Bartender Turned Personal Trainer

As many of you know, I play trivia on Wednesday nights. I have been doing this for about a year and a half or so. In that time, I have made, what I call, "trivia friends." Friends that I would never have known if it weren't for trivia. Some are creepy but some have become really good friends. (Even some cute gentlemen!) Two of my trivia friends to make note of are the bartenders. For the past year and I half my friends and I have been sitting at the bar chatting it up with the two studs known as Keith and JB. After a while, they became legit friends. One bartender even came to my Lawn Game Olympics that I hosted this summer. (That's topic for another post).

The other bartender, JB, is now going to be my personal trainer. When I told people at work this, I received belly laughs as a response. I guess I should mention that his other job is a personal trainer. However, there is one liiittttllle problem. I hate going to the gym. Oh no, I don't hate it, I loathe it. Throughout high school and college, I have tried. I'm just not motivated to go and once I get there I hate it. I feel like a hampster on a wheel, using the machines. I always say that I am a pack animal and do much better in groups. But I never found group classes to work for me either.

Since graduating from college, I learned to love working out, but not in the traditional sense of going to the gym. I started taking Bikram yoga classes. This was great for both my body and my mind. I also love the outdoors and can be found on the mountain skiing throughout the winter. As recently as this summer, I discovered Barre classes. I fell in love. It was exactly what I was looking for. I now do yoga and barre at least once a week. But I guess I am not seeing the results that I wanted. I mean, I'm 26. I should be in the best shape of my life right now.

Enter JB. He will now be my new personal trainer. With refusing to join a gym, he does has his work cut out for him but I have faith. When we were talking about my fitness goals, I mentioned that I want to be Ariel the Little Mermain for Halloween next year. So Ariel, here I come!

Fads-- They Come and The Go

As many of you know, I teach 4th grade. With that, I am able to see the latest fads amoung 10 years olds. For the past few years, I've seen tech-decks and Bakugon's, however now there are these things called Shoulder Buddies. In case you have never heard of them, there is a picture below.

 They are magnetic and come with a "magic coin." The magic coin goes under your clothes and the Shoulder Buddy goes on top so it looks like it is floating on your shoulder. At first I thought they were cute and harmless. One or two students would have these little troll-like creature on their shoulders. Well after 2 months after their introduction to room E213, they have multiplied. Almost all my students have at least one. The normal is to have 5-6 on your shoulder. This includes both boys and girls that are part of this craze. I am not going to lie. They are starting to drive me crazy!! For most of my students, they are not a distraction but there are a few who can't stop playing with these dang shoulder buddies.

Corporate America Friends--Have you seen/heard of these?

Growing Mold--Is this really my life?

I guess today I just want to share with you what I plan to do. Today, my 4th graders will begin to grow mold on bread in my classroom. Before school, I will be busy setting up stations of bread, zip lock bags, pipettes and water. I guess I am writing this post to share with all my friends in the corporate world. While you wear your business suits and travel in to "the city" (whatever city that may be) and tackle the business of the day, I am in suburbia teaching students about life cycles. The purpose of the this lesson is to show students that nothing goes waste in the natural environment. We are learning about producers and consumers and scavengers and decomposers. By setting up the experiment, students will have to work in partners, follow directions and use their observational skills. They will also need to make a hypothesis about while bread will grow mold the fastest--the one at room temperature, one in the refrigerator or one in the sun. I'll let you know how it goes.

 While yesterday I was blogging about my dating life, today I wanted to let you know about my professional life. Sometimes I sit and wonder, is this really my life? Yes! Yes it is!

Dating in 2012

As a 26, single, independent woman, my dating life over the past few years has been interesting. I tend to "date seasonally", as I like to call it. I have a summer boyfriend to play softball with and go to the beach, a fall boyfriend to drink pumpkin spice lattes and go apple picking, a winter boyfriend to go skiing and drink dark lagers with, and a spring boyfriend watch march madness and go to baseball games with. No man has transcended the seasons. In 2012, I am looking for a gentleman friend that transcends the seasons.

To aide in this, I bought Patti Stanger's book "Become Your Own Matchmaker." I have down the dating detox and now I'm ready to be on the prowl. I have been trying to make my list of 5 non-negotiables that I am looking for in a man. In case you are wondering (or know a single fella), here are my 5 non-negotiables:

1. Educated/Thirst for Knowledge
2. Athletic 
3. Funny
4. Ready to Settle Down
5. Good Credit 

I have also been known to describe my ideal man as a slightly overweight ex-athlete. I do want a strong masculine figure. Obviously I don't want a man who gives off too much feminine energy. Now my friend Andrea laughs when I talk about feminine energy but you can definatly sense it. Below are pitctures of my celebrity crush:

So have you seen him?? What are your five non-negotiables? 

