What I'm Loving Tuesday: Eye Shadow Palettes at Sephora

What I'm Loving Tuesday: Eye Shadow Palettes at Sephora

I have my eye on adding two eye shadow palettes to my growing collection. I tend to stay with more warmer palettes, but I am looking for two palettes that will keep me in a warmer tone, but has some colors that I can use to step outside of my comfort zone so that I can create some new looks. I have included my final picks that I will be choosing from. I will also have a tutorial soon with my two picks so that you can see how it turned out.

I already know that one of the palettes that I will be picking is the Too Faced Chocolate Gold palette. It is not new, but I think it has some colors that I would normally never use, so I think it would be a perfect mix of colors that are in and out of my comfort zone. Do you have any eyeshadow palettes you cannot seem to live without this Spring?

Spring Style Office Chic

Spring Style Office Chic

Happy Tuesday!

It's officially Spring and I do not know about you, but I am loving all the spring florals. This Spring I am stepping out of my comfort zone and wearing way more prints than I ever have. All of these are great transitional pieces that you can pair with skirts, pants, blazers, cardigans, jean jackets, etc...the sky is the limit. Anytime I am buying any clothing piece it must pass the test of being able to work from day to night as well as me being able to style it various ways so that I can get some longevity out of it. Prints are something I typically do not reach for because at times I have a hard time styling them, but I have made a goal for myself that this Spring I will work on pairing prints much better. Hopefully I can add even more flair to my clothing wardrobe especially after my massive Spring clean out. If you are not already following me on Instagram, please do. I recently talked about how my husband's idea of fun one day over Spring Break was me going through three dressers and three closets to purge my clothes. The process was no fun, but of course it is always a great feeling to be able to donate clothes to Goodwill, other charitable sites, or at my school to fellow co-workers or students who may be in need.  Take a peek at my Spring picks because I am sure you will love them as much as I do.

Any items you cannot live without this Spring? Please let me know in the comments. 

January + February 2018 Beauty Favorites

January + February 2018 Beauty Favorites

Alright y'all, let's talk all the beauty products I just could not seem to put down in January and February. What I mean by I could not put them down is that I used these products every single day of January and February.

• Tarte Shape Tape Concealer is the BEST concealer ever. It is the first product that I would ever call the holy grail of concealers. If you are not using this product as your concealer you need to stop reading this post immediately and purchase. I use the color Tan for a reference. In the summer I will more than likely have to switch to Tan Sand. 
• MAC Cosmetics Patrick Starr collection lipstick in color Mama Starr. If you are my same skin tone you must own this lipstick. It is the perfect every day pink nude color. 
• MAC Cosmetics Prep and Prime Fix is a must especially when wanting to put on a shimmer eyeshadow color. Spray this on your brush and it it just picks up the eyeshadow color so nicely. Also, after you are done putting on foundation, concealer, contouring, and setting powder and you feel you look a little too white then spray this on before finishing the rest of your makeup. 
• Smashbox Studio Skin Shaping Foundation Stick has become my hands down holy grail foundation for me. I love how the color perfectly matches my skin tone and it lasts all day. 
• Hourglass Ambient Bronzer gives the perfect glow and bronze look that I am going for. 
• Tarte Tarteist Lash Paint Mascara has the perfect brush that picks up every last lash. One coat is absolutely perfect. 
• Stila All Day Waterproof liner really does last all day. It stays in place and glides on so smooth. 
• Farsali Rose Elixir is great primer before putting on a matte lipstick. It helps the lip color last longer and has drastically improved my fine lines on my lips. 
• Laura Mercier setting powder is what I would consider another holy grail product. It is the best setting powder. I have tried a whole lot of setting powders and this is the only one that can tame my oily skin. 
• Farsali Unicorn Essence is the best primer. I have a whole collection of primers and I keep going back to this one. Any foundation that I have used after using this primer just goes on so smooth and helps my foundation stay matte. 
• Huda Beauty Desert Dusk eyeshadow palette has the best shimmer shades. The pigmentation of all the shadows is amazing and it is so versatile that you can go from creating a tame look to a very dramatic look. It is the first palette that I have gotten out of my comfort zone when it comes to using the typical subtle brown shade shadows and started using colors I never thought I would ever use and still feel professional. 

Other favorites that are not linked on the photo are...

• Violet Voss HG Pro eyeshadow palette. I have used every single color on this palette and each color is beautiful and the perfect eyeshadow palette that you can use for any occasion and will not need any other palettes in your collection. 
• ColourPop Cosmetics Lux Lipsticks. I purchased 10 colors and I love them all. My favorite color is Pinkies Up and Ghosted. They are the perfect go to every day nudes. 
• Benefit BadGal Mascara. I am typically a girl who goes for a thicker wand, but I am really digging this smaller wand. I think it picks up every little lash really nicely. 

There you have it...all of my January and February beauty favorites. So what have you been loving lately?

Please note that none of the links are affiliate links. This is just my honest review that I wanted to share. 

National School Counselor Week + Ideas and Resources to Celebrate

National School Counselor Week + Ideas and Resources to Celebrate

National School Counselor Week is February 5-9, 2018. Have you thought about ways you can celebrate your school counselor(s)? If not, here are a three ideas that you can easily implement this week.

Treats

How about leave a treat every day at their door? From a personalized hershey bar, office plant, coffee mug, or breakfast...preparing treats to give to your school counselor(s) is an easy way to help them feel appreciated. School counselors at any given time always has a student in their office and something like a treat can go a long way because there are often times they may not have two minutes to eat lunch or a snack. How about pairing that treat with the gift of some time so they can have a few dedicated minutes to nourish themselves?

