It's raining men...

I've been working and training the last few days and this cutie has been playing golf... tough life babe. Ha! Sorry I couldn't resist forcing a photo shoot on Mr. Jones the other day when he came home... "Sporty" Mr. Jones is one of my favorite looks... he'll be mortified to see this on the blog.. but oh well if I'm taking a picture you should just go ahead and assume it's goin' on the blog at some point. ;)

It hasn't been all work and no play though, I did manage to sneak in a nice looooong lunch with Kylie and her super, uber, adorable little boy Ryland...

Love them.

The school that I do most of my subbing at happens to be practically in the town I "grew up" in. It's funny how when you are younger you think you can't wait to get out of your hometown, and then as you grow up you finally realize what a wonderful place it is and how lucky you are to be from there.

Beautiful day for a stroll downtown

Maybe it's just me but I love driving down familiar roads remembering my youth and then also dreaming about perhaps one day sharing that place with a family of my own. The downtown is charming and we decided to spend our Friday lunch at Crepevine lucky for us Ryland was pretty content and allowed his mommy to spend almost 3 hours with me at lunch! What a trooper!

look at that face... I just want to squish it!

Overall it's been a little bit of cuteness overload over here with all of the handsome men in my life haha!! A little time with them and sweet friends makes all of these long days ok.. and bearable. Back to a full day of training tomorrow hope ya'll are having a more relaxing weekend! Thinking I should treat myself to a nice glass of wine after a looong day of summer school training! Cheers my dears!

xoxo- miss v

What I'm Loving Wednesday...all the colors of the rainbow.

Oh Hi! Miss V here!

as interpreted by a former student ;)


Joining Jamie for What I'm loving Wednesday!

I'm loving that I actually didn't get called to sub on Tuesday and so I spent the entire day planning for summer school. I dragged out all of my tubs, binders, boxes, files etc that had been tucked miraculously away in our little apt. It's amazing what condensing can do.. now that it's all out I can't believe it was ever stored out of sight for this long!

It really looked like a Kindergartner had exploded in my living room... toys, paints, crayons, pencils, construction paper everywhere... I loved every second of sorting through my goods and taking a little inventory. I definitely have lots to buy and organize before school starts but I am soo much more prepared this time around.. such a weight off my shoulders...

Pencils for practicing those ABC's

Crayons for coloring their teacher sweet love notes

precious.

Paints and brushes every color of the rainbow

And a few necessary teacher "tools"

Not only did I drag everything out and organize according to category but I also managed to lesson plan for the entire first week... hallelujah!

I even had time to make it look cute... amazing this will probably never happen again ha!

My large and spacious home office...

And this is for those people that get as equally excited as I do over charts and organization...my whole week, (well it's a short week only 3 days the 1st week of school... so it's a little less than usual.)

I'm also really enjoying my probably last two weeks of cooking dinner on a regular basis...it took me 2 years but I've finally made it in the kitchen at least 4 nights a week to cook dinner and I am finally loving it. A lot.

Tuesdays dinner Tuscan Chicken with White Beans... delish!

However I fully realize that with subbing I don't have work to do once I get home so I have time to cook. Once summer school starts my evenings will mostly consist of planning, trying to squeeze in some exercise and a little sleep ha!


Last but certainly not least I am in LOVE with my thriving garden! My flowers are blooming out of control and I have to owe it to some Miracle Grow Bloom Booster that I've been adding once a week.. Love spending time out there with the pretties or admiring them from the couch :)

Pretty pansies and petunias! My geraniums are blooming just as beautifully as well!

All in all it's been a bright and colorful week! Hope yours has been just as beautiful!

XOXO- Miss V

Brunettes have more fun.

Well my long weekend in with my new friend neti-pot some antibiotics and a whole bunch of sudafed did me good! I am feeling like myself again which is such a relief. I think the thing that drives me craziest when I'm not feeling well is just that overall feeling of I'm not "me". I usually have a ton of energy and am a go, go, go type personality. I have way too much to do to slow down but, I would totally be lying if I said I didn't enjoy every moment of my weekend in.

