Pencil Skirts and T's...

... or, a post about clothing that may bore you so you have my permission to click away to something more interesting. =)

 Up until the last year or so, I never really included pencil skirts in my arsenal of casual clothing options. I mean, they weren't super dressy all the time, but I didn't think to grab one with a t-shirt for a relaxed but polished outfit. Then Merrick posted a tutorial for making a pencil skirt, and while I certainly don't have her skills to just whip one up with some fabric and little magic, I loved how she wore hers with a tshirt and flat sandals. The shape of a pencil skirt is polished but the fit/style doesn't have to be. 

 Anyway, I'm veering into some very fashion-blogger vocabulary here (in a minute, I'll start telling what I paired instead of wore... cause that's how I roll) so, suffice it to say that pencil skirts and t-shirts are a new favorite outfit of mine. 

Shirt: Old Navy
Skirt: Target
Wedges: Target


Necklace: American Eagle (very, very old!)


A privileged behind-the-scenes glimpse at the hideously angry faces I make at my poor husband when he is taking my picture. Or maybe I was just bitter that I will never master the half-tuck like  Kendi has. 


Shirt: J.Crew Factory
Skirt: Loft
Shoes: Target

New resolution: take pictures before it's dark outside and I am forced to pose in the dim light in front of my pantry.


Love the stripes and the flower embellishment! Oh, and these little gold flats were less than four dollars a few months ago... and they're sooo comfortable. 

SO, in case you haven't tried to put some of your more casual tops (like a t-shirt) with something you might consider a little fancier (like a pencil skirt), then do it! It's still comfortable but looks a little nicer that my go-to denim. Happy Wednesday, lovelies!

Ash
P.S. Linked up with Lindsey for WIWW!

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First Grade Wisdom...

Did you know that is a scientifically proven fact that teaching all day makes a person incapable of being productive past 3 pm? 

 Okay, I lied. Science has proven no such thing. Science is apparently busy NOT testing my shampoo on animals (meanwhile, if they'd come up with a discovery that would prop up my eyelids long enough to actually get things done when I get home from school, that'd be great.)

 In the weeks leading up to spring break, I had many lofty goals- things I'd accomplish during my days off. Organize closets! Blog! Switch out my clothes by season! (Blah! Blah! Blah!) Then, mysteriously, few to none of those things actually happened. Now I've got a semi-break because of a half-day schedule this week, and I'm faced with the same dilemma. So, in the spirit of procrastination (at which I am a professional)...

This picture represents me as a functioning, responsible, productive adult... one who would have already accomplished everything on the following list.

 Things I Should Be Doing....

 1. Attacking the earthquake epicenter that is our downstairs closet... since I don't have storage in my classroom, all my bulletin board stuff ends up in this closet and it's pretty much atrocious, so... yeah.

 2. Finishing the two BIG bins of summer clothes in my room... and sifting through the lifetime supply of t-shirts they contain. Most of it needs to be given away, but I have an emotional attachment to clothes that is not unlike my emotional attachment to fictional characters. They represent memories, right? Fact is, I'm just an overly sentimental person and I should probably get over that before I get featured on Hoarders.

 3. Decorating my classroom. I have two big bags of spring/summer stuff waiting to replace my Dr. Seuss stuff and I even made a special trip to Goldsboro to cut out letters today, so it wouldn't be a terrible idea for me to hole up in my room tonight and get it all done. Perhaps with the right Pandora station and a big Dr. Pepper it could be done...

 4. Taking advantage of this gorgeous weather by walking outside, before the humidity strikes and I refuse to be outdoors for more than the time it takes to get in and out of my car/house/local Target.

 5. Finishing this post before you go jump off a bridge.

Too late... crazy Ashley has taken over and responsible Ashley doesn't have a chance.

 Things I'm Actually Doing...

 1. Catching up on my recorded movies (including 3 Doris Day musicals from a couple weeks ago- jackpot!). Oh, and now that I have Amazon Prime, I can watch You've Got Mail whenever I want (which is pretty much daily.)

