FoF #TeamTeddy

Happy Heart Day, friends! Here are my two greatest loves (both in need of haircuts) showing off their #TeamTeddy love! Disclaimer: My husband would like everyone to know that he doesn't always look like this.. he's been working from home for two days and snow day festivities may have gotten the best of us yesterday!

Linking up with the ladies for another Five on Friday!

Weekend Things + Super Bowl Eats

Does anyone else find it kind of hard to blog on Sunday and Monday nights? My weekend recaps always end up appearing on Tuesday because I writing a post on Sunday seems daunting I usually get around to it on Monday evening but like for my posts to show up in the morning as opposed to evening. So that's why weekend recaps always come on Tuesday mornings. I know you guys are breathing a sigh of relief now that the mystery is solved! 

Our weekend was super low key. Friday afternoon, I played in a faculty basketball game with a bunch of other teachers from my school versus the local high school. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed seeing some of my former students! Afterwards, we hit up happy hour at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was my second time going to a BWW because the first time I went, one of the people I was with got violently ill from eating their food so I've stayed away! But it was nice to get out of the school walls and socialize with my colleagues, which is something I really don't do often enough!

Saturday I had a much needed hair appointment and then stopped by the mall to pick up a bridal shower gift We chilled on the couch for a majority of the evening and then I ended the night by FaceTime-ing with my sister while we both drank wine and folded laundry. Livin the dream, I tell ya!

Sunday, I went to Pop Physique early then my parents came into town for brunch. We went to Metropolitan and the food was pretty good! The drinks were really good, I had a Limnosa (Limoncello + sparklling wine) and a St. Germain Champagne Cocktail (St. Germain + sparkling wine + club soda) both so good! After brunch it was time to get cooking for the most boring Super Bowl in history. Seriously, what was that? I didn't even think the commercials were all that good. We were in bed by 8:30 watching This is 40. BUT we did make the delicious food below:

Baked Hot Wings adapted from recipe by House of Brinson
Ingredients:
Wings (I've used anywhere from 12-20)
Vegetable oil, enough to coat the wings
Salt and pepper, enough to coat the wings
Your favorite wing sauce
Directions:

Trim the wings and discard the tip
 Toss with vegetable oil, salt and pepper to coat
Place on a rack over a cookie sheet
Bake at 400 degree oven for about 40 to 50 minutes, turn wings over half way through
Sauce with your favorite sauce (Frank's Red Hot Wing sauce, in our case) and enjoy!

Baked wings are so delicious. They pummel fried wings in my opinion, not to mention they're a lot better for you. Note that I used my Pampered Chef large bar pan, which is stoneware,  instead of a metal cookie sheet to cook the wings on. I do this because in my oven when the oil inevitably drips onto the pan below, it sizzles too much and causes way too much smoke. My oven also desperately needs to be cleaned but that's neither here nor there :)

Pepperoni Pizza Pull-Apart Bread by Just a Taste
Ingredients:

For the dough:2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (1 envelope)

1/3 cup whole milk

6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

1/4 cup water

2 large eggs, at room temperatureFor the toppings:1/2 cup pizza or marinara sauce1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese1/4 cup sliced pepperoni2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:

They're really long. Sorry. I got a new computer and I'm still getting used to typing on it (I didn't think that would be a thing? But it totally is. Find myself hitting the backspace A LOT). I digress. Check out the directions here. 

I thought this bread was really good. The husband was not as big of a fan as I was, he thought the middle was too doughy. I personally don't mind that in a bread like this but next time I might up the temperature. I also think I  might add some onions and sprinkle on some garlic powder after adding the sauce. I might try it with sausage one day. And maybe bacon. Who knows! The possibilities seem endless with this bread. 

To end, I leave you with this picture of the Face, who is super shaggy and in desperate need of a hair cute but who is also incredibly cute and bored with the Super Bowl:

Happy Tuesday! But for reals, where is Friday?

Lately...

*I've seen these types of posts of other people's blogs and they are some of my favorite to read so I thought I'd try my hand at my own version*

Lately I've been... 

Munching.. these mini turkey meatballs by Giada. I use her recipe mostly as a base, it is very good!

Sipping.. tea, tea, and more tea.

Reading..  The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2). I love a good series and while this one does feel a touch like a Harry Potter rip off, I'm intrigued and its easy to read. 

Looking forward to..grad class starting tonight! You guys, I am so excited! I never thought I'd have such a strong inclination towards doing school work again.

Hoping..My body feels less achy soon. I fell off a desk at school 2 days ago while trying to put basketball hoops down. I am thankful I didn't seriously injure myself but damn, every muscle from neck down is stiff, achy, and in pain.

Thinking..I should probably give up carbs but the cranberry cheese I just bought tastes so good paired with bread!

Wanting..winter to be OVER.

On failure.. and success

Three weeks ago in my Lately post I wrote that I was hoping for a letter I've been waiting for to arrive.. it arrived last week and it said exactly what I was hoping it would say! I got into a Master's program for School Library Media and Educational Leadership. I am beyond thrilled. With the arrival of this letter, I started thinking about how I got here. The road here was not easy.

