Tuesday, August 23, 2016

2 Thumbs Up for Year 2!

When your husband is out of town and can't take your obligatory "First Day of School" picture, you end up awkwardly giving the camera two thumbs-up and realize that's about as good as it's gonna get. . . at least the Fonz would be proud? Ayyyy.


Year TWO of teaching started today! It was wonderful and exhausting and exciting and everything else that first day of school dreams are made of. My students are freaking adorable and there are a couple of classes that I can already tell I am going to LOVE (specifically my class that wanted to debate whether Cafe Rio or Costa Vida was better). PLUS! I am going to be in charge of the school's HOPE Squad (suicide prevention) this year and I'm so nervous + excited about it. And did I mention my students are freaking adorable? Because they are. I really didn't think I missed teaching this Summer, but after today I realized how much I did! Oh, "teacher's high"-you've been missed. I'm finally feeling motivated to be a kick-A teacher, and to make a difference in these kiddos lives! 

Hello 2016-17 school year! I am SO ready for you! Now let's just hope that I'm still wanting to awkwardly give the camera two thumbs up at the end of this year... 

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Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Goodbye Summer of Shay

I really thought that going back to school today and setting up my classroom would make me more excited to get back to my teaching gig and have all the motivation in the world to be a kick-A teacher this year. . . but it didn't. I'm still very much in Summer of Shay mode.

What are pants? 
What's the date today?
What's the password to my school email again? 

It's kind of hard to be in school mode since I had a pretty good send off this week from the Gourley gang. Monday we went to the pool (my second home this summer) and had pizza and nachos for lunch! (Thanks, Gourley girls!)

And if pool day with the Gourley gang wasn't enough. . . On Tuesday, me and Martha had a movie marathon day! Three movies + two Swig drinks snuck into the theaters = one epic day! I think this might need to become a tradition!

Can you blame me for not being in teacher mode yet? This Summer of Shay has been so good to me! Like, SO good. But I guess it's time to trade in my pool bag for my backpack and my flip flops for tennis shoes (life of a PE teacher is super glamorous-obviously). I'm thinking once I'm with my students again the teacher feels will come back, but for now, I'm just going to mourn the ending of a great summer.

Sigh... I will see you in 10 months, Summer of Shay. It's not too early to start counting to Christmas break, though.... right?!

Ready or not, here we go 2016-2017 school year!

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Sunday, August 14, 2016

Master Chris!


Chris graduated with his Master's of Public Administration on Friday (August 12th)! Well, technically he graduated back in June, but he walked on Friday and we celebrated! Annnd I got to play paparazzi wife for a while. Any excuse to celebrate my lover dover bobber and go to Outback ;) 

I am so, SO proud of you Chris!!! I got to see first-hand how much hard work + dedication + sacrifice it takes to get a Master's. You never cease to amaze me.

I love you, Chris! Or should I say,  MASTER CHRIS!? ;)

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Monday, August 8, 2016

Things I Repeatedly Buy At Ulta

If you know me, you know my happy place is roaming around Ulta with a very large dirty Dr. Pepper in hand. All I would need is Chris waiting by the register in there an telling me to get whatever I want. Ha! Chris despises that store, so I guess I'll settle for Shelbs + my dirty Dr. Pepper as my Ulta shopping companions for now.

Anyway, besides drenching myself in free samples of Marc Jacob's Daisy perfume, there's a reason, or I guess I should say reasonS, I love going to Ulta, so I thought I'd share them with you. Now you might look at this list of products and think, "But Shayli, I can buy these at places other than Ulta," and I would admit that you're right, but I always get these at Ulta because I get points for buying anything there. It's like I'm being rewarded for buying makeup... yes, please! I also love that Ulta has a drugstore side AND a high-end side... you get the best of both worlds! (Right, Miley? Sigh. I miss Hannah Montana.)



Philosophy Purity Face Wash- This face wash is the only face wash I've ever had that completely removes my make up (except eye makeup). Even after a couple of years of using this face wash, I still get giddy after I dry my face with a white towel and there's not a single trace of makeup left on it! This product is also bueno bueno because it doesn't dry the $h!z out of your skin, like most face washes do.

NYX Butter Gloss- Very rarely do I leave Ulta without one of these bad boys. There's a reason they are called "butter" gloss--so smooth + creamy + not sticky at all! There's a huge color range of these, too. The best part is, they all smell like cake. Um, yes please. Go get one and thank me later.

St. Moriz Self-Tanning Mousse- I'll be honest, I have never tried any other self-tanners besides this one, but that's probably because most of the other ones I've seen are over $30 a bottle. Ain't nobody got time for that! So when I saw this one for only $12.99 at Ulta, I thought, "Why the heck not?!" and I'm so glad I did... because I love it! Super cheap, looks super natural (no oompa loompa-ness), and a bottle can last for a long time (mine lasted about 5 months). I will say that it doesn't smell good, but I'm not super sensitive to that kind of thing + that's probably what you get for paying only $12.99 on a self-tanner?

Benefit Hoola Bronzer- This bronzer is usually the reason I venture over to the high-end side at Ulta--and for good reason! This stuff is amazing. Like, I've-gone-through-4-pans-of-this amazing. This is one product that I would definitely recommend splurging on ($28 is splurging for me). It works on really fair skin to really tan skin, even though it looks so light in the pan. It's my favorite to use for contouring for sure, and the brush that comes with it inside is perfect for that. Plus, as dumb as it this may be. . . I think the packaging is so cute! Dang you, Benefit, and your adorable products!

Loreal True Match Foundation- The foundation I always always come back to after trying a new one. I also love the True Match Lumi Foundation, it just depends if my skin is super oily at the moment or not (the Lumi is not going to be your friend if you're super oily). This foundation has a huge range of colors, and I think this foundation is super build-able. You can use it for just a little bit of coverage or you can go full coverage with it, and it won't look super cakey. The only thing I wish was different about this foundation is that it came in a bigger bottle, and had a pump for application instead of having to just pour it out...but that's it! Trust me, there's a reason everyone on YouTube talks about this foundation.

Real Techniques Sponge- Speaking of foundation, how did I ever apply my foundation before this sponge?! I've mentioned it on the blog before, but it's worth mentioning again--it's such a good blending sponge!! And so much cheaper than the Beauty Blender. I love that it has a pointed edge so I can blend out my concealer, but then has a smooth, flat edge that I can press in my foundation with. Using this sponge to apply foundation makes the foundation look so natural + flawless! Like the NYX Butter Gloss, it's very rare I leave Ulta without grabbing another one of these. Trust me, it's worth the $6.


...phew! That was a lot of typing, but....but.... I just love Ulta, okay!? And I'm guessing if you read this whole post, you love it, too? (Did we just become best friends?!) Tell me what other products I need to be buying on repeat at Ulta!

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