With Mr. Jones gone I treated myself to a marathon of Camelot on Starz, Father of the Bride, Lifetimes Royal Weddings, two Hallmark movies, a manicure, and oh.. I got really stir crazy and decided to dye my hair...

Just loungin in my sweats taking photo booth pictures of myself...NBD...haha

I read my book, napped, drank herbal tea, ran a few necessary errands and ate my body weight in soup. All in all it was great...until about 3pm on Sunday and I was ready for Mr. Jones to get home from Vegas already.

I was back in the classroom today and have a HUGE week of planning for summer school ahead of me, so back to 100% just in the knick of time! Hope you all had a fun and relaxing weekend! See you all Wednesday for WILW!

XOXO- Miss V

Princess Pity Party.

This is pretty much what I've felt like all week...

Crying, snot nosed, baby...except the Asian part...although I guess we could view that little thought bubble as one giant expletive which would actually be quite fitting.

Luckily I was not scheduled to work today and I was able to get a Dr's appt. due to a cancellation, thank goodness for fortunate events. I've been advised to stay home get rest and take my medication and if all goes well should be in better shape come Monday and hopefully back to my normal chipper self...

Like this...taken the other weekend after Lindsay's bridal shower ;)

I managed to work M-Th, because well it seemed rather difficult to me to explain that the school would need a sub for it's sub.. due to me not feeling well, but a three day weekend should do the trick . I'm really bummed because I missed out on a lot of fun events I had planned, like dinner with Tina and our AXO Alumni chapter on Wed, visiting Kylie and baby Ryland on Thursday, a movie date with Ms. Graham tonight and The Christophersen baby shower tomorrow.

However with Mr. Jones out of town, I will be treating myself to some over indulgent pampering such as dinner in bed, a Hallmark movie marathon, and some serious full on girly me time, nails, bubble baths the works, because what's a girl to do when she's feeling under the weather except have a pretty princess pity party. ha! As long as I'm good to go for Lindsay's wedding and summer school in 2 weeks I am a. o. k.!

Looking forward to celebrating Linz and some serious fun!

Speaking of weddings... I'm sure you've all seen this...

Love love love.

Too cute and funny... maybe I'll watch the Royal Wedding again online.. that would just be the icing on the cake!

Hope you're all off to wonderful weekends, I promise to shut down this pity party come Monday morning and will be back in full blogging force!

Until then my dears!

miss v.

Well Hello...

Hi blogland.. I have missed you... I swear! Sorry for the lack of posting as of late, I've been incredibly busy with teaching and social events as well as not feeling so great for the last few days...hoping my new Neti Pot will remedy that...(and it's not just some hippie dippy stuff that I bought in to? anyone ever used one before?)

It's been lovely weather here which has resulted in some lovely walks and plenty of time soaking up the sun...I know it isn't permanent so enjoying every little bit of it as it comes our way!

Pretty Painted Ladies!

I happened to walk home from an assignment last Thursday and felt that it was my blogging duty to snap a pic of these pretty ladies! For those of you not from SF you may recognize them as the houses in the opening credits of Full House! I believe the Tanners lived in the yellow one? It must be strange to actually live in them as the park across the street is always full of visiting tourists and locals snapping pics of these iconic homes!

A few other pretty little things that I discovered on my walk home that day...

I should make it a point to walk past this garden every day!

Urban gardens...my favorite, such a beautiful contrast against the industry and busyness of city living.

The charming streets of Hayes Valley

After a busy week teaching science I spent the weekend doing all things girly...

I saw this new movie with my darling friend Ms. Graham

I actually really enjoyed it as a movie on its own, but per usual there were many twists and deviations from the book itself.

I also finally picked this up while we were out and about...

I know... I'm the last person on the planet to read this, but I am so excited to dive in, I started the first chapter last night and am already hooked...

After the movie and Barnes & Noble I headed out for a few glasses of wine with these lovelies...

Love them...

