Holiday Home Tour!

Well after a few days of decking our halls the house is "complete" and ready for the start of December tomorrow! It's been such a fun year to decorate because after living together for 3 Christmases now I feel like our little holiday collection is finally growing and starting to look like my original vision. I think the best part about living together and sharing a home at the holidays is getting to reminisce over our last 3 Christmases and how the decorations have become a large part of our holiday memories. As we add to our little collection it's one more piece that brings back a memory that we can always share Christmas after Christmas.

One of my absolute favorite Holiday movies. If you're a fan of Bing, Christmas, and old movies cozy up under a warm blanket turn on your twinkling lights, make a cup of cocoa and settle in with this Holiday classic.

I like to think of our decorated home as my own personal "Holiday Inn"

After lots of bow making...

ornament hanging...

tree topping...

and posing in my adorable new apron... (thanks Mr. Jones you're the sweetest)

I'd like to invite you into our home...

Come on in...

No better view in the world, than walking in this front door at the end of every day...

I started tackling our Christmas cards tonight... already have to head out and get another set!

The kitchen ledge decked in red, white and lots of our favorite Jolly round man...

I love a traditional Christmas, vibrant reds, greens, golds, and silvers, but most of our home decor is soft and soothing pale greens, creams and blues, so I decided to use most of our red and white in the kitchen and add to our silver and gold color scheme for the living room. I LOVE how the kitchen turned out!! I think it's actually my favorite!

My favorite holiday decor trick... using past Holiday cards in our regular photo frames! Free and super easy! And I like the fact that we get to display our friends and families cute cards for more than one Christmas!

Just as pretty in the daylight...


Almost all of the decor items here were things borrowed from Mum Jones, gifts from friends and family and other items that were "shopped around the house"

This wine stopper, a gift from Mr. Jones and that Santa gift bag that I've re-purposed to hold wine were the only new purchases for the kitchen!

Moving from the kitchen into the living room we have our gold, silver and green side table. Two new purchases here, our pretty silver tree $7 at TJ Maxx and the glittery reindeer also $7. Inexpensive little finds that add the perfect touch of Christmas among silver tinsel garland, gold ribbons silver balls, gold candles and my little green reindeer tray .99 from Salvation Army 2 years ago!


The main attraction! Our Gold and Silver Tree!

A few new additions... our pretty Charleston pineapple! Been saving this since we bought it this summer!


Seashell Santa... another Charleston find..

2011 Santa..

Can you tell we kinda have a thing for Santa around here?? Hahaha.


Gold and Silver details.

Our "faux" mantle is decorated in faux garland with a string of lights and I added in some silver/gold leaves and silver/gold pine cones, that originally was vase filler...it's all about re-imagining what you have to change things up on a small budget and very little storage space!

I also added a red pashmina (Thanks Grinde's) to our white chair for a bit of Christmas "flair"

And shopping the house (the bedroom to be exact) helped with changing the couch pillows and throw to fluffy white, perfect for Winter, a side of red flowers completes the subtle change.


And since I covered just about every available surface in our tiny place with decorations I had to get crafty with card display. A few tiny command hooks, clear wire and small silver bows solved the problem!


And here's my view from my blogging perch!

Well that rounds out the tour for this year, it's a pretty small little space so we've definitely decorated to the max. I am so happy to have it done and ready to enjoy for the next month!

That's all for tonight my friends. It's lights out soon...

Silent night...


all is calm, all is bright..

Peace, Love, and Joy from our home to yours, goodnight my dears.

XOXO- Miss V.

Grateful...

Grateful...because Thankful has been overdone at this point. ;) But truly truly Grateful and blessed for a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Family, 10 yr HS reunion, cutting down the tree, sunsets by the beach and decking the halls filled each and every glorious moment of my 5 day break. It was back to the grind today and it's a busy few weeks until Christmas vacation, so truly grateful to have had a few days to recharge and slow down...for us at least ha!

Christmas Card contender...Thanksgiving Day at The Joneses

Festive tablescape..love.

A fierce family game night... Jenga and Taboo!

10 yr HS reunion with some of the besties...

Definitely impressing all those people who haven't seen me in 10 years with my mad dance skillz.

Recharging at French cafe's with buttery croissants...

Laughter and an au lait... little slice of heaven.

Tree farms...


and my own personal lumberjack...

slow walks by the seaside...

lunching in the sunshine...

with the one that I adore.


sunset strolls...

finding beauty in the simple things...

and round jolly men who make me smile.

A few quick scenes from the past few days... Life is good, and I am grateful.

