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| Friday Sweater: Cato Fashion Skirt: Walmart Flats: Hush Puppies Necklace: Target |
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| Saturday Top: Loft Cardigan: Maurice's Jeans: Mudd (Kohl's) Sperry's: Dillard's |
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Friday and Saturday
We were supposed to have a showing today on our house. The people never called, but they also never showed up…so we woke up early and drove our dogs around for an hour for absolutely no reason. GRRR.
One Foot In, One Foot Out
I feel like I'm in-between two lives right now. I'm finishing out the school year here in MO, getting my students prepared for the end-of-course exams, helping my seniors prepare for graduation…and then I'm also mentally preparing myself for the huge life change that is moving halfway across the country. I'm already thinking about the things I need to do when I move to Arizona.
It's weird to have one foot in and one foot out. I'm helping my department plan and prep for next year, knowing I won't be there to see the changes. At the same time, I'm wondering what it will be like at my new school, what the curriculum looks like, and what planning with a new group is like.
I'm cleaning my current house for prospective buyers while simultaneously thinking about where things will go in my new place. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone!
I was so exhausted on Monday and Tuesday (darn the two hour time change!) that I forgot to take pictures. Monday I wore my mint bow top with the lattice pants. Tuesday I wore the blue floral dress with the pink sweater over top.
It's weird to have one foot in and one foot out. I'm helping my department plan and prep for next year, knowing I won't be there to see the changes. At the same time, I'm wondering what it will be like at my new school, what the curriculum looks like, and what planning with a new group is like.
I'm cleaning my current house for prospective buyers while simultaneously thinking about where things will go in my new place. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone!
I was so exhausted on Monday and Tuesday (darn the two hour time change!) that I forgot to take pictures. Monday I wore my mint bow top with the lattice pants. Tuesday I wore the blue floral dress with the pink sweater over top.
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| Lace Tank: Altar'd State Navy Midi Skirt: Cato Fashion Blazer: Target Nude Flats: Vince Camuto (Dillard's) Necklace: Premier Jewelry |
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| Sweater: Ann Taylor Skirt: Marshall's Necklace: EBay Rain boots: Hunter |
House Hunting Trip
Last weekend was crazy. I had two interviews Thursday afternoon via phone. This was also the second day of parent/teacher conferences. I had permission to leave the conferences for an hour or so in order to hide in my car for said interviews. Also, it was raining. So you can imagine how well the phone interview reception was!
I had one really good phone interview and one really bad phone interview. I wanted to be really upset about the bad interview, but I wasn't. I reflected on it before heading back inside for P/T conferences, and I realized I had done NOTHING wrong. In fact, many of the questions they asked were the same as the one before, and that interview could not have gone better. The first interview I had was for a school similar to the one where I currently teach: it's a demographic of economically disadvantaged students and the school does a LOT to help those kids succeed. This first interview was with the department head. She was friendly and conversational and I felt really good about it. The second interview started out with bad phone reception (which I apologized for, explaining I was in my car in the rain because I was in between meetings with parents). The interview would ask a question and then interrupt me in the middle of my answer to say she could hear me better at that particular second. Or once she asked me a question about my use of technology, and as I was in the middle of a sentence interrupted to ask, "Wait, how big is your school? Do you even have diversity?" Ummm…really?! I felt like this person thought so highly of her school that she didn't even respect me enough to realize I was also interviewing her, that I was also trying to decide if the school would be a good fit for ME.
Obviously, this made my decision really easy. Second school: cross it off my list.
After the end of parent/teacher conferences at 8pm Thursday evening, hubby and I drove nearly three hours to St. Louis to catch a few hours of sleep. Our flight was to leave at 5:30 am Friday morning. And we all know that you have to get to the airport a few hours early to make it through security. After about three hours of shut-eye, we got to the airport around 3:30 in the morning!
Once we got to Phoenix (our new home!) we drove to the high school where I had given my first phone interview. The interviewer (dept. head) had invited me to come visit her classroom and see how I felt about the school! It went really well and I was offered a job on the spot. I feel so blessed to have found a wonderful school family so quickly in the process!
