Holiday Decor on a Budget!

Hello and welcome to my blog! :)

It has been many months since I have added a post to my blog; if you are reading this, I hope that life is wonderful and treating you well. Since my last post, I have moved to a new school that I absolutely LOVE and I moved in to a new position as a K-5 math coach. We also bought our house! I have never been more excited to have a mortgage payment every month! Life is awesome and I am incredibly happy with how everything has fallen in to place over the past few months.

So...why am I inspired to connect with you today? I am glad you asked! If you know me personally, you know two things about me. I love to shop and I love a good bargain! Decorating my home is one of my favorite activities. However, I know that it can be VERY expensive if you shop at the wrong places. Luckily, my Mom instilled within the depths of my soul that expensive does not equal "better". Actually, you can find items of similar quality at many discount stores. Dollar General, I am talking about you. If someone from your brand is reading this, a sponsorship would be realllllll cool. Hit me up, k? I have previously written a blog about stores that you can shop at when you are on a budget; today I am highlighting Dollar General. Why Dollar General? I freakin' love Dollar General and they just built a brand new store less than 5 minutes from my house. Today, I visited that shiny, new store and snapped some photos of adorable décor available for the holidays. Also, they have a digital coupon app and they always have fabulous coupons. It seems that they are always offering $5 off $25 and you can also use manufacturer coupons on top of their digital coupons.

Example: All of these items cost me a total of $25 this morning at the Dollar General by my house. Each of the wax warmers had $5 off coupons making them $5 each, the wax melts had $.25 coupons making them $2.75 each, the little truck was $5, and the standing Fall sign was $8. I also had a digital coupon for $5 off $25. Great deal! 

I also snapped some pictures of the holiday décor they had. Most of it is for Christmas since Fall is already upon us. Check out how cute and affordable it is! 

                           The crazy-eyed reindeer was probably my favorite item!
                                                          I will be back for him! :)

I am hoping you will make a visit to your local Dollar General so you are able to snatch up some of the cute, affordable décor they have for the holidays. Would you also be interested in a blog post for regular non-seasonal décor you can find at Dollar General? Let me know! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog today! I appreciate you! :) 

P.S. Dollar General, if you are reading this, I was serious about the sponsorship! ;) 

Trendy Clothes on a Budget + my crazy week!

Salutations! 

Every time I think of the greeting "salutations" I think of the book Charlotte's Web. Is that everyone or just me and my teacher brain? My mind automatically goes to catch phrases in children's literature. Charlotte's Web is a classic! I always think about Charlotte's Web even more during this time of the year when all of the 4-H and FFA kids start getting ready for the fairs and festivals. I used to be one of those FFA kids and I loved getting "school business" to help my friends out that were showing their animals at the festival. I always tell my husband that we probably walked past each other 20 times during those days and we never acknowledged each other. My go to is always, "would you have dated me in high school?" We were supposed to go to the same high school but I was on special assignment at another school. I guess we never know what could have been between 2005-2009! Lets be real though, we have been together for 8 years now so it doesn't really matter.

I am not sure about anyone else but this past week was a hot mess for me! I am a perfectionist and there was nothing perfect about last week. I don't know if this sounds contradictory or not but I am a disorganized perfectionist. For example, my desk might be a mess, my classroom might look a mess, but inside my brain I have everything put together exactly how it needs to be. As a teacher, I want to be perfect. I want to be the top of the top and the cream of the crop. I feel like I should be able to do anything and everything perfect the first time I do it. This makes it extremely difficult as a teacher because nothing is ever perfect. Perfect doesn't really exist in the realm of education but that is the expectation I hold myself to. So, this week really tested my perfectionist side because I felt like I was constantly screwing up all week. On the flip side, my husband just got home from a 45 day hitch and I feel like balancing the perfect teacher life with the perfect wife life has been a struggle. I know all of you with kids are probably laughing at me saying just wait until you have kids! Then you have to balance being a perfect mom, too. On top of my stress this week I have been on hormone replacements so yeah...do I even have to elaborate on that one? Stress + hormones = one cuckoo week. This week is already looking better! 

Now I will actually go in to what I was planning on talking about in this blog! Clothes! I LOVE clothes. I want to look cute on the regular and that means a lot of shopping. However, it does not have to mean spending a lot of money. You can get cute, trendy clothes for a fraction of the cost if you know what to look for. I am going to highlight a few of my favorite places to get clothes on a budget down below. 

