a birthday wish

No, she did not eat them all! We saved some for later.
I couldn't help but purchase a bunch...seriously, how cute!?

She enjoyed every last crumb!

We celebrated Brooklyn's first birthday over here tonight (Yes, actually celebrated...puppy cake & treats, gifts, party hats...the whole shabang! The Mr. thinks I am just as crazy as our four-legged, hairy friend...hmm, maybe so...). Can't believe just how in love I've fallen for this clumsy, green-eyed pup. Happy Birthday, Brookie Baby! I love you to the moon & back.

See more pics of my famous sweetie pie here and here.

Missing...

Hello friends! Sorry I've been MIA over the past couple of days. Things have been a bit crazy over here in my Char'Med Life. School with my first graders, preparing for my third and FINAL observation by my Principal (Yay!), puppy, theater practice at the high school, oh, and those meetings, those lovely meetings. Phew. I'm already exhausted and it is only Monday. In need of some serious motivation here. Starbucks and some inspirational quotes from around the web should do the trick. Best wishes for a great week everyone! Keep Smiling. xo

Oh, AND watch this video if you want an AMAZING tutorial on the most beautiful top knot!

A Night Out

Two students from our school performed tonight.
They were so great!

A dinner and a show at The Palace Theater are both on the agenda for the night. I will be meeting up with some of the teachers/colleagues from my school to enjoy a night of singing, dancing and of course, eating! I'm excited to spend a fun evening out with all of my teacher friends. It's almost Friday after all, why not start the weekend fun a bit early!

Consignment Boutiques

 

Thrifting. How do you feel about it? I know that many women have opposing views on the topic. I have to say that I greatly enjoy an afternoon shopping around in one of my favorite shabby chic consignment boutiques.There are a couple of them in my little town and I like to visit them often. I always seem to find many of the most wanted trends for such a major discount. Why pay more when you can pay less? And hey, don't get me wrong, I am a total spender and always have been. I absolutely love to splurge every once in a while, but for trends that tend to disappear so quickly, this is the way to go.  

Today's visit was all about...yep, you guessed it...the trend of the moment...leopard and animal print. And boy did I score! I purchased a gorgeous cheetah print belt for $3.00, a pair of Anthropologie high waisted sailor pants for $12.00 and wild leopard leggings for $5.00...for a total of...$20.00. I did some research (find full priced items here, here and here) and found that if I were to buy these items at the mall or a specialty store I would have spent close to $240.00! Whoa baby. Can you believe it?

Today's 'vintage adventure' = great success.

One Day...

Pinterest

I have been drooling over all of the pictures from last week's Altitude Design Summit. What is Alt. you ask? Well..."If you're obsessed with lifestyle, food and fashion blogs, fantastic images, smart ideas and great design inside and outside — all wrapped up with a social media bow"...the Alt Summit is for YOU...and DEFINITELY for me! So many of the bloggers that I follow made the journey to Salt Lake City last week to attend this fantastic four day conference. I was so excited that many of them left tips, tricks and pictures on their blogs and twitter. I  felt like I was part of their journey and I loved every minute. One day I hope to experience this amazing event, as well.

After looking at all the pictures (you can view them all here) the trends that were dominating the scene were..... red lips, loose waves, glasses, top knots and leopard print...TONS of LEOPARD! Thanks for the inspiration, Alt. Summit beauties! Hopefully I'll be seeing you soon. Until then, I'll practice rocking these trends here in my own little neck of the woods!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Lately I have found myself dreading Sundays. I'm not sure if it is the pile of clothes I need to wash, or the bathrooms that need scrubbing, or my lesson plan book that is YELLING my name...? Hmmm. I just greatly dislike that I waste away the day going through the motions of chores and planning and do not take full advantage of all that Sunday has to offer. I've decided that I can no longer let the 'Sunday blues' get me down. I'm making changes. Changes for the greater good, people.

Checklist for a perfect Sunday...
Grocery Shopping & a well stocked refrigerator
Yummy food cooking in the crock pot...it's always about the food with me. ALWAYS.
Getting showered & ready at my own pace...I'm usually rushing around Mon-Fri...hair, clothes and makeup- everywhere! You can only imagine.
Plenty of puppy play time with our crazy baby girl
Visiting with friends & enjoying great company, conversation and laughs

Today was definitely one of those special Sundays. I'm happy & ready to start the week. Bring it on.

Liebster Award

Wowza! My first blog award! I'm pumped! Big thanks & ((hugs)) to one of my favorite bloggers over at dreaming en francais for presenting me with this honor. Thanks so much, girl! Check her out, people! Great fashion choices, personal style and photographs to boot- you will just love her!

