If I can...so can you.

A reminder of Japan taken here in SF one of my favorite sights in spring.

" Cherry blossoms are an enduring metaphor for the fleeting nature of life, and as such are frequently depicted in art." - via


I'm going to be brutally and embarrassingly honest right now... Until the end of the month comes I have a cool $96 sitting in my checking account. No Joke. I just started on a new pay schedule that doesn't pay out until the end of the month..so things are tight, thank heavens for the blessing that is Mr. Jones and his support in more ways than one. However, the status of my bank account is something that is usually very private but at this moment very important for you to hear because within the last few minutes that meager amount has slipped a whole $10, which actually is quite a lot considering my current financial crisis.

It was however the most important $10 I've ever spent. As it went directly to the RedCross efforts to bring aide to Japan. The point of my post is actually to tell you that if I can let go of any small amount in an effort to help those that need it more than I do, so can you. I will continue to donate in any way that I can, and in a larger sum once my paycheck arrives, but I couldn't sit by any longer without doing it. I know that what happened in Japan could just as easily happen to me, and it's my moral and social responsibility to help and support those in need.

So while I know that $10 may seem insignificant I know that if many, hundreds, thousands, millions of people were to give whatever they could spare to help, Japan will find some comfort, hope and healing.

I wanted to leave you all with a link, a fellow blogger who happened to be in Japan at the time of the earthquake wrote a touching piece that I wanted to share with all of you. I hope you feel compelled to help.

http://www.fashiontoast.com/2011/03/for-japan.html

- Miss V

On Saturday...

On Saturday... we stumbled across a baseball game in our own backyard...


And we dreamed of spring days to come.



On Saturday we... strolled along the harbor

And counted our blessings... that we were safe, from the news threats just the day before, and we promised to help those less fortunate.

On Saturday... we found a ship and hopped on board.


And did our best impression of sailors on the high seas...


On Saturday we spotted this quirky pair who entertained us with their daring tricks...

And came across these musicians who entertained us with their quirky tunes...


On Saturday...we decided to slow down and enjoy the simple things...

And stretch out under the sun...

On Saturday... we watched the clouds pass us by


And wondered what it would feel like to soar right past them...

On Saturday... we took self portraits...

And made embarrassing kissy faces on the pier...


On Saturday... we discovered the swivel chairs... and I had way too much fun...

While Mr. Jones contemplated the meaning of life...



On Saturday... we made each other laugh...


And I tried to teach Mr. Jones the "art" of the roaring "fake" laugh in photos..


On Saturday... Mr. Jones failed miserably at executing this "art"


On Saturday... we bid farewell to the swivel chair...


And watched our ship sail off into the sunset...


And we headed home on our merry way.

Saturday was a good day.

XOXO- Miss V

Oh The Places You'll Go...life.liberty.and the pursuit of happiness

Since I didn't really blog about last weekend I'm tying that into my reflection on this past week, so with that said, Sunday night was a celebration of those famous sovereign rights, "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" as we toasted Mr. Jones' cousin Carol on becoming an American Citizen. The party was a surprise, one that had been in the works for a few months now and it went off perfectly. We crowned her "Mrs." America complete with sash and tiara and spent the evening surrounded by friends and family who love her dearly. My favorite part of the evening was the actual surprise, there were about 24 adults hiding in a room lit only with candles softly singing "My Country Tis of Thee" which at first I was slightly hesitant about.. I just wanted to scream "Surprise" and start the champagne toasts, but it ended up being such a touching moment for everyone in the room and actually quite moving in my opinion.

Carol & Bob as they entered the room ;)

Our "Mrs. America"

Brits toasting their Cousin...the new American Citizen

It's funny how you can take something like being an American for granted very easily one moment and the next moment the reminder of how precious that is, is all around you.

