Thursday, February 21, 2019

Hey sweet readers!  How are you?  I’m counting the minutes until Friday to be honest!  So, I have gotten the best recommendations from the blogs I read.  I especially trust my bloggers who don’t do sponsored posts and aren’t getting paid to say they like a product.  (Just keeping it real, folks!)  I have no reason to recommend any of my products other than to help my readers.  Please leave me any recommendations in the comments because I love hearing what you love.

First of all, I visited my favorite consignment shop during their President’s 20% off sale.  The whole store was 20% off of their already reasonable prices!  I picket up this jacket/kimono for $6, guys.  That’s about the price of a latte!  

It is a Target brand that I don’t think is around anymore?  It had a bit of an Anthropologie vibe.  

And, I wore it yesterday!  If I don’t wear a purchase immediately, it goes back to the store.  Are you like that?  

Lipsense – no, I do not sell it, but I really do love the stuff.  It really stays put and is $20 for a color.  It is supposed to be equivalent to 4 tubes of lipstick.  I don’t know about that, but I will say it lasts me a really long time.  If you need a dealer (ha, ha!), leave me a comment.  

I love this foundation!  I need decent coverage but it’s really light feeling.  It’s about $40 and I think it will last me a good 6 months.  No, I don’t abide by those rules about throwing out makeup – at least not foundation.  Mascara is a different story – don’t take chances with your ojos!

I don’t love the sweatshirt.  It is a bit too long on me and the neck comes up too high.  (Amazon)

I love, love, love the earrings and have worn the heck out of them!  They are such good quality!  (Amazon)

I love my Rothy’s!  They have spoiled all other flats for me!  My co-worker also has the same color and is ordering another pair this week.  They are super expensive, but they are really great flats in my opinion.  I played it safe with this mocha color, but I really wish I had picked a fun color or pattern, too. 

The Hofi pockets leggings from Amazon were a great purchase.  I wear them at least once every weekend.  My sister in law now owns 3 pairs – navy, hot pink, and black.  They are good!  

Did you like this post?  I will try to do more follow ups if you liked this!  

Amy 

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Happy hump day, people!  How is it almost the end of February?  January seemed 3 months long and now February seems like it is only taking 2 weeks!  

How has your week been so far?  Mine has been good, but I’m fighting a little cold.  

Let’s go back to last Tuesday (I guess I forgot it for last week’s post).  This outfit did not photograph well.  It was very mild out and I was comfortable, but I don’t know now if this worked.  I’m wearing my Rothy’s (still love, by the way!), my Chico’s pants (very old and from consignment shop), my new Anthro anatola tunic, and a very old Loft vest that I got for like $6 on clearance.

Wednesday I needed to wear my heart scarf.  I wore my royal blue 3/4 length top, a white sweater and the scarf with black pants.  

Thursday I thought this looked red and festive enough for Valentine’s Day, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open apparently.  These are my Matilda Jane Fin pants, my Free People Nordstrom top, my MIA clogs, and an old Walmart $2 necklace.  

Then, yesterday, I wore jeans because we are having a jeans week for a fundraiser, and a light green LulaRoe perfect tee with a kimono.  My long necklace was a gift from senior girls last year.  I had on my Rothy’s again.  

Monday after I finished with Parent Teacher Conferences, my boys had plans.  One went to an ice cream shop and one went to play Laser tag with friends.  I had about 30 minutes in between and went to my favorite Spanish tapas restaurant for a glass of wine – just one.  I fully intended to sit at the bar and watch the cooks – they have an open kitchen that is fun to watch.  But, they had this fire going in the enclosed patio.  So, I want to leave you with this.  

Even in the midst of a busy week, try to find some pockets of time to recharge your batteries and enjoy the simple things in life.  This was a good 30 minutes of quiet and calm for me and I had the patio to myself.  

Cheers to you, readers!  

What have you worn this week?  How do you find pockets of time for yourself?  

Amy 

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Are you ready to pack away the winter clothing?  Or, do you leave all seasons out all year?  I feel like the weather is all over the place and we really could do that these days!  I don’t deal well with visual clutter.  I like to have a smallish wardrobe to pull from for each season.

