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

A New Chapter....

Well, yesterday was the final goodbye for Mom and Dad. They are well on their way now on their cross country adventure and although there were a lot of tears there was also a lot of excitement and a feeling of it's going to be alright. They have decided to do the drive cross country and at the last minute a pang of regret hit me, and for about a second I thought maybe I should just jump in the car with them and just go for it...that feeling quickly subsided when I thought how much more relaxing it would be to make the 5 hour plane flight with a glass of white wine in one hand and the newest US Weekly in the other... so I think I'll stick with the original plan and just see them very shortly in October. Besides, I guess I should help Mr. Jones move all of our stuff this weekend... ;)

After we said our goodbyes, (which actually totaled in like three because of course I forgot my wallet and then my planner at their house, and each time my dad tried to pass off more stuff for me to take that they could not fit in their car..) I finally hit the road and went to get my hair done because with all the new changes going on in my life I thought what better way to just start completely fresh than with a new hairstyle... HA! I'm a wimp and I have been loving having my long hair now for too long so I just had a trim, but it was a wonderful opportunity for me to FINALLY go to the brand new VJONES Salon owned by the amazing Mum and Dad Jones Family (as in my Mr. Jones!) Lucky me! ( and no the V in V Jones Salon has nothing to do with me...that's a whole nother post).

The Beautiful VJones Salon

Very Clean and Modern...in LOVE

My favorite part... the hair washing stations...and yes I do require a pillow...my Blog isn't titled "Short" and Sweet for nothing...

And here is my other favorite "Mr. Jones" working the front desk!

It's truly a beautiful space and my pictures don't really do it justice, I had been there before when it was in the process of being remodeled but having been there as a client was wonderful and my stylist was a total sweetheart as well. I would post pics of the "Do" but like I said I just had her trim it up and I'll get some pics this weekend, it's the 4oth anniversary of Mum and Dad Jones and they are throwing a big party to celebrate.

Ok I've gone on too long I have to help the Mr. pick up the U-Haul and get the rest of our things over to the new place today! I'm not sure if there is internet at the new apt. yet... (ehhhh mini panic attack) but hopefully I can update you later this evening on the JOYS of Moving...


XOXO- Miss. V

Birthday Girl...

Tomorrow marks the birthday of someone that I love more than words can even express...my "roomie" Mere. Obviously we no longer are roomies, she lives in LA with her Mr. and I'm here in SF with mine..but before either of us made the big step of moving in with our significant others we were roommates... best friend roommates at that.

Here we are right around the time we moved in together...Obsessed with eachother obviously..

Just me & my roomie...

Although I love living with Mr. Jones and pretending to be a domestic goddess, baking, decorating, and just all around "beautifying" our home...it was with my roomie that I had my first real practice.. I burnt many a cookie and biscuit all for the love of her on a Sunday afternoon. We lovingly decorated our apt. all thanks to her.. (I didn't even own a towel) ...we built an amazing movie collection together, half of which I still have, classics such as, every Mandy Moore movie ever made, bargain dvd's from the now bankrupt and defunct Hollywood Video, and classics such as How to Lose a guy in 10 days...which we had multiple copies of, because well every serious movie collecter has several of their favorites right?

Together through every hair color...

Every length, and style...we tried it all...

We both started our 1st "Grown Up" jobs around the same time, learned how to use public transit, explored the city together, went on roadtrips, spent endless hours trying on, debating, rating, and then changing our minds about outfits, shared closests, dyed our hair a new shade every other week, cut bangs, grew out bangs, chopped off hair, grew hair out, curled hair, straightened hair, and pretty much between the two of us in a matter of a year had about every hair do imaginable. We laughed uncontrollably, we danced in our apt. to Bowie, INXS, and even a Destiny's Child here and there just about every weekend, and just loved eachother immensly every step of the way.

Love...

We even started taking on the same facial expressions as seen here...

Sometimes it breaks my heart that our time as "roomies" was so short lived, but I truly believe that we were both put in a situation where we were meant to live together at that specific time for very specific reasons, we both have grown immeasurably since then and we needed eachother to get to the places we are now and where we are headed. She made me realize the person I could be when I couldn't see it, and still does whether she knows it or not. She means the world to me and I love her with all my heart, so here's to you roomie, happy birthday, love you always with every ounce of my heart.

There's a million more of these "couple shots" but I'll try to keep the embarassment at a minimum in honor of your birthday roomie..

XOXO- Miss. V

A Weeks Worth of Thoughts...

