Accents!

Self-explanatory.

http://www.vimeo.com/19415259 w=400&h=300

Here are the words and questions, in case you want to play along at home ;)
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

• What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
• What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
• What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
• What do you call gym shoes?
• What do you say to address a group of people?
• What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
• What do you call your grandparents?
• What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
• What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
• What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

In other news, please excuse my swollen face. Now go make your own accent video! :D

Teacher Shoes

So much for those pictures I said I was going to take.. Monday is a new week. I'll be better.

The hardest part of student teaching so far is the standing-all-day bit.  I wore flats on my first day without taking into account that they didn't have ANY support.  I died.  And then I wore sneakers for the rest of the week.  But sneakers aren't that cute, so I finally gave in to the fact that I'll need Teacher Shoes.  Not tryna be rude, but real Teacher Shoes are fug.  Think clunky Mary Janes and Danskos...

Sorry but no. I'm sure they're comfy as hale, but that sh!t is just not me. Plus I am committed to the idea of being a hot teacher. So I appealed to the Internet for help finding cute shoes with support, please! And like magic: Crocs. Don't get ahead of me - Crocs make plenty of cute shoes and here is the proof:

I bought these - they look like regular flats, yes?
The reviews say they feel like slippers. Sign me up.

Ruffles? I'll take them.

Preppy AND cute!

I love boots! These are next on my list.

Should my Crocs not work out, I got plenty of other great suggestions - Dr. Scholl's (duh), Cole Haan, Clarks, Toms (not so sure about the support in Toms..), Børn, Tory Burch (who knew!). Unfortunately, NONE of these are cheap shoes.. my Crocs were pretty inexpensive so I've got my fingers crossed.

What kind of shoes do you wear to work?

Vampires 101

What I've learned about vampires from TV, books, and movies:

1. Vampires are mostly dark haired and always fair skinned.
2. Vampires hate werewolves.
3. Vampire blood fixes everything.
4. When possible, vampires fall in love with humans.
5. A vampire in love with a human is likely to be: sickeningly sensitive & caring; a "vegetarian."
6. A human in love with a vampire must go through an annoying "but-you're-a-vampire" ordeal.
7. Vampires can control your mind by staring at you intently.

Just the facts, ma'am.
This post made possible by: Twilight, Stephenie Meyer, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, and Sookeh.

Day 1

Phew. I made it!

My first day of student teaching was pretty good - I don't take over teaching till next Monday - but it was TIRING! I blame my exhaustion on a combination of three things: my anticipation, standing all day, and no lunch. I packed a salad, an apple, and a Larabar, but when lunchtime rolled around, my host teacher pulled out a piece of candy.. and that's it! I felt awkward about spreading out my delicious lunch (and there were only two more periods till the end of school) so I just ate my apple. This of course resulted in a full out BINGE once I got home. Must work on that.

I made overnight oats for breakfast and hoolordy, they were amazing.  I used equal parts oatmeal, vanilla yogurt, and skim milk, and added cinnamon to soak overnight; this morning they were a little too wet for my liking, so I'll adjust the ratio tonight.  Any other overnight oats eaters out there?  What ratio do you use?

I'm pretty excited to start teaching; the kids are SO goofy and funny.  I've got a lot of work to do on my lesson plans, though - I was wayyy too ambitious!  No work tonight - just rest. :)  Tomorrow I'll think about taking some pictures for the Internet.

P.S. Can we please talk about how AMAZING and ADDICTIVE Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Stars are?  Somebody stop me.

P.S.

Tomorrow is NOT ONLY the first day of student teaching, but also the first day of my very own self-proclaimed Change Your Life Challenge! ;) I've been a bump on a log lately and since student teaching will give me a lot more structure, I'm starting a DIET. (Not a crazy no-carbs type of diet.. just a healthier pattern of eating).  I'm pretty excited..?  Will report back.

On a related side note, my Twitter is locked for the next few months - student teaching & job hunting - which is kind of lame, but just request to follow! I promise I'll let you in.. my life isn't THAT top-secret.

o. m. g.

Sorry for the YouTube overload, but this is kiiiiiiiiilling me. I want to be a penguin!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xed9LiMf1Qg

The best part is all the other penguins just staring at him bahahahah.

Currently

Listening to...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UePtoxDhJSw

Reading...

Inspired by...

Loving on...

In need of...

And So It Begins..

I have been SO busy writing lesson plans and thinking up projects and making worksheets that I've been neglecting the Internet (or at least my blog).  My first week of student teaching begins next Monday, so I probably won't be blogging much for the next few months, but I promise that I'll do what I can.

