What I Wore & Did: Hanging Out in Georgetown

So, as you might already know, I met up with Whitney last week in Georgetown (Washington, D.C. for those of you who aren't familiar with the East Coast). Since I'm a native Marylander, it was not my first time in DC, but my first time in Georgetown. I'm in love. As I drove into the city, I ogled the beautiful homes lining the streets--none of them the same, all of them exquisite. I told myself that getting lost wouldn't be such a bad thing because of such a great view.

As for Main Street Georgetown, HELLO, CUTENESS. When you look up Georgetown "shoppes" online, it will appear they offer about ten stores. Oh, no. They have everything, and the stores are all so deep. It's like entering hundreds of Narnias. Before shopping, however, we stopped for lunch at Pinstripes, which also boasts locations in Illinois, Kansas, and Minnesota. Seriously, this place is the best place I have ever ordered food, and most of you know how many food allergies I have. I ate the maple glazed salmon with avocado salad and quinoa; they let me do butter instead of a maple glaze. On top of the great food, it also offers bowling and bocci! Indoor bocci pits? Whaaaaat? I loved the restaurant so much that when our friends from New York visited, we took them there for lunch on Saturday. These friends are serious foodies, and they raved about the food and atmosphere. Win. We all high fived at the end of the meal.

Meeting up with a fellow blogger for the first time is sort of like preparing for a first date. When Whitney said the same thing to me at lunch, I knew we'd be forever friends. We both changed outfits about five times before settling on what we'd wear for our outing in Georgetown. SO MUCH PRESSURE. I opted for this skirt with a black shirt and my giraffe necklace. When Whitney and I went into Aldo, the sales girl said she had the same skirt that Whitney also has in another color. I remarked that I would love it more if it had pockets. She said, "that's weird. Mine has pockets." I decided to investigate that very moment. And what do you know? IT HAS POCKETS. I have owned this skirt for an embarrassing amount of time not to notice that the pockets were so well-sewn shut that they existed at all. Clearly, Whitney is good luck.

Here's what I wore on my two trips to Georgetown in one week. 

She exists in real life! And she is even more adorable and sweet in real life. I loved her denim vest and midi-length dress!

 

Our favorite New Yorkers. (I opted for my Converse this day.)

Thank you to the random dude who took our picture after looking at me in the most dead pan of ways and saying, "No" after I asked him to take a group shot. You got me, dude, you got me. 

Oh, we did not mean to dress up as if we were getting professional pictures our coordinated outfits in the park. We're just that good. Naturally.

 

On the Sneak.

The other day, Whitney commented on how I've been rocking the Converse lately. You know what? She's absolutely right, and I'll be honest. Wearing the juice out of these shoes never fell into the realm of "intentional," despite how intentional most of my wardrobe is. What has been my primary intention? Comfort. You know what's comfortable? Tennis shoes. As evidenced by the photographs below, I own two colors of Converse: white and gray. Though, I hesitate to say those are "colors." You know what I mean. Let's not underestimate the power of the sneaker. It would appear that, at least subconsciously, I have not.

On Tuesday, my friend and I visited the Newseum in D.C. for the first time. WOW, guys. If you're ever in the area (hit me up!), check out the Newseum. It is absolutely worth the $23 admission fee. The Newseum is six floors, and you soon realize why the $23 actually pays for a two-day pass. It is nearly impossible to visit the museum in its entirety within one day. So, what is it? Essentially, it's journalism meets history. The exhibits illustrate the media's impact on different global (Berlin Wall) and national events (Pulitzer Prize winning photographs).

