Happy Halloween!! When I was little, I was all about Halloween. I rocked some super cute costumes too! I was a clown (my first costume ever, I think!), Rose Petal (a fave), a Care Bear, a witch, and countless other things over the years.
These days I'm content just watching the kiddos have fun! So I'll just be handing out the candy and admiring the costumes today...wishing this was acceptable!
If you are headed out with your kids, have a great day and be safe! Or if you're dressing up and headed to a party tonight, I want to know what you're going as!! Let me know in the comments below!
Did this week just fly right on by for anyone else?? For me it went super fast, which I guess is a good thing! It was a quick week...here's a lil recap of some faves!
Happy Birthday Bestie!
Saturday night I went out to dinner to with my bestie and her family to celebrate her turning 35. It was a great time! Originally, I wasn't going to be able to go but I switched thing around so I could make it. So glad I did!
My new kitchen table!
Bright and early Sunday morning my brother-in-law's and I went and picked up my new kitchen table. It fit's six...so it's bigger than the one I had. Can't wait to have Friendsgiving dinner around it! And bonus: my old table is now a desk in my guest room!!
Meeting Miss Kacey!
Monday some teacher friends and I went an met Kacey! She is the brand new daughter of another teacher friend of ours and fellow blogger friend, Jamie. I have mentioned Jamie a few times on here. She blogs over at Living, Loving and Crafting in the Country. Go check her out to hear about the birth of sweet Kacey...it was wild for poor Jamie.
Trunk-or-Treating
Last night at school we had our first annual Trunk-or-Treating and school dance. Has anyone ever heard of this?? It was really cute!! All the families decorated their trunks and the kids went around and trick-or-treated. I don't have any pictures, but can I just tell you...the families went all out!! Those trunks were decked!! It was a safe way to trick or treat and fun for all the kids. Lucky for the kids, they don't have school tomorrow! We teachers have a PD Day....#thumbsdown
Speaking of Halloween....
I got a sweet Halloween surprise in the mail from one of my favorite blog friends, Deena!! She sent me sweet treats from her home in Canada!! Including these KETCHUP chips! What?!? They are so good...why don't we have them here in the states. The closest thing I compare them to is our Barbeque chips! And they pair perfectly with wine!! :)
Who's looking forward to Halloween?? I'm not all that into Halloween. I enjoy seeing my nieces and nephews and the students in costume, but I think I could do without it. Usually, I don't have many trick-or-treaters (actually, last year I think I had none!) but this year with the holiday being on a Saturday, I'm not so sure. I better get some candy!! This is the extent of my Halloween decorating and my thoughts on the subject...
Have a fun one and a great weekend!! Don't forget....we get an extra hour this weekend! WooHoo!!
Now that it's the end of the month, I
can say I officially failed at the Create 28. I have also been a
blog fail! I have had issues with my computer and internet...a great
source of aggravation. I upgraded my laptop to Windows 10 thinking
this might help but, of course it has not! I have resorted to
writing my posts in Word and copy and pasting them in. Adding
pictures when I can, with the super spotty wi-fi! I think it's
getting to the point where I need to call someone! I used to be able
to post sometimes from school (which I know I shouldn't do), but ever
since we upgraded our school's server this summer, everything's is
blocked...LOL
But anyway, back to what I've been
wearing! I did well following along with the Create 28 Challenge
with Carrie, Casey, and Whitney, the first few days, but then my
participation fell flat. I mentioned here, that I've been in a Fall
Funk lately and this is still in full effect! HA. There were often days I wore the prompts but never took pictures....long cardigan, jewel tones, moto look, patterned bottoms, flares (which I wear every other day!)...again, blogger
fail! Other times I did the prompts, just on the days of my
choosing. So for the handful of days I participated, here are the
looks I came up with!
Starting with a question for you, my readers though! One day was a look with moccasins.
I skipped this day, but ended up finding these in my closet later.
Thoughts....do these count as moccasins??
Another day was a blanket scarf look.
Since my go-to fall look featured the blanket scarf, I went with a
blankety infinity instead. I actually really loved this look. I
wore it for my town's Fall Festival a few weekends ago. Day 27 was a vest look! This was my scarf AND vest look...
And speaking of blanket scarves, I was
so excited to find out this week that I WON one from a Giveaway I
entered on Facebook sponsored by Screaming Owl!! Woo Hoo...I am so
excited to get it in the mail soon!!
