I can't believe this is the last weekend and week of March. This month flew by, the last two weeks especially. I gave a really brief life update in my post from yesterday, so this post will be super short.

On Saturday we went to what has become my favorite Spring festival in our area. It wasn't as fun as last year's but the rain can be blamed for that. Several activities were canceled and some of the vendors didn't show. Still, we enjoyed the brief time out of the house and plan on going back next year.

This is the last week before our Spring Break, so I'm sure it will be crazy and hectic, especially since last week we were testing pretty much every day. We'll be wrapping up poetry, finishing an argumentative essay, and hopefully squeezing in a Milestones prep activity to get students familiar with the online format. Then I plan on not doing anything school-related for Spring Break at all. Then when we come back it will be two weeks of review, review, review before the Milestones starts, and then we'll have three weeks before school is out for the summer.

So far we have no definitive plans for Spring Break. I want to go somewhere, if even just for a few days, but I also don't want to spend a ton of money. But the weather is supposed to be nice and warm, although our pecan trees still don't have any buds so I'm fairly certain we've got one more cold snap left.

I think that's pretty much it. I need to get some laundry going and load the dishwasher. Then I plan on mostly taking it easy for the rest of my weekend. I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend and a wonderful week ahead.

This 90s-inspired silhouette is quickly becoming a personality trait for me. This was a style that I sadly did not get to embrace back in the day because I was a kid in the 90s, and by the time it would have been age appropriate, fashion had moved on. So to say that I'm ecstatic to see this particular trend return would not be an understatement. In fact, I might be buying up all the slip skirts and dresses I can find so that my closet is always in stock.

I don't know if this is a universally-flattering style, but for me it strikes such a great balance. I find this style to be at once simple and sexy. It's slimming but also accentuates the little bit of curves that I do have. They are dressy yet casual and have blended in so nicely with my work wardrobe.

We've had our typical back-and-forth winter-and-spring weather pattern the last several weeks, so getting dressed has been a bit of a nightmare. This particular day started off cool but ended up being quite warm. However, because of the strap style, it required another layer for school.

I decided to go with my favorite white denim jacket and bookend the look with my faux leather white sneakers for a look that can't be anything but spring-like. I have some braided white sandal wedges that would have worked nicely with this look, as well, but my feet needed a break this day.

My jacket is the Time and Tru brand from Walmart, but they don't have the white color anymore. I'm still linking to the jacket, though, because it's a good lightweight, stretchy option in any of the color options, and it's a good price point. This one from Old Navy is the white version of my absolute favorite denim jacket - the one I reach for above all other options in my closet. It's a bit pricier, but I have not once regretted it.

I recently swapped out my purse for this faux leather crocodile patterned tote. I'll be honest, I expected a little bit more from this bag than what it actually is. I knew that it was unlined, but in my mind I didn't truly register what that meant. So this tote is literally just a big open space of a bag. There's no pocket or divider or anything, meaning all my stuff is just jumbled up in there together all willy-nilly. That said, I am enjoying it for the space alone and have used it on more than one occasion to carry larger items like my laptop or expanding file of needs-to-be-graded papers.

Last but not least...my sunglasses were part of my Spring FabFitFun box. They are the Kate Spade Emmaline Sunglasses, and I absolutely LOVE them. Anybody who's known me for any length of time knows about my addiction to sunglasses. It's gotten better as I've gotten older, but I still have a hard time resisting. These, of course, don't have my prescription, but I can get by most days without the prescription in my sunglasses. Anyway, these are not in stock on the Kate Spade site anymore, and I couldn't find this exact style anywhere else.

Dress - Old Navy, size small (exact)

Jacket - Time and Tru/Walmart, size medium (similar)

Sneakers - Amazon, size 7 (exact)

Bag - ShoeDazzle (exact)

Sunglasses - Kate Spade/FabFitFun

Another weekend is coming to an end. It's been raining all day here, and after spending most of Saturday getting grades put in and finishing my lesson plans for the week, I spent today being lazy. Other than loading the dishwasher, I did no chores. I had my groceries delivered so I could stay in pajamas. I did take a shower, though, don't worry, and I didn't stay in bed all day.

This past week seemed to fly by for some reason. We started our poetry unit, and I have to say, I am enjoying myself immensely. We've just been focusing on the mechanics of it all, but this week we'll be diving into the different types of poetry starting with limericks.