 2. Pinning- the ultimate time waster. (BTW, it's Pinterest, NOT Pintrest- like interest, not intrest. =)

 3. Re-reading this book. I know I've recommended it at least 5 times in the last year, and I probably sound like a broken record, but it's that good. 

 4. Letting you all know that I will be 24 on Sunday, so... yeah. Five shopping days left.

 5. Thumbing through my new InStyle magazine and lamenting my lack of the season's must have trend of pastels. (Not really... I'm more of a bright color girl.) 

 6. Actually signing off... I've even lost interest... so if you made it the end of this, I commend you. 
My aunt always tells her first graders "Do what you ought to do..." to which they reply in unison, "Not what you want to do!" Okay, fine. Here I go, off to do what I ought to do. (Insert heaving, dramatic sigh.) Have a lovely Tuesday evening, friends.
Ash
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And Again in Boston...

I had other, more whimsical posts in mind for tonight, but it seems insensitive, wrong even, to write about trivial things when today's events are so heavy on my heart. What bothers me so much about my reaction to the news is that once I got over the initial impact of the news, I didn't even feel terribly surprised. I don't know if that's a commentary on our country or me or both, but I don't like it. I don't ever want to become desensitized to news like this, or to its causes or effects. Emotions overwhelm at a time like this so, while this isn't my best rhyming work or the smoothest poetry you'll ever read, I hope it captures in some way a little of what I'm feeling.

As I turn on the news today,
My mouth falls open in dismay,
For yet another sad display 
Of senseless violence starts to play.

It's Boston now, reporters say,
The wounded carried off, away
From the bloodied streets, they lay;
To evil's blow they've fallen prey.

What started as a normal day
Instead has changed to disarray,
As those who never planned to say
Goodbye are forced to anyway.

It is impossible to say
The reasons for these acts today.
We cannot explain away
This show hate in full array.

Why someone, somewhere, chose to slay
So many in this senseless way,
Their lives were all cut short today
As sin and evilness portray

The price the victims all must pay.
Their families, near and far away
Are left with ruins to survey,
Find answers in the disarray. 

We know that there's no earthly way
To understand this senseless day,
It's become almost cliche
To hear about days like today.

We wonder how it came to play,
We forward messages to pray,
We try, somehow, in some small way
Our emotions to convey.

They range from anger to dismay,
As we've watched the slow decay.
Actions like the ones today
Were once so rare, now seem "passe"

In "this world we're living in," they say
It is impossible to stray
From the path we're on traveling on, the way
We're going, far astray.

It's "just the way it is," they say,
And violence never goes away;
Must these words ring true today?
Is bloodshed truly here to stay?

I can't answer this array
Of questions, or do much but pray,
But isn't that the biggest way
Anyone can help today?

Forgive my jumbled thoughts, but they,
I hope, just might convey
What I feel and hope and pray
Tonight for Boston, those caught in the fray,

The innocents whose lives today
Changed in an enormous way.  
Join me please, without delay,
And pray His peace will come to stay.





Ash





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High Five for Friday...

This week sped by, thank goodness, I guess partly because I was off on Tuesday but maybe because I'm counting down the days until school's out and I'm just optimistic because there is light at the end of the tunnel. (Not that I'm eager to be away from my little darlings for the summer, you understand... =) Anyway, it's been quite a while since I've linked up with Lauren for High Five for Friday but since I am the mayor of Dash-of-Ash-ville I am taking the liberty of doing it today. 

