Four days down of the new school year and so far, it has been GREAT!

Top 5 of my week:

1. I can just tell that this is going to be a great school year...my kids seem awesome!


2. It's my birthday today :)

3. Went to the Cardinal's game with my great friend, Ashley on Wednesday night. We talked so much that I really don't know what happened at the game except that we lost, oh well!

4. TONS of great shopping was had over the weekend. New jeans, shirts, some makeup, and I hope there is just a little more to come this weekend.

5. I got the most wonderful pedicure on Monday before the first day of school. It was the works...hot stones and a 30 minute foot and leg massage. It felt sooooo good.

Not the most flattering picture of my feet, they remind me of Fred Flintstone, yikes!

5. Not to sound like an old person (I am after all turning 28 today) but the weather has been freaking fantastic. 78 degrees in August is practically unheard of and I'm digging it.

Pretty fab week! My day will hopefully be spectacular - ice cream cake is waiting for me at work, a scrumptious dinner is planned at one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants with my fam, and I'm sure I will find some time to squeeze in some celebratory beverages to ease the pain of turning another year older.

Have a great weekend!

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth

The last Friday of summer vacation.

I'm not so sure that it really something to celebrate. Another summer in the books. Life just keeps moving faster and faster.

The good thing is, I'm enjoying it. :)

Linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday

Great things about my week:

1.Got all of my paperwork submitted just in time for my pay raise to go in effect for our first paycheck of the school year. Thank goodness for an understanding HR department!

2. I really do enjoy the weeks before school because I am so productive. There is so much to do that I have no choice but to be a machine and just knock stuff out.

Case in point: my lamination is finished, cut out, and on the walls. My classroom is just about ready to go which isn't usually the case at this point of the summer.

3.The boyfriend and I enjoyed a 70 degree Saturday evening with dinner and drinks on the patio at one of our fave neighborhood restaurants.

4. And then met up with one of my favorite gals from work and her boyfriend at one of STL's many breweries. It was a great night!

Yep, wearing a jacket in July. Unheard of in STL!

5. Spent my Thursday with some gorgeous Springfield ladies in town for the Maroon 5/Kelly Clarkson concert. We went to Cheesecake Factory, shopped, and got to check out the new West Elm - which is full of photo ops, like this one at the front of the store....

So glad Danavee, Andrea, and the bunch didn't mind me tagging along.

All in all not too shabby of a last week before heading back to work. I'm spending the day locked in my classroom...I'm not leaving until it is ready for the kids to walk into. 

Have a great weekend!

While I'm slightly REALLY blue that there are only TWO Fridays left of my summer vacation here are a couple things that were awesome about this week:

1. A Cardinal's win before the All-Star break!

2. Two grad classes finished. Only two more to go. By Wednesday. #queenofprocrastination

3. My parents hosted a crabfest complete with homemade cheddar bay biscuits that I dare say were better than Red Lobster! P.S. I hate salad but I enjoy picking out the croutons.


4. Crabfest also included a red, white, and blue drank and glow sticks. It's automatic party when glow sticks are involved.


5. Had a blast at the pool yesterday with this little one, my second cousin Callie Mae.


I'm off to go bury my head in the books for the weekend only stopping for Dr. Pepper breaks and the Card's game on Saturday. Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday!

I would say this is a great week because:

1. Today is the last day of summer school.
2.  It is finally "summer" weather. 90 degrees and sweltering is kind of my favorite.
3.  I've eaten fast food and drank beer this week without gaining any weight.
4. Chris and I celebrated 7 years as the most awesome couple ever

5. I'm playing in my high school's alumni softball game tomorrow. Excited to have fun and see old friends but I'm not sure if this is great or depressing...out of high school 10 years...yikes.

I'm really a little miffed right now....I went to the Cardinal's game with my mom, dad, and youngest sister last night. Probably my 10th game of the season. Never in my life have I felt more picked on being a girl at the game. Two different instances of men sitting near me chose to comment on either something I said or did during the game.

I assure you I'm an intelligent woman and can hold my own when discussing the Cardinals.

However, the old man in front of me found my question about why people were cheering during a Cubs home run to be the most asinine thing he'd ever heard and had to turn around and glare at me. Like you would have thought I just clubbed a baby seal right in our seats the way he looked at me.

Now to be fair - should I have realized it was the Cards/Cubs - a long standing rivalry and there are quite a few Cubs fans in attendance? Sure. However I was already a few beers  in and the common sense wasn't as quick as I would have liked.

Sue me. I did not deserve a public stinkeye.

