Driving Down to the Beach

Driving Down to the Beach by hkl710 featuring flip flop sandals

Twists and Turns

Oh my goodness, these past few weeks have been CA-RAY-ZAY.

My husband and I had some tough decisions to make about where to live. There was a chance we had to move to New Jersey for his job, where I would have an hour-plus commute, but then we were fortunate enough to stay put...or so we thought...

 I unpacked all of our stuff that I thought was headed to NJ.

Then, our current landlord calls...we can't stay where we are, as she had us believe, as new tenants had already signed a lease. What to do? (And can I dumpster dive to get all of our boxes back?)

We scrambled and finally found an apartment across town. It is actually a bit bigger than our old place, and shaves 15 minutes off of my morning commute to school! And to my delight, it has a washer/dryer!

So, we got movers and headed across the city. Check out my moving day outfit on Polyvore!

It has been an extremely frustrating and stressful few weeks, but we are glad to be in our new place. Plus, now we have all of these wonderful wedding gifts to fill up the cabinets :) I have spent the last few days since we moved making our new place somewhere that is organized and cozy.

I decided to introduce a "command-center" of sorts right by the front door. Each bin has a label. One for bills/notices, one for cards/letters, and one for magazines/catalogs. I also hung up this mosaic mirror right above it for those last-minute lip-gloss checks before heading out the door!

In the bathroom, I decided to use those old jam/pasta sauce jars as containers for make-up brushes, Q-tips, etc. Since I didn't take the time to peel off the labels appropriately (check out how to do it successfully here), I opted to use some sparkly duct-tape to cover up what remained of the offending labels. I think it looks cute!

I finally invested in a "grown-up" nightstand. For years, I was using the same make-shift nightstand that got me through college: plastic storage containers stacked on top of each other. Obviously, a married lady in her late 20's should try some real furniture!

We are unpacking the last of the boxes, and still have pictures to hang. But at least we are settled in enough to start to relax and not worry about move out dates, moving trucks, etc. at my happy place, the Outer Banks :)

Tutoring

Tutoring by hkl710 featuring an elephant necklace

City Teacher....Married Teacher!

  

That's right, folks! We got hitched! 

I can't believe how quickly the weekend passed, but it was without a doubt the most amazing time of my life :)

We got married in my home state of Maryland, overlooking Baltimore's Inner Harbor. It was beautiful!

Our gorgeous floral chuppah (a traditional Jewish wedding canopy)

An early evening view from the hotel pool of the iconic Domino Sugar sign

 The ceremony was wonderful, and the party was a blast! Everyone loved the food, especially our delicious (and beautiful!) wedding cake made by one of my closest girlfriends.

 

 

To close out the weekend, our new joined families spent the day at Camden Yards taking in a baseball game! It was the perfect, casual way to wrap up the festivities.

It's the O's, hon! Gotta love that bird :)

On Monday morning, my husband and I (ahhh!) flew to gorgeous Turks and Caicos and enjoyed a week of sun, sand, and snorkeling. 

The crystal clear waters of the Caribbean!

Diving for conch on our snorkeling trip!

Husband and Wife! On a boat!

Although it was a bit sad to leave paradise, the hubs and I are very excited to start our "normal" life together at home! We still had some celebrating to do, as our birthdays were this past week (him on the 9th, me on the 10th). No gifts, just dinner with friends, and it was totally great!

Honeymoon Prep!

Our wedding is only a few days away, and I am getting so excited! I am especially excited for our honeymoon, and have already begun the packing prep! 

As much as I love to travel, I hate traveling. There is nothing more annoying to me than waiting in airport security lines, or feeling frustrated about my carry-on sized bag not fitting into the overhead compartment and thus needing to be checked (I am in constant fear that my bag won't make it--as I experienced last summer when I traveled to Ireland with a girlfriend and didn't get my bag for 3 days. Suffice it to say, I smelled and I was livid!) I utterly loathe cramped airplane seats with zero leg room. So what's a gal who wants to go on a fabulous honeymoon in Turks and Caicos to do?

