It’s Monday! And we will finally be home in Denver tonight (thank you, Jesus!)! I am going to make my best effort to make these Funday blogs a tradition on my blog. These will be days when I share all the things I am currently loving!
*PS. If you missed my post about Portland, Maine you can check it out here (just click the picture. Dude, it took me so long to figure this out, really gotta work on my tech skills):
Eastern Promenade on a cloudy day
So without further ado let’s get the party started!
*Back-to-school classroom planning*
As much as I do not want summer to end, I am actually excited for back-to-school this year (That is not a lie, I actually am!). I can’t wait to catch up with my coworkers and hear all about their summers! Also, if you know me well, you know how much I love planning out my classroom and back-to-school activities! There is so much that goes into planning a classroom and it is definitely not all about cute decor! The most important thing is setting up the room in a way that is going to give your students the best learning environment to ensure they have a successful year! With that being said I love cute things so I really enjoying planning out the best learning environment for my students with that cuteness factor included!
*Face Masks*
Pampering myself is becoming quite the norm and I am loving it! My current favorite way to do it is with face masks. I love how my skin looks and feels afterward. I also love all the benefits they have for your skin (minimizing pores, absorbing excess oil, evening out skin tone, etc.). I love, love, love my Beautycounter balancing + charcoal and brightening + vitamin c masks! (*disclaimer – I do sale Beautycounter products but I WOULD NOT suggest anything on here that I did not actually believe in!!) They are amazing!
I love all things Kate Spade (I miss having an outlet store close by :()! This watch was my “you finally made it through this school year in one piece” present to myself. I know that may seem ridiculous but there were seriously many, many times last year that I was not sure I was going to make it! (But I did, thanks to a little [A LOT] of help from my friends!) I love this watch because it goes with everything! I can dress it up, dress it down, (dress it left, dress it right?!? No? not good? My apologies).
Sorry for the picture quality! (airports don’t make for the best picture taking)
*Weddings*
I have always loved weddings. (My childhood dream job was to be a wedding planner). Our Massachusetts friends’ wedding did not disappoint! With a beautiful bride, handsome groom, awesome decor, amazing food, and an epic dance party (seriously, that dance floor was on fire all night long!) you really can’t go wrong!
Our row! (El Jefe, Accountant friend, Man Machine, Man Bun[he cut it off :(], Me, and Glen Coco) We missed you Special K!*Seeingfriends for the first time in forever*
This goes with the last one. But seeing these folks was quite the joyful experience (especially after their 24 hour journey to get to the wedding)! We missed you Special K! Our friend that got married was in our Masters’ program with us and it had been WAY too long since we had seen him and his now wife!
***Not making the things I’m loving list is these shoes! I fully expected them to be on here. I mean look at them they a A-DOR-A-BLE! BUT they are not COM-FORT-A-BLE! AT ALL! Not even a little. Not even when you sit down. The only time these beauties were comfortable was when they were not on my feet (preferably, at least 10 feet away). Like, I seriously think I’m gonna lose a toenail from these bad boys! Sorry Nine West there were great in theory not in execution!
Hope everyone is enjoying their Monday!! Next post will be from Denver and I canNOT tell you how excited I am about that!
We are in to East Hampton, Mass for our friend’s wedding! Portland was a great time! HUGE shout out to El Jefe’s cousin, Poppy, for letting us crash at her place and recommending a ton of awesome things to check out in Portland!
Here is our trip to Portland in pictures! **Disclaimer I am not the greatest photographer so don’t be too disappointed in the picture quality** I’m working on my photog skills!
Anyone else remember this stuff?!?!
This was not actually in Portland but seeing this in a gas station on the way reminded me of my childhood!
The Sea Dogs came away with the victory over the Richmond Flying Squirrels (seriously, who comes up with these names?!?)! Go Sea Dogs!!
Sea Dogs win!!!!
Next up was a mini brewery tour. Not bad, Portland, not bad! I’m clearly bias toward Denver breweries but I was thoroughly in impressed with all the places we visited! I LOVE a great craft beer! We stopped at Shipyard, Sebago, Gritty McDuffs, and Liquid Riot!
This is his “Stop taking pictures so I can drink my beer in peace! You are being a Pest!” face.Any place that provides large pretzel sticks with your beer is a winner in my book!Stopped here for lunch and another beverage! El Jefe reminded me about 1 trillion times that he had been here before with a college friend (Who was being at pest then, El Jefe?)Loved these coasters!!Liquid riot! I thought the old bug out front was really cool!My beer looked and tasted like a mimosa. I’m not complaining about it!
On Thursday, El Jefe and I celebrated 3 years together! We went big this year and took a sunset schooner tour (big thanks to El Jefe’s folks for this!). This was one of the coolest things I have ever done! The weather was perfect and the views were great!
Romper is from Target!I can’t tell if that is a look of love or annoyance… I’m gonna go with love!! Let the selfies continue!We had poor planning skills with the drinks… We were gonna buy a bottle of wine then realized we had no opener or cups… oops. But we did find these over priced plastic travel wines with lids which actually worked out perfectly!! Look at us solving problems and stuff!I’m wearing that cozy sweater I told you about in my last post! Seriously, love that thing!This schooner is 105 years old! Also, check out that pretty sunset!
There are more pictures but I am currently on a greyhound bus to Springfield and they won’t download. Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful Friday!!
