still growing up

Tell me I'm not the only grown woman one with a super girl crush on Taylor Swift. She's so stinking cute & I'm pretty addicted to everything on Speak Now. I'll probably lift my rule on not seeing big venue shows when she tours again. I'll be the one wearing a romper & bobby socks. Okay, maybe not THAT extreme, but I will be the one excitedly jumping around next to my third grade niece who will be mortified with my singing. At least she was when we netflixed {it's a verb} her concert...

love notes

It's been a little while since I posted my last set of love notes. Do you remember when I posted them here? Well, they're back.

Dear Frank Sinatra,
     I heart your music. I heart it a lot. Even though I've heard that you were quite a butthead in your day, I'm going to pretend that you were just a sweet crooner.
                                                                           Sincerely,
                                                                     I Think I've Flown Before

Dear Pedicures,
     I think you're pretty swell. I like a good calf massage & a pop of color on my tootsies as much as the next girl. Sometimes your water is a little too hot for me, but I suck it up in the name of beauty. Thanks for always making my toes smile.
                                                                           Sincerely,
                                                                       One Happy Camper

Dear Vogue,
     We've been spending time together now for quite a number of years. I like to think of us as good friends. I love what you offer me & I always treat you with the utmost care. That said, if I ever open to a full page ad with Cameron Diaz again we will have words.
                                                                        Signed,
                                                            You Know What You Did

Dear Waitresses,
     I'm not going to mince words on this one. I've had my fair share of horrendous service. Some of you are tremendous & delightful. Yesterday I was sent one of you who hooked me up with a kid's meal served in a cardboard boat. This was Uh-Mazin' in itself. When I asked for a fresh boat untainted by food, she did not dismiss my wishes. I find that to be swell.
                                                                        Love,
                                                              Forever a Kid at Heart

Dear Bath and Body Works,
     It's been a long time since we saw one another. You looked well. I think we shared a moment when the kid behind the counter hunted down a specific scent for me and I bought the world's greatest air freshener. As always, you don't disappoint. {Unlike your sister Victoria's Secret with a serious lack of maxi skirts & an overabundance of sweatpants}.
                                                                          Regards,
                                                                           Moi

Dear Jamiah on Fire and the Red Machine,
      I was fortunate enough to hear your Blues act recently & I must say I was impressed. At 11, 13, & 17 you made me wonder, "Is it too late to take up the recorder and become part of their act?" But in all seriousness, holy wow!
                                                                Sincerely,
                                                           Consider This Girl a New Fan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

I wanted to post to say happy birthday to my little sister, Terri.

You are a good mom, a tremendous friend, a talented artist, and a strong person. I hope this is a great year for you!

kids say the darndest things

Holy moly are children hilarious.

These two little girls are so stinking adorable. I just want to see the bad haircut. Also, why didn't I ever think to cut my sisters' hair? There were 3 of them! It would have been so easy...


Anyway, it's the Friday before the fourth of July and it's supposed to get hot, hot, hot this weekend. Hotter than half-naked Channing Tatum? It's possible. What are your Friday plans? I'll probably listen to some jazz & ride a horse. {RIDE A HORSE!}

it's monday

It's Monday & I should be doing a happy list, but instead I'm overwhelmed with mountains of paperwork {could report cards be more terrible?!} and job applications {why am I sending a resume AND filling out the same info on an application?!}. In the job situation, one of four things could potentially happen:

a} I could end up working in a career field other than the one I want. This could mean getting an alternative certification in something education-related or it could mean I'm managing a Dunkin Donuts...

b} I could end up teaching middle school {I'm crying on the inside}because I'm certified K-8 with a dual major.

c} Sending applications & resumes all around could be all for naught if I get that little letter {this week?} that says, "Hey it's all good in the hood. See you in August."

or

d} I teach. In another state. Away from my babies.

