Thoughts on recent purchases

Since shopping is my favorite past time, I have been doing a whole lot of it lately. Mainly because I keep running into all of these insane bargains that are too hard to pass up. Here are a few of my favorites...

 Betsey Johnson spring jacket

I had been looking high and low for a spring jacket for about a month. All I saw was the same style over and over again...you know the trench coat in various colors with a belt. Everywhere. One day I looked at TJ Maxx and found a couple of cute Guess jackets, but they were a bit pricey. I told my mom that I would only pay that much for a Betsey Johnson coat. (Ok...I know $70 isn't THAT bad...but it's a JACKET!! I can't wear it for longer than a season!) Fast forward to the next weekend, at a different TJ Maxx, there it sat. A Betsey Johnson coat, in a small, for the same price as the Guess jacket! It was definitely fate. As much as I didn't want a black jacket, this one was so cute on, and I couldn't pass it up. IT WAS BETSEY! At originally $155, I was getting a great deal.


Michael Kors boots
I have to admit, this was an impulse buy. I didn't NEED new black boots, I just got a pair off of Piperlime about a month ago. BUT, I had seen these boots on a girl in the winter, and I LOVED them. I immediately found them at Macy's, the sad news was they were $200. I don't drop that kind of money on much of anything. A few months later, I spotted the boots on the sale rack at Macy's. Tried them on and what do you know, they had my size. The best part about the whole thing was that the boots only cost $39.90. Say whaaaaat?!?!? My own mother talked me into buying them; the woman who yells at me on a daily basis for having more shoes than Payless. I guess the saleswoman also played her part in the spending of my money. Turns out that I love the boots and can even wear them all day at work without my feet hurting (too bad). I say that because ALL of my work shoes make my feet hurt. Sadly without them, half of the 5th grade class is taller than me. I won't be having that happen any time soon if I can help it!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects

The librarian at my school (best person EVER!) had shown me these new nail things online one day. I was curious as to how they worked, because I HATE doing my nails. I can never paint them without smudges or some sort of mishap going on. Even when I get a manicure, it never lasts longer than a few days. The first pack I bought was the gold glitter ones. Those wouldn't stay on my nails (for some reason they were really thick and didn't stick well to some of my small curvy nails), but I wanted to try one more time before I gave up on them. I then bought the lacy looking ones, and had MUCH better results. They only took me about a half hour to put on, and they looked phenomenal. I wore them for about 6 days before I smashed my index finger into the concrete wall while sharpening pencils for first graders. After that I took them off. I will definitely be purchasing them again. I really want to try the leopard or zebra print ones. They are hard to find by my house though.

Have YOU bought anything fabulous lately???

All the happenings...

Hello blog land!

Lots of happenings these days…been busy with work, applying to graduate schools, spending time with the boyfriend, and hanging out with the family! My new car and phone are working out well – no complaints yet.  I’ve been reading a lot and have also been thinking about doing some more art soon. I love art, it is just hard to feel inspired sometimes. I have very little down time and I take a LOT of time when I am drawing or painting, so I hope that this summer will bring me the time that I need to do it. Before then, I need some ideas and inspiration!

One new thing that has happened recently is that I’ve stopped drinking pop (or SODA to most of you!). I know this doesn’t sound very exciting, or even very hard, but for me it has been a challenge. I was drinking up to 2 cans of diet pop every day, and I just thought that I needed to give it a rest. All of those studies about artificial sweeteners may have also played a factor in my decision. Either way, it’s been a positive change! I drink up to three times as much water now. If I am really craving a pop, I let myself have a little, but that never happens very often! I was hoping it would help me drop a couple pounds, but so far it hasn’t.

I have recently made some really excellent purchases:

 

Stay tuned to find out more about these items!

<3 Lauren

Week of Change

More like "month of change"...but roll with it...