After checking out the school, hubby and I headed to the hotel for a quick change before starting the house hunting. Here's my outfit from AFTER that quick-change:
Ignore the blurry shots and the ugly toes. Day one of house hunting was a bust and hubby and I felt a little discouraged. Day two went much, much better. We found TWO houses we really liked and we put offers out on both. One came back immediately with an acceptance of all our terms! Here's a picture of my outfit that day AND a quick pic of the house:
To recap: In one weekend, I got a job and a house! Not too shabby.
I had one really good phone interview and one really bad phone interview. I wanted to be really upset about the bad interview, but I wasn't. I reflected on it before heading back inside for P/T conferences, and I realized I had done NOTHING wrong. In fact, many of the questions they asked were the same as the one before, and that interview could not have gone better. The first interview I had was for a school similar to the one where I currently teach: it's a demographic of economically disadvantaged students and the school does a LOT to help those kids succeed. This first interview was with the department head. She was friendly and conversational and I felt really good about it. The second interview started out with bad phone reception (which I apologized for, explaining I was in my car in the rain because I was in between meetings with parents). The interview would ask a question and then interrupt me in the middle of my answer to say she could hear me better at that particular second. Or once she asked me a question about my use of technology, and as I was in the middle of a sentence interrupted to ask, "Wait, how big is your school? Do you even have diversity?" Ummm…really?! I felt like this person thought so highly of her school that she didn't even respect me enough to realize I was also interviewing her, that I was also trying to decide if the school would be a good fit for ME.
Obviously, this made my decision really easy. Second school: cross it off my list.
After the end of parent/teacher conferences at 8pm Thursday evening, hubby and I drove nearly three hours to St. Louis to catch a few hours of sleep. Our flight was to leave at 5:30 am Friday morning. And we all know that you have to get to the airport a few hours early to make it through security. After about three hours of shut-eye, we got to the airport around 3:30 in the morning!
Once we got to Phoenix (our new home!) we drove to the high school where I had given my first phone interview. The interviewer (dept. head) had invited me to come visit her classroom and see how I felt about the school! It went really well and I was offered a job on the spot. I feel so blessed to have found a wonderful school family so quickly in the process!
After checking out the school, hubby and I headed to the hotel for a quick change before starting the house hunting. Here's my outfit from AFTER that quick-change:
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| Top: H&M Undershirt: The Limited Jeans: Mudd (Kohl's) Sandals: Toms Necklace: Gift from hubby |
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| Bow Top: Dillard's Lattice Pants: Cato Fashion Necklace: Gift from hubby Sandals: Toms |
Since we had an offer on the house, Sunday was spent by the pool as we waited for paperwork to be finalized so that we could sign off on things before heading back to MO.
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| Maxi Dress used as coverup: Kohl's |
To recap: In one weekend, I got a job and a house! Not too shabby.
Week of Parent/Teacher Conferences
I have fallen behind on this blog. Life has taken precedent at the moment! Two weeks ago, the school had a short week because of parent/teacher conferences. On top of that, I was planning a trip to Phoenix to interview for some teaching positions and also to look for a house. More updates about that in a later post!
Here are the outfits I remembered to capture on my phone (featured in backwards order):
Here are the outfits I remembered to capture on my phone (featured in backwards order):
Thursday 3/19 (P/T Conference Day 2)
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| Dress: Calvin Klein (JcPenney) Blazer: Target Wedges: Anne Klein |
Wednesday 3/18
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| Sweater: Cato Fashions Dark Skinnies: Kohl's Flats: Target Necklace: Premier Jewelry |
Tuesday 3/17 (P/T Conferences Day 1 AND St. Patty's Day)
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| Top: Express Pants: Cato Fashion Blazer: Target Wedges: Anne Klein |
Monday 3/16
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| Top: Dillard's Cardigan: Gap Skirt: Walmart Necklace: Premier Jewelry Flats: Hush Puppies |
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Saturday
I won't be posting an outfit for Sunday. I'm feeling ill (just a cold) and won't be going out of the house in anything but my sweats.
I got a surprising number of compliments on this outfit. It must have been the bright, cheery pink color of the skirt. I originally had this skirt in my summer wardrobe and moved it over into my spring wardrobe because I needed more bottoms. I'm so glad I did so!
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| Top: Gap Skirt: Marshall's Necklace: Premier Jewelry Nude Flats: Vince Camuto (Dillard's) |
Saturday, March 14, 2015
That Bag of Grading
The past two weeks have been a blur of painting, packing, and staging the house. The realtor came on Friday to take pictures for the website and I signed the papers, so it's now official that we are going to be moving. GAH!
