George Sand

Jeans: Go Jane / Tank: Charlotte Russe / Cardi: BR Outlet / Necklace: Ruche / Shoes: Gabes

I've been dying for a pair of aqua jeans since I first saw some by Guess, but they were pretty pricey. I found these at GoJane.com for only $27. They only have them in white or turquoise now, but they're also having a 25% off sale for Memorial Day weekend!  I rolled them up a bit on the inside of the legs to get the peg-leg look.

Now, onto a more technical matter. I thought I'd explain why I've chosen to use a nom de plume, or pen name, for my blog. After hearing from multiple techie-snoop students, in every school I've taught, that they've tried to Google me,  I decided that while teaching, I very much want my private life to be just that-- private. In fact, I kind of enjoy having a private little public outlet { as much as I enjoy a good oxymoron...} So I decided to go all George Sand* on the public realm and adopt a non de plume.

I first considered Lucie, my high school French class name. My sister and I kind of used to watch I Love Lucy every night on Nick at Nite before bed. Well, that and the last scene from Dirty Dancing. 

And honestly, who told the people at Nickelodeon that their current Nick at Nite line-up was acceptable? It's supposed to be about oldies! Ten years ago shows from the 50s-70s were playing. Now we've got shows from the 90s-00s playing. Shows that are still on syndication like, everywhere. I miss Lucy, Dick, Jeanie, and Samantha from Bewitched. 

I also kind of want to be Samantha. But that's besides the point. 

Then I thought about Elle, which is part of my middle name. But while I do love her dazzling abilities with diction, I'm not really the Elle Woods type, which is the first thing that pops into my head when I hear that name.

Rue just, somehow, seemed the easiest, best fit. So in the end, I decided that I could, indeed, share a name with both my blog and the brave / adorable tribute from District 11 and, voilà, a pen name was born.

Yea, I'm also that kind of dork. The YA fiction-loving kind. HP is my hero.

P.S. Aren't these lilacs simply gorgeous? Our garage and entire bottom are lined with large, lustrous lilac bushes, and it's pure delight for both the eyes and nose. Perfume of Mother Nature, I tell you. She can't be matched.

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*George Sand = The nom de plume for Armandine-Aurore-Lucille Dudevant, neé Dupin. She was a progressive French novelist, perhaps the most well-known female French author, particularly popular for her Romantic works, which she published under a masculine name to give them more exposure in the 1800s. 

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Mixed Prints: Yes, Another 30x30 Interlude

 Dress: B Moss / Top: F21 / Scarf: Charlotte Russe / Shoes: J Crew final sale ($15!) / Bracelet, Earrings: Gabes / Bangles: AE

HOW is it time for another EBEW already? C'est pas possible!* I've done a measly three posts since the last one. I can't wait to get this 30x30 behind me. It's actually finished; I just haven't finished posting it. Because the Europe posts take for-ev-a. And I'm trying to get my house in order and take care of things at home, since I've been away most of the summer. Piles of classroom clutter litters my floor as I type. I'm pretending it's not there.

So, down to business. I've been voting for color blocking the past few months and was disappointed it still hasn't won {seriously, how did it not beat yellow? I love yellow and all...but still.} I really just want it to win because it's something I've yet to blog. I've done mixed prints. Or maybe I just want an excuse to buy one of those super cute color blocked dresses out there...

Either way, I embraced defeat and pulled out this old printed wrap dress, threw a stripey shirt and flowery scarf on top and a dotted slip underneath, and bada bing. Loads of mixed prints, all in one outfit. Yet my favorite part is the solid shoes. Extra 40% off of final sale and free shipping with no min. Thank you, J Crew for making my summer. I stuck with a color theme to pull my outfit together, but now I'm wishing I'd been brave enough {or had clothes cool enough} to try something like this.

P.S. By tomorrow I'd like to have ready my posts for Outfit 12 at the Villa Carlotta and 13 at the 50s-style Cuccaro Club in Italy. But there's a plane ticket with my name on it heading East bright and early tomorrow, so we'll see. I'm spending a week with my family and attending my first class reunion. Remember this dress? Well, I won it. And found some more cost efficient coral shoes and lipstick to go with it. Can't wait to try it out:)

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C'est pas possible =  short for Ce n'est pas possible = It's not possible!