In the meantime, my empty bank account has been fueling wild Polyvore set creations and huuuge additions to my Amazon wishlist.  My birthday isn't until March but don't worry - I'm ready for it.

birthday11 by missellajane featuring a hinged bangle

..... Oh.  The vitamins?  I SAID I was broke.

Pity Party

I don't necessarily like posting about my personal sh!t, but I've been feeling like a blob for awhile.  I had some allergy/autoimmune problems last year and they're starting to act up again (but I have health insurance this time around, haHA!).  I don't know about you guys, but it's really hard for me to get things done when I'm feeling gross.  Since my allergies are mostly respiratory, it's been tough to work out on any kind of regular basis, and feeling sick for so long makes me feel badly for myself... comfort food + limited exercise = blob.

yep, this is me.

I've been trying to keep track of what I eat lately in an effort to limit the comfort food, but not knowing when my lungs will be able to run again really bums me out (even brisk walking makes me wheezy right now, wahh).  I'm also trying to focus on things that I enjoy but haven't been making time for - like taking pictures and knitting.  What do you guys do when you're in a funk?

P.S. I promise that my next post will be more fun.

Homemade Starbucks

I am pretty much in love with Starbucks iced Passion tea lemonade and was horrified to discover that it's a seasonal drink in most stores.  Luckily, I found a way to feed my addiction through the winter, and it was super easy.  Here's how:

Step 1. Buy a tin of Tazo Passion tea.  I bought the regular box, but I've heard that there are "family size" ones that come with a big tea bag (instead of individual ones) intended to make an entire pitcher.  Must look into this.

Step 2. Buy lemonade.  I used Simply Lemonade because it's unsweetened and has yummy lemon pulp, but any kind of lemonade will do.  Or you could go crazy and make your own lemonade.

Step 3. Brew your tea.  Since it's going to be iced tea, brew it double strength.  I boiled 5 cups of water, moved it off the heat and put all of my tea bags in and used a clothes pin to hold all of the strings together.  I let the tea steep for about ten minutes, then strained the tea into a pitcher and put it in the refrigerator.  (My tin only had ten tea bags, but it looks like most normal Tazo packages come with 20.  If your box comes with 20 tea bags, be sure to use 10 cups of water.)

Step 4. Make it happen! I found several "recipes" for iced Passion tea lemonade on the Internet, most of which recommended a 1:3 ratio for the ice, tea, and lemonade, but I ended up using about half tea and half lemonade (ice really doesn't take up THAT much room). Shake and enjoy!

Step 5. OPTIONAL. If you prefer your tea sweetened, you have two choices: 1) buy Starbucks' Classic Syrup, or 2) make your own! Boil 1 cup of water and 1 cup of white sugar together until the sugar has completely dissolved. (You can also use simple syrup to keep cake moist - shh!) Starbucks uses about 3 tablespoons of syrup in 12oz., 4 tbsp in 16oz. and 6 tbsp in 24oz., but it's probably best to go by your own tastes.

Doppelgänger

This has been killing me since I started watching The Vampire Diaries.

Well, Ian Somerhalder, looks like you're going to age pretty well.

Frost Feathers

Winter is the prettiest season.

Restless

Sometimes I get really bored of my blog.  I can't figure out why it happens (so as to be better able to anticipate my next streak).  When I took my little blog-vacation in October I was just feeling so disinterested; I had a lot going on in my personal, off-line life, but I also felt like I didn't have anything interesting to write about.  I'm willing to blame part of this on the fact that my blog is kind of mish-mash, with no real, definable topic, but then I feel like that should keep my attention longer.

I'm feeling kind of bored of it right now.  Which is bad, since I just made a year-long commitment to it by becoming self-hosted.  Rosaline of  {this is glamorous} still uses Blogger, even though her blog is huugely popular - more popular than I could ever even dream of The Princess and the P being.  Maybe I should have stayed on WP so I wouldn't feel guilty about getting bored.

Bloggers, does this ever happen to you?  Any remedies/suggestions?

Friday WTF

I can't decide if I really love or kind of hate these.. "Boo Boo Bling" bandages from Sephora.  “Cover skin blemishes, scars, tattoos, and ugly boos with bling!"  Hmm.. what do you guys think?

Things We Forget

Loving this blog.. reminds me a lot of Operation Beautiful!