This is going to be a very scattered and most likely unorganized post. So I am apologizing early if you can't make it through the whole thing! It's been a busy week, I feel like I'm always saying that so I guess I should just say it's been a typical week... ha. Lots of Big things happened this week.. for starters I got my license renewed...apparently it had been expired?? For like 2 years! I have just had an ID card and hadn't even noticed so I went to the DMV to get my license back and get everything in order since I will be taking over the title of my sisters car... well apparently when you have had an expired license without renewing it you have to take the test over again... the paper test. If you know me, you might know that I cheated off of my brother on the written test when I was 17...and since it's been about 3 years since I've actually driven (no need living in the city) I was slightly nervous.. but I passed with flying colors! So as of Tuesday I have a license and a car! I also have discovered that I HATE driving on freeways...so that's GREAT. (haha)

I've spent most of the week over at Mom & Dad's just hanging out, running errands and shopping with my sister, having dinner with the family and just relishing every last crazy second with them here. It's been great, and officially as of today 3 of my 4 siblings have already started their journey East. Stopping first in North Carolina to visit with family before the move to NYC. Mr. Jones and myself will be joining them in 2 weeks!

Something I meant to post about on Monday but forgot was that my Sisters amazing and adorable friends threw her a going away party last Friday! I was so happy that they included me in their festivities and they did a great job of pulling off a fun and exciting surprise party for my sister.

First up was dinner at an Italian restuarant in the "Little Italy" section of SF..

My Sister is the cutie in the Blue Jumper..always perfectly dressed!

After dinner her friends continued with the surprises with a "scavenger hunt" around the neighborhood leading her through some of their favorite "stomping grounds" finally ending up at the final bar where all of her guy friends were waiting to surprise her! It was so much fun and it was great to see how loved she is by all of her friends.. I know they will miss her as much as I will.

My Sissy and I... love.

Mr. Jones and the guest of honor!

It's also a big week for a few of my dearest friends, three birthdays this week! First up my amazing friend and personal teacher inspiration Danes..

Love this lady so much and she is an amazing teacher that I am so happy to have to look up to.

Also my oldest and forever friend Whit celebrated her birthday this week as well, I have known her since the second grade and we really have seen each other go through every life stage together, she is my LIFE inspiration! She is an amazing friend, mother, wife, daughter, teacher, cook, home decorator, the list goes on and on...I love her and one of the positives about my family moving East is that she lives outside of NYC so I will get to see her more often as well!

Whit and her adorable son!!

And last but not least, it's my dear friend Marks birthday today! I love him and my "roomie" Mere so much and wish that we could spend the weekend celebrating in LA but family came first this weekend and hopefully they will be here permanently soon! He's not just my best friends boyfriend he is also someone that I can genuinely call my friend as well. I love him dearly and wish him a very happy birthday!

Love them with all my heart... Mark the birthday boy and Mere.
(Sorry roomie stole this most adorable photo)

Ok.. well if anyone made it to the end of this post congratulations!! I will try to do a better job with updates so as not to incesantly talk and talk and talk... just so much on my mind that I had ( wanted) to share! Hope everyone has a great Friday!

XOXO- Miss. V

Bittersweet Goodbyes...

(View from the school playground... not bad.)

Today is the first day of my "summer vacation" although I've spent the majority of the day relatively busy. I had to be back at the school to finish clearing out my classroom this morning and this afternoon we went by the new apartment to make some final measurements... it looks like we may be moving sooner than planned so we also had to finalize some of the moving details.

I'm pretty excited about the move, it was totally unplanned (but was too good of an opportunity to pass on) and kind of changes my few weeks of relaxation into a few weeks of moving chaos, but that's just fine by me...if there is one thing I love it's moving! I hate the packing and unpacking but I love living somewhere different and new and having the opportunity to redecorate! In my 27 years of life I have moved...14 times, this being #15 absolutely crazy right... out of those 14 times 3 have been to different states, and 2 have been to new cities within the same state. Granted about half of those moves I did with my family so I didn't have to actually find the homes or worry about decorating an entire house but the other half I would pretty much say are moves I've done as an adult. Each time has been completely different and no two houses or apts. have been the same which I love. Even when I was growing up I would re-decorate or re-arrange my bedroom at least once a month, I love change and I love new beginnings and the new feel that even the smallest of changes can make.

Anyhow...back to summer vacation and bittersweet goodbyes which is really what this post is supposed to be about...It was sad seeing my classroom empty and quiet, don't get me wrong I am 100% excited to NOT be working today, but it was an intense 7 weeks of an incredible opportunity to teach my very own class before I am even done with my teaching program. I loved every second of it, even when I thought I might scream if I heard one more child whining the name Misssssss... Veeeeeee ! They were absolutely the cutest kids and the growth that happened in those short 7 weeks was incredible to watch and so fulfilling to know that I had played a role in that. Here are a few shots of my classroom..

