Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Celebrating Staff Birthdays | Printable Door Signs

Celebrating Staff Birthdays | Printable Door Signs


Welcome to week four of my summer educator inspired series titled, Prepping for a New School Year: Leadership Tools, Tips + Tricks. This is the second post, but should have been the fourth post of the eleven week series. Life happened, y'all so I am behind. Eventually I will complete all of these posts for you. What I do share will be ideas that I have tested and tried out from the 2017-2018 school year. I have made a few tweaks, but I can ensure that everything I share in this series is on the job tested. I will also go back to each post in the series and provide the link to all the posts. If you are not already, make sure you subscribe and you will get an email once I post. Also, make sure you follow me on InstagramFacebook, and YouTube.

Below are the topics you can look forward to in this series:

Assistant Principal Interview Tips  (postaudio)
Celebrating Staff Birthdays 
Seating Charts with Ease: Using Random Sorting with Excel
Work Smarter, Not Harder: Mail Merge That Document
Custom To Do Lists in Digital and Print
Font Pairings with Google Fonts
How To Take your PPT to a Whole New Level
Monthly Treat Tags 
Full Year Celebrations Calendar
Writing Belief Statements with your Departments
How To Live in Classrooms as an Assistant Principal : Principal Kafele Inspired

Friday, July 13, 2018
Summer Jumpsuits

Summer Jumpsuits





Summer means it is time for easy, breezy, beautiful jumpsuits and this one is a winner. Two things I love about jumpsuits: one, they are easy to throw on and two, they are easy to dress or down for any occasion. I call that a win-win situation, peeps. I love that the pants are so wide leg on this particular one that depending on how you stand it actually looks like a dress versus a jumpsuit. A double win-win for me. 




I paired this particular one with my $5 blue mirror sunglasses find from Amazon. I just love these because they can make any outfit pop. They are definitely coming with me to Florida in a few weeks. No worries, I will share a travel guide and recap on all my outfits with you. I can tell you that I challenged myself that all my outfits will come from Amazon. I found the most amazing clothing items and cannot wait to share. Make sure you are following me on Instagram to stay in the loop and get the deets first.

This particular jumpsuit runs TTS. It is not see through, has pockets, and super comfortable. I am wearing a size medium for reference. It is so lightweight and perfect to battle the heat and would be perfect for a day at the beach.










Thursday, July 12, 2018
Shopaholic Guide: How to Shop on a Budget

Shopaholic Guide: How to Shop on a Budget







It's almost pay day so I wanted to walk you through how this shopaholic shops on a budget utilizing my three tips. If you are following fashionistas on social media it may seem like gosh, that person spends a ton on clothes. I always choose to speak for myself, and as far as for me I really don't. I stick with a pretty tight budget and make it work. The big reason why I make it work are the three tips I wanted to share with you. I promise you that you can look very fashionable on a budget. I am the prime example. This outfit I am wearing minus the shoes is $40, but this $40 outfit goes a long way because I can wear these two pieces so many ways. The shoes were $22 once I applied the coupon on top of the sale price. However, these shoes match every single outfit because they are nude which means that I don't have to budget for shoes. I like the whole one shoe fits all type of concept. 




Tip One: Set a budget based on your own personal finances

Do not try and ball on a budget with a budget that does not match your finances. This can go really wrong real quick. I am in education so you know I do not make a ton of money and my budget on clothes has gone from $50/paycheck and up depending on what is going on that month. There have been times that I could not spend a dime on any clothing items. To set my budget I take all my expenses out first that I need to take care of: car payment, mortgage, child care expenses, utilities, etc. Once I have the necessities taken out I then get with my husband and talk about any fun items or anything we are saving for is taken out. Right now we are putting money aside for our Paris trip so that is the next thing that gets taken out. I always like to leave a set amount each paycheck for me to have but then challenge myself that I will still have most of that left because that means that is more money towards clothing. For example, I may set aside $500 but that is going to go towards groceries, eating out, anything fun I want to do, gas, etc. The goal is always to not spend all of it. I then set a clothing allowance for myself. Each paycheck may be different. It may be that my clothing expense is $100, and I make that work. 






Tip Two: Know how to shop at the right retailers 

I don't buy anything that is not on sale. I much rather be able to buy five items versus only being able to buy one. Also, I am very particular about the items I buy. I want to buy items that can work in various settings and that I can transition to various seasons. If I buy the most trendiest outfit for that moment then I have completely wasted my money. I tend to buy items from the following retailers: Nordstrom Rack, Loft, Ann Taylor, and Target. I shop at these places because I love the quality of clothing from these retailers, they always have some sort of sale, and I always find the best transitional pieces from these retailers. Every time they have a sale I look to see if there are any pieces that fit in my budget. Another thing I do is pick out all the items I like and put them in my cart and I sit on them until I can get the best deal. Since I do not buy the trendiest items I still stay in trend no matter the season. Always go for buying 80% transitional type pieces and 20% trendy pieces. Always think, is this an item I can see myself wearing continuously or one that will be donated very soon? Believe me, it will change the way you look at pieces if you ask yourself this question. Anything you spend money on is an investment so invest wisely. 