We made it through about three or four of the floors. We saw part of the actual Berlin Wall and one of the Death Towers. They talk about how instrumental America was in disseminating news in West Berlin. They have a photograph exhibit. The first part is comprised of themed, captioned photographs (ex: terrorism) and the best photographs of the year. The next part is this curved wall that features the Pulitzer Prize winning photographs of every year up to 2011. We loved the Anchorman exhibit (yes, the movie). They have outfits that the characters wore, props, video clips, and even the news set where you can sit in the news chair and get your picture taken. Next to that, they have booths where you can play interactive games on the computer. They have several stations set up where you stand in front of a green screen after choosing what you'd like to "report" on (ex: the weather). You grab the microphone and read from the teleprompter. There was this dad there with his family, and we were all belly laughing at him. Preeeetty sure he's related to Steve Carrell.

They have a cool gift shop with a variety of magnets, shirts, pencils, books, etc. You know, the typical museum fanfare. My favorite "exhibit" was a line of large portraits of the presidents with their dogs. They have blurbs about the dogs. There are a lot of famous spaniels from the White House. Might just be the most popular breed. Good ol' Lincoln had a mutt; that's my kind of dude. Across from those portraits was a small exhibit featuring political cartoons; I took pictures of a few of them because I want to use them in my classroom. What nerd thinks about how to use stuff in her classroom when she visits a place for fun? Yeah, I do.

The Newseum features a lot more exhibits, but those are just a few. Honestly, it's worth the money. Again, if you're ever visiting D.C., make it a point to visit the Newseum.

And now it's time for our next segment: pictures of me wearing clothes. (What kind of website did you think this was?)

Both pairs of Converse are from DSW :)

Victory Naps & Disgusting Dressing Rooms

Yesterday, I came home from work and finished grading 18 essays (comments included!) in two and a half hours. In the 90 degree heat, I took a victory nap while wearing long sleeves, pants, and fuzzy slippers. No, I did not break a sweat, but I think I ate a bug, which rudely disrupted my slumber. (Well, that and one of my dogs kept coming over to me and licking my face while I slept.) If my body decided to continue adjusting so well to the heat, I would be wholly grateful. I would think this experience a fluke if not for the fact that my classroom has been so warm that a student nearly vomited from heat exhaustion and everyone is complaining about the heat. Everyone except for me. So, yeah, body, if you could continue to cooperate in such a pleasant, unexpected way, I will forgive you for being uncooperative in many other ways.

Speaking of heat, what better way to beat the heat than in this perfect striped dress? It's got sleeves! (I am beginning to value this quality as much as pockets.) Also, I decided that a denim vest is the perfect complement to an outfit worn in the heat. I searched for a vest for awhile, but all of them gape in the armpits, a problem I have with so many sleeveless items. Who has big armpits!? I am befuddled. Anyway, I peeped this beauty in Kohl's when Mom and I went in bearing a 30% off coupon and some Kohl's credit. Thanks, Lauren Conrad, this vest fits just right, and it came home with the dress. Look at what a perfect pair they are. Sure, I had to enter a dressing room after a weird, smelly couple exited it. And I had to try on the vest and dress while standing in the middle of the funk cloud they left behind them. It was worth it. (Don't worry, as they exited the dressing room together, I remarked quite loudly that, "You're effing [I said the actual word] disgusting. Yes, you." Don't do stupid or disgusting things, and the bubble above my head won't pop.)

The Look:

Dress: Peter Som for Kohl's

Vest: Lauren Conrad via Kohl's

Shoes: Converse via DSW

Necklace (it's a sailboat): booth at an art fair

Positivity about the end of the school year?

I really need to get better about posing more attractively. And actually opening my eyes. Or just wearing sunglasses. Clearly, my vampiric eyeballs cannot withstand even a fraction of sunlight without turning into slits. 

Since I'm a teacher whose school year doesn't end until June 20th, most people have been asking me if I cannot wait for the school year to end. Honestly, if I've learned anything after 8 years of teaching, it's that you have to be realistic and understand that kids are kids. Keeping this bit of knowledge in my brain means I find more joy at the end of the year now than I did several years ago. Of course they're stir crazy, so are all of the teachers; I can't blame them! Anyway, instead of forcing students to bust their tails as hard as I've made them work all year, I'm scaling back a bit and asking them to apply all of the skills that they've learned by doing fun things (speeches about pet peeves and debates--teenagers love to argue; who knew?). 

