Tag you're it.

If you don't know Darci, you should. You'll love reading her blog for all the same reasons I do, her witty sense of humor, her cute style, and of course if you're partial to adorable babies then you'll probably squeal out loud like I do over the cuteness that is her little mini Jackson.  She was recently tagged in a little "getting to know you" post and left it open for anyone else to join in on the fun. Since my brain seems to be consumed with all things classroom this week I thought this would be a fun little way to think about something other than my impending observation and lesson portfolio. ugh.

11 "fun" facts about Miss V.

1.)  I am a serious bargain shopper when it comes to clothing, but yet have no problem buying something for my house just about any time I am in a store. For someone who cringes spending more than $20 on an outfit I can easily blow that much on party napkins in one shopping trip. It's a bad addiction ha!

2.) I am a total cooking convert. I used to dread the thought of having to cook dinner after a long day but now I LOVE it. I play jazz or listen to my "French Cafe" on Pandora while Mr. Jones and I chat or he finishes up work and I relax in the kitchen.

3.) I was in a sorority in College, AXO to be exact at San Diego State University ;) What they say in rush is true...I'll be in my second sorority sister wedding this summer, and we just booked a weekend in SD to celebrate the engagement of one of my sorority besties. I'm also attending an alumni Happy Hour tonight with my forever friend and sorority sister Tina! Yay for sisters in the bond ha!

4.) I bought an Erin Condren planner, because I am OCD about planning, and after all of the hype in blogland about it I used a coupon but still spent almost $50 on it. I like it, but I'll be honest.. it hasn't changed my life, and it was a waste of money in my opinion. Sorry ... just being honest.

5.) I watched SMASH last night and I am HOOKED! Not like I need another show to add to my ever growing list of favorites!

6.) I love TV. I know it's bad, but I will say that I do my fair share of reading, working and blog stalking that it doesn't consume my every hour at home but I also don't feel bad that it's probably my worst guilty indulgence. I mean come on, old lady over here if my favorite thing to do on a Friday night is cuddle up and watch TV.

7.) I also love anything sappy, romantic or just about any romcom. I'm dyyyyying to see The Vow, which I'm slightly embarrassed about considering I need to squeeze in a few Oscar nominated movies before the big awards show.

8.) If I could live anywhere else besides San Francisco it would be Charleston SC! Mr. Jones and I have loved vacationing there the past two summers and already plan on going again this year, we love that city and have joked that we'll convince our future children to go to College there so we can buy a retirement property ha!

9.) I talk too much when I speak and clearly when I write, omg I need to hurry this list up.

10.) After 8 years of having the same flip phone I finally upgraded to an iphone. I love it but I hate that I have totally neglected using my camera and rely on my camera phone for most of my pics these days!

11.) I love blogstalking... ha! I mean that in the nicest non creepiest of ways! I love this little community and getting to peek into my fav bloggers lives. I know it's only a small representation of each person, but it's inspired me to be a more introspective, grateful, and creative person which I am always thankful for.

Now for the "tagged questions"

1.) What is your profession? I am a first year teacher! My dream job, sad it took me so long to get here but loving every minute. Currently I only teach part time in a Job Share, I nanny the other days for friends kids. I am crossing every finger and toe though that next year I will be full time.

2.) How would you describe your style? Bargain chic...? HA! ummm since going back to school a few years ago and now with teaching I definitely lean towards classic staples and a few fun trendy pieces.  ( Mr. Jones might argue that all I wear are yoga pants however... so depends on who you ask ;) ( have you seen the yoga pants tide commercial? cracks me up!)

3.) What make-up product can you not live without? Sorry it has to be two.. mascara and blush, staples in my opinion, and I don't buy fancy brands. I used to, but honestly don't feel like I'm any less cute with the drugstore variety.

4.) If you could be besties with one celebrity who would it be? Duh Posh. If you know me in real life you know that I've had a looooong time love affair with her, her husband and her entire family. I own waaaay too many copies of magazines where she has graced the cover and refuse to throw any of them away.

5.) What is your dream vacation? As I mentioned before I LOVE Charleston. I could vacation there any time!

6.) What magazines do you subscribe to? Family Circle ( ummm wanna be mom in training) and US Weekly (which was on accident but I kind of LOVE it. )

7.) If you could have a special talent what would it be? Hands down I wish I could play the piano. Everyone else in my family is very musically inclined and I did not inherit that gene. I actually looked into piano lessons a few months ago but had a hard time finding them in a time slot that worked for me. I'm hoping I can do this over the summer break though ;)

8.) What is your favorite breakfast food? During the week oatmeal with honey, berries, flax and wheat germ yummm and super food healthy! However on Saturday it's always a vegan donut and eggs benedict if we head out for brunch.

9.) If you could do anything what is your dream job? I'm doing it finally!! Teaching is my dream job, although mommy is the ultimate goal, teacher/mommy would be the total package ;)

10.) What is your guilty pleasure? As I mentioned indulging in my favorite tv shows, would be a guilty pleasure... I feel guilty plonking down for my Thursday night marathon but I sure do look forward to it ;)

11.) What is the best piece of advice you've ever received and who gave it to you?

