Budget Update--End of 2012

Well, I have just spent the last few hours looking through my closet and jewelry to make a list of everything I have purchased since my last splurge at the outlets in August. As mentioned in that post, I ended up spending through the rest of my October budget and well into my allotted November spending leaving me with a mere $44.32 left for that month and the $70 for December.

So how did I do with my remaining $114.32 for August through December? In two words? Not good. But also not too terribly bad considering that the majority of the purchases I made were less than $15 (rule #3), I did not pay full price for anything I purchased, and I would have been on budget if I got rid of two purchases*.

I am also listing the wonderfully fashionable Christmas presents I received from my wonderful mom and picked out by my stylish sister (second to the last paragraph from my first post).

Here's what I bought!

Old Navy
Dark wash trouser jeans $8.47
Mustard yellow cardigan $18.71
Blue and white polka dot cardigan $19.94
SF 49ers T-shirt $14.63 (this purchase was more for my husband than me...maybe I won't count it in my budget...)

Goodwill
Merona super long sleeve glue gingham collared shirt $3.98
J Crew stretch red paisley collared shirt $3.98

Banana Republic Factory Store
Khaki shorts (for my friends awesome wedding in Mexico!) $6.43

TJ Maxx
Royal purple skinny jeans $14.99

Gap Outlet
Light purple and yellow tissue shirt $6.49
Grey and red floral tissue shirt $6.49

Ebay
White Mountain dark brown riding boots $43.24 with shipping
*These cursed boots!! I knew months ago that I couldn't afford to buy boots and I did it anyway. Yes, apparently I have no willpower. This is one of the two purchases that if I had some self-control I'd have been on budget.

Joanne's Fabric (Post on this DIY project in the coming weeks!)
Pencil skirt pattern, fabric for two skirts (Project Runway Fabric no less!), two zippers $38.37
*Second purchase that if eliminated would have kept me on budget. I do think of this as an investment for the future because now that the pattern has been purchased, I can continue to keep mom in the sweatshop making skirts for next to nothing. Did I mention I have the world's best and most talented mother?

Jewelry (Who am I kidding? They're all necklaces...not a ring, earring or bracelet in sight!)
Gold Leaves and Beads (Old Navy) $9.95
Pink and Yellow Bubble Necklaces (Poke A Dot Shop Facebook Special) $36.98 total
Gold Paddle, Brown Beaded, Purple/Blue/Silver Beaded (Cost Plus) $11.69 for all three as they were buy one get one free and I purchased some for Christmas presents

Christmas Gifts
Camel v-neck sweater, camel ribbon tank, tan pants (The Limited)
Emerald cross-neck long sleeve shirt, Black tissue long sleeve shirt (Ann Taylor)
Gold and brown tiered beaded necklace (Pier One)
Chunky neutral and pink necklace and matching bracelet (The Limited)

Math Formulas + New Clothes = Stylish Outfits Part 2

I was so inspired by my first go around with formulaic styling that I did another one! I will admit, however, that this mix and match was not nearly as fun or bright as the first one so I found it much more challenging. I strayed away from the prescribed articles of clothing for two reasons: 1) I don't own a trench coat 2) I found trying to do this many neutrals together didn't really seem very "me". Ten more mix and match outfits are headed your way!

Here are the pieces I used to recreate the styles:
The Limited essential white collared shirt-TJ Maxx similar here
Nine West sling back pointed heel-old similar here
Aerosoles brown sandals-TJ Maxx recent similar here
New York & Co cream sweater-thrifted similar here also...
The Limited colorblocked stripe top-The Limited recent
Max Studio geometric skirt with pockets-thrifted similar here also...
INC black pleated skirt-thrifted similar here
Express Editor light blue pant-old (circa 2005) similar here
Merona crew neck cardigan in yellow star pattern-Target also...
Delia's navy and magenta striped cardigan-TJ Maxx similar here
Mossimo geometric dress-Target Clearance similar here
The Limited Drew pant in gray and blue plaid-The Limited also...
Exact stretch capri pant-The Limited
Merona Madge flats in orange-Target clearance recent
American Eagle flats in navy-Payless Shoes recent
Wool coat-vintage? thrifted similar here
Fitted polka dot tee- Forever 21 recent

Technical Difficulties

Let me begin by giving a HUGE thank you to all my wonderful friends and family that have taken the time to read my little blog and leave comments or send me kind words in emails. I really can't thank you enough!

