Oh The Places You'll Go

I'm booked solid for the week subbing in a 5th and 7th grade Science class...manageable, yes...manageable when the teacher was unexpectedly absent for a week with no formal lesson plans...I'm making it work (somehow)...due to the sudden work load this will be a light week of blogging. I've spent the majority of my evening schooling myself on botany and the anatomy of fish...it's been...hmmm interesting? I was able to make it through Monday and today with the help of videos that were already scheduled and the rest has been left in my hands so in an effort to not waste anyone's time I have really tried to put together a cohesive and engaging few days worth of lessons aided by videos and projects..Lord Help Me.

Bus Stop.

Due to the zero long term parking at some city schools I am taking the bus this week which unfortunately doubles my commute time but fortunately provides new scenery to be enjoyed and captured all the while someone else is dealing with city streets and traffic. Super extra bonus today, I scored the single seat on the way home. SF Muni riders understand the beauty of the holy grail of all bus seats the single.. your own little refuge...that is until the lady with the GIANT purse stands right next to you and knocks you in the head with it for about 30 blocks. Luckily for me I had plenty of personal space and lots of viewing pleasure.

Hanging out with my shadow waiting for the bus.

Just a little Bus Stop scenery...not bad.

Single Seat Scenery...perfectly purple.

color coordinated.

Off to enjoy the remainder of my evening. Hope you are all having a lovely week wish me luck!

XOXO- Miss V

"I Love You Blogs & Coffee"

I'm sure many of you are familiar with this popular print and quote found here http://www.madebygirl.com/product.php?sku=PR-53 If and When I ever get an "office" of my own I want one..I may even try to sneak one somewhere into my kitchen..I can't think of a better title for Saturday morning. A usual routine around these parts on Saturday mornings is English Football on the TV for Mr. Jones and Blog Reading for me cozied up on the couch with our coffees in hand. Pure. Bliss. I tell you.

This weekend we are taking it easy, it's been a very busy 2011 so far and this was the only weekend in the foreseeable future that we actually had NOTHING on our calendars, so when we realized this we decided that we would keep it that way and just spend this weekend relaxing and enjoying a little break together.

Last night I made delicious Buffalo Chicken Calzones, inspired by the lovely Mrs. Sullivan.

They were a hit with Mr. Jones (and myself) and I can't wait to try different variations.

We caught up on our favorite tv show Law and Order UK. on BBC America of course and then sat on the edge of our seats (ok not really I was buried under blankets and pillows on the couch) watching The Town. I realize I am probably the last person to watch this movie but it was a great "cops and robbers" suspense.

I must tell you that I worked three days this week as a sub in every format High School, Middle School Art, After School leader and 2nd grade Assistant Teacher. It has been wonderful and I cannot say enough good things about the people I have had the pleasure of working with and for this last week. Yesterday was a great day at an amazing school here in SF only made better by the fact that I found out I would be hired again as a Summer School Teacher through the YMCA...oh how I LOVE those kids! In the spirit of a GREAT day I headed to the British Shoppe on my way home to pick up a little Saturday morning treat for the Mr. and I.

Becoming a regular here could be dangerous to our waistlines.

British Style Sausage Rolls...mmm delicious.

Today we are enjoying over indulging in food and movies, headed out this afternoon to catch this flick that we've been dying to see!


And yes you basically just read a post about meat filled puff pastry/dough and movies... I am a totally fatty. Happy weekend to all of you lovelies!

XOXO- Miss V

What I'm Loving Wednesday...Love is in the Air!

Linking up with the most adorable Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday! Well, pretty sure I will not be getting a call to sub today..there's about 15min left for the on-call hours..so..to keep myself busy while waiting for a potential assignment I decided to give my apt a little Valentines day "facelift". And I am LOVING all of the cute and easy changes!

One of the easiest and most cost effective ways to decorate with the season is recycling old cards and popping them into picture frames! My favorite design on a dime trick! These were all gifted to Mr. Jones or myself from Valentine's past ( I save all of my cards) but you could even easily pick up a few that match your look for just a few dollars!

Love the excuse to decorate with a little red and pink!

Love...surrounded by those close to my heart.

This card that I gave to Mr. Jones 2 years ago, perfectly matched the color scheme of this side table! Love the non traditional colors and simple modern look.

(and yes if you click on the photo you might notice the second book in that stack is a 1918 publication of The History of Alpha Chi Omega..thank you Bonnie (mom)...you know which house will always have my heart)

Inside the card one of my favorite quotes:

On the kitchen ledge I switched out my Black and White Photos for these two cute cards

I also switched out my Marie Claire cookbook with this little pink/red plate

And in the corner I added a card to this frame..easy, peasy.

And what would Valentines be without an adorable Valentine from an equally adorable Kinder!

Given to me by one of the kids that I subbed with last night. Precious.

Lots to love today! Welp, 9:12 and no call...guess that means I will be spending my day studying for the RICA...definitely NOT something I am loving. Ha!

Hope you all have a LOVE-ly Wednesday!

XOXO- Miss V

Picnic Perfection...

The weather here has been absolutely divine in my opinion...warm enough in the sun for a light weight shirt..cool enough in the shade for a light jacket and maybe a scarf.. my ideal SF weather...and while the rest of the country is battling blizzards Mr. Jones and I spent our Saturday afternoon strolling the beautiful Embarcadero and treating ourselves to a makeshift "sit on the stairs of the Ferry Building citified picnic"!

He'll really appreciate that I posted this gem.

