friends like this

I have the kind of colleagues who...

Stop by my office to ask advice.

Pickup lunch from me this week and bring me lunch next.

Are as obsessed with reading, writing, and pacing guides as I am.

Text me over the weekend and then email me on Monday to check in.

Say, "Awh, I want to coteach with you, too!"

Make an effort to help me be a better version of myself, by talking to me when I mess up.

Write me thank you cards.

Apologize when they make a mistake, no matter how much time has passed.

Make Tik Toks with me on our personal plan periods.

Trust me with new ideas. And their secrets.

Rally with thoughtful gestures when life gets tough.

Write Slice of Life blogs with me for a whole month straight.

Show up at my door when they need to cry.

Let me vent when needed, and keep all my secrets.

Tell me no when they see reasons why something won't work.

Clap for me when I do something they appreciate.

Take my phone from my desk (when I'm in the bathroom) and take 8 selfies.

Could you at least do 9 next time to be symmetrical? :-)

I have the kind of colleagues who

are also called friends.

I could cry

Thinking back to losing my stepdad to covid last August,

I could cry.

Remembering how Andrea hugged me every day for three months after, 

I could cry.

Getting the news that I had some complex oral surgery to schedule,

I could cry.

Having friends and my stepmonster give up their time to take me to said appointments,

I could cry.

Hearing that one of my exes who I cared for immensely passed away,

I could cry.

Thinking of how I showed up to say a goodbye and encountered great people and a few beautiful friends,

I could cry.

Knowing that so many of my friends are struggling with complex life situations,

I could cry.

Seeing how we all come together to support one another when needed at school,

I could cry.

Wondering about how one of our students is doing health-wise,

I could cry

Watching my colleagues encompass the block around our school and his home in yellow ribbons,

I could cry.

Reflecting on all this with my principal a few days ago....

We did.

 

On Being Seen

I had a hard week. There were a lot of meetings, a lot of things to do, I didn't even realize my to do list was so long on Monday morning when I got to work. Does that ever happen to you? You come into work all casual and calm, and then it's like a bomb went off within 20 minutes? On a work level, that was how my week started.

Additionally I've been pretty aggravated on the dating scene. Usually the problem is I meet guys, and it's not a match. The last one was a match. But now the timing is off. Uggghhh.

I hadn't really reflected much on my week aside from being annoyed at how stressed I was. But then I woke up Friday morning to a text from a friend from school. It was a gif of a hug and her message said, "Felt like you could use a hug! You seemed down today and it made me sad friend."

I didn't realize how I was coming off so.....sad? But she did.

And this text message? Instant lift.

Is the best thing to be seen, or what? To know that there are people out there who care for you so much that they stop everything they are doing to send a message and let you know that you matter?

In the big grand scheme of life, I can't think of few other acts of love, like this one, that has the power to drastically change someone's day. So to my friend, and her coteacher who is also this way with me, thank you. My week is ending way better than how it started.

Girls Trip 2016

My best friends were just here for the week and we had so much fun! I just love when we are all together and the shenanigans ensue. Here's the highlight reel.

They got in and we went straight downtown to see the bean, stop at the signature room, and then went to Anita's for a drink before dinner.

Dinner at RPM Italian, so delicious and great conversation.

On Tuesday, Katie saw her first squirrel and was *very scared.

Book club at my casa on Tuesday night!

Bike riding on the Lakefront path Wednesday morning.

And then home with grown up snacks :-)

Shortly after, wine :-)

And then the deep dish from Pequods...

Jamie's first time handling the classic Chicago pizza : /

Saw Anita's Great Love debate on Wednesday night at the Apollo. Super fun!

Pregaming before the Cubs -Sox game on Thursday night.

Jamie had a lot of fun, and many, many drinks.

I'm happy she lived to tell about it!

Jamie, we just love you!

Katie is one of the funniest people I know.

Well, it's the combo of the three or four of us I think.

If only I could share the hilarious videos made at 1am :-)

Katie went home on Friday morning : (

Jamie and I recovered all day, partly at the mall, then mostly on my couch.

But Saturday morning we did get to ZiCardio with Liz and that was super fun.

And a brunch with Lizzy and Brian afterwards!

I love these girls so much, and I'm so thankful that we all have summers off to reconnect. Next year we're planning for Boston!

and I'm hoping to be sober enough to pick out
the right shoes and avoid hours of name-calling.