You see my panic? So the point is, instead of a happy list you are going to get pin-rolled. That's where I flaunt a bunch of pinterested quotes that are currently bringing a smile to my face. You're welcome! :) {Psst! I probably should have used a cut. You're double welcome!}

{life is made of the little moments}

P.S. The new outlets opened less than 20 minutes away. Review to come. Perhaps with photos!

that time i got real

          For the longest time, I thought I was a realist. I get how things are, I don't fool myself into believing anything ridiculous... or do I? Lately, I've determined that {thanks to my imagination, expectations, and a penchant for fairytales} I am, in fact, an idealist. My brain is filled with delusions of grandeur. Let's say I convince myself that I'm going to paint a 10 foot canvas, install it in my living room, and then sit back and admire my handy work. I even buy all the materials! But, what happens is I decide that it won't be good enough. I even did this back when I wanted to do the 30 for 30. I went through my closet pulling out one shirt after another until I psyched myself out and decided I would be too cold to do it or I would get too bored with it.

          I've decided not to let my preposterously high expectations stop me from doing things anymore. I need to be creative & if it doesn't turn out the way it is in my brain well, practice, practice, practice.

via

In case you're wondering here are some examples of my wild imagination:

1//When I envision throwing parties, I imagine that everyone is going to mingle, dress up, & stay until the wee hours of the morning having riveting conversation.
2//I always picture weddings to be these elaborate events where I'm wearing my favorite dress, my hair looks like it was done by a stylist, there's an open bar, and there's possibly going to be a choreographed dance that isn't something terrible {chicken dance, I'm looking at you}.
3//I imagine that all my perseverance & hard work will pay off and I will find a great job in a fun city where maybe I'll get a raise for a job well done.
4//I expect that my birthdays are going to be amazing from start to finish and I'm going to come home to find a bathroom filled with balloons and something I've wanted for forever all wrapped & on the kitchen table.
5//I once visited NYC and expected the whole place to be like stepping into a scene from Sex & the City.

Here I go, back to realism.

bucket list for summer

Now that summer is in full swing & there are only 8 days left of the school year, I think it's time to tell you some of the things that I intend to accomplish before the temperatures start to get lower & people start adding more layers to their daily dress.

-go strawberry picking

-go to Six Flags {especially the water park!}

-hike to find a salamander, name him & make him a class pet

-attempt to visit Montreal again {Michelle’s idea}

-Dark Knight Rises

-go to the drive-in

-ride Coquette around the city at least three times a week

-get a robin’s egg blue helmet for when I ride Coquette around

-go to a bbq or cook out and play ladder ball, badminton, or some outdoor game

-climb Mt. Monadnock {again because I haven’t since 6^th grade}

-make the public pool my stomping ground, abuse the water slide & read many, many books

-go to the beach EVERY Thursday & devour fried dough

-take my tiny princess to the aquarium for the first time ever

-camp out, eat s’mores, & tell ghost stories… okay, no ghost stories

-go to a Red Sox game at Fenway

-visit a lake or a beach that is NOTHING like Hampton.

-go to the arcade, play skee-ball and win ridiculous prizes that take up space

-parasailing OR zip-lining. Heck, both if it’s possible.

-get a projector & have a movie night on the deck

-Have my copy of Cupcakes & Cashmere signed when Emily comes around for a book signing

-visit Harvard Square

-ride a horse on the horse trail

-take a cooking class

-sip mimosas on the deck every Sunday morning.

-create & hide my own geo cache & see if I can send next year’s students to find it

-produce something creative at least once a week

-get some arm muscle/strength

-spend a weekend in DC to take in the sights and visit the Smithsonian & National Geographic museum.

-get a boating license & rent a boat. If it’s anything like driving a car it’ll take all summer to accomplish this.
-Grow out my bangs & DO NOT cut them again {until at least September}.


What's on your to-do list?

the verdict is still out

My dryer is still broken & I felt TERRIBLE when I woke up this morning and this leads to me wearing a glorious dress {I hate ironing, yo}. I've had this gem in the back of my closet waiting to wear it. The problem? I thrifted it & the tags are missing- I have no idea if it's a maternity dress or a muumuu, but I was obsessed with it so I had to make it my own. I figured I would sew it so that it fits a narrow waist, but let's be real okay? So I put it on this morning and wrangled up a black ribbon to wrap around the waist. I'm pleased with it.