Plus, I'm really trying to soak up this last bit of time with them before they move on to a new set of teachers, so my goal has become to know them, as people, even better. I am taking time to sit with them at their tables and chat with them about their assignments and lives. I feel like we teachers spend so much time focusing on content that we forget we're dealing with human beings, not automatons. (Well, I forget.) As teachers, we keep thinking about the agenda we have to fulfill by a certain date, so we forget to take time to learn our students, which is often the most important learning that can take place in a classroom.

 Today, 22 kids were absent from my 4th period because they were helping with 8th grade visitation. (Incoming freshmen come to visit the school during the school day.) Since only 7 of us were in the room, I spent the period talking with my students about different fruits I should try, becoming a master falconer (it's a thing, and it's cool), and insects. One of my students taught me about different kinds of praying mantises. (This one is my favorite. It looks like a Transformer!) This same student also breeds them (it's NOT illegal to have them, for the record) and gave one to me. His name is Archimedes, and he's our class pet. The boys love feeding him and watching him devour fruit flies! 

Anyway, though some of my students drive me mad at the end of the year, I am trying to enjoy their company as much as I can before they're someone else's students instead of mine. Granted, even when they leave our classrooms, are our students ever not our students? Hopefully, my fellow teachers are enjoying these last few weeks of school. 

The Look:

Cardigan: New York & Co.

Shirt: Target

Skirt: Gap

Shoes: Converse via DSW

Earrings: Francesca's

Here's the skirt in cold weather:

I wore this skirt two years ago.

"Ms. Wo, you have so many styles!" That is the first greeting I received from a student in the hallway today. As I trudged to my classroom, I considered the legitimacy of this claim. Yesterday, I wore tall, patterned wedges, a sleeveless sweater, a shirt with fun sleeves, and shorts. Today, I'm wearing a white skirt with my Converse sneakers and bicycle necklace. Tomorrow, I might wear gray slacks with a blazer. Kid, you're right: I do have so many "styles." Of course, I would say that I just like to experiment, for which I suppose this blog can take quite a bit of credit.

Although posting pictures of my outfits sometimes seems vain ("everybody, come see how good I look!"--one of the only Will Ferrel quotes I like) and often makes me feel pressured not to be "boring" in what I wear, it also encourages me to think differently about what's in my closet and allow it to verbalize how I'm feeling that day. Today, I felt fun and funky, much like Punky Brewster, an allusion I hope is not lost on you, dear reader.

Anyway, I'm walking to the gym and then doing some yoga. I wish I were as cool as I sometimes make myself sound.

The Look:

Shirt: Old Navy

Skirt: Old Navy

Shoes: Converse via DSW

Necklace: American Eagle

Cardigan: via thredUP

Knees.

I call this my "everybody, come see how good I look!" pose.

I should not make myself laugh as much as I do, but there you have it.

Mom: "Twirl!"

Me: ..............this.

I wore this skirt way back when I started this blog, and it went something like this:

This picture sort of makes me think about cutting my hair a bit shorter. Hmm...

(I just checked. This post is from just about two years ago!)

I have no boundaries.

Today, our senior class graduates! Of course, I had to write this post the night before graduation because I am teaching a full day and then working graduation, which entails corralling teenage boys. 

I did not wear this dress to graduation (back is too low). I wore it to another Memorial Day BBQ on Monday because it was 90 degrees outside. Sure, I still suffered from inner thigh sweat, but whatever. Embrace the thigh sweat. Speaking of inner thigh sweat, I am SO glad graduation is at 8 p.m. tonight. Last year, it was earlier in the day, and it was so hot that I thought my inner thighs would start a fire. Of course, they were sweating so profusely under my robe that they would have set fire to themselves only to put it out. (Note: all of our county's high school graduations are held at the same outdoor location. The "ceiling" fans in the pavilion are so high up that it feels like a mouse is puffing at you from the rafters. A very small mouse.) 

