Back-to-School!

 

Oh, how this time of year makes me reminisce about the smell of new school supplies… that papery, waxy first waft when you open a new box of crayons, the smell of flexible plastic pencil pouches, the bright, clean fabric of a new backpack, the freshly ground wood grain and lead from bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils… you get the idea :-) Yesterday in Arizona, school started again! Summer vacation seemed to go by really fast. I hope these kids are going back feeling like they had a long enough break. I remember always having major butterflies in my stomach when the first day of school was approaching. However, back-to-school supply shopping helped out with that because I always thought it was so fun. Don’t you just love walking into places like Target during this time of year and seeing school supply galore all around you? As much as I am sad for kids having to start school again, the prep for it makes me really happy.

 

The school year starting this week and this overcast, rainy weather has me wanting to curl up in bed and watch You’ve Got Mail and put up my fall decorations :D I can hardly wait for autumn to be here! And Arizona starting the school year early does not help with that, lol! I know once school is back in session fall just around the corner, so I am trying my hardest to be patient.

 

http://adiamondinthestuff.com/2012/01/year-of-mantels.html

 

As I am sure you can tell, I love decorating for all seasons. I thought this mantel from A Diamond in the Stuff was so perfect for today! I mean, how often do you see décor done for back-to-school? Pretty much never. It would not be a bad idea to do start doing things like this once I have my own children to make this transition happier, more exciting one. Do any of you do any decorating or have traditions of your own for starting the school year? I'd love to hear about it if you do!

 

Here’s to hoping the first day back at school went well for teachers and students and for a great year ahead! Have a great day!

 

 

Back-to-School

I don't know about where you live, but the first day of school was today for the year-round schools in my area. I always feel bad for kids when they have to go back :-( I know that was always such a difficult transition for me to go from carefree-summer to new class, new teacher, new school year.

Aside from the nerves, I do love the back-to-school time of year. To quote one of my all-time favorite movies, "It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."

Haha, I can so relate! Can you guess which movie that's from? I'll tell you at the bottom of this post :-) Having quoted that, one of my favorite parts of back-to-school when I was a kid was... back-to-school shopping! My sister and I made an event out of it. School supply shopping was pretty fun, and it took the edge off of the new school year starting. I'm not sure if it was the smell of the flexible, plastic pencil cases or the fresh-cut wood smell of new No. 2 pencils, but I really looked forward to it at the end of every summer.

When I was in elementary school, Lisa Frank was freaking HUGE and sooo sooo popular. That brand was by far my absolute favorite. I had Lisa Frank everything- folders, stickers, notebooks, pencils, you name it, me or my sister probably had it. And as the saying goes, "Lisa Frank- you gotta have it!" ;-) Haha. I used to know the entire commercial by heart. I wonder if LF is still around for kids these days... I never see it in the back-to-school section, so I'm guessing no.

Is anyone else out there as excited for back-to-school as I am?! Minus the whole I-feel-bad-for-the-kids thing, I really love this time of year. Whether you are in school or not, the school year starting is a time for a fresh start and new beginnings, almost like a 2nd spring or New Year's! One by one, I know schools will be starting up again all over the country, and that means the season of fall will become more and more prevalent. Anyway, as summer vacation (not summer itself, of course) winds down to an end here in Arizona, I'd like to wish all those cute little kiddos out there a safe, happy, fun and smart school year!

I hope you're THIS excited for back-to-school!!!

And here's the answer you've been waiting for:  The quote was from... You've Got Mail! That was Tom Hanks writing to Meg Ryan in the beginning scenes of the movie. If you haven't seen that movie or if it's been a while, I recommend you watch it. I always like to relive it as we transition out of the hot days of summer and into the beginning of fall. It's a classic! Have a great day, and feel free to go buy yourself a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils :-D You deserve it!