Shop till we drop

Yesterday was another beautiful day, unfortunately it was also extremely chilly. It was in the low 40's, but today it's supposed to be in the 60's and then by Thursday in the 80's. Um...ok not sure how I feel about that one. I'm ready for spring weather, but not summer. 

My friend, Jenna and I have been waiting to do a spring shopping trip, preferably to the outlets- cheaper is usually better, well at least in this case, especially where my husband is concerned.  We are headed to the Queenstown Outlets in Maryland. Unfortunately we had to head across this bridge. She hates to drive over bridges, so I get the joy of doing so. I do NOT like this bridge.  People do not go slow.I also prefer to be in the inside lane, you know just as a little extra protection.

I'm not really sure what I plan on getting, I've been doing a lot of online shopping recently.  We have that Spring Break trip coming up in 21 days! Yeah! Still not bikini worthy, but I did purchase a few cute bathing suits from Vics Secret.  I purchased back in the day from them for my honeymoon,  but was cheap so I didn't get nice lined ones, ha jokes on me.  I got two cute ones that I can mix and match with other bathing suits that I have. In the past I've always purchased from Target, but maybe it's because I'm getting older *gasp* but they seem a little too pre-teen for me.  They've also started adding a lot more padding to their suits, as if we even need to show more skin at the beach/pool than we are already. Ha!

I also bought this super cute Old Navy tube top dress, in black of course, even though I would enjoy the other colors. I figured I would get more use out of this one. Plus, it is the only one that came in petite size, so my hope was that it wouldn't drag on the ground. Sometimes the "short" version of clothes isn't  short enough for me. Apparently they aren't offering short any more.

Be proud of me, I think I spent less than $100 at the outlets! I was reserved. Don't get me wrong there were plenty of things that I saw that I could have used and or worn, but that's not the point.  The Nike store did have some good sales, though not as many as I would like. I got florescent green shoe laces for next weekends Rock N' Roll 1/2 that takes place on St. Paddy's day and a pair of shorts. I only bought 1 even though it was basically 2 for the price of one.  I passed up a super cute pink pair with black and white checker designs on the side. I also bought Gary some compression shorts and a sweatband. I am looking for a good running hat but the ones that I tried on there and at Under Amour were too big or squarish on my head. 

Almost bought these, only $31! Super cute and lightweight, but I held back....

I also bought a cute dress from J. Crew super bubble gum pink, but with pockets. I love dresses with pockets! I was too lazy to take off my leggings and boots, but I kinda pulled it off, at least that's what the sales girls said, but they probably just want me to buy. Hopefully they were being sincere.  Jenna said that it "gave me a waist" lol. I don't really have one, I feel like I go straight down.  I passed up another dress there and a button down. I love their button downs, but 59-69$ for a button down is like $40 too much! I also purchased a super cute navy blue and orange striped shirt that was 40% off, plus my additional 15% off for teacher's discount. I love that J. Crew has teachers discounts even at the outlets and on stuff that are already on sale too! Some stores do not honor that. So score big points for you J. Crew and your super cute over priced clothes.

Old Navy was having buy one get one on their t-shirts, who can pass that up? I only bought one though I purchased a blue t and got the yellow one for free. 

I had tossed around the idea of buying a Michael Kors purse, but no good sales. I would really like one, but held back.  We went to Kate Spade and they were having super sales like 50% off on some purses, but I just didn't like their wool winter line and if I am going to buy a Kate Spade purse I'm going to buy the real deal. I want the Kelly green purse.....LOVE that color and stripes and polka dots.  Someday, it's on my want to have list.

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Which one would you pick if you could? 

When you go outlet shopping are you reserved? 

Sunny Days, Sweeping the Clouds Away

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Yesterday and today were beautiful days in the high 60's.  Sunny, peaceful, tons of people out and about. 

 I was informed yesterday by a student that my eye was red. Thank you, for being observant. I of course figured that it was merely allergies. Ha! Came home and yes indeed, the eye was red, angry. But, we had planned to run. I can't run in glasses that's miserable. I know people do, but I'm so used to contacts now. Plus, my glasses are too small and make my ears and head hurt. So Gary came home we decided on a quick 4 mile run, even though we had originally planned for 6. It was better though because yesterday was not his day. He is a much better runner than I and well, we all have our bad days. I know that when I can keep up with him, he's having a bad day. It was also windy out. Dang wind. The beautiful day was deceptive.  I wore my designer coach sunglasses, I mean seriously who needs the real deal.....I thought it would help protect the "angry" eye from dust/debris blowing around. Strangely enough while the run was his worst, it was one of my better runs. He is one fast buddy when he's feeling good. 