Bring it on, 2012

New Year's Eve. I usually despise the holiday. It's like amateur hour at any bar you go to. It's always too hyped up. The only redeeming quality that the holiday has is the fact that it's perfectly acceptable to dress up in your sparkliest clothes possible.

This year, my college roommate, Carolyn had a gathering. It was a blast. I never took a full outfit picture but here is a glimpse at my sparkly shirt. Picture it with dark, bootleg jeans and black heels. It encompased the theme of the party--silver, gold and black. (I think only 4 people at the party were aware of the theme, but no worries).

Now after looking at my shirt, you're probably thinking, "Wow, Maureen. That must be the best part of the your outfit." WRONG! Check out my nails! I'm obsessed. By far my favorite part of the outfit.

I hope your New Year's Eve was everything you hoped for. Let's go 2012. Bring it on. I am ready for you.

Blogging Can Be Anything!

I have started and stopped this blog many times within the past few years. I was just about to be done with the blogging world. Between my new job and coaching, I never seemed to have time to update nor did I think people were actually reading this. However, yesterday, I hung out with my college roommates and Kim encouraged me to try the blogging thing again. I told her that I didn't always have time to take outfit pictures or sit and write a blog. Her response was "so don't do outfit pics. A blog is what you make it. It can be anything!"

And with those simple words, I'm off and blogging again. I've decided that this blog will be my journey through young adult-hood...as I hopefully move out of my parents house and become a "real adult." As I am not on facebook (to much dismay of my friends), you can find my updates here.

Enjoy*

And thanks Kim for the encouragement.

It's a Great Time to be a Husky!

I love March Madness. I have always loved college basketball way more than NBA basketball. I went to UConn, in part because I wanted to be part of the Husky experience. I love choosing my teams carefully when the brackets come out. In the beginning of the tournament, I always choose some upsets. Always rooting for my Huskies.

Sidenote--The year before I went there they were men's and women's national champions. The fours years I spent at UConn... NOTHING! Ed Nelson made a rap song about a pick-up truck. Oh and UConn lost to an 11 seed, George Mason.

However, I still love them. (I love them so much that I have a UConn tattoo) I am super looking forward to watching the Final Four this weekend. UConn is playing Kentucky Saturday night. Let's go Huskies!!! 

Back for Spring

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I was in a slump. I contemplated stopping the blog altogether. Taking pictures of my outfits sometimes seems silly. But I figured that it gives me an outlet to have some fun and I generally enjoy blogging. I have realized that my blog may be different than other bloggers and that's ok. It's mine. And I'll make it work.

Enjoy a recent outfit pic.

It's good to be back.

Let's go Huskies!!

Bugs!

Hey friends, I told you yesterday that I didn't really take any outfit pictures this week. However, I wanted to wear this twirly skirt, you know, because I was in the mood. I felt like a ballerina all day. Unfortunately, the only picture I have of me wearing it is while I'm holding a huge Bess Beetle.  We received these the other day for science. As gross as they look, they are actually pretty cool and BIG!

In retrospect, I think this outfit looks too costumey, but whatever. Next time. I've been having a lot of those moments this week. As in "next time" I will do this to make it better.

Spring Colors

Hey friends, sorry for the delay in posting. This week came and went in a blink of an eye. School was hectic and my after-school life was hectic this week too. Here is an outfit post from Monday, my first day back from February vacation.

Here are things I have realized this week:

1. I am an awful remix-er. And not awful in the fact that I don't remix well. (That's debatable). But the fact that I am awful at following the rules. I did better at this remix than the last one. This might have been my last official remix. I just want to wear other clothes too. 
2. I am trying to make a more concious effort to wear heels more often. I love the way they make me look and feel, its just not always the most practical when I am on my feel all day. 
3. I work with an amazing team of teachers and I am thankful for them. They have made this year survivable. (I'm not so sure that is a word, oops). 
4. I love this shirt in the picture with the cardigan but I am not crazy about the skirt. I think I need a darker color to make that peach-y color pop. Next time. 
5. My best friend Trisha and I finally settled on a weekly trivia spot. It combines my favorite things: microbrewies, trivia, fun bartenders, and friends. I am so happy that I started playing trivia again. Hopefully I can work my way onto Jeopardy. 

Ps-I am back on Twitter. You can follow me at petitelymoe . I am trying to figure out how to put a thing on my blog so you can just click, follow me. 