1. ThredUp 

Ladies, have you ever heard of ThredUp? If not, stop what you are doing and look now! ThredUp is an online consignment shop for all shapes and sizes. You can get designer clothes that are new with tags for a fraction of the cost of retail stores. I have purchased some fantastic dresses on ThredUp for very cheap! They also sell gently used items and they always tell you the condition of the item before you buy it. Plan on spending some time looking through the website because they have a ton of stuff. You can apply filters with your sizes and favorite brands to make it easier to browse but you will still have to browse for a while to find the best deals. They also offer 40% off your first order! YouTube fashion bloggers always have a running promotion with ThredUp. You can just google 40% ThredUp purchase and I am sure a code from a fashion blogger will pop up. Check it out! 

2. Target 

Target is my jam! I am sure that many of you already shop at Target but have you been recently? I just went today and they have had a HUGE overhaul on their clothes department. I have always loved the Ava & Viv brand at Target but now they have 4 or 5 new store brands that offer inclusive sizing for everyone. Universal Thread is their newest brand and they have great quality denim for a low price. I always browse the clearance section too because I love a great deal! If you have not been in the past few weeks, definitely go check out their new brands and shop a little (or a lot). 

3. JcPenny 

I always remember shopping at JcPenny with my Mom as a kid and she always had a great coupon to use. A bunch of my school clothes always came from JcPenny when I was younger and then once I became an adult I never shopped there. However, I have made my way back to shopping at "pennies" as my Mom would always say. It is funny how I would always pick on my Mom for saving money and now saving money is my goal as an adult. I know she laughs at me on the daily in Heaven when I pull out my coupons or shop at Big Lots. You were right, Mom! If you are like me and haven't shopped at JcPenny since you were a kid, check them out! I get 60% off coupons from them all the time in my email. They have trendy clothes with a low price tag if you catch them on a great sale. They are constantly running sales so be sure to join their email list. 

4. Amazon 

That's right, Amazon! We buy everything else we need from Amazon so why not clothes? They don't have a huge selection but they have cute clothes that are affordable. I actually bought the dress for my cousin's wedding from Amazon and I paid less than $20 for it. You can't buy everything your heart could ever desire from Amazon, but if you are looking for general clothing items check it out! 

Other clothing ideas....

I will be the first to say that I don't always buy everything at the lowest price point. Sometimes I gift myself things from my favorite stores just because I want them. However, I never pay full price and I always have a coupon of some sort even if it isn't the world's greatest coupon. One of my favorite things I do every other month is get a clothing subscription box from Dia & Co. The Dia box is for sizes 14 & up but it is the same concept as Stitch Fix. Basically, you take a style assessment and they send you clothes that fit your style. I choose to get a box every other month but you can get them once per week if you want to. I do not have that much self-control when it comes to clothes so that is why I only get one every other month. I love being surprised by what my stylist picks out for me and giving her feedback on what I love and what I didn't love. The only time you ever lose money is if you don't keep anything. You pay a $20 fee for each box but that always comes off of your order. If you buy everything you get 25% off and that seems to be the standard rule for any of the subscription box companies. If you are looking to spoil yourself a bit, try it out! Like I said, it is not the cheapest option but the items I get are always quality pieces that I can wear multiple ways. 

Hopefully, you will be able to try out some of the stores/brands that I have suggested. They are a few of my go-to brands when shopping on a budget! Thank you for stopping by my blog and have a fantastic week! 

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Teaching ♥ My "Why" & My Biggest Pet Peeves

Hello, hello, hello!

It has been a hot minute since I have added anything new to my blog and I am feeling particularly inspired today. I want to go a little in depth about my life as a teacher. Don't worry, I am not one of "those teachers" that complains about their job because honestly, it is the greatest job in the world. Sure, I have days when I want to rip every single hair out of my head. However, the good always outweighs the bad and I really love being a teacher! My daily life is like a never ending comedy show with a little bit of sass and a whole lot of love.

