Movie Mondays!

Time for another installment of Movie Mondays! Happy Memorial Day to everyone, too :)

Over the weekend (altho I guess technically it still IS the weekend??) I saw "Bridesmaids" with one of my gals and we were literally laughing our you-know-whats off from beginning to end. I'm a big fan of Kristen Wiig and as usual, she was hysterical! Definitely a movie I would see a 2nd (or 3rd!) time in the theatres.

Next on my list: Pirates 4 and Hangover 2 (I wasn't a fan of the first Hangover, but maybe the 2nd one will be better!)

Stay tuned for a post this week on our fence/yard progress!!

What I'm Loving Wednesdays!

THE SUN HAS FINALLY RETURNED!!!!!

We've had rainy, yucky weather for the past few weeks and it seemed like the sun was never coming back! (And now that song is going to be stuck in my head all day)

Only 13 more days of school! I can almost smell summer vacation...

My plan for vacation is - 

     A little of this:         

Mixed with this:

And probably quite a bit of this:

In other news - I need to post pictures of my updated garden project. I'm pretty happy with it and can't wait to tackle the rest of the yard!

This weekend we're planning to start working on fencing in the rest of our back yard. My Dad feels pretty confident that he and Brandon can handle this project - very exciting!!!

Movie Mondays!

 
I started watching Grosse Point Blank last night (via Netflix of course!) but was exhausted from my 5K earlier that day, so I only got about halfway thru it before my body told me it was time to hit the sheets!

It's definitely...quirky? Maybe that's not the right word. But usually, John Cusack movies have the tendency to be "in a league of their own" so to speak. I like Minnie Driver but I'm not sure I love her character so far. I guess I'll have to finish the movie first!

The mid-90s fashion is keeping me entertained, and I'm liking the soundtrack so far, too.

As for movies in the theatre, I really want to see Bridesmaids, Pirates 4 and Hangover 2 (which opens this weekend!)

What movies have you seen (and loved!) recently?

Rainy Days = "fluffy" hair

The weather in New England this past week has been down right AWFUL! It's been raining every day since late Saturday night and for someone like me with wavy hair, rainy, dreary weather = frizz!!!

Yesterday I finally decided it was silly to waste time blow drying and then straightening my hair. So I let it "do its thing" and used my favorite Aussie spray (shown below) to create a wavy, kinda-messy look.

I do this look a lot in the summer when it's hot and I don't want to blow more heat around, so my students rarely see my hair in its natural state.  The looks/comments I get from them are priceless. One 2nd grader told me yesterday that I had "fluffy" hair..so cute!

Here's how it looks the 2nd day

Not as "crunchy-looking" as it usually looks on Day 1, but I can always add more Sprunch spray if it starts to fall flat.  I literally just spray it into my hair and then use my hand to "scrunch" it up..sometimes I'll use a blow dryer afterwards to give it some more volume.

Here's another angle:

I wish I could wear this style every day, but my hair can be very unpredictable and doesn't always want to cooperate!

And just for fun: here's what my hair was looking like a year ago today (that's my niece Lyla!)

Fun haircut (and a lot blonder!) but I'm happy it's growing!!

What I'm Loving Wednesdays!

Yay it's Wednesday!!! Link up at www.littledaisymay.blogspot.com to post what you're loving today!

Here's what I'm loving today:

• My current hair routine, which consists of the following products:

  

Yikes, that's a lot of crap I'm putting on my hair!!! The John Freida stuff is great, especially the lightening spray - I got my color done about 5 weeks ago and I have to say it still looks pretty amazing! No brassiness, just a nice summery-looking blonde. Love my moroccan oil too, especially when I flat iron my hair. Oh, almost forgot - I use this flat iron balm by Got2Be:

• Only 18 more teaching days of school!!!!!!!!!!! It's at this point in the year where both my school calendar and home calendar (as well as my husband's school calendar) start to fill up with events almost every day: retirement parties, concerts, awards night, graduations, end-of-the-year staff parties...whew...
• This yummy cereal I picked up at Target a few weeks ago:

I like the fact that it didn't turn my milk all weird colors when I was finished, and it actually tasted pretty good! Definitely a smart substitute for Lucky Charms! Click here to check out the rest of the cereals they make. 