This is a four-day week for students, and Friday is a teacher work day, although I'm not sure why we're having one at this particular point in time, especially since we're not that far out from Spring Break.

Spring festivals are starting to ramp up, and my favorite one is coming up in a couple of weeks. We've already walked through one of my favorite exhibits, Eggquest at our local botanical gardens. Alexis's birthday is coming up pretty quickly, too, so I've got to start planning for that.

And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't counting down until summer break...and not having to set my alarm every morning for awhile. It's going to be exceptionally difficult to get up this next week with the time change. As a non-morning person, I'm really not looking forward to it, and I'm sure all my students will be half asleep for the next several things.

Well, that's gonna do it for me this week. I hope you've all enjoyed your weekend and that you have a wonderful week ahead.

What a month of reading February was! I finished a series by an author who has quickly found herself on my favorites list. Then I learned that one of my already-established favorites has started a new series revolving around a world I'm already in love with so I could not resist diving in. I've also got a review of the second book from my One Woman Book Club. Let's get started!
 

Author: T.M. Cromer

My love for this series certainly did not diminish with the final four books. These are the love stories of Nash, Liz, Mackenzie, and Preson Thorne as the family continues its fight against the anti-magic society that holds a personal vendetta against them. I did really appreciate Cromer's final solution. I thought it was some sweet poetic justice. I won't say more because you really need to start with the first book if you decide to dive into this series, and I don't want to spoil anything.

There is a holiday novella, but I have not read it. I do have plans to read the Holt Family series, which should have some tie-ins to the Thornes.

House of Daemon & House of Aves

Author: Crea Reitan

I'm on the fence about finishing this series. I am a fan of Crea Reitan, but this series isn't really doing it for me. I liked the main female character in the first book but had a hard time connecting with the one in book two. I also struggled with the male characters. It felt like they were under-developed. I also thought the plot line was a bit too far out there. Basically, there is a group that connects members of the supernatural communities together, forming houses that may or may not share romantic relationships. The main female characters in both of these books come from tragic backgrounds and find themselves in the middle of a brewing war. I thought it was a bit far-fetched for how quickly the MFC in the second book adapted to the situation. I also felt like there was a lot of bluster and not enough action.

Mistake & Regret (Lost Boys 1-2)

Author: Emilia Finn

Oh, man, my love for Emilia Finn's men just continues to get deeper. I really really enjoyed these first two installments of her latest series revolving around my favorite fighter town. The timeline fits between the Checkmate and Stacked Deck series and seems to be running concurrent with the Gilded Knights series so far. In each of these books the main male characters, Cole and Preston, are reformed bad boys who fall for the best of the good girls, but neither of them can outrun their less-than-savory pasts.

Author: Nikki St. Crowe

This was such disappointing Peter Pan retelling. I've seen it recommended so many times in so many different book groups, but I just did not enjoy it. Essentially, Peter Pan kidnaps all the Darling girls on their 18th birthday with the hopes of finding something and saving not only himself but Neverland, as well. I'm no stranger to Pan being the bad guy, but I really did not like him in this book at all. Nor did I like the lost boys who served as the main characters. This Darling descendant was also less than and not what I like in my MFCs. I will not be finishing this series.

Author: Jessie Burton

If I were to rate this, I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. While there were a lot of wonderful details about life in Amsterdam during this time period, the characters felt shallow and under-developed. As such, I had a hard time connecting with any of them. They almost felt lost in the details of everything else. I had a lot of questions left at the end of the book, particularly about the miniaturist herself. At the risk of spoiling the book, you never actually meet her or learn more about her other than surface-level details, but her creations played a huge part in the story. To leave that line of questioning unresolved was, I thought, an odd choice for the author to make. That plot line felt almost like a distraction from the actual story which revolved around the secrets of the Brandt household and just how far its inhabitants were willing to go to protect them.

What's the weather like where you live? We've been experiencing an early Spring. I think I said this last year, but, pollen aside, I have truly come to appreciate spring. It is the only time of year that us people in the south can get away with dressing in layers, and, at least in my neck of the woods, it's the time of year when all the best festivals happen.

