This bag is set to come out in Spring 2020 (I think), and it’s called the Arcane Totepack. I jumped on the chance to buy one as soon as I saw it (they sold a second style too, which of course I also bought because I couldn’t choose). Currently, they have something similar, but definitely not as cool. This one is a roll top style with an internal laptop sleeve which means I can just open and dump stuff in without fumbling around with a zipper that accidentally unzips as I load. There are padded backpack straps that can be disconnected and tucked into the bag, as well as tote style handles that also can be tucked in out of sight. The fabric is a soft brushed matte material that doesn’t seems to collect hair, but does collect dust a bit. The tote handles are a seat-belt material that is soft on the hands. So far this bag has been on a 11 day trip with me from SF to DC to NYC, and I’ve used it one day for school. I really like it! The pink bunny charm is an extra cute thing I added for fun.