I have already packed away:  

-anything Christmasey

-anything velour – except my Matilda Jane pants

-anything flannel/plaid (my classroom is just too hot)

-my two turtlenecks (same reason as above)

-my super heavy sweaters

As I was thinking about my spring wish list, I went to my extra closet to see my spring stuff from last year.  I pulled out anything that I wasn’t excited about and anything that I probably should have gotten rid of before packing it away.  

Now, I’m not ready to move anything to my main closet yet, but this was a good reminder about what I already had so I don’t buy multiples of anything.  

This year, I took this exercise one step further.  I pulled out the things that I wore the most last spring and asked myself why and if I still felt the same about it.  Why was something such a good workhorse for my closet?  I will also use that information to drive future purchases.

Spring 2019 Wishlist and/or Trends I’m excited about:

Kimonos – I’m happy to say that I’m still seeing kimonos in the stores!  These are so easy to throw on over a knit dress or you can wear them with a graphic tee and jeans or do the monochromatic look underneath with matching top and pants for a flattering line and throw the kimono over it.

Neon – I could see myself doing this in a small way like with earrings, bracelet or a light spring scarf.

Tie-dye – I love tie-dye and have a hoodie and a blouse.  I might add more because I love it so much.  You can do this trend in a non-hippie way with lighter colors.

Coral – the Pantone color of the year – I really like this color for spring and it looks sharp with white or navy.  I can see myself adding something in this color – maybe a blouse.  

Fancy flats – Yes!  I love flats and I wouldn’t mind some fancy ones!  I also like the mule trend.  

Crochet – I’m not going to be wearing a crocheted bikini top but I can see a clutch or a crossbody in my future.

Fringe – I have loved fringe for many seasons now.  Give me a poncho, kimono, or a purse with fringe all day long.

Biker shorts – This trend intrigues me and I have seen them with suit jackets or blazers.  Um, no thanks.  But, I might be able to see wearing biker shorts with a top that covers the rump?

Feathers – I love feathers!  I have leather feather earrings!

Earth tones – I’m more of a bright color person, but I may be able to embrace some earth tones.  

Now, I’m sure this list is not exhaustive.  I will probably be talking more about trends as spring approaches.

My Personal Wish List:

-some cropped jeans with an interest hem or fringed hems

-an olive or blush military style jacket

-a moto jacket in olive or blush

-Birkenstocks in rose gold perhaps?

-a casual white top or blouse in boho style 

What about you? Have you moved any winter clothes out yet?  Have you inventoried your spring stuff?  What trends are you excited to try?  

Thanks for reading!

Amy 

Monday, February 18, 2019

Happy President’s Day!  Are you off today?  My kids are, but we have Parent Teacher Conferences so I’m working from 7:30-2:30.  I am having trouble with my link ups lately, so I don’t know if I will be able to link up.  I was doing just fine with Inlinkz and now I’m not.  If you are a blogger and have a suggestion, it would be most appreciated!  I’m also having trouble leaving comments on some blogs.  

How was your weekend?  Mine went by in a flash.  I was off Friday but had a hard time motivating myself to do anything other than go to my hair appointment.  You don’t know how badly you needed it done until you see your new fresh do!  

Friday night was my son’s play (they ran it 6 times over the course of two weeks) and my husband was finally going to see it.  I put on the outfit below and dropped my son off an hour before the show.  

Then I met my husband at the Italian restaurant Ciao a block away.  

We had a nice little dinner and then watched our son’s 10 minutes of fame and I left and he stayed until the play was over. 

Saturday morning had me up bright and early to get my other son to an academic competition.  He was taking a test for language arts and had to be at a school about 20 minutes away by 8 a.m. I found out Saturday night that he made it to state!  That means he will be taking another language arts test next month!

I killed time by going to a nearby Panera for a latte.  

It was chilly but the sun was out!  

I did my nails while doing laundry and watching the Food Network.  

I popped into Old Navy and picked up this gold necklace to wear with my silver so I can wear both metals at once.  I figured if I liked them well enough together I might invest more money in a nicer one later on down the road.  