Tip Three: Know how to shop for your body type

I am a curvy girl so I know not all items are going to look good on me. I love a swing top, but if I do not add a belt to it to cinch it in I end up looking bigger than I am. So if I am not willing to invest in getting a belt I will not buy a swing top. When you know how to shop for the items for your body type then it helps you stay on budget even more because you start looking at items differently. You start asking yourself: How many other pieces do I have to buy with this so it looks good on my body? Will this accentuate my assets or the areas I want to keep covered? How many ways can I wear this? What undergarments do I need for this?

Let's take this jumpsuit. I read reviews and looked up the brand. I needed to know if I needed Spanx with this bad boy because if I did then I was not going go buy it. It's super hot right now and the last thing I want on are Spanx. I needed to know if at the waist did it cinch because if it did not then that would affect my sizing. I also wanted to make sure I could adjust the tie because I don't have much girls so I needed to be able to make it fit to my needs. When you shop based on your body type you know how far your dollar will go for that particular item.

Bonus Tip: Set a budget for how much you will spend on each clothing type item

I can tell you now that I will not spend any more than $40 on a dress, $20-$25 on a top, $20 on accessories, $120 on shoes, and $50-$60 on bottoms. I put more money towards my bottoms because it is hard for me to find bottoms that work. I do well with bottoms from Ann Taylor so I stock on work pants from them every year and the quality is superb. Since I already know my top bottom limit I will spend on each clothing item type then this really helps me stay on budget. I can quickly look over items very quickly when they are not in the ranges I am willing to spend on them.


I hope you enjoyed these tips on how this shopaholic stays on a budget. I have been sticking to this for years, and this helps me tremendously. Now head to my Instagram and find the first photo in this blog post because there is a $100 Nordstrom Giveaway and all the details will be on that post.  Again, I think that you can find amazing pieces for not a whole lot of money.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Workwear Wednesday | Pocket Dresses

Workwear Wednesday | Pocket Dresses





Y'all should know by now that I love a dress with pockets, and when I find one that I can wear to work....honey, you just don't know how much of a smile that brings to my face. This dress is very breathable and super comfortable. It definitely is a dress I could wear every day because that is just how comfortable it is.

At work, I have a walkie talkie, my cell phone, and keys on me at all times so having jewelry on is the last thing I am thinking about. If I wear any jewelry to work then it is this Kendra Scott necklace. It goes with everything and is easy to just throw on and make an outfit pop.




What I love most about a dress with pockets is that it is extra storage...duh! I can easily hide my ID, a tube of lipstick, a snack for my son, or even my sunglasses. I am all about having items that have other options to them. One of my favorite places to shop for workwear is Nordstrom Rack. If you are a regular here then you know that a lot of my clothes comes from this retailer. I just love that I can get high quality items at an affordable price. I am on a strict clothing budget, so this retailer allows for my budget to get numerous items.




My exact dress is the first linked below and is still available in black and burgundy. It is $32.97 and fits TTS. I am wearing a size medium for reference. It does come with a belt, but you can easily use your own belt for a little more flair. I believe in rocking it how you want it, so the sky is the limit.






Tuesday, July 10, 2018
The Perfect Summer Lip

The Perfect Summer Lip






Each season I tend to pick one color I go with for my nails and my lips. During the summer months, I like hot coral soft pink. I think this is one color that looks good on all skin tones. This summer I found the perfect summer lip combo, and I achieve my summer lip look using three products that consists of a lip liner, matte lipstick, and lip gloss. These three items go with me everywhere, looks good with all my outfits, and can take me day to night. 




I start off by lining my lips with the Kat Von D lip liner in the shade Lolita. If you are a Kat Von D lipstick lover then you will know that the shade Lolita is an all around fave for everyone. I just follow my natural lip line to do this and then draw an X at the top of my lip and at the bottom of my lip. 

I then apply the Maybelline Inti-Matte Nude lipstick in the shade Honey Pink to the bottom of my lips first and then blot my lips together. I then apply the lipstick to the top of my lip. Side note: if you follow me on Instagram I did a try on with four shades from this line and this was the one shade that I honestly thought no way, Jose will I ever wear this because it is really pink by itself. 

But I found the secret weapon that tones down that pink a little to my comfort zone. So last, I apply the NYX butter lip gloss in the shade Tiramisu. Once I do that these three products together become magic. Super easy and it lasts a while.







I know this post is all about the perfect summer lip, but I always have to stick in a little fashion in the mix. This dress would be perfect for a summer wedding, a daytime lunch, or even a brunch. Every time I look at this dress it just brings a smile to my face because it is just so dainty and pretty. 

If you have been following along with me you will know that I get most of my jewelry from two places: Target and Amazon. I don't care that I wear knock offs. I am a girl on a budget and I am not one to wear jewelry all the time so I do not want to invest a whole lot into something I will barely wear. The only way I will buy the original designer is if it is on sale for a great price. One retailer I find BaubleBar earrings at an incredible price is Nordstrom Rack. I found these earrings at Amazon for $10. 

As far as this dress, let me tell you. The Who What Wear collection at Target lately is just giving me all the heart eyes. I cannot stop buying items from this collection. I linked my dress below and here depending on your sizing.









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