Chicago Area Blogger Meet Up

What an awesome day yesterday!!!  I had the chance to run up to Chicago with some of my teaching buddies and meet up with the awesome teachers in the picture above!  It was a fun day of getting to know each other, grabbing new ideas, learning new things, and making new friends!  The food was amazing and the weather AWESOME!!!!  A huge thanks to Diana at My Day in K, Marie at Once Upon A Classroom and Kirstin at HipHoorayinK for hosting a great gathering!!  I can't wait til the next time!!

Of course since you had four teachers in the car, we had to head to IKEA & The Container Store!! (We also went to Target, yes we have two down here but not ones with teacher stuff in the Dollar Spot:)  And what trip up north would be complete without a little Portillos!!!

Love making connections with teachers all over!!!  

First Annual Mid-West Teacher Blogger Meet Up

What's the best way to spend a Saturday?  Surrounded by AMAZING and POSITIVE teachers from all over the Midwest!  I was privileged to have been a part of the 1st Annual Midwest Teacher Blogger Meet Up.  I am a self-proclaimed BB...Beginner Blogger!  The ladies I got to spend the day with are far from that!  I have followed many of them via their blog, Facebook, or Instagram for awhile.  Some I met for the first time and have already started following them.  It was amazing to learn from them and get energized by the collective energy that was in one room.

I wasn't alone in this adventure!  It was a Road Trip with my pals, Molly (at Miss K's Kindergarten) and Sara (at Life in the Fast Lane).  We decided to make a day of it and started off with Portillo's for lunch!  I mean it is a must!!  And oddly enough, we all ordered the same thing!  Next we hit up the Container Store and Five Below!  Five Below was filled with amazing finds and the Container Store had just what I needed for an activity I am doing later in the week!  Then we hit the promised land, IKEA!!!  The IKEA in Schaumburg is almost OVERWHELMING in size, however we were up for the challenge.  We tackled half the store when we realized it was time to head to the Meet-Up!  So we checked out with our Round 1 purchases and head to Lakeshore Learning!  A huge THANK YOU to Lakeshore Learning for allowing us to invade their space.  At Lakeshore, we continued to get our shop on!

Below are some pictures from this great day!

Who doesn't love Portillo's???  What is your favorite thing to order?

Not going to lie...they had to test these cool chairs from the Container Store and their testing got a little dangerous! This is after testing!

Some go to IKEA to shop, some take selfies!

My pals that help me stay on the positive path!

My table pals!!! Back row L to R, Cretia (blog coming soon!) Me,  Tasia (Great Minds Teach Alike), Bobbi (Bitty Bilinguals), Front Row Michelle (Teaching Ideas For Those Who Love Teaching) and Kristin ( Teaching In A Nutshell)

The "after" of 3 teachers let loose in IKEA, Container Store, Five Below, and Lakeshore Learning)!