Day 22 - My messy room

Mythology posters..not hung up..oops

I have a confession.


I am a messy person.  For any of you, who have been to my place, you know that dishes sit in the sink, the vacuum is gathering its own dust, and sometimes half my closet is on the floor.  Don't get me wrong, I am not dirty.  Just cluttered and messy.  I always say that I am super busy, but most of the time the "business" is laying on the sofa, with no motivation to do anything but sleep.   I know that I am less messy (in no way immaculate) when I have a roomie, but that hasn't been for years, so all the mess is MY mess.  I don't "crazy clean" weekly, maybe monthly.  I do get to the "I can't handle it" point.  And pump the itunes and sing and clean. 

Shouldn't a student be sitting there?

Since I have begun teaching, this same mentality has trickled down into my classroom.  On my desk, my window ledge, my back room full of Yearbooks.  It is messy and cluttered, but I like that environment.  Some things have a place, while some NEVER make it there.

This is my thing.  You either embrace it or hate it.  (If I ever get married, I apologize in advance for having to get a maid service)

Go get a paper.  just choose whichever one.  They are so organized.

Miss B.

(As I read this, I sound like the grossest person ever, I am not just a little cluttered.   I swear that I do not live in a rat invested, Hoarder house. It actually matches my personality.  Everything all over the place)

Miss B.

Day 21 - "You look so professional"

Oh what a belt can do..  Coming off my venture back into Pilates, I feel like a champ.  I am so sore which in my brain makes me feel like a I am skinny minny, therefore high waisted pants were in my future.  (If you have a chance to do Pilates, do it.  It is one of those workouts that is tough but, effective).  After choosing my Granny floral print shirts and my gray pants, I was missing something...Hmmmm a belt.  I have a limited collection, but wahoo.. Patent leather wide belt.  I was excited to find this accessory.

I can sleep sitting up. What, What.

I am not sure how I feel about belts still.  Does it cut me in half and make my legs look short?  Or does it produce the "legs start here" look?  You decide. :)

Overall Grade:  B (Nothing too snazzy and do I really want to look professional? --said by a colleague in the morning)


Miss B.

Day 20 - "Pirate Football player"

 So I guess the theme of this year is Pirates.  I am not sure how a fitted white shirt with puffy sleeves makes you look like a pirate.  I was also told that I had shoulder pads on like a football player.  So be it.  Thanks Friends.

When i first got my teaching job, I looked to my sister to help me buy "professional clothes" considering at that time, I was the perpetual college student with a wardrobe full of jeans, college T's and cheap going out shirts.   I will always remember what she said about trying things on, you never know what it looks like. It might look weird on the hanger, but just try it on.  I have far veered from this advice and just buy off the rack now, but at the time of building my wardrobe, that advice was very helpful.

Here is one of those off the hanger, that might have looked weird.  The puffy sleeve looked intimidating, because I feel that I am a little broad in the shoulder, but I went at it at Express.  I think that they puffy sleeve make for an optical illusion of the smaller waist.

Arggggg, Hut Hut.

Overall Grade:  A- (I think I am getting boring, so i better pull off something awesome tomorrow)

Urgent... Picture to come later due to the lockdown and evacuation bc of a Natural Gas leak.  Oh the life of a teacher.

After a whole school evac..Ahhhh

Note:  A great outfit was ready for today, but needed to be ironed.  Free Bagel day at Brueggers trumped the cool outfit)


Miss B.

Day 19 - Rainy Day Bust

Today I had a great red dress chosen to wear, but when I hear the rain outside, I was completely over wearing a dress and just wanted pants.  It happens.  For those of you who don't know, Pittsburgh weather stinks.  Yesterday it was 77 degrees and sunny all day, until about 7:30 when I was sitting on the bleachers at the girl's soccer game when Zeus opened the sky up and thunder and lightning took over.    Today is supposed to be a beautiful 70 something day, but from the looks of it right now, GARBAGE.

This quote is amazing

Why not some glitter and unicorns at school?