:-)

Love you girls!

xo,

Rainbow and Butterflies Friend

It's Thursday, July 7th of summer break. It's 2:52. I'm still in pajamas (cool with it) and also have been watching Plan With Me videos on You Tube for the past hour.

I've been buying Erin Condren notebooks for the past few years, but this year (next month when I have some money) I'm going to be upgrading to the Life Planner. So there has been a lot of research - do I want the horizontal or vertical design? (finally decided on vertical.) What cover? What extras?

Then, I'm on You Tube looking at review videos and I come across these "Plan with Me" videos. At first, I was scoffing at the girls putting all this time (prob hours!!!) designing their planner for the coming week. But then the more I watched, and the prettier the pages got, the more I liked it! My fave one to watch is on a channel called Inspired Blush, check her out!

Then I started following links for stickers. First it was this one. Then I went to this studio. So so pretty. I want all the stickers! (I've always loved stickers, collected them as a kid and still love to buy them now, but never considered it with the planner. The options, seriously endless!!)

So I thought I should share this joy with my friends, so I texted them a video of the You Tube. (Honestly, I knew they would make fun of me, but they love me for it.) They had no idea what 'planning a planner' was, so I told them. Here's their response:

Sorry, I'm the rainbows and butterflies friend.

Who's who in your group of friends?

Any other rainbows or butterflies out there?

Friday Faves a few hours late

I had a great week! Here's a few of my favorites, meant to be published on Friday to make the alliteration work, but coming live on Saturday morning :-)

1. Book Club Book
I finally have a great book club book after like five months of just ehhh books. We're reading The Nightengale and even thought it's just beginning, totally holding my interest. Holocaust story that flashes back and fourth between 1940 and present. Every chapter ending will have you staying for just one more!

2. Building Relationships at work
Few weeks ago in common plan, one teacher jokingly called me a buzzkill when I insisted we work to the #lastbell and finish up a rubric for book clubs. It's these little things - jokes with teachers who once were strangers and now are friends - that make my work as a coach so wonderful!

3. Yoga on friday night
Best Friday night ever? 6pm hot yoga, cool shower, and then reading myself to sleep as the rain comes down. In case you didn't know, I'm kinda introverted and after being with people all day, every day, I need quiet time to myself to unwind and recharge. Perfect way to do it!

4. Love Letters
Got a note from a friend at work and it reaffirmed why I do what I do to the Nth degree. In case you didn't know, besides being kind of introverted, I'm also a Words of Affirmation person, so a hand written letter or note is 100% the way to  my heart!

5. Friends who got my back
My best friends would lay down over hot coals and let me cross on their back if I asked. And then other times, they do things for me just because they care for me and know me so well. Thank you for being in my life when I need you, besties!

6. Laying down boundaries
Did you read my post the other day about boundaries? I wish I knew what I know now in my 20's, I would have been a totally different person. If you really want to care for yourself, let the people in your life know what is okay and what isn't. It's hard to do, but so worth it.

7. Writing Marathon
Took the bloggers to the park this week and we did a mini writing marathon, which involves writing for a short amount of time (10 minutes to begin) then a share, then increasing to 20 minutes, then a share, and then powering through a 30 minute writing session. The kids are awesome and have a few new stories to publish on their blogs this summer. Just love writing along side students - and my writing friends who are adults, too!

and I'll end with an awesome commencement address via spoken word poetry...

8. Harvard's Graduate School of Education Speech
I love this time of the year when great speeches get online and go viral because they are amazing writing. I hope one day, in my composition notebook or here on my blog, I'm able to weave such beautifully metaphoric writing into something so good it brings tears to the eyes of the people who read or listen to it. Enjoy this beautiful poetry! and thanks to my principal for Tweeting it to me!

Best part of your week? Please share!

it's summertime in America's Greatest City!

Summer is officially here! Memorial Day weekend is a great time to visit with friends, have cookouts, and enjoy beautiful weather. This weekend was no exception!

Friday night there was supposed to be a meteor shower. I am not exactly the star gazing type, but Hektor loves to watch stars, so I let him wake me up at about 12:30 and we went up to his roof to await the star show. In my mind, a meteor shower would be easy to spot - lots of stars all shooting at the same time. Well, that's not exactly the case. He saw two or three shooting stars - me not so much. I couldn't be still up there - it was cold and my contacts were blurring and I couldn't see anything. I was so fidgety and the clock tower that's up on his roof was putting out too much light. So, no meteor shower for me, but he saw a few so that was good! We finally went in around 2:15...