Here are three things you need to know about me as a teacher:

1. I do not have an inside voice. This is the best story - It was my 2nd year teaching and one of my favorite students in the history of ever was yelling in my classroom. I said, 'Hey, _______, dude, stop yelling! You don't have an inside voice!" No joke, he cocked his head sideways and said, "Mrs. Donini, NEITHER DO YOU! I couldn't even say anything because he was 100% right.
2. I am very expressive and slightly dramatic.
3. It doesn't matter who I sit next to - I will talk to them at inopportune times. I actually had my seat moved in college because I got in trouble for talking too much. Yeah...I know.
4. When I do something, I want to be the best at it and I am very competitive.
5. I am goofy 90% of the time but the rest of the time I am just a sass machine.

Ok, now that we have gotten the basics out of the way lets talk about being a teacher!
I have always known that I wanted to be a teacher. I never flip flopped in college or changed majors because I have been destined to be a teacher all along. I believe whole-heartedly that we all have a calling in life and teaching is my calling. It is what I love to do and I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I didn't realize until I started teaching that my passion was deeply rooted in teaching at Title I, high needs schools. One summer I made the decision to work at a "fancy summer camp" and I quickly realized that I am not made to teach at "fancy schools". I am certainly not saying that these schools aren't many teachers' cup of tea, just not mine. I love teaching students that don't always have the easiest life but they come to school everyday ready to learn. The best part about teaching is building relationships; relationships are ESSENTIAL to learning. Significant learning happens with significant relationships. One of my favorite things about being a teacher is  running in to students (past or present) in the grocery store. First, I enjoy look of utter shock when they see me. Second, I love embarrassing them. Third, I love the hugs and the smiles I get when they finally act like they know the crazy lady that has been talking to them the past 5 minutes. I could honestly go on, and on, and on about being a teacher but a basic summary is it is just the coolest (most entertaining) job on the planet.

Pet Peeves

I will try my best to keep this section brief but I cannot make any promises. My pet peeves have nothing to do with the practice of teaching but rather the topics that surround the teaching profession.

1. Every teacher is not made to teach at a high needs or Title I school.

There, I said it! High needs schools come with a unique set of challenges and not every teacher is made for it. Teaching at a high needs school should not be about convenience or a short commute from home. Teaching at a high needs school has to be your passion. You have to have your heart and time invested in the kids and families you serve. If you don't have a heart for it, you are not in it for the right reasons and you should use your talents elsewhere. Kids need the best adults and role models possible for their lives, not a negative Nancy that doesn't believe in their ability to be successful.

2. The "these kids can't do it because they are too low" mentality.

AHHHHH. This one makes me CRINGE. High expectations are essential for success. If a child feels like they don't have to do something then they probably won't do it. If a teacher doesn't believe in them, how are they supposed to believe in themselves? Talking about college starts in Elementary School. High expectations yield exceptional results. A teacher can encourage a dream or kill a dream. Expect greatness from every child and they will amaze you in the process.

3. Corrupting the precious, young intern

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen this happen. Precious, sweet intern walks in to the school to collect their observation hours. Grumpy teacher stops precious, sweet intern, "RUN, DON'T BECOME A TEACHER! BEING A TEACHER IS TERRIBLE!" Precious, sweet intern begins to doubt herself/himself. I had a personal experience with this last year. I had a pre-service teacher from a local college completing observation hours in my classroom. She was so excited to finish college and become a teacher. For her level one internship, she got placed with a grumpy teacher. She ended up changing majors and pursuing another career because of her poor experience. It seriously broke my heart because she was excited and ready to learn; one grumpy person changed her whole life path because of a negative experience.

4. Teaching has to be your entire life and you MUST stay late at school

This is one of the biggest misconceptions about being a teacher. I contribute my sanity to leaving school work at school and occasionally bringing stuff home to work on. Teaching is a part of my life but not my whole life. Self care is important and a necessary when you are a teacher. You can't pour from an empty cup.

This list may continue to grow as the years pass by but these are four of my biggest pet peeves that I have witnessed as a teacher. If you agree with any of the above mentioned statements, give me an amen! Thank you for reading my blog and leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by!
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Trendy, Budget Friendly Home Decor!

