TeachersPayTeachers Cyber Monday SALE!

All teachers (well, the cool teachers, at least!) love Teachers Pay Teachers.  There are so many fabulous teacher-authors on the site and they have come up with some really incredible products for use in the classroom!  However, once you start to add your wishlisted items to your cart, it typically gets out of hand quickly.  BUT - TpT is holding one of their RARE sales this week only!  For two days, Monday and Tuesday, you can get the products you want for your classroom ON SALE!  That's right!  Most stores (including my own store) will be marked down 20%, with an additional sale code 'TPTCYBER' you can save an additional amount to bring your total to 28% off.  That's fabulous and us teachers love a good sale!

I've also decided to link up with Ideas by Jivey for this fun TpT Wishlist linky!  Below, you will find my TWO most wishlisted items, and one item that is on MY wishlist for the sale!

My #1 wish listed item (and one of my bestsellers) is my Chevron Word Wall Headers!  These are super fun alphabet printables that can be used as word wall headers, or even as alphabet recognition cards!  And seriously...you CAN'T beat the price of these headers!

My #2 most wish listed (and one of my newest) item is my Sensory Word SCOOT and Task Card set.  Sensory words are hard to teach, I find.  So the students need a fun way to learn and practice identifying sensory words.  Also, my students love playing SCOOT so I've combined the two and made this fun set!  It's a favorite, for sure!

I have tons of items on my wish list...and I'm still trying to narrow down exactly what items I'm going to purchase tomorrow.  However, I've decided that this will most likely be one of the items.  This fun Main Idea and Supporting Details activity by Brown Bag Teacher looks like just what I need!

Don't forget to link up with Ideas by Jivey!  I can't wait to see your items!

0

Holiday Wishes by Idina Menzel | Album Review

I participated in the Idina Menzel Holiday Wishes album review program as a member of One2One Network.  I was provided an album to review but all opinions are my own.

I'm a sucker for some good Christmas music.  In fact, I get frustrated when people complain about Christmas music being played before Thanksgiving...and decorating before Thanksgiving...I enjoy Thanksgiving just like the next person, however, I also want to be able to celebrate Christmas as long as I can, since it's such a special holiday!  And...I'm THAT person who listens to Christmas music ALL YEAR LONG!

All this to say - I was super excited to get the chance to review Idina Menzel's new album Holiday Wishes.  I first heard of Idina, who is a Tony Award Winning singer/actress, when she played Rachel Berry's mother in Glee, and of course, now she is the voice of the movie Frozen, by singing Let it Go.  However, she's been around long before that as a star on Broadway.  She's now back on Broadway, but took the time to put this album together, which is her fifth studio album.

The first thing that I noticed while listening to the album, was just how powerful her voice is.  This girl can sing!  I'm absolutely loving every single track on the album!  As much as I love traditional Christmas music, I also LOVE when new Christmas songs are written!  One of my absolute favorites on the album, which is also one of Menzel's favorites, is Joni Mitchell's song River.  This song is beautifully written and sung on Menzel's album.  Rather than being your traditional Christmas themed song, this song refers to a broken romantic relationship, which takes place during the holidays.  Just a beautiful song!

Of course, she also has traditional Christmas songs included on her album, like Do You Hear What I Hear, The Christmas Song, Baby It's Cold Outside (duet with Michael Buble), Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and many others.  

You can view the album trailer below, and then make sure to head to Amazon or iTunes to check it out!

0

The London Sessions by Mary J. Blige | Album Review

**I participated in the Mary J. Blige "The London Sessions" album review program as a member of One2One Network.  I was provided a free album to review, but all opinions are my own.**

Mary J. Blige's newest album, The London Sessions, doesn't release in the United States until December 2, 2014, so I was honored to receive a chance to do an early release review of her songs.  I, honestly, don't typically listen to her music and I can't say that I've ever been a 'fan' of hers.  However, I wanted to give this album the same chance that I give to all the music I listen to.  And I'm so glad that I did!  I was loving listening to her music.  Strong lyrics and catchy tunes were all throughout the album!



This is Blige's thirteenth studio album.  That in itself proves that she is a superstar!  This is an interesting album, as Blige traveled across the Atlantic to work with some of the UK's top musical talent, including Disclosure, Eg White, Emile Sande, Jimmy Naples, Naughty Boy, Sam Romans and Sam Smith.  Mary J. Blige said about her album, "The songs are fun, therapeutic, and soulful.  This is a beautiful change for me and I'm proud of what we have done here."  The track listing is as follows: 1. Therapy 2. Doubt 3. Not Loving You 4. When You're Gone 5. Right Now 6. My Loving  7. Long Hard Look 8. Whole Damn Year 9. Nobody But You 10. Pick Me Up 11. Follow 12. Worth My Time
One of my early favorites on the album was the track called Doubt.  I love her lyrics and message in this song.   "You said I'd never be a leader.   You said I'd never wear a crown.   If I wanted to be someone,  I should learn to settle down.  
I tell myself  I warn myself.   Don't know me that well.  
I made it to the end. I nearly paid the cost. I lost a lot of friends. I've sacrificed a lot. I'd do it all again, 'Cause I made it to the top But I can't keep doubting myself anymore."
These lyrics are so powerful and strong.  I just keep singing them over and over in my head, even after the song changes!  Just listen to it yourself on December 2, and you'll see what I'm talking about! Another favorite is Right Now.  There is such a fun beat to this song, I thought it would make perfect workout music.  And since I've been slacking in that department lately, I think new music would make me want to work out again.  This would be the perfect song for that!  Check out the video for Right Now below!