And I will follow that up with a HUGE apology for my radio silence over the last week+. I have no excuse other than I think I may have bit off more than I can chew in trying to start two huge makeovers at once. The work I am doing in my classroom is without a doubt more important to me than overhauling my wardrobe and style so I apologize for the lack of outfit shots as I was more consumed with classroom issues. I will, however, admit that I am proud of myself because I have been putting together awesome outfits each day for school (and both students and colleagues are noticing!) but I cannot figure out how to snap decent pictures each day...Technical Difficulty #1 Amber at Ambular Logic always looks gorgeous in her photos (I should've taken up modeling with her when we were in high school...ha!) as does Bonnie at Delusions of Grandeur whose shots look like they were done specifically for a style magazine in beautiful outdoor settings. I may have to get a fellow teacher to take a quick snapshot each morning and email it to me as I can't seem to get up early enough to get one at the house. How do other bloggers take their photos? Or rather, who takes them?

(I LOVE the Simpsons)

This past week has been especially trying as it was our first full week with students. Each day I came home more tired than the last which added to the problem of rousing myself out of bed early enough to do any sort of photography at home. The first two days were tiring just because I was getting back into the swing of teaching, but Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were exhausting for another reason...Technical Difficulties #2-78. I'm flipping my classroom this year which relies heavily on technology, namely the internet. For three days last week we had little to no access to the internet. At first I thought just my wireless signal had gone down so I plugged my laptop directly into the wall, no luck. Then I thought it was just something temporary, "It'll come back on. It's 2012, the internet doesn't actually 'crash' anymore." It wasn't. So I was unable to show the videos I had planned on showing each day (the ones I had spent all summer filming), I couldn't read my students' homework assignments (they are doing online digital assignments through Collaborize Classroom), I couldn't take attendance, or access my email. By the end of Friday I estimated that after only 6 days of actual teaching I'm easily 4 days behind schedule.

So I hope you can stick with me through the ups and downs of this year! If you're here for mostly fashion I apologize in advance as that will always come secondary to me getting stuff done inside the classroom and putting my students first. If you're reading to follow my journey on this year of high-tech (when it cooperates!), student-centered, Common Core Standards teaching adventure I promise there is more to come!

And as a treat for sticking around this long...my outfits from last week!
(On the floor, not on me, sorry.)

Monday

Shirt: INC (thrifted)
Skirt: Studio M (thrifted)
Shoes: Nine West (old)

angled pockets on skirt

Tuesday

Shirt: TJ Maxx (recent)
Skirt: Talbots Outlet (recent)
Shoes: Payless (recent)
Neclace: Target clearance (recent)

Yes, I got saluted in this outfit!

Wednesday

Shirt: Target clearance (recent)
Pants: The Limited (recent)
Shoes: Payless (recent)
Necklace: Gift from Mom

Thursday

Shirt: Ann Taylor (thrifted)
Pants: Ann Taylor (old)
Shoes: Target clearance (recent)
Necklace worn as bracelet: gift from Secret Santa

I wore the shirt tucked in per a comment on my last outfit with this top and it was super flattering. I'm not sure if you can tell but the pinstripe on this pant is also purple...meant to be!

 Technical Difficulty #79: Getting a new camera to take some decent photos!

Purple Tank and Zebra Belt

Today's outfit, #8 from the list is almost entirely thrifted. The purple Ann Taylor tank was $4. The pleated INC skirt was also $4. I purchased the zebra belt at Target on clearance and the sling backs date back to my days of student teaching. Happy Tuesday!

Math Formulas + New Clothes = Stylish Outfits

I'm a math teacher (which you probably already know) and I'm stylishly challenged (which if you have met me anytime in the last 6 years of my teaching career you definitely know). When it came to putting together a new wardrobe from scratch I really didn't know where to start. I began by finding some awesomely fashionable teachers/professionals who blog about their style-->see blogs I love to the right. But when it came to actually putting the pieces together I was a little stumped.

Enter Pinterest! I found this awesome graphic from Banana Republic that is more or less a formula for making great outfits. Give me 13 variables and/or coefficients and I can write endless amounts of algebraic expressions, this is basically the same. It is fashion made easy for those of us who are really left-brained.

Here is my list of 13 items (actually ended up using a few more) that I used to make 31 different looks. Stay tuned to see a new outfit each day for the next month!

1) Ann Taylor royal purple tank-thrifted similar here
2) INC black pleated skirt-thrifted similar here
3) Nine West black suede wedges-from a wedding December 2010 similar here
4) Steve Madden leopard wedges-Plato's Closet (I've read that many thrifters don't consider Plato's Closet "thrifting" so I will list them separately) similar here
5) The Limited essential white collared shirt-TJ Maxx similar here
6) Express Editor black pinstripe pant-old (circa 2005) similar here
7) J. Crew Factory pencil skirt in royal purple print with Max Studio cream tank (TJ Maxx 2011) similar here
8) The Limited Drew pant-gift from Mom
9) Gap royal blue cropped V-neck cardigan-Gap Outlet recent similar here
10) J. Crew pencil skirt in double-serge cotton royal violet-Factory Store recent
11) Blue and green chevron tank-TJ Maxx recent similar here
12) The Limited orange bateau sweater-gift from Mom
13) Style & Co brown blazer-thrifted similar here

Cheers to Beginnings!