You might remember that I declared
October my own #shopsmall month. I am doing well with that. I
purchased this dress from Posh My Gosh, a shop I found on Instagram and it fit
perfectly for the Fall dresses prompt. I LOVE THIS DRESS!! I've
worn it with leggings and riding boot and just with OTK boots too!!
I am also planning to wear it on Thanksgiving. It's light, easy and
nonrestrictive...perfect for turkey day!!!
This past Saturday called for a camo
look. I went with my camo jacket. I've been wearing it daily since
the weather has been perfect for it!!
Sunday's prompt called for an aztec print look...I went with this sweater I bought a year or so ago at Piper Street. (They have lots of updated aztec sweaters for this season too!) This outfit was the perfect look for going to pick up my new kitchen table on a rainy Sunday morning! Haha
Well there ya have it....or my attempt at least! Anything you liked? Let me know in the comments below!
This past summer on the day of the Kenny Concert, I did a Six on Saturday post with all my favorite Kenny songs! Since I'm obsessed with my Google Chromecast lately and have been casting music ever since I got it, I thought I'd do another Sing Along!
You know I'm a country girl at heart, but I've been switching it up lately. I can cast You Tube videos to my TV and when I just wanna listen uninterrupted for a while (save for those pesky ads!), I've been searching new music mixes! People put together playlists of hours of music! Here's some new music I'm loving lately....
This just came out this week! I first heard it on You Tube and now have been reading everywhere that people are in tears over it. I wasn't...but it's a great song!! (I could have done without the F bomb thrown in there but...) I've been a fan of Adele since the beginning!
I *might* have cried during this one!! Not really sure why...because oddly enough, it makes me wanna dance! I really like Gwen!
In my Currently post earlier this week, I talked about the band Explosions in the Sky! I've been listening to this song on repeat all week. This music is great to have on when working on lesson plans, doing the dishes or blogging!
Please don't unfollow me or never read the blog, based on this next song!! LOL If I'm being honest, when I first heard it, I didn't know it was One Direction. I was cooking dinner and just listening! C'mon...It's a catchy little tune!
I'll leave you with two cool duets. This song is not new but listening to country 99% of the time, I'm not up with the music in other genres! This acoustic version of Shawn Mendes' Stitches is super cool!! I just love acoustic!!
This next duo, Rad and Kell, you might not have heard about. I know their music thanks to my cousin who is a close friend of theirs!! They uploaded an awesome version of this John Legend/Meghan Trainor song! They write and sing their own music as well! They have a second EP coming out Tuesday. Really talented!! Enjoy!!
Hope you found something you can Sing along to this Saturday!! Have a fabulous day...make it a great one!
It was another quiet week for me...saw no one but my co-workers! HA!! But there's always something to reflect on. And this week's five have a pretty fall-y theme!! So here goes...
First things first! My very favorite thing this week...
My very first post over at The Blended Blog! Woo hoo!! Check it out here!
A few posts ago, I declared October my very own #ShopSmall month. I've been doing well with that. I've bought a few things from small online boutiques and this past Saturday purchased a custom sign from a cute little shop on Main Street in town that's being made as I type...I see it being a Friday fave next week! HA! This dress I got from @poshmygosh is definitely a new fall fave!
Speaking of my Main Steet, this past week on Main Street in my town was the annual Fall Festival. Fun for the whole family...or a party of one such as myself! One fun thing they have there is a chowder and chili contest amongst all the restaurants/establishments on Main Street. For $5, you got 15 tickets to try the 15 different chilis and chowders in the contest. Last year I went to the festival and was told about the contest too late, so when I went to some, I missed out. This year I was prepared!! I went right at noon, got myself some tickets and started sampling. One thing I will say...15 is a lot!! I think I made it through 9 or ten (and offered the rest of my tickets to other people I met along the way) Still a pretty great feat!! All in all, it was a great day! I did end up seeing a lot of school parents, but that's inevitable! And I got a hug from a Super Hott Dad, so my day was made! LOL...Solitary Life People...Solitary Life!! This was my ballot!
Another fun thing I got in the mail this week was my very first Pop Sugar Must have Box. it's one of those monthly subscription boxes. I saw it advertised on my FB page and saw that the new Mindy Kaling book was in it, so I thought I'd try it. Super fun things in it. Loved these Slipper Socks and the Belgian Boys StroopWaffel!
