Year 2, Week 4 (Days 388-394)

Bow Tie Spotlight: This week I want to take a moment to highlight one of my own bow ties - not for the sake of self-promotion, because sewing bow ties is more of a hobby than another form income for me - but for the sake of inviting anyone in the NYC area to come train with me. That's right - I'm talking about the Zombiefit bow tie. If you've signed up for a GoRuck/ S.E.R.E. or a Spartan race and are looking for ways to prepare - check out our trainer's blog here. Come out and train with us. 

This week's featured sponsors:

Xoelle

Speak Louder

BeauTiesLtd. of Vermont

Year 2, Week 2 (Days 374 - 380)

Bow tie spotlight: Over this past week I began my official training regimen for the Goruck challenge which I signed up to do in May. Part of the training involves carrying 7 bricks in a backpack during physical training that may or may not involve carrying a teammate on your back as well. As a way to include my family into my training I decided to wrap each set of bricks with a bow tie to represent a member of the family. Yup - the bows will remain on the bricks throughout my training and the challenge. This particular Mockingjay bow was handcrafted by yours truly using scraps of a t-shirt that was given to our teaching staff last year. Our oldest son is a big fan of the Hunger Games trilogy and so this bow serves as a reminder of him. 

I'm also glad to announce that I've got a special discount code for anyone interested in completing a spartan race this year. If you're interested in saving 15% off any race, you can use this link to get your discount. You're welcome!If you'd like in on the Spartan Sprint at Citi Field in April, just use code: CITIFIELD to get 20% off. That second offer expires on the 21st of January so get off the couch!

This week's featured sponsors:

Xoelle

BeauTies Ltd. of Vermont

This Humble Abode

Day 325

Today's featured bow was hand-crafted by yours truly. I decided to feature this tie as I wore it during my first public speaking engagement in nearly 10 years. I got a chance to preach on one of my favorite passages in scripture - Ps. 34:8 "O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him." There's a lot of truth packed into that verse and I got to share it in about 8 minutes, beating my slotted time of 10 minutes, and more importantly, getting to share the blessing with my church family that included some dear members of our immediate family as well. Email me directly if you're interested in an outline of the message and I may just post it here.

Day 316

Today's bow was handcrafted by yours truly using a Superman fabric found online. Yup - our school was in session today. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this one. While I enjoy any holiday off of work, I don't think it makes sense to honor our hard-working veterans by not doing any work today. I would argue that it would honor them for us to work extra hard for them - go out of our way as they have gone above and beyond their civic duties to ensure our freedoms. What do you think? I'd love to hear from you!

Day 289

Ah, the days when I had time to make my own bow ties. Where have you gone? I need to figure out how to fit some sewing back into my schedule. It was fun putting together bow ties like this one - made from fabric I found online. It's a polyester tweed and I love the multiple colors on this diamond point bow. Perhaps I should cut back on my training. Wait - no! Happy Tuesday!

Day 258

Today's bow was one I handcrafted on my own a few months ago. I'm excited to share that our 6th graders will officially be hosting the 2nd Annual Cardboard Arcade Challenge on Friday, October 5th. To learn more about this event, please click here.

Day 245

Today was a fun day spent with the family. After church I decided to get a quick (3.6 mile) run in and a light workout (100 push ups, 200 crunches) before the family set out for a barbecue. Although I don't indulge like I used to, it was nice to be able to enjoy the time with family and still enjoy a hearty healthy meal.

Today's bow is a Vasquez original cut and repurposed from a pair of seersucker pants.  

Day 239

I'm trying out a new format of pictures using a couple of programs on my phone. I'm not sure if I like this necessarily. I prefer looking at collages instead of multiple uploads when I'm combing my instagram feed, but I think the single images might work better for this medium. I' guess I'd love your feedback either way.

Today's bow was hand-crafted by yours truly.

Day 235

Ah, ever so close to the weekend and ever so inundated with work-related tasks to eat up that weekend time. Will I give in? Should I give in? Uh, no. This time must be sacred. I must place personal over professional in order to be in the right frame of mind to teach these lovely little minds. I've been blessed with a good group this year. Every year has been great, but no year has compared to the awesome time I had with my 6th graders last year. There will live a special place in my heart for those kiddos. The new class has some big shoes to fill. I hope they're ready for the challenge.