Following the party on Sunday I found myself working 4 days this week at an elementary school where each morning after the pledge the students sang the very song I felt silly about singing with an entire room of adults just the night before. This time the song stirring the same patriotic emotion as it had the previous night, but translated through the sweet proud voices of 1st graders elicited a feeling of hope and wonder as they sang their hearts out each morning, remembering each line and verse and with such conviction. I couldn't help but smile and think about those famous words in the Declaration, "We hold these truths to be self evident , that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." In pursuing happiness this week I surrounded myself with family,

(excuse the strange "action" shot")

Good friends, wine and food,

Mr. Jones, Tait & Kasey and myself enjoying dinner out!

The amazing menu for the citizenship party

I also indulged in a little, me time and pampering ;)

Holy Hair!

And of course surrounding myself with bright, vibrant, loving students and teaching, my ultimate source of happiness.

Hope your pursuit of happiness is fulfilled with a wonderful weekend! Until we meet again...

XOXO- Miss V.

What I'm Loving Wednesday...me time ;)

I know I've been super relaxed about posting this week...I'm not sure how my days filled up so quickly but they did! I'm linking up per usual with the darling Jamie over at thiskindoflove. This post is actually going to be Short & Sweet (I know you're all saying "Thank you Jesus") because I have a tendency to talk and talk and talk...and here I go again.. hahah... ok. legit this is what I'm loving this Wednesday... me time.

Sushi to go, Bethanny re-run, and pink grapefruit Perrier

While I feel awful saying this sometimes I do secretly love Wednesdays when Mr. Jones has Soccer practice for a few hours. I don't have to worry about dinner, I can indulge in reality shows, blog hop for a few hours, paint my nails..etc.. the list changes every Wednesday evening. Of course as soon as he comes home I'm ready to talk his ear off and cuddle up on the couch and let's be honest here, spending a few hours on the soccer pitch running around and playing sports is probably just what he needs mid week as well. I'm loving relaxing with some of my favorite food in my favorite sweats and watching one of my favorite shows.. that's what I'm loving Wednesday and I'm off my lovelies to enjoy the last remaining hours!

XOXO- Miss V

The Crew... Show Us Your Life cont.

So really really late on this one but I couldn't start the Show Us Your Life and not finish and of course I wanted to show off my wonderful siblings.

Let's start with the basics, I am the oldest of 5 and am 9 years older than the youngest in our bunch. I have three brothers and one sister and I would never want it any other way. People have asked me all my life if I wish I had just been an only child, since I was the first, and to be honest I have always LOVED being from a big family. Sure it's crazy 100% of the time, and each and every one of us has a totally different and very strong personality and no we did not always like each other like the Partridge family or the Brady Bunch, but we do love each other fiercely and at the end of the day these four people are the absolute loves of my life and I am so thankful that I get to call them my family.

So after I was born came my brother Nicholas,

Nick and my Sissy Steff

Brotherly Love...

For a while there Nick and I were the "big" kids, and we have soo many memories from growing up, making mud pies together at Granny's, riding Big Wheels, playing in our tree house, pretty sure I forced him to play Prince Charming whenever I wanted to play Princess hahaha, racing in grandmas back yard, riding bikes, the list goes on. Two things stand out whenever I think of Nick, his love for family and tradition and his unbelievable talent of impersonating anyone. We have laughed until we've cried watching him impersonate family members and usually when the 5 of us are together there is always a point where we are begging him to impersonate our Dad, which always has us laughing until we can't breathe. Right after my family moved to NYC last summer Nick and I were the only ones here in SF until Christmas when he moved, I'm actually thankful that it gave us some time to spend together and I miss our monthly lunches or dinners. However, I am so proud of him and his decision to move back to NC near grandparents and family and pursue his career out there. Love you brotherrrrrr.

Next came my Sissy Steff,

The ladies of our family ;)

Steff and I are about 5 years apart and I just did a post all about her for her birthday that you can read about here. I love this lady so much and feel so lucky that with three brothers I am lucky to have her as my only sister. We love to boss our brothers around and tease them to death, because that's what sisters and brothers do, trust me we get our fair share from them.

Killing Lukas with kindness... we love to drive them crazy.

