J. Crew Excursion Vest

You guys! When I did my post on my fall wish list I left out the one item I have been coveting for the past two years! The J. Crew Excursion vest. I love vests, I wear them all the time in the fall. I have a grey fleece vest that is in heavy rotation once the weather cools down. However, I have been dying to add a classic navy puffer vest to my wardrobe. The problem is, I don't want it to be too puffy and I find that most vests are. The one from J. Crew however, is not.

Here is how I would style it.

Vest | Flannel | Jeans | Boots

A simple perfect fall outfit, right? If you haven't guessed by my outfit posts, I am definitely a keep it simple, keep it comfy kind of gal. One that dreams of being trendier though! I just always come back to my tried and true favorites though. 

P.S. The J. Crew Factory version of this vest in pink is too cute though...maybe I need both! 

Fall Wish List

The last few weeks it has really been starting to feeling like fall, unfortunately I have been so busy I haven't really had the chance to enjoy it. Right now my relationship with fall is scraping ice off of my windshield when I leave for school at 7 am. Not really the ideal.

Anyway, as the weather changes I always get the itch to go shopping and pick up some festive fall gear. I thought I would share a few of the fall items I've been coveting lately.

Buffalo Check Shirt | I love this flannel shirt from J.Crew Factory. I plan on buying it as soon as the price drops a little or there is a particularly good sale. It just looks so cozy and screams relaxing on the weekend. 

Floral Sweatshirt |  J.Crew has been killing it with fancy sweatshirts and I'm loving it. This one has great colors! Unfortunately its a little bit out of my price range. Boo! Well a girl can dream right? 

Ruffle Sweatshirt | Another J.Crew sweatshirt that I love! The ruffle is so cute! Too bad its sold out online. It was also vetoed by the boyfriend (partially because he didn't like it and partially because $80 for a sweatshirt is a bit extreme. I might recreate the look with a cheap navy sweatshirt and this ruffle top underneath. Much more economical, plus I can wear the top under nicer sweaters for work, double plus the color is also jeweled. Its a win, win, win! Thoughts on this plan?

Sperry Hayden Loafer | I have wanted a pair of penny loafers forever and I love this pair by Sperry. I have almost bought them so many times and I just never have. I feel like I just need to bite the bullet and do it already because I would wear them pretty much every day. 

Waffle Infinity Scarf | I loved this scarf last year but it sold out before I bought it. I'm so happy its back this year! I wear a scarf nearly every day so, this is definitely on my list of must buy/Christmas list. I think it would add a fun pop of color to my mostly monochromatic fall/winter wardrobe. 

Kate Spade Beau Bag | Ok this one is on here as more of a joke. I love this bag, its so perfect, but it is soooo far out of my price range its not even funny! But as long as I'm wishing I might as well wish big! This bag is gorgeous and classic with a fun twist. They come in a lot of bright colors and patterns, but I have to say the plain black is definitely my favorite. 

So there it is, from the definitely buying to a girl can dream, what I've been loving this fall. 

What have you been loving lately? 

Little Round Top

The weather this weekend was perfect! A little chilly yes, but sunny and the perfect day to bundle up a little and head outside. I am so fortunate to go to school in Gettysburg where there are so many beautiful national parks to walk around in! This week the boyfriend, puppy and I went to Devil's Den and Little Round Top for the afternoon. And it was gorgeous. 

Baby Bella being too good to look at the camera, what a diva! 

Dinosaur footprints on a wall near Little Round Top. They keep their location top secret so no one steals them. How cool!? There's a big one and a little one. 

Boyfriend looking extra rugged. 

How gorgeous is she? This picture is amazing, I may have it framed. 

The view from the top of little round top

Bean boots, perfect for fall walks. 

I feel like I never have any pictures of myself to post. These aren't particularly good pictures (I look a little windswept) but they're what I ended up with haha! 

