what's the buzz

Romeo and Juliet Couture kimono top, Ross

tank, Old Navy

jeans, Macy's

Haitian Beads earrings

    More headless iPhone photos ... I liked the dash of yellow paired with the black and white pattern. It's fun to wear a big pair of earrings sometimes.

   There are 19 school days left! I am trying to keep up with grading so I don't have to deal with the usual avalanche of ungraded tests at the end of the quarter. 

   What else I've been up to (according to my phone camera roll):

    I went out to dinner on a Tuesday night with two of my good aikido friends. It felt like a luxury to go out to eat and hang out for a bit on a "school night." I got a to-go order of the restaurant's red velvet pancakes and enjoyed them for dessert for the next few days.

 
I've been keeping up with my practice of drawing each night and this is my latest finished work.

blush and berry

silk top, Off Fifth

cardigan, Old Navy

Indigo Rein jeans, Macy's

scarf, Ross

  I'm slowly warming up to the idea of wearing pink, but still don't any pink accessories. The scarf's colors don't match the top, but I think they work because they belong to the same color family. This outfit was one I felt particularly good in - I enjoyed pairing casual pants and a cozy cardigan with the more polished top and scarf. 

    I usually prefer to wear this top on its own to show off the draping and asymmetric hem, but a recent spate of windy, cool weather made the cardigan necessary. I thought the open cut and longer length let the shirt's details peek out.

       
    Spring Break is coming! It starts Wednesday and I'm already anticipating time to read, bake, and relax. I also plan to clean out my classroom in preparation for my move at the end of the school year. 

abstract floral

French Connection top, thrifted

Indigo Rein jeans, Macy's

dot necklace, Simple Addiction

   Another parent-teacher conference week outfit, admittedly a bit more on the casual side. I bought this top at Saver's in October. I thought the colors were pretty and an abstract floral is one of my favorite prints. 

    I was hoping to wear my yellow glass pendant with this top, but the print seems to be a bit more yellow-green and they didn't match. Plain white pendant to the rescue!
    This will be a busy week, as it includes a field trip as well as a school festival on Friday afternoon. My grade level will be running a face-painting/temporary tattoo booth. I've never done face-painting before, so I hope to do a little practicing on my arm this week! It's amazing to me how many secondary skills you end up developing as a teacher.

dressed down

relaxed-fit tank, Old Navy

Indigo Rein jeans, Macy's

yellow glass pendant, gifted

       I wore this to work the other day because I knew my class was scheduled to work on our hands-on science unit. There are no desks in the science room, so I knew that I was going to spend a lot of time squatting, sitting or kneeling on the floor. Pants seemed like the only practical choice. 

       A colleague made a comment to me in the morning that I was dressed very casually.  I realized that people notice when I deviate from my usual style, which I would describe as "relaxed, practical and professional with consideration taken of the job requirements and weather." Judging from the comment, this is not my typical work outfit!  Which is kind of funny, because as much as I love my dresses, skirts and pretty clothes, this is still what I feel most comfortable in - a tank/tee, jeans, and a single accessory. I deliberately choose most of the time to not wear this type of outfit to work, because being dressed professionally has, I think, a positive effect on how I teach and interact with students.
     Happy Friday! The big thing happening this weekend is that my husband comes home - he's been away for about a month. I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with him ... taking a nap at  the same time is considered quality time, right? 

SIA: beating the heat

The inspiration: Air France poster by Rene Gruau

Merona tank, Target

Indigo Rein jeans, Macy's

garnet earrings, gift

bracelets: giveaway, DIY, boutique

        This image, selected by Jen of Librarian for Life and Style, is the epitome of summer - you can almost feel the heat and imagine yourself spending a lazy day outside, lounging in a sun hat under a clear blue sky. The strong black lines of the illustration reminded me of this top, and the light wash jeans tie into the background color. I added just a hint of red with my Cutey red bead bracelet and garnet studs. 

