Happy Fall Ya'll

Fall is here!!  Just a few things I'm loving about it this week!!

{ONE} It's FALL PREMIERE WEEK!!!
I look forward to the Fall Premieres probably way more than I should.  I have a few new shows that I am gonna give a try!  And with the return of old faves, it's safe to say my DVR is on overdrive!  Last week I watched the premiere of Red Band Society on Fox!  It was pretty cute...and of  course I've gotta watch How to Get Away with Murder!  What new shows are you looking forward too?

#TGIT

{TWO} Autumn Wreath Yankee Candle
I've already been burning this for the last couple of days and I forgot how much I love the smell!  It's totally Fall-y and fabulous!!  I've had it for the last two falls (love the huge jar candles!) and will soon need another!  Can't wait for my school to have our Yankee Candle sale again!

Yankee Candle

{THREE} Lean Cuisine Butternut Squash Ravioli
Living this solitary life, sometimes it's just easy to throw a microwave dinner in!  Say for example, when you get home from work after Meet the Teacher and realize...it's 11:30, I better eat something today!  HA!  This is really, really yummy!  It's part of the new Spa Collection and I picked it up when it was on sale. It's so good, I'll keep getting it!  And butternut squash just screams Fall!!


{FOUR} The Fall Style Me Challenge 
On Monday we got a preview of the Fall Style Me  Pretty Challenge from Alison at Get Your Pretty On!  Registration opens TODAY and I'm once again going to participate after kinda slacking in the Summer Challenge and totally skipping the Work Wear Challenge.  I've really missed it and think I can totally rock this one with just the items in my closet.  I've missed the ladies and the FB group most of all! And I'll totally be blogging my looks each week so stay tuned!!

{FIVE} Summer Concerts Recap!
I officially bid summer adieu on Monday with a recap of the Summer Concerts I teased all summer on the blog!  Now I'm really ready for Fall!! Bring on the cooler temps, changing leaves, skinny jeans, and long nights in my blardigan!!  Read Monday's blog {here}!

Have a great weekend!!
Katie


Linking up today:
Lauren Elizabeth for High 5 for Friday
 
September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday!


A Little Bit of Everything, Momfessionals, and Grace and Love Blog for Friday Favorites...So Fun!!

My Summer Country Concert Series RECAP

FALL has officially arrived...although the daytime temps are still up there, it's great sleeping weather!  Even though I'm not actually doing much of that lately.  I have been back at work for a few weeks now and have realized I am totally slacking on the blog-front!  I really just can't seem to get settled into the year yet! I am a little overwhelmed, am doing a lot of after care, and like I said, am not sleeping!!  And people have noticed!  Don't you just love when people tell you " you look tired??"  Me either!!   HA!  The school nurse told me that since I no longer sleep, I am officially OLD!!  And to that I say thank you very much!!  UGH!!  But anyway...

I have teased a recap of my own summer concert series on the blog a few times and now that FALL is here and summer has officially come to an end (I'm typing and crying into my pumpkin ale!) I thought now would be as good a time as any!

Summer for me has always been a trip to the beach in North Carolina and one concert: Kenny Chesney!!! (It also used to be a cruise at the end of the summer, but since I've been on my own, it's been a few years since I've cruised!!) This summer, neither of those things came to be.  Kenny was not touring this summer and my family has decided to spend Thanksgiving down in the Outer Banks!

So I guess you could say that instead of one huge stadium concert this year, I went to SEVEN closer to home!!  I didn't really plan to go to seven, it just happened that way. And truth be told, it should have been 8, but I am still so upset about that one, I can't bear to discuss it!! HAHAHAHA!!

All of the shows were country!  It's my favorite type of music.  And I really do think more people like country these days than those that don't.  I like it because I can sing along!  And let me tell you...I sing along!  It's really cool too that we have so many venues close to home.  I saw shows at a local amphitheater, the beach, the Garden and the very first country show at the Barclays in Brooklyn!

The first show of the summer, May 30th, was Rascal Flatts, with Sheryl Crow and Gloriana at the Beach.  I had seen Rascal and Gloriana before but never Sheryl Crow so that was pretty much the highlight for me!  I went with my best friends.The bad news was that it rained and it might have been a little FREEZING...BOOOOO!!  But we made the best of it!