In case anyone was wondering about my coat, there's a story behind it. I love the barn coat trend and ideally, I would have gotten a Barbour jacket but alas, I would never spend over $300 on a jacket. No way! So I went on the hunt for an alternative. L.L. Bean has a nice option, but I didn't really like it very much. So I found a men's jacket on Lands End and it was on sale at the time for $30. So I snatched up their smallest size in navy. Ideally it would be a little smaller, but it serves its purpose and I actually really like how it looks. Its the perfect jacket for fall walks or trips to the cabin.  

Bkr

I'm one of those people that carries a water bottle with me pretty much everywhere. I'm also one of those people that tends to leave water sitting around in said bottle for wayyyyy too long. All the information out there about plastic bottles leeching chemicals into your water freaked me out, even the bottles that are BPA free could still be putting nasty chemicals into your drinks. I mean you can even taste it if you've had water out of a bottle that has been hanging out too long.

So, I went on a search for an alternative. I tried metal bottles but they left a metallic taste that was worse than the plastic in my opinion. Finally, I came across glass bottles and I thought yeah right! I would definitely drop it and break it within a week.

But then I found Bkr and I couldn't say no. They are literally perfect. Glass bottles with a protective silicon sleeve that protects the bottle from breaks. Trust me, I have dropped mine several times and it has survived (if you drop it on cement or something it would probably break, but it handles regular falls fine). Plus they come in a million cute colors. The best part though is that they are completely recyclable, if for some crazy reason you don't want it any more you can just throw the bottle in your recycling. They are totally worth the $28, especially if you buy bottled water now. It pays for itself in a month.

I currently have one in Surf and one in Crush. I love both colors so much, I frequently switch them out. Confession, I frequently match them to my bag or lunchbox. Once you get one, you can't stop. Every time Bkr comes out with new colors I find myself drooling over all of the fun new colors.

Right now I love this gorgeous light blue called Boy. Maybe its because I'm obsessed with this particular color right now.

Surf | Crush | Boy

These bottles are the perfect size. They hold 16 oz. which isn't as much as some bottles but I can fill mine up frequently throughout the day so that doesn't bother me. They are coming out with a 1 liter bottle soon so that would probably be better if you were planning on using it for hiking or something where you couldn't refill it easily. I like that it holds less because it makes it way more portable, it seriously fits perfectly in the palm of my hand. Its just so comfortable to carry around. I also love that it has a small opening, similar to a glass soda bottle. This is a lifesaver! I've had wide mouth bottles in the past and I would spill it on myself literally once a day at least. With Bkr no spills!

Also, they aren't just for girls. They have a bunch of more boy appropriate colors for the man in your life. Guy or gal, everyone can get behind a stylish eco-friendly water bottle. Am I right?

Rocket | Ever | True

I also thought I'd include this cute image @mybkr tweeted a while back. I saved it to my computer because I was planning on painting it for a gallery wall project that I have in the works (more on that later). I don't know who to credit, but its so cute so kudos to them. 

What color would you choose? 

PS: Bkr is not in any way sponsoring this post. I honestly love this product and completely recommend it. 

Whats in my teaching bag?

Confession time, I LOVE when bloggers post about what is in their bag, does that make me creepy? There is something so revealing about what a person chooses to carry with them. I also feel like this obsession is totally a girl thing. If we ladies told boys that we liked to see what other women carried in their purses the would look at us like we were psychos.

Anyway, I thought I would do a mini version. I'm not going to dump out my bag and show you everything in it because its mostly trash (notes, candy wrappers, student's late passes that I for some reason feel the need to crumple up and throw in my bag). So, instead I'm going to give you the pretty digitalized version of what I keep in my bag when I'm off to a day of teaching.

Large Longchamp | I love my dark purple Longchamp bag. When I first saw these bags, I hated them, I thought they looked so stupid and not worth the price. But, the more I saw them, the more I liked them. Finally, when I studied abroad in France, literally everyone had one and the French make everything look so chic. Naturally I had to have on. I ended up getting mine on sale for about 60 Euros, which ends up being about half of what they cost in the states. I'm still not sure if I would pay full price for one of these bags, but hopefully I won't have to worry about that for a longgggg time. 