Here is my down in the dumps outfit:  These gray pants are from NY & Co.  (My go-to school pants), but the best part is that they are cotton and feel like sweat pants.  My blue patterned shirt is a great buy at Banana Republic outlet on the summer sale.  I think it was marked down to $8.00.  100% silk and originally tagged at $59.95.  Kudos to me.

My sparkly cardigan.  I bought this cardigan at The Limited on major sale, (I think that they were like $5.00, o I bought silver and black)  to wear over party dresses, but have now started using them as day wear.  I probably bought these 3 years ago and never have worn them.   My closet is full of these gems.


Overall Grade:  B (I was told I am getting boring)

Miss B.

Day 18 - Monday is for the birds.

Ok.  Here it is.  Another shirt with birds on it.  I really can't figure out my affinity for birds.  (I even have a pair of shorts with birds on them.)  I got this bird shirt at Macy's.  It is Rachel Roy originally ticketed at $70, but somehow I sniffed out the sale and got it for $18.

Here is one of my first ventures into the mismatch phenomenon that is going on.  I would like to say that I started it and now everyone is just following my lead, but that would be a little cocky :).  I have always loved this gingham skirt.  It has a high waist and keeps "everything in place" and forms a nice silhouette. An H & M purchase.  (Great store for trendy, reasonably priced items)

Overall Grade:A (I got a lot of compliments from students.  I have "swag")


Miss B.

Day 17 - Celebrity

http://www.alumniblog.ncsu.edu/

I was contacted to be in the NCSU blog.  It is really awesome to see your name and graduating year in print... (Yes I was on the 10 year program, with a hiatus here and there).  Scroll down to 9.21.11.  and you will see my happy face and sweet contrasting colors/teams outfit.



Miss B.

Day 16 - Twinners

It happened.  One of the first times ever, it happened.  Almost twinners.  My student teacher (and staff blog photog) and I have almost the same outfit on.  We both are wearing an eggplant colored dresses with empire waist.  There are minute differences, but overall we look like fools.  I went with the knee sock and slouch boots where Steph opted with the heels.  (I think that it is humorous to note that I am flat footed and she is in about 4 in heels.)


Other than the knee sock jokes, Catholic School Girl comments (which I think the socks are completely fashionable)  and the odd references to Barney, I like the ensemble.  This is one of my favorite dresses, but is made of a non breathable fabric.  BOooo

Overall Grade:  B (For changing my outfit 3 times before leaving and then choosing the same as Steph)

Miss B.

Day 15 - Wicked inspiration

Check out those seams?  And the buttons are sweet too.

Where is my broomstick?

 I had to pick fast because I was running late.  Fashion denim (a different pair than before, NY & Co blue pants) and a button down.  I like this shirt because the buttons are shaped like flowers.  I seem to find items that a like Monet Paintings, from a distance it looks really put together and normal, but when up close you can see something different.  This button down also had great seams that are very fitting at the waist.  Always something to emphasize.

This sweater is a new purchase this summer.  It is huge on me, but my classroom is so wacky that you need a sweater on warm days and a tank on cold days.  That is just how it is.  I also was drawn to it because I saw Wicked on Sunday and I was feeling my inner Elphaba.  Sometimes I wish I had magical powers in my classroom, Not Glinda's definitely Elphaba. 

This outfit is a dud.  Sorry, friends.  Booooring.  Can't win them all.

OVERALL GRADE:  D (No color, drabby and boring)

Miss B.

Day 14 - A little birdie told me ...

Mary Jane redo and a fortune telling gnome.

I read books (real old books.  The Odyssey by Homer)

...that you could wear a dress and pants.  (or maybe it was just a dream).  So today, I went with the skinny dress pants and my bird dress/shirt.  This top is one of the "tweeners" on me.  Too short to be just a dress and too long to be a shirt.  I guess a 16 year old that weighs 100 pounds that is 5'1" could pull this off as a summer dress, but 32 and 5'10", it becomes a bird of a different feather (hahaha). You could probably do opaque tights and boots, but the fabric is way to thin for a Pittsburgh winter.