She is determined, motivated, strong willed and hysterical. Even though she is my younger sister I look up to her and her perseverance so much. There is never a dull moment around this lady and I could let her entertain me for hours. We are incredibly different but I think that we both really appreciate that about one another. I miss her every day!!

Last but not least... "the little boys" bahhh haaaa...

Lukas and Julian

18 months apart these two are the youngest of the bunch. Lukas being the youngest of our clan. These two were just the sweetest cutest little boys and I have always wanted to have sons really close in age because of the way these two are together. They are very different but have been best friends for forever. Julian used to translate what Lukas was saying when they were toddlers and they have not left each others side since. Lukas has always been athletic and has recently proved to be quite the musician, Julian was really into skateboarding and since High School has been playing guitar. They are both still young, and are finding their way in the Big Apple I can't wait to see what life has in store for them. I have a very special love for these two, as I always considered them "my babies". Julians' first word was my name and at night when he was crying he would call out for me... seriously how precious is that. Even though they are "young men" now, We still get a kick out of calling them the "little boys" which drives them crazy. They have energy like you wouldn't believe and can hardly sit still when they are talking to you. They both like to make everyone laugh and are almost always trying to one up the other in some hysterical story. I love hanging out with these two, and to be honest sometimes really miss living at home with them! I know I am such a sap. They will cringe when they read this... which actually makes me laugh out loud thinking about it.

Julian and Mom

Lukas...self taught piano player...entertaining me at Granny's last summer.

I really do feel lucky that as we've gotten older our relationships have evolved and grown. My three brothers really are the best of friends and refer to themselves as "the brothers" and my sissy and I love each other dearly . We're a crazy bunch and can be a lot to handle but I wouldn't have it any other way. Miss you all dearly and can't wait to be together again soon.


XOXO- your sister. Miss V

Team V.

So I'm a day late in posting this but I really wanted to link up with Kelly over at Kelly's Korner for her "Show Us Your Life" series, this week focusing on your family! At first this was a bit daunting I wanted to share everyone in my family with all of you but she focused hers on her immediate family so for today that's who I'll be sharing.

And trust me that's quite a few people as is.

I've talked about my family here before in one of my very first posts, so you can get some more background info here if you are interested. Today I'm just going to share a lot of photos and a few words about how much I love this crazy bunch. I think I will break this into two posts though because my immediate family alone consists of 7 people.


Let's start with Mom and Dad. My parents will be celebrating their 32nd anniversary this year. Through 5 kids, 4 states, 8 homes, college and career changes, ups and downs highs and lows my parents have been an incredible rock for myself and my siblings. They always put family first and I grew up with such a strong sense of family and togetherness because of them. We always sat down for dinner together, on weekends we almost always had breakfast and lunch together, we had family day every Sunday, we went on family vacations every year a lot of times several times a year. My parents would do anything for us, and trust me they have, they're the kind of parents that would drop everything to be by your side or walk you through a difficult time. I hold such a deep appreciation for family because they have given me such a wonderful sense of it and have modeled what family truly means.

My mother is incredibly creative, she is wonder woman and can do anything that she sets her mind to, and I know that my sister and I get our determination from her. She has an incredible attention to detail and made everything from Saturday morning breakfast to Christmas special and magical for us. She's the mom who handmade our Halloween costumes, she helped us make homemade valentines every year, she made individual baby doll quilts for my friends and I one year as birthday party favors, she's sung Opera at Carnegie hall, she plays guitar and piano, she's an amazing painter and she raised 5 crazy kids, which is a feat in itself.

Attention to detail is one of her talents. Their apt in NYC is something out of a magazine. luv.

When I think about my childhood I think about just how special every moment was, even the everyday stuff like picnics in the back yard she managed to make it feel special and precious. She's always talked about her Aunt Alice, and how she had the ability to make the simple things seem rare and magical, I always think that my mom is my version of "Aunt Alice". She's a very special lady.