To be honest, it's a Thoreau quote which I knowwww is kind of cliche and maybe I was late to the game but I read it about 5 years ago and it seriously changed my life in that moment...I'm sure you've all heard it... "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined."

I strive to do this each and every day, and I can truly say that I am living and continually creating the life I have always imagined for myself. Being confident about what I want, who I am and what I want my life to be has been a lot of trial and error and hard work, but I have seen such an amazing outcome because I have a vision of what I want and where I'm going.

Thanks for taking the time to get to know me a little better on this Tuesday! If you decide to tag along I'd love to learn a little more about you too!

xoxoxo- Miss V.

Before and After...Kitchen edition

I know that you've probably seen enough photos of our teeny tiny 3 room apartment to last a lifetime, but for the purposes of memory's sake I really wanted to do a little post about a big change in our Kitchen. I really enjoyed seeing the little transformation that our living room has gone through in the almost 2 years that we've lived here so I thought I would document this as well. You can check out the living room post here if you're nosy like that. ( I know I am) ;) Over the weekend we were downtown running a few errands and I decided to peruse Crate and Barrel as I do. It just so happened that they were having a floor sample sale much to my delight. We bought our living room chair at their floor sample sale a little over a year ago for an amazing price so I was hoping I would score again! Lucky me, I found this beauty for almost 60% off...

It was love at first sight. Swoon.

Along with some of the living room changes I really felt like the art in the kitchen needed to be updated as well, but I spent a pretty penny on my beloved Rex Ray print so I wasn't sure what to do, and since I wanted something just as bold and dramatic I also knew that it would most likely not be in the budget for quite some time.

Our Rex Ray print hanging on the kitchen wall, which is also our dining room/foyer, it's San Francisco people space is limited so rooms are multifunctional;)

 One more time, this is our before....

When I spotted the gorgeous  canvas in the same exact dimensions at an unbelievable price I had to have it, thankfully Mr. Jones felt the same way so we snatched it up and we were off!
 

 

Literally we were off... as in we walked this beauty home. It's 54"x54" the last time we transported art this big we had to get a U-Haul. 

 

 Luckily we live about 10 min from downtown, and it's unusually flat for SF!

 

Mr. Jones was even sweet enough to get it up on the wall the very next day.

And here is the after my friends.... isn't she lovely.

I love how fresh and crisp it feels and I like how the white background ties in nicely with the stools and other white accents we have right now. This might sound strange but if I had to paint cooking/food/wine/entertaining and conversation I think this is how it would look, it even inspires me to be in the kitchen! Spoken like a true art critic I'm sure ;) 

Now.... where to store that other giant print? Hmmm next on the agenda.

Happy almost Friday friends, hope you too have been inspired this week!

xoxo- miss v.

What I'm Loving Wednesday...Busy Bee.

Happy hump day friends. I always look forward to Jamies link up on Wednesdays. It's been very busy around here so it's nice to take a second to reflect and jot down what I'm LOVING this week.

I'm LOVING being a busy bee. It's true, even with what seems like a never ending checklist it feels so good to just get to work and cross things off. I have some classroom stuff that I've been working on, I updated my planning template and have been tackling some spring cleaning and organizing of my school stuff that resides here at home.

I'm LOVING that we had some nice "us" time this weekend in between all of the work and checklists! So nice to get some couple time in and slow down.

 Friday night was date night and of course we had to snap a quick prom pose before heading out. Bless him for putting up with me and my camera.  Reason number 58754749 why I love Mr. Jones.

 Saturday morning we strolled to one of our favorite sunny brunch spots to take advantage of the gorgeous weather. 

Sunny Saturday stroll. Heavenly.

I'm LOVING that Mr. Jones made brownies and filled my car with gas this week!!!! It really is the little things ladies.

I'm LOVING that I have a special surprise for Mr. Jones planned for Valentines day. He really does deserve the world for all that he does for me, so I'm hoping that I can shower him with a little love and appreciation to show him how much it all means.

Sappy but true. ;)

That's it for today time for this busy bee to close the agenda, make dinner, have a glass of wine and spend the evening relaxing!

Hope you lovelies have had a productive and busy week and don't forget to slow down and think about what you're loving on this Wednesday.

xoxo- miss v.

Thursday.

Since I'm only teaching part time for my first year I've been lucky enough to fill my other days loving on and taking care of my friends kids. I can't wait for my very own full time classroom next year but until then I make the very best of the time I have now with the three "other men" I have in my life.

On Thursdays I get to spend my afternoons with M&M. They're pretty lovable. They're brothers and they're twins. It's a bit of a double cuteness overload.

Happy almost Friday friends! Hope your Thursday has been as sweet as mine.

Xoxo- Miss V.

What I'm Loving Wednesday...Chopped!

Hello loves hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday. I'm feeling super shiny and new after a trip to the hair salon today! Nothing like sporting a brand new "do" to make you feel like a new woman! It's no secret that I love changing up my hairstyle, whether it's color or length I've just about done it all, but my go to is a simple a-line short hair cut that I keep modifying depending on my mood. I adore short hair and seriously daydream about the perfect pixie. I however have been there, done that and well I'm no Mia Farrow, so unfortunately I'll just have to admire all of those tiny featured ingenues from afar.

