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)

DIY: Wedding Dress Pendant

I am attempting to become more crafty and thanks to my devotion to Pinterest I spent some quality time during my break from school creating home-made gifts for my coworkers, family, and a very special present for my husband.

I had seen this beautiful pendant on Etsy and was instantly in love. You send a small piece of your wedding dress to this jewelry maker and she creates a necklace charm for you and puts it on a beautiful sterling silver chain. The price was a little out of my budget so I decided that I would try to recreate this look myself.

A quick trip to Michael's was all it took to find the perfect locket-style pendant and a matching chain. Both items were $5.99 at full price but were on sale for 30%. I also had a coupon for an additional 40% off one item. In total the cost to make my necklace was less than $8 as I already had the findings (jump rings, lobster clasps, and jewelry pliers).

Pendant from Michael's $5.99 full price

It took awhile to find a place on my dress where I could cut a piece of lace without it showing...you know, I'm totally planning on wearing that thing again and/or I'm sure should I ever have daughter she will definitely want to wear it so it really can't have a giant missing square of lace. I eventually found an inside seam that had just enough lace peeking through that I could cut a swatch large enough to fill the pendant. I decided that since this charm is clear on both sides, I also wanted a piece of the beautiful tie my husband wore at our wedding. I cut off the extra piece of fabric on the back of the tie that is used to hold the little end. Below is the finished product! 

lace from my wedding dress

fabric from groom's tie

My husband absolutely loved this gift and said it is his favorite thing he has ever received! I love you honey!

Beautiful Photo from our wedding photographer Courtney Aaron

Returning to the Web-waves in 2013

During the month of December I had a few coworkers and friends ask me about my blog and what had happened to it, would it be returning, their lives were empty and pointless without it...well, maybe not that last part. So while I won't be making a New Year's resolution committing to some set amount of posts per week, I feel that I'm established enough in my flipped classroom routine that I will be able to make some time to post more regularly.

Coming Soon:
Update on all my purchases for the remainder of the year (hope the husband isn't reading)
Update on progress in my classroom
Exciting new opportunity for advancement in my career
A new, drastic, still-very-much-adjusting-to-it hair cut

Thank you to my wonderful friends and family for continuing to be interested in my little web-endeavor. I am so blessed by the amazing people in my life!

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

Pinterest Updo!

I recently joined the wonderful world of Pinterest and have since pinned a few new ways to style my generally lifeless and thin hair. Here is the inspiration photo and how-to guide I pinned about a week ago:

I'm happy to report that it was just as easy as explained and it worked even on my generally challenging locks! It took about 15 minutes from start to finish and the only note I would add to the how-to part would be that I had to put a clear plastic on the end of my little braid while I braided it with the two unbraided strands. When I got close to the end, I slid the plastic band off and used it at the end of the new braid. I did this on all three sets of braids, otherwise I don't think I could've managed braiding with that little braid that kept wanting to come undone.

 I'm also proud to report that with only six bobby pins, this updo lasted all day at school!

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!

Patient Problem Solvers

The theme in my classroom for this year is "Patient Problem Solvers" which I took from Dan Meyer's presentation on the need for reform in math instruction in the US. The video is about 12 minutes and will probably bore most of you (unless you're a huge math nerd like I am and believe strongly in the need to move away from standardized tests and move back to actually teaching math and problem solving). If you like the video and want to hear or see more from Dan Meyer this is a link to his blog.

I was lucky enough to find that owls are incredibly popular right now (in both fashion and teacher supply stores) and there is no better classroom mascot to represent my desire for my students to leave my classroom wiser than how they entered.

Our school has a wonderfully talented retired art teacher that frequently subs at our site. I contacted her, showed her some cute owl stickers I had purchased and let her know that my classroom is decorated in blues, greens, and yellows. I dropped off some butcher paper to her last week and here is her masterpiece!

And as far as the fashion goes I have to ask for you to be patient there as well! Wednesday and Thursday (yesterday and today) of this week we were required to wear spirit t-shirts which are neither fashionable or exciting. I did jazz up my outfits by adding cute flats and my zebra belt yesterday and my royal blue/kelly green belt today. I didn't, however, feel they were blog worthy! So stay tuned for an outfit tomorrow which is our first official day with students attending all their classes.