This blog has reached new, awkward heights. There is nothing I won't discuss. Okay, there are some things I won't discuss. I even briefly mentioned inner thigh sweat when I posted last year's graduation look. 

The Look:

Dress: Candie's via Kohl's (old)

Belt: The Limited

Shoes: Converse via DSW

Purse: Marshall's (I realize I look much too tiny in comparison to a purse that's also supposed to be somewhat tiny, but what is a girl to do? Plus, the black looks a little harsh with such a cutesy look, but I love my new purse, so I shall wear it with all the things!) 

Hello, bruise I didn't know was on my back right calf. How pronounced you look against my pasty legs.

When the weather was cold, I also wore the dress this way:

It's Not a Hashtag. But, Those Are 8 Ways to Wear Maroon Pants.

Teaching AP English has opened up a new level of intelligence for me. This scarecrow finally has a brain. Thanks, wizard. Enter my newest bit of knowledge--learned from my students, no less. That sign you call a hashtag? Not a hashtag. That sign you refuse to call a hashtag because, damnit, it's a pound sign? Not a pound sign. It's an...

octothorpe!

It's like the symbol superhero. Or something. 

What will the inter webs do if I just start saying:

#therealdeal

octothorpe: the real deal

Much cooler if you ask me. 

Not that you did.

Of course, calling the symbol a hashtag or pound sign is acceptable because plenty of words and symbols have different names/definitions. Look at the F word (yes, that F word.) It has an entire book devoted to its many definitions and a YouTube video dedicated to its versatility. You might have even seen my insta about that book.

I was frighteningly close to buying it for my Dad.

I refrained and bought him the Urban Dictionary instead.

octothorpe: not kidding.

It'll catch on. Eventually. Just like fetch.

Since you probably come here for my photos of terrible quality and not my words of better quality, I have a treat for you today. I am here to inspire you with pictures, but be glad you are not viewing pictures with my face in it. All I have to say is that Medusa would be proud of this lion's mane of mine. Instead, I present you with pictures of outfits folded all neatly and prettily on my bed. Who came up with this genius idea I see splattered all over Pinterest? Whoever you are, I LOVE YOU. In a very non-creepy way. 

Today's clothes-folded-prettily-on-bed (should I be concerned about putting my shoes on the comforter?) theme is "maroon pants." I just took advantage of Old Navy's $15 rockstar jean sale yesterday, but I allowed myself ONE pair as long as they came in the exact color I needed to replace my too-small H&M pair. Only one left. In my size. Fashion fate? I think so. 

(I really wish I bought a pair of the ones that look like leather. Poop.)

Anyway, after I buy an article of clothing, I like to Pinterest the shit out of it so that I can justify my purchase. Some of these looks are inspired by Pinterest, but I just relied on shopping my own closet.
Yes, I just turned Pinterest into an infinitive. 

I compiled outfit "formulas"and provided pictures of each outfit in case you want to pin a specific look. Let me know if you like this sort of thing and wish to see more posts like it!

Look 1 Formulas: 

Pieces: colored skinny pants + striped shirt + scarf + cardigan + flats 

Colors: maroon + navy + cognac + cream

Replacements: 

- swap stripes for another pattern

- swap cardigan for blazer

- swap flats for boots

-swap cardigan for an oxford under the striped shirt

Look 2 Formulas:

Pieces: colored skinny pants + lace top + cardigan + scarf + booties

Colors: maroon + cream + leopard + black

Replacements:

- swap leopard scarf for statement necklace

- swap ankle boots for tall boots

- swap black boots for leopard heels/flats

- swap cardigan for blazer or vest

Look 3 Formulas:

Pieces: colored skinny pants + statement shirt + cardigan + tall boots

Colors: maroon + blush + charcoal gray + black 

Replacements: 

- swap cardigan for blazer

- swap tall boots for ankle boots

- swap black boots for sparkly flats

- swap black boots for gray ankle boots

Look 4 Formulas:

Pieces: colored skinny pants + patterned shirt + long blazer + scarf + long necklace + ankle boots

Colors: maroon + black + white

Replacements:

- swap blazer for vest/cardigan

- swap lace-print shirt for another black & white patterned shirt

- swap booties for flats/heels/tall boots

- swap white scarf for a different pop of color (hunter green? burnt orange? mustard?)

