Thank You!

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to all the lovely ladies who follow me! Overnight I already had three more! I love reading your blogs and comments and getting to know all of you that I already do not, it's exactly why I wanted to start blogging! I'm still new at this and it's definitely a work in progress but if you stop by here often or even once in a while, follow me! I would love to meet you!!

XOXO- Miss. V

Dinner with the ladies!!

Last night a few of my girlfriends and I got together to host a dinner party in honor of our friend Missy who is getting married in one week! There were a few of us that were unable to go to Cabo for her bachelorette party but we still wanted to do something special for her so we thought a dinner party the weekend before the big day would be a great excuse to get the ladies together and give Missy a night out to be pampered before wedding madness begins!

I was also really excited because I held the dinner party at the new place and it was fun to have the girls over to see it for the first time! I decorated in her wedding colors which are red, black and white and since my friends are much better cooks than I will ever be they were in charge of the food. Dana who is an amazing cook and is that person that can look in a cabinet and make a meal with whatever is around made steak, pasta, and green beans for dinner...thank you Dana for having the domestic goddess gene in cooking that I severely lack .. ;)

We had a great time and even caught up with her future hubby for a little while after dinner ;)

It was nice to do something small and intimate for the first party here because next up will be the big party for Mr. Jones' big 3-0 birthday in a few weeks..yikes..

Found that little sign at Target and thought it went well with the wedding theme ... ;)

Table set in her wedding colors...

Dana the chef...she looks cute in my kitchen.. maybe I should invite her over to cook more often..

Apps and wine thanks to Rach and Jules in the living room...


The beautiful bride to be and myself...

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

XOXO- Miss. V

Back to School...

Well it's day two of being back to student teaching...and I am loving it. I love all my new kinders and am loving all the hugs, waves and hello's from last years class. It's also my second semester working at the same school and with the same teacher and what a difference that makes! I really feel like one of the staff and it's been fun catching up with the other teachers in the lunchroom and hallways. I can't wait until I officially have a permanent teaching position in my very own school... wishful thinking considering they aren't even hiring subs this semester ;( I'm trying to focus on the positives...I am actually doing what I love every single day.. (even if it's not paid right now) I get to spend my days watching and learning from an amazing Master Teacher who has taught me so much.. and most importantly I not only get to inspire and motivate young learners but I also learn from them all day long. Luckily I still have a few more months of this "naive student teacher bliss" until I am thrown into the real world of job hunting...fingers crossed I get lucky like I did over the summer. Anyhow tomorrow marks the first day of my last semester as a credential student at SFSU... I can't believe how quickly it's gone by and I know I am in for the hardest academic semester yet...but I am looking forward to seeing my classmates and meeting my new professors. I don't have any pictures of the classroom I am working in this semester since it's not technically "my" classroom I feel uncomfortable taking pictures and putting them up but I will leave you with a few of NC/SC and some scenes from our window on this amazingly beautiful summer day, because let's just be honest here a post with no pictures is just lame ;)

View from the balcony.. Giants Stadium and the bay..

Living Room view...the SF Skyline

What I wish I was eating tonight.. instead it's veggie burgers and greens...

Charleston South Carolina... Bed & Breakfast

Historic District/ Museum Mile Charleston SC... missing it...

Hope everyone had a happy "hump" day! Enjoy the rest of your week!

XOXO- Miss. V

Carolina's....

Well we are finally back home in SF from our amazing 10 day trip to the Carolina's. It's always hard to come home again when you are finally getting adjusted to life away from home but as soon as we flew over the bay I was happy to be here and come back to the new apt! It's been a beautiful day and because of the time difference we were still able to enjoy most of our Sunday. I spent the day at the gym and by the pool because going on a 10 day Carolina trip full of southern cooking and then some is never a wise choice two weeks before you have to fit into a bridesmaid dress for one of your best friends weddings!! I won't do a super long and wordy post about the trip because I could go on and on, instead I will share a few pictures that sum up the trip! I hope you enjoy... Oh and on a side note, Mr. Jones and I made a quick two day trip to Charleston SC while we were there...which totally desrerves a post all it's own..but that will just have to wait..I'll sneak a few pics in here though of my new favorite city!...

We were so lucky to spend just about every day doing something with family..whether it was celebrating a birthday, having a BBQ, or just hanging out we relished every single moment with them and came home feeling so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives...

Miss. V, my sister Steff and my cousin Gabby

My brother Julian and Cousin Michaela at our 16th annual Family Pizza Party



Celebrating my Granny's Birthday


While out to dinner at a small local restaurant for Granny's birthday we saw the famous race car driver Richard Petty!! He lives in the area and was kind enough to take a quick pic! It's a little blurry but I didn't want to bother him for another! We have been to his race car museum also in the area quite a few times over the years so it was pretty cool to see the legend himself in person..

Paw-Paw going through old family photos...


My precious baby cousin Vincent


Mama Lauren and Vincent

Grandma V and Julian

My amazing GREAT Grandma Flo....

Uncle Pat, Aunt Robyn Mr. Jones and Myself...

Uncle Mike, Gabby and Steff

On a quick side note, Uncle Mike and his wife Lauren both compete in Fitness (Lauren) and Bodybuilding (Uncle Mike)... while we were there we found out that my Uncle will be going to Mr. Olympia in Sept. !! And.. Lauren scored highest place in her fitness competition as well and is on her way to getting her pro card! I am so impressed with their dedication to fitness!! As our family says...Go Team V !!