1. Jonathan and I decided to use up the rest of an Olive Garden gift card the other night and it was a really wise decision. Pasta fagioli is my menu item of choice- I don't think I've ever ordered anything else at OG since I was five! 
Favorite restaurant and fun date with my guy = win win.
2. I'm not sure what happened to spring in New Bern, but I'm pretty sure last week it was still winter and we skipped straight to summer. No complaints, since the warmer temperatures have not yet been accompanied by the stifling humidity that I have no great fondness for. 
3. Texting fellow Psych-o's (really just Rory) is how I make it from Wednesday to Wednesday while waiting for new episodes. Also, how I survive heartbreaking moments like the end of last night's episode. (I won't ruin it for you, but I'm still grieving over here. I told you I have a problem.) 
4. My college roommate and best friend and I got to spend some time together at Camp Meeting (our college's annual conference) which is always a wonderful time. (We're also next-door neighbors, so it's not like we never see each other, but still =) 
5. New favorite song- give it a listen! You can't go wrong with Brooklyn Tab! Our alumni choir sang this Tuesday night and I've been humming it ever since.

It's the weekend, everyone! Mine's including some students' soccer games, a date, and maybe (and by maybe I mean definitely) a little shopping. You should know by now that any weekend of mine is going to have some shopping in it! =) Happy Friday! 


Ash

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Oh, the Places You'll Go (for a Cute Classroom)...

I am slightly overthetopobsessive detailed, shall we say, when it comes to my bulletin boards and classroom decor. I've said before that I may not be the best teacher but I will have cute boards, dagnabit! (And yes, my "salty" language is that of a 76-year-old backwoodsman.) Anyway, my very first classroom decor (many moons ago... you know, 2011) was Dr. Seuss and I loved it. I even had a Dr. Seuss party with my class at the end of the first month of school, complete with green eggs and ham, Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes, and Cat in the Hat cookies. (Clearly I was still in the honeymoon stage of teaching where I enjoyed baking for my class. :) I know not everyone is a fan of Dr. Seuss's wacky, made-up words and crazy characters, but I am. I think he had such a brilliantly creative mind and, as someone who dabbles in poetry occasionally, I find his ability to pull off rhyme-scheme perfection a little awe-inspiring. Fan or not, you have to admit the man was genius with words (even if he had to make some up.) 

 Since I had already gone full-blown Dr. Seuss at the beginning of last year, I didn't really jump on the bandwagon in March, Dr. Seuss's birth month and the time most teachers choose to incorporate him into the classroom. So this year, out came my Dr. Seuss decor for the month of March. I've already taken some of it down, but it is just so fun that I'm a little sad I can't leave it up through the end of the year. (I mean, I can, but I'd probably hate it by then, so...) I love this theme because there are SO many characters and quotes to choose from, but a few of my favorite books to quote from are Oh, the Places You'll Go, Horton Hears a Who!, and The Lorax. 

Not to insult your intelligence, but since the picture isn't terribly clear I'll tell you that each little hat has a student's name. 


Again, pardon my fuzzy pics. I love this quote! 


"Things"- get it? =) If you wanted to incorporate something you're teaching, this is probably the simplest way to do it. Last year I was teaching capitalization rules, so I did "Things to Capitalize." Easy-peasy. And while you may think that Dr. Seuss only did "silly," if you Google his quotes you'll actually find quite a few nuggets of wisdom... some that don't even rhyme. (gasp!) =)


]
My Horton board may be my favorite. My mom made Horton and my Who-trees, and while they are a little wrinkled due to storage, I still love them. My favorite parts are the "clover" and the "speck," details that you really can't even see from a distance but I love knowing they're there. =)


What better way to use up my 6-foot Cat in the Hat and other random Dr. Seuss items, as well as my Dr. Seuss letters, than with a little birthday greeting? =) A cake or cupcake would have been cute but I was lazy out of poster board by then.

I didn't add pictures but I also have several Dr. Seuss posters that I used last year (classroom rules, reading reminders, etc.) and those are always colorful and fun things that fill up wall space but still serve a purpose. I left up my welcome sign and posters all year with my third grade. Also, the Dr. Seuss letters are totally worth the price- there are lots of each character so you really get a good deal. And while most teaching stores do carry Dr. Seuss merchandise, Michael's has quite a bit too. Actually, this year I got lucky and ordered a Dr. Seuss variety pack from Oriental Trading... It was less than $12 (with a code for free shipping) and I used the pieces all over the room. And if you're an elementary teacher and want to go all-out with a party or something, Oriental Trading has tons of Seuss party stuff. Of course, Pinterest has lots of links to printables and more boards. These are just a few of mine!
Ash

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At Least I'm not That Loser on the Fan Sites...