Today's bow was crafted by yours truly. True story - one of my former students wants me to start an after school class where I teach kids how to make their own bow ties!

Day 229

Today I got to show off one of my Spartan trophies. Along with a banana, all finishers were handed an official Spartan t-shirt. Since I hardly wear t-shirts much anymore I decided to cut it up and turn the tee into the bow you see before you. The message to kids? I turn my obstacles into bow ties. How do you react to your obstacles?

Day 226

One more day until kids arrive. I've been lesson planning like a beast.

Check out the beastly bow tie and shoe combo going on here. I put this clip-on bow together on my own and the shoes were a pair I actually found on ebay for about 15 bucks. I think they were a nice pick up.

Day 222

The last couple of days has been a bit of a revelation for me, professionally. I was already genuinely excited about coming back for a 13th year of teaching, but with the addition of some great people to our team and some pretty fantastic upgrades I haven't felt this amount of peace about going into battle - dare I say it - ever. To quote our ship's Captain, "I really feel good about this year."

As good as it feels to go into this year, I have to report that I don't feel so good about the nearest train station being closed for a few months. We'll see how this new obstacle makes its way into character instruction/building. 

Today's bow is familiar, yet fashionable. I paired it with coordinating wingtips. Speaking of shoes, I can't believe how many people don't know the difference between a saddle shoe and a spectator. 

P.S. I love Penguin shirts. Now to get back to lesson planning. 

Day 209

The family and I got a chance to spend the day at the wedding of a friend from our church who was gracious enough to have the entire clan be there. In anticipation of the event I hand crafted these clip on bow ties for my sons so they can have coordinating outfits as I was interested in also wearing seersucker.

The striped bow I got to wear today is by Penguin and was acquired at a local Century 21 store.

Day 201

I can hardly believe that there are just a few more days before I join my team for another year at Bushwick. While I'm pretty excited about facing a new school year together, I must admit the sense of urgency I have to savor the sweet fellowship of my family. 

I handcrafted a few seersucker clip-ons for the boys to wear at a wedding we were all invited to next week and I thought I'd give one a test run just for fun. Speaking of fun, we took a quick trip to Porkpie Hatters, which is affiliated with my favorite hatter in NYC, JJ Hat Center on 5th Ave. I believe JJ's the oldest standing hat shop in the city and I'm proud to have been a customer there for over a decade now. When I heard they opened a shop in nearby Williamsburg I knew I had to check them out. Stay tuned to see what I found!

Day 200

I'm still excited about having completed my first Spartan race last weekend. I'm so hyped I decided to use the t-shirt that I earned upon completion (since I don't wear t-shirts much anymore) to construct this bow tie. My favorite part of this bow is the series of little spartan logos that were on the back of the t-shirt and now prominently in the middle of the bow with a nice stitch right down the middle. I think I'm getting this sewing thing down! Tomorrow I'll share a bow I created using part of a pair of pants I had converted to shorts. Stay tuned!

Day 197

Today was not an active rest day. =) After my morning WOD I spent some QT with our youngest while Mama Bear led the crafts at VBS. We then went forward together on a search for some wedding appropriate attire. Good times. I can't wait to post pictures of the bow tie I've set aside for the event.

Today's bow was handcrafted by yours truly. 

Day 190

Thank goodness the heat wave is over in NYC. Today's bow was handcrafted by yours truly. =)

Day 173

My last school day of my 12th year of teaching in NYC is at hand. Here's something one of my 6th graders wrote me. I can't even begin to process how much this means. I started out the year wanting to incorporate more meaningful ways to impart character education throughout my math instruction. I'm ending the year re-embracing the idea that what I've taught means nothing if I haven't inspired my students to become better people. Today's bow was handcrafted by yours truly.



Day 169

Today I spent my Father's Day just as I would have hoped - I woke up super early to get some exercise in, went for a run and got to make breakfast for the boys before getting ready to go to church. The boys and I wore matching outfits and bow ties I hand crafted using this polyester tweed fabric I found online. It's the second year in a row we've worn a complete matching set on my favorite holiday and I hope it's a tradition we'll continue. =)

Day 168

Here's a part of a tweed fabric I'd never seen before. You know what I do when I find something I've never seen before? I make a bow tie out of it. This one happens to be one of Lily's favorites. After putting this outfit together, I might just have to let this tie come out to play once again in the near future.