Vera Bradley Pencil Case and ID holder | I go through phases where I'm obsessed with Vera Bradley and where I can't stand it. Right now, I'm loving it specifically their pattern Indigo Pop. I just love all the colors in it and that the pattern isn't super loud or busy. This pencil case is great (I think technically it's marketed for make-up brushes) it has a liner so nothing gets on the fabric and if fits tons of pens/pencils. I also really like this ID case (If you've every been on a college campus anywhere I'm sure you've seen this before). I throw my school ID, college ID, drivers license and bank card in here with my room key on the loop so I can just grab it and go without worrying about my whole wallet. 

Marvy Le Pens | I have a whole set of 20 (I just featured some of my favorites in this picture) I use these pens constantly for teaching they're great for quick notes and I love all the colors for grading papers. Using red/blue all the time would get boring. 

Macbook Pro | This one is a no brainer. I do pretty much all of my work on my lap top so it is a must have. Just in case you were wondering I am a die hard Mac fan. You can't even say I'm a poser because I convinced my mom we had to have a Mac for our first computer when I was 7 (helllooooo 1999). 

Incase Laptop Sleeve | Confession, this is not the laptop sleeve I own. I have a gross grey one that I hate and I only bought because it was the only one for my size computer when I went to Staples right after I bought my laptop. It is also about four years old now and in much need of an upgrade. So as soon as I have the heart to part with $40/Christmas comes around, I will be getting one of these pretty purple neoprene sleeves. 

Agenda | I got my agenda from Barnes and Noble. It has all the things I like in an agenda. A box for each day of the week and lines in each box. I don't think I would get another one though just because the paper is kind of thin so you have to be careful which kinds of pens you use. 

EOS Lip Balm | I'm a chapstick-aholic. I carry it with me everywhere. Lately I made the switch from your typical everyday tube to EOS lip balm. Let me say I'm a convert. It took me a little while to get used to it but now that I have I'm obsessed. There are so many great flavors and how cute is the container. The best part, it's mostly organic and contains no petroleum. Right now I'm rocking the Pomegranate Raspberry and it's completely fab. 

Running

Over the summer I had a lot of free time after work, so I started running. I am completely the type of person that never goes to the gym and finds working out boring. I never thought I would become a runner, but lo and behold after a few months of running most days I was able to run pretty far. I was extremely proud of myself and as summer neared its end I promised myself that once the semester started I would keep running. I failed miserably. Once I started student teaching began I was too exhausted to even think about running.

Then, this weekend I just had enough. I was stressed and restless and sick of being inside working while the weather outside was absolutely gorgeous! So I put away my work and went for a run and it felt awful, haha! Not running for two months will do that to you. While I didn't feel good while I was running (or like 20 minutes after), I felt accomplished and at least a little de-stressed. It was nice to turn off the teaching part of my brain and just focus on running.

I have no expectations that I will keep running consistently during the week, I'm just too tired and I always have a ton of work to do. However, I do hope that I can find the motivation at least on the weekends.

Sappy personal story aside, I thought I would throw in some of my work out recommendations. Sometimes I feel like a splurging on clothes is fine, workout clothes are not one of those times (except good sneakers, those are a must). Seriously why would I spend a lot of money on something I'm just going to sweat in? My go to for workout clothes lately has been Target. They have seriously great stuff that is pretty good quality and reasonably priced. Plus its just as cute as the expensive stuff. You can't beat that!

1. T-shirt | Simple and cute plus it comes in a lot of colors.

2. Leggings | This one seems pretty self explanatory. As the weather cools down, its time to put away the shorts in favor of something a little warmer. A simple black legging does the trick.

3. Headbands | I love these bright headbands to keep my hair out of my face.

4. Nike Revolution Sneakers | I really like these sneakers. They weren't super expensive but they are good quality and they look good if I wear them when I'm not working out.

