kids= cute

if i don't have any work to do at night, i always end up at my laptop. stumbling upon obscure blogs. creepin' some family i've never met.

so tonight i found this blog (via dear baby) and the author has a whole section devoted to the hilarious things her son says. what a fabulous idea! [i laughed out loud multiple times & when i read J. a quote, he said, "i hope our kids are that funny someday"]

speaking of funny quotes, a bunch of my students are reading the latest "diary of a wimpy kid" book and there are sooooooooooo many funny parts in it. i was cracking up as they read aloud to me this afternoon! gosh.

be my guest (or rather, i'll be yours!)

i'm a guest blogger!!

long before i was even dating, i stumbled across this: a wedding for under $2000!!

i was addicted to reading the blog and practically memorized every single post: the community focus. fun touches to make it unique. their emphasis on making the day personal. the idea of marriage-based conversations, as opposed to wedding-based conversations. the do-it-yourself-ness. mexican food. the fact that the flowers came from a nearby field. all = awesome!

sooooooo i randomly checked the blog again for updates right before we got married and noticed that the author was soon to have a new baby & wanted guest bloggers. i figured she already had plenty, but emailed just to see...

and she invited me to blog! and today it got posted. hooray :)

you can read my post here.

some awesome deals!

i've mentioned before that i regularly read this blog. then today melissa blogged about this company. and even though the clothes are darling and the deals are so sweet (!!), i can't make any decisions because it still feels like winter here. icky & rainy all week. darn.

if i were to make a purchase, it would be one of these two:

the trickiest part is that i'm afraid they'd be too short to wear to work. and i can't really justify buying a new dress just to wear for fun.

AND another tricky part is that i already have a striped cotton dress (although it's over 3 years old....and i have to wear a tank top underneath it...).

sewing project #1

hooray! yesterday i traded in the ancient sewing machine my grammy gave me in order to get a new (awesome) machine.

today i finished my first project: new pillow covers for the guest bed! they look PERFECT & i'm so incredibly happy.
the colored fabric was originally bought at a yard sale in college for about a buck. then we used it as the backdrop for our wedding photo booth [see below]. then i chopped it up to make pillow covers.the white/tan fabric i bought at my local sewing shop for a dollar per yard. i still have lots of leftovers for future decorating!

friday night in the city

melissa got a deal from groupon and has been asking us to go downtown with her to max brenner chocolate. it was GORGEOUS out last night so we headed there with the windows down.
we ate AMAZING chocolate & enjoyed the city energy. then we walked to rittenhouse square and sat on a bench to talk and people-watch.

things i love in my kitchen

because i realized my blog is bordering on boring lately & because i wrote yesterday that i wanted to take more photos, i took a bunch of pics last night.

first up: things i adore in my kitchen. it's quickly becoming a place i love to spend time in. although in the heat of summer, i do NOT love how insanely hot the oven makes it. but i digress.
1. i LOVE my food processor. i use it all the time. my favorite thing to make is definitely guacamole. we polished off a ton of it with tacos last night...
2. in the late afternoon, the light shining through this window sets the room aglow. it looks amazing and i'm so relaxed to be working in such a gorgeous setting!
3. we got this recipe book as a shower gift and it's awesome. the recipes are on big index cards which fit into the photo pockets perfectly & are protected from spilled ingredients. i can also rearrange often and put frequently used recipes in the front.
4. i adore my fiesta ware. it makes me so happy to cook & eat & even to load/unload the dishwasher.
5. these canisters were one of our best registry items. they seal well so dry ingredients don't spoil. the jar on the left is from my grammy's basement & i love that it stands out from the others, but coordinates well.

a few things real fast

golly i'm so happy it's the weekend. especially since it's gorrrrrrrrrgeous outside right now! i was dying to get out of school and play play play.

this has been a stressful work month so far & we're barely halfway done. my kiddos have state tests this week and report cards next week. they are super squirrel-y. and mean. yikes.

something cute from yesterday: as i was showing the kids slides/photos from japan's disaster, one spoke up about wanting to do something to help. another class is leading a math-a-thon, so she wondered why we couldn't organize a fundraiser for japan. 2-3 more said, "yeah!" and most of the class nodded their heads. [oh my little darlings!] i said we'd have a meeting about it next week & i'm so incredi

something cute from today: "mrs. alberts, can you imagine your dad bald?" [haha. random]

i seriously wish i took more pictures. maybe i'll take some tonight when we're downtown for delectable chocolate desserts, courtesy of groupon. YUM.


my parents are coming thru town on sunday & that makes me thrilled! this will be my first time hosting them since being married.