Today was another beautiful day, but of course I had to call out because I had a fear that I had pink eye....yuck! This is what happens when you are around children all day and when people are not thoroughly cleaning my room. Thankfully I have 27 wonderful little cleaners. Haha...not child labor, they love it. Unfortunately, I spent my day cooped up inside cleaning and doing laundry- my day off wasn't in total vain. Then I went to the doctors to which she confirmed my fear, as well as the fact that I'm having some serious allergy issues. I am smiling in the picture despite the fact that I hate those glasses, but I have meds and can wear my contacts tomororow. Thank you DC for making my allergies larger than life. I've heard that people who've never had allergies before and come and live here eventually get them.  We are not just south of the Mason Dixon line, but we are in the allergy alley. My term, you know kinda like tornado alley except not as dangerous, just miserable. I definitely feel like the person in this picture. Sometimes my head just feels like it's on a cloud. My students comment on how often I sneeze, at least they say bless you.

Aaaachoooo!

 P.S. I just ordered my Beckett glasses from Warby Parker, CANNOT wait to get them! 

 

 How do you cope with allergies? Or are you one of the many that doesn't have them? 

 

To the Pole

 Workout: 1.5 hours of Pole

Shout out to the massive amount of burpees done on The Biggest Loser!

So excited since I have been doing the 100 burpee challenge. I wish I could have seen all the different variations that they did. I haven't been too faithful with watching it, sometimes there is just too much drama, plus I miss Jillian. I loved her "tude" and when she broke people down. She'd break me in a second. I know that she's doing her own thing now, but I miss her getting in people's faces and screaming, you'd better believe the tears would be streaming down my face too, from pain, emotional stress and fear. Haha

Sad to see that Cassandra left....should have been Cindy, still not sure how she's been around for so long. Hope Cassandra kicks it at home.....plus she has my mother's name. 
 
My body is KILLING me today! My arms, specifically my biceps, abs and thighs. Haha.....pole doesn't come easy. Last night was PACKED! There were no free spots. Good thing I have a plan and can sign up online, don't give away my spot.  I thought my "booty" shorts were short. HA! Not compared to the ones with drawstring sides. Do you wear underwear with those? I think probably not, but I'm not a pro at this.  When we started to go upside down some more clothes came off, is that even possible, oh wait that's right shirts. Yes, there were girls in their sports bras.  There was also a guy in class. I know right?! But, he was AMAZING! I mean he also had ridic abs and other muscles and he made it look so easy, well so does our instructor. I'm now in the Pole Class 2-3. Pretty special, ha but not up to some of the caliber of the ladies. We had a pole climbing race last night, P.S. I suck at climbing, it's that whole upper body thing. First two up wouldn't have to do it again, I didn't stand a chance, then we did it again, then on the third time the girl next to me gave me a few extra pushes. I was only like 4 feet off the ground lol, but with those pushes I made it, despite the fact that there was a ceiling fan in my way.  DID IT, could I climb up there again?! Nope not once last night, but there's always a first time and a second time for everything, as long as it doesn't kill you. 

I also used grip powder for the first time, that's amazing. I was actually able to spin using only one hand. However, when I needed my hand to be more loose, it wasn't especially helpful.   Gotta find that balance. I have some big bruises, one on top of my foot from climbing. I can't do any push ups or burpees today. 

With a little extra support I was able to do the above. I am not flexible and I don't trust myself for long periods of time to be upside down, but I'm getting better. I just wish I looked smoother in my moves.

Quiche

Hobby of the day: Cooking

I've always been a fan of quiche, whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner. My mother used to make a delicious quiche lorraine.  So, why not try? I mean cheese? Bacon? Who doesn't love those things? I am a HUGE cheese lover. I couldn't find swiss cheese, but they did have buy one get one bags of craft cheese, as well as string cheese.  So, yours truly came home with 6 bags of different cheeses. It was a toss up between colby-jack and 5 Italian cheese. I chose to use the colby-jack. The recipe calls for sauteed onion, but of course, I love garlic, so I chopped up was like an elephant size clove of garlic.  Breath is kicking now! It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself, and Gary went back for seconds, so that's always a good sign!

Recipe: Quiche Lorraine

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1-2 garlic cloves chopped
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt ( I didn't add salt because the cheese and bacon are salty enough)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Line pastry with a double layer of aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 4 to 5 minutes more, or until crust is set. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). I used already pre-made Betty Crocker dough- next time I will make it from scratch
3. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove bacon from pan, crumble and set aside. Reserve 2 tablespoons bacon grease in skillet. Cook onion in reserved drippings until tender, add chopped garlic; drain and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk and salt. Stir in bacon and onion. In a separate bowl, toss cheese and flour together. Add cheese to egg mixture; stir well. Pour mixture into hot pastry shell.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. If necessary, cover edges of crust with foil to prevent burning. Let quiche cool for 10 minutes before serving.

  

Mmmm..mmmm....good. G said it was even better than my mom's, but I won't tell her. Shhh!

Picture Highlights

As promised: The door decorations honoring our favorite Dr. Seuss books

My Class did The Cat in the hat:

 My Kiddos were pretty creative! So Proud of them!

The other two first grade classes did:

Second Grade did: 

My pets were also super cute...when Gary is working at night I try and get the pup, Belle, to hang out on the bed with me. She knows she isn't allowed to be on the bed, see how she is looking at me. But then she relaxed for a little bit.