Basically, I loved all of the songs on her newest album, The London Sessions.  On December 2, make sure you check it out - you won't be sorry and it definitely won't be a waste of your time!  It's fabulous! You can find The London Sessions on iTunes and Amazon by clicking on the respective links.

0

Women in Bed by Jessica Keener

Women in Bed by Jessica Keener

Goodreads Rating: 3.4/5

My Rating: 2/5

Goodreads Synopsis: Jessica Keener returns with this collection of nine stories that thematically address variations of love – love of self, family, and sexual relationships – from loneliness and isolation, desperation and rejection – to need and passion, forgiveness and, finally, to love found.

My Review: I wanted to give Jessica Keener another chance.  This is the second book of hers that I have read.  I didn't enjoy the first.  And I think I liked this one less.  Unfortunately, I just can't get into her writing.  These nine short stories all had good premises and I was excited to read them.  However,  not a single one of them delivered, in my opinion.  Each story seemed like an undeveloped beginning to a novel.  It was impossible to connect with any of the characters, the stories each bounced around and were hard to follow, and none of the stories or characters were easy to remember at the end.  The only reason I gave this a 2 star rating over a 1 star is that I reserve one star ratings for books that I can't even finish.  

0

Tech Tip: Unsubscribing from Emails

Do you get massive amounts of emails that you never read, want to unsubscribe from - but never do, and need an easy way to do so?  Well, last week, I was just like you!  Until I discovered the website Unroll.me.

Unroll makes it easy to unsubscribe from all of your unwanted email subscriptions with the easy click of a button!  Once you sign in with your email address and email password, they will list all of the emails/companies/subscriptions you are subscribed to.  All you need to do is read through the list, click the ones that you no longer want subscriptions to, and click "Unsubscribe."  It's truly that easy!  Try it for yourself and see!


*I have no affiliation to this website.  I'm simply sharing a website that has helped me out a lot!*

0

Saltwater Kisses by Krista Lakes

Saltwater Kisses by Krista Lakes

Goodreads Rating: 3.5/5

My Rating: 3/5

Goodreads Synopsis:  When small-town girl Emma LaRue won a vacation to an exclusive tropical island, a last minute cancellation meant she would be going by herself. Shy and studious, she never had time to fall in love, and often wondered if she was just meant to be alone. However, that all changed when a handsome stranger literally walked into her life while on the beach and sparks began to fly.

     New York's most eligible billionaire bachelor Jack Saunders thought this vacation would be the perfect escape, one last hurrah, before taking full control of his father's company. When an innocent Emma didn't recognize him, he figured that he might get a chance to have a vacation from being rich. He didn't tell her about the cars, the yacht, or the penthouse. All he did was let her fall in love with him.     Soon, Jack found that he was the one falling in love with Emma. When they enjoy a fantasy marriage ceremony on the beach, they thought it was a bit of harmless fun before returning to their normal lives. A bittersweet goodbye was supposed to be the end of their perfect vacation romance, but when photos of the ceremony were leaked to the press, everything changed.
     Feeling lied to and thrust into a world of wealth and privilege, Emma must choose between following her dreams or following her heart. Will she be content at being nothing more than the billionaire's wife, or will she return to her normal life with only memories of saltwater kisses?

My Review:  This was a cute story and a must read for the beach.  I enjoyed the story, but I didn't love it.  This book had a lot of moments where all I could think was "yeah, right.  Like that could ever happen in real life."  It's a story that you would wish is your own.  At the beginning of the story, there appeared to be a definite connection between Emma and Jack.  They shared a steamy week at the beach and did something that neither of them imagined doing by the time they left.  However, when the setting of the book changed back to their 'real lives' the book just got to be a little too ridiculous to believe.  Cute read if you don't want anything too deep.

0

#planneraddict

Have you ever been so excited about a new addiction, obsession, or fad?  I have recently jumped on the Filofax bandwagon...and (as The Pointer Sisters would say) I'm so excited...I just can't hide it!

A while back, you might remember that I posted about a Filofax that I had bought.  But it wasn't working.  I wasn't excited about the planner I had - and I just didn't use it.  So I sold it.  Flash forward a couple of months and I purchased another planner (a Kikki-K lilac and gold time planner).  Again, I could tell after a week that planner was going to do it for me either.  So I sold it.  Then, I bought my current planner.  And as the #planneraddicts would say, I am in planner peace!

I bought a personal sized purple Malden Filofax and it's just what I've been dreaming of!  I love this thing!  I'm still waiting on a few items to get here before it's 100% set up and ready to go.  But, until then, here are some sneak peeks of my planner!  I can't wait to show you the finished product!

Stay tuned for more planner love on the way soon!!

0

November Currently

November!?  Already!?  Here's my Currently for November to link up with Farley's Currently!

14