Happy New Year!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas with friends and family! If you are like me, I am just now taking down all of my Christmas décor (that I love so much) and creating my vision of what I want our home to look like until Fall rolls around. I call this my "regular" home décor. I am not the type to decorate for ALL of the holidays. I decorate for Thanksgiving and Christmas; the house stays neutral the rest of the year. So what is my style? I like to call it "rustic industrial farmhouse". Now, don't get this confused with the super trendy all white/cream type look that you see on HGTV. I like dark woods, industrial/metal elements, and a splash of chalk paint and burlap mixed in there somewhere. If I had to choose which show best depicts my style it is Home Town. First off, I adore the Napiers and I love that they use color! Have you seen the episode with the dreamy green upper cabinets and the wood finished lower cabinets? Seriously, LOVE it! Lets be real, if everything in your house is white, especially the kitchen, your house has to stay impeccably clean all the time. My husband will confirm that I am the world's messiest cook. I can seriously dirty the whole kitchen making a pan of lasagna. A white kitchen would not be a good fit for me. I know that many people like the all white look and it really does look nice when executed properly. However, I will stick to my dark cabinets and deep colors for now.

Soooo, anyone that likes to decorate their home knows that it can be realllllyyyyyy expensive. However, it does not have to be! You can find some trendy, budget friendly items at places you would never even imagine. I will be the first to say that I used to make fun of my Mom for shopping at the places I am going to talk about down below because I thought she was silly for trying to save a dollar. Now that I am an adult, I totally get it! If I can save some money, I am all about it. I get so excited when I find a deal and feel like a "hot shopper". I am going to highlight some places you can decorate on a budget as well as ways you can save at the popular home décor stores that can be pricey.

For those of you that are on a tight budget but still want to decorate your home this list is for you! When we first moved in to our house, I was on a tight budget and had to find ways to be creative on a teacher's salary. Some of you are going to think I am silly but I have several pieces that I still use during the year that I bought at Dollar General. Dollar General has some trendy, budget friendly pieces in their stores that will help you get started. Plus, if you download their app they typically have a $10 off coupon you can use on your purchase. If you have never been in their store and browsed their home décor section, check it out! Another place where I get 99% of my floral stems is Dollar Tree. Each of their floral stems are $1 and I have some that I have had for years; they still look fabulous! Also, If they start looking ratty, they were $1 and easily replaceable! They also have great prices on glass cylinders, vases, bowls, and fillers. These are all great items that you can use to dress up an area and style differently depending on the season. This next one is one of my all time favorite stores! Big Lots! I love Big Lots! They have a rewards program that emails out coupons all the time which makes their store even better! They have all of the essentials but they are also one of my favorite places to buy Christmas décor! 9 times out of 10 they have similar variations of trendy items that you would find at the more pricier stores for a fraction of the cost. Any store with a rewards program that offers coupons on top of awesome prices is a store for me! The next few stores I am going to clump together because they are hit or miss for me and sometimes the prices are comparable to the bigger home décor stores on the market. The list of stores includes: Bealls Outlet, Ross, Marshalls, Home Goods, and Stein Mart. They are definitely stores where you have to treasure hunt but normally when I hit, I hit it big and find multiple items in one stop. Other times I leave empty handed for one reason or another. It is still worth it to go browse and see what they have available.

This next section is going to highlight the stores that I frequent often. I frequent them often because I receive coupons and sale specials all the time by being a member of their rewards programs. If you know me personally, this store is no surprise to you. Kirkland's is probably my all time favorite store for home décor. Whenever I find something that catches my eye, which is normally always, I watch the sales and the coupons. Most of the time I can catch the item on sale plus have a coupon and snag a deal. I never pay full price for anything at Kirkland's because the items always go on sale but you have to be a little patient (which I am terrible at). I should seriously be sponsored by Kirkland's. You know it is bad when they call you during their holiday preview sales because you are one of their top customers. Seriously...not even kidding. Next on the list is Michael's! They are not just a craft store! Over the past few years they have really stepped their game up in the home décor department. Again, another store I don't shop without sales or coupons. As a part of their rewards program I get coupons and sale notifications all the time. If there is one thing I have learned is you NEVER buy anything at Kirkland's or Michaels at the very beginning of a season or right before the season starts. The best sales happen in the middle of the season and towards the end. You can get AMAZING deals during the middle-end of the season. Both stores makeup 98% of my home décor at any given time. The final store I will chat about is Hobby Lobby. Now, I do not shop at Hobby Lobby all the time. I would say that I shop there "occasionally" because their regular prices are steep. Their coupons are so/so because in order to get a deal you need to make multiple transactions since you only get the percentage off of one item. I have several pieces in my house from that store but I don't get the best deals at their stores. It just has to be something that I really need (yes, need) in order to make the trip. Their clearance section is where I always hit first. Still, they have really cute, trendy stuff in their stores! 

