Skirtember: Last Week!

The last week of Skirtember has arrived.  I want to thank Kristin and Chantal for hosting Skirtember for us!  I have had so much fun challenging myself to wear skirts and dresses this month.  To see what I've been wearing, you can review Week 1, Week 2, Week 3.

Technically, today is the last day of September, and I will be wearing a skirt today, too.  I'll share my very last Skirtember outfit either later this week or next Monday.  I haven't decided yet.

Here's what I wore this week:

Day 23- September 23rd

I didn't wear a skirt this day.  Scott and I were on our way home from the Pittsburgh Steelers/Chicago Bears game on Sunday night.

Day 24- September 24th

Shirt: Maurice's // Skirt & Leggings: Old Navy (the skirt is super old) // "Wrap Me Up in London" Scarf: Penelope Ann // Boots: Target.com

Day 25- September 25th

Entire outfit brought to you by Old Navy.com

Wednesday was school picture day.  Even as a teacher, I still tend to dread this day.  lol  I ordered this entire outfit from Old Navy.  I love their "Outfits We Love" section of the website.  I totally copied this and one other outfit from head-to-toe.  Totally makes life easier. :)

Day 26- September 26th

Camisole: Maurice's // Jacket & Shoes: Old Navy // Dress: Body Central (old) // Leggings: Khol's

Day 27- September 27th

Dress down day.  Jeans, jeans, jeans.  :)

Day 28- September 28th

We had a wedding on Saturday.  I don't have a picture because I literally wore my school picture day outfit again.  Glad I did laundry.  :)

Day 29- September 29th

Ok friends, after the wedding, I was out with friends to celebrate a birthday.  I'm lucky to even have gotten out of bed.  SO there was no skirt.

Overall, I think I've done really well! 

Stats:

• only 9 days without wearing a skirt or dress (mostly Fridays & Saturdays)
• repeated 2 outfits exactly
• wore 1 dress twice but in different ways
• A total of 18 different outfits

How did your Skirtember go?  Did you have as much fun as I did?? Link up with Kristin & Chantal to let us know! :)

Stay tuned tomorrow for a fun event announcement!!

My Harry Potter Fix: Week 34

Here we are!  Week 34 of "My Harry Potter Fix"!  This week, Kim, Tarole, and I are discussing The Order of the Phoenix. 

Please remember to follow your hosts, post about Harry Potter, share the HP love via social media, and visit others to view their posts!

So here we go.

It is no secret that this is my least favorite book and movie in the series.  With that being said, I do want to clarify that it doesn't mean that I dislike this book or movie.  Let me try to focus on the positives first, shall I?

Likes:
-Dumbledore's Army forms (the DA).  I love that these students take it upon themselves to learn how to defend themselves.  Though it was against the rules, they still find a way to do what was right and necessary!

-Patronuses are so cool.  I know we first get exposed to them in the Prisoner of Azkaban, but it's mostly about Harry's.  We get to see so many of the DA's patronuses take form!

-I love that Harry gets to spend time with Sirius in this book.  He gets to learn a little more about his parents and Sirius.  Getting to stay at Sirius' house for awhile is important...especially because it becomes a place for Harry, Ron, & Hermione to hide in The Deathly Hallows.

 

-Though they shouldn't have been there, and it resulted in Sirius' death, the part where Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna go to the Ministry of Magic is incredibly exciting.  I particularly love what this shows about Harry and his friends.

 

 

-I really appreciate Fred & George in this book.  I love when they decide to create a diversion so that Harry can talk to Sirius through Umbridge's fire place.

Dislikes:
-Delores Umbridge.  I have said it many, many times in these Harry Potter posts.  She is the most vile awful character.  Honestly, she's worse than Voldemort to me!  The way she speaks, the rules she makes, the evil things she does to Harry.  UGH!!  I could go on and on.  If I ever got to speak to J.K. Rowling, I would ask her why she allowed Umbridge to survive being carried off into the Forbidden Forest by the Centaurs.  In my opinion, she should've been killed or driven mad and thrown into St. Mungo's.

-I've said this before, too.  Harry is so angry in this book.  I understand why he's mad all the time, but it just makes me angry, as well.  He yells at Ron and Hermione all the time, and he can't keep his temper in check so he gets in trouble constantly.  There's just so much teenage angst there, I can't take it.