Most amazing Beef Brisket Sandwich

Just loungin'

And now that I am done bragging, I can say that I am EXHAUSTED but oh so happily so... it was my very 1st day of subbing and even though I was onsite at 7:50 for my first post and drove literally all over the Bay Area in order to take a late afternoon job (which put me home at 7pm) and even though my VERY FIRST MORNING OF SUBBING EVER just happened to be in a High School PRE CALCULUS class.. (ahem I have a K-5 credential...and I really prefer the K part of that) and even though I drove over THREE bridges, today (possibly my biggest fear... like sweat dripping all over my steering wheel just praying out loud and talking myself through each one...terrified) I had a GREAT day ! Now Mr. Jones is cooking up a storm in the kitchen and I plan on ending my night with one of these...

Because someone has to eat ALL of the leftover cupcakes from our party right?

Ahhh what a great and crazy day looking forward to a few more and then another weekend of basking in the San Francisco Sunshine...which I realize is a total oxymoron.

Enjoy your evenings my lovelies!

XOXO- Miss V

When the Moon Hits Your Eye...

Like a Big Pizza Pie.. That's Amore...

Pat on the back for clever intro to my pizza party post.. thankyouverymuch.

On Friday night Mr. Jones and I hosted a pizza party get together for our friends Ben and Lindsay who were in town from Miami. Lindsay is a friend from High School and I have the absolute pleasure of being a bridesmaid in her wedding in May! They were here finalizing a few wedding details and most importantly in my personal opinion bringing over my bridesmaid dress to try on! We had all of our friends over for a pizza and wine night and thoroughly enjoyed our casual dinner party and are already missing spending time with the two of them! I'll let the photos speak for themselves but everyone had a great time and I love sharing quality nights like this one with all of my favorite guys and dolls.

Treats for my "sweets"

Our first wine a lovely Pinot Noir...


Just waiting on our guests!

Our Bride to be Linz on the far right


Mike and Jules enjoying themselves...clearly ;)


Tina&Derek

Kylie.. the token "preggo" of the group, making us laugh until we cried with her baby bump stories.. Can't wait to meet baby Ryland.


Family photo.. minus a few missing couples and friends.. we have a large and growing group!

I'm a lucky gal, love all of these people so much.

The rest of the weekend was just as lovely and it's not over yet! Settled in for a night of relaxation and prepping myself mentally for the possibility of being called to sub in the am! eeek!

XOXO- Miss V

Gratitude...

Image found at : http://nashvilletash.blogspot.com/

“Gratitude should not be just a reaction to getting what you want, but an all-the-time gratitude, the kind where you notice the little things and where you constantly look for the good, even in unpleasant situations. Start bringing gratitude to your experiences, instead of waiting for a positive experience in order to feel grateful.” — Marelisa Fábrega


I am feeling all kinds of grateful today, I have really struggled with stress and feelings of being discontent over the last year, of course always highs and lows just like anyone else, mostly job/career/school related, of course other things always sneak in there too. This idea though of being grateful for even the times in my life where I am facing struggles or feelings of discontent is something that I am really working on, reflecting about, praying over.

I love love love just want to put it in my pocket and look at it all day long adore this quote, specifically this line, "Start bringing gratitude to your experiences, instead of waiting for a positive experience in order to feel grateful."

Now I'm not trying to get all Oprah on you here, but, I have really found that it is so important to not just be thankful and grateful for the blessings in this life or when things are going "my way" but to bring gratitude to all of my experiences difficult/easy, good/bad, sad or happy when I really stop wallowing and force myself to say "I am thankful for..." and not the obvious good stuff but the bad stuff I just feel so much more at peace with that discontent.

So today I am thankful for so many good things, spending time with friends tonight, this beautiful weather, Mr. Jones my family etc.

But today I am also thankful that I am in a place of unknowing and uncertainty when it comes to finances and my job. I am thankful that I am here, because it is showing me that I can be strong, that I am determined and that I will push forward for what I want. I am thankful that I have to go through these times in order to reflect and be thankful for what the future holds, to truly appreciate success I must, go through this now.

Thanks for letting me rant, now for my last bit of thanksgiving... T.G.I.F ;) Happy Friday everyone!

XOXO- Miss V

What I'm Loving Wednesday....

Ok so to be perfectly honest I have no photos for this post, so feel free to become totally over it right about now... I am just doing this a) for myself to keep me in the habit of journaling regularly and b) because I just love Jamie who hosts this and I think she is the sweetest person that I have Never met hahah.. love blog friends ;)

I am LOVING that I spent today volunteering in a girlfriends classroom, I say this a lot, but I am so lucky to have so many friends in the same profession and watching them in action always amazes and inspires me.

I am LOVING that Mr. Jones and I will be hosting a pizza party for my lovely friend Lindsay and her fiance Ben on Friday night who are here this week wedding planning all the way from Miami... wait I lied I can include a photo of us from her bachelorette!! yay!! (ps I have super dark hair in these pics...)

Some of the girls on our 1st night in Miami!

Cuteness...bride to be


Ocean View Suite in Ft. Lauderdale...amazing.

I am LOVING that I get to visit my old classroom tomorrow and spend some of the day volunteering with my kinders... I miss them and my master teacher on a second by second basis..already miss being her student teacher and wishing I was lucky enough to still be there right now!

I am LOVING that Mr. Jones and I had an impromptu date night last night! Yes, be shocked.. I never, hardly ever, rarely, can be seen far from my living room on a weeknight..but the mood struck and we went out to dinner and it was lovely.

I am LOVING that the weather has been so beautiful and I am hoping for a lovely weekend of being outdoors and spending time in the sunshine enjoying my favorite city by the bay!

And on that note, I am LOVING the blog world and meeting new people my sweet friend Kristin over at Live.Laugh.Frappy introduced Miss Ashley over at Love, Live and Be happy to me since her and her husband will be spending their anniversary in SF! I can't wait to play travel planner and fill her in on all kinds of fun things to do and see here in San Francisco!

Happy Hump day to all of you hope it's been a wonderful week!

XOXO- Miss V