The other night I got cozy in my slipper socks and with my cup of coffee and read! I'm loving the book...she's so funny!! I need to get her first book!
Another fun fall thing I received in the mail this week was this!
Super Cute right?!? It's from Barn Owl Primitives. I've bought a number of signs from them in the past and alway love what I receive! Highly recommend!!
I suppose it was a really great mail week, huh?!?! Have a fabulous fall weekend!! And thanks for being a friend to the blog!! It is so appreciated!!
It's an exciting day for me today! Head on over to The Blended Blog to read my first contributing post!! I'm mixing up some yummy fall cocktails...So much fun!
It's been a while since I blogged!! Some weeks just get away from me. But I've missed the blog so...
I figured even though it's a Sunday night, I'd blog a bit. I'm joining the Currently link up at Oh Boy Fourth Grade. I've read so many Currently posts, but haven't joined in. Today I thought I would! And maybe, just maybe...I finally figured out how to get my answers on the picture prompts HA! And any day's a good day for a currently!
Listening: To Explosions in the Sky. We have a new teacher at school who plays music everyday. One night after school I heard this song playing and asked him what it was. I told him it sounded like Saturday Night Lights. He told me the band was Explosions in the Sky and the song was Your Hand in Mine. So naturally I came and You Tube'd it (YES that's a thing!!) and guess what the band did the entire movie soundtrack to Friday Night Lights and they've also been on the TV show (aka- one of the best TV series EVER!) So needless to say, I've been listening to them nonstop!!
Loving: My New Marc Jacobs Sunglasses. I treated myself!! After seeing how awful and scratched all my sunglasses were after summer, I figured I should now get myself a good pair! I love them so much, I take selfies in them...LOL!
Thinking: SNOW today....for Serious! There were snow showers this morning! That's just CRAZYTOWN!! Totally NOT ready for that!!
Wanting: to get motivated! Every weekend I have all intentions of doing work... getting lessons organized, getting blog post ready for the week, etc. But I just can't get motivated. I'm loving fall but think I'm in a Fall Funk!! Hoping I snap out of it soon!! And the weekends just go by too fast!!
Needing: to get my first post for The Blended Blog finished! I'm really excited for my very first post as contributor of The Blended Blog. I'll be posting Tuesday! I have been working on it this weekend and need to get it finished!
Boo-tiful: With the exception of today, these Fall days have been awesome! When I've been able to I've been sitting out in my rocking chair, just enjoying it! The sun is still warm and the breeze is perfect toward the end of the day!
That was super fun! Hope you've had a great Sunday! It's gonna be a week of blogging, so come on back! Thanks, as always, for reading ,listening, and indulging me, sweet readers!!
It's Friday! And I have to say I pretty excited!!! Tomorrow I can have coffee!! LOL!! The week's been fairly quick! It's already time for another Friday Five!!
{ONE}
This week has been all about the 5 Day Clean Eating Crockpot Challenge. It's the brainchild of my bloggy buddy Casey at A Little Bit of Cheer.
Well, clean eating meant no coffee or alcohol!! Crazy!!! I know!! And definitely NOT a favorite! Considering this is usually me...
But guess what...I made it! And I know tomorrow that sip of coffee is going to taste unbelieveable!! I'm headed out tonight, but since 7 o'clock Sunday was my last glass of wine, I think by 7 tonight, if I have a glass, I'll be ok and it won't be a fail! The recipes were so yummy!! And I enjoyed preparing and eating them. I joked in the group that it was Early bird special style for me this week. The meals were ready when I got home and smelled so great, I was eating by 4:30.
Living this solitary life I do, you can imagine all the leftovers I have! I actually shared some with 2 of my co-workers! And I saved two recipes to cook over the weekend because the timing didn't work with my schedule. I even worked out, with the quick easy workouts that were provided and walked to and from work everyday!
Just one of the delish crockpot meals!!!!
All and all it was a great week and I will definitely be making these recipes again.
{TWO}
I did pretty well with the no coffee! I only got a splitting headache at like 8 p.m. Monday. Which I kind of thought was weird. To get rid of it I put peppermint oil on my temples and on the back of my neck, and almost instantly, it was gone! The same thing happened when I woke up in the middle of the night with horrible pains in my stomach. I rubbed some lavendar across my stomach and the pain was gone! I am becoming a serious believer in essential oils.