Look 5 Formulas:

Pieces: colored skinny pants + heels + tee shirt + long necklace + scarf + statement blazer

Colors: maroon + white + gold + leopard + black

Replacements:

- swap heels for flats

- swap leopard for black

- swap blazer for cardigan

- swap white shirt for black shirt & black scarf for white one

Look 6 Formulas:

Pieces: colored skinny pants + long sleeve tee + cropped blazer + flats + scarf

Colors: maroon + mustard + black + plaid

Replacements:

- swap long sleeved shirt for a sweater

- swap blazer for an oxford or cardigan

- swap flats for heels

- swap flats for booties

- swap scarf for statement necklace

- swap plaid for another pattern (dots? stripes?)

- swap mustard shirt for something neutral and wear a mustard scarf

Look 7 Formulas:

Pieces: colored skinny pants + leather coat + sneakers + scarf + tee

Colors: maroon + white + black + gray

Replacements:

- swap sneakers for booties/flats/heels

- swap coat for a vest/blazer/cardigan

- swap scarf for a statement necklace (or simple necklace)

Look 8 Formulas:

Pieces: colored skinny jeans + sweater (need breathing room) + oxford + lace-up boots + boot socks

Colors: maroon + tan + chambray + brown

Replacements:

- swap chambray for something fancier

- swap chambray (if it's too hot) for a scarf or statement necklace

- swap sweater for boyfriend cardigan

My exact jeans here (currently $22.50.)

Note: if you're new to the rockstar jeans, know that you have to size up. Typically, I'm a size 0-2. In these pants, a 6 fit best. 

Look at that. You are leaving with the knowledge of the octothorpe and eight ways to wear maroon pants. (If you follow me on Pinterest, you can see all of the awesome outfits I pin. Shameless plug.) 

Linking up with Molly. (There's a chance to win a Target gift card. Go now!)

High Five for Friday

1. My students are awesome. (Some of them have probably creeped on my blog and are reading this right now. Yes, I said you're awesome. Don't let it go to your head.) They intuitively know when I've had a crummy day/moment and succeed at brightening it for me.  They draw hysterical pictures, write witty poems, and constantly remind me why I chose this career path. Who knew that four-year-old me was so smart? 

2. Warmer weather means bike riding, and that, my friends, makes the sneezing and itchy eyes worth it. Granted, bike riding reminds me of how painfully out of shape I am, which means I have some work ahead of me. Those hills are far too small to be causing this much panting. 

3. After I publish this post, I plan to take a nap. Seriously, what beats a Friday afternoon nap? It rivals the Sunday afternoon nap because I know that Monday is not waiting right around the corner for me.

4. We're visiting friends in NY next weekend! I'm too excited to hang out with them, check out their newest wedding crafts, and see some more NY sights. NY is cool and all, but maybe we can turn them into Marylanders soon enough? 

5. This weekend means spending time with some friends I haven't seen in awhile. I love weekends like this one :) 

Enjoy this lovely weekend.

Tile Store

Good afternoon, folks.

I'm making this one a quick one because we're back to work on putting in new flooring in the kitchen and dining room. We've hit quite a few hiccups, so things are progressing slower than we anticipated. However, that's pretty normal with this family.

Anyway, we went to the tile store this morning to pick up more thinset and grout. I decided to look presentable for the first time in five days. You're welcome.

It's a converse kind of day.

And now for the full-body shots (not that kind of body shot, perverts.) 

We need a new welcome mat.