I have a liking for anything with inanimate objects and actually this is my second shirt with bird print.  I don't really like birds, or animals for that matter, but as a print it is acceptable.

OVERALL GRADE:  A (I think for Awesome)

Miss B.

Day 13 - A Dr. Seuss Pirate

My best Dr. Seuss Pirate

 Not even 5 minutes into the day, I got "Hey Barr, Do you know Dr. Seuss?"  I was then greeted with a hearty "Arrrrggggg".  Happy Monday to me.  I knew coming in with vivid red stripes and puffy sleeves that the compliment insults would flow.

gold, copper, red and black..  So great.

I really love the how long my legs look in these pants.  I know that I have long legs, but this puts me into the supermodel length.  It basically is an optical illusion due tot he fact that the waist hits at least 2 inches above my belly button.  These are a Victoria's Secret sale item.  (I think that they were $19.99 from $59.99, so I had to have them).  One thing that I have always questioned is "Do I have a long butt?"  You know like how some jeans give you a weird long butt.  I am not sure if I want to know, so maybe I will just look in the mirror only in the front


OVERALL GRADE:  A- (2 insults before the first bell, not good)


Miss B.

Day 12 - Part 1 of "My Home"

I think for the next few weeks I am going to talk about my apartment because it is awesome and I would like to share the architectural awesomeness, as well as the awesomeness that I put into it.  We are going to start small this week (my influence) and next week, I will show you the architecture.  (which is pretty amazing.  There are many fascits that I love about my place and never want to move.
I am just going to admit it, my apartment is pretty sweet.  For those of you who have been over, you know what I am talking about.  I live in an old church that was renovated into 6 apartments, each with their own character.  I have full length almost 2 story stain glass windows (You will see next week).  Yes, it is weird sometimes to think about living in a church but I got over that so quickly.  I just think that maybe I am being watched a little closer by the man upstairs. 

Here is some flare that I have added.  I love Warhol and collages.  There are a lot of pairing on my walls, sets of framed items.  I feel that my style which is a little on the pop art side really is complimented well by the interior of my place.  Sometimes the colors make you want to vomit, but everyday I look around and think that I am doing something right.

Miss B.

Day 11 - To knee sock or not to knee sock?

My outfit is nothing compared to the amazing Twitter Bulletin board.

Today, I woke up with all intention of wearing knee socks and a skirt today.  There were multiple reasons for the no knee sock outfit.  1.  There was a monsoon outside when I woke up that basically was just screaming at me to wear pants.  2.  After many minutes in the mirror, I was suddenly reminiscent of catholic school.  The image in the mirror was of an naive, 8th grader, not the image that I would like to portray to my 10th grade class.  So in the end, I chose some dress pants (not so cutting edge, but more age appropriate).

I truly enjoy the menswear trend.  I have a few man vests, and a few sweater vests.  I like the silhouette that a fitted vest gives paired with a wide legged pant.

One of my favorite and most comfortable men inspired shoes

(And yes, my button down shirt is navy with white bows)

Miss B.

Day 10 - Lady in Red

When I bought these red pants, I thought that I would never wear them.  I bought them about 3 years ago from Victoria's Secret ($19.99 probably due to the fact that they are Santa Claus red).  I really like VS pants because they come in 3 different "longs" (30", 32", and 34").  The 34" are great for the night on the town wearing the "big girl" shoes, but for school, I prefer 32" because my heels are not crazy high.

I am very excited that Red is now a color of the season (Not like that matters, but I am just stating the truth).  Go anywhere in the mall and you see it, tops, bottoms, shoes, everything.  I really, really like the red, khaki, black combo.  In Express, they have a red, magenta, khaki shirt that is beautiful, but wayyyyy overpriced and I know I can find something like it in my stores.

OVERALL GRADE:  B (Not even going to show my top because it is boring black)



Miss B.

