{2014 - A year in review}

I honestly can't believe that we are ready to ring in a new year. 2015. Wow. Where did 2014 go?! It is so cliche to say that but it's the truth. In some aspects the year dragged on. And in other ways, it has FLOWN by!

{January}

Rang in 2014 with a group of sweet friends, most of who I plan to ring 2015 in with tomorrow night!

~Went on an interview for a job in a neighboring school district. This was the one that started the season of interviews.

January was a rather boring month!

{February}

-My mom ended up having to have heart surgery to have a stent put in due to one of her arteries being 80% blocked after spending all of MLK day with her in the ER. (Yeah, I knew there was a reason not a lot happened in January!). Despite her having to go to cardiac rehab (what a hassle for her to get there!) and getting tired sometimes, I am thankful to still have her!

-Participated in Bailey Jean's blog challenge! It was a lot of fun and I hope she does another one at some point in 2015.  

-Spent many days home from school due to SO MUCH SNOW!!

Lily clearly loves the snow! 

-Went on an interview for a leave replacement in one district where I did my student teaching. And so the job search continued. 

{March}

-Blogged about the WORST experience I have ever had at a restaurant, Ruby Tuesday's.  As someone who is also a server I am extremely patient when I am out but this was horrible. My complaint went to their regional manager and he contacted me. They sent me a $20 off coupon to try another RT near me. It was okay but I don't know if I'd go back,

-Went on another interview for another leave replacement (hey at least getting the interviews as a good sign!). Weirdest interview ever.

-Went to my co-worker's wife's baby shower. I apparently took no photos! 

{April}

-Blogged about one of my first baking adventures from Pinterest - Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes...time consuming but SO YUMMY!! 

-My beautiful niece Emma turned 5! 

-Celebrated my mom's 66th birthday! Apparently no good photos from dinner either!

-Spent a few days of my spring break visiting my best friend April in DISNEY!!!!

-My dog Lily Belle turned 1! She is such a crazy dog!

-My nephew made his First Holy Communion.

 This picture cracks me up! "ENOUGH!"

{May}

-Went to my co-worker Anjelica's baby shower! Her mom did such an awesome job. 

-Reverted back to my blonde roots. Which reminds me, I need to get my hair done ASAP!

{June}

-Threw a surprise work baby shower for Anjelica and she had NO IDEA! Best reaction ever! Also said goodbye to my favorite manager Daimys as she was transferred back to a store near her. :(

Work family! <3

Favorite Manager!

-Chaperoned the 7th grade field trip to the Bronx Zoo. My first time going there and OMG it was SO hot!!

-Also took my mom to see The Lion King on Broadway for her birthday/mother's day gift!

-My niece Emma graduated preschool, ready to start kindergarten in the fall!

-Attended Olivia & Marc's engagement party (they got engaged in Puerto Rico in February). Side note: this is going to be the SICKEST wedding I will be in/go to. Olivia's dad knows how to throw one killer party.

-Finished another school year off (not knowing it would be my last with that group of work friends). Started my summer off by going on a girls weekend trip to Atlantic City!

{July}

-Anjelica had her baby boy, Michael Lawrence!! He is just a doll!

-My niece's had their dance recital! So glad they're following in my footsteps.

-Had an interview that led me to getting a demo 5 days later that led me to walking out of the demo LANDING the job!! I remember driving home just crying. Crying for various reasons. One because I finally landed a teaching job. Two because it was in NY and I never thought that would happen. And three because I was going to leave my other work friends. But they were ALL SO supportive and happy for me!

-Spent a weekend in Rhode Island/Block Island/Massachusetts with my cousins!

{August}

-Prepped for school.

-Spent a day out east with Olivia and Shannon for Shannon's birthday at the wineries!

One of the best things about Long Island is the amount of wineries we have!

{September}

-Started my first real teaching job!! Despite the amount of planning I have to do because everything is coming from scratch, I really do love my job.

-Saw Luke Bryan in concert!!

{October}

-Threw my cousin Lisa's baby shower! (I apparently didn't take any photos! Or if I did, they haven't been uploaded yet).

-Celebrated Amanda's birthday in the city.

-Apparently the beginning of the school year I didn't do much because I was busy getting myself situated. Oh well.

{November}

-I started covering one class at the high school because the teacher went on maternity leave. While it is a great experience, it just made me realize how much I love working in a middle school setting.

-I turned 28! Yikes! Slowly approaching 30. 

-My cousin Lisa had her baby boy, Owen Edwin!

{December}

-My goddaughter turned 10! Holy smokes she is going to be a teenager before  I know it. She also makes me feel old because she was born December of my senior year of high school. 

-Finished off school (the day before Christmas Eve!) and have been relaxing. I haven't done a lick of school work so I might want to hop on that train and get going!

-Celebrated Christmas with the family. I still need to upload those pictures.

Overall, 2014 was a year of change. I switched school districts and began teaching on my own. While I am part teaching assistant (because my principal liked me that much he wanted to make the drive worth it for me) and part teacher, it is everything I could have hoped. Everyone says the first year is the worst and it seems to be true....just for the fact of getting your lessons together, figuring out what works/what doesn't. I know year 2 will be a smoother transition. 

I cannot wait to see what 2015 will bring. Hopefully a more well behaved dog (Lily is on her third trainer) and a new car. Maybe even finally moving out on my own! 

Happy New Year everyone! May you all have a wonderful time celebrating SAFELY with your friends and family! Be smart! Be safe! 