Where I spend the majority of my time & energy

The dress I tried on was a great color, but looked weird. What to wear to a beach wedding?!

In other news, part of our science for the end of the year is weather & clouds, so we went out to observe & identify clouds. The observations & wonderings were so amazing. This is my favorite, "Isn't it cool how the sky looks so small like it's swallowing us and we're the only ones but there countries and people thinking the same thing on the other side of the world?" I love my job.

tiny divas

It goes without saying {but I feel compelled to say it} that I am a girly girl. The other day I saw a silverfish & almost threw my cat at the thing just to have it slaughtered. I like glitter, wands, jewelry, chick lit {it's a real thing, bro}, manicures, and babies. So it's no surprise that the young girls in my life will pick up on this. Adri, my 7-year-old niece, is pretty girly but also 7 going on 72. She likes what she likes and now that she has a core group of homies to one-up she is less inclined to allow me to frost her with baubles. Zoey is still too little, but she does enjoy putting a glistening bracelet in her mouth or grabbing at a necklace in an attempt to asphyxiate me. But Kyleigh? Kyleigh is 4 and couldn't be happier to go through EVERY SINGLE piece of jewelry I own and ask me to wear it under the guise that we're "sharing." Today she wore the Crystal Brulee necklace & bracelet from J.Crew, a glittery headband, a pair of my heels, and a sequin clutch that she filled with 50% of my bracelets & brooches. She kept asking me to put things in the clutch raving that it would be, "just lovely" and wandering around saying, "shoe-la-la" with a pigeon-toed pose.

Tiny & accessorized? So stinking cute.

via

back to the daily grind or how i spent my weekend

     Phew. I have managed to keep myself extremely busy in the past few weeks. Between work, job hunting, a broken dryer, car repairs and an unhealthy need to torment myself, I was one exhausted lady chickadee. Cue a three-day weekend. My intention was to do absolutely nothing, but nothing, all weekend. No BBQs, pool parties, camping trips, kayaking, or anything. I updated my Netflix queue, saved up some shows to catch up on via on demand & DVDs, stacked a few books I’m currently reading as well as magazines I’ve been meaning to tear apart, and I downloaded so many photo apps to putz around with. Not to mention my extensive collection of ridiculous pop music that requires dancing. Clearly I have a raging social life.

     My hermit plans were thwarted with a few invites. Since these are few and far between from anyone but my coworker friends these days, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. So I started my weekend with some delicious beverages, girly movies, venting sessions, and giggles. On a side note, are there any great waitresses anymore? I seem to miss them every single time. On another side note, Bugaboo Creek has very bizarre chicken tenders but extremely yummy & inexpensive mud slides.

     As someone who teaches New Hampshire history, I’ve realized that I haven’t been to or seen far too many of the things that I teach about. Covered bridges? Never seen one. Christa McAuliffe? I know the stories, but I’ve never been to the planetarium. Other than a trip I once took to the Old Man in the Mountain once with my aunt when I was,  hm… say… 10, I wouldn’t recognize the area where he fell from any other slab of granite up north. So, on Sunday, I went to see the Old Man memorial. I think I spent more time snapping pictures and raving about showing them to my kids than I did actually taking in what was around me, but it’s hard to take off the teacher hat.

So you can identify the deceased old man, or artist formerly known as Old Stone Face.

I'm so terrible at following directions, I stared for a good minute irritated that it wasn't working.

Are you drunk with anticipation?

Trickery!

The little tool that allows you to go back in time.

     I also went for a hike up a steep mountain & got eaten alive by black flies & mosquitoes. The little buggers got me on each side of my neck- right in the jugular. I’m apparently allergic to them, too because the welts ballooned up on my skin. Red welts the size of super balls? No me gusta. The cascades I saw from the trail; however, pleased me. 

The view from the top. The air up there. Other movie title references...

A rare animal: Patti wearing sneakers AND a tee.