Wish us luck on today's tiling adventure. (Actually, we have yet to tile. Like I said, lots of hiccups. More like a belch.)

Fun fact: right after Jeff took these pictures, I dropped my sunglasses and popped out one of the lenses. Luckily, the lenses pop in as easily as they pop out. Awesome. 

Outfit Deets:

Sweatshirt: Target clearance

Striped shirt: Target

Jeans: American Eagle

Converse: DSW

Sunglasses: NY & Co. 

Scarf: Made by Momma :)

Check ya later, home skillets!

Casual Easter

First of all, hello. 

Today, I'm showing you my relaxed Easter look.

I'd like for you to know how comfortable I was wearing this outfit. 

Very comfortable. I've found you almost every item (exactly), so you, too, can be comfortable like me. 

Quite often, I read fashion blogs, and women weigh in on what their style is. 

Here's my deal: if I can find the armholes, it doesn't take me five minutes to figure out how to wear the article of clothing, I don't look like a total schlep, whatever I'm wearing won't cause me to fall flat on my face, and I'm comfortable, then there's a good chance I'll try it on for size. However, what dominates my wardrobe? Bright colors, stripes, and blazers. Lots and lots of blazers. I enjoy this coral blazer. I plan to find it an emerald green best buddy to chill with in my closet. 

There are a few trends that are just not me. I shall list them in no particular order:

1. Uggs (bear claws for feet)

2. Sneaker wedges (I just can't like them.)

3. Distressed jeans (I refuse to pay someone to put holes in my jeans when I'm pretty capable of fulfilling that task on my own.)

4. Boyfriend jeans (dumpy butt syndrome doesn't appeal to me)

5. HIGH heels (I don't make a habit of pissing off my lower back.)

More power to you ladies who can rock these trends and make them look good, but this girl can't make 'em work, and I'm okay with that. Anyone else have trends that just don't suit them?

Outfit Deets:

Blazer: Target (exact)

Scarf: Old Navy (exact)

Jeans: NY & Co (very similar)

Shoes: Nordstrom (exact)

Earrings: Target (only $7.99!)

Linking up with Molly.
Oh, and here...

And here. :)

Funsucking Trolls

Who got your attention? I did.

I hear and read a lot of people's complaints about their Facebook friends posting "too many" pictures of their kids, their pets, their baby bumps, and essentially whatever makes them happy. Here's the thing: if you don't want to see pictures of your friends' happiness, then you're probably not their friend. Or happy. And quite possibly a funsucking troll. 

Personally, I like the smattering of cute baby and puppy pictures because they offer a much-needed reprieve from all of my preachy friends who are telling me "yes, guns!" "no guns!" "republican!" "no, democrat!" "ninjas!" "no, pirates!" "what about zombies?" Okay, not those last three. I digress. 

Now, with that being said, I did unfriend someone because she posted pictures of the deuce her kid dropped in his diaper. (I'm not sure why I accepted her friend request in the first place; I was having a moment of weakness.) Let's live by this simple rule: if you wouldn't put it in your family photo album, then you probably shouldn't post it on Facebook, or anywhere, ever. In fact, never take that picture in the first place unless, of course, you need a picture of it to show the doctor. My potty humor ranks with the best of them, but even I have to draw a line somewhere. 

Anyway, the moral of my story is this: don't be a funsucking troll. Let your friends be happy and share it with you. The end.


Since you made it this far, I thought I'd reward you with some pictures. I do hope you enjoy them. If you don't, go spend some time petting a panda. Maybe then you'll feel joy.

Look at that little creeper.

I wanted you to see my cute little camera necklace.

Outfit Deets:

Cardigan: Old Navy--exact

Shirt & Necklace: Lauren Conrad via Kohl's--exact top and similar necklace 

(please excuse it for being a bit off kilter)--my Momma bought these for me for Christmas :)

Pants: J Brand via TJ Maxx--similar

Shoes: Converse via DSW--exact