A second guy behind me in the 7th decided to tap me on the shoulder and address my phone use during the game - I had texted Chris about the assface in front of me and also used the new video feature on Instagram. I'd also browsed FB between innings. Nothing excessive. Maybe he was trying to be funny but it was the wrong time after the stinkeye incident.

Newsflash dude. I'm capable of doing more than one thing at a time. I don't have ADD like the rest of America and can successfully pay attention to a baseball game and send a text message at the same time. Oh, and I can also listen in on your conversation about how sad your life is.

And plus...it's none of yo' business. (He even said he had been reading my text messages.....uuuuhhhhhh CREEPER ALERT!)

Needless to say, that guy apologized.

I think if I would have been sitting with Chris, no one would have said a word to me. Such BS.

UGH. Whatever.

I don't think I've ever bitched about something this much on the ol' blog but sometimes you just gotta let it out!

Hope you're having a much better day, have a great weekend!


  Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth

I'm back to celebrate another glorious summer Friday. So excited!



I say I'm back like I went somewhere when in reality I've just been a busy little bee. I've thought a lot about blogging and things to write, however, I just haven't had the time to sit down and write like I want to.

But let's talk about what has been awesome this past week:

1. Two weeks of summer school in the book. Only one more to go, thank goodness!

2. My sleep number is money! I've been sleeping on air, literally. And I love it!



3. While I say I've been a busy little bee, I did find time to read Divergent and Insurgent. They were excellent and I can't wait for Allegiant to come out in October.


4. A gorgeous Saturday spent in the back yard with good food, games, and friends.


5. THIS happened.


Funnel. Cake. Cupcakes. There were as good as they look. Thank goodness for my friend Natalie and her baking skills.

Tonight, the boyfriend and I are headed out to see Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line. The weather is going to be perfect for this outdoor concert and a few beverages of course.

How was your week? Read anything good lately that I should add to my reading list? Or did I make you want to bake some cupcakes this weekend? Hopefully you're not drooling on your keyboard right now, haha!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday!

The calendar says it's this teacher's summer vacation but it doesn't feel like it with the two professional development days and preparing for summer school.

Since I was so excited about school ending last week, I forgot about some of the other cool stuff that happened - so I though I would shared some additional fun from the past two weeks.

1. Uh, have you ever Zorbed? It's basically a human-sized hamster ball. What you see up there in the big picture is what I saw when I walked my very eager students out to field day last week. I have to say the parents who thought this one up made about every 6th grader's dream come true on the last day of school with renting not one, but two of those puppies. And let me tell ya, they are a workout!

2. New easy dinner alert: Grilled Pesto Shrimp Skewers. Or say to hell with the skewers and just put the shrimp in the oven to bake for about 8 minutes.

3. I finally qualified for an Influenster Vox Box! Free samples always make for a great mail day. I'll be sharing what I got soon.

4. Kick off to summer mani in "Cabana Boy".

5. Even though, I semi-whined about my summer spending habits on Wednesday, I feel on top of my budget game. When you get paid two month's worth of salary at once, I feel as though it is necessary to know where your money is going. One less thing to worry about this summer!

Bonus: My Sleep Number bed is being delivered on Wednesday! I can't wait to finally sleep on it and share all about it. I keep hearing such great things from my friends who already have one.

This weekend I'm putting the final touches on my summer school lesson plans, having a patio dinner with a sorority sister and fellow teacher, and a Card's game on Saturday night. Hopefully the rain can stay away so we can have some fun!

Have a great weekend!

Well, it's here.

Friday.

The first day of Summer Vacation 2012.

Thank goodness.


I've learned over the past couple of years, non-teachers really don't like when teachers gloat about having the summers off so I've tried to keep a low profile this year and not celebrate on Facebook. Buuuuuuttttt, on here I'm going to shout it from the rooftops:

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER! YIPPEE!

Now I really shouldn't celebrate too much, considering I'm at work today. Aaand I work Wednesday and Thursday next week. And summer school starts on June 3rd. But it will be nice to have a few days without setting the alarm for 6am.

On to my top 5 of the week.

1. Finished my 5th year of teaching.

2. Lost another 1.6 pounds this week. So far I've shed 11.6 pounds in four weeks with Weight Watchers. Feeling pretty good!

3.I only had to make lunch once this week thanks to it being provided by school four out of five days. That's an extra 10 minutes of sleep in the morning.

4. In a "more-to-come-later" post - I have been given an awesome opportunity to review a Sleep Number bed. Can't wait for it to arrive in about a week or two. Still can't believe it!

5. Did I mention it's summer vacation?

Hope your week was spectacular and your Memorial Day weekend is even better!