Also, will someone pick this house up in Portland and drop it off in Denver as an early birthday gift?!?! You would make my life!!
But first a little update on: Where in the world are El Jefe and I?
El Jefe will be so happy for this trip to be over so I stop making him take selfies! (I won’t stop *BAHAHAHA*)
It feels like an eternity since I was home in Denver last. So far we have been on 5 planes, a ferry boat (twice), and an almost 4 hour car trip. Still to come is 3 bus trips and one flight ( and if you count the T in Boston as a train, there will be several trips on that as well)! We also figured out that by the end of this trip we will have slept in 11 different beds! Let’s just say I am a little over traveling and I am craving my own bed. On the bright side, I am becoming quite the well-rounded traveler.
We are currently in Portland, Maine. It is super beautiful here. On the docket is a baseball game (GO Sea dogs?!?!), brewery tour (let’s see if they have anything on Denver’s breweries), a schooner ride (I’M SO PUMPED FOR IT!! Big thanks to El Jefe’s folks), and hopefully kayaking! I’ll keep you all posted on how our adventure is going!
Ella and El Jefe on Swan’s Island
** Also, a huge shout out to ELLA Graves. She lived a long happy life with with an amazing family! We are so happy we got to spend the last week with you sweet girl! I hope you are enjoying endless amounts of leftovers! You will be greatly missed!***
Ok, traveling so much has me thinking about all the essentials for going on a trip (especially traveling to multiple different places within a fairly short period of time). SO I thought I would share the top 10 things I canNOT travel without (maybe you will learn something or maybe you will wonder “Who the HECK does this girl think she is making top 10 lists? What a WEIRO!” well you wouldn’t be the first so I’m gonna write it anyways **insert emoji with tongue sticking out**)
DRUM ROLL PLEASE….. My TOP 10 travel essentials are:
10. Supportive shoes. I don’t care where you are going (I mean I actually do, please tell me so I can live vicariously through your adventures once school starts) you NEED to bring these. I canNOT tell you how many vacations I have packed for and all I was thinking about was cute, cute, cute. Well sometimes you have to say (pardon my almost French) “F cute, what’s not gonna hurt my feet!” OK, rant over. But seriously people bring supportive shoes on you trip. Just do it and thank me later!
9. Leggings. Ladies, I do not need to explain any further, you get it. Comfy, warm, flexible, flattering, etc. Gentlemen, I also do not need to explain any further. I mean have you seen your girls’ booty in those leggins’. Thought so! NEXT!
7. Chapstick. This goes with the last one. When I travel I cannot keep enough moisture on my lips. Gotta have that chapstick!
6. Face wash. I am not going to lie. I used to be the laziest face washer of all times. I used to just take one of those face cleanser wipes and run it over my face then call it quits. Well, that led to many breakouts and poor complexion (GO figure). So now I make sure to carry a really good cleanser and exfoliator with me on trips!
Current face wash routine: Beautycounter charcoal bar (3 times a week) followed by Nourishing Moisturizer. On days when I do not use charcoal bar I use Nourishing cleanser or exfoliator followed by moisturizer! Beautycounter
5. A Bag with WHEELS. Ok, I am putting this on here because I have finally realized that as cute as my Vera Bradley duffel may be (and trust me it is cute) it is not fun to carry around airports, ferry stations, bus terminals, or public transports! Get a bag with wheels, END OF STORY!
4. A Cozy Sweater. This was a toss up between flowy dresses and cozy sweaters. Cozy sweaters win because I am travelling in the Northeast right now and it gets very chilly at night. My comfy sweater has been so, so nice on this trip!
MY GO TO: My LOFT lounge cardigan in gray (I bought it at the outlet)
3. Snacks/drinks. I take for granted that flights will be on time and ferries will be made. Just saying, from experience, that does not always happen so pack snacks and drinks (or buy overpriced at the airport like I do). You don’t wanna be sitting at a ferry port (where there is no gas station, convenience store, or restaurant) for 2 ½ hours with nothing to eat or drink. And then bother your boyfriend every 5 minutes about it. P.s. that isn’t me speaking from experience at all, I just made all that up out of a hypothetical situation**
**that is a straight up lie. That 100% happened to be on this trip. It was not fun and El Jefe was very annoyed with me (In his words, I was being a “Pest”).
PSS. This normally wouldn’t be so high on my list but due my recent experience it seems super important so it is coming in at numero tres!
2. A Notebook. I have always been someone who carries a notebook around with me. Getting new notebooks has always been one of my favorite things (even though now I have about a million and they are all basically empty). But on vacation a notebook is essential! Especially for my spastic mind. I need somewhere to get all my teacher ideas out, all my emotions, all my projects, etc. A notebook is essential to any trip’s enjoyment.
1. A Really Good Book. Dead seriously this is essential for entertainment purposes! I know all of us Gen Y/millennials think that there is internet wherever we go but news flash sometimes you are on a small (very, very beautiful) island and they don’t have internet everywhere you go (For those of you who just read that and are going through some slight shock, just take 3 deep breaths and repeat after me, “I WILL SURVIVE THIS, I WILL SURVIVE THIS, I WILL SURVIVE THIS.”) No, but in all seriousness I absolutely love reading and it is one of my favorite parts of vacations. On vacations I can get through a whole book without interruptions! It is so, so nice!
Hope everyone is enjoying their Monday!! Next post will be from Denver and I canNOT tell you how excited I am about that!