Since becoming a teacher and essentially re-entering the work force, my style has been evolving. I'm not necessarily leaving anything behind, but I am having to update some of my personal favorite looks. You've probably noticed there's been less ripped up and distressed denim on these outfit roundups. I've not removed them from my closet, but they're not school appropriate so they've essentially been relegated to weekends only.

For this edition of Real Outfit Roundup, you'll find a ton of spring-appropriate items, many of which are new additions to my closet as I continue to update my style to be more classroom-friendly.

This was the week of Valentine's Day. This skirt is not new by any means, but it is one of my favorites and transitioned quite nicely into the classroom. In the past, I've talked about how the waistband can be annoying because it wouldn't lay flat, but this particular day I had no issues with it at all. It could be because I've lost about 10 pounds since the beginning of the school year. I don't know, but I'm not complaining.

I've worn this skirt with a bunch of different tops in the past. This go 'round I topped it with a short-sleeved white sweater. It's got puff sleeves and a small cut-out dot pattern to give it interest. It's lightweight enough to work through the Spring and possibly for some of you who don't have 100-degree summer weather. It comes in a few color choices. I also have the light blue.

My bleached denim jacket was part of my favorites post from the weekend. It's super lightweight and stretchy. It comes in three other colors and is under $30.

I wore this on Valentine's Day. We didn't do anything special this day, but I still wanted to feel like I was in the spirit. This dress could easily be worn off the shoulder. In fact, I had to wear a strapless bra because of how wide the neck is and how close the sleeves are to the edge of my shoulders. It has a smocked bodice, tiered skirt, and elasticized sleeves. It comes in 27 other color and pattern options. This is floral red pink.

My boots are old, but they were a perfect match. I love the added detail of the ruffled socks.

I was really excited about this dress. I love this style, and we all know my penchant for sleeve details. It is extremely cute, and I love the colors, but I wasn't impressed with the material overall. It's a polyester-spandex blend so had this weird slick yet elastic feel to it. It also wrinkles really easy and the sleeve ruffles did not want to stay down. But like I said, the dress is cute and it got a lot of compliments. This is the 'light green' option. It comes in 27 other options, both solid and color-block.

This was the dress I ordered for Valentine's Day, but it didn't arrive in time. I still really like it. It's sleeveless, which is why I added the jacket. It has a defined waist, ruffled neck and sleeves, tiered skirt, and a tie belt with thick belt loops instead of those string ones. The skirt is lined, but the bodice is not. It is on the thin side, and the material is really delicate.

I'm not in love with this outfit, but I think it's because I didn't like my hair this day. It refused to cooperate so I pulled it back. Anyway, this t-shirt is a light purple floral print. I like the purple-green pairing, and these are one of my favorite pairs of pants. It was a little bit cool this day so I finished the look with my cropped corduroy jacket.

This dress is from my newest Wantable box, and I am in LOVE. It is so my style. It is spaghetti strap so I had to wear something over it, but tying a chambray shirt up is one of my favorite tricks for spring. The top of the dress has cute little buttons and the skirt is tiered. It's fully lined and hits me at about midi length. I finished this look with my Adidas sneakers because I wanted to keep the casual feel of the chambray shirt.

I know I've already said this, but long live the 90s slip skirt. I feel like this is going to become a style staple for me. This one has an elastic waist and no slit up the side. It's satin and has the nicest floral print. It hugs in all the right places but still allows for full range of movement. It comes in a leopard print, as well. I paired it with a Queen band tee and my black slip-on Converse.

This is one of those outfits that I wasn't sure worked. It felt like it had too much going on, but everyone I saw this day commented about how much they liked the look. The skirt has a slightly higher front hemline, but it's not what I would call a high-low style. The waist is elastic and it does not have pockets, nor is it lined. It comes in ten other colors. This is the P-Red White.

My t-shirt has a white sunflower print on it. I thought it was a good match for the yellow in the skirt's pattern. I finished the look with my old Puma sneakers that have a red-and-pink stripe and topped it off with my red-and-yellow tassel earrings. My sneakers aren't available anymore, but they are the Cali style, so I linked to that landing page for you.

This is one of my favorite looks for this roundup. My skirt is knee-length and unlined. It is pretty thin, so you may want to wear a half slip under it. I paired it with a solid olive green t-shirt, then topped that with my bleached denim jacket. I finished the look with my faux leather white sneakers and some multi-colored tassel earrings that matched all the colors of the skirt's pattern. The skirt comes in six other color options. This one is named 'white.'