Shirt: LOFT

Cardigan: LOFT 

Skirt: Ann Taylor 

Shoes: DSW 

Tights: ??

Art of the Americas

Yesterday, my mom and I spent the day at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. We checked out the new Art of the Americas wing. My mom is an art teacher and I'm an art enthusiast. It took us all day just to check out this new section. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought. When I lived in Spain, I fell in love with Spanish artists. Since then, I haven't had the same love for the American artists that I had once. We made our way from 600BC to the 1970s. It was a great journey.

When we arrived home, I was surprised to find a hand written letter waiting for me. Such a fun surprise! It was from one of my sorority sisters. It made me so excited that she, too, had monogrammed notecards... and that she used them!! Thanks for the welcomed surprise. I loved it.

Do you still send hand written letters in the mail? Or are you a product of this age of technology?

Dress: Old Navy

Shirt: LOFT 

Cardigan: Old Navy

Tights: ???

Boots: DSW 

Belt: Thrifted

Loving My Curly Locks

I don't know how you straight hair-ed mama cats do it! I straightened my hair the other day. I never realized how much you have to worry about. I had to brush it a million times and it was constantly tangly. And then the static! Ah! The static was the worst! I usually don't straighten my hair (because I think I look like an alien) but the other day my hair was soooo poufy, that it was the only solution I had.

Today I am thanking God for my curly locks. I just throw some spray in there when it's wet, scrunch it up, and diffuse it. I rarely brush it and there is no static. I always thought I wanted straight hair. In college I would often straighten it before I went out. By the time graduation rolled around, I had learned to embrace it. I just need to learn to take it because it can take on a life of its own. My motto, shake what ya got!

Shirt: Victoria's Secret

Jeans: LOFT 

Shoes: DSW 

Necklace: LOFT

Can You Name All the Presidents??

As many of you know, I am on February vacation. Let me tell you, it is wicked tempting to stay in my pajamas all day. That's pretty much what I did on Sunday. But yesterday I got dressed just for you, readers. I figured I needed to show you that I can dress myself even on days when no one sees me.

I am running out of ideas for 30 for 30. I want to wear my other clothes. They look so sad in my closet. I can even hear them saying, "Maureen, wear me! wear me! You're wearing those clothes again!" But I am sticking this 30 for 30 out. (Since it is February, it should be 28 for 28, but whateve). I'm done with the no shopping ban, since I will be giving up shopping for Lent which is one week away. 

Did other, non-teachers have yesterday off? How was your President's Day? Omg, total side note, but I heard Elisabeth Hasselback and her family actually celebrate President's Day by singing the national anthem and dressing in red, white and blue. How funny is that?! I can totally see myself doing something similar with my future family. I love being patriotic. 

Shirt: LOFT 

Cardigan: Old Navy

Jeans: LOFT 

Shoes: DSW 

Belt: ??

Also, enjoy this to catch up on your Presidents trivia. 

donorschoose.org

Today I decided to post about something real. Not that my daily outfits are not real, but you know.

As many of you know, I teach in a city in Massachusetts that is a high poverty area. Ninety-eight percent of our students receive free and reduced lunch. Our funds are limited as far as supplies and essentials go. More and more of us are paying for essentials such as paper and pencils out of our own pocket. Recently, I discovered donorschoose.org. It is a website that allows teachers to post projects that they need funded. The donors choose specific classrooms that they want to be funded. The donation is tax deductable. As a thank-you, the donor receives thank you letters from the students and teacher as well as pictures of the students using the product that you funded.


After reading all of that, if you are interested in learning more about my project (or donating to my classroom), click here.

If my project is already completely funded, here is one of my fellow third grade team mates.

Thank you in advance.

Double Up, Double Up

Last night was the first night in a while that I have gone out on the town. The wind was howling and the spring-like temperatures were gone, but that didn't stop my friend and I from having a good time. To combat the windy weather, I decided to double up on tights. I wore my magenta tights with black, lacy ones over them. I don't think the black lacy tights added any warmth but they sure added to my style. I also was able to wear my big obnoxious cocktail ring that I bought a few months ago. I have this new obbsession with cocktail rings and yet i never seem to wear them. For real, I have a drawer full of them. Hmm, maybe I should try to incorporate them more. I'll add that to one of my outfit goals. Ok, enough rambling. 

Dress: LOFT 

Tights: Hue

Tights: Old Navy

Boots: DSW 

Ring: Lia Sophia

Earings: Lia Sophia

Close Up! 