Day 9 - Bow Knows

Another ode to bows.  I hit up Forever 21 pretty hard before school.  After I sift through the crap that they like to pawn off as clothing,  I can find some appropriate work shirts.   I have never had luck with pants there due to the fact that I am 32 and have a little bit of hips and all of those pants there are made for people who have toothpick legs.  This shirt is a sheer light blue shirts with white bows on it and has an elastic waist.  Of course, I didn't try it on and actually ordered it online, so the waist hits me a little under my chest.  (Stupid long torso)  I just paired it with the gray high waisted skirt.  I don't really like soft colors because they make me look washed out due to the fact that I am a tan goddess.

Do Patent Leather shoes really reflect up?

 OVERALL GRADE:  A     (I got 3 compliments before HR)

Miss B.

DAY 8 - Picture Day flare

It's picture day!  Not my fave.

Today is picture day.  The bane of my existence.  Top 3 worst days of the year.  I originally was going to wear jeans and a Valley T-shirt (because of the crazy amount of running around that I do on this hell day), but in the end, I couldn't man- up and have my own dress down day.  So I went to the next best thing...FASHION DENIM.  For those of you unfamiliar with fashion denim it can be defined as any dress pant in a denim material.  It is about the cut and not the fabric.  I think I made this up, but who knows.  This pair is so old and frayed on the bottom, but they are my fave.  (Editor pants from Express circa 2004)  These pants also are too short for heels so I went with my wedge Mary Janes.  Easy to run around and bark at students trying to hang out during picture day.

Fashion Denim and Hot pink socks.  My fave.

 Hot pink socks. They remind me of Cyndi Lauper.  Girls Just Want to Have Fun (even on stupid picture day!)

 OVERALL GRADE:  B (for Boring)

OVERALL ATTITUDE:  D (for Dumb Day)

Miss B.

Day 7 - Get an interest in Pinterest

I love

www.pinterest.com is free to sign up plus it is super awesome.  Pinterest is a site that is a series of virtual bulletin boards that you can personalize to fit your needs.  It seems like a creative community to share your personal “style” in any way that you would like.  All you do is sign up and then you add a “pin it” button to your menu bar and when you are surfing the web for anything, I mean anything (one board on a user's page is dedicated to Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen)  you can just hit the “pin it”  button and add it to your board.  Once an image is “pinned”  the image is now hyperlinked so that you can always go back to it. (and let me tell you there are some website gems out there that I never would have found without Pinterest)

 I have boards dedicated to books, music, food and, of course, style.  I also just started one to keep all  of the great ideas that I find on the web for my holiday party.  It is a great resource, way better then bookmarking all of the pages that you want to remember.    You can also search other people’s Pinterest boards by searching key words.  When you find something that screams “you”,  you have the option to repin it on your own board.    It is so helpful and interesting to see what other people have found.  The fashion boards make me smile because there are so many ways to express yourself.  There are so many different websites dedicated to the world of fashion and you can sneak around other people’s style boards (and ultimately finding your own style).

I have to thank my BFF Rachel for this amazing information for this post.  She has gotten me hooked and even has a board dedicated to my style.

Believe me, once you start, you can't stop.

Here is a link to my boards:  http://pinterest.com/ryannb12/

Miss B.

DAY 6 - Time Machine

Channeling my inner hippie.

I have always had a desire to live in the 1960's.  I have done numerous research papers on the era including the ABC's of the 60's for a 5th grade project.  My dad has said that if I was alive in the era that I would have lived it up and probably would have made my way to Woodstock in a VW Beetle (a guitar in hand)  with all of my cool hippie friends.

I was tentative buying this dress due to the spandex material that it is made of.  I usually steer clear of that poly/spandex material due to the fact that you can't hide anything and it comes off as cheaply made, but there was something about this pattern (not so pattern) that drew me in.  As stated before, I bargain shop, so this $19.99 purchase was a good one.