Some of my favorite cropped beauties....

 Michelle Williams of course...love it edgy

or... short and sweet

 this perfectly pixied pinterest find...

 

and the adorably coiffed Audrey Tatou.

 This Charlize pic is from pinterest, but I have had the magazine clipping of this hair cut filed away for years. I love this cut and refer back to this image almost every time I chop my hair!

 

And I have been lusting over January Jones' longer bob since she debuted it last year.

So... today with my pin board full of "pinspiration" I headed over to the hair salon and let my hair stylist go to town on my very grown out hair! I think the last time I had it cut was in July? Now I need to preface my photos for you... A) I just showed you about a million pictures of models and celebrities so let's just keep that in mind. mmk? B) These were taken in my very unprofessional bedroom "studio" HA on the mac photobooth because I am super Kewl like that. C) Please ignore the "senior portrait" pose in photo 2. And lastly, you know I took like 38583475834593847583475 photos before I settled on these "gems" (don't act like you don't do the same thing).

So please be kind ;)

 

Short & Sweet...

So What I'm LOVING today is my new "do" and all of the amazing inspiration I've found on the time suck that is Pinterest. hahah. 

Happy hump day loves!

XOXO- Miss V.

Weekending.

It's been a rainy weekend in San Francisco, we're cozied up on the couch today ready to cheer on our Forty Niners and hopefully score a win. Despite the weather outside I've managed to have a pretty full weekend catching up with friends and staying dry either cuddled up on  the couch for a girls night in, or inside candlelit restaurants sipping cocktails on a fun double date night. Happy to have shared my weekend with loved ones that warm my soul on a cold and dreary weekend.

Love these rainy day images found here

 Gina our Friday night hostess with the mostest for a fun girls night in ;)

And this sweet pup who joined in on the fun.

 Double date night with The Grinde's

Happy weekending friends and cheers to a great week ahead!

xoxo-miss v.

What I'm Loving Wednesday...Having it All.

Another "What I'm Loving Wednesday" that covers a few things here and there that stand out to me this week. I have been thinking a lot lately about the idea of being able to "do it all" trying to balance work, a social life, time for Mr. Jones and I, time for family, time for "me" like exercise and reading, time for cooking most nights, cleaning the house, taking care of laundry etc. I struggle like most people do with how and where to give a little here and there and what to truly focus on. I have been trying to give myself 2 goals to accomplish by the end of each day, whether it be go to the gym, and do some extra classroom work, or go to the grocery store and write a blog post it varies. Along with my regular schedule for the day I have really been trying to write down my goals in a reasonable manner, and making sure to physically check them off once they are accomplished. Giving myself only 2 a day has really helped me from creating over the top lists about everything and anything and it has also helped me to take away the excess and focus on what really needs to be accomplished THAT day in order for the next one to be less overwhelming or more successful.

Now this may seem like no big deal for some of you but I am a list maker by nature and can easily overwhelm myself with what seems like a never ending list of things to do, make, buy, create, problems to solve, errands to run etc etc, there I go "listing" again... This has truly helped me to focus, organize my time, and make each day purposeful without feeling like I'm trying to take on the world, and never truly succeeding. This past week some of my goals were to spend meaningful time with friends, read a new book, and work on a classroom project. So it may only be little things, but goal by goal and day by day I'm feeling more like the girl who is living a more intentional and rewarding life by choosing to focus on those little things and at the end of the day my minor accomplishments make me feel like the girl who has it all.

I am LOVING girls night in at my place. Games, wine, and Miss America, yes please!

A few of my pinterest inspired apps and wine

Even Kates sweet pup Toby couldn't take his eyes off the Miss America pageant ha!

I am LOVING the GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) trainings I have attended the last 2 days for work. Not only have I been totally inspired by these techniques and can't wait to apply them in the classroom but I have also enjoyed catching up with some of my other 1st year teacher friends from other schools and getting time to share the ups and downs of the year so far. Free therapy and such positive and amazing teachers. I'm so excited to share this career with them.

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I am LOVING that I am already on book 2 of my 10 book challenge for the year! Book one was another Debbie Macomber story The Man You'll Marry. While I really enjoyed her Christmas stories for fun light reading this one was a little too predictable and it ended up being painfully boring for me towards the end. Oh well. I am really excited about book two which is a total departure from fluffy romance...

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes!

I downloaded it for free on my Kindle and have enjoyed reading one short story each night before bed. The Kindle has also been great because since the book was written in the late 1800's some of the vocabulary can be a little difficult, as in some of the items or things he talks about just don't really exist anymore. However with a click of my finger over the word the definition immediately pops up, so no getting lost by the text or having to run to wiki or the dictionary to find meanings.

And speaking of Sherlock we are loving the updated BBC America version.

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We're pretty big BBC America fans over here.

That's all for today friends, hope your week has been filled with lots to love, big and small.

XOXO- Miss V.