Try and pack my carry-on tote like a pro!

To avoid the stinks in case my bag doesn't make it to the destination at the same time that I do, I put some essentials (including an extra pair of underwear--and for the sake of this trip, a bikini) in my carry-on to keep me fresh and clean-clean ( and make sure I can still splash around on the beach!):

For the plane ride, I want to be as comfortable as possible, so I packed a few items in this cute pouch I got as a holiday gift from one of my students:

  (From top left)

 - I stash ibuprofen in this adorable tin that my mom brought me back from France a few years ago.

- To avoid dry skin, I use this little tub of lotion.

- The sterile smell of the airplane bathroom soap makes me sick! I prefer to use this sweet smelling hand sanitizer!

- On planes, I have been told, it is uber-important to remain hydrated. It is also uber-important not to get sick on your way to your honeymoon! Emergen-C to the rescue! 

- Band aids (for blisters, shaving nicks, etc.)

- My favorite solid perfume from L'Occitane. The green tea scent is fresh and calming. Perfect for the plane and a night out! 

- Lip balm in a fruity acai-berry flavor. Very appropriate for a trip to the tropics! 

- Tide stick. Because I am accident prone, and for some reason I love drinking plain Bloody Mary mix on planes. You do the math.

**Not pictured--gum. Especially after the Bloody Mary mix :)

Fortunately, the trip to T&C is not very long, just a little over 3.5 hours (and a direct flight--yay!) Still, I need things to keep me from getting antsy and staying relaxed on the plane. I downloaded a few books from the library onto my Nook, including The Husband's Secret and Margot. In case I don't feel like straining my eyes and taking a little rest, I also downloaded the audio-book of A Secret Kept and have plenty of music on my phone. I always travel with my neck pillow and an eye mask, as well as ear plugs to drown out the engine sounds and keep my ears from popping (that is, of course, if I don't have headphones in!) Planes can get chilly, so I always bring a scarf that can double as a blanket. This one is very light-weight, so it will be a good wrap to have on hand for cooler evenings on the island!

One of my coworkers got me this notebook  to keep a journal of our honeymoon as a shower gift. I can't wait to fill the pages with our wonderful adventures on the island! It will be so special to revisit the entries as we grow old together!

I am looking forward to sharing some photos from our trip to paradise, and hopefully some shots from the wedding day, soon :)

School's Out!

Oh my goodness! This year is OVER?!?!

Wasn't it just the first day...like...yesterday?

This year came with A LOT of change and new responsibilities. I moved from NYC to Philly and started teaching in a new school with a different structure (mixed aged classes). I rejoined the world of car owners after a 5 year lapse (ugh--car payments...although I did the math and it turns out my monthly car payments are only slightly higher than the monthly subway passes I had to buy in NYC). Oh yeah--I have also been planning my wedding that is going to happen in JUST TWO AND A HALF WEEKS!?! WHAAAAT??!?

But back to the whole teaching thing-- I feel really good about this year. I made great friends at work and wonderful connections with my students and other students in the school. By the end of the year, I was bombarded with lovely cards and wonderful colorful pictures to take home with me. I also got a few "extra" goodies from families:

I am SO EXCITED about this beach bag!!! I can't wait to tote it on my honeymoon in Turks and Caicos!

I received this cute card from a student's family (along with some delicious chocolates). I love funky greeting cards! 

 I always like my students to reflect after any unit/project/trip. I had my students complete this end of the year survey on the last morning of school:

It was great hearing about some of the things they most enjoyed about this year, and I felt pretty good about myself as a teacher, too:

Can I add "superior awsomeness" to my resume? I'm gonna miss this group!

Of course, nothing screams end of the year like lots and lots of treats!!! I made brownies for the class, and a student brought in these super colorful sprinkley cupcakes! YUM!