TiLT #16

HGTV's annual Dream Home giveaway!  Check out this year's gorgeous house in Vermont (and then, if you're like me, begin fantasizing unrealistically about how you'll spend the cash.. so many possibilities!) - but don't bother entering the giveaway, as I'm definitely going to win this year. ;)

Swoon!

Vera, Vera on the Wall..

All right, I admit it.  I own MULTIPLE Vera Bradley bags.  And I'm not ashamed!  I know a lot of people dislike Vera Bradley, but I'm a sucker for good prints and some of these are just so lovely.

Yellow Bird

Make Me Blush

Java Blue

Raspberry Fizz

Peacock

Baroque

They also have a line of great solid microfiber and nylon bags.  I use a big VB bag for school - it has a ton of pockets to keep my sh!t organized, long shoulder straps, and enough room for a laptop, binders, and miscellaneous items.

What's your go-to school/work bag?  How do you feel about VB?

Create Synergy LIKE A BOSS

I've heard of kombucha before, but mostly about how gross it is (and how nasty it can be if you try to make your own) and therefore, how good it is for you.  (My theory is that anything delicious is bad and anything gross/weird is good).  But lately I've seen G.T.'s Synergy kombucha drinks e v e r y w h e r e.  So I went for it.  I was hoping to find the guava flavor at my Wegmans, but I took the next best:

Cranberry!

Anything that color has to be at least KIND OF tasty, and since it's 5% juice I figured it couldn't be too bad.  The verdict?  Kind of like cranberry and club soda - tart and carbonated (naturally!).  There's a bunch of weird mold stuff settled on the bottom (I shook the bottle even though it says not to :twisted:) and the carbonation makes it jump around, which is even grosser.  This brand of kombucha is pretty expensive, but the bottle is covered in all of the good things that kombucha does for you (Digestion! Immune system! Metabolism!) so I'll probably buy it again when I'm feeling a cold coming on or something.

Have you ever had kombucha?  Made it yourself?  What's your favorite tea?

Watch Me!

I have a bit of an odd love for watches, considering that I rarely wear them.  (Confession: even when I wear a watch, I still have no idea what time it is!  I have mini panic attacks when someone asks me :oops:).  This obviously does not stop me from buying watches, shopping for watches, adding watches to my wishlist, or blogging about watches.

Over the summer I bought this white silicone watch from Overstock

I'd been wanting a white watch for AGES (literally; since Dior's Christal watches were introduced, I've been a little obsessed) and my sister already had Fossil's Stella watch, which is a great alternative to more expensive ceramic watches.

I really like my Overstock watch, EXCEPT for: 1) it ticks very loudly, and 2) the strap is silicone, so it sticks to my wrist, especially in warm weather.  So the search continues.  I also bought a watch similar to this one from Target for ~$20

I have no complaints about this watch, but lately I've been feeling like I should have a more grown-up watch.. or at least one that cost more than $25.
... Like this beautiful rose gold Michael Kors chronograph watch

Or the equally gorgeous Michael Kors tortoise Jet Set watch

I think I'm partial to the tortoise, but really, I'd accept either ;)

Do you wear a watch?  Show us pictures!

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Just something to brighten your Monday morning :]

Keep in Touch

Not sure if anyone else is as obsessed with NPR as I am, but one of this week's most emailed stories is about a man who wrote a year of thank you notes. Thanks might not be the most stimulating topic, but I love writing letters and notes (and who doesn't love getting mail!?). Good stationary is half the battle, but don't worry - I've found some super cute cards for y'all ;)

Monogrammed paisley notecards from luckybeepress on etsy

Boatman Geller's personalized stationary from Paper Concierge

Carriage Trade monogrammed notecards from Gadabout

Blue swirl design letterpress card from pistachiopress on etsy

Kate Spade's Snail Mail cards from Kate's Paperie

Of course, you'll also need a fabulous pen to write with!  Allow me to suggest..

Campo Marzio's Delon rollerball pen at Kate's Paperie

Retro 1951's Deluxe Tornado 'Vino' rollerball pen from Kate's Paperie

Happy writing! :]

Quote of the Week

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself."
- Neil Gaiman

Sweet Girl

Boyfriend and I went to see Black Swan this afternoon and all I have to say is - wtf?! Amazing, brilliant, flawless, etc. (obviously) but sooo disturbing! We both wished that we'd been more familiar with the story of Swan Lake so that we could've caught some of the more subtle similarities and differences, but we still loved the movie.
What's the last good movie you saw, in theaters or at home? And how did you spend your New Year's Day?

Loving this song..

A little obsessed with Ellie Goulding in general.. how cute is she!?