Saturday we went to H's friend's birthday party/cookout. It was a beautiful day - not too hot, not too cold. Coleman did all the cooking - everything was delicious and we did a lot of day drinking. I was home and asleep by 9:30. I definitely had a hangover on Sunday - I do not recommend playing flippy cup with red wine....I'm such an amateur!

Sunday I went out to Bartlett - so. far. away. - but I got to see Jackie and Amy! They had a memorial day cookout so Tanya came with me and we met some of their other friends from their neighborhood who are super cool. We played bags and hung out with their super huge dog, Mason, and played a drinking game called Cheers to the Governor. I'm not going to explain all the rules (click that link to see them all) but you basically make up all these rules and go around the circle trying to remember the rule - one I made up was instead of saying 3 (as you count up to 21) you say, in a dainty little voice, "I'm a little girl." I know this makes no sense, but it's a super fun game!

Love Jackie and Amy and can't wait till we go to a Sox game next month! Teacher Appreciation Day June 10th! :-)

idk what's wrong with Amy's face...

Hugest dog EVER

Love!

And now it's Monday evening and H and I just had a super fun day renting Divvy bikes and riding around the lakefront! Divvy is a bike sharing program all around Chicago - pick up a bike for $7 for the day and then drop it off at any location. The only thing is you have to check it in every 30 minutes, so that's super annoying, but our ride was pretty sweet.

We started up by his place on Irving Park and rode the lakefront all the way down to Navy Pier and back. Took this pano from the little boardwalk that goes out into the lake over by North Avenue Beach. Speaking of the beach, it was packed today! You can totally tell that everyone is ready to be out in the sun after that nasty winter we had!

It was a beautiful day and weekend. and now, only 7 more days of school until bike rides, volleyball, vacations, and sleeping in fill my schedule!

And, no Memorial Day weekend would be complete without paying tribute to those that protect our freedoms! Our country is so amazing because of the servicemen and women who keep us safe! Thank you for all you do and for giving us this day to appreciate you all!

How was your weekend? Hope it was fab!
xo
Michelle

PB & J Friends

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you are enjoying your time with your family, friends, and loved ones! I'm in Phoenix doing dinner with Katie and Joshua. Always a good time!

This thanksgiving was the first one that I cooked with friends. Usually I'm at someone's house and they cook for me, but this year, my bff taught me all her tricks. I wanted to bring her the perfect gift...so here's what I came up with.

Katie and I had a bet once. Well, I'm sure we've had lots of bets, but I remember this one because I won. Yep, that's right. I won. She wouldn't want to admit it though, but the secret's out!

You know those Uncrustable sandwiches? These:

Well, the schools I worked at in Phoenix always has these. One day, I didn't have a lunch, so I got one, but I didn't like it. It was waaaay bigger than the ones that you buy from the store. It still tasted the same, but the filling was just too much - too much peanut butter - too much jelly.

Katie and I used to live together. Some time after I had this Uncrustable at school, I was at home and hungry, and happened to have some of these in the freezer. I got one out to thaw and eat, and I mentioned to her how the ones you buy at the store are smaller than the ones at school. She said, "No they're not." I told her, "Actually they are." We went back and fourth arguing about this for awhile before she finally bet me about it. That was an easy bet to take, so we shook on it and that was that. I couldn't wait until Monday to make her wrong...I knew I was so right!

The following Monday, at lunchtime, we headed down to the lounge which was conveniently right next to the cafeteria. I grabbed one of the sandwiches and took it to the lounge, and waited for Katie to get there. By this time, I had let all the teaching friends know how wrong Katie was about to be....so everyone was waiting for her to arrive to meet her fate.

She walked in all proud, but I was quick to show her the ounces on the Uncrustable from school.... I was jumping around all excited because I was right, and more importantly, she was wrong. She laughed it off, but I know she was so pissed to be wrong and in front of all our friends. (ok, she wasn't so pissed, but she was not happy!)

So that has been our little joke ever since. Ever since then, we find little peanut butter and jelly pictures online and post them to one another's facebook, including this one that she posted on my page on my last birthday:

(So nice, right? <3 Kaite!)