Pinterest for the win...again!

I had to work Monday and Tuesday last week while most schools ended December 19th for their winter break. So I in a way feel guilty that I have not touched ANYTHING in my school bag since last Tuesday. But I REALLY need to grade my high school class' test and prep for next week. Wah wah.

I am working in the restaurant (my other job) while on break from school. I am nuts, yep. I don't ever give myself a day off. I'll have a nice long weekend with my girlfriends MLK weekend but for now, I need to rake in that $$$. The past few nights have been great so I am happy with what I am making.

I came home and told my mother I would cook dinner. Usually if I am working and she cooks, she calls my cellphone to tell me she made me a plate in the fridge. Since I live at home still (living in NY let alone on Long Island is SUPER expensive!), I figured I could help. I pretty much only stick with chicken. I hate shrimp/seafood/fish and figured chicken would be good enough.

My lovely friend Pinterest helped me out. I ended up making Cheesy Ranch Chicken. I preheated the oven at 350 and let it sit while I prepped. I dipped the chicken breasts in Hidden Valley Ranch dressing (you can do any ranch dressing but this is what we had and it is my favorite!) and then topped it off with a mixture of shredded cheddar cheesed and shredded Mexican cheese (the recipe calls for Parmesan but I just used what was in the fridge). Baked it in the oven on a greased cookie sheet for 30 minutes. Made some quinoa and green beans. It was quite delicious! I didn't take any pictures but it was a win. My mom loved it so Pinterest for the win, again!!

The last thing I made off of Pinterest before this was Reindeer cupcakes for the faculty luncheon last week. I didn't have time to get the edible googly eyes so I made do with M&Ms. I think they came out cute!

I should probably do grade those tests and do some plans so I am not freaking out come Sunday. Post on Christmas coming soon!

Hello Christmas vacation!

Hi! Remember me? Remember that time I had a blog. Life has been super crazy busy the past few weeks that keeping up with this blog and even reading blogs was kind of the last thing on my mind. Between my normal classes and covering the high school class, I have been keeping busy. And when I am not at school, I am working on the weekends at the restaurant. Today is the first day I came home and did NOT have to worry about going to work!! At least until Friday. PTL!

I still have a mountain of gifts to wrap (from me to other people and for other people from other people...aka my family's gifts to each other) so I usually watch Christmas movies while I do it. My favorites:

Such a classic! I love when they do the marathon of this. To me, it is not the Christmas season without watching it multiple times. I actually bought the DVD last year. My favorite parts are:

Next, I always love watching Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation! I can't remember if I bought it on DVD so I may have to this year!

And who does not love Will Ferrell in "Elf"?!

And of course, Home Alone! Some people might not consider this a classic Christmas movie, but I do!

What are some of your favorites? Hopefully I will be back to posting regularly on the blog soon, especially over break since I have some time off. And i can catch up on my blog reading.

Winterize Your Nails - Julep

I was contacted by Julep about sharing how I "winterize" my nails. I thought this was a unique idea and something fun to participate in in the blogging community, since I have an obsession with nail polishes.

For one, I have been getting my nails done for 5 years. My mom took me one day as she was getting hers done and I have been going every since. I find that my "me time" and enjoy the hour or so I am there.

So, how do I winterize my nails?

I always tend to keep my nails as short as possible. My nails are not my "actual" nails but rather tips. I like keeping them as short as possible since I work with my hands a lot in the restaurant on the weekends and every once in awhile I am bound to stub my hand and one will scratch. I like getting them done at least every two weeks so if I keep them super short, it allows me to go sometimes a week longer and prevents them from breaking (this wasn't the case this time with my thumb nail to be honest).

Plus in the winter in New York, I am bound to be shoveling snow at some point so I do not want one to break while shoveling! :)

Since I don't actually do my nails myself (I have tried...the painting experience looks like a kindergarten was finger painting on my nails), I don't push back my cuticles. However to me, small (or no) cuticles are better because it lasts longer and looks nicer! Having the cuticles pushed back when I get my nails done at the salon also makes me feel like my paint job lasts longer (and looks nicer!).

Then I have them buff my nails. To make them look as natural as possible.

After that, I use some sort of moisturizing lotion to make sure my nails are super soft. I try to keep my hands looking soft all winter so my nails look super nice!


Now, how do I choose my color in an array of the world where there are enough nail polishes I could paint each nail (and toe) a different color?!


Well, Julep had sent me this color pallet as an inspiration.

Personally, I always choose my color first (sometimes even based on the name of the polish) before I get my nails done. I went with the color "Joanne" for inspiration as it was a more deep red color. I would wear the lighter shades in the summer. I like wearing something a little darker in the winter. It pops against the dreary weather! However, being that it is the holiday season, I wanted something red but not super dark (however, in the family of a dark red if you catch my vibe). Next time I get my nails done, I might go with "Joanne" again or Sawyer. Ilsa is too dark of a black color polish for me and I stick with deep plums, deep/dark reds, dark grays for the winter.

What does the end result look like?

I personally think it is a great color. Hands don't look like they have been through the ringer and I got compliments on it at school/work after I had them done. The red makes everything pop in a dreary, cold winter.

I plan on exploring all the polishes Julep has to offer and maybe finding a hidden new favorite I had no idea about.

So, how do you winterize your nails and make them pop in a winter? A light color? A dark color? French? A design? Share with me!