 
-Sirius dies in this book.  As I stated in last week's "would you rather" post, I would have chosen that Sirius didn't die rather than Dumbledore.  Harry deserved more time with him.

What are your thoughts on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix??  Link up below!

Next week: More "Would You Rather" questions!

Sloppy Joes

The last time Scott and I went grocery shopping, we bought a bag of green bell peppers at Sam's Club.  We got to a point where we needed to use them up, and I thought of Sloppy Joes.  When I was a kid, I truly thought that Manwich was the only way to make Sloppy Joes.  We don't often have that on hand, so I needed to figure out a yummy sauce that would do the trick.

The original recipe comes from allrecipes.com .  I needed to make a few tweaks, so here's my take below:

Sloppy Joes
Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 small onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. yellow mustard
• 1 c. ketchup
• 1 T brown sugar
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Brown beef, onion, and bell pepper in a skillet.  Drain.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients.

3. Simmer for 30 minutes.  Serve on your choice of bread or bun.  I add cheese to my Sloppy Joe sandwiches.  I also had some yummy potato salad on hand, and I had that as a side.

Skirtember- Week 3

Can you believe how quickly September is flying by??  It's time for another week of Skirtember with my friends Kristin from Kristin's kNook and Chantal from Scattered Seashells!

If you missed my Week 1 or Week 2 posts, you can go back and take a peek at what I've been wearing this month.  I'm proud to say that I've only repeated an exact outfit once.  You'll see in this post that I'm repeating a dress, but in a totally different way than I wore it the first time.  :)

And I may also be a little obsessed with skirts and dresses now.  I have two dresses on their way from Old Navy as I type!  (They should be here tomorrow!!)

One last thing before I begin.  I apologize for how awful my bedroom looks.  I've got to find a different place for this mirror.....or clean.....

Day 16- September 16th

Dress & Tights: Avon- Mark collection // Camisole: Old Navy // Boots: Shoedazzle.com

I fell in love with this wrap dress from Mark last year.  So I bought it.  I wore it a couple of times, and then for some reason didn't like it.  I dragged it out again on Monday because I clearly needed a dress or skirt to wear, and I actually LOVED wearing it all day!  :)  It is purple and red, and my tights are purple, as well....you can't really tell from this picture, though.  Silly iPhone. 

Day 17- September 17th

Dress: Old Navy // Camisole: Maurice's // Belt: Avon- Mark collection // Boots: Target.com // Elvis Loves Me Bracelet: Penelope Ann

I have a love/hate relationship with this dress.  This picture is actually pretty flattering.  I think the thing that made the difference is the belt.  It's one of those dresses that sometimes makes me look bigger than I am.  But while on lunch duty with a fellow sixth grade teacher, he asked me if I'd been working out because I looked like I lost weight.  I now think I love this dress.

Day 18- September 18th

Sweater, Belt, Skirt, & Tights: Old Navy // Camisole: Maurice's // Booties: Shoedazzle.com

I'm really sad that you can't see my shoes very well.  I'm in love with them.  They're purple if you can't tell.  They are laced up the back.  The funniest thing about this outfit was that three or four of the boys in my class said to me, "You have to tie those in the back??"  They were fascinated.  I did have to explain that I didn't have to tie them because they have zippers on the inner side of the shoe.  lol  One of my girls asked me, "How do you walk in those?"  I told her, "Very carefully."

Day 19- September 19th

Sweater & Shoes: Old Navy // Dress: Maurice's // Tights: Avon- Mark collection // Celebrity Smiles Ring & Tower Tinsel Necklace- Penelope Ann 

I wore this dress on Day 1 of the challenge, but this is a whole new outfit, and I really loved it!  I threw on black tights, and these black shoes.  I really loved this outfit. 

Day 20- September 20th
Dress down day at work....jeans all the way!

Day 21- September 21st
Seriously.  I had nowhere to be.  It was cool and rainy, Scott was in Oregon at his niece's wedding, and I was lucky I got out of bed.

Day 22- September 22nd
I think this is the first Sunday I didn't put on a skirt or dress.  But there's a good reason for that....I went to my first live NFL football game!!  I'm a Steelers fan, and Scott is a Chicago Bears fan.  The Bears came to Pittsburgh, which doesn't happen very often, and so we just had to go!  The last time the Bears played the Steelers in Pittsburgh was before Scott and I started dating, and that was over 7 years ago!  So yes, wearing a skirt to an NFL game makes no sense whatsoever.