Gary decided to torment the cat a little bit, nothing like a little peek-a-boo in the washer and dryer area. I actually think that Sebastian is a little afraid that Gary is going to attack him.

Where's your favorite place for salad?

Yesterday's Workout:

10 mile run

1 mile walk with the pup

After running I crashed! Does that happen to you? I dunno....I don't know how some people do it EVERY day! Jealous!  Gary and I went for some scrumptious salads and froyo. One thing I love about Sweet Green is that use local and organic produce from the farms in the area. They are helping to sustain local economy. Their silverware is biodegradable- SCORE! 

I had a mesclun with quinoa, corn, green apples and candied walnuts with a balsamic vinaigrette. YUM! Then I also had a small froyo with strawberries, blueberries and almonds, which I shared with Gary.  I was almost too tired to eat!

I'm up to 22 burpees now....only 81 away from the 100 goal. HA! I laugh at that right now....but if I can get to 25 I'll be 1/4 of a way there.

I just signed up for another half marathon. This will be my second, my first I haven't even run yet.  I will be on March 17th.  Who knows how I will do for that race, or what the weather will be. Our weather in DC is always wack around this time of year. I'm hoping for not freezing and not windy. I'd rather have cold and no wind than wind. But I can't really control that.  The second half that I signed up for with a good friend is the Zooma half in Annapolis, MD in June. It's just for women. YEAH! Plus there are massages and bubbly after. Now that sounds like a good post-party. They say it will have a "girls weekend" atmosphere.   None of that beer nonsense.  It's an early run- yeah.....but I'll most likely be dragging Gary along to act as my support.

I've surpassed my 30 day shred with Jillian....I wasn't as consistent as I should have been.  Started off well, but with adding running in there or additional gym classes it doesn't work out so well. I only have so many hours in the day. I will say that I used to only be able to do maybe 5 push ups and now I can do over 20! So, there has definitely been improvement in those areas.  One thing that's hard for me with Jillian's workout is her jump routines. I have bad needs and can't jump and bend them as high as I would like. I have been doing her workout in bare feet instead of shoes. Kinda like that whole vibram toe shoe things, going back to the way we were designed. I can control my landings a lot more in bare feet. I'm going to keep doing her routines though.  Who can argue with an intense 20 minutes? Of course you can also say, "20 minutes? Why can't you fit that in!?"  Well...it's intense and after running my legs are way tired.....

I'm not totally sold on the whole vibram shoe craze.  I have heard a lot of good things, but those things so totally creep me out.  I was never into the whole toe sock thing either. I like gloves, but actually prefer mittens. There's something about separating my toes that weirds me out and I think that it freaks them out a little too(my toes). One thing I read is that spacing out the toes gives each toe a "job." The pinky toe always gets squished in shoes especially where running is concerned. With these shoes the pinky now has a job. I've also read that these shoes can help prevent or help avoid injuries. 

Do you have Vibrams? Do you love them?

 What's your favorite thing to do after running?

Where do you like to get salads from?

Dr. Seuss

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! The man himself!

For those of you who don't dwell in the teaching realm, today is Read Across America Day....so if you are near by a school stop in with your favorite Dr. Seuss book and share it with a classroom.  *Note*Make sure to check in with the office first haha. I'm hoping that I have someone coming to my class tomorrow to read to the kiddos, as exciting as I am. Sometimes it is nice to sit back and have someone else read while I listen. I miss having stories read to me. It's even better when people do fun voices(I always do- the kiddos love it!)

We read The Cat in the Hat yesterday. The lower grades Headstart- 2nd are all decorating our doors with our favorite Seuss book. *Pictures to follow.* My class was very creative, actually some of the most creative I've had. Yeah, so glad I do art frequently.  It's such a shame that public schools are doing away with the arts. 

We will be making green eggs today and I have yet to decided whether or not I will add some ham to it. Chances are the kids will barely touch either, but it's at least fun to make and to think, I've never done it before. I'm pulling out all the stops this time. "I will not eat them in a boat, I will not eat them with a goat. I will not eat them here are there. I will not eat them anywhere. I will not eat them Sam I Am, I will not eat green eggs and ham." I love the rhymes of Dr. Seuss and I know that they love them too, plus they make pretty easy reads for some of my lower readers.

My class earned a party, so I think that I we will also be watching Horton Hears a Who, but if it's really really nice outside, I might just do extra recess instead. My room tends to get quite warm, what with the whole no windows deal and fresh air is quite the commodity in demand. 

If you aren't up on the new movie scene, or kid scene The Lorax comes out today. I love that book and the truffula trees. I am a little disappointed that they add people to the movie.  I always have problems when the movie industry completely changes my favorite children's books (Where the Wild Things Are, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, etc...) I also have a hard listening to Danny DeVito as the Lorax. I dunno, for those of you who watch Always Sunny in Philadelphia, that's all I can think of, so him in a children's movie....a little hard.