what to wear to work – Teachers Have Lives Too!

12/16/201612/16/2016 Erika S. outfits

This Week.

This past week has been craaaaaazy. It started off with a holiday party on Monday, went on to a 13 hour work day Tuesday, into Finals week, and is ending today (Friday) with another holiday party.

The Fall semester is winding down to a close with the last 2 final exams taking place on Monday. Grades are due the following day, and we are on winter vacation starting Thursday. It’s been a great semester – I’ve been growing as an educator without feeling overwhelmed, and my kids have been super awesome. Teaching AP Bio is super cool, as the kids are self motivated and more importantly excited for my class every day. Mind blowing, seriously. All my classes have been awesome – these kids man, they really warm my heart to the core every day, even when my face still looks stone cold.

I really hope it all continues to go well next semester – but I’m wary since I’m getting an additional class to teach come January. This means my average 45 hour/week job is turning into a 50+ hour/week job, which to me is not sustainable. Fingers crossed I find magical time in my day to make it all work! Sadly, we (in science) all know there is no such thing as magic. I crush my students’ dreams all the time when we get to the unit where we discuss the Conservation of Matter and the first Law of Thermodynamics. It’s when I tell them that magic doesn’t exist, and while we’re at it, Santa Claus doesn’t either. Nothing can be created or destroyed, only converted. So back in the day, the Santa Claus I thought I saw in my living room just converted his clothes from dad clothes to a red furry Santa outfit! I’m so mean. Just to remind every one so I don’t start getting hate comments, these are 15 year olds.

On Monday, I got dressed with “day to night” in mind. I knew I’d be at school late (hello finals week!), and that I would have to rush just about straight from school to a holiday party at the Breckenridge Brewery in Littleton, CO. Brewery tours aren’t exactly the place for typical sparkly holiday outfits, but I still wanted to spice it up a bit. Good thing I had new boots to throw on! I picked these up from the Madewell site recently with all the great holiday sales going on. They are calf hair, meaning they feel even more like a dead animal than just plain leather. I really am a terrible person. Lastly, I topped it all off with the goth-iest of lipsticks I own, Kat Von D Liquid Lipstick in Damned. Because damn, I’m damned after that last comment about my shoes being made from baby cows. Terrible.

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animal-print-boots

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top: free people – jeans: mother denim – boots: madewell

12/11/201612/11/2016 Erika S. outfits

The News

There is a bunch of “new” here. It’s Friday, and I have a lot of new things I’m obsessed with. I guess I’ve been feeling kinda spend-y lately – after all, December is when the best sales happen, and the only person I really buy Winter Vacation Presents for is B. So there is a lot of new to share here on the blog.

First up, is this t-shirt I picked up at a recent Trails and Ways show here in Denver. Trails and Ways is a band from Oakland (the Bay Area!) that I first discovered watching PBS’s Farm to Table Family videos. I bought their album Pathology and seriously became obsessed with their single Tereza from an earlier album. Trails and Ways recently released a new album, which I also scooped up promptly and have been listening to almost non-stop since. mother-denim-high-rise-maverick

Next up are my new glasses from Warby Parker. I have seriously bad eyes, thanks to the Schenck lineage. Both my sister and I have coke-bottle-thick prescriptions, and without my glasses or contacts, I can’t see further than a foot away from my face. I’ve been wanting to get Lasik for some time, but my prescription only just recently stopped getting worse. I love the look of glasses, but with my strong prescription, it’s often easier just to wear contacts. This new addition to my Warby Parker collection though, are super comfortable. They have nose pads, which help with the sliding down the nose problem. The frames themselves are also relatively light weight, which help with the end-of-the-day glasses strain. The kids really like them – I got compliments on them starting 1st period! warby-parker-hadley

New jeans!! New and different! I haven’t owned a pair of jeans that aren’t skinny jeans in a really, really, long time. I saw these, and immediately thought Rossin – they’re the perfect kind of stretchy, comfy, funky but still adult-ish, 70s-ish style that I could easily picture her in. They’re definitely not the most flattering style for my long-torso-short-legs body type, but I still love them anyway. Mother Denim seriously makes the most comfortable jeans ever. These are my second pair of Mother jeans, and I will be on the lookout for more. They are ridiculously expensive full price, but affordable if you find them in the extra-sale section at Anthro.

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The jeans were a big hit with the kiddos on Friday. Right away, while in the halls herding children into first period and welcoming my own kiddos, one of my 10th graders looked at me and said with a laugh, “Miss! You look like such a nerd today!” My response was, “thanks!” and I really meant it. At least 4 kids said “nice jeans, miss!” as the day went on. mother-denim-high-rise-maverick3

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Lastly, I bought myself a new coat. I wear my Arcteryx Atom jacket just about every day, but I wanted something a bit less technical looking, and with a bit more warmth. I stumbled on this coat at Banana Republic this last weekend and it was 40% off store wide. I knew a coat like this would never make it to the sale section (it was already sold out of some sizes online), so after some internal debate, I snapped it up. I’m so glad I did too! It’s filled with down, and waterproof (I’ve yet to test that claim though) with a full faux fur hood. It’s so warm and super cute for around the city/to school. My Arcteryx will always be my favorite, but this one fills a different need. banana-republic-parka

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glasses: warby parker – t-shirt: trails and ways – jeans: mother denim – sweater and parka: banana republic – shoes: converse

12/06/2016 Erika S. outfits

No Voice

I’ve been sick with some cold/flu/who knows for the past 2 weeks. It started over the TG break with a super sore throat. I battled it out the full following week and by Friday, my students said I sounded like a frog. Over the weekend, my voice gave out. I knew I was in trouble on Sunday, when I tried to call Bambi (my dog) in from outside, and no sound came out. I sucked it up and went in to work anyways on Monday and regretted it it almost immediately. I should know better by now. Working while sick sucks, but teaching while sick sucks the life out of you. I was dead woman walking come 3pm, and I left early with sub plans on my desk. Advice to myself – take sick days when you need to, even when Final Exams are fast approaching!

There has been a lot running through my mind lately since my last post – the election – self care – teenage hope – the constant ask/expectations of more and more of teachers. All being saved for another day, if ever I get my voice back.