I'm looking forward to next week!  How are you doing with Skirtember??

My Harry Potter Fix: Week 33

It's another week, and it's time for My Harry Potter Fix!  This week, we're doing some more "would you rather" questions, but before I share my answers, please remember the following:

1. Follow Kim, Tarole, and me!
2. Post about Harry Potter, and link up with us below!
3. Spread your love of HP by sharing your post on Twitter, Facebook, etc!
4. Visit other blogs to see their answers.

 

So here are my answers to this week's "would you rather" questions:

 

1. Have an Invisibility Cloak or a Time-Turner? This is a hard choice for me.  In our "My Harry Potter Fix" about The Prisoner of Azkaban, I mentioned how much I love the subject of time travel.  I have also imagined just what it would be like to walk out of a room and then be able to reenter without anyone knowing to see what is said when you're gone.  lol  But ultimately, I just don't think I can pass on the Time-Turner.  I am too fascinated with history to say no to time traveling! 

 

2. Spend an hour talking with J.K. Rowling or with Daniel Radcliffe? Definitely J.K. Rowling.  While Daniel Radcliffe is a wonderful actor, and clearly plays a major role in the Harry Potter films, J.K. Rowling is the brains behind this entire magical world!  I would love to talk to her about how she developed the stories, more of the background information she has on characters and things she created.  It would simply be amazing.  Daniel would be like, "Well...I played Harry Potter."  ;)

 

3. Have a flying broomstick or an enchanted flying car? Broomstick.  As far as magical travel methods, for an object, this would be the least conspicuous. 

 

4. Spend a week lost in the Forbidden Forest a day in Azkaban? As scary as it would be, I think I would take the 24 hours in Azkaban.  Kim made an excellent point in her post: the dementors won't kill you or perform the kiss after only one day.  At least you know what you're facing in Azkaban.  The Forbidden Forest holds so many scary creatures that are looking to kills you.  I wouldn't last ONE day in there, let alone a whole week!

 

5. Change the story so that Dumbledore does not get killed or so that Sirius does not get killed? Even though it was sad when Dumbledore dies, I believe that it was truly important and essential to the story.  We also learn that because of the curse from the Horcrux Ring, he would've died relatively soon anyway.  So I have to say I would rather that Sirius didn't die.  Poor Harry already had lost so much and had so little going for him.  I desperately wanted Sirius' name to be cleared and Harry to live with him.  Even if the story had him die at the end like Remus and many other important characters, I would've liked him to be around for longer than he was!

So what are your thoughts?  Do we agree?  Do we disagree?

 

Link up below:

 

Cheesy Italian Tortellini

Before I share this recipe, I just wanted to announce that I'm doing away with Dinner Time Tuesdays.  It was usually just me linking up anyway, so I've decided that it's no longer a productive use of my time to try to get it to take off as a link-up.

However, today just happens to be a Tuesday, and I just happen to have a recipe to share.  :)

There are days that I'm super glad that I follow Betty Crocker on Pinterest. 

Here's the original pin:

This is how I did it (I pretty much doubled this because I like leftovers for work!):

 

Betty Crocker's Cheesy Italian Tortellini

Ingredients

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 lb. Sweet Italian sausage
• 1 1/2 jars spaghetti sauce (My jars are 24 oz.  So I used 1 full one, and about 1/2 of another.)
• 8 oz. canned mushrooms
• 1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes
• 1 pkg. frozen cheese-filled tortellini (16 oz. or more)
• Shredded mozzarella

1. In a skillet, brown beef and sausage.  Drain.



I really liked the combination of ground beef and sausage together.  I don't dislike sausage, but I find the taste can be overwhelming.  This was a great combo!

2. While the meat is browning, spray slow cooker with cooking spray.  Add sauce, mushrooms, and tomatoes.

4.  When the beef mixture is ready, add it to the slow cooker, and mix.

5. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours.

6. Add the frozen tortellini about 30 minutes before serving. 

7.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, if desired.

 

 

Skirtember Week 2

Another week of the Skirtember challenge has gone by!  If you've been keeping up with me on Instagram or Twitter, I've been sharing some of my outfits for the week.  The picture I take depends on where my husband happens to be sleeping.  If he's upstairs, I use my regular camera downstairs.  If he's downstairs, I use my iPhone upstairs.  You just never know.

In case you missed it, here's how things went for me last week.