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Yellow Interlude

 Skirt, Top, Silk Scarf: Consigned at Periwinkle (Victoria Holley, Liz Claiborne, Ralph Lauren) / Shoes, Bracelet: Gabes (Relativity, ?) / Earrings: UO Vintage / Belt: J Crew final sale / Headband: Walmart

I'm taking a little break from my 30x30 Europe posts so I can participate in this month's EBEW feature: yellow. I didn't have a single yellow item in my 30x30, nor do I have any yellow accessories. I have very little yellow in general in my closet. Sad. Yellow is such a happy, sunny color. So what's a girl to do? Go thrifting, of course!

I hit up my most favoritest consignment shop and found the above skirt, yellow top, and silk scarf. Perfect! Then I looked super duper hard for a 40s-50s-ish backdrop for photos, because this ensemble was screaming vintage housewife to me. I seriously considered breaking into the house down the street- an old estate for sale that's from the 40s and is still decorated as such. Light teal carpet, a white grand piano in a room full of old fashioned chaises and furniture, and a cherry red tiled kitchen with red and yellow splashy floral wall paper. { Can I tell you how badly I'd like to live there? That's far closer to my style than our current residence, which is dominated by desert tones, and there are 2 pools and a super sweet upper-level wrap deck on that house! }

But I checked myself out of crazy town and settled for serving the Husband an aperitif of fresh-squeezed lemonade and garden strawberries on our deck instead, feigning the part of the domestic goddess. The perfect wife that makes fabulous lemonade and smiles pleasantly while she pours it.

All the while expecting her husband to document her every move. She might've also forgotten to make ice. And made slightly watery lemonade. But at least she looks the part :)

Well, almost. I wanted to whip my hair into a swirly fancy 50s do, but I'm not very good at hair. I couldn't find one measly bottle of gel, mouse, or even hairspray. Blogger bun and red lips to the rescue!

 Bon jour de jaune à tout le monde!*

P.S. I must beg for mercy again in getting my Europe posts / 30x30 outfits up. They take so long because I have loads of photos to sort through and I just found out yesterday that I need to fill in as a cabin mom for my church's Girl's Camp starting today and going through Saturday! I still have all of our week in Italy {including more cliff jumping- this time off of a waterfall!}, and 3 more days of the French Riviera at the end of our trip {Monaco, Antïbes, and Marseille!}, all to come in due time!

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* Bon jour de jaune à tout le monde! = Happy yellow day to everyone!

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Awkward and Awesome Thursday: Ruffles and Sequins

Jacket: Piperlime (Trinity) / Top:  Charlotte Russe / Pants: AE clearance / Shoes: Elder Beerman clearance (Privo) / Necklace: Ruche / Earrings: Gabes (Monet) / Sunnies: Urban Outfitters clearance / Bracelet: Made by Yours Truly :)

Awkward / Maladroit:

- Spelling the flour like the flower when writing it on the board during a vocab exercise for baking in my ESL class. Then, having a student point out the mistake. While being observed by the principal. Whoops...sorry there, Mr. Principal. I promise I know English better than my second language learners.
- Being the new teacher in a high school and being asked for my hall pass while in the office or halls during my prep period. I guess it didn't help that I still dressed like a student at that point.
- The next year, being the new teacher in a junior high and having the same issue of being mistaken for a student. At first I found this ridiculous { junior high? Come on...} but soon learned that junior high kids can appear to be anywhere from 7 to 20. I kid not. This was the kick I needed to start dressing my age :)
- Having students guess your age. I got everything from 20 to 44. Seriously? They have no concept of age, clearly.
- While we're talking about age, at least my students' concept is better than our banker's. When we first moved here, I'd just gone for a run before meeting up with the Husband to open a bank account. The banker asked the Husband if he was wanting to open an account for "his daughter." Granted, I was in a ponytail and my chicken legs were on display, but come on!

Awesome / Génial:

- Sparkles. I'm in LOVE with this jacket! I just found it on Piperlime's sale section for $12, and they always have free shipping!

- Ruffles. With dots. Des jabots et des pois. Oh, je les adore *!