All day yesterday, my throat felt a little sore and then BAM! last night I felt the full-blown cold coming on. I took medicine and tried to sleep in as best I could--colds tend to keep me up and feeling miserable. Because of this, I've been eyeing my bag of grading that I brought home. It needs to get done, but taking a nap sounds so much better!
Here are the outfits from earlier in the week:
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
On another note, I have mentioned going to a capsule wardrobe. I have been really good about not buying any clothing since going to this, but my spring wardrobe has just been…lacking. I've been frustrated because some of my pieces just don't seem to "go" and others weren't fitting well and I just felt blechh about it. The point of a capsule wardrobe isn't to make you feel this way at all. I decided the problem was that I was trying to hold on to some items that I just really didn't like. I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on new clothes and I am not sure what I will really feel good about wearing once I am in Arizona, so I stopped by Cato Fashions this afternoon to see if I could replace a few items. Here's what I found and what I replaced:
Well, there you have it. My replacements for my 40 hanger spring closet. I spent less than $65 on all four pieces and I feel super excited to wear everything in my closet now! I almost didn't buy the black and white pants because they look so similar to the navy and white ones, but they are just different enough to make it worth it to me. I feel I have so many more options for mixing and matching now that I have more neutral and versatile pieces...It just goes to show that you can't just put together a capsule wardrobe with random items you like, but you really have to think about things like versatility, color compatibility, and fit.
All day yesterday, my throat felt a little sore and then BAM! last night I felt the full-blown cold coming on. I took medicine and tried to sleep in as best I could--colds tend to keep me up and feeling miserable. Because of this, I've been eyeing my bag of grading that I brought home. It needs to get done, but taking a nap sounds so much better!
Here are the outfits from earlier in the week:
Wednesday
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| Dress: JcPenney Cardigan: J.Crew Necklace: Premier Jewelry Navy Wedges: Anne Klein |
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| Seersucker Dress: JcPenney Cardigan: Gap Necklace: Dustee's Flats: Hushpuppies |
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| Sweater: Ann Taylor Skirt (actually a dress): Target Necklace: Premier Jewelry Flats: Hushpuppies |
On another note, I have mentioned going to a capsule wardrobe. I have been really good about not buying any clothing since going to this, but my spring wardrobe has just been…lacking. I've been frustrated because some of my pieces just don't seem to "go" and others weren't fitting well and I just felt blechh about it. The point of a capsule wardrobe isn't to make you feel this way at all. I decided the problem was that I was trying to hold on to some items that I just really didn't like. I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on new clothes and I am not sure what I will really feel good about wearing once I am in Arizona, so I stopped by Cato Fashions this afternoon to see if I could replace a few items. Here's what I found and what I replaced:
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| I replaced the cream sweater on the left with this super-soft (and on clearance!) animal print sweater. It's neutral enough that it should go with everything in my spring closet. AND when it warms up I plan to just roll the sleeves. |
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| I replaced the super-cute pink skirt on the left with a more neutral navy midi skirt on the right. While I really liked the pink skirt, 1) it was a little short for work and 2) it didn't really pair with anything I owned except for the cream sweater above that I replaced. |
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| I replaced the denim capris on the left with these navy patterned ankle pants on the right. There wasn't really anything wrong with the capris but 1) They were too casual for work and 2) they didn't work well with chilly weather |
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| Last, I replaced the black capris on the left with the black and white patterned ankle pants on the right. I had similar reasons for replacing the black capris: 1) they were a little tight and thus I wasn't wanting to wear them and 2) being short, they only work when the weather is pretty warm. |
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Start of the Week
Each night I tell myself that I'm going to go to bed early and get some more sleep. It never happens. Why does it never happen? These are questions that I am haunted by. Also, I ended that sentence with a preposition, which also haunts me. But I'm too tired to care.
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| Top: Kohl's Cardigan: J.Crew Skirt: Walmart Tights Flats: Toms Necklace: J.Crew |
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| Top: JcPenney Jeans: Mudd-Kohl's Cardigan: JcPenney Flats: Hushpuppy Necklace: Premier Jewelry |
Owning It
We have been preparing for our upcoming move by de-cluttering. It's amazing how much you accumulate over time. It was quite embarrassing to see how much junk we've held on to in the almost-three years we've lived in our home.