5. Apps | I like to use Runkeeper to track my runs. Unfortunately this app works using GPS so its not very helpful when you move inside. I've never found this to be a huge drawback because the treadmill keeps track of that anyway. This app is easy to use and offers workout plans from beginner to advanced. I also use the NPR app when I'm running. Most people listen to music during a workout, but I prefer to listen to NPR. Why not catch up on the news while I'm running? Besides it gives me something else to focus on other than how miserably out of shape I am.

6. Brk Glass Water Bottle | I LOVE this water bottle. Its a little more expensive than most water bottles but it is worth every penny! It is the perfect size and shape. Plus I have really been in to replacing glass with plastic. Its just so much better for you, no nasty chemicals leaking into your water (this is especially important for people like me who leaves water bottles sitting around for days and then drinks them).

When your run looks like this why wouldn't you want to keep going? 

Autumn

Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year (second only to summer of course). By the time cooler weather rolls around I'm excited for hot beverages, fall clothes and crispy leaves. I feel like this print below pretty much sums up all the wonderful things about fall (P.S. you can download this print for free here, it would be perfect for easy fall decorating).  I spy a pair of moccasins, we all know how much I love them. It also has given me an itch to finally go in search of the perfect shade of red lipstick, does anyone have any suggestions?!

image

One fall favorite not included is going for long walks; kicking around leaves, stopping for coffee, what could be better? Here are some pictures of a recent fall walk around my college and the battlefields (have I ever mentioned I go to school in Gettysburg which means the ideal beautiful places for walks, runs and sunsets). 

How gorgeous are those skies?

What are your favorite parts of autumn?

Essie's After School Boy Blazer

I love Essie polish. They have great colors and they last forever on my nails without chipping. Their collection this fall is great. Since it came out I have been dying to get my hands on their navy color After School Boy Blazer. Every time I went somewhere to look for it they were either sold out or hadn't stocked it yet. So frustrating!

Then I made a trip to Target this weekend and there it was! I snatched it up and painted my nails in it that same night.

Essie After School Boy Blazer

Verdict? Its fabulous. It is really dark (espicially in this picture), but you can definitely tell it's blue. I think it looks edgy but still classy. I feel like this will be my go to color for this fall. 

Veggie Cream Cheese

I love bagels and cream cheese. I used to work at Dunkin Donuts so I would eat them constantly. My two favorite combos became blueberry bagels with blueberry cream cheese and everything bagels with veggie cream cheese. This is perfect because your only choice had to be did you want sweet or savory?

A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I were craving some veggie cream cheese, instead of buying a container of it, we decided to try making it. How hard could it be right?

For the first time in the history of the world, the answer to that question was NOT AT ALL! Veggie cream cheese turned out to be super easy to make. Plus the homemade kind is way yummier than the pre made stuff, not really a surprise.

I also imagine that using fresh veggies makes it a little better for you since there's less processed junk. I'm not totally sure about this/it depends on the brand you buy.

Anyway, this past weekend we made it again with a few minor adjustments and its just the bomb. I knew I had to share it. So here it goes a super easy recipe for veggie cream cheese that you'll kick yourself for not thinking of.

Ingredients: 

Cream cheese

Radishes 

Bell Peppers

Scallions 

Garlic 

Step 1: Dice some fresh veggies, the smaller the better.

P.S. Don't forget to add the garlic (half a clove goes a long way) 

P.P.S. How cute are those tiny bell peppers

Step 2: Mix veggies and cream cheese, we used a mixer but I imagine you could do it by hand to. It helps to soften the cream cheese in the microwave first.

Step 3: Serve on toasted bagels 

Voila! Thats really it! So easy right? Plus you can add whatever veggies you like. Confession, we chose ours based on what would add the nicest colors. I bet it would also be good with some type of spicy pepper added. 

Let me know if you give it a try and what veggies you tried in it! 

Football

Confession, I like watching football. I have always liked it but this season I have become completely obsessed. I blame my boyfriend who lives and dies by the Eagles games. Even when he's not around I find myself yelling at the TV (don't tell him I said that).