It was a rainy Saturday here where I lived last weekend, and I will freely admit I didn't do much! I watched movies all day! I know it got seriously panned as one of the worst movies ever, but I watched Blended and thought it was really super cute...also kinda of stupid, too, yes, but it had it's moments. It was by no stretch of the imagination, The Wedding Singer (a movie I've seen probably 100 times!) but still...am I alone in this?? Has anyone else seen it??
{FOUR}
Is anyone watching The Voice? I am and am really enjoying it. I've been singing this song ALL WEEK!! I'm not really sure why but I just can't stop singing it! Mainly just the chorus...and this kid is really great!
{FIVE}
I had really sweet moments with some of my kiddos this week that made me smile and are definitely favorites! One 1st grader told me that she can't wait to be a librarian like me! One Pre-Ker who didn't know the mouse from monitor or even how to hold or click the mouse on week one came into the lab today, hopped on the computer, clicked google chrome, found ABC YA all by herself on the Library/Tech page, and proceeded to play unaided the entire time! I was so excited for her!! Another little Kindergartener just blurted out in the middle of the class, "I love you Miss Mitchell". Ordinarily I'd be upset at her calling out, but I was so taken aback. How could I be mad at that!?! I do After Care and Homework Club at my school. During HW Club I help the kids with their homework. And can I just say, fourth and fifth grade math is HARD!! HA! This week it was really a struggle. I stayed beyond homework club time to help a student who was struggling and making her corrections. When we left, she asked me if I was staying for the rest of After Care. I told her no...and added my own "Woo Hoo" because I was headed home but she said, oh man, I love it when you stay with us the whole time! I might've felt a teensy bit bad that I added that Woo Hoo! And on the very same day, when a Kindergartner saw me enter the After Care room, his face instantly lit up , he came running over to me, and gave me the biggest hug!! My heart melted!! Even on my worst days, I can find a reason to smile!! {Thanks for indulging me with this one!}
Hope you had a great week too!! Let me know how you've been in the comments below!! Have a great weekend!!
September was a downright low-key month! Being back at work I was feeling...meh and in a bit of a rut! But I'm linking up with one of my faves, Deena for her Monthly Numbers Link up!
My September...in numbers!!
I worked a lot and watched lots of TV. I didn't blog much! Only 14 times this month...
I finished one book over Labor Day weekend, Me Before You, which I LOVED, but with so much working and trying to get my act together this new school year, haven't read since. I have two books on tap though! So I'm hoping with the holiday weekend coming up I can make it a priority.(I said the same thing this past weekend but watched movies instead!) I had wanted to read a bit each night before bed, but ever since finishing Me Before You, I haven't!
Finished up the book on a beautiful day at the dock on Labor Day weekend!
Being home so much in September, I cooked a lot but only got oneHello Fresh delivery. The meals were super yummy! And after eating out so much throughout the summer months, only ate out 4 times in September! 2 for SUSHI, one family dinner and totally impromptu lunch with a friend!
1 final summer BBQ... And guess what?!? There were finally burgers! HA! Read about it here!
1 birthday celebrated...My niece Lauren turned ten! My sister had a little dinner for her, so I went. Where I enjoyed my sister's home cooking! Penne ala Vodka! So good!!
My Sister ROCKED that rainbow frosting!!
1 movie seen: St. Vincent....super cute!! In the end, I bawled like a baby!!
13 episodes, of Bloodline watched.
4 new shows watched during premiere week...Blindspot, Scream Queens, Blood & Oil and Quantico. Quantico's the only one I was excited to see a second episode of!
2 shows I've given up on! Empire and SVU...SVU kinda kills me because I have seen every single episode but I've just been bored with it!
8 days of packages at my front door! Woo Hoo! I received a Stitch Fix this month and treated myself to some goodies from Nordstrom, Old Navy and Gap! I also returned some things though!
And just for fun....4 pumpkin ales consumed! :)
September Blog Stats: 14 posts Most viewed post of the month:Teacher Week: Sanity Savers! 38 insta pics (and blog post reminders) posted. Follow me here!
Post with the most reach on The Mishaps and Mayhem of a Solitary Life Facebook page: Teacher Week: Sanity Savers!