- Sparkles and ruffles and dots together! It's like fleece and flannel for the Husband. Only fashionable.
- I won Bunco. Again. My odds are now 60%. I don't know how this is happening.
- I'm on a winning streak. I just won this fabulous necklace from a giveaway at Meet Virginia Design, my very first blog giveaway win. AND last month, well, do you remember this little storyboard I created? It won. For reals. The lovely and talented Sarah from Edelweiss by Sarah chose my board and I won the Luther. I think the world must be making up for the 20-some odd years I went without winning a darn thing, save one measly Burrito at Qdoba, which was useless to me since I don't eat beef.
- My upcoming 30x30 with a special twist. You might even say a French twist. I'll divulge the details Saturday and post my 30 items!

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*Des jabots et des pois. Oh, je les adore! = Ruffles and dots! Oh, how I love them!

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Double Dots

Skirt: F21 ($12) / Top: H&M / Cardi: Gabes (NY & Co, $5!) / Tights: Kohls clearance / Heels: Sears clearance / Headband: Fred Meyer

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring...

Meanwhile, I'm wearing a double dose of dots. Remember back at the very beginning, when I was scouring my closet for something to wear on Dot Day, desperately wishing for more dots? Well, these days there's no shortage of dots in my life, that's for sure. Yesterday I confiscated three of them. My students have begun using Dots as weapons between classes. They're hard as rocks, from what they tell me. One kid even wanted ice for his Dot-affected hand, claiming he couldn't write. They always want ice. It's the new thing, evidently. Dots and ice. Whatever happened to Junior Mints and Ace bandages? That's what I remember from my bell ringer days. Sneaking Junior Mints in class and wrapping an Ace bandage around any lightly bumped limb.

Times may change, but the intent is still the same: Get a sugar high, seek attention, and elicit sympathy. With hopes of avoiding some work, too, of course. At least Junior Mints couldn't leave bruises and Ace bandages didn't drip water everywhere.

P.S. Don't let la dot fool you in French. It's a faux ami* and means dowry, not polka dot. Best be careful with that one; you could end up with a goat rather than a polka dotted blouse :)

P.P.S Linked up here at my friend Tiff's cute party {dots are cute, are they not?} and here at the Pleated Poppy!

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*faux ami = false friend { It looks like a nice, easy, friendly cognate. But it's trickery, because it isn't at all! }

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Polka Dots and Mardi Gras

 Polka Dotted Skirt: Gabes (Limited Too) / Cardigan: J Crew Factory / Scarf: France / Shoes: Gabes (Prediction)

Today’s been dubbed Polka Dot Day by the ladies at Everybody, Everywear. It’s also Mardi Gras! So how perfect is it that the only polka dotted article of clothing I own is adorned with green and blue dots? We’ll just pretend those blue dots are a hue of purple, I’ll throw in some gold beads, and I’m set. I’m the holiday-dressing teacher I promised I’d never become...but hopefully, a bit more stylish. And sans beads, as you can see. You didn’t really think I’d go that far, did you?

I had quite the difficult time deciding whether to participate in Polka Dot Day considering that a) this skirt is from a children's brand and the design is a fair tell-tale sign of that fact. I think it’s better pulled off by an adult in the breezy summertime. It was a challenge to appropriately winterize it, but I think I did all right using the 'it goes' rather than matches trick; and b) this is now the first official post on my new style blog, which I wasn’t planning to unveil till I had my fabulously not-yet-created header and buttons up and a terribly witty commentary for my first post. But who wants to miss out on Polka Dot Day? I’ve recently become a bit obsessed with polka dots, and have tried in vain to acquire more of them in clothing form. Luck has not been with me, but I have a trip to Portland this weekend and am hoping to satiate my longing for spots at some great thrift shops.

So, there you have it. My first post. I’m actually glad I did it now, rather than waiting to perfect my blog design. I’ve got several draft posts ready, and I’ve also begun the process of creating a more workable wardrobe, starting with Kendi’s Purge, Assess, Organize, Shop, and Remix tutorial, which I’d like to document in case I { I should probably just say “for when I”} experience a relapse of poor shopping/wardrobe building decisions.

Up next on Rue Ceri: Proof that I’m serious about this working wardrobe thing. I’m still in Phase 1: The Purge. It’s wicked difficult. In the meantime, have a spot of tea with your spots and enjoy this fine day to celebrate such a fine trend! Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I have this thing where I wish I were British. Old school British, apparently. I’ll try to keep it to a minimum. 

Bon Mardi Gras!