Saturday I was up bright and early and headed out to a Bridal shower for a family friend, where we were treated to a fancy lunch, lots of talk about the Royal Wedding as well as meeting and catching up with friends and family of the bride that I cannot wait to celebrate with come wedding day!

Our Bride to Be and some new kitchen must haves courtesy of Mum Jones!

Gorgeous flower arrangements...

Bride to Be holding her adorable niece, myself and Mr. Jones' "auntie" Carmel who is the future Mother in Law! Love these ladies so much, and their families who feel like my very own after all of these years...

Sunday we celebrated Moms and Mums ha! I called my pretty mommy in NYC and she was enjoying a fantastic brunch in the East Village with my Dad and siblings.. sad I couldn't be there but happy to hear she was having a great day...She's so trendy.. "just brunching in the East Village on mothers day" Oh Bonnie... you're too cute.

After cooking up a storm all morning, chocolate cake, crab stuffed mushrooms, and bacon for a wedge salad we packed up the car and headed to the Joneses where we celebrated Mum Jones by grilling steaks and eating way too much! We talked about the Royal Wedding again ( not complaining could re-live it every day ha!) and watched the Kings Speech... now for the 3rd time... (Can you see a theme here? yeaa the Brits like all things British, love the Joneses)

Mum Jones and I at the Bridal shower the day before...Can't imagine not having this 2nd Mum in my life!

All in all it's been busy but wonderful, well minus the sinus problems and the impending "meet and greet" with my Neti Pot..

No one knows how to start a party on a Tuesday night like me... I know you're all jealous.

Take care my lovelies...

miss v.

Home Sweet Home...

I meant to post this yesterday for wilw, but due to the fact that my internet didn't want to work.... I had to catch up on Bethanny and Pregnant in Heels as well as finish my book that I just couldn't put down..I figured it would be ok if I put off blogging for one more evening.

So here it is.. what I'm loving Thursday ha.. Home Sweet Home. We've had some pretty beautiful weather here in Northern CA which has led to some pretty gorgeous sunsets creating that perfect evening golden hour where everything seems to be bathed in gold. I couldn't resist snapping a few pics of the house looking so perfectly glowing ...

Welcome home!

A few other things that I'm loving around the house are these beauties...

Strawberry delight.

And this little singing bird that has taken up residence on my balcony! I had a real Cinderella moment when I caught him out there... pretty flowers, sun shining, clean house.. sweet little birdies chirping on my balcony.. I mean...seriously...how cute. Although I think he's really out there stealing the "straw" from my window basket.. one can dream right?

Anyhow it's a busy busy week of teaching so I'm off for today hope you lovelies have lots to love this week!!

xoxo- miss v

Happiness is...

I'm finally at the point where I have almost mastered balancing my weekends with the perfect amounts of relaxation and fun.. where there is time for friends, family, Mr. Jones and even some "me" time... and trust me this is the time when I'll really be needing it because now that May has arrived there is literally no slowing down until late next fall! Just about every single weekend is booked clear through September...how this happens I have no idea but I'm happy to be busy with so many wonderful activities and events because happiness to me really is that perfect balance of peace and relaxation mixed with adventure, fun and excitement.

Happiness is...

Palm Trees and California dreaming...


Time spent with loved ones near and far...

Sunset strolls...

Happiness is...

Royal Weddings...

The most perfect reason to wake up at 2am on a Friday. And yes these were read cover to cover in the months leading up to the big day and I have watched it in full 3 times now...perfection from beginning to end.

Happiness is...

Showering our very own bride to be ;)

My beautiful friend Lindsay flew in all the way from Miami for her bridal shower this past weekend, exactly one month before the big day...such a beautiful afternoon spent with my loves!

Perfecly girly in every way.

Princess seemed to be a theme this weekend.

Oh... and I finally convinced Mr. Jones to sit down and watch this ;) Total happiness.

Between time with friends, bridal showers, royal weddings, disney movies oh and some serious pool time this little lady definitley felt like a little princess all weekend.

Hope you find your happiness this week... whatever it may be.

XOXO- Miss V