I bought this dress at the beginning of the school year, and I still love it just a much now. It has the cutest split flutter sleeves. I love the button on the body to keep the surplice top closed and decent. It does have a tie waist with actual belt loops and not those flimsy string ones. It has pockets, too. It comes in 24 other options. This is the floral18.

This is another outfit I was on the fence about. I wore it for a casual Friday look. I'm not sure how I like the loose shirt untucked with the bootcut pants. I like the color combination and the leopard-print sneakers, but the silhouette feels off. I can't deny I was comfortable though! My blouse and pants are both from Wantable. This last box was spot on!

I don't really have a lot to say for this week's motivation post, but I really liked this sign and wanted to share it.

I'm sitting here in my office with a cup of coffee and a Crumbl cookie, listening to music and reflecting on the past week. It was fairly quiet since we were doing a state writing test for most of it. Then I did a preview of our poetry unit on Friday, which went really well. We'll really dive into things this week, and I'm excited about all the poetry they'll be exposed to.

At home, Chris is making real progress on his building. He and his dad have been working on getting the walls on all weekend. It's been warm enough that Alexis has been playing with the water hose in the driveway. I've spent time sitting in the backyard, working on blog posts that will hopefully see the light of day sometime this month, and did most of my grading for the week. I've still got some essays to read, and I'm going to start grading projects tomorrow.

We did a little shopping yesterday. Alexis has outgrown almost all of her warm weather clothes and all of her sandals. I'm almost caught up on laundry, and the kitchen is actually mostly clean. Today we'll need to do some grocery shopping for the week, but that's about it.

And I'm officially out of things to talk about. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their Sunday. Have a great week!

It's been awhile since I've done one of these posts (September 2022!), so I figure it's past time to bring this monthly series back. For those of you who are new to the blog, let me explain how this post typically works.

Each month I share five to ten things that have made my life easier or brought me joy. Sometimes these are actual products; other times it's a new habit or routine, a really great book or song I've just discovered, or even a new favorite snack.

Let's dive into this month's favorites.
 

Apple Watch SE - This is a tech purchase I never expected to make, but I cannot be glued to my phone all day at school. However, I am the primary contact for everything. Hence, the watch. I've only had it about a month, but I don't regret the purchase. I probably don't use it the way most people do, but I like not feeling like I'm missing out on calls and messages while I'm at work. I did not get the cellular version, so it has to be within range of my phone to receive calls and texts. I also upgraded the band to this magnetic one in starlight.

Phone/Watch Stand Charger - The charging situation on my nightstand was getting out of hand, and the mess of cords was driving me insane. I love this charger. It takes up very little space and works really quickly.

Lume Smooth Solid Deodorant  - I know I just wrote a post reviewing Lume last month, but that post did not include the smooth solid deodorant because I had yet to try it. I wish I had started with this one instead of the cream deodorant. I feel like this has better coverage for me and seems to be working even better than the cream.

Square Claw Clips - I bought a couple of these in a large size awhile back but didn't really use them outside of getting my hair out of the way while putting on makeup or showering. Then I cut my hair off and found myself in need of some new clips to pull my hair halfway back. I picked up a cheap pack of medium-sized square claw clips from a local store and am in love. They look so much more sophisticated than traditional clips.

Bleached Denim Jacket - I recently found myself with a jacket conundrum. The dress I was wearing needed a jacket, but my dark denim was too dark and my white denim was too bright. My vintage Levi's jean jacket was too thick. So I decided the time had come to add a light-wash jean jacket to my collection. This one is perfect for spring because it is super thin. It's also stretchy, which I like.

Ruffled Ankle Socks - We all know I love fun socks. These have been my go-to for the last few weeks since our weather has warmed up. I like pairing ankle boots with my spring dresses this time of year since it's still technically winter. These socks are just tall enough to be visible above the shaft of most of my ankle boots and add a sweet little girly detail. They come in a bunch of color combinations. I like that they're thin, so you can wear them with pretty much any shoe.

Magnet Bookmarks - I love bookmarks, but I frequently lose or misplace them or they fall out of whatever book I'm reading. I picked up a pack of magnetic bookmarks while I was Christmas shopping, and they might be the best thing ever. The ones I have have inspirational sayings on them and fun designs, but you can get these in so many different shapes and sizes.