We've gotten rid of so much stuff--most of it donated to Goodwill or friends--and I'm now feeling okay about where we are at with our stuff. Yes, we could get rid of more, but we aren't out-and-out hoarding anything either.
Here are my photos from the past few days:
We've gotten rid of so much stuff--most of it donated to Goodwill or friends--and I'm now feeling okay about where we are at with our stuff. Yes, we could get rid of more, but we aren't out-and-out hoarding anything either.
Here are my photos from the past few days:
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| Black Top: JcPenney Gray Cardigan: Maurices Jeans: Mudd-Kohl's Flats: Hush Puppies Pendant Necklace: gift from hubby |
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| Cream Sweater: Loft Skirt: Target Gray Tights Gray Boots: Payless Necklace: Francesca's |
Friday, March 6, 2015
On Being an Emotional Wreck
Guys. I go from being freaktastically excited about moving somewhere warm and beautiful (mountains, desert, sunshine) to being so incredibly sad to be leaving a place I love (friends, in-laws, my work family). I go from that butterflies-in-the-stomach excited to tears-streaming-down-the-face/about-to-need-a-paper-bag-to-breathe-into upset. Sometimes I feel both emotions simultaneously!
I hope that my school finds a replacement who loves those kiddos as much as I do. My students deserve that.
I am enjoying my Spring Capsule Wardrobe so far. I've only needed to replace one shirt (didn't like the way it fit on me). I worry I may have planned poorly and I don't think I have enough bottoms, though.
Sorry about the bad lighting in the second picture. I was in a hurry to get out the door. I just could not get myself to wake up and get moving this morning.
I hope that my school finds a replacement who loves those kiddos as much as I do. My students deserve that.
I am enjoying my Spring Capsule Wardrobe so far. I've only needed to replace one shirt (didn't like the way it fit on me). I worry I may have planned poorly and I don't think I have enough bottoms, though.
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| Pink Sweater: Forever21 Dress (worn as skirt): JcPenney Navy Tights: Walmart Navy Shoes: Anne Klein Necklace: Dustee's |
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Getting Real
House inspections. Realtor meetings. Applying for jobs out of state. This whole moving thing is getting real, ya'll. The gossip mill has begun at work and people are finding out without my telling them--now it is only a matter of time until the students know. I know they won't be emotional about it as I am though :)
Here's outfits from Wednesday and Thursday (yesterday and today):
Here's outfits from Wednesday and Thursday (yesterday and today):
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| Mint Bow Top: Dillard's Blue Pencil Skirt: The Loft Flower Tank: Target Gray Tights Gray Boots: Payless Necklace: Present from hubby |
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| Black Striped Shirt: The Loft Black and White Skirt: Dillard's (saw an exact match at Target this weekend) Gold Tights: Walmart Tall Black Boots: Lane Bryant Colorful Statement Necklace: Premier Jewelry |
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Big News
Sorry for the week+ hiatus. My husband and I got some pretty big news and it sent me into a flurry of late nights and extra work: we will be moving to Arizona by May. Moving is always a big deal, and when that move is compressed into less than two months, it is a little frightening!
Thankfully I went to a modified 40 Hanger Closet. There is much, much less to take with us. I've taken the idea of simplifying to the rest of the house and we have now brought bags and bags of stuff to Goodwill. My future plans of having a garage sale have been thwarted once again.
Needless to say, last week I didn't take many pictures. I was, honestly, an emotional mess.
Here's the photos from the past few days, though:
Thankfully I went to a modified 40 Hanger Closet. There is much, much less to take with us. I've taken the idea of simplifying to the rest of the house and we have now brought bags and bags of stuff to Goodwill. My future plans of having a garage sale have been thwarted once again.
Needless to say, last week I didn't take many pictures. I was, honestly, an emotional mess.
Here's the photos from the past few days, though:
Monday, February 23 (The pic on the right makes me look like I have a unibrow)
Tuesday, February 24
From here on out I will be wearing my SPRING WARDROBE! Also, spring should hurry up because of this. Just saying.
Monday, March 2 (I had to give a presentation to the staff)
Tuesday, March 3
I broke my rule about not buying anything. This sweater is new. In my defense, I had to get rid of a shirt that was too tight and needed a replacement. This one was on clearance at Ann Taylor and was just so cute.
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