My Room & Students Artwork..

The front of the room, calendar, art center, reading center...

We did so much this summer, not only academically but also tons of fun day trips, to the fair, the museum, the park, movies, water parks etc. ! The last day of school we held a huge talent show where each class participated, followed by a slide show, magic show and face painting. The kids loved it and I have to admit I was caught tearing up more than a few times... so embarrassing. I have to be biased and say that our class was by far the cutest in the talent show! We performed the "Penguin Song & Dance" which is essentially a repeat after me song, so I knew that they could handle it and it was a fun way to get the rest of the school involved, I made cute little penguin hats for the kids to wear which they loved and insisted that I call them Penguin (Insert First Name) all day long...which they thought was the funniest thing they had ever heard. I was so proud of them, not one single student froze on stage, granted we practiced for about two weeks straight so they were pros by the end....

My Little Penguins...

All in all it was a great day, sad but also happy, I was proud of them for their accomplishments, proud of myself for making it through without a nervous breakdown, and proud that all of us spent the summer growing and learning in our own ways. I'll be back to being a student again in a few weeks, no longer a teacher and I'm totally welcoming the change in pace, but I can't wait to do it all again soon.

Miss. V and her Penguins..

XOXO- Miss. V

Dinner Party!

It's been a very full weekend and I have lots to post about.. but I think I will break them into a few separate posts..so I'll work backwards and start with last nights dinner party! As I have mentioned before my entire family, (Mom & Dad, brothers and sister) are moving to NYC..and it is fast approaching...the siblings leave in 6 days and mom and dad in 10. I decided to host a small dinner party at our house as a farewell dinner for my parents and invite Mr. Joneses parents over as well. Our apt. is not huge by any means so I kept it to just the parents and will be spending time with my siblings this next week, as well as seeing them in NC before they finally end their travels in NYC.

Now...there is something you should definitely know about me... I cannot cook... like at all. Ok maybe eggs but that's about it. I love baking and am usually much more successful in that dept. but meal planning, prep, and the end product have never been my area. That is all left in the very capable hands of Mr. Jones. However....for whatever reason I decide that I can cook whenever there is the need to actually impress people..which is just nuts and I think I have finally learned my lesson.

In my defense we had a very busy day yesterday.. we spent most of the afternoon looking at and measuring our possible new apt. ( more on that later) and got consumed with moving details that by the time we actually bought everything we needed for dinner, came home, unloaded, cleaned the house and set the table...my parents were at the door before I had even thought to review my recipes!

Table Set & Ready....

Snacks set and waiting for hungry guests....

I chose what I assumed would be a no fail and relatively easy meal of homemade fried chicken tenders, mashed sweet potatoes, slaw, and corn on the cob ( can you tell I'm dreaming of the south! ... Only a few more weeks!) Well without having any time to prep anything before my parents arrived it just sort of turned into my mother basically helping/ making most of the meal with me in the kitchen, Mr. Jones furiously making homemade bread crumbs and me having a panic attack just about every five seconds. Awesome.

The calm before the storm... Mom & I in the kitchen..

About halfway through the cooking my oven decided to explode in smoke.. ( ruining my dessert) and quickly filling the entire place with smoke...so there's me ten seconds away from crying, my dad and the Joneses acting as if everything is just peachy enjoying snacks and wine in the living room, Mr. Jones running around the apt. opening windows and taking down the fire alarms...while my wonderful, amazing, calm, cool, and collected mother tried to keep me from losing my mind. To say the least it was a total disaster.

This photo doesn't do the smoke justice it was bad..real bad..

Luckily the smoke eventually stopped, we sat down and enjoyed an actually fantastic meal..shared tons of great stories, laughed a lot and in the end had an absolutely wonderful evening... Next time though we'll go out to eat and perhaps come back for dessert...I'm thinking cookies...you know the break apart kind...my kind of cooking. ;)

The whole crew... (Left to Right, Mum Jones, Dad Jones, Mr. Jones, my Daddy, me and Mom)

Charleston Here We Come!

So excited... not a long post but we just booked our two night three day stay in Charleston South Carolina! I am originally from North Carolina and have seen and been to many of the historic cities and towns in the south, as well as beaches in South Carolina but in my whole 27 years of life I have NEVER been to Charleston! I am even more excited that I get to share this city and trip with Mr. Jones and am already sad that we can't stay longer...however my family in NC would like to see us too! If anyone has been please let me know what we MUST do... and what we should skip..if anything at all ! So excited only a few weeks away until I am immersing myself in this city and probably falling in love with it as well! That's all for now hope everyone had a great Monday!

XOXO- Miss. V