Then, we had to get theater son to his last performance and other son to a movie with a friend so we went to lunch at Hopcat while they were involved with their things.  We did not go to all 6 performances because it was $15 per person per time and because it sold out most of the time!  

I tried a petite sour rose beer and really liked it.  

Look at the cool ceiling decor!

We split a sloppy joe and onion rings and I’m so glad we split!  And, hub loves street corn so he had that, too.  

We picked everyone up by 4 and just hung out at home and I made dinner for the boys but we were too stuffed to eat again.  Theater son was feeling really sick and went to bed very early.  He has been fighting whatever my husband had last weekend and I started to feel like I was going to get it, too.  So, I had an early night as well after falling asleep on the couch at 8.  I tell you, when I’m in the school year, I just can’t stay up very late.  

Sunday was lazy and uneventful.  We finally had nothing on the calendar.  I did my breakfast prep for the week and made chocolate chip cookies.  I read and watched t.v., did more laundry, and that’s about it.  

We did take an afternoon drive to see the river flooding we’ve been having lately starting to recede.  

How was your weekend?  Or, are you still having it right now?  Are you still managing to survive winter?  I’m seeing signs of spring and it makes me think winter will not last forever!

Thanks for reading!  

Amy 

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Do you have special plans for today or tonight?  This year it is just a normal Thursday for me.  I have to work and run kids around and figure out dinner.  I may do something fun for takeout.  We don’t really do gifts for our kids.  Some years I do some favorite candy at dinner for everyone, but that’s about it.  My husband and I exchange small gifts some years.  This year, I just want to go out with him over the weekend because it’s been a few weeks. 

But, today, I thought I would talk about things in life I’m loving right now.  I like to practice gratitude every day and try to look for the positive.  

Little back story:

I’m a wife, mom to 16 year old identical twin boys who are juniors in high school, dog mom, high school Spanish teacher.

-Hearing my theater son singing in the shower – belting out songs from Annie the musical that he will be in this spring

-watching my sons change the trash without being asked and do general chores around the house that need to be done without being asked

-staying light out until 6:30 – really makes a difference when driving home from activities

-my sweet dog getting up when I do – 5 am during the week and 6-7 am on weekends. We have our routine together and he is such a sweet companion

Part of my Valentine’s decor is this portrait.  Why didn’t I put them in red?  It’s so hard to believe they used to be this small.  

-my Valentines minimal decor and getting excited to switch out to St. Patrick’s Day in a few days

-my public library website: every time I get a book rec I put in a request and each week one comes up ready for me to pick up.  I can’t even imagine how much money this has saved me (and given me more money for clothing, shoes, and accessories!), and how many hours of pleasure I have gotten from reading

-one of my sons becoming so adventurous with food – ordered salmon and split eggplant parmesan with me lately

-my husband getting over his cold. When the mom is sick nothing changes but when the dad is sick – watch out! Lol!

-looking at all the spring clothes and shoes in stores and online and checking out new styles.  I want all the white tops and blouses and put in an order from Nordstrom.com with the last of my gift card

-catching a glimpse of daffodils peeking out through the ground while walking Ernie this week

How will you celebrate today?  What have you been loving? What has made you happy?

Thanks for reading!

Amy

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Hey y’all!  We are halfway through the week!  Actually, I am over halfway because I am off Friday!  It is a flexible professional development day and I worked it over the summer to have it off.  Students are also off on Monday while we do Parent Teacher Conferences.  They have a four day weekend and I have a three day weekend!  

Here is my new Anthropologie Anatola tunic.  It is a rust color and I have already worn it twice.  It is a little big but I’m hoping to shrink it slightly in the dryer.  They didn’t have one size down but that might have been too small anyway.  It was $22 on sale and it is soooo soft.  I only have a couple of pieces from Anthro.  It is usually too expensive but I love their style.  I try to look for Anthro-like pieces at other shops.  

Here is the bag I bought on a whim last week when it popped up in my social media.  The middle is just screen printed and I thought it would be embroidered.  Oh well, I still like it.  It is really big and could be a weekender bag or a pool or boat bag.  It was around $30 from Copper Fox – a company I had never heard of.  