Never has Friday looked so good after a dreadful week. It might be hard to find 5 things to actually celebrate. Let's see here...

1. 14 actual school days left. And I actually have plans done.

2. Lost five pounds last week but it was because I didn't drink one Dr. Pepper. I might be going through withdrawals right now. Hoping I dropped a few more pounds when I step on the scale Sunday.

3. Tried some fantastic lemon-cucumber-mint water, so refreshing!



4. Cardinal's game with Emily.



5. I've put together at least 3 cute "new" outfits with the addition of a denim jacket to my wardrobe. I never thought I was a jean jacket kinda lady but I think I've proved myself wrong.


Alright, well that wasn't so hard. Looking forward to my cousin's bachelorette party this weekend, we are hitting up Fast Eddie's or the wineries and then a bar crawl on Main Street St. Charles.

How was your week? Hopefully better than mine!

Yay, Friday!

This week was fabulous because of:

1. Personal days.
2. Cardinal's home opener, even though it was a loss.

3. This pencil sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies has changed my life. My students and I are in love with it. It makes the pencils so sharp, doesn't eat them, is really quiet, and doesn't jam up with lead. A girl in my class has literally sharpened five pencils everyday just because she wants to use it.

Left Photo: Via Kristen's Kindergarten

4. 29 days left of school. The countdown is on.

5. All inclusive seats to the Card's game on Saturday. Me likey free beers and nachos. and funnel cakes. and brats. and ohmygod I'm going to eat so much.

How was your week? Anything super fantastic? Have a great weekend!

Vacations are just fabulous.

Except when they end.

Which is where I find myself today. The final week day of my oh-so-short spring break. But H54F is about celebrating the good, finding the positive in our week, so that is what I shall do.

1. My sister is studying to be a teacher (and is having to complete way harder assignments than I ever did as an undergrad). We spent some time together at a Native American Pow Wow. It was neat to do something we've never done before and the dance contests we witnessed were unlike anything we've ever seen. Pretty cool.


2. I've been listening to JT's new album on repeat. Don't care that every song is an indulgent 7-8 minutes. Love.

Source: Spotify

3. I've been a crafting fool working on projects for my mom, like these cute Minnie Mouse glasses for my cousin's daughter and my sister's boyfriend's daughter.

I'm also working on a gigantic Cardinal's wreath that I hope I can finish before Opening Day and some engraved mugs for cousin's wedding.

4. Got in some clutch friend time this week, dinner with my best gal pals, Ash and Elyse. And visited my friend Jody and her adorable twins today. It is amazing how much they have grown in three months. Like weeds I tell ya.

5. The New Girl. What have I been missing?! I started watching around the end of January and decided I would spend a portion of spring break catching up on back episodes on Hulu. Thursday I was able to watch all of season 2. This show is hilarious! And I'm a big fan of Nick and Jess - that kiss after the True American game made me a little weak in the knees....woo wee!

Bonus: It was our 2 year house anniversary yesterday!

Left: March 21, 2011 Right: October 2012

How was your week? Anyone digging on some new JT or catching up on new to them shows? Have a great weekend!

It's Friday.

The first of 10 days of no trabajo.

I'm wondering what I should do first?

How about link up with Lauren for High Five for Friday and recap this fabulous four day work week. Here goes!

1.  My friend Jody and I have taken to starting our work day with a smile and chanting, "It's going to be the best day ever!" It may be a little hokey, but it makes the day feel just a tiny bit more positive.

2. My cousin, Lauren,  is getting married in May and we kicked off her festivities with her bridal shower last Saturday.

The bride

My sisters and mom

Bridesmaid glasses

The cake my aunt made

The favors

Their new name!

My mom and aunt were in charge of the shower and they definitely brought their "A" game. We ate delicious food and "oohed" and "aahed" over all the neat things they made.  The women on my mom's side are incredibly crafty - nearly everything at the shower was hand/home made - the cake, the favors, the center pieces, and the "bride" headband my cousin wore. They worked really hard and it was neat to see all of it come together. I got in on the action cutting the vinyl initials for all the wine glasses and creating the name print.

3. Signed my contract for the 2013-2014 school year. I don't know why but it always feels good to see that 'confidential' letter in my mailbox, waiting to be signed. It also contained a nice little pay raise for next year too!



4. Got a reply back from The Petersiks on Instagram. (I'm @sara_homelife, you should totally follow me!) Is that silly to be high fiving about a social media shout out with a famous person (at least in my book)?

5. 10. Days. No. Work.

Hope your week was spectacular. Enjoy your weekend!