Casual-ish Friday

It's finally vacation! This morning when I woke up, I was extra lethargic. I usually try to plan my outfits while I lay in bed in the morning but this morning I was stuck. I couldn't think of outfits, accessories, anything. Hmp! I decided to dress as casual as I could be without getting in trouble. (However, I think the day before vacation, teacher dress code is the last thing on administration's mind).

I grabbed clothes, basically in the dark. Its a miracle that they go together. I decided since I was going with casual clothes, I'd spice it up with some heels. It was also a miracle that I made it through the day still standing. This week has just been one of those weeks that drag on and on. But enough complaining. I'M ON VACATION! Woo hoo! I nice week of relaxing and hopefully some skiing.

Anyone else on vacation next week? (I'm currently looking for people to hang out with next week. hehe)

Shirt: LOFT 

Cardigan: JCrew 

Skirt: LOFT 

Tights: ???

Shoes: DSW 

Necklace: F21

Shirt Dress

It was spring-like for Massachusetts today. It was finally in the 50s. Talk about a heat wave. Well my mind was in a spring. (Especially since all Red Sox players report to spring training today). I wore some light colors buttt it was still too cold to go barelegged like Kendi. A girl can dream, can she?

Here is another example of me wearing leggings as tights. Whenever I wear this dress, I always think that it is too short to wear to work so I wore leggings just to be safe. No one commented negatively about my outfit. (Probably because they were more concerned with the happenings in my classroom today). I wore flats today just to show everyone that its getting warm out today. Woo hoo.

One more day until February vacation.

How was your Thursday? Are you excited for the weekend?

Dress: H&M 

Tank: LOFT 

Leggings: Vera Wang for Kohls 

Shoes: DSW 

Belt: thrifted (from Rayna) 

Mixed Metals Valentine's Day

I am playing catch-up all week. Hence the reason why I am finally getting around to posting my Valentine's Day outfit. This is what I wore to school to teach my lovies (filled with lots and lots of sugar). I don't like wearing red because I am a redhead. I opted for mixed metals. If I were to wear this outfit again, I would add a chunky necklace and tone down the tights. Looking at the pictures, my legs look extra shiny. It almost looks costume-y instead of teacher chic. Oh well. I was excited to wear my chambray shirt again.

I did not have a Valentine this year but I was not anti-Valentine's Day like some single ladies. I spent the night with my girlfriends. We had sushi and play trivia at a local bar. It was great. I loved it but I was exhausted all day the next day! So much for going out on a school night, huh?

I know this a few days late, but how was your Valentine's Day? Did you spend it with someone special? Or did you have a fun night out with girls?

Shirt: JCrew

Skirt: JCrew

Tights: Old Navy

Shoes: DSW 

Headbands: F21

Casual Saturday

Hey Friends, I knowI haven't blogged in a few days. This was my first full week of a school in about 6 weeks and it really wore me out. (I can already hear the moans and groans of all you non-teachers out there). But, none the less, I am back.

Yesterday, I wore this while running a million and one errands. Turns out one of my errands was a jackpot in hiding. Let me tell you the story. My bank was just bought out my a larger bank so naturally there are a million and one issues. I went down to try and have them solve my problems. While solving my banking dilemmas, the teller discovered a long lost savings account in my name that money in it!! I can't even describe the feeling. I image this is what winning the lottery is like. Since this money was a new discovery, I decided to to buy XBox 360 Kinect. (Such a great decision!)

Also, I have to admit, I did some shopping at the LOFT. Everything was on sale and I had a gift card. I rationed it out in my head by saying that if I give up shopping for Lent (which I plan on doing) that would mean 3 months without shopping. So I justified it by reminding myself that I am giving up shopping for Lent. I am still sticking to the remix. I hope you don't mind!

Sidenote--I have a lot of hemming to do over February vacation in a week!

Shirt: LOFT

Cardigan: Thrifted 

Jeans: LOFT 

Shoes: SPORTO

Colored Tights and Dresses

Colored tights and dresses seem to be my winter wardrobe staple.

I'm finally getting the hang of this whole remix thing. I think I am much better remixing my winter clothes than I was with my fall clothes. I feel like in the winter I can add so many accessories to my wardrobe than in the fall. I guess that is because I am not a big jewelry person. In the winter, I add colored tights and cardigans and interesting boots. Maybe that is the benefit of growing up in New England, the ability to spruce up a winter wardrobe. Colored tights are my favorite accessory. It keeps things interesting especially since I hate wearing pants.

Dress: Old Navy

Cardigan: ??? 

Tights: Old Navy

Boots: DSW