I'm not sure where to start but here goes...

I am 10 days away from embarking on a new adventure as a teacher. While I have been a teacher for 6 years now, this year might as well be my first. I am starting over. I have completely redesigned not only what I will teach this year but the manner in which I will teach. With the new Common Core State Standards for Mathematics on the horizon I am taking the proverbial bull by the horns and getting started even though California will not implement them fully for a few years.

At the end of June I was privileged enough to attend an institute at UC Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science to learn about the CCSSM and since then I have been inspired to make big changes. The new standards call for a change in the way we teach mathematics--a needed change to get back to teaching students how to problem solve, how to be persistent and logical, and to see the value in math as it is used in real life. We are finally navigating away from multiple choice tests and I couldn't be happier!

Awhile back our school district sponsored a technology dinner series which exposed teachers to some of the amazing web 2.0 technologies available.  One of the nights featured a website called Collaborize Classroom and an amazing presenter named Catlin Tucker who is the authority on the blended learning philosophy. I left that night's presentation wondering how I could do a blended or flipped classroom with my own teaching practice. It wasn't until the conference in June that I realized I had to stop wondering and start making it a reality.

I have logged over 150 hours this summer creating video lessons of myself that will become my students' homework which frees up class time to engage in open-ended tasks, real-world applications, and discovery learning.  It took many days to find these type of tasks for all the lessons I will cover this year.  It took even more days to rework my entire textbook (2 textbooks actually!) to align with the Common Core.  And at the end of all this planning I find myself anxious to see how it will all play out.

For years I have been told to keep a teacher journal. At my previous school many of the elementary teachers kept journals or, at the very least, lists of the successes and challenges they had each day. In an effort to keep myself on track with this endeavor I figured making it a public journey couldn't hurt to help keep me motivated and honest with what I can only imagine will be a year filled with ups and downs.

So on to the wardrobe part...

My first teaching job out of college was at a pretty tough school in San Francisco. I showed up my first few days in cute outfits and heels, determined to keep the level of dress I had while I was student teaching (and desperately trying to impress all those around me to get great letters of recommendation).  I remember hearing people laugh about how it wouldn't take long for me to not be wearing heels anymore but I knew I wouldn't cave. Well, teaching on the top floor of a three story building and having to walk kids up and down the three flights of stairs eight times a day, I didn't last. It wasn't long before the heels became tennis shoes, my skirts and slacks became grungy uniform pants and my blouses were traded out for any t-shirt I could find for less than ten dollars.

But then something great happened...our school switched from being a dress code school to a uniform school! And I decided that in support of the kids (and out of sheer laziness) I would wear uniform too. So I bought a pair of tan pants from Target and navy pants from the Gap outlet, purchased a long sleeve and two short sleeve uniform tops from school and called it good.  By the end of my four years teaching at this school  I was not proud of how I presented myself in the classroom each day. It was apathetic and unprofessional.

When I left San Francisco and relocated to the North Bay Area I landed an amazing new teaching job in North Napa. I was determined that first year to dress professionally but there was a problem--none of my professional wardrobe fit. Being newly married and happy I had gained enough weight that before the school year started I had to go buy two pairs of slacks that would actually fit to get me through the year. I even had a conversation with my principal before the school year started to let her know about my predicament and that I would do my best to dress professionally with what I had. I didn't. I went back to wearing just those two pairs of slacks and t-shirts.

Over the last few years I have managed to lose those extra marriage pounds and I am proud to say that in January I reached my goal weight and have kept it off.  I wanted to reward myself with a new wardrobe but didn't know where to begin. In my 29 years on this planet I have rarely been fashionable and when I have been I can guarantee it was because I was wearing something my very stylish older sister picked out for me. She always dressed me for school, helped me pick out suits for job interviews, she even picked out my wedding dress!  So with all the other changes I am making in my professional life I have decided to put dressing professionally (and with style!) on the list too. With the help of my sister and my mom I got my new wardrobe started with some essential pieces and the rest I am filling in with the help of some amazing bloggers that have inspired me to mix colors, patterns, and start thrifting!

If you have made it to the end of this seemingly endless post, thank you. This has been a huge weight lifted from my shoulders to actually start something that I really want to do. I have many hopes for this blog but mainly I hope that it will give me a place to record how this year goes academically and wardrobe-ly. I hope that it will keep me on track and I hope that I will find like-minded people to inspire me and that can help encourage me to keep going when the going gets tough.

So cheers to beginnings and thank you again for reading!