Dreaming of Fall

The view taking the dog for a walk this afternoon. 

I love seeing all the bloggers and their adorable fall outfits. Such inspiration! Cool colors, fall jackets and vests, boots, sweaters...oh, my! All the while standing in amazing autumn hued backgrounds that set my heart aflame. Meanwhile, in my drought ridden, overheated little piece of earth, we are about to have record setting temperature this weekend...and not in the chilly way. It is supposed to be 90 degrees here Saturday. Say it with me....YUCK!!!! Well, at least I have plenty of fall inspiration to view while I am inside under the air conditioning wishing for rain. Here are some of my web favorites for the week.

I am all over Pinterest looking at fall outfit ideas. Here  are some of the many looks I am envying  right now.

Speaking of Pinterest, I am also getting sick of my long hair and pinning hair ideas like mad. What about this cute look? Or this one? Or this? I can't decide yet.

Boots! I am in need of some new riding boots for the weather change (crossing my fingers...soon please, soon!).  I really like these lace up ones and also the two-toned look of these.

I'm looking for some fall inspiration so here is some from other bloggers around the web. Over at Selective Potential there is a wonderful fall look that makes me want to run straight to the pumpkins. And, The Clothes Horse makes me want to go apple picking!  Of course, Kansas Couture has my thinking about red boots for the cooler weather.

I hope all of you dear readers are having a more fall like autumn than I and I hope you are enjoying it! Here is to hoping the nip in the air visits me soon.

The red blazer

Well, summer is almost at an  end here (for me at least). It's time to go back to class next week then back to school is just around the corner. Wow, where did my summer go? Oh well, I guess I'm ready, right? I'm trying to convince myself. Haha.

As for my outfit, I was meeting a friend from work and didn't want to be too casual. I still wanted my dress to be a bit summery as I am not ready to give up the bare legs and cute dresses. I took a pretty casual and sleeveless dress and added a nice blazer over it so that the dress would be dressed up a bit. It also added a great pop of red color to the black and white dress. The heels are new (from ModCloth) and I was so excited to wear them. They made a nice neutral statement on my feet.

Dress: Kohl's, Blazer: Macy's, Shoes: ModCLoth, Bracelet: Etsy

It was very sunny and bright outside. I was trying not to blink and ended up making very strange faces/

I love painting my nails, but I use my hands all the time for crafting, cooking, cleaning and everything else so my nail polish always ends up chipped the day after I paint my nails. I decided to try the new Sally Hansen Gel Polish in a pretty grey shade to see if my nails would look nice for longer. This was day 3 after applying the polish and my nails still look pretty darn good! I'd say that's a win in my book. 

New shoes! Always one of my favorite things. These are pretty comfy and very cute. 

Keep rollin'

Lately life has been a whirlwind of adventures. I think it always is, but it just seems especially busy lately.

I'm house sitting this little guy a few days this week. He may look cute but he can bark all day.

I wandered around the state legislature building and found this neat Nevada shaped mirror!

More mirror. Skirt:Target, Shirt: Modcloth.com, Shoes:dsw

In other news, I adopted this tiny little ball of fur who is taking up so much of my time. But she's just so adorable. This is Hallow!

Date Night White

I adore summer whites! I am not one who wears white often, but it feels so perfect in summer. I am pretty clumsy and usually end up with food or coffee (usually coffee) down the front of whatever I'm wearing, especially when I wear white. Oh, well. That won't stop me from wearing it.

I had a date night with the boy and wanted  something fun and light so I put on this dress and brought out my newish shoes. Put the look together with some cute earrings and it's time for a nice dinner on an outside patio. Hooray for summer!

Dress: New York and Co. , Shoes: Seychelles via DSW, Earrings: Charming Charlie, Lipstick: Clinique

 Strange facial expression but closeup of my cute earrings!

Summer break

Summer is in full swing here. As a teacher that means lots of relaxing and enjoying the summer sun…NOT. I have been working on lesson plans, reading school books, and creating classroom décor for next year. Plus, I have already started having dreams about my next class! Ahhh. Well at least I can take lots of breaks and go outside and play with the dog or go down to the river.  Well today I took an actual break and went out to lunch with a friend. It is nice to be able to get out of the house and dress up a bit.