To say that I didn't do college right would be an understatement. Looking back now, I never should have gone to college right away. I had no idea what college meant, I had no idea what I wanted to do, and I was in a very precarious state in my life. My first stint at college was abysmal. My poor grades from those first two years have followed me everywhere. For the record, none of this was a result of partying too much or staying out too late. The precarious state I was in was the result of coming out of a horrendous breakup that left me floundering and unsure of myself for a long time. I also struggled with a series of illnesses at the time (sinus infection, pleurisy, strep throat, mono) that kept me out of school and led my physician to declare me the "sickest young person he had ever seen", during my bout with a serious case of strep throat. Regardless, had I been doing what I should have been doing returning to school after being sick would have been fine. But I hadn't been doing what I was supposed to be doing and being sick made finishing out the year successfully virtually impossible.

I moved home. I went to the community college in attempt to salvage my GPA and figure out what I wanted to do with my life. But I couldn't get anything to stick. I was still lost and reeling and at this point, felt pretty poorly about myself since I couldn't hack it a 4 year university like everyone else I knew. I had basically given up that ideal college life that everyone talks about -- I didn't experience college the way other people did. In between the dark moments, I made two lifelong friends and have some wonderful memories but mostly, that part of my life is filled with a lot pain and regret. I spent a couple of years at the community college and tried to get into various nursing schools but because of my previous grades, most schools weren't having it. I was rejected a total of 5 times. And it sucked. I felt truly lost and at times, I wasn't sure if I was ever going to amount to anything. It sounds dramatic but when all of your friends are graduating and moving on to law school, or grad school, or the real word and you still haven't figured it out, it takes its toll.

Eventually, I took a semester off. Just one. It's not true what people say that you'll never go back or you'll never start if you don't go right away. That one semester off did wonders for me. When I went back to school at a four year university the next year, I finally got it. I had a major I loved, in a field I was excited about and I truly felt capable to do what needed to be done. I worked my ass off and graduated with 3.8 GPA, Magna Cum Laude, close to the top of my class. After years of failing, trying, and then failing again, it felt great. 

I'm writing all of this because the process to get into this program was a bit rough  and it reminded me not only of the painful years I had leading up to a fantastic ending, resulting in a job that while challenges me, has grown on me significantly but also of these truths:

1. Choices you make in life can seriously affect choices you want to make down the road. I tell this to my students who get privileges revoked, "if you want to have choices, you need to make the right choices".

2.  Pursue that which you wanted to be as a child. Seriously, I distinctly remember my grandmother gave me a copy of  Dr. Seuss's My Book About Me when I was little and just learning to write and one of the pages said, "When I grow up I want to be... " and I wrote librarian. Life coming full circle right there. 

3. "I may not have gone where I intended to go but I think I ended up where I intended to be.." {Douglas Adams}. I'm often struck by these words when I think about how choices I've made, both good and bad, have led me to my life now. A life for which I am incredibly grateful. 

If you made it to the end, cheers! It feels cathartic to write this down and maybe this post might reach someone who is also feeling lost and unsure. To those, I say keep on keepin' on. There are good things to come, I promise! 

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Prissy's Ponytails Etsy Shop

Prissy's Ponytails has been updated with lots of new hair ties! Check out what's new below and pop on by the shop to see lots more prettiness!

The Valentine's Day Pack

The Peach Pink Polka Dot & Gold Chevron Pack

The Pink and Green Pack

The Mint Green Lattice & Gold Chevron Pack

The Champagne Polka Dot Pack

The St. Patrick's Day Pack

The Emerald Green Polka Dot Pack

Snow day... again

//via//

My school district has another snow day. Normally, I'm all for snow days but today was professional development and a day for getting grades finished so I would have liked to be there. It is so nice to have a whole day at school with no students, it gives teachers a time to catch up as well as plan ahead. 

This is exactly what happened the school year I got married. I didn't want it to snow at all so I could have the week off before my wedding and it snowed a ton and I ended up having to take off the last two days of school. The following school year was really tough for me and I was desperate for snow days and I think we got one. This year, we are scheduled to leave for Italy on June 17th and I would love the week off before we leave but with the snow days piling up, that's not going to happen! Oh well, it does give me ample to play catch up on all my housekeeping! 

Happy Tuesday, friends.

Hello

Welcome to Monday, friends. Hopefully you have the day off but I know many do not which is completely not cool, in my opinion. 

If you are working today, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Our weekend was lovely. One of those perfectly balanced weekends that I was definitely sad to see go last night. I didn't take any pictures so all you get today is words!

Friday we did our usual routine of sushi and red wine at our favorite neighborhood BYOB sushi spot. It is so good its unreal and with it being BYOB we usually get out of there spending less than $30. This makes the husband incredibly happy. 

Saturday we woke up early and did adult things like renewing our parking permits and vehicle emissions testing. After that, we had lunch with some friends of our friends who came down from Philly for the day. It was nice to catch up with them and baby Miller was in attendance, which is always a highlight! Saturday night it was pizza at another neighborhood favorite. We sat next to a newly engaged couple and I couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conservation... such a fun time in their lives! I may or may not have given them some unsolicited advice about the day of coordinator situation they were discussing (my advice: definitely have one)!

Sunday, I worked out with a friend in the morning and then it was off to a birthday party for my sister-in-law. It was nice to see the family and the pup got to run around with 2 children so she was happy and exhausted. Sunday night consisted of G doing work on the couching and me doing Prissy's Ponytails work at the kithcen table and True Detective viewing in bed. 

And now here it is Monday morning and "busy season" is officially here as G will be in and out all week. Early mornings and late nights will be the norm around here for awhile.

Wishing you all a great week!