Obviously, by the time dismissal rolled around, we all kind of looked like this after all that sugary goodness:

Am I the worst person ever for sugaring up kids and then sending them home to their parents? I mean, they were already super hyper! Last day of school, ya'll! 

So, the room got packed up today. It looks sad and empty...

 

...but I know I'll have a whole lotta fun reorganizing it in late August. Especially because I am teaching a new mixed age (2nd/3rd grade) and am getting all new furniture! WOOT WOOT!

Lastly, I just want to thank everyone who kept reading my blog this year! I wasn't sure if I could keep it up, and sometimes there were longer breaks between posts, but I appreciate all of you who visited again and again! I might have a few fun Summer posts, so don't disappear! 

XO, and HAPPY SUMMER!!!!

Lady Who Lunches

Ahh....lunch time. That blessed half hour to sit in silence and eat. 

Oh wait, I'm a teacher, so that never happens!

 Typically during my lunch break, I am making copies or meeting with other teachers. More frequently I am spending my lunch break putting out fires regarding the recess arguments of children. That means that I usually end up eating lunch with my class (who eat in the classroom--although now with the weather getting nicer, more and more kids are opting to eat outside on the picnic tables).  I really can't complain too much about sitting down and eating with my class. I get to chat with them about their lives and get a better sense of who they are in non-academic settings. You learn a lot about kids while they are eating, lemme tell ya!

So, as many of your know, my wedding is coming up in a little over a month's time. I am trying really hard to stick to my diet, and bringing my own lunch really helps. When I taught in NYC, my school provided a delicious lunch every day for the kids and teachers. Yes, it was overall very healthy/organic food, but since it was buffet style, I really over did it! I couldn't help it!


I had to get used to buying groceries for my lunch, which I hadn't done for a few years. I forgot how expensive some of my favorite items are! Do Fiber One bars really need to cost so much? Since my fiance and I inhale these pretty regularly, I couldn't justify not making my own for a fraction of the cost with ingredients that we always have in our kitchen! And the recipe makes double the amount found in a box of the ones from the store and has the same amount of fat and calories. Plus, these homemade ones don't have all the icky artificial and processed junk!

Here's what you will need:

2 Cups Old-Fashioned Oats
1 Cup Rice Krispies
2 Tbsp. Flax Seed
1/4 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Butter or Coconut Oil (tried both--and both taste great!)
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
Chocolate Chips (I also tried dried cranberries--equally delicious!)

Step 1: Mix the oats, Rice Krispies, flax seed and chocolate chips or other mix-in together in a large bowl.

Step 2: Melt the honey, brown sugar, and coconut oil or butter over medium heat until boiling

Step 3: Take mixture off the heat and pour over cereal and oat mixture. Mix well.

Step 4: Mold into a greased 8x8 baking pan. Let set for 2 hours.

Step 5: Cut into 12 pieces. Wrap with plastic and store.

 Step 6: When you need a snack, enjoy!

My fiance was skeptical at first, but once he tried them, he couldn't stop raving about how good they are! Seriously, they are SO EASY to make, so give it a try!

Another item that I have found myself spending a lot on are sandwich bags for toting items like grapes and almonds, and tin foil to wrap my whole grain bread and turkey sandwiches. I decided that not only are these baggies sucking money out of my wallet, but they aren't very friendly for the environment!
I
 found these great reusable baggies at a fun little store when my fiance and I were walking around this past weekend. For $16, I got three brightly colored bags to stash all my sustenance! I love that I can just throw it in the top rack of the dishwasher.

 When I was in middle school, it was so uncool to use a lunch box. Paper bags were the thing. But again, not great for our planet! Fortunately, I received this lunch bag when my sister and I tried out a juice cleanse a couple of summers ago, and I bring my lunch in it every day. This thing can also just get tossed in the dishwasher, so it's all good!

 

 You know what else is all good? The fact that there are 17 days of school left! I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by. I still have 8 reports left to write before June 6th-- not as "all good". Encouragement appreciated, folks! :)