Friday Teacher Favorites

One of you asked me to post about cute things I love/my favorites, so hooray for me and my A+ in this week's Friday Favorites and High Five for Friday. I'm telling you five of my favorite things that all deal with teaching. Now, you're probably wondering what in the name of Hades dry shampoo and food have to do with teaching. Well, fear not, dear reader, I shall answer all of your questions because that's the kind of teacher I am.

(By the way, if you want to know how to make a collage easily for your blog, use one of my favorite programs for teaching: PowerPoint. Just drag and drop images onto the PowerPoint slide. Instead of clicking "Save As," click the option under it, "Save as Pictures." All of the slides save as different pictures in one folder. If you're linking to items, include the links in the note section of your slide. If you include links in the notes section that you want to save, just be sure to save the PPT as a PPT in addition to saving it as a picture. I have one folder on my desktop labeled "Blog Pictures." Easy peasy lemon squeezy as my co-teacher would say.)

The Favorites:

Maroon Exact Stretch Straight Work Pants: I love The Limited. One, they give a teacher discount (even on sale items), and I can actually find pants that fit. (Apparently, being short-crotched but with thicker thighs and an actual behind makes finding pants rather troublesome.) I probably wear these pants at least once every other week. For fall, the color goes with everything: lace and gingham for a start. The pants are actually work pants, but they don't flare at the bottom, a quality I've come to realize makes it difficult to find the right shoes. The straight or skinny cut is great for flats, heels, or booties. I know these pants will be workhorses for me this fall.

Black Skinny Work Pants: Express is the other store that always provides me with pants that fit. They do not provide a teacher discount, but their clothes are quality and have lasted me for years and years. If you consider cost per wear, they pay for themselves. Oh, and these pants feel like pajamas. They are so soft and comfortable. God bless you, 2% spandex.

Cognac/Camel Cardigan: I wanted a cardigan this color for awhile, and Old Navy did not disappoint. PLUS, they have matching flats (should've included them in the collage...maybe next week.) Old Navy has been killing it recently. I walk in and want to buy ALL OF THE THINGS. This cardigan, especially because its color goes with my boots and flats, is my current favorite. Plus, it's soft and just the right length. I like it a bit baggier, so I sized up.

Redken Dry Shampoo: I wake up at 5 dark thirty. I do not want to style my hair every morning particularly if I'm surrounded by teenagers who clearly own nothing other than booty shorts, leggings, and sweatpants. In a future post, I will show you how I make it three-four days without washing my hair. For now, I will tell you that this little bottle is my not-so-secret-anymore weapon. Previously, I used the Suave dry shampoo (got it at Target.) That worked okay, but not nearly as well as the Redken has. This stuff rockets grease out of my hair. Sorcery, I tell you. Disclaimer: my stylist said that it works well on blondes, but it might make brunettes look like they have dandruff. Since I'm a blonde, I can speak only to the fact that it works beautifully for me.

SunButter Crunch : Why a snack, you ask? We teachers are conditioned to think that 9:30-10:30 a.m. is lunch time while the rest of the working world is waiting at least two more hours. Every other day, I can't eat until noon, and I will wither away to nothing squared if I wait that long. As such, I need to wolf down a snack between 2nd and 3rd periods. Enter these delicious snack bars. I have tried the mixed berry, caramel apple, and sunbutter crunch. I love them all, but I love SunButter best. I can't try the chocolate one because I'm allergic to chocolate. (Horrors of horrors, I know.) All of the bars are dairy free, nut free, and soy free. If you have loads of food allergies like I do, then you might want to try out the Enjoy Life brand. I find them at the local Martin's, Giant, and natural foods stores. (The link takes you to the company's website where you can buy them. Plus, they put the nutrition facts right there for you to see. I love the transparency.)


Any of these things on your list of favorites? Do tell if you decide to try them at my suggestion and actually like them as much as I do!