I can already tell that this month I'm gonna do better at blogging, so I hope you'll come on back soon!!
Today I'm linking up and sharing the first few outfits from the Create28 Fall looks with Carrie @ A Lovely Little Wardrobe, Casey @ A Little Bit of Cheer and Whitney @ Whitney a la Mode. These ladies are the ones hosting Create 28 as well as their weekly linkup! I like recapping my looks for the Create 28's! And am happy to be participating, now that I've decided to take a little challenge break!! Here are my looks based on the prompts for the first 5 days!
October 1st: A Fall Go-To
This definitely my fall go-to! The mustard cardi and plaid blanket scarf are my most worn items this
time of year! This look was actually my go-to for the very first Create 28 back in February too! Because I'll Basically wear this outfit until Spring!
October 2nd: A Plaid Look
Was really excited for a Plaid look! It meant I got to wear my new plaid dress. I got this a few weeks ago during a Nordstrom same. I wanted to try the trend and this was pretty cheap...because it's kids! The only thing was that the sleeves were a little short...but I always roll them anyway. So I think it works. I thought this actually looked pretty short in the pic, so I through leggings on before I headed out the door.
Looking at this now, I may return this...
October 3rd: Fall Tunics
YAY! I wear lots of tunics and legging during the fall! Saturday was a day spent inside and out of the rain so I went with cozy! Here was my look! It's an oldie but goodie look!
October 4th: Color Mixing
If I'm being completely honest, I stayed in my pj's all day! Sundays are laundry, lesson planning, and cleaning up days, so what's to get dressed for?!?
October 5th: Fall Colors
This was my look for work today! Pumpkin jeans! I thought it was pretty fally!
So this here was supposed to be a Friday Five that's now a Saturday Six! HA!!
But it was pretty easy to add to this!
So let's get right too it! Here's my 6 for this rainy Saturday...a recap of the week if you will!
{ONE}
Sunday night I stayed up to watch the Lunar Eclipse! And it really was amazing. I tried to get pics but I feel like what I was seeing on my camera was not what was happening in the sky, so I gave up! It was just too good to worry about. I literally was out there staring up at the sky for 2 and a half hours!! On the postage stamp patio, in my PJ's, wrapped in my blardigan, drinking wine! ALONE...Solitary Life and all!! I was however, texting back and forth with friends who were also watching, commenting that we should've made it a party! Filing that away for 2033!!
This shot was taken by one of my FB friends...she is a photographer and always captures such awesome shots!!
{TWO}
Since I watched the Lunar eclipse, I DVR'd Quantico and watched it after school on Monday! I gotta say, I really enjoyed it. It's the first new show that I "seasoned pass"ed on the DVR. Just some crazy stuff going on on it that I look forward to seeing unfold. I didn't feel that with anything else new I've watched. Ladies at work today told me to give Code Black a try. It's on my DVR, I'll watch it this weekend and let you know what I think.
{THREE}
October is Here!! Yikes!! Hard to believe, but I'm excited about it. As soon as the calendar changed, so too, did our temps! Dropping into the fifties!! Just crazy! And this weekend more drenching rain, wind and downright chilly temps are in the forecast. And this isn't even Joaquin yet (but now I don't think he's coming !) I have no plans, except to spend most of the weekend binge watching shows and reading! Fingers crossed we don't lose power! HA!
{FOUR}
I mentioned the other day on Facebook that I was thinking of making October my very own "Shop Small" month. Lately I've found some really great little shops on Insta that have such cute stuff. I want to support them. There are also some great stores on Main Street. And a brand new one I want to hit up!!
{FIVE}
Last night was Girls Night with my nieces. I watched them while my sister and brother-in-law went out to dinner for their anniversary. It's was a cold, dreary night. Perfect for getting cozy on the couch with dessert and a movie! Mallowmars and Bee Movie (which the girls had never seen and I forgot how much a loved!!) Amy also showed me her workout routine and both girls showed me how to Whip and Nae Nae. While Aunt Katie's over here listening to country and the music on The Voice, apparently there's a new dance phenomenon happening that I know nothing about!!
{SIX}
And I'll leave you with this....my happy mail of the week. If there was ever a shirt that belonged with me, it's this one!! This is me! Even though from Monday to Friday of next week, I've committed to eating clean, which means neither of these!! EEEEKKKKK!!! :( I'll let you know how I make out!!