I tried to wear a dress last week but I was a bit self conscious with bare white legs.  I am struggling with what to wear.  It is super hot in my classroom.  

Forgive the hair below.  What can I say?  It’s been raining here for 40 days and 40 nights!  I decided to wear fun leggings with a short dress and I changed the boots to flats when I got hot.  

Friday spirit day.  The vest has my school logo and I’m wearing grey fake Hue legging jeans or jeggings.  I love the brand Hue.  These are my consignment Seychelles booties for $16 that I got a couple of weeks ago.  I was patient in waiting on grey booties and they appeared!  Haha!

I was too hot in my pink “burberry”!  It came off and I looked bad all day long.  Oh well.  

Happy hump day!  What have you been wearing, buying, or coveting?  

Amy 

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Have you always wanted to be a part of a book club?  Make 2019 your year!  You may have to be the one to organize it, but it will be worth it – trust me!  It really holds you accountable to read more which I think is a goal of many people.  It also sometimes gets you reading genres you might not have read on your own.  You may also make some new friends.  Really, you have nothing to lose!

I am currently in my second book club.  The first ran its course after about 4 years together, which I thought was pretty good.  It lost and gained a few members and by the end we were down to about 4 people and we just let it fade out, but it was a lot of fun.  We read a lot of books!  One of our most memorable nights was when we sat in one of the members’ tree house (seriously – her husband built it and it had a table and seating for 8!) and discussed Fifty Shades of Grey with themed foods – garlic knots, playroom punch, laters baby taters.  Haha!  

My second book club had its first year in 2018 and it was pretty successful!

Here is how we organized ours:

-We decided to do Thursday nights at 6:30 and rotate houses.   If it was your month you would pick the book and be the hostess.  

-We sent out 9 months of Thursday dates via email and everyone picked a month and went ahead and gave their book title.  This worked much better than waiting until the month before for each person to pick their book like my first book club did. Many people like to order their books from Amazon in advance or request from the library.

-We did February, March, April, May, June, July, October, and November of 2018.  We skipped August and December because they were so busy with school starting and Christmas.  

-Eight months worked out perfectly because we had 8 members to start, but you could also do 4 people hosting twice each.

-As the year went on, we had a couple of people drop out.  We just cancelled those months or talked about the books at the following months’ meeting.  

-Don’t get your feelings hurt if you ask someone and they say no.  Some people are at a busy season in their lives and some people just aren’t readers.  I had a couple of gals say no and that was fine.

-Who do you ask?  You can ask neighbors, co-workers, people from church, friends, friends of friends that you know like to read.  My current group ranges in age from early 40s to mid 50s and has married and divorced women.  I have a friend who is in a different book club with her friends and her mom and some of her mom’s friends!  I think a variety of ages can give a variety of perspectives.  

-Don’t get your feelings hurt if someone drops out.  They may just not be able to honor the time commitment and it’s not personal.  

-After everyone has picked their month and their book selection, people just need to start reading!

-A week before each meeting, someone should email or text a reminder and a request for a RSVP so that the host can plan for table seating, plates, napkins, glasses, etc.

-The host usually makes an appetizer and provides some wine for our group.  Everyone else brings an appetizer and a bottle of wine or a drink of their choice.  We decided to keep it simple and everyone loves an appetizer meal.  You can bring store bought and that is totally fine.  Sometimes the host does a dessert, too,  

-Our rule is that we talk about the book, including the ending even if some haven’t finished or even started the book.  We still encourage everyone to come even if it was a bad month of reading for them.  To be honest, there was only one month where every single person read the whole book and it was the first month and it was my pick!  Lol!  (Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us – it was a pretty quick read and a good one to get us started)

-We don’t just talk about the book, of course!  We have talked about all kinds of things and had lots of laughs.  I tend to be the one to steer us back to the book or to make sure that our conversation at least involves the book in part.  It’s the teacher in me!

So, do you want to start a book club this year?  

