New favorite summer salad dressing

Summer makes me crave fruits, veggies, and salads like nothing else! I just found the perfect salad dressing at Fresh Market. I added it to fresh baby lettuces, low-fat crumbled bleu cheese, and strawberries for an amazing salad for lunch.

Maine Goodness

I was the lucky recipient of Maine goodness from Megan in Maine's pay it forward giveway. Let me briefly touch upon my history with LL Bean... Most of my mom and dad's wardrobes are full of LL Bean items. I remember them in their puffy Bean's vests and sweaters for many winters and in the mesh polos during the summers. Of course, they had matching winter boots as well. My fascination with the place began while going to camp in Maine. We would always stop in Freeport to see the trout pond, shop for camp necessities, and bask in the glory of a company with remarkable products and excellent customer service. Now, as an adult, LL Bean is my go to place for my collection of cable knit sweaters, preppy belts, polos, hiking boots, cool shoes, flip flops, workout clothes, non-iron oxfords, and much more!
I opened it up to see a beautifully monogrammed pink Boat and Tote bag. I love the green Meg chose to accent the pink.


I was in awe of the goodies that were inside. The boat and tote notepad was so cute and will look perfect on my desk at school. Blueberry lip balm will keep my lips yummy all summer. The pine scented candle reminds me of summers at camp in Maine. The ribbon belt was something I had picked out for myself and will look really nice with khakis this summer. I needed another magnet. This one will help me get through the winters while dreaming of summers in Maine. The maple lobster candy is so cute and will be a welcome treat. I am also dying to try the chocolate covered cranberries and the mints. Yum! Last but not least, the lobster mug is so cute and will be ideal for ice cream a cup of tea. Meg also wrote me a cute note on some preppy stationary.

Thank you, Megan in Maine for making my week!

Readers- Look forward to my pay it forward giveaway coming soon!

Why I have not been blogging for a week...

Thursday
- I gave the history exam and proceeded to sit down with 53 writing intensive exams without correcting a single one... I did, however, look over the extra credit Haikus I had the students write on each exam. I told them the Haiku had to be about how much they enjoyed my class... they were very cute to read!

Friday
- I laid outside with the said exams and corrected! I also was slightly sunburned by this experience. I always think lacrosse game=sunblock, beach= sunblock, I need to start thinking correcting exams outside= sunblock! The other dorm parent and I took the seniors that help us run the dorm out to dinner. We went to a great pizza place in town and truly pigged out! I had a salad and a slice of pizza, but also picked at the buffalo chicken strips and jalepeno poppers (something new I tried). I rushed off to the Middle School Graduation. The girls looked beautiful in their white dresses. I was the only teacher to have taught every 8th grader. I went back to change quickly for the party and a 7th grader came to my apartment with a little blue box in hand with...

this was such a pleasant surprise and is quite the reward for working very hard with this student. I continued to dance the night away with the 8th graders!

Saturday
- I slept in for the first time in forever and then went running. I helped the girls clean out the dorm and we had our parent-senior award dinner. I think the school gives too many awards and that the awards would be more meaningful if there were fewer of them. Oh well!

Sunday
- It was HOT! I was not so thrilled to be dressed in black academic regalia under the blazing, hot sun; however, the ceremony was short and we had an interesting speaker (a Congressman). After the ceremony, I said good-bye to all the girls I helped raise over the year (another post about this). There were a lot of tears because many of them have become very attached to the dorm and to our lives together. It is always strange not to hear the little pitter patter of feet upstairs or the knocks on the door to bake banana bread. I made an artichoke dip:

1 can of artichokes
1 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup freshly grated parmasean cheese
2/3 cup powdered parmasean cheese
2 cloves of garlic
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes (or until brown and bubbly)

Whenever I bring this dip to a party it is gone within 15 minutes. I was off to an end of the year party at the librarian's house. People were enjoying "letting off steam" and it was very fun.

Monday
- Our headmaster started off our end of the year meeting asking "Did you all get baked on Sunday?". He meant by the sun...ha! He is retiring and basically used the meeting to tell all his favorite stories from 23 years at the school. We ended early and I was off to the gym. I went to a double baby shower for two teachers' wives who no one really knows. It was a bit awkward because of that, but it was fun watching them open up the gifts. Of course, I am excited for more babies on campus. On Monday night, some young faculty members have started a tradition of a "College Party" complete with a keg, pizza, and drinking games. An older faculty member came, but his girlfriend was actually in college (40 year old dating a 19 year old- different!). We had a great time!

Tuesday
- I had to finish correcting exams, doing grades, and writing comments for all my dear students. I went to the gym and then to the headmaster's end of the year party. I wore my reversible Lilly skirt on the side with margaritas! The meal was great- garlic mashed potatoes, steak, salad, cheesecake...

Wednesday
- I had a Middle School Meeting and then submitted my grades. After a workout, I passed out of exhaustion. I had a girls night to watch Sex and the City. We had dinner and cosmos here. As for the movie, I LOVED it! I will write a full review later once all of America has seen it.

Thursday
- I woke up to a lovely package from Megan in Maine. She did an impeccable job shopping at LL Bean. I will share pictures on Saturday. I drove to CT to see my sister who is going to be home for a wedding this weekend. It will be a short trip because I have to drive back to PA for the headmaster's retirement party on Saturday night. I am realizing the $4 gas in PA is a bargain compared to CT!

So, there are some snippets of my life... back to daily blogging... promise!

6 AM walk!

I just got back from a nice walk with one of my colleagues and another colleague's wife. I am young, hip, and single. A is newly married and J is married with two kids. It is fun to spend time with women at different stages of their lives!