I've also decided that {although I enjoy trail blazing} the north country just isn't the place for me. I need the bustle of a city and more importantly, delectable food from a variety of locations.  Also, I discovered the north is like the land that time forgot. 

Am I right or am I right?

     Now I’m rested and ready to tackle a month of heavy assessments, grading, packing up my classroom, finding a new job {and possible domicile relocation}, preparing my science summer program, catching up on Girls, and just all around being amazing as usual. 

you probably didn't know this but...

- Even though I rarely watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer when it was on TV, but I watched the series on DVD & cried when it ended.

- I listen to rap music loudly- especially in the car.

- I prefer Twitter to Facebook. Sadly, I had to make my Twitter private because of the job search business.

- More than any other animal {aside from my 2 hairy sons}, I would like a sweet little papillon pup named Bartok.

- My hair has been black, blonde, & red. There was even one horrific self-dye where my locks were orange.

- I can't remember much more than the first few words in most jokes. Worst joke teller ever over here.

- Usually I'm reading 2 or 3 books simultaneously.

- One of the top things on my wish list if money weren't an option is a DSLR camera.

- I solve daily problems of today's youth, like who sings a particular song {Demi Lovato} or how to break up a squabble {hug it out!}.

-I need {okay, want} a new purse.

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in NH

For those of you who don't live in New Hampshire {you lucky ducks!} you might not know or be able to comprehend the types of weather we go through. In New Hampshire, you could wake up and step out to 40 degree weather, enjoy 80 degree temps by midday and have the temperature drop down to 48 by the time your dinner is out of the oven.

The point here is that you can never know what you should wear for the day. I can't even imagine if you were visiting- egads. Add to that the fact that my classroom is in the most humid wing of the school and I start most days with the room at 80 degrees. You'd think this would be phenomenal given the copious skirts that are in my possession. Don't be silly, Billy. I have recess duty and I'm always cold.

I am eagerly awaiting warmer temperatures that last all day. I'll even deal with the inevitable frizzy wavy hair situation.

When it's warmer, I hope to have decided that it is completely practical to spend $98 on this freaking amazing tank top.

J.Crew, why is everything you have soooo pretty & so soul-crushingly out of my price range?!

Also, is anyone else excited for amusement parks, water slides, & fried dough? I just can't wait!

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sunday special

A little weekly review in pictures:

1. Yummy smelling soy candles & some faux dandelions.

2. Fueling a nailpolish addiction

3. Penguin balloon animals?! Phenomenal.

4. Locking my keys in my car... again. Thanks, AAA.

5. Some weekend reading. Getting ready to administer NECAP science.

6. Michael Bolton writes children's books. Life is hilarious.

7. Finally found a maxi dress with a skirt long enough to cover my feet.

8. J.Crew bauble & a shimmering skirt.

9. White Russian from the Oyster House where JFK used to frequent.

10. Lilies of the Valley from one of my kiddos.

11. This movie was... exactly what you would expect.

12. Teacher appreciation week. I even won a prize!

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it's nearly that time

My half birthday is in a week.

What does this mean? It's simple, friends!

It means that I pine away for things that I won't buy myself and imagine that I will wake up to a room full of balloons that will never ever deflate or pop. The day will be approximately 85 degrees and I can walk around in a pouffy skirt that resembles a tutu. I can do this without fear that I will blind anyone because my legs will have a delightful bronze tone and I will have gotten it without having to expose myself to any dangerous rays. Glitter will make the ground shimmer and shine. Magazines that I love, yet never subscribed to, will magically appear in my mailbox.

Oh what a lovely day!

What will really happen on my half birthday is I will go to work, hear some hilarious kids saying amusing things, sit for an hour watching them take the Science NECAP {yikes} test and I will peruse ebay, etsy, and J.Crew's website to ooh and aah over cute things. What kind of cute things? Let me regale you with my wants & yearnings right now.

Peter Pan collar

Michael Kors Buckle Bangle

Tory Burch ballet flats

Ann Taylor's Ombre Pleated Skirt

Anthropologie Viscid watch

birdcage umbrella

Mini Storage Rack