For 2019 our dates are:  2/28, 3/21, 4/25, 5/23, 6/27, 7/25, 9/26, and 10/24.  We do the last Thursday of the month or close to the last if a holiday is involved.  We may add just a dinner out in November but November got cancelled last year.  

Here are some authors and book suggestions if your group needs them:

Colleen Hoover, Elizabeth Berg, Lianne Moriarity, Elin Hildebrand

The Last Mrs. Parrish

Verity

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine

All We Ever Wanted 

Happy book clubbing!  Let me know if you are already in a book club or plan to start one!

Amy

*Full disclosure:  I wrote this a couple of weeks ago and I have only had one person respond to my book club email for this year.  The one that responded was a no.  So, I will send one more request but I may not have a book club for this year, sadly.  

Monday, February 11, 2019

How was your weekend?  I’m linking up with Heather, Lindsay, and Tanya  here for Hello Monday!  Here is how my weekend went…

Friday after school, our Spanish club attempted to make this below.  It’s called an arepa and they are common in Colombia and Venezuela.  It is like a corn meal cake that after cooking, you slice open and stuff with various things.  We just did beans and cheese and they turned out really good!  

It is super easy and you only need this below, salt and water.  

After that, two other Spanish teachers and I were thirsty!  I swung by to pick up my Kroger online order and then met them for this below!  

Friday night dinner was chicken and noodles at home.  It was good comfort food for a cold night.  

Saturday morning I had to drop a son off at theater and get some medicine for my husband. I also returned my pretty pink earrings and my multi color sweater from Versona that I bought a week ago on my snow day.   I decided it was too short and boxy.  

I did some window shopping at the mall and I bought the Anthropologie Anatola tunic in a rust color on sale for $22 and wore it Saturday night. 

I picked son up and made lunch for everyone and did my nails.  Can you tell I want spring?  

Saturday night I took son to theater for his second performance and my two friends were working a dance at their girls’ school so we met for dinner before they went.  Two of us enjoyed red wine and one a cranberry vodka.  

I tried something new to me – eggplant casserole atop spicy lentils.  It was really good.  My husband didn’t have an appetite but my other son requested I bring him food home and he chose the salmon.  He loved it.  He is getting to be quite a foodie.  The other one – not so much.  

This is the play my son is doing.  We saw him perform Thursday night.  It continues on next weekend so we may go watch him one more time.  There are ten 10 minute plays.  

And, Sunday was an afternoon performance of his play.  We dropped him off at call time and took our other son to a record shop.  He has a record player and loves music.  

It’s hard to believe this week is already Valentine’s Day.  We haven’t made any plans yet.  We have a busy week in store, so I’m not sure what we will be able to do.   How about you?  

Hope you have a good Monday!

Amy 

Friday, February 8, 2019

Hello Friday!  This week kicked my butt!  With a five day week and activities every evening after school I do know why!  I’m linking up with Andrea et al for Friday Favorites here!  

Being in a movie scene!  Read about it here!  

This book is really cute!  I love Claire Cook.  A girl is the personal assistant for her famous brother and she uses his fame to go on a version of “Dancing with the Stars”!  It’s well written so that I don’t find it too cheesy but it’s light enough for what I need right now in my life.  

I love Prince (R.I.P.) and Purple Rain.  I even have a cocktail called Purple Rain.  The Easter candy is already out and look what I saw!  No, I didn’t buy it yet!  

I ordered these from Amazon and they seem like good quality for under $15.  They are not just sunglasses – but sunglasses readers!  Reading in the sun last Sunday made me realize I need these.  Do you need readers yet?  I’m only at a 1.5 and I only need them with my contacts in but not with my contacts out.  I’m so high maintenance, aren’t I?  

I’m starting to think spring and this bag just spoke to me.  I had never heard of an online shop called The Copper Fox but I ordered this for around $30 for spring.  I don’t have anything like it and I don’t have many purses anymore.  I will let you know about the quality when it arrives.  

What were your favorites this week?  Any fun weekend plans?  We have lots of theater plans this weekend.  I would like to squeeze in a movie, but not sure that will happen.  

Thanks for reading and happy weekending!  

Amy