Ohhh yeah, one more last place that I love for furniture or larger type items! I love browsing on Wayfair! They have some expensive items but some really great deals as well! You definitely have to browse for a minute but you can find some really awesome deals. I have gotten lamps and side tables from Wayfair but I also enjoy browsing their website on occasion! Check it out!

Hopefully I have shared some of my shopaholic knowledge with you and I have inspired you to venture outside of your comfort zone to try a new store! Always remember to track the sales, join the rewards clubs, and don't be afraid to wait until something goes on sale! Thanks for reading and have a great day! 

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Introductory Blog! ☺

Hello & WELCOME to my blog!

I have been tossing around the idea of starting a blog for a while now and I am finally committing to it (even if I have zero followers) because I enjoy writing about random things! First and foremost, you need to understand that I am sarcastic - I mean, REALLLLY sarcastic. I enjoy being extremely silly and off-the-wall sometimes so just roll with it. Also, the stuff I talk about may be extremely random. You will probably read some hilarious stories about things my 5th graders say/do, things my dog does, the saga of a wife that has a husband that is gone half of the year, and stuff about SHOPPING because I love bargain shopping! If ya girl can find you a deal, she is all about it! Let me start by giving you a bit of background on myself.

Ok, so, you read previously that my husband is gone for half of the year. He is a merchant mariner. NOT A MARINE, NOT IN THE MILITARY, a merchant mariner. Here is a link that will describe in great detail what the United States Merchant Marines are all about:
http://www.usmm.org/faq.html

Basically, all of the goods that we purchase, or use arrive in this country one way or another; most of these goods are carried by a ship of some sort. My husband works on a tanker and works in 45 day hitches. This means that he works for 45 days and then gets to be home 45 days. Honestly, not a terrible gig considering that some mariners sail 90 days, 120 days, or even more during their hitches. I miss him a lot when he is gone but I am happy that he has a great schedule with some pretty awesome perks. He comes in and out of our local port so I get to see him at least once per week during the time that he works. That is a luxury and I am not complaining! He is also obligated (or forced) to participate in every Great American Teach-In when he is home in November. The kids think what he does is super cool and my heart twinkles watching him talk to my students. ♡

Moving right along, I mentioned that I am a teacher. Not just any teacher, a 5th grade teacher. The time when they start to "explore boundaries" and become little individual hormone machines that make my job hilarious and enjoyable. I 110% LOVE being a teacher. You will never hear me tell one of those precious, young, excited pre-service teachers to run far away and never become a teacher. Is it stressful sometimes? YES. Do I sometimes feel underappreciated? YES. Do I look forward to holiday breaks and summer vacation? YES. However, when August comes around I am the brightest little ray of sunshine you have ever seen because teaching is my passion and I couldn't imagine spending my life doing anything else. You might think I am crazy because I LOVE teaching at schools that make teaching a challenge. I am not the type of teacher that wants my job to be a cake walk. You have kids with behavior problems? Put them in my class! You have kids that are wayyyy below level? Put them in my class! You have kids that are sassy but capable? Put them in my class! I love the challenge of reaching kids that some people find impossible. I love that feeling of kicking your feet up at the end of the year and saying, "I told you so" when others found the task of educating that child impossible. Rita Pierson has a Ted Talk that I listen to any time I am feeling run down or unappreciated in the realm of public education. The best quote from that whole video is "Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be." I am including a link below if you have never seen the video. IT IS AMAZING!

https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion

This year, my husband and I adopted a precious little pup and became doggy parents. We used to look at people with their dogs and say things like "it is just a dog" and "they treat that dog like it is a human". Now we are the crazy dog parents that treat our pup like a baby and spoil him rotten! His grandparents bought him a Serta dog bed this year for goodness sakes...yeah...he's spoiled. We just love him so much and his expressive personality! He is our best little buddy and he brightens up our days. He is the best snuggle buddy when my husband goes back to work and always lets me hold him tight when I am having a rough day. We just love our little baby boy!

Ok, so, that is a brief intro on me, my life, and what is to come on the blog. If you decide to follow my blog posts, please leave me comments! I love to see who is reading, from where, and if you are enjoying what I am sending out to the universe! Thank you for reading my blog and have a terrific, wonderful, fantastic day! :)