SATC Premiere- Is anyone else excited? I am planning a little cosmo night with the girls at a nice restaurant and then watching the movie! I never go to the movies, but I think this one will be a fun event.

I finished teaching on Tuesday and am now free for a moment before I give my exam this afternoon. The end is in sight...

One Day Sale- Madras Quilt

LL Bean has this on a super sale today... Only $59 for a full/ queen... perfect for a summer home.


Also, the LL Bean credit card is not discontinuing, they are just switching from the Bank of America. Thank goodness... I am not sure what I would do without the free shipping!

It's a Small World

I love meeting other people through blogging, but I do not give out my blog to my friends/ family. However, I have always wondered if any of them would ever stumble upon it accidentally. I received a comment from Kappa Prep the other day and went to her blog and saw her post about her 5- year reunion for her CT boarding school. It turns out that Kappa Prep and I were in school together at the same time. She was just a lower middler (freshman) when I was a senior. What a small world!

Days of teaching left: 4

Friday Fill-in

1. There is absolutely NO way you can get me to drive a school bus or a big truck!
2. Putting away my sweaters reminds me that summer is almost here!
3. I cannot live without my daily workout.
4. Running in a race and formal cooking classes are two things I'd like to try.
5. When life hands you lemons squeeze them into vodka to make a lemon drop.
6. Going to the beach in Cape Cod/ The Hamptons are some of my favorite childhood memories.
7. And as for the weekend, I am on dorm duty. Tonight I'm playing Taboo with the girls in the dorm, tomorrow my plans include a morning run, baking, cleaning, and playing Scrabble!

Around the water cooler...

Well, we don't have a water cooler in our faculty room, but we sure have the good conversation. Here are a couple of vignettes just from today...

T: The shopping trip will be really fun if I get stimulated this weekend.
Me: (jaw drops- TMI) Oh, you mean the tax refund stimulus? (ok- let's get our mind out of the gutter LPP)

S: Wow, my wife, A, had such trouble getting a dress to wear to the prom (A is 6 months pregnant).
Me: So, you are bringing a knocked up girl to the prom... wow! (I was just giving him a laugh... it is funny because they actually went to the prom together in high school and now are married and expecting their first child)

M: My husband says I am a gay man trapped in a woman's body!

Best Cookies Ever

The BBQ tonight was lovely.  Only my "friend" showed up, not the ex, yippee!  I made the cookies and they were absolutely delicious.  

9 teaching days left?  How did the year go by so fast?  

Undefeated!

The lacrosse team won today to become undefeated for our regular season in our conference! Yeah! My field hockey team won the conference championships this year, and we are hoping the same for lacrosse.

In other news, I get off campus tomorrow night to a BBQ with friends from my outdoors club. This group includes a guy that I was dating for awhile this year who told me he was dating someone else over an e-mail last February AND a guy that I have been hanging out with since then (the "friend" who cooked me dinner the other night). Needless to say, it should be an interesting dynamic. I will make my salsa and maybe these as well.

How much does everyone love all the fresh fruit? I just ate a quarter of a watermelon and some fresh strawberries- yum!

The things kids say, part one of many

As you may know, teaching at a boarding school involves teaching kids from around the world. When I found out that an earthquake had hit China, I spoke to my Chinese student in my class about the earthquake expecting her to be concerned or want to know more information. Instead, she began laughing and threw her hands in the air and said, "They had too many people anyways!" Wow!

In other news, another husband English candidate came through today. He was a nice, Southern gentleman who seemed very enthusiastic about teaching English. He had a wonderful smile and thought all the people who work at our school are laid back (ha!).

A lovely summer dinner

I went to a friend's house last night for dinner and had my first official summer dinner. I brought over mixed margaritas:

1.5 ounces tequila
1 ounce lime juice
.5 ounces triple sec

Of course, I multiplied that by, well, 4!

salsa:
1 bunch cilantro
1 can rotelle
1 large can diced tomatoes
juice of 1/2 lime
5 black olives (pitted)
threw everything in the blender --> yum!




He made this. The chicken was great and the vegetables tasted very fresh. Of course, nothing is better than sitting out on the deck drinking margs and having a great dinner on a late spring night!

Hire me a husband!

As a teacher at a boarding school it is very challenging for someone else to understand my lifestyle, especially when it comes to dating. Guys do not understand why I have to be in the dorm on certain nights or what my responsibilities entail. Therefore, the people that can completely understand this are my colleagues... not always the widest dating pool. Our school would like to hire teaching couples, but more single people or people who have spouses who are not teachers have been hired in the last couple of years. The natural solution, as my single colleagues and I joke, is to hire us spouses! A man came to interview today who is my age, went to boarding school himself, went to camp in Maine, and knows many of my boarding school friends. AND, he was handsome AND preppy! Ahh... this was such an exciting moment to break up the otherwise monotonous week.

In other news, my Pilates class had a 'Tini Tuesday party. My classmates made mango and pomegranate martinis, cheeseballs, white bean dip, and I made brownies... yum!

Another addition to the family...

of flip flops I seem to collect. I went to LL Bean this weekend to "look at bikes" and resist the urge to buy more things, like flip flops. However, I found these and could not leave them at the store... even though I have 4 pairs of pink/ green ones already!

Rabbit, Rabbit

I remembered to say "Rabbit, Rabbit" this morning for good luck this month. I think I am going to need it!

We had a faculty meeting tonight which meant I could not go to Valley Forge Park with my friends. We voted on awards for seniors and it did not end up with who I thought deserved to win winning. I still think of the students I voted for in high regard.