... but I'm not much better.

 I have a problem. (Yes, I know you know that.) But let me discuss this particular problem with you. Ever since I was a little girl, I have become, shall we say, involved (I don't care for the term "obsessed") with my favorite shows and movies. I get hung up on a movie or a show and and bam! The people become, you know, real to me and they really are a family and they really do love each other and the fact that these plotlines are fictional is not a fact I care to be reminded of, okay?

Proof of my deep love for just one show...
Along with this "hangup" (think watching the same movies a zillion times in a row, which has certainly done little to inhibit my movie-quoting sickness) is the fact that I am a total bonus features/trivia junkie. I remember vividly the first time I found a "fan site" when I was about 12 and discovered the treasure trove of trivia that is the world wide web. (I'm a slave to alliteration, remember?) Anyway, places like IMDB are my downfall... I don't just want to watch the movie, I want to KNOW these people! It's crazy, I'm aware. My husband knows that a fail-proof gift for me is any DVD full of bonus features. Making-of, behind-the-scenes stuff... I could watch it for days. I need to know what Walt Disney's favorite Sherman brothers song was (Feed the Birds, fyi) or how Anne Hathaway felt while filming Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement (she was nervous until director Garry Marshall assured her it would be a success.) I know you're jealous of my knowledge of these things. I could look up quotes and trivia on my favorite actors all day long. (It's a given that Disney trivia is in a class all its own.)

 Then, with shows like Psych, you've got Comic Con panels (I know, I don't even know who I am anymore!) along with places like to Twitter to actually interact with the cast. What?! It's even worse if there's some kind of love story- Shawn and Juliet, Jim and Pam, and most recently Lee and Amanda from my current obsession. I just HAVE to see if they get together, stay together, get back together... it's important! This is real love, people!

 So, imagine the disaster that is inevitable when entire SEASONS of shows (not just little YouTube clips) became available to me on Netflix! I can watch all the episodes whenever I want? This sounds delightful but is actually dangerous to my mental health since I become, like I said, a little "consumed" with these shows, watch them nonstop, and then feel something akin to grief when they're finished. It happened just recently when I discovered Scarecrow and Mrs. King (a classic from the 80s, btw) on Netflix. Fortunately for my sanity, it was on DVD so I could only watch 4-5 episodes at a time. BUT when I finished Season 2 only to discover Seasons 3-4 were not available. Clearly I couldn't go on living without finishing the series, so my sweet husband let us sign up for Amazon Prime where all four seasons were available on INSTANT video! Holy Moses, that was good news. Until, of course, I was on spring break and sick at that and decided it would be a fine idea to watch seasons 3 and 4 in the space of 3 days.

 Ha! Now, not only can I not close my eyes without mashed-up scenes playing in my head, but snippets of the Soviet embassy, nuclear weapons, and KGB agents along with code names and top secret information and heaven knows what else I've ingested from three straight days of watching a spy show from 30 years ago. I love it, don't get me wrong. I just don't quite know how to handle the fact that it's OVER. To quote Meg Ryan, "I feel like a part of me has died." Okay, that's melodramatic, but don't you understand? These people are my friends! I love them! I love that they love each other... seriously, they get married in the last season and it's soooo sweet and I'm aware that I'm only confirming suspicions that I'm insane so I'll stop.

 Anyway, there's not much of a point to all this other than just being transparent and sharing one of my quirkier quirks with all you nice boys and girls. Still like me? I hoped you would. Maybe one day I'll do a "The Making-of A Dash of Ash"... wouldn't that be a treat? Okay, maybe not. At least I (mostly) keep all of this to myself, considering there are websites full of people who devote themselves to finding and adding this stuff. I loftily remind myself that I only voraciously consume it... at least I'm not a contributor. That makes it better, right?