This week I'm so excited I get to watch with my boyfriend at his house which means: big TV and great food. As opposed to watching in my dorm room on a 13 inch TV that's older than I am with only microwave popcorn to munch on. 

I am a firm believer that the food makes the game. I guess that's my inner girl speaking, I love getting into the kitchen to cook some football snacks. 

Anyway, in honor of the game this week and the boyfriend's birthday, I've decided to paint my nails Eagles green. It doesn't hurt that this polish is amazing and looks fabulous for fall no matter what team you root for!

Angela by Julep

I love love love Julep's nail polishes! In my opinion the $14 retail price is way too expensive for nail polish, but they have some killer sales! I got Angela (the green above) in a set with a similar emerald glitter polish for $7.00. So keep an eye out for some great deals because this brand is totally worth it. I'm sure I'll be posting more colors in the future because I'm kind of obsessed with painting my nails.

My Uniform

So going in to student teaching the thing I was freaking out most about was what to wear! You'd think that would be the least of my worries, but I was seriously concerned about dressing up every day. Now that I'm a few months in I have definitely settled into a routine. Now I have two looks that I alternate between. I call them comfy chic and they're still professional. The best part is these looks are totally acceptable around campus so I don't have to worry about changing right away.

Look #1: Layered button down + Sweater and J.Crew Minnie pants

Look #2: Pencil skirt and a long sleeved t-shirt (Now that its cooling down I've added tights to this look) 

A note on Minnie Pants: These are the most comfortable pants ever, they are worth the splurge. They are like leggings for grown ups, but they definitely still have a dressy flair. 

What are your go to outfits for work/school 

Watches

When I started student teaching I quickly realized I was in desperate need for a watch. When I was younger I wore a watch every day, then mine broke and I never replaced it. It really wasn't necessary since I got a cell phone. However, now when I'm in school, I can't whip out my phone during class to check the time and my class room only has one clock which I can't see from my desk. So, for the first week or so I spent most of the day with no clue what time it was. Let me tell you, it sure makes the time drag. So I finally bit the bullet and shelled out the cash for a nice watch, and I couldn't be happier!

I got the Fossil Georgia watch in rose gold. Its so elegant but it can also be worn casually. The color goes with gold and silver jewelry. It goes with literally every outfit I've thrown at it. The best part, it was on sale when I bought it! My only complaint is it's a little lose on me but I have tiny little baby wrists. It is adjustable though (I had to take two links out and if I took out another it wouldn't clasp). 

Georgia Watch 

I highly recommend this watch, I'm so glad I bought it. 

Stress Relief

I took an extended hiatus from blogging. Honestly, I have no excuse except I was not making my blog a priority and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I have been going through some major life changes in the last few months. I started my last year of college and I started student teaching. I'm not going to lie it has been a lot harder on me emotionally than I thought it would be. The teaching isn't hard, but the lifestyle is. I'm really struggling with waking up early and feeling constantly exhausted. I feel like I'm not really enjoying life, I'm just trying to get through each day. I'm wishing my life away until the next weekend and I can finally get some sleep. I'm also questioning whether or not I even want to be a teacher any more. I like working with my kids, but I feel like my whole life is a blur.

Because of all of this PLUS lesson plans, I have been really stressed lately. I feel like I'm constantly on the edge of an emotional, lack-of-sleep induced breakdown. I have been working really hard to make sure I have some wind down time every day, some time just for me. I usually fit this time in after my shower when I'm all warm. I change into my pajamas, take out my contacts and cozy into bed. I like to watch an episode or two of a T.V. show and write in my journal. This is a great way for me to deal with what's on my mind and really hash it out. It's seriously like the stress floats out of me and on to the page. If you don't write in a journal, you really should. I always feel...clean when I'm done. Another favorite past time is painting my nails mostly because it makes you sit still and relax for 30 mins.

Pajamas | Glasses | Fountain Pen | Essie Bikini So Teeny

P.S. Can you tell I'm really digging this pretty shade of light blue right now? Very relaxing.