One of my favorite things about friends are all the little jokes you have with this, and this one is one of my faves!

Today we are cooking Thanksgiving together. Katie's taught me how to make the turkey, stuffing, and all the sides. I thought that since we are doing Thanksgiving together, I should find a gift that would be useful for us today....so I scoured the Internet high and low and found this:

It's our PB & J and I found an lady on Etsy to put it on an apron. Love it!

So that's it. Love the bff and love our new aprons. Our thanks giving was great, too. Her mom's stuffing recipe was amazeballs and really everything:

d

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Lots to be thankful for!

Love,

Fall Favorites

I've been a busy girl with grad school but I wanted to catch you all up with what I've been doing during my *favorite* season of the year!

Chicago in White
I'm sure you probably saw these pics on my facebook page but just wanted to get them on the blog, too! Chicago in White was at the end of September. It's a pop-up dining experience. You buy tickets and get a white outfit but then meet a secret harmonization point. Once you get there, they give you directions on public transit to the secret location. It was super fun! I went with Liz, Anita, and Diana.

So the cool thing about it was that everyone was all in white and lots of people made these super extravagant centerpieces, but what was not cool about it was that it was in a parking lot surrounded by buildings. The whole idea is that you meet up in a secret awesome place - like down by the river on Michigan Avenue or something. So, I wasn't pleased with the location but it was a fun night with the girls. Note to self: Dress warmer next time!

College Football
I wrote about how I love college football now that I live in Chicago. Saturdays are so fun - all the alumni of all the universities are out in their school colors and having fun. I've made some great friends with the ASU alumni group, and I'm excited that we still have all of November and some games in December, too.

The UP
For those of you city folk who don't know, the UP or Yoop, is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. You need to take a drive - leave Chicago, head north, go all the way through Wisconsin, pass Green Bay, head just over the Wisconsin-Michigan state line, and then you'll be there.

Head down the street just a little longer and you'll arrive here:

So my dad hates the Cubs, if that's any indication of the mailbox sign. But you know you'll be in the right place if you find his mailbox!

Over the weekend, we got to do lots of fun stuff: see the fall colors, go to a Cranberry Festival, and eat lots of great dinners together. (Thanks for cooking, Dad and Annie!) You know you're a single person when your family makes you dinner and you think, "Wow, I haven't eaten this good in months!"

Annie's cousins Christine and Doug were there too, so I was happy to hang out with them, and we got to go see all the beautiful fall colors. Check them out:

See how all the leaves are covering the path in this pic above? Thank you, government shutdown:

Anyways, the Yoop in the fall is gorgeous...here's a few more:

Dad: Why do girls always put their hand on their hip?
I explained the logic, ladies! : )

Here are some pictures from the Cranberry Festival:

Annie and I got matching hats! Love them!

We also stopped by the place Annie works at: Winks Woods. How do I describe Winks? It's like knick-knacks (is that how you spell that?) on crack. Take a look:

Here's the outside...

And the inside...

The goal I think is to cover every inch of every wall. Now, some of it is like, okay....no. But then I did find this gem I wanted to buy for my classroom:

hhahahaaa. It's just Winks - I love to go every time I'm there, even though I don't really buy anything!

Here's a few more pics from dinner. Christine and Doug - I hope we can do this again!

And Dad, thanks for being a great chef!

Great weekend. Love you guys!

Pumpkin Patch
The best fall thing to do is go to a pumpkin patch, but not just any pumpkin patch - this one...Bengtson's Pumpkin Farm. It was awesome...like the best ever!

So there was lots to do - See baby animals, watch some pig races, take a hay ride, pick a pumpkin, take lots of pics...I went with Kristy, Laurie, and Liz:

Here's some of my best pics...

Super fun day! We had some chili in a bread bowl and hot apple cider. I opted for the non-carving pumpkins and now they decorate my apartment and will last a few months! I think this trip to the suburbs will be an annual one!

And just a couple of other random great things from the last few months. A text from a former student...

Made my first rainbow cake for my mentee:

Happy Birthday Kerry!

And went to country night at Houndstooth with my BFF...super fun night!

So that's about all for now. I'm excited for Halloween with elementary school kids and my cousins this year and my birthday on Friday...should be an awesome week!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!