The next show was quite the surprise!  My mom ended up getting free tickets to the Band Perry at a local amphitheater, which we than ended up going to three more times!  A local radio station puts on a slew of shows there throughout the summer!!  The Band Perry was pretty freakin' awesome!  They were headlining the show that night and I got to see them again when they opened for Blake Shelton at the Garden on August 1st!

After the Band Perry at the amphitheater, we saw Darius Rucker and Joel Crouse (My sister's ABSOLUTE FAVE!!!) a little later in July. For Meghan, it was the best day ever!!  We met and had our picture taken with Joel!!  Meg took one by herself, then graciously let Mel and I hop in!  HA!!  And really, who doesn't love Darius?!?! HOOOOOTTTTIIIEEEE My pics of him were too blurry...thus un-blog-worthy!!

For my bestie and I it was part of a whole, 2 shows in a weekend, 3 in a week,  sorta deal that included Darius and Joel on Saturday night, Lady A with Billy Currington and Joel Nichols on Sunday night, and then later that same week, on Friday, our FIRST EVER BLAKE show at The Garden!!  And his first ever there!  He was AWESOME!!  Can't wait to see him when he comes around again!  And he sang Austin in a mullet....my night was made!!  My bestie and I realized that after three shows in a week (and two tailgates and a way too happy, happy hour before Blake, we might just might be a little to old for this!! (I might be crying again in my pumpkin ale!)   But in the words of Joel Crouse the week was EPIC!!

Yes, we were totally photobombed!  And then I photobomed some people...

After such a wild week, we got a break....until August 16th!  This time,  my entire family and best friends all went to see Little Big Town and Eli Young Band!  It was a fun time...and what would turn out to be my last show of the summer at the amphitheater. :(  Until next year Dierks!!

The last show of the summer was the biggest and most long awaited!!  Just this past Sunday I saw LUKE BRYAN at the Barclays! (With Lee Brice and Cole Swindell...who's new song I LOVE!!)  The first country show ever and my first show there!!  It was pretty amazing!!  And DAMN.... LUKE IS HOTTTT!!  Truth be told I've seen him before, but this show blew the other right outta the water!! We had the closest seats ever and I could swear Luke looked right at me a few times!! And then there was this....I mean really!!!

Unbelievable way to end an unforgettable summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think in 2015, the only show I'll be able to afford is KENNY!!! LOL

Thanks for reading and letting me share a bit of my summer with you!  Even if you aren't a country fan like me, I hope you found something in here to make you smile!



Now here's to FALL!!!  Skinny jeans, riding boots, infinity scarves...and the BLARDIGAN!!!

Katie 

Linking up for Manic Monday with On the Daily Express and More Pieces of Me

What I wore....this summer!!

Haven't linked up for What I Wore in a while!  I spent most of the summer in a bathing suit (as well I should have I suppose!)  But today I'm looking back on the summer that was! I've only been back at work a little more than a week, and sadly Summer ain't nothin' but a memory!!  HA!!  So I'm sharing a few of my favorite outfits that never made it to the blog!

A staple for me this summer were THESE shorts!  I have them in multiple colors and absolutely love them...wish I could afford EVERY color.  Last summer, I feel like I never wore shorts, but this summer I lived in them.  Whether it was my JCrew Factory shorts, my denim cut-offs or the few pairs of patterned shorts I bought, I grabbed them more than anything else! Funny too that this was a really chilly summer for us!

If I had a night out, my maxi skirt was my go-to!  This one from Nordstrom is super similar to mine!

On days I headed to the beach, my fedora and this Victoria Secret dress was my uniform!!  I got it about 3 or 4 summers ago.  It's on sale for $19.50 right now (and now I'm contemplating getting it in another color!!).

I thought I'd have worn my palazzos more this summer, but I didn't really!  I wore the pair shown for a sushi and wine date with my sister!  I feel like I need to get more tops to wear with them!

My vigoss destroyed jeans made an appearance with a variety of tops!  Perfect for nights when I was worried about moquitos!!  :)

Toward the end of the summer I bought these lace shorts after seeing them on Cassie at Hi Sugarplum!  I LOVE them...and may rock them all Summer 2015...still in style or not!!  