Here are my outfits for this week:

Day 9- September 9th

Jacket & Dress: Old Navy // Leggings: Kohl's // Scarf: Street vendor in NYC // Boots: Target.com // "Twist & Turn" Earrings: Penelope Ann

I've been dealing with extreme temperatures in my classroom.  I couldn't be totally sure what things would be like so I wore this short-sleeve dress with leggings, boots, and a jean jacket.  I figured if I was warm in my room I could lose the jacket.  I did wear it for the morning, but it really started to warm up by the afternoon.

Day 10- September 10th

Dress & Cardigan: Old Navy (Also wearing navy flip flops from ON)

On Tuesday, temperatures soared to the high 80's here in PA, and I was actually too warm in this outfit.  My classroom was stuffy and warm.  Unfortunately, I couldn't take off the cardigan because the straps, though wide, were not wide enough to be worn to school.

Day 11- September 11th

This outfit is old and some of the pieces were given to me by a friend, but I like it! :)

Day 12- September 12th

Cardigan: Old Navy (I think) // Dress: AVON- Mark Collection

Day 13- September 13th

I didn't wear a skirt or dress to school because it was Dress Down Day, BUT when I got home I got changed and Scott & I headed to the 80's Prom!!

So I did manage to squeeze in a skirt on Friday.  I'm rocking the leg warmers, too.  You get a peek of one there at the bottom of this photo. 

Here's a bonus shot:

Scott went for 80's prep.  :)

Day 14- September 14th

No skirt.  I was in my sweats all day.  Sorry I'm not sorry.  ;)

Day 15- September 15th

This it my first repeat of the month.  I wore it last week, and my picture didn't show the jean jacket.  It was chilly.  (After having temperatures in the high 80s earlier in the week, we've been in the 60s and very low 70s with cool air since Friday.  So everything seems much colder.)  Anyway, people at church hadn't seen this outfit yet, so I decided to wear it again. 

So there's my week 2 of Skirtember!  Looking forward to this week of the challenge! :)

My Harry Potter Fix: Week 31

Welcome to My Harry Potter Fix!  This week, Kim, Tarole, and I are sharing our thoughts on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  When we started talking about the books/movies this in the spring, I talked about things I like and dislike about each one, so I'm going to continue that.  Before I do...

1. Join up with us!

2. Follow your hosts.

3. Grab our button (it's on my sidebar).

4. Post about Harry Potter, and link up with your post!

5. Visit other blogs, and share the love on Facebook & Twitter!

6. Have fun!

Likes

~The Quidditch World Cup!  It's super fun that Harry travels by Portkey for the first time.

~The Triwizard Tournament is incredibly exciting!  Each event is action packed and vividly described.

~This story introduces us to other Wizarding schools.  I have to admit, I was surprised when I read this book, and discovered that there were other schools out there.

 ~ My favorite event in the Triwizard Tournament is the second task.  I love that Harry truly believed that he needed to try to save all of the people that were under water.  Sure, maybe he should've realized that Dumbledore and the other teachers wouldn't actually let something happen to these students, but it shows what an amazing character he is. 

~The Yule Ball is just lovely.  Christmas is beautiful enough, but this just makes it better!  Hermione is just gorgeous at the ball....like Cinderella! :)

Dislikes

~I do NOT like the fact that this is the book where Voldemort truly comes back because this sends us into my least favorite book (which I've made quite clear in the last 31 weeks) The Order of the Phoenix.

~While I have no strong feelings toward Cedric Diggory (and am even less impressed that he was portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the movie), I don't like that Harry has to witness his death.  That event weighs on Harry, along with no one believing him about Voldemort, and that whole mess with Cho Chang.

I know just enough about Twilight to know that this is funny.  Never read the books, never will.  Saw part of the first movie...stupid.  Sorry, I'm not sorry.

~I want to smack Ron in this movie.  The fact that he gets angry at Harry and doesn't believe that HIS BEST FRIEND is not lying about putting his name in the Triwizard Cup is just infuriating.  And his behavior at the Yule Ball is pitiful.  Shame on you, Ron.  You deserve to wear those silly dress robes.

~I don't like that the movie changes the character who gave Harry the Gillyweed for the second task of the tournament.  Why was it necessary to have Neville give it to him instead of Dobby?  Maybe just for this:

Well, I suppose that's enough for this week!

What do you think of The Goblet of Fire??  Link up below!