Fashion Friday: Preparing for Rain... no, Snow

To say that the weather has been crazy is a bit of an understatement.  Last weekend was beautiful, sunny and perfect for an outdoor barbecue, throwing a football around and celebrating birthdays.  Then monday I decided to wear shorts and a t-shirt and wash my car.  Then came Tuesday and rain / sleet / snow and our flag football game.  Our game started right when it started to snow and ended when it stopped.  One of those “are you kidding me?” moments in life.  Can’t complain too much, I did score a touchdown and we won the game!  

This outfit is the perfect combatant for rain or snow, you know, whichever decides to show up in April.

 Rain Boots: Kamik from DSW

Socks: Purchased in Switzerland somewhere

Black Skinny Jeans: Urban Outfitters

Lace Cami: Abercrombie

T-shirt sweater: American Eagle

Scarf: Knit by me 

Trench: Coach

Umbrella: Target

I’m looking forward to this weekend!  We’ve been on spring break all week and I’ve been pretty busy with crafts.  I finished a cowl I knit (different from the one pictured above) and sewed a skirt with a 1941 sewing machine my mom gave me.  It will definitely be featured on the blog once I wear it.  Tonight I’m going to a drive in movie at Union Market in DC and then the boyfriend and I will be celebrating another birthday on Saturday.  Today’s goal is to find a new knitting project!

Happy Easter!

Fashion Friday: Saturday Brunch

Happy Friday readers and happy spring break for anyone else who has spring break all next week!!  Very excited to do basically nothing though I’ll probably learn some new ukulele songs!  I wore this outfit out to brunch with a good friend the other weekend when it was just starting to feel warm again! It was 80 today!  I’m so excited for the warm weather.  The Cherry Blossoms here in DC are beautiful. I’m going to have to find a lounge chair so I can relax on my roof all next week.  

 Boots: DSW

Dress: Francesca’s 

Jacket: Uniqlo

Necklace: Online, I don’t remember

This dress is definitely pushing it for my usual style.  I’m not really a print person but for some reason last fall I found it and decided it would be a fun addition to the wardrobe.  Sometimes it’s nice to throw on something unexpected.

Have a great weekend!

Spring Break Recital Project!

Happy Monday readers!  As an elementary beginning band instructor a few of the challenges of my job are Thanksgiving break, winter break, and finally spring break.  These are the long extended times when my students will either leave their instrument at school to collect dust or take it home and forget about it, forget how to play it and finally forget that they joined the band in the first place.  In order to overcome this challenge a mentor teacher of mine introduced me to a Thanksgiving Break Recital project which gave extra credit to students who performed for their families and made their own programs.  After trying this out for the first time last year I have adapted it to use for spring break as well!

I've included some bolded vocabulary terms that I realized some of my students didn't know.  It also gives them plenty of room for creativity as I had some students make posters with pictures of their performances or make their own programs.  If they don't want to go to those lengths this does fold nicely into a program they can use as well.

My hope is that this will encourage them to perform for their families more often and to get used to playing alone.  By this time in spring however they have had plenty of opportunities for solo playing in class as well as at the solo and ensemble festival a dozen of my students participated in this past weekend.  I even discovered that some of my 4th grade teachers have allowed them to play a short song for their peers at the end of the school day!

Hopefully this can help anyone who is also struggling to get their students back into playing after extended breaks.  Does anyone else do something similar?

Have a great week!

Fashion Friday: Faux-Infinity and Beyond

Happy Friday!  It was Thursday morning when I woke up angry at whoever was calling so early on a “Saturday” when I realized that this was a long week.  Not only is Solo and Ensemble Festival tomorrow but we also have a “Cluster Concert” (concert with the elementary schools, middle schools and high school students) next Wednesday, Spring Break in 1 week, Spring Concerts in May, Six Flags trip, 3rd grade recruiting events in June, and finally 6th grade promotion.  The time is flying by and I’m starting to wonder how much longer I’ll actually have my kids this year!  I guess it’s time to go into operation end of year!  

I’m sure I’m not the only one who, with the long awaited arrival of spring, feels like the concert season has caught up with us and so quick!  I also realize that the past few weeks this has seemed more like a fashion blog and not so much about education however I do have some fun posts planned for next week.  I’ve recently purchased a ukulele and I’ve been pretty sidetracked with that.  

So here’s today’s Fashion Friday!  I wore this to church on a recent warm day.  I’m beyond excited to start ditching the tights and wearing skirts again!

Boots: DSW

Dress: Piperlime

Belt: Target

Jacket: Gap

Scarf: Target? American Eagle? 

By now you’re probably wondering why I called this “Faux-Inifinity and Beyond”.  Well, the scarf is actually not an infinity scarf!  I tied it in a knot and put the knot in the back.  Ta Da!  Infinity scarf.  I’d probably iron it next time so that it doesn’t look as bunched up.  

Have a great weekend!