 Owl Necklace! - Gift

 Shirt: Old Navy, Skirt: Boden , Shoes: DSW

 My favorite summer heels. They are wedges and so comfy!

My life lately

Lately I have been working on classroom projects and ideas and creating all kinds of things for my classroom for next year. Who says teachers don't work in the summer? HA! I have been busy all over the internet looking up ideas and such (thanks Pinterest!). Here are some links and such I found this week and been loving.

Picture from my word wall in my classroom. The kids love zombies!

Great finds for the classroom that can be found at the local hardware store!

WHAT!? A crayon sharpener that is not in the back of a crayon box!? Exciting!

I'm thinking of an owl theme classroom for this coming up year. This classroom has some great ideas for how to make it cute and colorful. 

I'm also looking up home ideas on Design Sponge. We just cleaned and donated a bunch of old clothes and household items and now I need some ideas for color and design around the house.

Also while browsing the internet I found these heels and ordered them.

I have been watching Orphan Black in a marathon while working as well. What a crazy show.

We are also thinking about adopting a kitten! I am super excited about this idea. I have been wanting another cat since our family cat passed a few years ago.  How excited am I!

Link for picture

Have a lovely day everyone!

Night and day

Sometimes you need to be able to change your look quickly from day to night. For me, this often happens at work. I go to work with a more casual and easy look generally. It makes working with kids much easier. For my day look, I wore sandles and kept my hair down and makeup light. This look is more simple and I could run errands and go about my daytime business.

 Dress: JCpenny, Shoes: DSW, Earrings: Charming Charlie

THis is my "It is really sunny and bright out right now" look. Too much sun in my eyes and I think Luna back there would agree.

 The evening look. For evening, a quick shoe change to some cute heels, a little bit more makeup, and the hair in a ponytail. A fast switch for when you have a date or drinks after work/errands.

 Shoes: Target

What about you girls and guys? How do you take a look from day to night? Any new ideas?

Inside the caves...under the ground

One of my biggest fears is mines. In Nevada, we have a lot of them, both new and old. This fear stems from my 4th grade field trip. First we learned all about Nevada history, then we watched a video about mines called Stay Out and Stay Alive (may not be the exact video but similar). Let's just say the video scared the heck out of me. The next day after the video our class was going on a field trip to visit a (safe?) mine. I was up all night with nightmares and terrible thoughts about this trip. When our class finally got up to the mine, I refused to go in and sat outside the whole time and to this day I still do not like being underground, mines, or even replicas of mines.

When the boy and I decided to go on our trip to Great Basin, we researched all the amazing things to do and see. One of these things that everyone seemed to recommend was Lehman Caves. It looked neat, but I wasn't sure I was going to be able to go. My fear stopped me. The night before we went I was once again having anxiety about the thought but as an adult I figured I could do this. Plus, caves are not man made like mines are, so there is a little bit more security there. Well, ladies and gents, I did it! I conquered my fear and went in. It was amazing and interesting and such a surreal experience. The pictures I have aren't great but we had to keep moving and I didn't have much time to set up. All I have to say is, conquer your fears. Go out and do something amazing.

  

Great Basin National Park!

I have a bucket list and part of it includes attempting to get to all the US National Parks. I love the wild, beautiful places of the world and it would be wonderful to get to them all. They are such important pieces of our nation and just amazingly beautiful. Plus, I have wanted to visit more since watching the Parks And Rec. last season and wishing I had Leslie Knopes job. haha.

Source for photo

The boy and I decided that we would pack up and take a road trip to our state's Great Basin National Park since we both were excited to see it! Of course it was better than we expected. Here are some wonderful pictures from the park. I'll try to let the pictures speak for themselves...

Bristlecone Pines are some of the oldest living organisms on earth. They grow in some of the harshest environments in the US. This one is at around 10,000ft. in elevation and just below a glacier. 

One of the southernmost glaciers in the US is in Great Basin but since we've been in such a drought, there isn't much left. 

 Wheeler Peak is the second highest peak in Nevada. 

Great Basin also has one of the darkest skies in the country. It is far away from most major cities so there is hardly any light pollution.

It was a wonderful trip (besides the flash flood warning) and I would love to go back again someday, I would highly recommend this park to anyone who wants to visit magical places with such rich wildlife and history. There are also caves inside the park, which I will post about next time. I just have far too many pictures for one post.