Last weekend my lovely car (2005 Ford Escape Limited) decided to die on me. I've had this car since college, and I love it. However when I found out that I would have to pay $1,500 to get it fixed, I decided that I would be better off getting a new car. I had 120,000 miles on it, and who knows how long it would have lasted. I was in a pickle of sorts, because my awesome boyfriend works for Ford, but other dealers were offering better incentives.

This is a picture of my lovely Escape (RIP)

So after some talking with the boy, he was ok with me looking at other brands. Really, I didn't want to be in the dog house for buying a non-Ford car. ANYWAYS, I was looking at the Dodge Journey (since I am a brat and have to have an SUV)...but it felt too big and everyone said it looked like a minivan. See for yourself:

(It kind of does)

After driving the car and getting prices, I asked Smitty (only the best car salesman I've ever met! Oh yeah he's the ONLY one I've met...) if I could just see the Jeep Patriot that I was looking at online. It sounded amazing (heated seats, remote start, touch screen media center, good gas mileage...) and I just wanted to see what it was like. As soon as he drove up with it, I was in loooove! It was very similar to my Escape, but it was cheaper than a new Escape. With that being said, I definitely picked the jeep! 

 My new car!!!!!!!

Also, my phone plan was up for renewal recently and it was time for a new phone! I don't really have much use for a smart phone, so I always go with the free phones. All I need to make me happy is a keyboard so I can text easily :). So I also got a new phone this week.

Now...I have a hard time dealing with change. But I can say that these two changes were good ones! I felt good about both of them. Aside from all of that, not too much is new! I just finished up my competitive cheer season with my middle schoolers, and now I have more time on my hands! Here is what I plan on doing with it:

1. Reading more books
2. Start drawing and painting again
3. Spend time with the boy
4. Job hunt!!!
5. Visit the bestest on the other side of the state

I am trying really hard to get a full-time contracted teaching job. I love my job that I have now, but it is not guaranteed from year to year, and we don't get benefits. It will be really sad to leave Southgate if I find something, but I really need to have a contracted job. When I get one, I will be the happiest I have ever been! Things have been going great and I can't wait to add that piece to the puzzle. My sister just got a contracted job, so there is hope!

How are y'all!!!
<3 Lo

Summer time and all that jazz

Hey all -
It's been a busy year, I can't believe I haven't updated in soooo long! Here is my year in a nutshell:
- Finished up my first year of teaching Title 1 in June
- Worked all summer at the Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Michigan at the NFL/YET Campus in Detroit! I worked in the learning center every day for 10 weeks...started a successful newspaper club, had tetris tournaments, reorganized the club library, and spent many hours building lego ships and buildings with the kids! It was a crazy summer, but I loved it, and I have lots of pictures to share!
- Met my new boyfriend, who is amazing :)
- Started another school year teaching Title 1, and instead of just 4th grade this year, I also have first graders!
- Dyed my hair dark brown (what a huge change)!

That's about it in a nutshell...I'm actually at work at the Boys & Girls Club right now, filling in for a few days while someone is on vacation! Hope you enjoy some pictures from the summer!

How are y'all??

My Boys & Girls Club kids on the news!!

Check out this awesome clip of some of my favorite B&G club kids shopping for toys with the Detroit Lions!! They are so adorable!

Consistency

Ahhh hello!
I ended up having a crazy busy summer so I wasn't a very good blog owner....I apologize! I am posting today because I am going to take a big leap of faith tomorrow and go from blonde to dark brown. I used one of those websites where you can try different hair colors and styles on yourself, and I think thats what I've decided looks best. What do you think??

Blonde hair....

....or brown hair????

HELP!!!!!!

<3 Lauren

Frustration

I hate it when you know someone is mad at you, but you have absolutely no idea why, or what you did to make them mad. I'm bummed out today for this very reason. I can't solve the problem because they won't talk to me. Sad!

I'm going out of town this weekend which will be nice! Work has been crazy so I need a break.