a.l.o.e. i love: July 2015

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Santa Fe!

Spontaneity took over and my friend, Soheila, and I booked a three day trip to Santa Fe! Our itch to go to NM was caused by an amazing and generous (she actually met us for coffee!!!) artist who recently moved from Mexico to Santa Fe. Her name is Gennine and you can follow her facebook and instagram here (beware, you may find yourself traveling soon).

Did you know that Santa Fe's altitude is about 7,00 feet above sea level? Well, I found out about three days before we were meant to travel. Thankfully, the only effects were a little shortness of breath and and tiredness on the first day (it's important to stay hydrated and take it easy until you get acclimated).

The cloudy, 75˚ weather was a welcome change from NYC's steady 90˚s. The architecture, food, markets, art, people, ..., were so inspiring. We stayed in the historic district and there was so much to see, and do, and eat, that we never made it outside of this area. We fell in love with Santa Fe.

I'll be posting some museum pics soon :)

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Saratoga Springs

I mentioned my trip to Albany with these two ladies in yesterday's post.

Irene, Me, Chrissy

We were so close to Saratoga Springs from Albany that we made a quick (like an hour and a half quick) pit stop before making our way back to NYC.

People fill bottles of water from this fountain.
The water was sweet with a bit of an iron taste??? Interesting combo, lol.

It was such a fleeting walk down Saratoga's main street, Broadway, and we were just a couple of days shy of the Saratoga County Fair and the Stakes Race, that of course we decided that we needed to plan better and go back at some point. Maybe next year???

Monday, July 27, 2015

For the love of Social Studies

And the work begins...

I took a road trip to Albany last week for the NYSCSS Summer Institute 2015 with my former and current teaching partners/friends. It was a three day conference on an inquiry model for teaching social studies (learn more here and here).

Social studies is my favorite subject to teach, and I decided that this institute would be a good way to get my teaching gears started after this lovely year off. We worked hard and I plan to share more resources and ideas in the upcoming school year. For now I leave you with some impressions of my first trip to Albany.

After a 3+ hour drive north from NYC, our car stalled as we made our final exit. We almost made it to the hotel.

Waiting for a tow truck :(

We decided to skip the "complimentary" continental breakfast on the second day, and treated ourselves to breakfast at The Desmond Hotel's restaurant.

We made it to the NY State Capitol Building and Mall...

So much gorgeous sky!

stopped to get cheesecake at this husband and wife establishment...

and spent two hours at The New York State Museum. Here's a peek of The Shakers: America's Quiet Revolutionaries exhibit.

"As much as Shakers praise God with song and dance,

they also praise God with the creations from their hands."

The permanent collections at the museum include NY state environment and early indigenous people through colonization, immigration, and today. What an amazing resource for teaching fourth grade NY state history. If only this place was closer...