Liebster in German means dearest, beloved, or favorite, and it is for bloggers with under 200 followers.

The rules are:

 

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.

2. Link back to the blogger who awarded you.

3. Copy & paste the blog award on your blog.

4. Reveal your 5 blog picks.

5. Let them know you chose them by leaving a comment on their blog.

My Five Liebster Blog Picks are...

The Rumbling Tummy

The Greeley Girls

A handful of peanuts

Page: Twenty-Two

It's Never Too...

 Enjoy! Thanks so very much for all of your support, encouragement and kind words over the past couple of months. I am so thankful to have this opportunity to connect with such great people from all over the world.

Keep smiling.
Char xo

Snowy Saturday

It's a snowy weekend over here in New England and being snowed in on the couch sounds like a good plan to me. One task, or treat in my case, that I do need to accomplish this weekend is my grocery shopping (I secretly...well, it's not much of a secret to those who know me well enough... LOVE food shopping). The only trouble issssss that this snow is delaying my plans. I just can't seem to make it off my comfy-cozy couch! I am also pulling off quite the 'messy bum' look right now and still need to make myself look presentable to the world. Ohhh...weekend problems. Gatta love it.

Here are a couple links to some of the recipes on my meal plan for the weekend/upcoming week...
Crock Pot Pulled Pork Sandwiches *perfect for game day!
My Favorite Meatballs
Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Pizza, Pizza * soooo many yummy pizza recipes!
Chicken Piccata *a favorite in our house!
Classic Cocktail

Fashion Inspiration

Sydney from The Daybook

Isn't she just a doll?

Mariannan from Mariannan at Indiedays

Lauren Conrad

Above are a couple of the fashion/hair inspiration shots that I am loving/studying this week. As stated previously, I am excited and anxious to begin posting some outfit pictures here on CharM'ed. I have quite a few picked out for my initial trial run! Oooo baby, fingers crossed...hopefully I won't look like a weirdo. ;)

All pictures were carefully selected/pinned from Pinterest. Follow me...I'll see YOU there!

Closet Envy

A little squished dont ya think!?

Oh boy, what's a girl to do!?

Today I spent my holiday off organizing my closet. I have a love/hate relationship with the closets in our home. While we have tons of them throughout, they are all pretty teeny-tiny. The Mr. thinks I have this problem due to the actual size of my wardrobe and NOT the dimensions of the closet space itself. While this may be true, I really wish I could gather all of my most favorite items in a spacious, luxurious closet as seen in the pictures above. Hmm... a girl can dream... or get on planning the building of a massive walk-in at our next place. ;)

Another reason for the organization of my closet was to go shopping. Yes, shopping. I found myself looking through Pinterest and other blogs saying to myself "Oh wow I love that, wait a minute, I have that!" time and time again, only to realize that I didn't really know where many of the items were. I was on a mission. Therefore, a cleaning was absolutely necessary. 

Each and every time I re-organize I always find pieces that I have forgotten about and neglected. What a meanie, huh!?  I am excited to take these oldies but goodies out for a reinvention...thinking of starting some fashion posts with these gems. What do we think? Sound good?

Football Saturday

My contribution to tonight's football game...Chicken Taco Chili. The most perfect addition to any sporting event or lazy Sunday...in this case, lazy Saturday. SO easy and effortless. Me, myself and my tummy highly recommend it. Enjoy. Recipe by Gina at Skinnytaste. Check her out...I've also made her Asian Glazed Drumsticks and Roast Beef recipes. Good stuff.
New England all the way...Let's GOooOoo PATS!

Time to Unwind

I'm freezing, yo! It is quite frigid and windy over here in New England. It is finally feeling like winter. Just got home from the market and boyyyy am I ready to lounge . Relaxing the night away with some yummy food, wine and warm snuggles with my babe. Happy Friday. xo

tea for two

Click on the picture...trust me, you will also fall deeply into like! =)

How beautiful is this? Wowza, I'm so in love with it.
Thank you for the inspiration, Jamie Beck, From Me To You

Actress? Beats me.

Friends have mentioned that my little huge, sweet girl is quite an actress in these vids (wonder where she gets thhhaaattt from). Come on now, she always listens soooooo well. I don't even know what they mean...

Game Time

During our Math Workshop today in first grade I overheard a huddle conversation between two students while playing a measurement game together. It went a little like this...

"Come on dude, focus! Calm down and get your head in the game!"

Priceless moments all while learning about centimeters and inches. Gatta love it. Wish I had a cute, little friend who would pump me up whenever I was slackin'. ;)