I hope everybody had a great summer and is looking forward to the Fall...long nights snuggled up in the blardiagan, days wearing leggings and riding boots and scarves, scarves and more scarves!  

As I get myself more into the new school year, I hope to blog more!  Until then, have fun and look FABULOUS!!

Katie

Linking up today with:
The Pleated Poppy, Get Your Pretty On, Because Shanna Said So, and Tucker Up

FRIDAY!!

Little late to the link-ups...it was BACK to SCHOOL week for me this week!!  WAAAAHHHHH!!!!

ONE

Back to School

Just kidding....a little part of me LOVED it!! Late posting because I didn't spend Thursday working on the blog, I spent it working on lesson plans!!  We have a new principal this year and he would prefer that we hand our plans in for the following week at 8 a.m. Friday morning! I however would much rather prefer to be writing my Friday blog post.  Soooo..I suppose I have to figure out to be more diligent with both my lesson plans and my blog!  I think it's a good goal for the year!!  I also have to figure out how to stand on my feet again...my feet are killing me!!!  And I wore flat sandals all week and they still kill me.  I wore these same sandals all summer long...I guess I didn't wear them for 9 hours at a time!  HA!

And this is what happens now...I found this on the bottom of my shoe last night!!  #teacher problems

TWO

Pumpkin Ale

September means Pumpkin Ale season...and no one is more pumped about it than me!! I had my first one this week after the first day of school with the kids (even though it was 90 degrees out!...because after the polar vortex of a summer we had summer actually decided to show up this week!  Always the way!) and it HIT THE SPOT!!  Pumpkin Ale, oh how I've missed you... next thing on my list, a pumpkin spice latte!  Which I have never had!!

THREE

R.I.P. Joan Rivers

Unfortunately we knew this was coming!!  Sure she was irreverent and ballsy, but it was funny!  She was all about the funny!  I'm kinda that way too!  And I loved her on Fashion Police.  It is my guilty pleasure!  I saw a picture online right after her death of her with Robin Williams, that said something like Heaven is a much funnier place now!  And I thought, how true that was!!

FOUR
Summer in an Insta!

Being back at school, it seems that summer's just a memory!  Check out my Summer in an Insta post here!

FIVE

Grab the tissues!!

Hate to leave on a sad note but I saw this floating around online this week and thought it deserved a share!  Super cute story!!  Have a great weekend!!  

Katie


Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for High Five for Friday, The Farmer's Wife  and September Farm for Oh Hey! Friday and Erika,Andrea and Narci for Friday Favorites!

Summer in an INSTA!!

Hard to believe summer is coming to end!!  The new school year is way too close for my comfort...like tomorrow!!! WAHHHHH!!!   I don't wanna go back.  Don't get me wrong...I love my job, I love the kids and I love my teacher-friends!  But I'm gonna miss the lazy days of summer!  I love the sleeping in. Even though these days, 7:30 is sleeping in! Sipping my coffee and reading blog posts in bed, lounging in the sun listening to my iPod for hours, margaritas, and I'll miss my TAN most of all!! LOL
BUT I am looking forward to FALL!!!  Wearing my riding boots and leggings and my booties and jeans again. Can't wait to break out all the clothes I bought at the Nordstrom Anniversary sale! Cuz...yea...I shopped this summer too!!

Even though I can't tell ya where the summer went, it was a great one!  I went to concert after concert (a separate blog post about all of them coming soon!!), had countless family BBQs, a few beach days and days by the pool and ate out a lot (maybe too much).  Went to a parade and some fireworks too!!

And I captured it all on Instagram!  This year I've been doing a daily photo #katiedaily2014... and I started my #100happydays on the last day of school, but along the way those 100 days got lost in the shuffle.  But isn't everyday of summer a happy day!?!?!

Here's some of my favorite photos (in absolutely no particular order!!):

Follow me on INSTAGRAM here!

Hello September... Have a Happy Labor Day!!

Katie

Linking up today with the Ladies at More Pieces of Me and On the Daily Express for Manic Monday!