Card

How about getting students to fill out a card to thank their school counselor? A school counselor can drastically change a student's life. Having some sweet, positive messages can uplift and remind that person the impact they have on a student's life.

Announcements

Every day we take time out of the day to let students and staff know of any important information. How about take part of that time with some inspirational messages. American School Counselor Association has some sample messages you can use right away, but of course taking it one step farther and personalizing it for your own campus can go a long way. For example, you can announce various ways everyone can thank their school counselor. You can have a day setup where students and staff can use a hashtag and share a picture of them and their school counselor on social media or school website. You can have some readily available cards that anyone can pick up and drop off to the counselor office. Another day you can have some personalized post-its so that any student or staff member can choose one and stick it on the counselor door surrounding a door sign. You can also share a message about the positive impact school counselors have on your campus. The point is just taking the time to share their impact can have a lasting result.

It takes a village help prepare a student for their future. Taking time to celebrate everyone in your village who all have an impact on a student's life is detrimental and should be done. If you need some help to make your School Counselor Week a special time for your school counselor(s), please click here to use some items I created.

I hope you have a fun time celebrating National School Counselor Week.

Principal Bucket List

Principal Bucket List

I saw a post by @prestoplans on Instagram for her Teacher Bucket List found here. Seeing that post came right on time because I was in the middle of making a list of my work goals. This year I am driven by the question: what am I intentionally doing to impact student learning?

Every day my goal is to support and praise teachers on the work they are doing. I believe that by doing that it directly impacts student learning because when your teachers feel that they have support to do great things they want to do in their classroom and when they are praised for the work they put into those great things students are directly impacted by that. While working on my 2018 goals for my career I really had to take a hard look at what exactly did I do to intentionally impact student learning, and I personally was not impressed with the list I came up with. You see intentional to me means that the intent to do something has nothing to do with how I am personally going to gain from it and in some ways I feel that some of the things I did last semester had everything to do with me and not enough about the other people. So in some ways intention is my #wordof2018.

After seeing @prestoplans lovely teacher bucket list, it inspired me to create my own in my role as a school administrator. My hope is that by sharing this resource with you that you create your own bucket list for your own career because this does not have to be something just for educators. I look forward to posting about my journey on completing my bucket list for 2018. You can follow along on my journey by following me on Instagram @im_jadestenger or using the #2018CareerBucketList.

To download the resource please click here.

So, I ask you...

What are your big goals for you in your career or personal life for 2018? 

BACK TO SCHOOL Office Tour

BACK TO SCHOOL Office Tour

If you have been watching the news lately you will know that Texas has been hit hard with the devastation of hurricane Harvey. I cannot explain how it feels to be scared of a raindrop, many nights of sleeping in a closet because of tornado warnings, and hoping to God that water does not enter your home taking away your safe haven. I was one of the lucky ones, but for many they did not have the same fate as myself. As an educator I am worried about the many students who have now lost their safe haven...their home and for many students they have even lost their school.

Tomorrow I will help welcome students back to school. I worry about the faces I won't see because they evacuated out of the area. I worry about the students who have no home to go to. I worry about the students who lost countless hours of sleep. 

I worry for the many students who have lost their sense of being safe. 

I am determined to ensure that when students come to school on Tuesday they are greeted with love. That when they walk in the doors they start to feel a little normalcy. I am determined to assist students and their families to getting back to their safe haven, and in the meantime helping families know that for while their child is at school they are safe, loved, and nourished. 

Now, more than ever, schools need to be a safe haven for students. 

As educators, your space should scream that this is an environment where you can be yourself and we will embrace who you are. That in this space is love. 

This past weekend I spent time in my office getting it cleaned up so that it can be even more welcoming than it was. Many came in my office the first week of school two weeks ago and were blown away how much it felt like home and praised the energy I spent into making it feel that way. At first I was taken back to why the comments, but after Harvey I am so glad that I did. I am glad that when people walk into my office they feel at home. 

Two things I would not compromise on when decorating my office...I had to have cheetah print somewhere and lots of pictures. I love seeing the ones I love in the spaces that I am in so on hard days I can look at them and remember why I do what I do. The rug is from Amazon.

Found this table on Amazon, chairs on Wal-Mart, and dry erase board at Target.

If you are sitting down in front of my desk I love that your focus is on that bookshelf. 

Had this made at a local furniture store that I absolutely adore called, Legacy Home Staging. I love supporting small businesses and this one is one of my absolute favorites and you can shop the store online.

The table is from Target.

Aromatherapy is a must. At home I always have essential oils in a diffuser so I do the same at work. I use lavender essential oil mostly. 

Inside those drawers are coffee and tea pods. I also have disposable coffee cups and stirrers so anyone can always stop by and make themselves a drink. 

I keep treats out because they always make anyone feel happy. You can tell the chocolate container is a hit because it needs to be re-filled. The glass containers are from Target, but I could not find them online so I linked similar.

Hungry? I always like to keep snacks and quick warm-up meals because you never know if someone may need a quick pick me up.

This organizer holds items that I can quickly grab for celebrations. For example, I have some birthday bags and personalized tags that calls for an extra pack of gum and mints that I keep at all times so I can always have something to give on someone's birthday. I also keep quick thank you gifts in another bin. 

If we ever need to meet as a team I have enough chairs and a dry erase board so that we can work together to make those plans a reality.

This small accent table is from Target.

The storage bins are from Target.

How does your space make students or staff feel safe, loved, and valued? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.