And on the topic of fitness I thought it was a good time to transition into food..hahah... Mr. Jones and I exercised our stomachs during this trip ...

We ate... a lot... and that is an understatement... here is a food montage...just to get you nice and hungry at the end of your day ;)

Grandpa V making his famous meatballs! Having Italian and Southern roots in my family is dangerous to the waist line...

My favorite hot dogs! The Carolina dog and the Wrightsville dog!


Uncle Pat our grill master and Julian hamming it up for the camera..

We also did a lot of relaxing..whether it was in the country at Granny and Paw-Paws or on the beach in Wilmington and Charleston..we soaked up the sun...and enjoyed being away from the hustle and bustle of city life for a little while..

Granny and Paw-Paws garden...nothing is better than fresh vegetables...

I love Carolina beaches...they remind me of summers with my family and I loved sharing them with Mr. Jones ;)

Toes in the sand...warm blue water...and a good book..h.e.a.v.e.n

I'll end with a few quick pics of SC, we stayed in Charleston for two days and made a pit stop in Columbia on our way back to NC we had a great time and have found two new favorite cities ...

Heading into downtown Charleston..

Shopping district...

Five points shopping district in Columbia SC

And because we were right next to the college we found the Greek Shop where I "made" Mr. Jones pose next to the AXO section! Made me want to live in the house again and decorate my room in ALL AXO stuff ;)

And this is how Mr. Jones felt about the camera by the end of the trip...

Ok I'm exhausted sharing all of that with you so a huge pat on the back if you actually made it to the end...we had an amazing time and can't wait to go back ... Glad I could share my "Carolina" with all of you

North Carolina...

Well we've been in North Carolina for a full two days now and have been going non stop! We've spent each day visiting with family, celebrating, relaxing and stuffing ourselves silly. I'll do a longer post after we return but just wanted to share a few pictures of today and what we've been up to! It's already going by way too fast and I have had to take care of a few school details since being here..which defeats the point of a vacation, but.. that's ok. I'm getting pretty excited to meet my 22 new Kinders in one short week!

Here are a few shots from this evening, there are many more but trying to type this quickly before Mad Men begins! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Went to an outdoor concert that the Greensboro Arts Council hosts, my adorable grandmother is a member and helps to organize the events over the summer!

A packed crowd, bubbles, hand fans, fried chicken and Carolina Beach music... we are now officially in the south!


Spending lots of time with my cutie pie brothers and sister...

Cousins doing the "model pose"...


trouble... ;) my sister and cousin


Mr. Jones ...taking it all in ;)

Just Because....

Just because the sun went down and I have to do a double take every time I walk into my living room and see this view... I take back every mean and evil thing I said about SF today and it's blasted below freezing summer temps and fog... because this skyline just takes my breath away and reminds me why I love this city...

Makes me want to be all romantical and drink wine and listen to jazz... so cheesy I know!

But as cheesy as that might be... it's exactly what I'm doing.. it's helping me unpack the horrendous amount of "stuff" that still needs to find a home...

XOXO- Miss. V

Let's Celebrate!

So I'm blogging from my brand new bedroom! Very excited to have internet again, even though it's been only a few short days between the chaos of moving and not having internet I feel like I opened my inbox to about 9485764587 new messages and had about that many to send out, so last up is updating the blog and then I can rest! (well sort of...I still have unpacking, decorating, packing again for our trip, and preparing for the new school year) but all of these are minor details right?

In any event here I am to update all of you on what I've been up to! This past weekend we celebrated the 40th wedding anniversary of Mr. Jones' parents! They hosted a huge party at their house and it was a fun day of family, friends, sunshine (which SF seems to be lacking!!) and most importantly love! "Dad" Jones and his band were the entertainment for the evening which resulted in lots of sing-alongs, silly dancing and a great time!

"The Classics" Here's the band rocking away!

The Lovely Couple! Happy 40th!

A packed house full of family and friends!

Here are the "JoBros" and family friends. Far Left: Alex Jones, Center: The Handysides and Far Right Mr. Jones and I

We had a wonderful time and always love hanging out with this crowd they are truly all like family to me and I was so touched by the amount of people that came up to ask me how I was doing with my family moving so far away. I am so thankful to have the Joneses in my life and feel so comforted to know that I do have "family" from coast to coast!

We pretty much spent Monday and Tuesday finishing up our move and are semi settled into the new place, I have a few photos to share but won't dare show you everything because well...it's a mess!


I'll start with a "before" picture of the place:

Before: Living/ Dining area...yep...that's not even half of our stuff..

After: Or I should say Transition : Living room, we haven't committed on art above the couch but we were playing around with options when I snapped this...

Kitchen/ Dining area: The other half of this room is the disaster zone, so you'll see that portion when we're finished..

Bedroom: Almost there....

Well folks that's all you get for now I'll upload some more later, we have incredible views of Giants Stadium, the water and downtown as well so when I have another free minute I'll add those and hopefully when we get back from our trip and are more settled in I'll add finished photos! We are loving it so far and are so excited to call this home!

We also hosted our first guest for a meal today my brother (who is still here until Dec) so I'm not totally orphaned yet... ha! Looking forward to many more guests and hopefully a fun housewarming! Ok off to unpack a few more things!

XOXO- Miss. V