Indy Blogger Meet Up and Favorite Pins Friday!

Happy happy Friday!  Unfortunately, this is my last summer Friday, but I get to see lots of friends this weekend, so I can't complain!  First up, though, is our awesome Indy Blogger meet up yesterday!  My husband thought it was craaaazy that I was meeting up with random strangers at a restaurant for lunch.  He was glad to know that I was safe and sound afterward!

Here is our whole group!  We had 15 bloggers all the way from veteran to novice, but all were fabulous!  It as so fun to meet all of these virtual friends, laugh about how our spouses think we are crazy sometimes, and share tips and tricks.

I have to give a little shout out to Hilary Lewis from Rockin' Teacher Materials.  First of all, her materials are rockin', but SHE is rockin' too!  She has been pretty extremely successful with her blog and TPT, and was very willing to share about everything.  I was lucky to sit close enough that I could hear everything!  I confessed that when I first started on TPT I wanted to be her (she fights for the #1 spot in Indiana!)!

We also did a product or school supply exchange game, and it was so fun!  Each of us brought something and then we could steal from others.

I ended up with a great Parts of Speech Game from Ciera at Adventures of Room 129!  The best part is that it was already laminated, cut out, and ready to go!!  Ciera also made these adorable little frames for everyone!  They were at each of the place settings on the table!

Do you want to hear from the other Indy Bloggers that were there?  Here is a linky with all of their posts about our great time together.  Some took more (and better) pictures than I did, so join in on our fun!

 Alrighty, now onto some of my favorite pins from this week!  I'm linking up with Cara Carroll with a few of my personal and professional pins!

1. A bookshelf of family photos from your students!  I love this idea, especially for my ENL kiddos.  Family is such a huge component for a lot of the cultures I work with, and what better way to showcase that then with a display.  I don't quite have room for a whole bookshelf, but I'm going to find a way to make this work!

  

2. I love my 2 pups, and the summer has been awesome to get some more time with them!  I was really excited, and then extremely let down by this pin, and I'll tell you why.  First of all, the picture is adorable, and I can just see my dogs jumping up and down with excitement for these treats.  Then, I went to click on the link, and it just linked to a picture sight...no recipe for the treats!  I'm posting it here in case anyone knows of or has seen the recipe!

                                                    

3. I love fall!  Don't get me wrong...I'm bummed that my summer has only 3 short days left, but I love fall clothes!  Boots.  Jeans.  Long sleeves.  Scarves.  You name it!  I love fall clothes.  This outfit just got me excited because it looks so comfy, yet stylish.  If you know me at all, you also know that I love me a puffy vest...so this outfit just caught my eye!

4.  I recently had an old neighbor from the neighborhood I grew up in come visit me at my "new" house.  They were so excited to see where I live.  However, the hubs and I have lived here for 5 years now, and we've kind of fallen behind in what we were going to do to the house when we bought it.  This picture of this plain laundry room updated to a more modern look gave me some inspiration to get my but in gear and do something.  Now...I have the inspiration...I just need to buy the supplies and do it!  Did I mention I go back to school on Monday? Ha!

5. This is a YouTube video with a rap about story elements!  It's from a guy who heads up "Flocabulary".  I might be a little late on this train, but the videos are great and have all kinds of different topics.  This one is a little less than 4 minutes, and I love the beat and the repetition.  The kids hear the 5 story elements so many times.  Check out Flocabulary on YouTube!  You won't be disappointed. 

6.  Finally, I loved these little ribbon topiary trees.  I'm hosting a bridal shower for my brother-in-law, and I thought I'd change these ribbons to burlap and yellow.  They're having their wedding in a barn, so I thought it would be so cute.  Maybe Mason Jars for the base?  The Etsy shop link didn't work through Pinterest, but it's still a good visual.

Alrighty, well I gotta run!  We've got friends coming in town and I need to do some MAJOR cleaning! I love my dogs, but boy do they add to the time commitment of cleaning!