I got this gem at Ross, Dress for Less.  I only shop there for dresses, shoes and housewares.  Their clothes are to be desired and I usually end up empty handed, but this was a great deal that I couldn't pass up.

Heels on my desk.  Awesome.

Shoes:  Aldo Patent Leather with floral type cutouts.  (They had these in a cobalt blue and I should have bought them, too.  Damn, bad decisions)

OVERALL GRADE:  B  (I could do a little more accessorizing, but was running late this morning.  I was also called the "Ice Queen"  this morning by a colleague, hence the lower grade.)

Miss B.

Day 5 - Garden Greatness

 So this is my ode to a garden because of the crazy rain that has been occurring the past few days.  I figured that a summer shirt covered in pansies would help to lighten the mood.  This H&M shirt is heavily bloused in the stomach.. Great for those bloated and irritable times of the month.  Ladies you know what I am saying.  This is a tank top that does not have wide enough straps to wear alone which  is against school dress code, so the puffy sleeve white cardigan does wonders to appropriately violate the dress code.  Also, (if it were nice out...) this shirt easily goes from day to night...if I had a booming social life on a WEDNESDAY.

Shoes:  To be desired.  Gingham mary janes that have seen some wear and tear.

Overall Grade:  B+ (due to the fact that I feel like crapola.)

Miss B.

Day 4 - Bow-long to the weekend

The weather here has been awful, but I get to wear my yellow raincoat and my rain boots.  You can see  the amazingness in the back of my classroom.  I have to get some pics.

Guess what we got today?  Yes that is right...BOWS.  My shirt pattern is black and white bows with my high waisted pants.  I tried the belt, again, and it works so much better when loops are involved.  I love wide leg pants, but the only issue is that you can't see my great shoes. And today, they are awesome.

A special thanks to my student teacher for suggesting the J.Crew pose.


My shoes....
A sweet little TJ Maxx find. and I am wearing fishnets.  An homage to my mom who would wear them all the time.




OVERALL GRADE:  A
The pants are slimming and I sorta don't match.  Right up my alley.


Miss B.

DAY 3 - Alphabet accessories

 Dress Down  Fridays.

 

Along with my affinity to bows, I enjoy accessories with words and letters on them. (I guess it is my English teacher coming out)   I recently was at a local arts festival and bought this ring.  It says “BE AWESOME”.  What a great way to remind yourself of how to act at all times.  I also say awesome at least 23 times a day, so the ring is perfect.  I love the simplicity of the ring with the added surprise bonus of the metal stamped wording.  I also feel that it is like a secret that only I know, my mantra to be a better person.  The words are so small that not everyone knows the awesomeness on my finger. 

I also wear this cuff bracelet that reads LOVE IS PATIENT, LOVE IS KIND, LOVE ALWAYS PROTECTS, LOVE ALWAYS HOPES, LOVE ALWAYS PERSEVERES. LOVE NEVER  FAILS.    I guess underneath I am truly a hopeless romantic.  I think that the concept of true love is amazing in all aspects of life, not just romantic relationships.    

My "R" necklace (from my Aunt Linda) is a a staple of my daily wardrobe.  I wear it everyday.  Picture to come.  Thanks Aunt Linda.  You give great presents.

 

Miss B.

Day 2 - Polka Dots and lace

I really love this dress, but not the fabric.  The fabric is not very breathable (and quite short from this pic).  **  I would like to mention that I am 5'10"  with no shoes on, but the issue is that I wear heels 80% of the time.**  The cap sleeve really does wonders for any type of arm.  I especially enjoy this dress, because the sleeves are lace.  (Another one of my "things").

Yes, I do understand that this dress might be a little provocative for a high school classroom.  Too short dresses and pants, Damn the long legs.

As for accessories, I will get more into that tomorrow.  But I think that the teacher lanyard should be the next trend.  



Shoes:  Steve Madden Polka Dot Peep Toe. 

Overall Grade:  B  (for boring, and my earrings make me look like I have a mullet)

Miss B.