 I'm off to hang out with my friends now. (I hope you're envisioning me with real people and not another episode of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, but then you'd be wrong.)

 Ash
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Happy, Happy, Happy...

Let me be honest... I'm on spring break and my mind is, too. So, while I'm shopping, eating, and Instagram-ing everyone to death, I haven't had a whole lot of post inspiration rolling around but I did want to pop in and say that a few things I've already experienced this week have made me "happy, happy, happy." (Confession: I'm a closet Duck Dynasty fan.) 

 1. I got to spend the day with Miles and Meghan, my ring bearer and flower girl who are now 8 and 10 (how???) and still my sweet little blonde "cousins." (Apparently I am too old to be their friend, and they already have an aunt, so a few years ago we settled on the cousin relationship.) I love these kids, for real. We had a blast watching Spy Kids 2 (I sat through the whole thing... true love, I tell you!), eating at Rudy's, bowling, and walking to the pond to feed the ducks.... a memorable cousin day, for sure.

I love these goobers.


How cute is he?

 2. One of my real cousins, Matthew, is staying with us for a few days and we have had a jolly time shopping, watching TV, and making late-night runs to Krispy Kreme. He is achieving primary cousin status due to the fact that he has gone shopping with me twice now and hasn't strangled me due to my indecisive nature and my penchant for randomly moving to a different part of the store without saying anything. Now if I can just make a hard-core Psych fan out of him before the week is over it will be considered a smashing success. 


Krispy Kreme excursion! 


Shopping buddy... he's disturbed by my insane cheapness!

3. Today we went shopping at the outlet mall in Smithfield and my mom bought me theee cutest dress from Banana Republic for my birthday. (19 shopping days left, good people!) It's very Mad Men-ish and a great buy considering it's a spring/summer style but in a fabric that can definitely carry into fall and winter with a sweater and boots. I'm sure you were eager to hear all about that, so I indulged you. No problem.

 4. I did NOT make a special trip to Target yesterday just to pilfer through the Easter candy and bring home more Cadbury mini eggs and eat half the bag in one sitting. Sounds like me, but it definitely wasn't me. 

 5. Speaking of good deals (well, I guess no one was looking for good deals, but you know I can talk about them anytime), I also got a few really nice shirts for Jonathan today. Two were marked down to like $5 each, but the nicest one didn't have a tag on it so I took it up just to check. The girl working the register was either drunk or just really generous, because it rang up like $16 and she gave it to me for $3.98! Bam! I know have a new best friend at Gap, and I think she's looking for a new job. (hehe)

 6. One of my annual traditions is watching the movie Easter Parade (with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland) and it happened to still be recorded on Mamaw's DVR from last year, so I watched it this morning. It's one of those super corny musicals but I love it anyway. Who can beat an Irving Berlin score? Nobody, that's who! And Peter Lawford is wonderful, as always. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, visit IMDB and educate yourself. These are the classics, folks.) 

 7. Yesterday was Opening Day of baseball season! Woohoo! I got to watch the Braves first game with my dad, which I haven't been able to do in years, and they actually won! (Not to be Johnny Raincloud, but they just haven't come through consistently in a few seasons so I was holding my breath. Hopefully this will be a good sign of the season to come.) I definitely don't follow baseball faithfully like I used to but there is something about the start of the season that just makes me happy. 
8. I have been able to FaceTime these beautiful munchkins quite a bit over the past couple days, and that is always a joy. 

 9. Mamaw made biscuits and chocolate gravy for breakfast this morning... enough said.


10. Last but not least, my best friend Brook (who is so very crafty and talented!) has started a blog for all of us less-talented crafters, like myself, and finally published her first post today! (I say finally because she's been a little hesitant to get started but "took the plunge" today and I'm so glad!) Hop on over to her blog and give her some love... it's going to be great! 

 Spring break is only two days in and it's been glorious already! If you're off this week, I hope you're having a wonderful time. If you're not off, I apologize and I promise to keep any gloating to a minimum. =) 
Ash

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