Mommy and I at the Boathouse in NYC

My dad is hands down one of the funniest people I know. Growing up he was our in house comedian and always had my siblings and I rolling on the floor laughing while my mom rolled her eyes and tried to conceal her laughter from the sidelines. We were essentially his home audience.

Dad and I on the roof of his office in NYC

He packed our lunches every day and drove us to school, we always looked forward to his silly notes or drawings on our paper lunch bags and his affinity with tin foil. (everything, even chips were wrapped in tin foil... who knows?) He has an incredible work ethic and has done an amazing job of working hard for our family.

My dad the "lumber jack"

Anyone who supports a family of 7 and still manages to have a strong home presence and make sure that all of his children have a relationship with him is an amazing father in my opinion. I love spending time with my dad, I loved our drives home from college together, summer vacations together and weekend family adventures. He instilled a love for music in me and along with my mom also plays guitar. He is always there for me and has been an amazing support for me in school, jobs, and life. I am so lucky to have him as my father.

So I guess that's really where the story starts with these two people. Like any parent child relationship we've had our ups and downs, but I can honestly say that I've been very lucky to have a very close relationship with my parents and through it all I can look back on my childhood with incredibly fond memories of both of them. I am so looking forward to spending time with them very soon when I head to NYC in April. Up next the siblings...

Happy weekend everybody and make sure to let your parents know how much you love them!

XOXO- Miss V

Let's talk hair.

Hello my lovely blog friends I hope you've had a wonderful week and are just as excited as I am that tomorrow is Friday! Quite a few things happening this weekend that I'm anxiously looking forward to!

Date night with Mr. Jones tomorrow, getting my hair done Saturday afternoon at the lovely VJones Salon, a double dinner date on Saturday night with friends, and Sunday brunch with Mum&Dad Jones as well as a family birthday celebration for Mum Jones' cousin Carol on Sunday evening!

But this post is about item 2 on my weekend plans, getting my hair done! I have been coloring my hair a "blonde-ish" color for about a year now and it has finally come to the point that my hair is very damaged and the up-keep is a pain as well as the fact that it really is only the color I actually like for about a week and then slowly fades into a terrible brassy color for the last few weeks and then it's time to touch it up all over again. I really want to pull off the "Ombre" look that is really popular right now because it would not only update my look but the idea of long grown out looking roots with a hint of light on the bottom also appeals to me as far as up-keep is concerned...I'm just not sure if I can pull it off...

Here is my inspiration:

via

It should be noted that this hair in my opinion looks best with a loose wavy style which subtly weaves the color through rather than a harsh color block look...so I took out my curling rod to attempt the loose wave..and this my friends is what I came up with...

Ummmmm.... really Toddlers and Tiara's ???

Let me just say a few things about this photo, a) I have no makeup on...hawt, b) grainy iphone pic c) pretty sure Roomie and I laughed until we could no longer breathe over this one, b/c these photos must urgently and always be sent to your bff for a little comic relief.

Sooo let's just say my hair might never resemble sexy beachy waves... and therefore I've kind of given up on the Ombre dream for now.

I need help.. I want to be more of a "brunette" without going dark or having terrible streaky stripey highlights..and I need inspiration... if you're like me and scour celeb photos for hair inspiration before hitting the salon send me a few or if you are a brunette reply as well...every girl knows these big steps take lots of encouragement and inspiration!

And now I will leave you with my some of my past hair styles and colors...none of which I wish to repeat at this moment, not that I haven't LOVED some.. I'm just looking for something different and fresh!

Cranberry with bangs 2008 in NYC

With my other brunette beauty Jules.. this is probably closest to my current "natural" color

Summer 2010 light and pinned back ;)


Spring of 2010 kind of a cranberry/ginger/dark brunette


The current look, short and suuuuper light!

Au Natural circa 1985...yep...uni-brow and all....hahaha

I may in all seriousness show this picture to my hairstylist...it's the brunette look without being waay too dark...

Well if nothing else I hope this post has given you a few good laughs between the toddlers and tiaras look and my uni-brow ;)

Until next time my dears,

XOXO- Miss V