Summer in the city!

 This past weekend I went in to the city with some friends and their families to see some bands play. 

I felt so cool actually being 21 and being able to go to 21+ shows and drinking in the bars! 

Our first stop was the Elbow Room where we saw Kaley's little brother's band play. They were amazing! I love their sound and their covers. 

{Proud sister and KC}

 

We walked over to a little burger joint before the first show and got some nom noms! I brought this little purse to keep my money and phone in. I found it in Anna's room and it proved to be very handy dandy but the chain strap kept breaking all night so it ended up just being a clutch. 

{Marybeth}

Dress: F21

Necklace: F21

Shoes: Payless

Gauges: Etsy

Sunglasses: Old Navy

Purse: Thrift

 After KC's show we walked over to Goose Island to see The Voodoo Fix play. They're from California and are staying at Kaley's house at the moment to play some local shows while they're on tour. They are also really amazing! I love the blues-y, rock and roll kind of sound they have. You should definitely check them out!

On our walk from the Elbo Room to Goose Island we past a number of shops and in one of them I bought this little guy. Actually, it's a girl. Her name is Elle the elephant and she's for tobacco use only. 

And finally I conclude with an adorable picture of Kevin and Babel's new kitten, Tyrion. Let us have a collective "awwwww"!







I had such a fun weekend and I love Kaley and Dana! Or should I say Rachel and Monica? ;D OH! But guess what guys? Only 10 more days till we leave for the cruise!! I honestly can't contain my excitement! I want to go right this instant! haha But I'm so lucky that Max's parents and family are so awesome for bringing all us knuckle heads with them on this trip! THANK YOU, BILL AND JANINE!!!


<3<3<3,
Marybeth

all the kids with the pumped up kicks

Inspired by Buzzfeed's list, here is a collection by me featuring of some of the cutest kids with style. 

Apparently, it's a thing on the internet.

 Who cares if their parents probably dress them? Who cares if those adorable clothes are probably super expensive and will last these kids 6 months to 2 years before they'll grow out of them? Who cares if they might turn into pretentious hipsters when they're older? They're kids now and they look so good.

When ever I have kids, you can be sure I will not be able to afford these hip, chic clothes from the 

American Apparel/Anthropology/Urban Outfitters kid collections. 

But if I could? Hell yeah, I'd dress my kids up in cool clothes so they look like mini adults, but they'd never be allowed to go outside or move or anything for fear of ruining them.

Nah, who am I kidding? I'd never feel comfortable shelling out money for these things if my kids want to be normal kids who run around and fuck up the nice things their parents buy them. Plus, my kids will learn to be stellar thrift store rummagers just like their mama. But I will not object to taking them shopping where we will try on the CUTEST ensembles, snap a photograph, and pass it off as the real thing ("Why is your daughter standing in a dressing room? I though you said this was from the daycare graduation party last year...").

gwen stefani's kid, kingston, is cooler than me.

 

 for more:

planet awesome kid, children with swag, hide and go (style)

-Anna-

Mountains to Seaside: Sokcho

This past Monday was Buddha's birthday, so it was a national holiday in Korea and meant a day off from school. Woo! I visited the eastern shore of Korea with a few of my foreigner friends. We've got a little gang going on. We visited Sokcho and stayed right by the Seoraksan National Park. It was just beautiful, as you can imagine, and, well, see for yourself. Mountains still amaze me. Northern Illinois is not known for being very mountainous. When I got to Minnesota, where I attended college, I was in awe of their bluffs, which look like crumbs next to some of the mountains here. These aren't even the biggest! Korea is, like, 60% mountains, it's crazy.

Anyway, while it took us sometime to get there, it was well worth the waiting. Like I said we stayed in a hotel within walking distance of a nearby national park, Seoraksan, which boasted miles and miles (or rather, kilometers after kilometers) of paths for hiking and climbing. Yeah, the path we chose to take took us high up into on the the many mountains. I love climbing over rocks, don't get me wrong, but man, my legs were tired. I didn't even make it all the way up like some of the others I was with did. I saw some amazing scenery, regardless though, and it was a beautiful day for it (even if it rained briefly). 

It was such a nice day, that we decided to go the beach and soak up some rays alongside the Sea of Japan. I tried dipping my toes in, but DAMN that water was icy cold. I didn't get any pictures of us at the beach (there wasn't much to see other than our sexy bodies, a lot of koreans NOT in bathing suits, but in regular ass clothes, and little behbeh's runnin around nekkid), but a friend of mine, Kaitlin, managed to snap a picture of me learning to walk a slack line. It's fun! Bette, you should try it. Find some hippies in a park with one and join in. Luckily, Kyle (who arrived in Korea just days before agreeing to come on this trip. Brave!) brought along his, so we were able to put on a pretty good show.

The next morning, Kyle, Alyissa and I got up early to go back to the national park to take the cable car up to another mountain top. We didn't get to it the day before, and we really wanted to climb around and explore some more (and I didn't want to work as hard for it this time...). Unfortunately (or fortunately) though, that morning was really foggy, so there wasn't much to see. It was an interesting sensation ascending and descending into a cloud on our way up and down though. And it just gave the whole mountain top an eerie, peaceful feeling. And, since it was Buddha's Bday, we got to pay our respects at a mountainside temple.

this monk was cool. except he kept saying "chicago" and making gun gestures and noises. i assumed he was referring to the mobs in the 20's an 30's? hahaha, or not...

It was a great weekend, and though my legs may hurt some, it was great to move around and get some fresh air. And I went with a great bunch of people! Can't complain!

School's almost out, Bette! What a wonderful summer vacation you have coming up! I know you have some fuckin' sweet ass plans coming up this summer. Something about a cruise? And it being your first summer at the legal drinking age.  I wonder what I should do for vacation? Other than come home ;) I've still got until August to decide...

-Anna-

p.s. Thanks to Kyle and Kaitlin for the pictures I borrowed!

If I Watched Mad Men...

... and I ever went to a Mad Men themed party, I might wear this dress. Definitely the pearls, because pearls just scream dinner party apparently (ala Pretty in Pink...). And if I smoked cigarettes, I would be right now. Er, well, in the photo. Although, I guess if I smoked I quite possibly could be doing it now too. Anyway, sorry I look so unhappy in these pictures... I feel like I look cheesy when I try to smile, haha.

 -Anna-

dress, shoes, necklace: thrifted

tights: Forever 21

earrings: Icing

watch: gift

Today was a good school day. Not to say I have bad days, but today was especially pleasant. We had to give a months/dates test to our 6th graders who hadn't passed the first one. I have a morning class Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, where 13 or so students come in for extra help. There are about 7 who are especially behind. Today I drilled those 7 students, who were all going to retake the test later that day or tomorrow, on the months and their spelling, hoping I made an impact.

We had two 6th grade classes, who included one of my most remedial students, Ingi. He is the cutest, sweetest kid, who happens to love English and me. But bless his heart, he has trouble writing English. On his first date test, he scored a 2/20. But today he scored a 14/20!! Oh, I was so excited! There were a number of my other slower students who scored perfect (yaaay!!) or high scores too (and then a few who still don't get it. We'll get 'em next time).

Not only am I proud of them for sticking through it even when it wasn't making sense or when it seemed too hard, but, I'm going to go ahead a gloat for a second, I'm proud of myself too :) While I am out here teaching English, I've never thought I was the most qualified person for the job. But seeing students of mine succeed with some extra direction from me makes me feel as though I'm actually making somewhat of an impact.

Ingi ^^

-Anna-