• The last thing I'm loving today is a video of my select chorus at their Spring Concert last Thursday night. I was in a production of "RENT" last year and this song holds a special place in my heart. It was an absolute honor to be able to teach and conduct these talented students.

Running in the Rain

I told myself when I got home from school today that I needed to go for a run... I have another 5K on Sunday and I haven't had a decent run in weeks...

But it was drizzling...so I had very little motivation..besides the fact that I'd get to wear my new running jacket

As soon as I got outside, I realized it was barely raining, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all?

I decided to try a new route to change things up a bit..I also made sure I didn't push myself, because I wanted to have a decent run

As luck would have it, on the last mile of my run, the heavens opened and it started pouring..but instead of taking the quick way back home, I just kept going, keeping a steady pace, trying to avoid the puddles...which, of course, was pointless after awhile. Running in wet socks and wet shoes was quite an experience, to say the least..

I forced myself to keep running all the way home and was grateful that the laundry had finished so I could put on warm socks..best feeling ever!

I honestly had no idea how long my run was until I logged onto www.mapmyrun.com. The longest I'd ever run before today was a 5K, so you can imagine my surprise when I plugged in my route and realized I had just finished 4.23 miles!!!! Makes me think running a half marathon in October might be a realistic goal :)

And not that I'm an advocate for running in the rain, but it definitely wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...I just wonder how long it'll take for my sneakers to dry out...yuck!

Movie Mondays!

Over the weekend I watched "The Joy Luck Club," a movie that's been on my Netflix queue for quite some time!!

Definitely a chick flick, but a heartwarming one at that.. I really loved how it wove the stories of the mothers and daughters together. Each woman had unique struggles with marriage, motherhood, and finding balance in their lives, but the one constant that remained was their friendship with each other.

I think I might put this on my book list for the summer too - which reminds me, I need to start that list soon!!

What movies have you seen recently and loved? I really want to see "Bridesmaids" - it looks hysterical!!

P.S. I did some yard work over the weekend that I will be posting about either later today or tomorrow so stay tuned!

What I'm Playing Thursdays

Just found this fun blog hop on my friend Jen's blog

Here are some tunes I'm loving/playing today:

 

My 5th Grade Chorus kids are hard at work with this song for their 5th grade concert and I have some amazing soloists lined up!! 

If you've never heard of PS 22 - check out some more of their YouTube videos and their blog here

Been hooked on this song for a few weeks now - reminds me of summer! It's also a pretty hysterical video!

Always been a Britney fan and I'm loving the beat of this new song!

Link up at Sarah's blog to join the fun!!

What I'm Loving Wednesdays!

Almost forgot it's Wednesday!!! I cannot wait for this week (and my cold) to end!!

Here's what I'm loving today:

The Summer 2011 Collection from Essie. It's not out til June, but the colors look amazing!!! I think the "braziliant" could be a fun color, especially with a tan!! Not sure about "absolutely shore" (pun very much intended!) I can't wait to see these in person and pick up a couple to test out!

Only 21 days left of school, not counting weekends, Fridays (I only work M-Th), holidays, or my final personal day. Just gotta get through a few concerts, 5th grade graduation, and other end-of-the-year commitments.

 

Friday night is game night with some of my best gals - Scribblish and Taboo are our 2 favorites to play! I had never heard of Scribblish til I played it a few months back with these same ladies, and let me tell you, if you've never played it, you're missing out! It's like the old-school game "Telephone" but with drawing. None of us are stellar artists, and I think that's part of why it's so fun - we were literally dying laughing from some of the pictures drawn.  We've been playing Taboo since college and it's probably the one game I get super excited/competitive about. I don't know what I enjoy better - trying to guess the words or trying to give clues about the words.  Either way, when a "Taboo night" is in my future, I know it's gonna be a good time all around!!