XOXO- Miss V.

What I'm Loving Wednesday... Life's Delights.

Happy Thanksgiving eve my friends. A late and quick WILW post because what would the night before Thanksgiving be without a quick post to reflect on all the things I'm loving and oh so thankful for this week.


I am Loving... a very short week. A great day with my firsties on Monday, the last of parent teacher conferences and a 5 day break filled to the brim with family and friends.

I am Loving enjoying the last few days of "Fall" and feeling so loved by family and friends near and far who've showered us with Thanksgiving cards.

A super sparkly one from Mr. Jones' boss and his wife.

Last few days of Fall decorations and Thanksgiving cards adorning our windowsill...

Which also leads me to what I'm Loving next.... getting out the Christmas decorations in anticipation of cutting down our tree this weekend!

Our tiny but growing collection of Holiday odds and ends... Looking forward to adding a few new things over the next week or so.

I am Loving... that I spent yesterday with this absolute cuteness... hopefully Mama Kylie won't be too bothered that my blog is slowly being taken over by her little cutie pie...

"Beanie" Baby... I die.

I'm Loving that I was able to sneak in a quick bit of pampering before all of the Holiday festivities kick off...

After looking at the Portland pics I knew that a hair appt. needed to be scheduled sooner rather than later. Feeling fresh and styled today thanks to the lovely VJones Salon.

I'm Loving that I spent today around the house taking care of me and my home. I hit the gym, Mr. Jones pitched in with the cleaning, I did a little reading and spent some quality time in the kitchen...a perfect day off.

Other than Mr. Jones.... Mrs. Meyers is my favorite cleaning partner, especially her Holiday scents!

I'm a sucker for a fun easy read... Christmas themed and I'm sold.

Prepping for my teeny tiny contribution to Mum Jones' Turkey day... Pioneer Woman's stuffed mushrooms... delish!

I'm also Loving blogging... I'm so thankful for the outlet it's provided for me to reflect and find time to be thankful all year round as well as being a place where I've met, been introduced to and discovered some amazing women.

Off to enjoy a movie before bed and can't wait to wake up to coffee and the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade in the morning!!

Hope you all have lots to be thankful for this year. Happy Thanksgiving friends!

XOXO- Miss V.

Come Fly Away...

Back from a whirlwind two days in Portland and am so excited to share my pictures! They really do not give it justice, The whole time I was there I just kept thinking about how lucky I was to be in such a beautiful place, and that I couldn't believe this was "out there" and I had never known! The trip would not have been possible without a little help from The Pilot, who so graciously helped us out with some friends and family deals ;) So up in the air we went early Saturday morning and we floated on cloud nine all weekend long visiting our darling Julia in her new home.

Miss Jules and their brand new pup Jet...so precious!

The weather held out for the most part and we were able to take in the unbelievable Fall scenery. We just kept talking about how great it would be to visit during each and every season as the city and surrounding areas would be equally amazing Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.

We started our weekend right with an amazing brunch, bellini's and girl talk at Mothers Bistro downtown.

Cheers!

Love these ladies! (Hate the roots! getting fixed tomorrow!)

It was so nice to have a little girl time with these two girls. They will forever hold a special place in my heart as they were my very first friends when I was the new girl in school waaaay back when in 6th grade. Their friendship means the world to me and it's been an amazing almost 18 years of friendship that only gets better with time and age... just like a good wine ha!

Pioneer Square Courthouse

We spent all of Saturday touring the city and it's different districts, we did a little shopping, walking, and relaxing with wine.

No sales tax!! One of Portlands many perks!


Adorable little wine bar, the perfect stop after a long day of shopping.

Jules, Me, and Tina

All dolled up and ready for a night on the town.

We ended the day with dinner at Urban Fondue and with an after dinner drink at the Teardrop bar. Lovely ladies night!

The next day we had a full day of sightseeing to pack in before it was time to head back to the Bay!

Waking up to their incredible view...

Pretty fall pathway outside of their building...

Incredible views at Vista Point...

Just a tad windy...

Waterfalls and winding pathways...



All of this beauty just a short drive outside of the city...

Once we headed back to their neighborhood we took advantage of their great location to walk down to the waterfront and enjoy an early dinner...

It was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

Already looking forward to planning my next trip! If you've never been I hope you've enjoyed my mini tour. A wonderful way to begin a week of thanks, I'm so thankful for amazing friendships and discovering new places. Thanks Steve and Jules for hosting and I can't wait to be invited back ;)

XOXO- Miss V.