     Open House was last Thursday. I had a pretty good turnout - at least half of the class showed up. My students helped their families complete the classroom scavenger hunt and I took a photo of each family. I had my wish list items out, on strips of papers titled "You're a lifesaver!" with a candy attached. Teachers at my school didn't get any funds to start the year with, so fingers crossed that we get a few donations of essentials such as dry-erase pens, sticky notes, and maybe even an electric pencil sharpener. These are things that I often end up buying out of pocket in the middle of the year.
     It was a long day, but at least we had Friday off for Statehood Day. Three-day weekends are splendid: I worked out at the gym two times, slept in, graded some papers, and did some reading. It was just enough time for some work and some relaxation.   

compromise and tassels

 

Style & Co. shirt and Indigo Rein jeans, Macy's

    An I'm-tired-of-wearing-dresses-but-it's-too-hot-for-real-jeans outfit. My compromise was the ultra-lightweight pants - so glad I bought these on a whim a while back. They're very casual, but somehow they look and feel just a bit more work-appropriate to me than denim Bermuda shorts. 

    I'm spanning the age spectrum in this outfit; the pants are from the junior's section, and the top is from Style & Co., whose items can be a bit old-ladyish. But I have to say, this shirt is wonderful: lightweight cotton with pretty embroidery, no gaping neck (although I'm wearing a cami bra for coverage), and no gaping armholes, either. And, tassels! Any day that you can wear tassels to work is a good day. 

too tired to sleep

relaxed-fit tank, Old Navy

Indigo Rein jeans and Angie kimono top, Macy's

     It wasn't until I started to write this up that I realized how similar this outfit is to my latest post. Oops. I suppose this is my spending-the-day-in-A/C summer uniform.
      School started last week, and I was so glad that it was a short week - the kids started Wednesday. I forgot how exhausting the start of school can be! I recuperated by sleeping in a bit on Saturday and fitting in an afternoon nap, too. My goal is to figure out a nighttime schedule that include a little work time, relaxing time, and gets me to bed at a decent hour! I'm pretty sure I have restless legs syndrome, and getting overtired kicks off a vicious cycle - the more tired I get, the harder it is to fall asleep quickly. I want to avoid that, because I don't want to spend every weekend sleeping vs. doing fun things.

     Teachers could get 30% off at Savers this weekend, so I stopped in and did some determined browsing. I wanted to add a cool, lightweight dress or two to my work wardrobe, but didn't have any luck finding something I liked enough to buy. I did find a few shirts that I can wear to work, so it wasn't an entirely unsuccessful trip.

casual kimono

tank, Gap

Romeo & Juliet Couture kimono top, Ross

Indigo Rein jeans, Macy's

    I took two very casual items - cuffed jeans and a tank - and added a fancier item. I usually would have gone with black for the top, but I rather like the contrast with the pink. The kimono turned out to be essential on my second day of math training - the room I switched to was a lot colder than the one I sat in for day 1. So glad I decided against wearing shorts.
   The banding around the neck and sleeves and hi-lo cut make this kimono different from the two others I own. It will be too hot to wear this to work when school starts, but I'm looking forward to wearing it in a few months.

lei day

"Home" tee, from veryjane.com

Indigo Rein jeans, Macy's

earrings, Haitian Beads

     
       Large hoop earrings are not my favorite - I always manage to snag my fingers in one when touching my hair and worry about pulling it out of my ear (ouch!) But I liked how the shape echoed the O in the graphic and the color popped against the dark gray and denim. A student brought me a lei for Teacher Appreciation Day last Friday, which  I thought worked well with the graphic tee - not to mention the yellow ribbon matches my earrings!

       May Day (May 1) is known as Lei Day in Hawaii. There's a lei making contest (always wanted to go, have never gotten to yet!) and in most elementary schools and even some middle schools and high schools, May Day programs are a big deal. Most schools schedule their celebrations toward the end of May to accommodate testing schedules. Sadly, I'll be out of state on a quick trip on our May Day, but I'm confident that my students will do a great job - they've been working hard on their hula.
         Happy Aloha Friday!

weekend wonderings

Indigo Rein jeans, Macy's

top, H&M

ear cuff, etsy

Born "Jassie" sandals, Ross clearance

   Most of my posts are work outfits, so I thought it'd be fun to post a weekend look for once. I didn't wear the sandals out but I put them on for a few photos, just to see how they'd look with the cuffed jeans. I like the idea of these sandals, but after looking at the photos I wonder whether they make my feet look big.  I like the top and jeans together (see below), but when I add in the sandals, the proportions seem a bit off. I think I'd need a shorter top if I was going to wear the jeans and sandals together. The pressing problems of style bloggers ... an easy weekend outfit triggers all kinds of scrutiny!

   

    One thing I definitely love about this outfit is the ear cuff. My husband doesn't get the appeal of the itty-bitty chains but I think they are very rockstar librarian.
      Something else I love is my freshly waxed brows. It makes such a difference.