I'm so glad we have Netflix!! Their selection has improved over the years and they have a ton of stuff you can watch instantly.  I'm always excited when the post new releases and I like the little "suggestions for you" feature they have too. It helps that they are pretty quick with shipping out discs too, altho, most of what I watch is available instantly.

What are you loving this Wednesday? Make sure to link up at www.littledaisymay.blogspot.com

Ruche

Ruche is my latest online window-shopping obsession site!

Well, last week I decided to take the plunge and order something!!

This little number caught my eye:

It looked like the perfect summery sundress with lots of potential for accessorizing with shoes/jewelry!

It arrived on Monday (along with my Birchbox - can a Monday possibly GET any better?!?) and look at the adorable packaging I found once I opened the plastic mailer:

Closeup of one of the ads:

 Another one:

 I tried to take a picture of the top in the bathroom

WARNING - I have a cold and had on very little makeup the other day (plus this was right after I got home from school), so excuse my "Yes, it's Monday and I feel like crap" look

It's a bit darker in real life than the website photo, and my photo makes it look a bit more blue - it's definitely a mint green and I really like it because I don't have anything in this color. I think with a tan it'll look even nicer!

A self-portrait full length-picture is hard to take..even when you have the right kind of mirror!

(speaking of, clearly I need to clean said mirror!)

Thankfully it's not too short, but I need to make sure when I wash this that I line dry it, so I don't look like a hoochie-mama! 

Can't wait to wear this when the weather gets a bit warmer! I'd love to pair it with coral accessories, and some fun neutral, flat sandals!

Check out www.shopruche.com to see some more lovely dresses, tops, accessories!

Target Tuesdays!

Last week I was gushing over the new Calypso St. Barth for Target line. I popped in to my local Target today after school to pick up a few grocery items, some allergy/cold medicine (hubs and I are BOTH sick) and to peruse the new collection.

They had a pretty small display of clothes, but the dresses they did have looked pretty cute. I looked around for a bit and finally found the accessories and I snagged this fun little bag:

I love that the inside is a pretty turquoise!! I'm also loving the fact that it has 2 separate compartments so I  can keep everything a bit more organized. I'm constantly "losing" stuff in my regular makeup bag..frustrating!

UPDATE: Another bonus feature of this bag: It holds my UD Naked Palette!!! Joy!!

Has anyone else found anything fun in the new collection???

May Birchbox

Last month I posted about Birchbox and today it arrived in the mail! In a nutshell, Birchbox "is a smart, streamlined, fun way to try and buy high-end beauty products." For $10/month you get 4 deluxe-sized samples, a treat and sometimes little "extras" like I got in mine yesterday:

The outer box

The inner box

Look at the price of that night cream! My sample size is .10 oz!

Love the packaging!!

My whole stash

First up: Archipelago Pomegranate Soap. This soap is so pretty and smells amazing!!!

This bottle is so tiny! I'm going to try this tonight and I'll report back tomorrow - clearly at $190 for a 1 oz bottle, this is not something I will be buying a full-sized version of! (UPDATE: I wrote this blog last night and posted today, which is why I wrote "tomorrow." I tried this last night and my face felt amazing this morning! I think there might be JUST enough left in the bottle for one more treatment..yikes!)

I've never used any Stila products before, but I've heard good things about them! This is a fun shimmery purple - not something I'd use for an every day look, but it definitely has potential! I could see myself using this as an eyeliner color too.

Not really my cup of tea for a perfume (kind of reminds me of something my grandmother would wear) so I will probably be tossing this one out :(

This month's treat: A cute greeting card from TinyPrints, a website I've used before at the holidays to send out personalized cards!

Score!!!!

The actual card:

 My bonus this month:

I also plan on testing this out tonight too - I wonder if it has a nice scent! (UPDATE: Haven't tried this yet..hopefully later on this week!)

All in all, I'm pretty happy with my May Birchbox (minus the grandma perfume!) and I will definitely be continuing my subscription, at least for another few months.

Head on over to www.birchbox.com to check it out. I love that you can cancel your subscription at any time, too!