Plaid, Vests, and a Batman Sighting....

I wore this outfit the during Christmas break and Grant always like to "help" me take pictures.  I couldn't bring myself to crop him out of he pictures. It was actually a pretty nice day, perfect for a vest for me and Grant's new Batman hoodie for him.  He's pretty much living in it, and along with wearing his new Super-man light up shoes he's definitely the most stylish three year old. :). On this particular day Grant and I went to a paint your own pottery place and Grant painted a plane figurine. Then we went to eat lunch at a pizza place that is really popular here.  We had a really nice little date together. It's so nice that he's getting big enough for fun activities like this. 

Keep It Simple

Whelp, back to school today. Whomp, whomp.  Break has been great, I've had some time to myself and some great time with family too. Today is a workday and I have grades to finalize and lesson plans to write.  

As for my outfit, I'm going to come out and say it, sometimes layering a shirt under a sweater is just too much work. Seriously. Getting the arms and collar just right is the last thing I want to do when I'm already tired in the morning, and having to get up early for the first time in weeks. So, today I am keeping it simple with this red vest and my Stella and Dot necklace, and that's ok. I love the overall ease of this, and it's perfect for looking put together and cozy at the same time.

Fair Isle Love

When I saw this sweater in red on Jessica at Bows and Sequins I was in love.  I ended up being able to get it in blue the day of after Christmas for half price and seriously want to wear it every day.  I decided to pair it with my new white vest which I was able to get for a steal at Sears. I'm also really excited about my new watch I got for Christmas. If you follow me on Instagram, you already got a sneak peak.  I totally love it!

I wore this on Tuesday. Grant, Bran and I went to the Children's Museum. We'd bought a family pack of gift certificates at a silent auction recently and decided to use a few of them over Christmas break. The holidays have been so busy we haven't been able to just do something as a family, so it was really nice.

Black and Neon

I wore a version of this outfit last winter and truly couldn't wait to wear it again. This year I added tights,  booties and my new black vest. I also decided to try my neon necklace and I love the bright pop of color and how it contrasts with the black. 

Today marks the beginning of my Christmas break and I am totally ready.....so are the kids.  We have an end of the semester "fun" day today and then we're out of here!  Two weeks off will do us all some good! Grant is still going to go to daycare on Monday so I can get some last minute Christmas stuff done and that'll be a nice little break for me too.

Have you entered my giveaway for $200 in Amazon cash yet?

What I Am and What I'm Not.

I don't know about you, but I can let my weaknesses be things I focus on instead of my strengths. Today I thought I'd lay out some of the weaknesses that are bugging me right now, and probably more for myself a list of things I can do well. Let's start with the weaknesses:

1. I stink at tweeting.  Seriously.  I think I might just be too old to keep up with the young "hipster" who tweaks with ease about their delicious breakfast muffins....
2. I am not good at saying no to chocolate, as is I have a serious case of "Eat all the Chocolate."  We rarely keep it in the house because if we did, I would need new pants.
3. I am not very patient with Grant at bedtime and it kind of makes me feel like a bad mom.  Let's face it, I'm tired at 8:00 and I don't have the patience for shenanigans like, "I want another kiss, drink of water, story, song, etc."  I wish I was better at this.
4. Sometimes I just want to be a person, not Grant's mom, Brian's wife, Jesse's teacher, but I totally stink at ever taking time for myself.  My one outlet is this little blog, which I totally appreciate.
5. Once I get an idea on the brain I have to go, go, go until it's done.  This is rarely healthy.  Take a chill pill, Ginny.

So, can any of you relate? Please tell me I'm not alone. : ) Now, to my strengths:

1. I am good at staying caught up on laundry, I used to wait until the weekends, now I do a load every time a hamper happens to be full.  It's the little successes, people.
2. I am good at waiting to buy until there's a deal, rarely do I buy anything at full price and I always end up being happier in the end.
3. I work with some great people and therefore it helps me to become a better teacher each day and my kids are successful because of it.
4. I (usually) have a pretty good sense of self worth and don't often dwell on things I can't control. For whatever reason I have a good "bounce back" gene.
5. I'm good at forgiving and getting over situations. I'm usually not one to hold a grudge. To me, no good comes from that.

Whelp, the strengths were more difficult to write! I think no one wants to feel like eyre bragging, but it's important to celebrate our strengths. Your turn, what are you good at????

Now to today's outfit: I'm styling my new black vest again.  I seriously love this thing and decided to pair it with this hounds-tooth sweater I snagged at Forever 21 for a mere $8! I love how it came together and think I might try it like this next time.  So cute, right? What did I do before blogs and Pinterest.....

Pinspiration

 I've really been trying to work on some more casual looks (that I can also get away with wearing to school).  A few weeks ago Tara wore black and red together with boots and I absolutely loved it. Then I pinned this.  I was sold! Around that time I was at J.Crew Factory and picked up this sweater, along with a number of other great J.Crew Factory options.  Great wool basics like this were definitely missing from my wardrobe! I was also on the hunt for a great black vest and Whitley posted on Instragram that Sears had this vest on super sale.  I love how this look came together and have some many outfit ideas for this vest in the future it's ridiculous.

Linking up with Glossy Blonde today.

Chelsea and Ginny Take On: Black Friday

This week Chelsea and I are taking on Black Friday!  I'm definitely not a "get up at 3:00 and shop all day" kind of girl, but I do like to go out for a couple of hours to try to snag up a few deals.  When it comes to Black Friday I think it's important to think about what you wear.  Here are some of my thoughts:

• To me, there's nothing worse than being too hot inside with a coat, but freezing outside, because you don't have a coat, so wearing a puffer vest is perfect.  
• I also think it's important to consider what you're shopping for. If you're looking for boots, you should  wear skinny jeans so you can make sure they work with the jeans.  Trying to find tall boots while wearing bootleg or flare jeans just doesn't work well. 
• Same thing goes for shirts, if you're on the look out, don't wear multiple layers, it will make changing in the dressing room no fun.  Keep it simple with a sweater and camisole. 
• Comfy shoes are important too, these boots are Borns, so they are super comfy for being on my feet all day. 

I'm super excited about today's outfit.  Recently I made made the (ten minute) trek to our brand new outlet mall, and if you follow me on Instagram you saw the loot I happily found at Gap and J.Crew Factory. I've been working to create some more put together casual looks and pinning quite a few too, so when we went to the outlet I had casual looks on he brain.  I was excited to find this sweater at J.Crew Factory, the back is green and it has ELBOW PATCHES!  I'm only slightly excited about this.....  I also knew I wanted a vest like this.  I wasn't crazy about Target's option when I saw it in person, and and the J.Crew Factory version (not online) was still $108. Luckily, Gap had an option I really liked (sold out online) and it was 50% off due to the grand opening.